A Leopard Print Jacket

Nan Pei was super nervous, sweating bullets, and his knuckles tightened as he clutched the banner in his hand. He glanced around at the people nearby, swallowed hard, and cautiously said, “The draw is about to start. How about… we talk after it’s over?”

As he spoke, Nan Pei quietly tried to hide the banner behind him. Manager Ruan noticed Nan Pei’s behavior and thought he might be too shy to show his affection in public.

After all, Nan Pei was usually a reserved person and had never dared to confess directly to Duan Heng. So, Manager Ruan decided to give Nan Pei a little push.

He sneakily reached out, trying to grab the banner from Nan Pei, saying, “President Pei, since you’ve already made a banner, why not show it to us?”

Nan Pei’s back stiffened, and he quickly tightened his grip on the banner, gritting his teeth as he said to Manager Ruan, “No need! Manager Ruan, I think the draw is more important right now!”

“I know, President Pei is introverted and doesn’t want everyone to see it,” Manager Ruan thought, assuming the banner might have some words of love that Nan Pei was embarrassed about. He suggested, “Why don’t you just show it to Duan Heng? We won’t look, how about that?”

With that, he decided to snatch the banner and show it to Duan Heng, thinking it might help the two of them. Who knows, Duan Heng might be touched by it?

“Manager Ruan, I think the banner is too ugly,” Nan Pei hurriedly protected the banner, glaring at Manager Ruan, “You should quickly take them to the draw…”

Everyone present was puzzled by the struggle—why was Nan Pei reacting so strongly?

Duan Heng also frowned slightly. What was there to hide?

“Rip—”

Due to their tug-of-war, the banner was torn in half. Manager Ruan looked at the half in his hand, surprised and awkward, and said to Nan Pei, “President Pei, I didn’t mean to…”

Nan Pei glanced at the half in Manager Ruan’s hand. It didn’t have Lu Bairan’s photo or the words “Film Emperor Lu Bairan.” Manager Ruan had torn off the words “Born to be.”

Nan Pei breathed a sigh of relief. He discreetly hid the remaining half of the banner.

Then, clearing his throat, he pretended to be embarrassed and said to Manager Ruan, “Actually, the slogan I wrote was ‘Born to be a King, Duan Heng,’ but I suddenly felt it was too cheesy, so I didn’t want to show it.”

Nan Pei spoke convincingly and sincerely. Manager Ruan glanced at the “Born to be” words in his hand and the messy colors, silently criticizing—when did President Pei’s taste become so bad?

Duan Heng looked at the torn banner, a barely noticeable frown on his face, a hint of displeasure in his eyes.

“Xiao Duan, I’ll make you a better one next time,” Nan Pei said to Duan Heng, “Don’t be upset over this.”

“Why would I be upset?” Duan Heng looked at Nan Pei, pursing his lips with disdain in his voice, “I don’t want to see such childish slogans.”

After saying that, he turned his gaze elsewhere, seemingly indifferent to the matter. Nan Pei was completely relieved.

Manager Ruan, standing by nervously, said, “President Pei, I really just wanted to see the banner, I didn’t mean to ruin it…”

“No worries.” Nan Pei patted his shoulder, smiling, “You tore it well.”

Manager Ruan was baffled—was Nan Pei mocking him?

Soon, the draw officially began. The person responsible for drawing was Duan Heng, as he was the captain of TKT and the strongest player on the team. Plus, he was handsome, attracting a lot of attention from the staff as soon as he appeared.

Nan Pei watched Duan Heng draw nervously. In the original plot, TKT had good luck in this draw, not facing strong teams early and smoothly qualifying. But now things were different, with Duan Heng’s luck lacking, the plot might be affected.

And Nan Pei’s worries proved right. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Duan Heng drew the death group for the qualifiers. Almost all the strongest teams were in this group. When the draw result was announced, everyone in TKT felt a chill.

Nan Pei covered his mouth, almost shouting, “What kind of bad luck is this, Duan Heng?”

TKT facing the death group meant Nan Pei’s task was getting harder. “System,” Nan Pei asked, “Duan Heng won’t get eliminated, right?”

“TKT usually doesn’t lose,” the system reassured, “unless they really can’t win.”

Nan Pei: “That’s a useless statement.”

With Duan Heng’s career progress stuck around 18%, every match now affected the task progress, so Nan Pei was more concerned about TKT’s future than anyone else.

Standing on the draw stage, Duan Heng couldn’t help but glance in Nan Pei’s direction, seeing the latter looking worriedly at him.

After stepping down, Duan Heng returned to TKT, and Nan Pei approached, looking at him with concern, “Xiao Duan, the opponents are strong, TKT is in for a tough battle. You have to do your best.”

Hearing this, Duan Heng frowned, looking at Nan Pei, “You think we’ll lose?”

“I believe in you, but I think the matches won’t be easy.” Nan Pei looked troubled, his tone worried, “Xiao Duan, you must practice well during this time and strive to qualify.”

Even though Nan Pei was showing concern, Duan Heng felt underestimated. He felt a bit annoyed, pursing his lips, and coldly said, “I won’t lose.”

Although Duan Heng was confident, Nan Pei knew the protagonist’s future was uncertain with insufficient luck. Nan Pei didn’t say anything, but his gaze at Duan Heng had a “father worried about his son” vibe.

Duan Heng frowned, and facing Nan Pei’s worried gaze, he suddenly felt a strong desire to win. He had to defeat those opponents in the qualifiers and enter the official league. Even Duan Heng himself didn’t realize that deep down, he wanted to prove himself to Nan Pei.

After the draw, Manager Ruan took everyone back to the club. The team members boarded a bus for transportation, and Manager Ruan looked at Duan Heng and Nan Pei, smiling, “The bus is crowded, why don’t you two go back together?”

He wanted to create an opportunity for Nan Pei and Duan Heng. Nan Pei wanted to refuse—wasn’t this just making him work overtime? However, Nan Pei still put on an expectant look, glancing at Duan Heng. He hoped Duan Heng would refuse.

But to Manager Ruan and Nan Pei’s surprise, Duan Heng glanced at the bus and asked expressionlessly, “Is it full?”

Manager Ruan was momentarily stunned, quickly replying, “Yes, yes, it’s full.”

Nan Pei was also taken aback. What did Duan Heng mean?

At this moment, Duan Heng spoke, solving Nan Pei’s confusion: “Then I’ll ride with Nan Pei.”

He looked at Nan Pei, pursed his thin lips, and with a somewhat stiff tone, said, “Don’t get the wrong idea, I just don’t want to squeeze into the bus with them.”

Nan Pei swallowed the words “then you can take the bus” and showed a delighted expression, “Ah, since you’re willing to ride with me, that’s great, Xiao Duan…”

Duan Heng just thought that since Nan Pei’s carefully prepared banner was torn, leaving Nan Pei to drive back alone might make him break down. Nan Pei had secretly cried twice before, and Duan Heng didn’t want to see him use tears for sympathy again. So he agreed to ride with Nan Pei. That’s all.

After getting in the car, Duan Heng sat in the back seat to avoid giving Nan Pei any ideas. On the back seat was Nan Pei’s bag. Nan Pei’s heart skipped a beat, turning to Duan Heng with a sincere request, “Xiao Duan, could you sit next to me?”

Duan Heng frowned, “What’s the difference?”

See, Nan Pei was overthinking again, trying to get close to him. Rejected, Nan Pei felt uneasy, swallowing hard as he glanced at his bag in the corner. Inside was another banner, and the zipper wasn’t closed. Duan Heng sitting in the back could easily notice it.

So, Nan Pei forced a smile and continued, “Xiao Duan, there are a lot of things on the back seat. Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable?”

“No,” Duan Heng replied without hesitation. After speaking, Duan Heng’s gaze indeed fell on the black bag beside him. As he looked at the bag, Nan Pei’s heart was in his throat.

“Your bag?” Duan Heng lifted his eyes to look at Nan Pei and asked. Nan Pei wanted to say no, but whose else could it be?

Duan Heng stared at the bag for a moment, then suddenly reached out to it. Nan Pei’s eyes widened, “Xiao Duan, you…”

At that moment, Nan Pei’s heart rate peaked. Duan Heng casually grabbed the black bag and turned to Nan Pei, saying, “Since it’s yours, keep it next to you, so you don’t forget it when you get off.”

His tone was flat, with no discernible emotion. But Nan Pei had already seen the banner through the bag’s zipper gap. He almost held his breath, controlling his trembling voice, “Xiao, Xiao Duan, you, you leave it, I’ll take it…”

But before he could finish, Duan Heng had already moved faster, picking up the bag to hand it to Nan Pei. Cold sweat ran down Nan Pei’s back. He slowly reached out, trying to take the bag.

However. Because the bag and the seat back blocked Duan Heng’s view, he didn’t see if Nan Pei had reached out and released his grip prematurely. The next second, the bag fell directly.

With a soft “thud,” the bag’s zipper fully opened. A rolled-up banner fell out. Nan Pei was shocked.

Duan Heng’s gaze was drawn to the banner. He picked up the banner and unrolled it in front of Nan Pei. It had Duan Heng’s photo and a cheering slogan— “Duan Heng must win.”

Clearly, this was a banner Nan Pei made for Duan Heng. “Did you make this for me?” Duan Heng looked up at Nan Pei and asked seriously.

Nan Pei swallowed, “Yes, I did.”

“Then what about the one earlier?” Duan Heng frowned, puzzled, “Why are there two different ones?”

Nan Pei took a deep breath and carefully explained, “Because… I wanted to make banners in different styles. I wasn’t satisfied with the other one, so I wanted to give you this one.”

The system was shocked: “Host, you can even explain this? And you managed to create a devoted persona?!”

Duan Heng understood. Nan Pei liked him, and no matter what, Nan Pei always prepared thoroughly for him. He didn’t doubt Nan Pei’s words.

Then, Duan Heng tried to pick up the bag to return it to Nan Pei. However, at that moment, an item suddenly fell out of the bag— a golden leopard print jacket. It exuded a strong rustic vibe.

Duan Heng looked closely and found… A shiny gold necklace had also fallen out.

Nan Pei: “…”

Today is another day I wish I could disappear.