31

Bai Yu left Fang Zhixu in the training room and went off to take care of other things.

By the time he came back, Fang Zhixu had already blended in with his teammates. He was resting his elbow on the table, eyes wide open, and his voice was even sweeter than the lollipop he was eating: “Your awareness in that play was really good, I didn’t even think it could be played that way. You’re even better than I imagined. Does the captain praise you often?”

Zhang Peng was almost flattered into a placenta, scratching his head awkwardly: “I don’t think I’m that good? The captain often scolds me, though he sometimes praises me too!”

Fang Zhixu smiled with his head resting on his hand, his eyes full of admiration. “Really? I knew the captain had good taste. As expected, any player he picks is amazing~”

With just a few words, Zhang Peng forgot that he was talking to the freshly crowned FMVP jungler. The two chatted like close friends, and even the usually introverted Yang Kaiming couldn’t help but join in.

Xu Bo stood with arms crossed, eyes cold as he looked at Fang Zhixu. “Why did you bring this kind of thing into the team?”

Back then, Fang Zhixu had betrayed not only Bai Yu, but also Xu Bo. When the team’s performance was on the decline, Fang Zhixu had given them great hope, only to personally crush it. With Xu Bo’s grudge-holding nature, it was impossible for him to forget.

Bai Yu calmly drank water. “Don’t worry. I signed him for three years. This time, even if he wants to run, he has nowhere to go.”

Xu Bo snorted, getting more and more angry as he thought about it. “I suspect he made a smurf account just to seduce you. No wonder he talks like a pervert, turns out he really is a pervert.”

As he was speaking, Fang Zhixu suddenly turned to look at them and gave them an extremely harmless smile.

At this point, there was no use saying more.

Xu Bo stood up immediately. “It’s time for team training. I want to see what kind of monster he is.”

So-called team training was actually 5v5 scrimmage training. Aside from scrims with other teams, they also did internal scrims.

This time, Bai Yu put Fang Zhixu and Xu Bo on his side. The opposing side was made up of trainees from the youth training camp. Their team would start with a 5k gold deficit before the match started.

In the early game, a 5k gold gap was basically a death sentence for a team.

Xu Bo, long accustomed to high-pressure training, was used to Bai Yu’s pressure tactics. Even while being 1k behind in gold, he still managed to complete a reverse kill.

The enemy bot lane was no match for him and Bai Yu. They could only pin their hopes on the other lanes. But when they opened the gold panel, they were almost scared to death. “Why is the jungler’s gold so far ahead?”

Fang Zhixu had cleared the enemy jungle and then cleared his own. He hadn’t helped any lane at all, but he had already pulled ahead of the opposing jungler by 1k gold!

In other words, he had purely farmed the opposing jungler into collapse.

How was this not psychotic?

Even Bai Yu, who was watching the whole time, was very surprised. Because being behind 1k gold meant that if Fang Zhixu had run into the opponent in the jungle, he definitely wouldn’t be a match.

Fang Zhixu understood this well, so he played very smart. He avoided fights in the first three levels, and after hitting level three, he invaded during the window before the enemy jungler returned to base to buy items.

Although the enemy had more gold, without upgraded gear, the power was the same. In this equal state, the enemy jungler didn’t have the confidence to fight Fang Zhixu, so he gave up two camps. And that concession allowed Fang Zhixu to completely take over his jungle, leaving him nothing to farm!

With jungle pressure gone, the lanes became very comfortable, and Dong Yuan and Yang Kaiming, who had been under pressure, gradually gained the upper hand. All three lanes began pushing forward.

Bai Yu was very satisfied. He knew that signing Fang Zhixu was the right decision—because he was the kind of player who could spread his advantage to other lanes.

Before the scrim was over, Zhang Peng was already shutting down. He didn’t even go on the field, just watched Fang Zhixu’s operations from first-person perspective: “Holy crap, bro are you a god? How did you guess that? How did you know there was a ward there? Bro, were you serious when you praised me earlier? Bro, I feel like you were lying to me. Bro, please tell me you weren’t…”

Dong Yuan and Yang Kaiming had been holding back laughter, until Bai Yu pressed down on Zhang Peng’s shoulder. “Stop calling him bro. You’re not even as good as his little brother.”

Everyone finally burst into laughter.

Normally, new players needed time to blend in, but Fang Zhixu seemed to have a built-in favorability system—he easily won everyone over.

Even Xu Bo, who had strong objections, had eased his attitude. But when Fang Zhixu looked at him, he immediately raised his guard again. “I’ll always be watching you. Don’t play any tricks.”

Fang Zhixu smiled sweetly. “Okay~ Brother Xu.”

Xu Bo: "…"

It’s over. He really is a pervert.

After training, Bai Yu received a message from Zhou Xunwen saying that Qi Yi’s contract had been processed, just waiting for the official announcement.

Bai Yu had already prepared Qi Yi’s team uniform, and had someone clean up his room. He held the phone between his shoulder and ear: “Your contract has been transferred. It’s been submitted to the officials. Once it passes review, your contract with us is officially effective. Mm, just rest at home today. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow, and then you’ll officially join training.”

After hanging up, Qi Yi uneasily sent another message: Captain, what time are you picking me up tomorrow?

Bai Yu patiently replied: Tomorrow morning. The contract shouldn’t be a problem. All the documents are in order. Morning or night doesn’t make a difference.

Qi Yi: Okay, I’ll wait for you.

Bai Yu hung up Qi Yi’s uniform in the closet, closed the door, looked at the cleaned room, and suddenly felt full of hope for the future.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Chen Shi’an: God Shi, how’s your rehab going?

Chen Shi’an sent a “sigh” emoji, making Bai Yu’s heart skip a beat. Then he saw the reply: Stuck at 600 points, can’t climb anymore. Guess I really can’t beat aging. If only there were a strong captain to duo queue with me (sigh)(sneaky peek)(hopeful eyes).

Bai Yu: Wait, I’m logging in now.

---

Time quickly flew to the next day. Bai Yu had duo queued with Chen Shi’an until 5 AM and gained around 200 points. When he woke up the next day, it was already close to 11.

Yawning, he put on his jacket, ready to go pick up Qi Yi. As he passed the stairwell, he heard Zhang Peng’s voice: “You don’t know how much I missed you. Dong Yuan missed you too, Yang Kaiming missed you too, we all missed you…”

Bai Yu was still wondering who had arrived to make Zhang Peng this happy.

Then he heard Qi Yi’s soft, kitten-like voice: “I missed everyone too.”

Bai Yu instantly woke up. He quickly pushed open the training department’s door and saw Qi Yi curled up nervously in a chair, hugging his milk and sipping from the straw with his head down.

Surprised, he asked, “How did you get here on your own?”

Qi Yi straightened his neck when he saw him. “I waited until seven and you didn’t come, so I came by myself.”

Seven? The base wasn’t even open for business at that time.

How did he get in?

Bai Yu was a bit dizzy. He took the breakfast Zhang Peng handed him and, after taking a bite, casually scrolled through his phone. Instantly, he understood how Qi Yi got in.

It was a video taken when the sky was still dim.

Qi Yi, dressed in a windbreaker and wrapped up tightly, stepped out of a taxi, looking cheerful and listening to music through the earphones Bai Yu had gifted him.

He walked through an empty station, crossed an undeveloped wasteland, and found a rundown building — their base. Familiar with the place, he moved aside a wind-blocking board at the entrance, squeezed through the unfinished broken door. At first, he couldn’t fit, so he adjusted his angle and managed to squeeze in after two tries.

The video had been taken by a paparazzo following Qi Yi, hoping to catch some behind-the-scenes dirt. But he never expected to catch such a sensational scoop. Before 9 AM, the video was already edited and uploaded to Weibo with the caption:

“Shocking! 17-year-old prodigy AD secretly visits a rundown team base at dawn, suspected to be cutting ties with OT…”

Qi Yi had always been a free agent, and during the transfer window, he could leave OT at any time. Many teams were watching him closely, and fans were also trying to help recruit. So when there was the slightest movement, people immediately noticed.

And just as everyone was scrambling to win him over, the paparazzo dropped the video.

[???]

[Why is little cutie Qi Yi appearing in the middle of nowhere?]

[WTF, this is a team base?]

[Wait, this is a team? How can you tell? Why is the entrance so broken, damn…]

[Qi Yi why are you going to a place this rundown in the middle of the night! Blink twice if you’re being held hostage.]

[He doesn’t look kidnapped, more like he forced himself in…]

[RAG? It’s RAG again?]

[Who even is RAG? Someone tell me please, I’ve never heard of them.]

[Isn’t RAG the team Fang Zhixu signed with?]

[WTF, what kind of team is this?]

[AHHH who are they! How can they sign two top-tier players?!]

[Wait wasn’t this also Xu Yibo’s new team?]

[WHAT?? THEY SIGNED HIM TOO??]

[Omg, this is the team??]

[Holy hell, this team is about to blow up.]

Bai Yu watched the video with a hollow heart.

Great. Now the entire world knows that RAG is a rundown team.

Zhou Xunwen had also woken up late today. He rushed into the training room holding his phone. “Bai Yu! Have you seen Qi Yi’s video? When was that taken?”

Then he looked up and saw Qi Yi surrounded by everyone, raising his hand timidly. Zhou Xunwen said, “Oh… So it’s from today. No wonder the group chat was blowing up this morning and I didn’t know what was going on…”

He showed Bai Yu the messages. The groupchat was full of @ mentions:

[@Zhou Xunwen WTF! Signing Fang Zhixu was one thing, now you’ve signed Qi Yi too??]

[Damn, you guys signed someone three top teams were fighting for?]

[Tch am I the only one who knows Bai Yu transferred Qi Yi to OT as a free agent? This is just him coming back.]

[Wait why didn’t Bai Yu send him to our team? I thought we were close?]

[Haha stop dreaming, does Bai Yu even know you?]

[YK’s gonna cry. They had been talking to OT and just waiting for Qi Yi to say yes.]

[WAIT WHAT? You signed that Qi Yi? The one I stayed up all night doing research on?? @Zhou Xunwen SEND ME RAG’S ADDRESS, I’M COMING TO KILL YOU.]

[It’s in the video lol. Just take a cab to XX Road South, walk in a bit, you’ll find it.]

[WTF @Zhou Xunwen, this is your base?? It’s so damn rundown. No door? For real??]

Zhou Xunwen kept muttering, “I saw the post early this morning and thought the officials had already announced it. Didn’t expect it this early…”

Bai Yu had had enough. All he wanted now was:

“Forget everything else. Go get someone to put up a damn front door immediately.”

The video stirred up a massive storm online.

The official transfer announcement dropped. OT’s official Weibo quickly issued a statement:

“We’ve had a great run with @Alata-Qi Yi. All good things come to an end. Wishing him the best in the future.”

They tagged RAG’s official Weibo.

With that, Qi Yi’s transfer to RAG was confirmed. Combined with Fang Zhixu’s earlier transfer, the entire esports world erupted.

[What do you mean a team with no front door signed both Fang Zhixu and Qi Yi??]

[Tell me who the hell is on this team!]

[Even the First Emperor couldn’t unify things this well.]

[Feels like they’ve been trafficked to Africa.]

[Sounds more like a cult than a team…]

[I’m losing it.]

[Sharp.]

[Accurate.]

[Help, this has to be a dream… someone wake me up.]

[AHHHHH TELL ME THIS ISN’T REAL!]

[It’s official. Qi Yi really signed.]

[This is a secondary league team??]

[???]

[This better be some abstract joke.]

[Well, I’m officially dead inside.]

[Guys, my soul just exploded into space.]

As the chaos snowballed, RAG’s dusty Weibo account finally woke up. Without even verifying their bluetick, they rushed to post a string of official announcements.

First thanking Zhang Peng, Dong Yuan, and Yang Kaiming.

Then things got crazy:

@xb-Xu Bo, @noway-Fang Zhixu, @Alata-Qi Yi — Thank you for being with us. Let’s walk this path together.

[WHAT? You also signed Xu Bo??]

[Wait, you got a two-time champion AD as a substitute??]

[Fang Zhixu, Qi Yi, Xu Bo… HOW MANY SURPRISES DO YOU STILL HAVE??]

[My entire worldview just collapsed.]

[This is a second-tier team?? I must still be dreaming.]

[Even LPL teams couldn’t build a roster like this!]

[Did some billionaire decide to invest?? How are they signing all these gods?]

[To the person above, no amount of money could get all three. At least not Qi Yi. He is the billionaire’s kid.]

[Stop. I can't take any more of this.]

[My limit has been reached.]

Then, just as people were barely processing the news, Chen Shi’an who hadn’t been online in ages suddenly logged in, liked every single RAG post, and commented:

@RAG Esports Official — 800-point King-ranked top laner requesting to join the roster~

Attached at the end was a screenshot of the ranking board. He had been grinding for 16 days straight, just managed to hit 800 LP, and barely landed at rank 200, scraping into Challenger and earning the badge.

[Wait, he hit Challenger in just two weeks?]

[He’s in this kind of shape, and you're telling me he’s been retired for two years?]

[God Shen, your solo queue climb is insane!]

[The real question is why he @RAG…]

[God Shen, you too?]

[You’re not seriously grinding just for RAG, are you?]

[Wait that RAG? That team??]

[What the actual fck?]

[Somebody tell me what's going on with this team! They don't even have a damn front door!!]

[Whose team is this??]

Bai Yu hadn’t expected the public opinion to snowball into an explosion like this. They had just made it through the promotion tournament. They didn’t even have a PR department. Hell, even the team’s official Weibo account was something Bai Yu created with a burner alt.

Zhou Xunwen’s phone was ringing nonstop, overheating from how many calls he had to take all day. When he finally caught a break, the guys in the group chat dragged him out to treat them to dinner and they specifically named Bai Yu to come along too.

Bai Yu couldn’t handle alcohol, so Zhou Xunwen turned them down on his behalf. But he couldn’t get out of it himself.

Those people were all wealthy or well-connected, not the sort you could afford to offend. Zhou Xunwen gritted his teeth like a martyr heading to execution: “Fine, let’s go. It’s just drinks, right? I’ve never lost to anyone when it comes to drinking!”

Bai Yu was worried he’d go too hard and actually drink himself into a hospital bed, so he quickly called Yang Dajun. Turned out he was free and agreed right away, which finally put Bai Yu at ease.

They left at 5 p.m., and it was already 10 p.m. with no sign of return. Bai Yu checked his phone just as a message came in from Yang Dajun: Captain Bai, we are done now.

He immediately got up to go pick them up.

After a bit of waiting with the car pulled up, he saw Yang Dajun supporting Zhou Xunwen as they came out. A few other people were leaving in pairs or small groups. When they saw Bai Yu, they even greeted him and told him he had to join next time for a drink.

Bai Yu wasn’t good in these kinds of social settings. He just smiled and nodded, politely replying, “Of course, of course.”

Yang Dajun helped Zhou Xunwen into the car and gave him a quick update: “He never really explained the whole stream-sniping thing before, and this time he just happened to walk right into it. But everyone let it go for me and Brother Dong’s sake. Old Zhou was generous too, opened a bunch of expensive bottles. People got tipsy, and no one brought it up again.”

In other words, the whole issue had officially been settled. Zhou Xunwen had turned the crisis into an opportunity and successfully broken into the circle.

Bai Yu smiled and said, “Thanks.”

Yang Dajun waved it off. “Nah, I didn’t do much. Honestly, they were more concerned about your face. If your team really makes it into the LPL in the future, we’re all going to be seeing each other a lot. Might even need your help.”

All circles were like this, realistic as hell. Only when you had the ability to stand at the top would others step aside for you.

Bai Yu nodded, showing he understood.

He leaned over to buckle Zhou Xunwen’s seatbelt, ready to drive them home. But then, suddenly, Zhou Xunwen snapped his eyes open. He wasn’t drunk at all. He’d been faking it the whole time, just observing his surroundings.

“Bai Yu, listen to me. I just heard something insane.”

“What is it?”

“You know why Lu Sheng didn’t play the points matches in NA?”

“Wasn’t it cause he came back to China on leave?”

“Nope.” Zhou Xunwen sat up with effort. “It’s cause he’s terminating his contract. The NA team didn’t agree at first, but he insisted, so they gave him two months off. Someone at the dinner table has connections over there, he told us straight-up. Said it’s very likely Lu Sheng’s planning to come back to develop his career in China…”

Bai Yu’s heartbeat skipped a beat. He forced himself to stay calm. “Did he say which team?”

Zhou Xunwen looked at him like he was hopeless. “Which team? What other team? Since he got back, where else has he been besides our team? Do you have any idea how nervous I was when they brought it up? I didn’t even dare to chime in…”

Seeing Bai Yu staying quiet, Zhou Xunwen added more fuel to the fire: “Since he got back, all he does is hang around our team. Never even visited another org. And Chu Tianyou’s got properties all over the place, but he just had to move into our team house. What else do you need to see? Bai Yu, are you hearing me?”

Bai Yu heard him but he just couldn’t make sense of it.

His heart was in chaos, thoughts tangled and messy, not knowing where to even start sorting them out. “But we’re just a T2 team…”

“So why would Lu Sheng be interested?”

“What do you think?”

“You’re seriously asking me? I think he’s trying to date you! Didn’t Yang Dajun already say he likes you? Probably still does…”

“Okay, stop. You don’t need to keep talking.”

Bai Yu quickly turned the car into a side road and parked. “You’re drunk. I’ll get you a bottle of sour plum juice to sober up.”

Zhou Xunwen looked like he wanted to crack Bai Yu’s head open. “I’m not drunk! The point isn’t sour plum juice. it’s that Lu Sheng wants to date you. Are you hearing me?! He wants to date you!”

Bai Yu walked faster and faster, nearly breaking into a run.

He reached the vending machine, panting heavily, trying to talk himself down: “No way. That’s way too ridiculous…”

Ten minutes later, he tossed a bottle of juice at Zhou Xunwen.

Zhou Xunwen opened his eyes, blinking. “Didn’t you say you were getting sour plum? Why is this mango juice?”

Bai Yu: “Same thing.”

Zhou Xunwen: “?"

"Don’t mess with me just cause I am drunk.”

—

Back at base, Zhou Xunwen couldn’t even keep his eyes open, still muttering nonstop: “That damn Lu Sheng, having impure thoughts about you. next time I see him, I’m beating the crap out of him…”

Bai Yu: “…”

Hope you’re this brave when you’re sober too.

After tossing Zhou Xunwen into bed, Bai Yu went back to his room but couldn’t sleep at all. He kept thinking about all the little things he’d intentionally ignored.

Actually, Yang Dajun had mentioned more than once that Lu Sheng liked him. After hearing it so many times, it started to feel like maybe something was there, and Bai Yu even began avoiding eye contact with him.

This time, Lu Sheng came back from overseas after three years. He was so unfamiliar, he felt even more distant than a stranger. Bai Yu had finally relaxed a bit… only for Zhou Xunwen’s words to throw everything back into disarray.

The more Bai Yu thought about it, the hotter he felt, and the harder it was to fall asleep.

He rested his head on his arm, thinking about the other person's cold eyes, and felt more and more like he was overthinking.

If he really liked him, would he look at him with those kinds of eyes? It felt more like he came back to China just to watch his joke, and the fact that he was now in North America was the best proof of that.

Just then, Lu Sheng suddenly sent him a message:

"Heard you signed a new jungler. Congrats."

Bai Yu instantly lifted his head. Now when he saw Lu Sheng's messages, he didn't even think they were passive-aggressive anymore. Instead, it felt weird like he was being seen through with the naked eye…

He probed with a reply:

"How’s it feel being back in NA? Are you keeping up with practice?"

Lu Sheng: "It’s okay."

"Okay"? So is that keeping up or not?

Bai Yu continued to test the waters:

"Will you be playing in the next match? I happen to be free, can watch it."

There was suddenly no reply.

After a long time, the "typing…" indicator appeared:

"I’ve got something to do. We’ll talk when I’m back."

Bai Yu completely lost sleep after that.

He kept opening his phone again and again. Still no reply.

He thought this person really was a liar. Said they’d talk when back—then what?

The next day Bai Yu got up late. He quickly threw on his coat and hurried downstairs.

As soon as he walked into the training department, the entire office blew up:

"WHAT! Lu Sheng terminated his contract and came back to China?!"

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