Fang Zhixu remained composed under Bai Yu's gaze, showing no signs of panic. Instead, he grew more confident as the game went on.
During the final team fight, his hand speed improved significantly. He caught the opponents off guard and secured the win.
He glanced back quietly, hoping for praise from Bai Yu.
But Bai Yu wasn’t looking at him. He had turned to Lu Sheng and asked with concern, "Is the keyboard still working well for you?"
Lu Sheng replied, "Mm." To show off in front of Bai Yu, he performed a difficult maneuver, prompting the jungler to type "6" in admiration.
Bai Yu chuckled and looked back, just in time to meet Fang Zhixu’s gaze.
The moment their eyes met, Fang Zhixu's expression brightened. He pretended to be innocent and gave Bai Yu a sweet smile. "Captain, I think my hand speed has improved a lot lately."
Bai Yu had seen his training data. Among the team, Fang Zhixu had made the most progress. Lin Kun's arrival had made him feel pressured, but it also pushed him to grow. What others might find suffocating, Fang Zhixu used as motivation.
Surprisingly, Bai Yu didn’t compliment him. He simply responded, "Mm."
The unexpected reaction startled Fang Zhixu. As he returned to the game, his mind wandered. The hand speed he had just regained quickly declined.
Bai Yu remained behind him, silently observing.
Fang Zhixu couldn't help but overthink. Was it something Lin Kun had said to Bai Yu? Distracted, he reacted late in the next team fight, and the game turned against them.
The training room was quiet except for the sound of keyboards and team communication. Chen Shi'an finished first. After waiting for Qi Yi, the two left together.
Then Lu Sheng finished. Though he trained the most, he always completed his sessions early.
Bai Yu glanced at him. "Go get some rest."
Hearing that reminded Lu Sheng of the kiss earlier in the day. He wasn’t happy about it and responded irritably, "Got it."
After Lu Sheng left, Xu Bo also finished but didn’t leave. It seemed like he was trying to compete with Fang Zhixu. Both had finished training, yet neither moved.
Bai Yu saw off Song Bo and then talked with Lin Kun for a long time.
After checking the time, Bai Yu walked over to Xu Bo and said something quietly. Xu Bo nodded, packed up, and left.
Only Fang Zhixu, Bai Yu, and Lin Kun remained.
Fang Zhixu sensed he was being kept back for a conversation. He hesitated, then shut down his computer. He wasn’t afraid of Bai Yu, but with Lin Kun there too, the pressure was intense.
He glanced at Lin Kun, who was reviewing data silently. Even so, Fang Zhixu felt a heavy presence and lowered his voice. "Coach Lin, did I do something wrong? Is there something you need to tell me?"
Lin Kun looked up, but turned to Bai Yu. "Your captain has something to say to you."
He then picked up the data sheets and left, giving them space.
Fang Zhixu let out a small sigh of relief. If it was just Bai Yu, he didn’t need to feel so tense. "Captain, is something wrong?"
Bai Yu nodded. He had something to say, but had been unsure how to start. So he suggested, "Want to go for a walk downstairs?"
Downstairs was quiet. No staff were around.
Bai Yu deliberately chose a well-lit path. After walking for a while, he finally spoke. "I’ve looked at your recent data. You’ve improved significantly. You're always the first to submit your weekly evaluations. Even Chen Shi'an is sometimes late, but you're always on time. That’s good. Still, I’m concerned. It's been a while since you’ve played at your peak hand speed. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it."
Those peak performances only happened when Fang Zhixu was exceptionally focused. Training matches didn’t have the same atmosphere.
Fang Zhixu looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry. I just can’t seem to get into that mindset again."
Bai Yu didn’t press further, but he wanted to express his concerns. "Before Lin Kun joined, he predicted our chances of winning the finals against TIN were only thirty-five percent. He said for us to raise it above fifty, at least two out of three things needed to happen: Lu Sheng has a breakthrough, you overperform, and Qi Yi reaches full potential. Qi Yi is improving steadily, but not fast enough. You and Lu Sheng have shown clear progress, but both of you still seem stuck. So I’ve been wondering what's holding you back. I want to help you two figure that out."
Fang Zhixu hesitated, then softly said, "I don’t think I have any issues."
Even as he spoke, he avoided Bai Yu’s gaze. "Captain, I’m not sure what you mean."
The streetlight lit up his face. Even when he lied, his eyes didn’t show it. That made him hard to read.
Bai Yu had seen this side of him before. As frustrating as it was, he still chose to trust him one more time. "Fang Zhixu, when you joined the team, I had Zhou Xunwen do a background check. At first, he didn’t find anything. But something felt off, so I asked him to visit your home."
Fang Zhixu’s calm expression cracked slightly. His eyelashes trembled. "Captain..."
Bai Yu furrowed his brows but kept his voice calm. "Your father is a gambler. When he’s out of money, he causes trouble. He showed up at both TG and TIN. I covered for you when it happened at TG. But at TIN, no one helped you. Things got out of control. He injured the manager who got you into TIN. That manager came from a powerful family and exposed your father's record. He wasn’t in jail long, but the day he got out, he went after Manager Sun again. He broke into his home and assaulted him. It was serious and led to a five-year sentence."
It all seemed clear enough.
But the day Fang Zhixu’s father was confirmed to be sentenced, he created a fake account and started contacting RAG staff. The timing was suspicious.
Bai Yu continued, "Only you visited him in prison. You were close with Manager Sun and had been to his house. Maybe it’s all a coincidence. But after you left TIN, you never contacted him again. It doesn’t seem like you were actually that close."
Fang Zhixu clenched his fists but slowly released them under Bai Yu’s gaze. "Captain, I’m being honest. Please don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not what you think."
Seeing him finally open up, Bai Yu nodded. "Then tell me."
Fang Zhixu began walking slowly as he talked. He explained how he’d trained on an alternate account and encountered Sun Zheng, who was eager to make a name for himself. When Sun learned Fang was a TG trainee and Bai Yu’s chosen starting jungler, he tried hard to recruit him.
"His offer was generous, but I wasn’t interested. I was still a minor, and my father controlled my income and used it for gambling. I just wanted to focus on TG. But Sun Zheng found my father. My dad got excited by the money and signed a five-year contract on my behalf. Technically, I didn’t have to honor it. I wanted to take it to court, but then my dad said something."
Fang Zhixu clasped his hands tightly. Bai Yu had never seen him so distressed. "He asked if I stayed at TG because of you. Then he threatened me. He said if I didn’t go to TIN, he’d hurt you. Even if he couldn’t kill you, he’d ruin your career. I was... I was furious."
Back then, Bai Yu was a legend in the esports world. No one could measure his value. But that man wanted to destroy him over money?
Fang Zhixu’s hands trembled. "I warned him. But thinking back, he couldn’t have come up with that idea on his own. Sun Zheng must have told him."
"My dad is disgusting. Once he’s on you, you can’t shake him off. If he insisted on destroying himself, I let him. I signed with TIN, opened two accounts. One had only my base salary, which I gave him. It wasn’t enough. When he couldn’t find me, he went after Sun Zheng. After several confrontations, Sun got fed up and had him arrested. But since I was close to Sun then, he let it go. Eventually, he paid him off. My dad got used to it and blackmailed him for five years. I behaved in the team, so Sun tolerated it. When he found out I wouldn’t renew my contract, he refused to keep paying. My dad lost control and injured him. Sun had him arrested. After he got out, the chaos continued."
So his father wasn’t jailed only for breaking and entering. He had also committed extortion.
Bai Yu was shaken. "You didn’t give Sun Zheng’s address to him?"
Fang Zhixu nodded. "He followed him on his own. But honestly, even if he hadn’t..."
He looked up at Bai Yu, finally dropping his guard. His eyes were dark and serious. "I probably would’ve told him. That was how I truly felt back then."
His hands clenched again.
He had grown up in filth. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep it off him. People who once promised to save him always backed away when they saw who he really was.
He hadn’t planned to tell Bai Yu any of this. He was afraid Bai Yu would leave too. But something drove him to say it all.
He wanted to see how Bai Yu would react to the truth.