Pei Shiyu nodded, not surprised that Lu Xinyu would say this.
Lu Xinyu was much older than the rest of them. In his personal development plan, esports was never an item to be included. He had only been pulled into it by Pei Shiyu because of the Break of Dawn team.
Lu Xinyu swallowed hard: “I submitted many resumes for the autumn recruitment season. One of the offers was quite satisfactory. Soon, I will be leaving Bo Teng City, possibly even the province. Starting a new job will surely keep me busy, and I will not have the time to look after the team anymore. I need to focus on my career and my life.”
Lu Xinyu seemed to have rehearsed these words in his mind long ago, rattling them off quickly. Pei Shiyu waited patiently for him to finish before asking: “Is this what you want?”
Lu Xinyu was stunned by the question, then gave a self-deprecating smile: “Does it matter if it is or is not?”
Birth, learning to walk, school, work, marriage, children. It was all a recurring cycle. “I am simply doing what I am supposed to do at this age.”
Time was like the tide at the beach, crashing against the rocks and dragging people forward relentlessly.
“Who decreed that?”
Lu Xinyu wanted to say that you are still young, so naturally you do not understand. But he stopped himself when he saw Pei Shiyu’s calm eyes. What right did he have to judge someone who was capable of opening their own club at nineteen?
Lu Xinyu looked away in embarrassment: “I do not know. Everyone else does it, so I do it too.” He was just a person among the masses, ultimately lacking the courage to rebel.
Pei Shiyu was not trying to argue over who was right or wrong. “It is just that you do not seem to have become happy because of your choices.”
Lu Xinyu curled his lips barely enough to manage a smile: “Perhaps.” He stood up: “I vanished today without saying a word. I made the two of you worry.”
Lu Xinyu stretched, appearing to have let go of some burden, his face wearing its usual smile: “However, my official start date for the new job is still some time away. I should have enough time to continue playing in the provincial tournament with you all, and then I can retire with honor once you find a new teammate.”
“That is acceptable.”
Lu Xinyu walked ahead first. Pei Shiyu stood up to follow, but someone grabbed his wrist. Pei Shiyu raised his eyebrows in confusion.
Xu Qing used Pei Shiyu’s wrist to pull himself up and then draped his arm over Pei Shiyu’s shoulder in a brotherly fashion. Pei Shiyu frowned slightly; rarely did anyone get so close and comfortable with him. Xu Qing leaned in, his hair brushing against Pei Shiyu’s cheek, which felt soft, slightly prickly, and a little itchy.
The scent of Xu Qing’s perfume lingered at the tip of his nose, faint and refreshing, very suitable for summer.
Xu Qing, appearing completely oblivious, had a cunning glint in his lively eyes. He dropped his voice, which made one anticipate what he would say next: “Actually, Lu Xinyu just looks like an optimist.”
“Hmm.” Pei Shiyu looked away and casually pulled Xu Qing’s arm off, feeling a bit like he had been dragged along.
Xu Qing laughed. He suddenly found that teasing Pei Shiyu was quite interesting. Originally, he had only sensed that Pei Shiyu was in a bad mood, and their Break of Dawn team had been, well, a bit too full of twists and turns.
However, looking at Lu Xinyu walking in the distance, Xu Qing sighed involuntarily. Lu Xinyu was not actually his grandmother’s biological son, but the child of her sister. After her sister passed away unexpectedly, Lu Xinyu had been raised by his grandmother since childhood. Normally, everyone laughed and joked, and no one paid it any mind, but Xu Qing had always known that his little uncle cared about it.
Perhaps everyone, at every stage of their life, had their own challenges to face.
Xu Qing tilted his head, walking side-by-side with Pei Shiyu. Then, what is Pei Shiyu’s challenge? Is it the club and the KOL league arena?
After they returned from that day, Lu Xinyu’s state clearly improved. In private, Wan Yi had secretly asked Xu Qing what he had said to Lu Xinyu to achieve such a miraculous recovery. Xu Qing thought carefully; that day, besides dissing Lu Xinyu, had he said anything else? And Pei Shiyu had not really said anything either, had he?
Xu Qing rested his chin on his hands, pondering, while Wan Yi watched him with a thirsty thirst for knowledge.
Xu Qing made an expression of sudden realization.
Wan Yi pressed him: “What did you say?”
Xu Qing: “He probably figured it out, right?”
Wan Yi was stunned, and it was only after Xu Qing shoved a coffee into his hand and walked away that he realized he had been played by Xu Qing’s innocent facade again.
Until the provincial tournament began, the Break of Dawn team continued their training in an orderly fashion.
Xu Qing communicated with Pei Shiyu: “After the first match, the platform plans to have the entire Break of Dawn team start official streaming.”
Pei Shiyu nodded, acknowledging the information. As a platform operator, their first stream after the provincial tournament ended would be the moment of peak popularity.
Xu Qing tilted his head and teased: “How about it, Team Captain Pei? Do you have the confidence to win?”
Pei Shiyu glanced at Xu Qing. Xu Qing looked confused and made a sound: “Hmm?”
Pei Shiyu looked away before answering: “I do.”
The team they were facing in the first round was the champion from the neighboring city. They had been studying their battle data constantly. As long as they played normally, winning would not be difficult.
Xu Qing yawned wearily: “That is good.”
Pei Shiyu watched Xu Qing, assuming he had only asked casually. After all, Xu Qing did not seem to truly care about the team’s win or loss. He was indifferent while working at Boss Cai’s restaurant downstairs, and he was indifferent while hired by the Break of Dawn team as staff.
The name Xu Qing was just like that: ethereal, light as the wind, adaptable to circumstances, and seemingly able to leave at any moment. Yet, this wind was impossible to ignore.
He was someone you could touch, but never quite grasp.
Three days before the tournament began, they packed up and prepared to leave for the provincial tournament venue.
However, Lu Xinyu was not there.
Wan Yi: “Where is Yu Shuai?”
Wan Yi looked at Xu Qing.
Xu Qing was blank: “Is he not in the dormitory?” He really did not know; Lu Xinyu had not told him.
Pei Shiyu: “Yu Shuai will meet us directly at the competition venue.”
Hearing the captain speak, no one asked further. On the chartered bus to the provincial tournament, Xu Qing and Pei Shiyu sat together.
Xu Qing muttered quietly: “What did Lu Xinyu go do?”
Pei Shiyu took out his eye mask but placed it down again with some resignation. “His new job requires him to report in.”
“At this time?” Xu Qing frowned.
Pei Shiyu hummed: “He said he can make it back.”
After all, Lu Xinyu’s life focus was no longer on the team. He had come to him to ask for leave, and Pei Shiyu had no reason to refuse. After that conversation with Lu Xinyu, he had not told the other teammates that Yu Shuai was planning to leave. Mentioning such things before the tournament would only make everyone feel restless.
This was the Break of Dawn team’s first time leaving the city to compete. Everyone’s mood was quite high along the way. It felt like the excitement of a school field trip.
Watching their destination draw nearer, the neon lights of the night reflected on both sides of the competition city entrance.
“How long will we stay this time?”
No one answered. But everyone’s eyes revealed the answer they had already set in their hearts.
All the members of the Break of Dawn team, who were not yet perfectly mature in their chemistry, could not help but look out the window. Since they had chosen this path, regardless of why they chose to play, now that they were here, they only wanted to reach the end of the journey that they could see. Naturally, they only wanted, and could only aim for, that stage where they could finally hold a medal.
Everyone holding a trophy, greeting the enthusiastic applause that belonged to them, and them alone.
Regardless of whether this dream seemed unreachable or like a delusion to them now, the road of esports was one where they used their one and only youth to chase a possibility, a possibility that could only be pursued while young.
After all, flowers bloom again, but people never return to their youth.