WCG Chapter 70.1

With these 4 bonus uploads, I’m done from my current queue~ Once again, thank you all for donating and supporting me! It’s truly a charcoal during snowy nights, esp since dollar is very strong compared to my country’s currency!

After the New Year, TLG resumed its regular training schedule. Most mornings, Jiang Shi would open his eyes to find Yuan Yang’s messages in the group chat about review meetings as soon as he opened his eyes.  

Their next match was against the Lion team. Although their previous scrims were carefully guarded by both sides, there had been no practice matches after the holidays. As such, no one could predict the outcome of their upcoming match.  

Under such high-pressure training, Jiang Shi hardly had any time alone with Xie Xu, nor any opportunity to ask whether Xie Xu had made up his mind. 

Jiang Shi didn’t push for it either. After all, Xie Xu wasn’t going anywhere.  

The day before their match with Lion, Jiang Shi was still in a deep sleep at 8 AM. when Yuan Yang knocked on his door.  

“Xiao Shi, get up! I almost forgot, you and Xu have a photoshoot today for TKI’s keyboard endorsement!”  

Jiang Shi groaned, pulling the blanket over his head to block out the noise. 

He had been up until 5 AM practicing.  

No matter how strong his mechanics were, he couldn’t make up for his shorter time with the team. His synergy with his teammates wasn’t as natural as someone like Jiang Lele’s.  

In their previous scrims, they had lost games where Lion exploited weaknesses in the bottom lane. 

In other words, Lion saw him as TLG’s weak point.

He was painfully aware of this.

To address this, Jiang Shi had been training harder than anyone else, putting in two extra hours daily. During the day, he would practice synergy and tactics with his teammates, while at night, he worked alone to hone his mechanics. He wouldn’t stop until Xie Xu came to drag him to bed.  

Now, he could barely get out of bed.  

Yuan Yang knocked a few more times before stopping. Muffled voices came from outside.  

“Xu, you’re already up? I was about to call you.”  

“Xiao Shi seems completely out cold.”  

Jiang Shi: “…”  

After a mental battle, the thought of not making Xie Xu wait won out.  

Ten minutes later, Jiang Shi emerged, draped in a long down jacket. A scarf covered most of his face, and his half-lidded eyes revealed no trace of excitement about the photoshoot. “I’m ready,” he muttered, yawning as tears welled up in his eyes from exhaustion.  

Yuan Yang: “?”  

He couldn’t help but compare this to Jiang Lele’s first endorsement shoot—how he had been so excited he couldn’t sleep, woke up early to spend half an hour picking out an outfit, and practically sparkled with enthusiasm.  

But Jiang Shi…  

Yuan Yang stared at Jiang Shi’s unkempt, grayish bedhead and finally said, “At least fix your hair a bit, Xiao Shi.”

Many of the TKI staff are big esports fans.

Jiang Shi half-heartedly ruffled his hair, then looked at Yuan Yang.  

Bedhead turned into a bird’s nest. Yuan Yang was speechless. “Forget it.”

Anyway, there’s a hairstylist there to handle this matter.

The three of them got in the car, with Yuan Yang taking the front seat while Jiang Shi and Xie Xu sat in the back. Jiang Shi, forgetting his hat, pulled his scarf up to cover his entire face as soon as he got in.  

Yuan Yang turned to remind Jiang Shi about the shoot, only to see him completely swaddled in the scarf. “Can you even breathe like that, Xiao Shi?” he asked.  

Jiang Shi responded with a muffled sound, pulling the scarf apart slightly to create a small gap.  

Yuan Yang couldn’t help laughing. “Fine, just sleep if you want.”  

His gaze lingered for a moment on the embroidered “Xu” on Jiang Shi’s scarf before he quickly looked away, pretending not to notice.  

The car jostled over a speed bump, and Jiang Shi’s head lolled to the side. As it was about to fall again, a steady hand caught it and gently nudged it toward a shoulder.  

Jiang Shi’s head ended up resting on Xie Xu’s shoulder.  

Xie Xu adjusted his posture and closed his eyes again. A few minutes later, though, he felt someone touch the back of his hand.  

Once, twice, three times.  

It felt like someone was checking if he was asleep.  

Xie Xu didn’t move, and soon Jiang Shi’s fingers curled around his hand, lightly brushing against the small mole on the inside of his index finger.  

Xie Xu: “…”  

This hobby of Jiang Shi is quite unique. 

With their hands intertwined and the weight on his shoulder settling down, Xie Xu listened to Jiang Shi’s even breathing as he drifted back to sleep.  

When they were almost at TKI, Yuan Yang suddenly remembered something. “Xu, I’ll talk to TKI’s manager about Back’s headset endorsement later. You and Xiao Shi can start the shoot first. I’ll join you when I’m done—”  

He stopped mid-sentence, blinking at the scene before him.  

When did these two end up cuddling?  

Yuan Yang’s eyelid twitched at the sight of Jiang Shi nearly nestled in Xie Xu’s arms, their hands still clasped together.  

His inner voice screamed–

 ‘Are they really not together?!’

Noticing Yuan Yang’s gaze, Xie Xu met his eyes calmly.  

Before Yuan Yang could say anything, the car stopped.

They had arrived at TKI’s headquarters.  

Jiang Shi stirred awake, sat up, and groggily pulled his scarf down from his face, re-wrapping it around his neck. Looking up, he saw Yuan Yang and Xie Xu both staring at him.  

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Shi asked in confusion. “Aren’t we getting out?”  

He had already seen the company logo.  

Jiang Shi’s natural demeanor left Yuan Yang unsure about their relationship status. Swallowing his questions, he exited the car.  

After the others left, Jiang Shi turned to Xie Xu, tugged on Xie Xu’s slightly crooked collar, and murmured, “Thanks for letting me borrow your shoulder, Captain.”  

At least he wasn’t as sleepy anymore.  

Xie Xu nodded, his gaze lingering briefly on Jiang Shi’s face.  

Sensing the attention, Jiang Shi rubbed his face self-consciously. 

Is there something on his face?

Xie Xu reached out and brushed his thumb across Jiang Shi’s cheek. “There’s a mark.”  

Next time, he wouldn’t wear this coat when going out.  

Jiang Shi stared at Xie Xu, stunned, his face gradually turning red. The recent intense training had left him touch-starved, making Xie Xu’s light touch feel electrifying.  

He tried to act nonchalant, rubbing at the mark on his cheek. “Is it better now?”  

Xie Xu hummed in agreement.  

Hard to tell—it was too red to see.  

Jiang Shi’s fist tightened instantly.  

After getting off the car, Yuan Yang went to find the person in charge, while Xie Xu took Jiang Shi to the venue. 

The two were led to the dressing room by the staff.

Along the way, many people asked Xie Xu for autographs, and Xie Xu did not refuse.

Jiang Shi stood next to Xie Xu, occasionally stretching his neck to look at Xie Xu’s signature and the words written for the fans. 

Most of the fans brought Xie Xu’s handsome photocard. Coupled with sharp and powerful signatures – also dashingly handsome – it made Jiang Shi a little moved.

Then, when he saw a girl holding a thick stack of TLG promotional photos and handing her the one for Jiang Shi to sign, Jiang Shi found an opportunity to whisper as he signed. “Do you still have Xie Xu’s promotional photocard? Can you give me one?”

 Among so many photos, they’re the best-looking. Xie Xu looked cold and abstinent, so alluring even at first sight. 

The girl was also a fan of Jiang Shi, and generously took out a photocard and gave it to him, “T Bao, jiayou in the next game! I bought a ticket for the live game!”

Jiang Shi hummed, put the photocard in his pocket, and quickened his pace to catch up with Xie Xu in front.

He’ll wait until they’re back at the base to ask Xie Xu to give him a one-of-a-kind autograph! 

During signing, Xie Xu suddenly gave a photo back to the fans, saying, “Sorry, I can’t sign this.”

Jiang Shi leaned over to take a look. Not only Xie Xu was in the photo, but also someone he was very familiar with — Lion’s jungler, Sun. 

In the photo, Sun was hugging Xie Xu’s shoulders and saying something, with a smile on his face, but Xie Xu didn’t have much expression.

 The words at the bottom were [Xu & Sun, a happy marriage].

Jiang Shi knew about this photo, as it was used as the background for the CP supertopic of Xu/Sun fans. 

He once asked Jiang Lele about this photo in a roundabout way. Jiang Lele said that they were just chatting, and Xie Xu quickly pulled Sun’s arm down. Someone took the photo and took it out of context.

TLG and Lion have played so many scrims. Every time Xie Xu and Sun would test each other’s tactics while chatting and laughing.

Jiang Shi no longer gets jealous of the two.

However, that photo still makes Jiang Shi feel a little uncomfortable.

The short-haired girl who wanted an autograph had a look of regret on her face. “Ah, okay then.”

After that, when Xie Xu turned around and walked forward, she secretly glared at Jiang Shi.

Jiang Shi was confused by this behavior.

Later, as the hairstylist worked on him, he saw this girl again.

Currently, there’s only Jiang Shi and the hairstylist in this dressing room. The hairstylist greeted this short-haired girl, saying, “Xiao Wen, you take care of Time’s makeup, I’ll move on to Xu’s hair.”

Jiang Shi had only put on makeup once, when he was taking TLG promotional photos. So, he didn’t know the makeup requirement for such an endorsement photoshoot; still, he felt that this Xiao Wen was too heavy-handed with him. When she was doing his eyes, he felt that she poked his eyeballs several times.

“Ah! Don’t move!”

With a cry of surprise, a long black line from the liquid eyeliner was smeared next to Jiang Shi’s eyes. 

Jiang Shi suppressed his anger, but still said, “Either I will go without makeup, or I’ll find someone else.” 

This girl was obviously tormenting him.

The short-haired girl looked irritated. “Time, can you cooperate? We don’t have much time here, what’s the point of you being so arrogant?” 

After saying that, she muttered, “This is the first time I’ve seen a player who is more difficult to serve than a celebrity.”

Jiang Shi’s fist hardened.

To be honest, he didn’t care much about this endorsement, but it was something Xie Xu had set aside specifically for him at some personal cost. He couldn’t mess it up over such a trivial matter.  

With a taut expression, Jiang Shi reached out and grabbed a few tissues from the table.  

When he raised his hand, the girl instinctively stepped back.  

Jiang Shi dabbed at the tears at the corners of his eyes with the tissues, glanced at the terrified girl in the mirror, and was about to threaten her to do a better job. But just then, Xie Xu’s voice came from the side.  

“Turn your face. Let me see.”  

Jiang Shi’s ire deflated instantly. He raised his hand to block his face. “It’s nothing. I’m just not used to it.”  

He looked terrible like this.  

“Wait until it’s done, I’ll give you—” Before he could finish, footsteps approached, and his hand was gently pulled away, his chin lifted.  

Xie Xu looked at Jiang Shi’s reddened eyes and the smudged eyeliner on his face. His expression visibly turned cold.  

Xie Xu rubbed Jiang Shi’s head, ignored the pale-faced Xiao Wen, and turned to Jiang Shi’s makeup artist. “Wang-jie, if your company lacks the sincerity to send experienced staff for our makeup, we might as well cancel the collaboration.”  

Wang-jie noticed Jiang Shi’s condition and exclaimed in shock, “Xiao Wen, what are you doing?”  

Xiao Wen protested, aggrieved, “He kept moving.”  

“I only care about the results,” Xie Xu said, casting a cold glance at Xiao Wen. “His eyes are this red. Even if he moved, it’s still your responsibility.”  

Hearing Xie Xu stand up for him, Jiang Shi pressed a hand to his mouth to cover the smile creeping onto his lips.  

The situation was resolved by Xiao Wen receiving a stern scolding and being replaced by a more experienced makeup artist for Jiang Shi.  

Because of this incident, during the endorsement shoot, the staff and photographers were surprisingly accommodating. Even though Jiang Shi was inexperienced, they patiently guided him through expressions and poses with a smile.