WCG Chapter 79

The next day, TLG had a match. Upon arriving at the competition venue, the TLG team waited in the lounge.

During the spring split regular season, the matches occurred roughly every three days. They had long been accustomed to the intertwined rhythm of scrims and official matches.

Today’s opponent wasn’t particularly strong. None of the team members felt much pressure as they sat on the sofa, looking up at the electronic screen broadcasting the live matches in the lounge.

The previous match featured ST’s team. As usual, ST played steadily, expanding their small advantages throughout the game and snowballing their economy to secure a 2-0 victory.

After it ended, Yuan Yang glanced at the leaderboard and said, “Last time, we beat Lion. That puts us slightly ahead of them in points, but we’re still neck-and-neck with ST.”

In other words, it was still uncertain who would claim the top spot in the regular season standings and enter the winner’s bracket.

As the players on-screen began the customary post-match handshake, Xie Xu retracted his gaze and said, “ST’s tactics have been changing recently. Rumor has it they brought in a Korean mid-laner two months ago, but he hasn’t played yet.”

“I’ve heard about that too,” Yuan Yang frowned. “The mid-laner’s playstyle is similar to Xiao Shi’s and doesn’t really fit ST’s team dynamic. Maybe that’s why they haven’t fielded him?”

Xie Xu shook his head. “Unlikely. If that were the case, they wouldn’t have spent nearly 10 million to sign him.”

Yuan Yang was enlightened. “You’re right.”

Hearing the mention of 10 million, Jiang Shi turned to Jiang Lele, who was playing with his phone across from him, and lowered his voice. “So, is his signing fee higher or yours?”

Jiang Lele, initially engrossed in happily browsing online, had his smile wiped off in an instant.

Jiang Shi quickly found the answer, which put his heart at ease. He pulled out a bottle of mineral water from his bag and took a sip.

Yuan Yang and Xie Xu continued discussing the Korean mid-laner on ST’s team, but Jiang Shi wasn’t interested in the topic. His eyes kept drifting toward the plate of candies on the table.

Earlier that morning, he had forgotten to grab snacks while fetching water, and now his mouth felt completely flavorless. However, the candy was right in front of Xie Xu.

Jiang Shi hesitated for a moment before suppressing his craving.

After realizing last night that Xie Xu was highly likely his long-lost online ex-boyfriend, Jiang Shi had spiraled into a mental breakdown, barely managing to get any sleep.

His mind kept replaying the things he’d said to distance himself from that online boyfriend, making him cringe so much that he wanted to die on the spot. He had even briefly considered escaping from the TLG base in the middle of the night.

But he couldn’t afford the contract termination fee and had nowhere to go. He could only stay with TLG and continue to sell himself.

After a long night of overthinking, Jiang Shi came up with a solution: play dumb.

For the next few days, he resolved to minimize contact with Xie Xu. Firstly, he needed time to calm down and avoid giving himself away. Secondly, he just couldn’t face him.

But now, Jiang Shi stared at the brightly colored candies on the table and couldn’t stop thinking about them.

The next second, a piece of corn-flavored candy appeared in front of him—handed over by Jiang Lele.

It was also his least favorite flavor.

While Jiang Shi was debating whether to feign gratitude for Jiang Lele’s thoughtfulness, Jiang Lele spoke up: “Your eyes are practically glued to that plate. If you want it, just take it! I checked it, they’re all sealed.”

With that, he helpfully dragged the entire plate of candies over from in front of Xie Xu and placed it next to Jiang Shi.

The sound of the plastic plate scraping against the table made a sharp noise, which successfully caught Xie Xu’s attention. He looked over at Jiang Shi, who couldn’t even muster the courage to meet his gaze.

Jiang Shi quickly picked out a piece of lemon mint candy, tore it open, popped it into his mouth, then lay down on the sofa and covered his face with a hat, pretending to sleep.

While his eyes were covered, his ears were still sharp.

“Captain, did you have a fight with T Bao?” Jiang Lele glanced at the weirdly withdrawn Jiang Shi with suspicion. “He hasn’t spoken to you at all today.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

He tossed the unopened corn-flavored candy in his hand at Jiang Lele.

Jiang Lele let out a dramatic “Ow!” and exclaimed, “Why are you attacking me, Little White Hair? If you two had a fight, I could help mediate!”

Jiang Shi pulled off his hat, glared at Jiang Lele, and said coldly, “We didn’t fight.”

After all, he had discovered absolutely nothing last night!

“Who are you trying to fool?” Jiang Lele pointed to the bottle of mineral water on the table. “If you didn’t fight, why didn’t you drink the captain’s honey water? You even went back to get this instead.”

Jiang Lele felt something was off.

Jiang Shi’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at Xie Xu’s thermos still sitting on the table. He forced himself to explain, “I’ve been feeling a little irritable lately, so I wanted something cold to cool down. Mind your own business.”

“Stop lying. If you didn’t fight, why didn’t you dare touch the candy in front of the captain? And look at this gap between you two on the sofa!”

Jiang Lele gestured to the space between Jiang Shi and Xie Xu. “I could literally squeeze in there.”

Zhao Jiu glanced at the space between them and said, “Well, the sofa is wide. It’s fine to sit like that, isn’t it?”

Zhao Jiu didn’t think the bot-lane duo had a fight.

But Jiang Lele seriously corrected him: “No, Jiu-ge, you’re wrong. Normally, Little White Hair would be practically sitting on the captain’s lap!”

Before he could finish, a pillow flew across the room and hit Jiang Lele square in the head.

Jiang Lele hugged the pillow and threw himself into Yu Hui’s embrace, whining, “Waa–h! Back, that Little White Hair wants to kill your precious mid-laner!”

Yu Hui, who was trying to catch up on sleep, was unceremoniously woken up. He pushed Jiang Lele ruthlessly. “Then die.”

Jiang Lele then began to bother Yu Hui even harder.

Jiang Shi thought the topic has finally changed, but Yuan Yang still held onto this.

The coach remembered something thanks to Jiang Lele’s antics. This matter gave him a bigger headance compared to ST’s mysterious mid-laner.

He glanced at Jiang Shi then at Xie Xu. “Why don’t you two tell me what’s going on?”

There must be something wrong about last night! Why the hell was Xie Xu putting his hand on Jiang Shi’s neck!

Still, as a grown adult, Yuan Yang knew about kinks and stuff, especially since he specially read some books regarding “love” lately.

Resolving this love trouble shouldn’t be that hard for a professional esports coach like him, right?

For a while, Jiang Shi didn’t understand the meaning of Yuan Yang’s scrutiny. Still, he could feel the coach’s troubled look, so he tried to explain himself. “Yang-ge, I really didn’t fight with the captain.”     

After that, he looked at Xie Xu with a wooden face, “Captain, you explain to them all.”

Without Xie Xu’s backing him up, these people wouldn’t believe him at all.     

Xie Xu leaned on the sofa and tilted his head to look at Jiang Shi. “What?”     

In return, Jiang Shi was stunned. He guessed that Xie Xu didn’t hear him clearly, so he inched closer and explained, “Yang-ge thought we fought yesterday.”

The gap between them was closed by Jiang Shi. Their arms loosely rubbed against each other. 

Xie Xu then clarified: “We didn’t fight, but I thought you were angry because I asked you to use Weibo less.”

Jiang Shi immediately denied, “How could that be!”

“I know you mean well, but I wanted to check the sales of TKI’s keyboards before. After all, it’s my first endorsement, so I’m a little anxious.”

Jiang Shi didn’t know if this explanation could fool Xie Xu. He stared at him quietly, but his ears became redder. Finally, he gave up and lowered his head to pretend to be dead.

Xie Xu could see Jiang Shi’s hand – it was gripping to the sofa – but said nothing. 

He knew that Jiang Shi tended to move a lot when he was nervous: be it clenching his fists, kicking his feet, licking his lips, or making small rustling noises.

He would also secretly look up to see Xie Xu’s reaction.

During a sneak peek, Xie Xu successfully caught his gaze and wanted to say something, but his eyes suddenly fell on Jiang Shi’s slightly wet lips, “Are you thirsty?”

Jiang Shi immediately pursed his lips to restrain his small movements. 

The next second, Xie Xu’s thermos cup was handed over.

Jiang Shi hesitated for three seconds before finally taking it. 

The cold mineral water made his teeth ache.

Yuan Yang was treated as air. He was absolutely clueless when looking at these two’s interactions. After a couple of minutes trying to analyze it with his theoretical knowledge, he came to the conclusion that—

Jiang Shi was playing hard to get.

He looked at Jiang Shi’s slightly red ears and decided to tear up those “love” books when he got home tonight.

“Forget it. I’ll go dig up some intel on ST.”  Yuan Yang decided he didn’t want to explore this play between a young couple. As long as they didn’t actually fight, it was fine.

As Yuan Yang left the room, silence settled, broken only by the faint sound of the television broadcast. 

The rest of the team members were either trying to sleep or playing with their phone.

Jiang Shi could vaguely make up the UI of Weibo on Xie Xu’s phone screen. His heart skipped a beat, and his body instinctively leaned closer to take a peek.

Coincidentally, Xie Xu shifted slightly, tilting his screen just enough for Jiang Shi to see. It was TKI’s official account, presumably tracking keyboard sales.  

“You don’t need to worry. The sales data on all platforms is good, and the feedback in the comments is positive,” Xie Xu said without looking up.  

Jiang Shi hummed in acknowledgment, finally relaxing. He leaned back against the sofa, intending to nap—only to collide with Xie Xu’s shoulder.  

Startled, he grabbed the thermos to stop it from falling, and Xie Xu steadied him.  

For a moment, Jiang Shi felt the warmth of Xie Xu’s breath near his ear.  

His hard candy cracked loudly between his teeth.  

It seemed he had fallen into Xie Xu’s arms.  

Before Jiang Shi could savor this sweet moment, he met Jiang Lele’s questioning gaze.

Jiang Lele seemed to say: ‘I knew that it would be like this.’

Jiang Shi: “…….”

He slowly shifted out of Xie Xu’s embrace, placed the thermos on the table, then pulled his hat lower and continued to isolate himself.  

However, he didn’t move too far away, his shoulder still leaned against Xie Xu’s.  

Xie Xu didn’t avoid it either, letting him stay close.  

---

Not long after that, the match quickly began. As expected, with a clear skill gap, TLG wrapped it up 2-0 with ease.  

After packing up their things, the group left the venue.  

Though it was already late, there were still plenty of fans waiting outside. As soon as Xie Xu stepped out, waves of screams erupted, with many shouting “Husband!”  

Jiang Shi glanced at the boisterous crowd of fans but said nothing.  

Jiang Lele nudged his shoulder with a grin. “Jealous?”  

Jiang Shi’s tone was calm. “No.”  

On the contrary, he wanted to join them.  

After realizing Xie Xu was the ex-boyfriend he had deleted, Jiang Shi had reflected on their relationship and concluded it might be more satisfying to just become Xie Xu’s fan and call him “husband” instead of feeling so guilty that a single glance made his palms sweat.  

Using the excuse of signing autographs for fans, he slipped away to the other side.  

It was said that TKI had invested heavily in promotion this time. Their keyboard ads were playing everywhere, and earlier that day, Jiang Shi had even seen a large screen in the city center featuring his and Xie Xu’s faces together.  

They are both handsome and well-matched.  

With this level of marketing, Jiang Shi had gained a number of new fans who admired his looks. While his following was nowhere near Xie Xu’s, a decent number of fans were still waiting for him outside the venue late at night.  

Jiang Shi signed autographs for his fans while Xie Xu waited not far away. When the time seemed right, Xie Xu took the initiative to call it off and led Jiang Shi away.  

As the two of them walked toward the car, just as they were about to get in, amidst the shouts of “Husband!” from Xie Xu’s many girlfriend fans, a sharp female voice suddenly rang out:  

“Time, go to hell!”  

The shout was buried among the crowd of fans calling out to their “husband,” making it not very noticeable.  

With one foot already in the car, Jiang Shi turned back in confusion.  

He thought he’d just heard his name.  

Standing behind him, Xie Xu said in his usual tone, “Get in the car.”  

Jiang Shi, ever obedient to Xie Xu, didn’t think much of it and got into the car to take his seat.  

Five minutes later, Yuan Yang and Xie Xu boarded the car.  

Yuan Yang said in a low voice, “There were too many people. Couldn’t find out who it was.”  

Xie Xu hummed in acknowledgment and glanced back at the crowd. “Was the security line too loose tonight?”  

Yuan Yang explained, “It’s our last match. By the time it ended, it was almost 10 PM., and there were fewer fans. Security might’ve gotten lax. I’ll remind them next time.”  

“Should we tell Time to be more cautious?”  

Xie Xu paused his steps slightly. “No need. I’ll stick with him.”  

Since Jiang Shi started his professional career, he had only ever encountered kindness from fans. There was no need to let something like this ruin his mood.  

Yuan Yang dropped the subject once they were in the car.  

The group returned to their base, and as they passed the security post, a guard suddenly called out to Jiang Shi.  

“About an hour ago, a middle-aged man was loitering around the entrance, claiming to be your fan and wanting to go in and look around,” the guard said.  

Zhao Jiu was a bit surprised. “I always thought only the captain’s fans would try to sneak in. Didn’t expect Jiang Shi to have one too.”  

Looks like that keyboard ad campaign was quite effective.  

Jiang Lele retorted, “Jiu-ge, crazy fans like this are nothing to celebrate.”  

“As T Bao’s fans, we all unanimously agree not to interfere with T Bao’s private life. We just focus on his streams and matches, and we support him by buying his merch.”  

Jiang Shi’s fans might have sharp tongues online, but they were consistent in this principle.  

Jiang Lele turned to the guard, puzzled. “Are you sure this person is really T Bao’s fan?”  

The guard replied, “I’m not sure. He kept looking inside the base, seemed suspicious, so I didn’t let him stay long.”  

Hearing this, Xie Xu commented, “If he’s a fan, he’d know Time had a match tonight.”  

Jiang Shi immediately agreed. “Then he’s a fraud.”  

Xie Xu glanced at Jiang Shi, amused, but quickly turned to instruct the guard. “The base doesn’t allow fan visits or the acceptance of any personal gifts. Just explain and ask them to leave.”  

The guard responded with a nod.  

But the next day, Jiang Shi still received a call from security.  

“Jiang Shi, that middle-aged man is back.”  

Jiang Shi was in the middle of a team fight. Without much thought, he casually replied, “Isn’t he a fraud?”  

The guard hesitated, looking at the smiling middle-aged man in front of him. “He says he’s your father.”