Children Who Were Quiet Were Definitely Up to Something

This coach had been personally recruited by Yan Ci.

Yan Ci felt waves of headache coming on.

It was one thing to remove Li Yang, a new player who had yet to compete for the team.

If they prepared public opinion in advance, they could even play the victim card.

After all, they were victims too. They had also been deceived by Li Yang's hypocritical facade.

But they had discovered it in time, prevented it from spreading further, and even reported it to the police themselves. They might even be able to build an image of proactive self-investigation.

Yan Ci forcefully kneaded the bridge of his nose a few times.

Forget that last part. With the kind of players he had, he was genuinely afraid that after a self-investigation, the entire team would be left with only him.

But replacing the coach during such a packed competition schedule was definitely not a wise move.

Whether for the fans or the esports players on the team, it would be no small blow to morale.

The good news was that the coach had done this after the entire team had been banned from competing.

Yan Ci still had plenty of time. If he stayed vigilant, he could find a solution after the season ended.

The more urgent matter right now was still Li Yang.

Just as Yan Ci was considering when it would be appropriate to call the police, his phone vibrated.

He took out his phone and saw a text message from Yan Yi'an.

Only Yan Xianjue sat between them. What was there that they could not say face-to-face?

The first thing he saw was a phone number.

Yan Ci raised a brow and continued reading. The familiar commanding tone followed.

Yan Yi'an told him to call the number and have someone quietly come over first to search Li Yang's dorm room for any contraband.

If they caught him red-handed, he would not be able to deny it.

Yan Ci thought indignantly, There it is again, that tone he uses when ordering subordinates around.

He pursed his lips, stood up, and headed outside as he dialed the number.

A cheerful male voice quickly came through from the other end. "Hello?"

Yan Ci got straight to the point. "I'm Yan Ci. I suspect someone at our base is hiding drugs without authorization."

The voice on the other end paused, followed by a burst of clattering sounds.

He was probably getting up from some messy place, Yan Ci guessed.

Less than half a minute later, the voice came back. "You're Yan Yi'an's?"

"Second younger brother," Yan Ci answered reluctantly.

"Alright, I understand. Send the address to my phone."

"Yan Yi'an asked you to call me. Does that mean we can't make too much of a scene?"

Yan Ci nodded, then remembered that the other person could not see him. "Yes. We can't be certain yet, but we saw needle marks on him."

Yan Ci had made up that excuse on the spot. He could not exactly say they were just guessing.

Besides, Li Yang really did not like wearing short sleeves. Most people had still been wearing long sleeves lately, so Li Yang did not stand out among them.

But now that Yan Ci knew there was something wrong with Li Yang, how could he not investigate? Once he did, he discovered that Li Yang had rarely worn short sleeves or clothes that exposed his arms in past matches as well.

He liked wearing dress shirts, which had attracted a huge number of fans drawn to his looks.

But combined with the information that he used drugs, Yan Ci reasonably suspected he was simply hiding something.

When the man on the other end heard the keyword "needle marks," his tone became more serious. "When did you find them?"

"Yesterday," Yan Ci answered honestly.

"We're currently at the team base. The suspect is a new member of the team."

"If possible, I hope we won't alert the media before the evidence is conclusive."

Yan Ci might have doubted Yan Yi'an's motives, but he would never doubt Yan Yi'an's abilities.

He believed that since Yan Yi'an had sent him this number,

it meant this person was at least very familiar with handling situations like this.

Sure enough, the man readily agreed. "No problem."

Yan Ci hung up and immediately sent over the location of the dormitory not far from the base.

He called again and gave a few instructions, making sure the man would not be stopped outside when he arrived.

Only after arranging everything did Yan Ci look again at the message screen belonging to Yan Yi'an.

He stared at the final sentence for a long while, then put away his phone and headed back with a natural expression.

The moment Yan Ci moved, Father Yan and Mother Yan noticed.

They caught the look Yan Yi'an sent them.

Neither of them was too worried.

They merely reflexively glanced at Yan Xianjue.

After listening carefully for a long time, they were shocked to discover that Yan Xianjue's inner voice was completely silent!

That was far too rare. Father Yan and Mother Yan had not been able to sleep until the middle of the night yesterday.

All because he had been doing his physics homework until midnight!

A child who muttered to himself even while doing homework had suddenly gone quiet.

Not only did Father Yan and Mother Yan not feel relieved, they even sensed terror in each other's eyes.

When one raised enough children, one inevitably accumulated certain valuable experiences.

For example, when a child was quiet, he was definitely up to no good.

Father Yan shot a look at Yan Yi'an, who was sitting beside Yan Xianjue, asking what Yan Xianjue was doing.

Yan Yi'an turned sideways with an indescribable expression, revealing Yan Xianjue, whom he had been blocking from view.

Father Yan and Mother Yan stared in disbelief at Yan Xianjue, whose head was dipping down again and again.

What had this child been doing all day to be this exhausted?

He had just been talking to Yan Ci. How had he fallen asleep in the blink of an eye?

When Yan Ci returned, he found Father Yan and Mother Yan staring intensely at him... or rather, at Yan Xianjue beside him.

"He fell asleep?" Yan Ci's tone was full of disbelief.

"Mm." Yan Yi'an nodded, indicating that Yan Ci had not seen wrong. He really was asleep.

The instant Yan Xianjue's inner voice vanished, Yan Yi'an noticed that he had fallen asleep.

And he was still gripping his phone tightly in his hand.

Yan Ci was not as indulgent toward him as Yan Yi'an was.

He directly reached out and patted Yan Xianjue on the shoulder.

What a joke. Falling asleep while watching an esports match would make it seem like their game was incredibly boring.

Yan Xianjue moved.

Anyone could see the confusion in his eyes when he opened them.

After a long moment, he tentatively said, "Big Brother?"

"Mm," Yan Yi'an responded.

"Yan Ci?"

Yan Ci frowned unhappily. Why had it turned into just his name when it came to him?

But seeing that Yan Xianjue had not yet shaken off the dazed state of just waking up,

he still answered with a reluctant "Mm."

Yan Xianjue closed his eyes again.

He knew his own condition very well.

Just moments ago, he had been delighted to find a flaw in Li Yang's behavior. As long as they brought the police over to search his room,

they would definitely find evidence. But Big Brother had not agreed.

He could understand their concerns.

They were not him. They had not read the novel and did not know how the plot would unfold.

Even if they knew Li Yang had been feeding hints into Second Brother's ear, it would still be difficult for them to guess that he would be bold enough to hide drugs in the dormitory.

Just as he was about to think of another solution, he felt a force well up from the depths of his soul.

It dragged him back into sleep. The sensation was exactly like when his memories had suddenly awakened yesterday.

But it had become clearer. The things that had been muddled and shrouded beneath thick fog yesterday slowly lifted their mysterious veil.