“I can go… I can go to the youth training team, as long as I can stay here.” Yan Shu raised his hand to wipe away the tears in his eyes, his expression full of resilience. “I will do whatever you ask. Please, let me stay.”
As he spoke, Yan Shu grabbed Zhuoyue’s pant leg, humbling himself to the dust as he bent his knees, ready to kneel.
“What do you think you are doing?” Zhuoyue’s eyes widened. He grabbed Yan Shu’s arm and hauled him back up.
Whether it was to continue tormenting Yan Shu, to humiliate him, or perhaps out of a shred of pity, Zhuoyue made an unprecedented decision.
“Go to the second team as a substitute.” As soon as the words left his lips, Zhuoyue slowly let go, leaving Yan Shu to collapse onto the floor.
Remaining on the second team as a substitute was no different from being benched. Yet, even so, Yan Shu was willing.
Before leaving, Zhuoyue stood with his back to the man on the floor. “I am keeping you here, but do not think it is out of pity. I will be waiting for you to come crying and begging me to let you leave the team.”
Left alone in the training room, Yan Shu bowed his head. He braced himself against the floor to stand up and shuffled toward the door. After a few steps, a bitter smile tugged at his face.
At last, I have stayed on the team.
Once he had cleared the hurdle with Zhuoyue, the receptionist led Yan Shu to the senior management offices.
Yan Shu stopped in front of the management office, dragging his suitcase behind him.
“You are looking for Manager Xu, right? It is right here.” The receptionist left him once they reached their destination.
Yan Shu parked his suitcase at the door and knocked lightly.
“Come in,” a voice responded from inside.
Only after receiving permission did Yan Shu enter. The scent of tea greeted him immediately, and as he looked up, his eyes fell upon an exquisitely carved rosewood tea table. The middle-aged man sitting in the host’s seat was brewing tea with clean, efficient movements—a veteran tea drinker at a glance.
“Uncle Xu, it has been a while,” Yan Shu greeted him proactively.
“Oh my! I heard from Xiaonan that you were coming, but I did not expect you today. I thought you would not return until at least the qualifiers next month.” Xu Liang picked up a cup of tea, placed it on the opposite side of the table, and smiled kindly at Yan Shu. “Sit down. Why are you standing on ceremony? You and Xiaonan are childhood friends, and since I am his cousin, that makes me your cousin-uncle, too. We are family, do not be formal.”
Hearing this, Yan Shu felt a bit more at ease and sat down at the table.
The middle-aged man before him was the cousin of Yan Shu’s childhood friend. Yan Shu had only been introduced to esports because of that friend, and it was thanks to that same friend pulling strings that any team was willing to take him in now.
“I just got back from a meeting. I heard from the kids downstairs that you already went one-on-one with the first-team starter?” Xu Liang closed his eyes, savoring the aroma of the tea. “Did that wild kid, Zhuoyue, bully you? Everyone is buzzing about your solo match.”
“No. He beat me, but he still let me stay.” Yan Shu rested his hands on his lap, sitting with slight restraint.
Xu Liang opened his eyes and drained the tea in one gulp. “Did you have an episode in front of him? Given your skill, there is no way you should lose to anyone in the league.”
“I… I just came back. I still cannot manage to forget those things,” Yan Shu said, his tone dropping.
Xu Liang sighed. “That incident… Xiaonan was not careful enough. One oversight led to you… you bearing the brunt of the abuse. Even now, we cannot find the complete surveillance footage. There is simply no way to prove your innocence.”
“I know. Xu Kanan told me back then. I do not blame him; after all, it was someone else who did it.” Yan Shu picked up his teacup and took a sip to moisten his throat. “Uncle Xu, let us talk about the contract.”
Xu Liang slapped his forehead. “Oh my, I was so busy catching up, I forgot about the important business.”
He stepped away from the tea table, walked over to his desk, and pulled a contract from the drawer.
“Here, take a good look. If everything looks good, sign it.”
After taking the contract, Yan Shu signed his name without a second thought. He was just grateful that any team was willing to sign him; he did not care what was written on the paper.
“Look at you, so impatient.”
“It is not that I am impatient. I am just afraid that if I am any slower, I will lose this chance.” Yan Shu handed the signed contract back.
Xu Liang shook his head. “Sigh, let us not talk about that. After you join, how about I arrange for you to go to the first team?”
“No, Zhuoyue told me to be a substitute for the second team.” Yan Shu declined the offer. If he were to shamelessly push his way into the first team, Zhuoyue would definitely assume he was using connections to cause trouble at SR.
“Oh, that wild kid.” Xu Liang could not do anything once he heard it was Zhuoyue’s arrangement. “Sigh, the team relies on Zhuoyue to keep going these days, and even our boss has to give him some face. Since he wants you on the second team as a substitute, we will just have to wrong you for a bit. But, with your skill, as soon as you have some achievements, I will help you move to the first team.”
“I will work hard.”
“About your dorm…” Xu Liang looked troubled.
Due to the restructuring of the SR team, aside from Zhuoyue, who was still landing endorsements, no one else had any significant income outside of live-streaming revenue. The club had to downsize, becoming half the size it used to be, with the other half rented out as studios for other companies. Comfortable single dorms were reserved exclusively for the first team; the second team only had double rooms, and other substitutes and youth trainees had to squeeze into four-person rooms.
Yan Shu was good at reading the room and immediately noticed Manager Xu’s dilemma. “Uncle Xu, anywhere is fine with me.”
“Then… then would you mind staying in a four-person room for now? Although it is a four-person room, there is only one youth trainee living there currently,” Xu Liang explained.
Yan Shu agreed without hesitation. As long as he had games to play, he did not care where he stayed.
After coordinating everything, Yan Shu prepared to take his luggage to the dorm. But the moment he stepped out the door, he discovered that his suitcase was gone.
Luggage could not just vanish into thin air; someone must have taken it. Yan Shu did not overthink it and reached his conclusion.
With an answer in mind, Yan Shu went alone to the first-team training room, intending to ask Zhuoyue for his luggage back. He walked to the window of the training room and took a look, only to find that Zhuoyue was not inside.
Yan Shu turned and went to Zhuoyue’s room. He remembered Lin Qi saying not to go in there casually, so he knocked politely on the door.
No answer.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Yan Shu crouched by the door of Zhuoyue’s room and finally caught sight of him.
At that moment, Zhuoyue was wrapped only in a bath towel, using a towel to wipe his dripping hair as he walked upstairs. A few mischievous droplets slid down his muscular frame and vanished into the towel.
Yan Shu had been pampered since childhood. Given his family’s circumstances, he had never been to a public bathhouse, nor had he ever seen someone so disheveled. Zhuoyue’s robust physique suddenly filled his vision, and he felt incredibly awkward.
“Where are you looking?” Zhuoyue stared down at Yan Shu’s face.
Yan Shu stood up. “My luggage. Give it back.”
“What does your luggage have to do with me?” Zhuoyue stood in the doorway, showing no sign of inviting him in.
“You…” Yan Shu stammered. “You should put some clothes on first.”
“What? Do you like men? If a scandal like that gets out, it might be even more interesting.” Zhuoyue finished, pointed at Yan Shu, and said, “Go downstairs and wait for me. From now on, you are not allowed to pass by my door.”
If it were not for his luggage, Yan Shu would not want to see Zhuoyue alone either.
When you are under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head. Yan Shu could only do as Zhuoyue said.
He stood downstairs waiting for Zhuoyue for over an hour.
Eventually, a strange boy ran over to tell him that his suitcase was already in his dorm room.
The boy chatted incessantly as he led the way, and through their conversation, Yan Shu learned that the boy was a fan of his.
The boy was named Qi Le, and he was indeed Yan Shu’s roommate. He was seventeen this year and had just joined the youth training team. Six years ago, when he was still in elementary school, he was a die-hard fan of Yan Shu. Even after many people insisted that Yan Shu was match-fixing, Qi Le believed that the Moon God was being framed—and he still believed it now.
“I cannot believe I am living with my idol!” Qi Le was young and clung to Yan Shu acting spoiled. “Moon God, I really love you. I believe you were framed.”
“Thank you.” Yan Shu was moved by the child’s enthusiasm.
Qi Le chattered all the way. Yan Shu’s formerly gloomy mood felt much brighter surrounded by this little sun.
Once they reached the dorm, Yan Shu saw his suitcase and checked it; nothing was missing.
“Do not worry, your luggage was brought over by Brother Dao. He is the most honest person; it is impossible that anything is missing.” Qi Le climbed onto his bed, grabbed some snacks, and tossed a bag of crackers to Yan Shu. “I heard from Brother Dao that the captain was the one who found your luggage. The captain is just a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. He was so fierce during the solo match today, but look, he is still looking out for you.”
Yan Shu did not take the snacks. “You do not need to call me Moon God. Just call me Yan Shu.”
He lowered his head to organize his bed, not feeling that Zhuoyue was looking out for him at all. If he really cared, he would not have let him stand at the stairs for over an hour.
Qi Le ignored him. “Moon God, how could I call you by your full name? Moon God sounds much better.”
Yan Shu had nothing more to say.
In just a few words, Yan Shu finished tidying his bed. “Qi Le, can we go training now?”
Qi Le was doing push-ups on the floor. “Moon God, it is rest and dinner time now; we usually do not train. But if you want to train, you can go straight to the second-team training room.”
“Okay, I am going to train.” Yan Shu grabbed his phone and headed to the training room without a second thought.
It was dinnertime, so Yan Shu bought a piece of bread from the vending machine in the cafeteria and entered the training room. It happened to be empty, and Yan Shu felt his tight nerves relax slightly.
After logging into the game, he opened the training camp.
Since he had lost the solo with Hua Mulan earlier that day, Yan Shu practiced with her for four or five rounds, then went to the lobby to challenge other top-tier Mulan players. He played several matches in a row, and Yan Shu did not lose a single one.
“Not good enough…” Yan Shu looked at the data analysis of his solo matches and remained dissatisfied.
Just as he was deep into his training, several people walked in behind him.
“Look, who is this?”
“Yo, isn’t this that dog who match-fixed?”
“I cannot believe he is on the same team as us. How unlucky. Pfft.”