Qi Le bit his lower lip, holding back his breath, but eventually broke down as tears and snot streamed down his face. Looking at Yan Shu as if he were an older guardian, he grabbed Yan Shu’s arm and sobbed, “The guys in the youth squad called you a match-fixing dog and said you climbed up through backroom deals. I was so furious that I talked back, and they called me your lapdog, asking if I was sleeping with you too.”
Qi Le said that a fresh wave of anger surged as he slammed his fist against the bed board, weeping angrily, “I grew up watching you play matches, Moon God. There is no way I could swallow that insult! Someone threw the first punch, so I started fighting back. Coincidentally, a sneaky bastard had a cup of boiling water nearby and poured the whole thing right over my hand.”
Qi Le raised his right hand, which had been scalded bright red, as he continued, “Moon God, they deliberately burned my hand so I won’t be able to play in the training matches for the next few days. If my match score isn’t high enough, I might end up being kicked off the team.”
Yan Shu had always been a person who championed justice, though his current condition left him feeling indifferent to almost everything. Yet, hearing such genuine grievance poured out right in front of him made it impossible to remain cold-hearted, especially since those grievances were suffered entirely because of him!
“Did you tell the coach?” Yan Shu asked.
“The coach won’t care about petty matters like this, and our youth squad captain takes their side anyway. No matter how I explain it, I’m the one who gets screwed.” Qi Le understood his situation well, knowing full well that keeping his distance from Yan Shu was the smart choice, but he refused to do it.
Reflecting back on that match-fixing incident years ago, he had once stumbled upon the complete video recording on an obscure website in the dead of night. Two seconds after he finished watching the surveillance footage, the clip was deleted.
Even so, those extra two seconds of footage were more than enough to prove Yan Shu’s innocence!
The video was erased afterward, and he could never find it again. Qi Le tormented himself with regret over why he hadn’t saved that file so he could have helped clear Yan Shu’s name.
Unaware of the thoughts flashing through Qi Le’s mind, Yan Shu pinched his chin in deep thought, determined to secure justice for this foolish kid. He could endure things if they only affected him, but innocent people must never be dragged down because of his presence.
Who else in the SR team possessed the influence to command absolute obedience?
The answer was obvious: it was Zhuoyue.
If he needed Zhuoyue to step in and help, how should he go about it?
After turning the options over in his mind, Yan Shu finally came up with a plan.
“Qi Le, I’ll find a way to help you.” Yan Shu stood up from beside Qi Le, took his phone, walked toward the dormitory door, and pulled it shut behind him.
He placed a direct call to Manager Xu, subtly dropping hints about Qi Le’s situation.
Manager Xu fell silent for a moment on the other end before letting out a troubled sigh, “Xiao Shu, I can try speaking up about this for you, but I honestly can’t guarantee whether that kid Zhuoyue will listen. Zhuoyue never likes bothering himself with team gossip, let alone a brawl among the youngsters.”
“Uncle Xu, it’s like this. I still have some spare funds on hand that I can contribute as financial resources for our team. The GPL league is starting soon, and the team needs money for a lot of things. If there’s any money left over, just give it to Zhuoyue.” Yan Shu rubbed the bridge of his nose, completely out of options and unwilling to let people who trusted him get bullied. “However, please, I beg you not to mention that I arranged this.”
“Oh my, Xiao Shu, you really shouldn’t do this.” Manager Xu tried repeatedly to decline in his tone before pausing. “Keep the money for yourself; things aren’t easy for you either. Still, I’ll go have a word with Zhuoyue.”
“Uncle Xu, I heard the team uniforms haven’t been replaced in a long time. I’ll fund this batch, and whatever is left can be given to Zhuoyue as a bonus.” Yan Shu felt awkward letting Xu Liang do him a favor for nothing.
After doing the math, Manager Xu found it difficult to refuse further. “Fine, I’ll do my absolute best.”
As soon as he finished communication arrangements, Yan Shu transferred the funds over to Xu Liang. Once that was done, he stared at the rapidly shrinking balance in his account. After a brief pause, he put his phone away into his pocket and returned to the dorm as if nothing had happened.
No matter how persistently Qi Le questioned him afterward, Yan Shu simply shook his head, telling him to focus on training and ignore everything else.
The matter blew over. Once Qi Le’s hand healed sufficiently, he returned to the youth squad without facing any further bullying, indicating that Zhuoyue had indeed accepted Manager Xu’s peace offering. Meanwhile, Yan Shu remained sidelined by the first team just as before, living every day like an invisible ghost.
As the date for the GPL league qualifiers drew closer, the members of the first team were too wrapped up in training to bother giving Yan Shu dirty looks every day, allowing a brief period of peaceful coexistence.
On a routine training day, the team receptionist brought in several large boxes from the youth squad, hauling them through the front entrance of the base. Making multiple trips back and forth, the hallway filled with the scraping sound of cardboard boxes dragged across the floor.
Excitement radiated from the youth squad members, and even while handling heavy physical labor, they beamed with joy.
Right around lunchtime, Lin Qi headed to the base entrance to pick up an urgent delivery and happened to stumble upon the stacked cardboard boxes.
Returning to the first team quarters, Lin Qi acted like a megaphone, bursting in to share his freshly harvested gossip with his teammates.
“All eyes on me!” Lin Qi shouted at the training room entrance with exaggerated hand gestures.
Luo Yan leaned back into his gaming chair, crossed his arms, and took over Lin Qi’s cue, “You’re trying to announce something, right? Let Daddy guess if you are an idiot.”
That line was an online meme, and the bulky guy in the video literally shouted lines like that.
Amused by Luo Yan, Lin Qi laughed and scolded, “Screw you. I just wanted to say I saw our new team uniforms arrive outside! I’ve been waiting for months, and the wait is finally over. I wonder if the gear looks cool this time because the old uniforms were hideous.”
“Take a look at what’s right behind you,” Ye Xuanqing said, gesturing toward the cardboard boxes tucked behind the door.
Xu Ya couldn’t help laughing out loud, “The uniforms for our team were delivered right before you walked out. Your gossip is running late.”
Zhuoyue was still deep in training, lifting his gaze briefly, “Sit down and train. Time is running out, qualifiers start next week, and do not embarrass yourselves on stage.”
Lin Qi didn’t immediately return to his seat.
He bent down, pulled out a uniform, and tossed one to Zhuoyue without checking the size, “Captain, I’m just trying to serve our team here, and I’ll get back to training right after I hand these out.”
Zhuoyue glanced down at the size printed on the garment. “This is for me? The size is too small.”
Catching it as it bounced back, Lin Qi checked the tag again. It was a small size, definitely unsuitable for the captain. Comparing the clothing item against the air with a confused expression, he asked, “Captain, nobody on our team can fit into this size.”
Luo Yan chimed in teasingly, “Could it be meant for a skinny twig like you?”
“Hahahah.” Xu Ya chuckled as well.
Seated in the absolute corner, Yan Shu raised his head slightly upon hearing the word small, knowing that was precisely his size.
Just as Lin Qi prepared to snap back at Luo Yan, his gaze caught Yan Shu sitting in the corner. Taking a brief measure of the figure huddled there, he instantly realized who could possibly fit into a small-sized outfit.
It was obviously meant for Yan Shu!
Should he hand it over or not?
Awkwardly holding the uniform, Lin Qi stood frozen in place, the garment feeling like a hot potato in his hands.
“Give it to him,” Zhuoyue stated concisely without raising his head.
Lin Qi let out a surprised sound, but ultimately walked over and dumped the uniform onto Yan Shu’s desk with reluctance.
Yan Shu failed to catch it cleanly, and the uniform knocked over his phone stand as it hit the table.
Seeing this, Luo Yan sneered, “Look at that. Someone doesn’t even have the reaction speed to catch a piece of clothing, so it is time for him to accept his age and retire.”
“Quiet down and keep training,” Zhuoyue said in a chilling tone, asserting full captain authority.
The rest finally quieted down.
The first team spent the entire afternoon locked in training matches. By midnight, their extra session concluded, and they began heading back to the dorms one by one.
Unfortunately for Yan Shu, his current Peak Tournament match had stretched into its third Storm Tyrant spawn, with both sides fiercely defending their crystal in a match that felt endless.
Everyone else had cleared out, leaving only Zhuoyue practicing in the training room alongside Yan Shu, who was preparing for the fourth Storm Tyrant spawn.
Sensing that dragging the match out any further risked an enemy comeback, Yan Shu pinged his teammates to assemble at the dragon pit.
“Prioritize securing the dragon!”
Moving from the bottom lane alongside Ma Chao, Yan Shu utilized Guan Yu’s ultimate to snatch the dragon when the boss dropped to its last three thousand health, simultaneously taking down the enemy jungler and mid-laner.
With victory secured, Yan Shu removed his headset to find that only he and the captain remained in the training room. Gathering his water bottle, new uniform, and phone, he prepared to head to the dorm as usual.
“Stop right there,” Zhuoyue spoke up abruptly.
Yan Shu halted his steps, standing near the doorway.
Zhuoyue stood up from his chair, exiting the training client completely. His earlier practice session seemed to have been staged entirely to wait for Yan Shu.
Blocking the doorway, Yan Shu found himself pinned against the doorframe with zero room to maneuver.
Stepping forward, Zhuoyue slid his hand into his pants pocket, pulled out a bank card, and flipped it down right in front of Yan Shu.
“Our team has no rule about handing out bonuses before a match.” Zhuoyue’s fingers clenched tightly around the card he had been holding, his knuckles cracking audibly. “Even if Manager Xu said nothing, I could still guess it was you. You spent money just to make me take care of your brainless fan Qi Le? Yan Shu, pulling stunts like this makes it impossible for me to believe your past match-fixing was fake. Stop trying to buy people off because I find it filthy.”
Tossing the bank card onto the floor, Zhuoyue turned to storm off.
Unprepared for this misinterpretation, Yan Shu lunged forward to block Zhuoyue’s path, staring straight into his eyes. “I didn’t! I only wanted you to step in so the youth squad wouldn’t bully Qi Le.”
“What, help Qi Le so he can trust you even more blindly? You even planned your schemes all the way to my doorstep,” Zhuoyue scoffed with disdain.
“If I did nothing, would you have helped Qi Le?” Yan Shu gave a bitter smile. “You wouldn’t have. So my only option was to beg you.”
“I can help you. But you need to tell me the honest truth about what happened back then, every single detail.” Zhuoyue spoke in a very soft tone.
Mentioning the past triggered Yan Shu’s stress response, causing his breathing to speed up immediately while cold sweat beaded across his palms pressing against the wall.
“Not talking? You couldn’t explain it to your fans back then, and now you still won’t?” Zhuoyue slammed his fist against the doorframe, grazing right past the side of Yan Shu’s head.
Yan Shu closed his eyes with his eyelashes trembling. A sharp pain gripped his heart, yet he forced himself to swallow his vulnerability, gritting his teeth to hold his ground.
The hallway sensor lights clicked off as the noise died down. Bathed in the cold lighting of the training room, Yan Shu’s face drained entirely of color.
Receiving no answer, Zhuoyue loosened his grip. “You won’t even speak a single word of truth, yet you expect me to help you?”
“Anything except that, I will do it.” Yan Shu forced the words out with immense effort.
Zhuoyue let out a cold laugh. “Fine, I say whatever you do, right?”
As sound returned to the hallway, the sensor lights flickered back on.
“From now on, you handle the cleaning in the training room, you pick up the team’s takeout deliveries, all routine logistics fall on you, including serving water.” Zhuoyue reached out and pinched Yan Shu’s chin. “If you can do it, stay. If you can’t, get the hell out.” With that, Zhuoyue violently shoved his hand away.
“I will do it,” Yan Shu agreed.
A complex expression flickered across Zhuoyue’s face upon hearing that response, followed by a cynical smirk. “Do you actually like men? Do you like that Qi Le?”
“No.”
Zhuoyue felt an inexplicable surge of relief. “Good thing you don’t, otherwise your scandals would be too messy to ever wash clean.”