WCG Chapter 80

Jiang Shi paused suddenly, his hands still over the keyboard mid-skill command, the heat of the game slipping through his grasp. 

His character on the screen froze at a critical moment in the team fight, giving the enemy the perfect opportunity to kill him.  

His screen went pitch black. 

It took Jiang Shi a long moment to react after hanging up the phone. He pocketed his phone, turned off the screen, and stood.  

Jiang Lele returned from the restroom just in time to see Jiang Shi rising from his seat. “I’ve got something to deal with. Cover for me.”  

With that, he removed his headset and strode out of the training room.  

Jiang Lele stared at the computer screen, perplexed, and glanced at Xie Xu. “Little White Hair went crazy and just asked me to play Senna?”

He has no proficiency with this hero! 

But Xie Xu didn’t answer, getting up as well. “I’ll check on him.”  

---

At the gates of TLG’s headquarters, a scruffy middle-aged man was arguing with security.  

“I told you I’m that brat’s father! Why won’t you let me in?” the man barked angrily, his face twisted with frustration. “Aren’t you just a glorified doorman? Get off your high horse!”  

The security guard, tall and sturdy like a wall, blocked the entrance with an unyielding stance. “I’ve already notified Jiang Shi. Once he confirms your identity, we’ll let you in.”  

The man tried to shove past the guard but was pushed back several steps instead, clearly no match for the trained professional.  

Before he could start hurling insults again, he noticed a figure approaching from inside — a teenager with stark white hair, walking toward him with an icy glare, like an enemy he’d long hated.  

“Jiang Youcai, this isn’t where you belong. Get lost.”  

Jiang Youcai blinked, staring at the boy in disbelief. He looked him up and down several times.  

The figure before him was healthy, tall, and dressed casually in well-fitting, comfortable clothes — worlds apart from the scrawny child he remembered, wearing tattered winter jackets even in the coldest months. Even the shoes on his feet were expensive, clearly high-end.  

If it weren’t for the faint resemblance in his features, Jiang Youcai might not have recognized him as Jiang Shi.  

This brat was doing well for himself?  

Jiang Youcai suddenly felt emboldened and spat on the ground. “You little bastard, is this how you talk to your father? Now that you’re making money, you don’t respect me and tell me to scram?”  

As he finished, he reached out, trying to grab Jiang Shi’s phone, but the security guard intervened, shoving him away.  

The guard turned to Jiang Shi, hesitant. “Is this your father?”  

Jiang Shi answered without hesitation. “No. Just some stray dog barking on the roadside. Kick him out next time he shows up.”  

Jiang Youcai’s anger flared. Summoning strength from who knows where, he shoved the guard aside and swung a fist at Jiang Shi.  

But Jiang Shi wasn’t the malnourished child of the past. He caught the fist easily and shoved him backward.  

Not holding back, Jiang Shi sent the beer-bellied Jiang Youcai sprawling onto the ground with a thud. The man groaned in pain but kept cursing. “You worthless piece of trash! Hitting your old man? You bastard—”  

Jiang Shi glanced at him coldly, then grabbed the security baton from the guard’s station. He tapped it on the ground a few times, the sound sharp and deliberate.  

“Keep barking, and don’t blame me if I start swinging.”  

Jiang Youcai shut up instantly. He knew Jiang Shi wasn’t bluffing.  

This wasn’t their first fight. In the past, he’d relied on Jiang Shi’s smaller size to get the upper hand. But once Jiang Shi hit middle school, he started retaliating with whatever he could get his hands on.  

Jiang Shi slammed the baton down near Jiang Youcai’s feet, the loud bang making the man flinch.  

“Scram.”  

Jiang Youcai climbed to his feet, glancing warily at the baton and the ever-watchful security guard. Still, he didn’t leave without throwing a parting threat.  

“You just wait, Jiang Shi! If I could drag you out of a delivery station once, I can do it again!”  

He stumbled away, muttering curses under his breath, just as more TLG staff emerged from the base.  

Jiang Shi returned the baton to the guard, then turned to see Xie Xu standing by the gate, having witnessed everything.  

“Did you hit him?” Xie Xu asked calmly.  

“No,” Jiang Shi replied. “If I hit him, I’d get banned. I’m not about to cross that line.”  

He knew Jiang Youcai was the type to prey on the weak and back down when faced with real resistance. Intimidation had been enough to send him running.  

Xie Xu gave a small nod. “Next time, let the security handle it. They’re trained for this.”  

As players, they can’t fight, but the security guards can.

Jiang Shi tried to muster a smile, but it only resulted in a stiff twitch of his lips. “Got it.”  

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to the training room,” Jiang Shi said, pausing slightly. “Unless there’s something you want to ask?”  

After all, even the security guard had guessed that man was his father.  

“No.” Xie Xu reached out and gently ruffled Jiang Shi’s hair. “But you’d better take back Senna before Jiang Lele starts crying trying to play her.”  

Jiang Shi stood still, lowering his head, silently letting Xie Xu’s hand rest on his hair.  

When Xie Xu finally pulled back, Jiang Shi’s expression relaxed somewhat. “I’ll head back now before my teammates report me for feeding.”  

After Jiang Shi left, Xie Xu made his way to Yuan Yang’s office.  

Yuan Yang was reviewing footage of the ST team’s recent matches. Surprised by Xie Xu’s sudden appearance, he asked, “What’s up?”  

“I remember you mentioning that Jiang Shi worked at a delivery station before. His salary was cut?” 

“Oh, that.” Yuan Yang nodded, recalling. “He worked at several places, but he stuck with the last one for a while. He quit about a year ago.”  

“A year ago?” Xie Xu’s brows furrowed. “Do you have the exact timeline?”  

“Let me check. Jiang Shi told me everything honestly back then.” Yuan Yang searched through his files. “No exact date, but it was around last New Year’s.”  

Xie Xu’s expression darkened.  

That was the same time Jiang Shi had deleted him as a friend.  

Back then, Jiang Shi had been excited, eager to meet up for New Year’s and give him a gift. But suddenly, he disappeared without explanation.  

Since discovering that Jiang Shi was his former online boyfriend, Xie Xu had assumed Jiang Shi’s fickleness was to blame. That Jiang Shi had pursued him out of novelty, only to lose interest and leave.  

He even worried that Jiang Shi’s current enthusiasm would eventually fade, leaving him just as abruptly.  

Xie Xu wasn’t heartless.

Even the strong and steady Xie Xu would have moments of insecurity.

But he’d never considered that it might have had something to do with Jiang Shi’s family.  

—

Standing outside the training room, Xie Xu could hear the chaotic banter within.  

“Holy crap, T Bao, you actually carried this game? You’re the Senna king!” Jiang Lele’s voice was loud and exaggerated. “But why’d you go so hard? Did you feel bad about them calling me trash and want to avenge me?”  

A cold voice replied, “They weren’t wrong. What’s there to avenge?”  

“Ahhh! Little White Hair, I’ll strangle you to death!”  

The room erupted in playful chaos.  Xie Xu’s expression softened slightly. Instead of entering, he lingered for a moment before pulling out his phone and dialing a number.  

“This is Xu.”  

“Sorry to bother you, but I have a question.”  

It was half an hour later when Xie Xu finished the call. He stood on the balcony at the end of the hallway, a cigarette between his fingers.  

Since Jiang Shi had joined the team, Xie Xu had rarely smoked.  

The first drag burned his throat, the smoke acrid and sharp.  

The information from the call replayed in his mind:  

[Jiang Shi did worked at a delivery station. When his wages were withheld, he could only eat dry buns every day.]

[Even instant noodles were a luxury to him.]

[He hadn’t been an adult yet, and his father didn’t care about him. His life was incredibly tough.] 

[Later, a kind delivery station took him in. He worked days moving packages and spent nights live streaming or gaming to make ends meet.  His life became stable, but Jiang Youcai found him.]

[His father demanded money and even caused a brawl in an internet café, damaging equipment that needed compensation.]

[Jiang Youcai ran off after the fight, canceling their lease and leaving Jiang Shi, barely 18, to fend for himself.]

[Even Jiang Shi’s social accounts weren’t safe. His father tried to use his phone number to hijack them. Jiang Shi had to delete his contacts in a rush.]

[But this kid was still so stubborn. He knows he’s in a bad situation, but he keeps refusing to take my money no matter what. He only came to my house to eat when he was starving.]

The cigarettes hanging from Xie Xu’s finger almost dropped. Then, he bit it between his teeth, took a drag, then exhaled it all out. His face was trapped in the hazy smoke, blurring his expression.

After that conversation with Bamboo, he sent Xie Xu a photo.

[Bamboo: I took this when I was packing his luggage. It was proof of evidence that he didn’t take any of the landlord’s property.] 

In the photo, Jiang Shi was squatting in the corner, with a pile of messy luggage next to him.

Jiang Shi’s hair was still black, and he was rail-thin. He buried his head in his knees, looking lonely and desolate. 

When Jiang Youcai ran away, not only he canceled the lease, he also took away some of the landlord’s small appliances. So, when Jiang Shi went back, the landlord yelled at him for a long time, even throwing his luggage directly at him. 

Bamboo said that Jiang Shi squatted on the side of the road for a long time that day.

Xie Xu lowered his head.

The white light above his head fell on the mobile phone screen, and the contrast blinded him a little. 

But Xie Xu didn’t need to look, he could imagine what Jiang Shi looked like.

Jiang Shi squatting on the messy street, his body contorted into a small ball. Only half of his face was exposed, looking confused and lost. 

Xie Xu never thought that Jiang Shi – the mischievous, rambunctious, but good at acting well-behaved – would look like this in reality.

“If you agree to be my boyfriend, I will meet you in real life.”

“When we meet, I will give you a gift. What do you like?”

“I don’t know, maybe a snowman merch?”

“Okay, then when we meet, I will bring the snowman with me. If you see me, you must recognize me at first sight!”

In the photo, Xie Xu could see that the squatting Jiang Shi was actually holding something – a brand new and clean snowman plushie in his dirty hands.