Once the camera shifted away, Yuan Yang took a step back, preparing to give the audience a professional commentary. But as soon as he focused, he froze.
Physically froze — his eyeballs didn’t even move.
The training room fell silent, leaving only the relentless clicking of Jiang Shi’s mouse.
In these short ten-odd seconds, Yuan Yang had already mapped out his retirement plan after resigning as TLG’s coach.
Because there was absolutely no way he could manage this team!
Meanwhile, the official livestream chat was in chaos.
[I’m seriously dying of laughter.]
[This kid even took a bite out of Xu’s lips! Was he really that hungry?]
[Why does this idiot always have such unique ways of self-destructing?]
[Hahaha, my toes are curling from secondhand embarrassment.]
[T Bao’s ears are so red like they’re bleeding. He’s about to explode.]
[Didn’t this kid swear on his life just this afternoon?]
[He said Xu’s lips were scratched by Xiao Hei’s paws.]
[No believing in rumors, no spreading rumors!]
[I’m making a GIF of his previous livestream denial and this moment side by side.]
[You guys are too mean, hahaha…]
Thankfully, Yuan Yang still had a shred of sympathy for Jiang Shi. He forced a grin at the camera.
“Our Time is still as humorous as ever, haha.”
His laugh was bone dry.
After saying that, he manually turned the camera away, directing it toward the most well-behaved team member, Zhao Jiu.
This time, he checked in advance — Zhao Jiu was actually playing the game properly.
In the end, the championship team’s exclusive livestream privilege turned into watching Zhao Jiu’s intense top-lane 1v1 duel for over ten minutes, accompanied by a virtual fireworks display.
That was the fans’ wedding gift money for Jiang Shi.
Once the interview ended, Yuan Yang escorted the staff out. The moment the outsiders left, the previously quiet training room was filled with three pairs of eyes shifting toward Jiang Shi and Xie Xu.
Questioning, shocked, accusatory— each expression was more dramatic than the last.
Zhao Jiu cautiously asked, “So? Xiao Shi, whose lips did you bite when you were a child?”
He had been focused on training the whole time and had no idea Xie Xu’s lips were injured.
But as soon as he asked, Yu Hui and Jiang Lele both paused and subtly stepped back, leaving Zhao Jiu to face Jiang Shi and Xie Xu directly.
Then, Zhao Jiu finally noticed Xie Xu’s clearly injured lips.
His eyes widened. “Captain? You…?”
His words stumbled as he processed the shock.
Jiang Shi clutched the edge of his chair, his ears burning red, completely silent.
He hadn’t wanted to expose their relationship in such an embarrassing way either!
Even Yu Hui, who usually stayed out of drama, couldn’t help but comment. “No wonder Captain had coffee with me this morning to stay awake. You guys were up late last night…”
Jiang Shi’s brain buzzed. He shot his head up and quickly clarified, “We didn’t do anything!”
Yu Hui: “…”
“I wasn’t even implying that. I just meant you guys were up for a long time—”
Jiang Shi, who had once again blurted out too much: “…”
He wanted to die.
He even heard Xie Xu let out a quiet chuckle next to him.
Jiang Shi opened his mouth, struggling to explain. “Actually, I can explain—”
His mind raced between various excuses: Xie Xu let him bite because his mouth hurt, biting each other was normal between brothers, or maybe he was just drunk and starving and mistook Xie Xu’s lips for jelly…
Before he could settle on the least humiliating one, Jiang Lele raised a hand to stop him.
“Enough. I don’t want to hear you make stuff up this time.”
Jiang Lele looked at Jiang Shi in disdain. “You only admit things when you’re backed into a corner.”
Then, before Jiang Shi could react, Jiang Lele whipped out a jump rope from god knows where and tied him to the chair.
His movements were unusually swift. Jiang Shi didn’t even have time to resist.
“I just bought this to lose weight before Worlds, but I guess it’s getting used on you first.”
After saying that, he swiftly shoved a solid bun into Jiang Shi’s mouth to prevent him from talking back.
Meanwhile, Xie Xu had a sleepy Xiao Hei resting on him, effectively sealing him in place.
Jiang Lele, playing the role of lead interrogator, didn’t even look at Jiang Shi, the struggling dead duck. Instead, he turned to Xie Xu with a serious expression.
“Alright, Captain. When did you two start dating?”
They were already at the lip-biting stage—this definitely wasn’t recent.
Honestly, given how close they always were, Jiang Lele wouldn’t be surprised if they had been together since joining the team.
Jiang Shi, still chewing the bun, paused when he heard Xie Xu respond.
“March 25th, around 11:30 PM.”
The absurd level of detail instantly drew everyone’s attention, including Jiang Shi’s.
He blinked, mouth full of bread, looking a little lost.
He confessed just like that?
Zhao Jiu thought back to that date and suddenly realized, “Wait, wasn’t that the night we secured first place in the Spring Split regular season? The match against ST?”
His tone carried a bit of excitement, as if dating after a victory was the most logical thing ever.
But Jiang Lele had another revelation. He whipped around to stare at Jiang Shi in outrage. “So I did hear someone opening and closing the door that night! And talking! I wasn’t imagining it!”
This Little White Hair liar had told him he was just getting water. Since when did people talk to water?!
And Xie Xu had even helped cover for him!
“Not just that!” Jiang Lele’s voice rose. “You guys said at lunch that the scratch on your lips was from Xiao Hei!”
Zhao Jiu finally couldn’t hold it in and let out a snort of laughter. “Lele, you’ve worked hard.”
That feeling of being this close to the truth but never quite getting there — it must have been killing Jiang Lele, given how nosy he was.
The more Jiang Lele thought about it, the more frustrated he got. Just as he was about to stuff an even bigger bun into Jiang Shi’s mouth, the door to the training room swung open.
Yuan Yang walked in, took one look at the scene, and let out a short laugh before flicking Jiang Lele on the forehead. Then, naturally, he flicked Jiang Shi’s forehead too.
Two crisp “pang” sounds echoed.
Jiang Shi and Jiang Lele both rubbed their now-reddened foreheads but didn’t dare complain.
Yuan Yang snapped, “All of you, go stand against the wall!”
And so, the entire team lined up in a row for punishment.
“Jiang Lele, who was the one who told me he’d be the first on camera for the interview today?” Yuan Yang gritted his teeth. “And then you just sat there playing Spider Solitaire?!”
Jiang Lele tried to explain, “Actually, before you came, I was queuing in ranked. Ask Back…”
Yu Hui opened his mouth to confirm but was instantly shut down by Yuan Yang’s glare.
“Try helping him cheat again, I dare you.”
Yu Hui hesitated, then changed his tune. “I was going to say, he was actually playing Candy Crush on his phone, not training.”
Jiang Lele elbowed him. “Traitor!”
Yuan Yang roared, “No talking! Stand up straight!”
Jiang Lele instantly straightened up.
Yuan Yang then turned to the most troublesome two, sighed, and rubbed his temples.
“Jiang Shi, what did you do wrong?”
Jiang Shi blinked innocently. Then, under Yuan Yang’s glare, he quickly admitted, “I shouldn’t have searched weird things on the training room computer.”
He really should’ve used his phone!
“Don’t think that I don’t know what you are thinking!” If Yuan Yang had a beard, it would probably be all frazzled right now. “You are wrong to announce that way. I asked Xu before whether we should prepare to properly announce your relationship, but Xie Xu said you didn’t want to!”
Now it was announced in such an outrageous way. Yuan Yang didn’t dare to see what kind of bloody storm it was on the internet.
As Yuan Yang continued his scolding, his mobile phone rang. It was from Little Bear TV’s staff, telling him the fans’ donation from that livestream.
Yuan Yang was standing in front of Jiang Shi, and Jiang Shi also saw the conversation between the two.
Jiang Shi’s eyes lit up obviously.
Yuan Yang transferred the money to Jiang Shi and continued to scold him, “After all, you are the one who won the championship and got the FMVP, can you have some ambition!”
Jiang Shi pursed his lips in grievance.
Who would complain about having too much money!
“Alright.” Xie Xu leaned against the wall and interrupted Yuan Yang, “It’s not a big deal.”
Yuan Yang: “…”
He subconsciously wanted to give Xie Xu a slap on the head, but when he raised his hand, he looked at Xie Xu’s face and put it down, “It’s not a big deal? Then tell me, what should I do about the livestream of you and Jiang Shi kissing each other?”
“Yang-ge, there’s no kissing in the livestream—” Jiang Shi corrected him in a low voice, his ears still crimson, “It’s just the search record.”
Yuan Yang’s heart felt stuffy, “I mean that people know you are dating!”
Although everyone had joked about TLG’s bot lane duo dating before, that doesn’t mean the public would really support them if they end up really dating.
Xie Xu asked him back, “The league doesn’t allow players to date?”
“No.”
“Are homosexuals prohibited from playing in the game?”
Yuan Yang paused, “No.”
Xie Xu opened Jiang Shi’s tightly clenched fist little by little, held it, and hid it behind his back, his face still calm. “Then there is no problem, I can guarantee that dating Jiang Shi will not affect the game operation.”
The finals proved this.
Yuan Yang became speechless.
After a brief silence, he finally said his biggest concern: “What about your fans? Are you really not afraid of a large number of your fans leaving, and you no longer getting endorsements?”
“Even if you don’t care, what about Jiang Shi? His career has just started, and he is in the limelight. There are already several brands that want to cooperate with him. If your relationship brings negative effects, these endorsements will be ruined.”
Then, it was Xie Xu’s turn to be silent.
They are beyond that so don’t worry