Yan Shu changed into a fresh team uniform and placed his laundry inside the dormitory washing machine. After handling these trivial chores, he grabbed his phone and headed straight for the training room.
With a rare two-day break granted, the SR team members spent their time resting in bed even if they engaged in extra practice, making someone as diligent and steady as Yan Shu practically a ghost in the halls.
“Victory!”
“Victory!”
“Victory!”
Winning streak after winning streak, Yan Shu secured victory after victory.
Free from the tension of matches, the pressure from teammates, and psychological burdens, Yan Shu proved unstoppable and peerless, steadily solidifying his position within the top three of the Peak Tournament rankings.
With his Peak score lingering above 2500, Yan Shu played several more ranked matches.
He could only play the top lane during solo training, so Yan Shu cherished every single minute of this extra practice time. He still loved the top lane; even though the team refused to assign him there, he constantly maintained his muscle memory.
He believed that one day, he would return to the competitive stage as a starting top-laner.
Aside from lunch, Yan Shu spent the entire day seated in the training room, immersed in training.
It was only when a phone call interrupted him that he realized the time had slipped away and evening was rapidly approaching.
Picking up the phone, Yan Shu saw his childhood friend calling and answered immediately.
“Xiao Shu, I’m off today. I saw Sister Dong posting on her Moments that you fell sick, why didn’t you tell me?” Xu Kanan asked with concern.
“I’m fine, just an old issue. I’m already back at the club, doing extra practice.”
Xu Kanan’s voice pitched upward. “What? Extra practice? Is your captain trying to work you to death? You just got out of the hospital and you’re still practicing?”
Yan Shu immediately refuted him. “No, I had nothing to do, so I did some voluntary practice. The team is resting today.”
“Then have you eaten dinner? I happen to be near your club, let’s grab dinner together since neither of us has eaten, my treat. By the way, let me check with my own eyes whether you’ve fully recovered, otherwise I won’t rest easy,” Xu Kanan insisted.
Without missing a beat, Yan Shu agreed. “Alright, I was just planning to head out for dinner.”
“Talk about talking big, if I hadn’t called, you probably wouldn’t have eaten anything tonight,” Xu Kanan scolded.
That remark hit a little too close to home for Yan Shu, who stammered for a moment. “I… I would have eaten dinner.”
Sounding so unconvincing only made Xu Kanan more worried about Yan Shu’s basic self-care abilities. “Please, Young Master Yan, since nobody is watching over your meals, you need to manage them yourself. I’m hanging up now, I’m at the commercial street across from your club. Hurry down, I’m treating you to Lancheng beef noodles.”
Accepting the invitation repeatedly, Yan Shu hung up the phone and walked out of the training room.
Reaching the first floor, Yan Shu almost collided with someone at the corner.
“Moon God? Where have you been all afternoon?” Qi Le had just returned from outside, having taken the opportunity to grab a nice meal with a friend nearby.
Yan Shu pointed upstairs. “The training room.”
Qi Le’s mouth dropped open in an exaggerated circle. “Huh? Moon God, you couldn’t possibly have been doing extra practice this whole time?”
Yan Shu nodded.
“Oh my god,” Qi Le performed a dramatic fainting gesture. “All afternoon? Today is a holiday, Moon God, don’t you need rest? Shouldn’t you go out and eat something good to nourish yourself? I heard Captain Zhuo took the first team out to eat, didn’t you go with them?”
“My friend is looking for me.” Cutting the chat short, Yan Shu left Qi Le behind and headed straight for the exit.
Stepping out of the SR esports club, crossing a single street led directly to a large wet market, followed by a small alleyway filled with specialty food stalls.
By evening, the brightly lit neon signs of the shops, combined with a growing number of trendy pop-up spots, made this commercial food street nearly as lively as the city center.
The night air still carried a crisp chill, so Yan Shu pulled his team jacket tighter around himself and crossed the street straight toward the commercial strip.
Entering the commercial lane, Yan Shu spotted his childhood friend standing beneath a streetlamp within a few steps, dressed in a white shirt and black slacks.
“Xiao Shu.”
“Brother Nan.”
Meeting up, the two fell into their familiar, easy rhythm and walked side by side.
Arriving at the beef noodle shop, they sat facing each other. Picking up where they left off regarding the qualifiers, Xu Kanan expressed concern over Yan Shu’s post-match condition while repeatedly congratulating him on getting one step closer to the GPL.
“Xiao Shu, in half a month, we’ll be able to meet on the GPL stage,” Xu Kanan said, looking radiant with high spirits. “When that time comes, let me see what your team is truly made of.”
“Our team probably won’t make it into the S-group.” Based on Yan Shu’s personal assessment of the SR team’s overall level, aside from Zhuoyue performing at an S-group caliber and Ye Xuanqing sitting close to it, the remaining members would struggle even to break into A-group.
Just then, the beef noodles arrived. Xu Kanan slid the bowl across the table toward Yan Shu, rolled up his sleeves, picked up his chopsticks, and expertly picked out all the chopped scallions from Yan Shu’s bowl.
“Xiao Shu, relax, you don’t need to stay so tense every day. Whatever stage you reach in the tournament is up to fate, so how can you be so certain your team won’t make S-group? I say there’s hope, so stop borrowing trouble every day.” Xu Kanan finished discarding the scallions, grabbed a clean pair of chopsticks, and handed them over. “Forgot to ask for no scallions. Just make do and eat it like this for now.”
“Thank you, Brother Nan.” Yan Shu’s eyes curved into crescent moons.
Xu Kanan curled his knuckles slightly, tightening his grip on his chopsticks as he spoke in a normal tone. “Eat it while it’s hot.”
Lancheng noodles were renowned for their chewy texture, and the shop owner hailed directly from Lancheng, making his beef noodles exceptionally authentic.
Rarely seeing Yan Shu eat with such evident appetite, Xu Kanan remarked with a hint of pride, “How about that? I told you this place was good.”
“Mm, this is the first time I’ve ever had noodles this delicious.” Yan Shu’s mouth was stuffed with noodles, his cheeks puffed out like a little hamster.
Swallowing the bite of beef, Xu Kanan continued, “Accompany me for a walk after we finish eating, and help me pick up a bottle of coffee at the convenience store. I still have to pull overtime tonight.”
“You’re that busy?” Yan Shu looked up.
Xu Kanan reached up to press the bridge of his nose. “With the GPL starting soon, our team has a mountain of sponsorships that all need to pass through my hands for processing.”
“Oh.”
Realizing the implication, Xu Kanan slapped his hand gently against his own mouth. “Look at me, bringing up the wrong topic.”
The match-fixing scandal surrounding Yan Shu four years ago had erupted precisely because Yan Shu noticed that the Python team, founded by Xu Kanan, was strapped for cash and struggling to secure sponsors. Possessing numerous sponsorship contracts of his own, Yan Shu attempted to hand a few over to help the Python team weather the storm. To his dismay, his good intentions allowed malicious actors to exploit the situation.
“Brother Nan, it’s fine.” Though a lingering discomfort remained in Yan Shu’s chest, so many years had passed that he had no reason to keep holding onto it.
Xu Kanan offered an apologetic smile. “Let’s head to the convenience store after finishing up, buy whatever you want and Brother Nan will pay. Even though I know you aren’t short on cash, I’m still paying.”
“Alright.” Yan Shu agreed to everything.
Dinner concluded, and the two headed toward the nearby convenience store as promised. Just as they crossed the street opposite the store entrance, the members of the SR first team emerged from inside.
Since the first-team members wore casual civilian clothes, Yan Shu hadn’t noticed them. However, one person among them spotted Yan Shu instantly: Zhuoyue.
Zhuoyue had bought cigarettes inside the convenience store. Feeling irritated, he had waited in line for the brand he usually smoked before finally stepping outside. While the others walked ahead, he lagged two minutes behind them coming out of the shop, catching sight of Yan Shu walking alongside a man with smiles and laughter.
“Tch.” Growing even more annoyed, Zhuoyue shoved a cigarette into his mouth and walked toward his teammates, purposefully glancing back twice as he moved.
After those few glances, Zhuoyue caught up with the others, pretending he had never seen Yan Shu at all. Once he finished lighting his cigarette, it finally clicked who the person walking beside Yan Shu was.
The lighting had been somewhat dim earlier, but Zhuoyue now remembered the man’s identity.
Python’s owner, Xu Kanan.
“Damn…” Zhuoyue muttered in disgust, unable to hold back the curse.
The other teammates jumped slightly in surprise.
Lin Qi glanced back. “Captain, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Zhuoyue kept his mouth shut.
Recalling that incident still filled Zhuoyue with a sense of humiliation.
A year ago, the legendary five-man starting roster of the SR team snatched the GPL championship away from the Python team. Shortly after the tournament concluded, Zhuoyue received news that three of his teammates had quit the team.
All three teammates had been bought out entirely by Python, which doubled their contract buyout penalties without hesitation.
Left behind at SR were only Ye Xuanqing, the oldest player whom no other team wanted to take in, and Zhuoyue, who stubbornly refused to switch teams.
At the club’s most precarious hour, Zhuoyue was approached by Xu Kanan.
“I want to buy you out,” Xu Kanan stated bluntly upon meeting him.
Filled with unyielding pride back then, Zhuoyue refused to abandon the team he had built from the ground up, rejecting the offer outright.
“I’ll double the price for you. You just need to spend a year on Python’s second team, and I’ll put you in the starting lineup by the second year,” Xu Kanan laid out his terms.
Zhuoyue raised an eyebrow, offering a disdainful retort. “With my skill level, playing on your second team? Are you out of your mind, or am I?”
“Python can offer you more, and besides, your former teammates are all with me now, aren’t you going to join them? They’re all willing to spend a year on the second team,” Xu Kanan spread his hands. “Put simply, you earn a higher salary than you would at SR while resting on the second team. I’d imagine nobody would find that unappealing. Getting paid without undergoing high-intensity training, don’t you want that?”
“Getting paid to ride the bench? Go dream of it yourself,” Zhuoyue snapped back with a harsh, barbed tone.
Hearing that, Xu Kanan let out a cold laugh. “Do you think staying at the current SR club differs in any way from riding the bench? At SR, you’ll only find yourself with even fewer matches to play.”
“Not going.” Zhuoyue grinned, letting out a few sarcastic laughs. “What, are you really that terrified of our five-man squad? Terrified you’ll never beat us in this lifetime? So you resort to dirty tactics like this to tear us apart.”
“Dirty tactics? I heard you’re even a die-hard fan of Yan Shu. You fanboy over someone who fixes matches, and you call me dirty? The answer is obvious,” Xu Kanan shrugged. “Sooner or later, you’ll end up suffering the exact same fate as Yan Shu, you fool.”
“What the hell did you say?” Zhuoyue glared with murder in his eyes.
…
“Captain!” Lin Qi shouted loudly, halting Zhuoyue’s forward march. “Captain, it’s a red light, watch where you’re going.”
The unpleasant memory snapped to a halt right there.
Zhuoyue closed his eyes with visible displeasure.
The scene he had just witnessed, Yan Shu chatting and laughing with Xu Kanan, flashed back into his mind.
Why on earth could the two primary protagonists of that past match-fixing scandal walk together wearing smiles?
Coupled with what Xu Kanan had previously claimed to Zhuoyue, with every single word insisting that Yan Shu had indeed thrown matches, the contrast felt impossibly contradictory.
Comparing the two points led Zhuoyue to a staggering realization.
The accusation that Yan Shu fixed matches was entirely a frame-up.