When an Alpha is Marked by One of His Own Kind

Chapter 42

Dingding—

Lu Zhe heard a push notification sound out from his phone while he listened to Manager Zhou prattle on about the team's schedule for the days after the international tournament. Lu Zhe's first instinct was to take out his phone and put it into silent mode, but when his gaze swept over the screen, he paused.

On the screen, the following notification had appeared:

The streamer you follow, Wolfy, has started a livestream~! Come watch~!

Lu Zhe lifted a hand and gestured for Manager Zhou to pause whatever he was saying. He fished some earbuds out of his team jacket's pocket and connected them to his phone. After putting in just the left earbud and loading up Shen Qiao's stream, he gestured for Manager Zhou to continue.

Manager Zhou didn't care about that interruption. He simply picked up right where he'd left off and went on, "Next week, once you guys fly back, I'll check your schedules again. You'll have three days until your next match, so we've decided to have you play in an exhibition match for a friend of one of the bosses. The contract has been agreed upon by both sides already, and…"

Lu Zhe wore a refreshing smile that made people feel like they were being bathed in a cool springtime breeze. Upon hearing Manager Zhou's words, Lu Zhe mulled it over for a few seconds, then lightly shook his head. "The schedule for this international tournament has been tight in recent years. We're fine with playing a casual match just for some publicity, but—

"If our official channels announce this match, they'll definitely be in for a ton of verbal abuse. Fans will take this to mean that we aren't focusing on preparations for the summer tournament, and they'll think we players don't have any sense of professionalism.

"Furthermore, they'll see the club as opportunistic as well. I'd advise you to contact the other party and renegotiate the contract. Either change the time of the match, or…"

Lu Zhe trailed off halfway through his sentence.

His attention had been stolen away by the lazy drawl that came through his earbuds. That familiar, husky voice sounded even more sensual when it flowed directly into Lu Zhe's ears.

"I'd recommend this chocolate to everyone."

"Or?" Manager Zhou, who was right in front of Lu Zhe, prompted after staring at Lu Zhe for a while. He had no idea why Lu Zhe suddenly stopped speaking for such a long time.

Lu Zhe came back to his senses, summoned by the sound of Manager Zhou's voice. The corners of his lips were curving up, higher and higher. He blinked slowly, then cleared his throat and continued, "Ah, that's right. I was saying, either have the other party reschedule, or get people from our second string team to—"

To play.

But Lu Zhe's words suddenly trailed off yet again. Because at just that moment, he heard a curt yet excited little declaration through his earbuds.

"They're from the person I like."

Lu Zhe was successfully rendered completely speechless by that out-of-the-blue confession.

Fortunately, even though Lu Zhe had stopped mid-sentence again, Manager Zhou had heard enough to understand him this time.

On the one hand, Manager Zhou felt Lu Zhe did have a point. On the other hand, he had no idea how to talk to the higher-ups about changing their plans at this juncture. While Manager Zhou dithered over his options, Lu Zhe had already pressed one hand to his ear and glanced back in the direction of the room he'd just left.

His eyes practically had stars in them. Absent-mindedly, he asked Manager Zhou, "Is there anything else?"

He couldn't wait to get back and have Shen Qiao repeat those words to his face.