Seeing these results, Xu Qing immediately looked at Pei Shiyu, only to find that his expression remained unchanged.
He knew that the Dawn team had been built by Pei Shiyu, with all expenses fully supported and maintained by him. Pei Shiyu had never once mentioned how much this team meant to him. However, he saw Pei Shiyu’s lonely figure in the training room every night, he knew he was always the last one to log off, and he watched him create personalized training plans for every single member.
Pei Shiyu was a man of few words. He never volunteered to say much, but he quietly took care of everything, much like the time he brought Xiao Hei to the hospital or took the kitten home when Xu Qing was at a loss.
Xu Qing followed Pei Shiyu downstairs like a little tail, watching him smoke in his usual familiar spot. As Pei Shiyu picked up his lighter and turned around, he saw Xu Qing standing behind him and hesitated, “Are you here to smoke, too?”
He did not remember ever seeing Xu Qing smoke.
Xu Qing shook his head, “No.”
Pei Shiyu hesitated, the cigarette in his mouth unlit.
Xu Qing said, “Go ahead and smoke.”
Smoke curled into the air.
Pei Shiyu asked, “Why did you come down?” He assumed Xu Qing could not have come down just to breathe in secondhand smoke.
Xu Qing asked, “Are you doing okay?”
Pei Shiyu replied, “You should be asking Yu Shuai that instead.”
Xu Qing looked at Pei Shiyu through the thick haze of smoke. Oh, he is not being sarcastic; it is just Pei Shiyu’s trademark bluntness.
Xu Qing said, “I thought that with the tournament approaching, you would be worried about the team’s performance today.”
Pei Shiyu was taken aback. “So, you came down here specifically to console me?”
Xu Qing averted his gaze from Pei Shiyu’s direct stare and looked at the ground. Doing it was one thing, but having Pei Shiyu point it out was another. “What, do you think I have a secondhand smoke addiction?”
Pei Shiyu laughed.
Xu Qing looked back at Pei Shiyu, and after a moment, Pei Shiyu’s mouth returned to its usual flat, neutral line. Didn’t this guy just say yesterday that I had a nice smile?
Xu Qing said, “But that does not include laughing at me!”
Pei Shiyu extinguished the remaining half of the cigarette before answering Xu Qing’s question. “It is normal to have a poor training state. Even the coaches in the KOL league will not pull a player into a private meeting just because of one bad day of scrims. If a player can process their own emotions, it is better to let them handle it themselves. Otherwise, constantly being called in for meetings might just be counterproductive.”
Perhaps because he was older than the rest of them, Lu Xinyu’s mindset was more mature and balanced. He had always been the one in the team to mediate and console others. Pei Shiyu felt that Lu Xinyu should be capable of self-regulation.
Hearing this, Xu Qing muttered, “You really trust him.”
Pei Shiyu had not heard clearly. “What did you say?”
Xu Qing shook his head and stopped speaking.
However, over the next several days, Lu Xinyu’s performance remained consistently unstable; it did not improve as Pei Shiyu had anticipated. Today, two hours after the training session began, Lu Xinyu still had not appeared in the training room.
In a team, especially in competitive team games, the atmosphere is inextricably linked under high-pressure conditions. Everyone is tied together by invisible chains. The capacity of a wooden barrel is determined not by the longest plank, but by the shortest one.
Before Pei Shiyu could come to find him, Xu Qing stood up first. “I will go find him.”
Pei Shiyu nodded without any further instructions.
After Xu Qing left, Wan Yi and the others glanced at Pei Shiyu’s expression; their own spirits were quite low. With less than a month until the provincial tournament, the online haters, though quieter lately, were all sharpening their knives, waiting for their team to take a big fall so they could laugh. Since they had chosen to play e-sports, everyone wanted to be a phoenix that soared to greatness, not a laughingstock for the whole internet to edit into mockery montages. If Lu Xinyu’s condition did not improve, where could they possibly find another substitute as skilled as White Crow?
Xu Qing returned to his grandmother’s house, but Lu Xinyu was not there.
Xu Qing asked, “Grandma, do you know where Lu Xinyu went?”
Grandma looked confused. “Isn’t he living with you at the team dorm? He hasn’t been back here lately.”
That is strange, Xu Qing thought, he hasn’t been at the dorm, either. To keep his grandmother from worrying, Xu Qing made up an excuse to appease her.
Leaving the house, Xu Qing felt a sense of unease. He knew Lu Xinyu—at least from his memories, while he could be a bit cheeky and liked to tease him when he was younger, he was always reliable. He rarely went missing without a word. He had been like Pei Shiyu, assuming Lu Xinyu was an adult capable of self-healing, so he had not pried.
Xu Qing took out his phone and pulled up Pei Shiyu’s contact information, which he had added not long ago.
Twenty minutes later, the roar of a motorcycle engine arrived, carried on the heat waves rising from the pavement.
Xu Qing looked up and saw Pei Shiyu riding the cool motorcycle he had seen on their first meeting. He must have been in a hurry, as Pei Shiyu was still wearing the same black T-shirt he had worn in the training room. The roar faded as the bike stopped in front of Xu Qing, and Pei Shiyu set his standard, long, slender legs on the pavement.
Pei Shiyu’s voice came from inside the thick helmet, sounding even lower than usual. “Lu Xinyu is not home?”
Xu Qing shook his head. “No, Grandma says he hasn’t been back all week.”
After all, he was not a local of Benthung City and did not know where Lu Xinyu usually hung out.
“I will take you to find him.” Pei Shiyu tossed him a helmet.
Xu Qing buckled the helmet on; it was brand new, and he could faintly smell the factory-fresh scent.
Seeing Xu Qing was seated, Pei Shiyu was about to start the bike when he felt a warmth press against his back. Then, Xu Qing’s arms wrapped around him, hugging his waist in a full embrace.
Pei Shiyu stiffened. Summer clothes were thin; through two layers of light cotton, they were tightly pressed together. Pei Shiyu did not move.
Xu Qing asked, “What is wrong?”
“Second time.”
Xu Qing asked, “What?”
Pei Shiyu thought to himself, The second time someone has sat on the back of my bike.
As Xu Qing spoke, his breath hit Pei Shiyu’s back, making him feel a bit ticklish. Pei Shiyu knit his brows, his voice carrying a deliberate three degrees of coldness. “It is nothing.”
The next second, the motorcycle sped forward.
Benthung City was not very large. There were only a few landmark locations, and given Lu Xinyu’s current mood, he likely would not go anywhere too crowded. When they arrived at the third location Pei Shiyu took him to, they found Lu Xinyu sitting in the shadows of a public university sports field.
Lu Xinyu was leaning against the iron fence behind him, his mind blank.
The scorching sun burned overhead, and the midsummer sports field was scorched white by the sunlight. A light haze of heat rose from the track, and the distant flags were lifted and dropped by the wind, light and hollow. The world was busy and vibrant as if it had every right to be.
The weather remained clear and sunny as always, never caring about anyone’s mood.
Lu Xinyu was just thinking this self-mockingly when he heard footsteps behind him. Then, two people sat down on his left and right.
Lu Xinyu looked over to see his own good nephew and the captain of their Dawn team.
Xu Qing plopped down beside Lu Xinyu. “Are you here to reminisce about your childhood?”
Lu Xinyu had been feeling a bit melancholic, but Xu Qing’s words broke his defense.
“Why do you have to bring up childhood?”
He had just finished his master’s degree; he had only just received his diploma not long ago.
Xu Qing’s round eyes widened, his expression exceptionally innocent. “Am I wrong?”
After a few more quips, Lu Xinyu’s state of mind returned to how they usually saw him. Pei Shiyu, who had been silent the whole time, watched Xu Qing, knowing he was deliberately trying to distract Lu Xinyu.
The summer sun was dry and hot. Xu Qing’s hair looked lighter in the light, and only the dimple on his right cheek appeared and disappeared as he spoke. It must have been from the helmet; his normally round, curly hair had been pressed flat, making him look like a flattened black chestnut.
Sweat dripped from his forehead into his hair, carrying a trace of heat. Strangely, it reminded Pei Shiyu of the feeling he had had when Xu Qing pressed against his back on the bike just moments ago.
Pei Shiyu looked away and asked, “Is your recent bad mood related to your graduation?”
Lu Xinyu, who had just been smiling, froze for a split second. He looked off into the distance and gave a completely unrelated answer.
“Captain, I think I am planning to retire from the team.”