In the chat, a particularly eye-catching, golden-glowing message appeared, signifying a professional player’s exclusive chat frame.
At the front, the message bore Jiang Lele’s professional ID.
Jiang Lele: “Shit, I forgot to use my alt account!”
Jiang Shi’s ears turned red, and his fists clenched.
He glanced around before asking Jiang Lele, “Where’s your jump rope?”
Jiang Lele grew wary. “Why?”
Jiang Shi: “So I can whip you with it.”
Terrified, Jiang Lele leaped from his chair straight into Yu Hui’s arms.
Yu Hui had been reading Jiang Lele’s message when the sudden impact made his hand tremble, accidentally giving the message a like.
But before Jiang Shi could tie him up, Xie Xu tapped his fingers on Jiang Shi’s desk, his tone carrying a hint of amusement. “You gonna answer?”
Jiang Shi blurted out, “Of course not! The stream would get banned!”
The chat exploded with question marks.
[Family members, who else understands the weight of that sentence?]
[What shameful things did you do! So it’s not just kissing, huh?]
[Let me guess, it couldn’t have been that, right? The finals just ended, and Little White Hair looks perfectly fine.]
[Could it be what I’m thinking? Baby, your jokes weren’t for nothing~]
[Was it with his legs or his mouth?]
Seeing the chat, Jiang Shi’s face turned scarlet. “Can you guys have some shame?!”
It was just hands!
Hearing Jiang Shi’s flustered voice, Xie Xu pressed down the corners of his lips, suppressing a smile. “Don’t let your imaginations run wild.”
“As for the previous question, it’s private, so I won’t answer.”
Even the haters in the chat were overwhelmed by Jiang Shi’s fanbase, completely drowned out. Their messages didn’t even get noticed.
Xie Xu picked a few non-pornographic questions to answer, like when they got together, how it felt to hold hands, and how Time was comforted when upset.
For the last question, he replied, “Time rarely gets mad at me.”
He just sulks and gets jealous.
[Who asked this? Must be new, right?]
[T Bao must be very obedient to Xu. No way he can be angry at him!]
[And Xu is so scheming. Little White Hair wouldn’t stand a chance. No doubt he’s completely eaten to the marrow.]
[We all saw it coming.]
After a short Q&A, it was getting late, so Xie Xu ended the stream.
Once it was over, Yuan Yang checked the team members’ follower counts and the discussions on Weibo, finally feeling at ease.
Xie Xu lost a few followers, but Jiang Shi gained some, balancing it out. The rest of the team also saw some growth.
Meanwhile, on Weibo, there were quite a few trending topics about TLG:
#TLG bot duo biting lips#
#Xu and Time holding hands to announce their relationship on stream#
#Time personally admits to doing many things with Xu that would get the stream banned#
#Time’s dad-fans completely crush the anti-fans#
Yuan Yang suspected that the last one was started by their own fans.
At least nothing was too outrageous. It was all within his acceptable range.
After the stream, Yuan Yang gave them a serious reminder. “Even if you’re dating, training stays the same. Be mindful of your public image. And no excessive physical exertion before matches.”
“Our focus right now is preparing for the World Championship next month.”
Jiang Shi turned bright red at the mention of “physical exertion,” unable to even lift his head.
What kind of strenuous activities?! Was this something that could be discussed in the sacred training room?
And considering how flustered he became with just one handjob from Xu, he truly couldn’t imagine what would happen if they went further. Would he even have the energy to play at Worlds?
When it came to Xie Xu, his self-control was always at zero.
He had to restrain himself.
Luckily, Yuan Yang didn’t give him time to overthink. The next day, their training schedule was released.
Since the spring season had ended, other major teams were free and offered to help with scrims whenever needed.
Not one to be polite, Yuan Yang packed their training schedule to the brim.
Sometimes, even when Jiang Shi was in the bathroom, he could swear he heard someone calling him to log in.
A few new champions had been released, including a strong sniper-type marksman named “Oz.” His second ability expanded his field of vision, and in the late game, he could take down low-health enemies from extreme range with a surprise snipe.
But the downside was his weak close-range combat, so they had to develop a specialized strategy around him, keeping them all incredibly busy.
Today, however, things were a bit more relaxed. The club executives were visiting for inspections and meetings, so Yuan Yang and Xie Xu were occupied, leaving the rest of them to stream and pass the time.
Since his relationship announcement, Jiang Shi had barely been online except for the occasional chat with fans on Weibo.
[Fck, it took you a whole week to stream?]
[The developers released several new heroes recently. Judging from the timing, and the fact they are all viable for the Worlds, TLG is probably busy studying new comps?]
[I thought Xu had ****ed him so bad he couldn’t get out of bed!]
Noticing that his teammates all had their mics on and Xie Xu wasn’t around, Jiang Shi casually leaned back and defended himself. “It’s not that serious. My stamina is great.”
On this point, Jiang Shi was very confident.
[If Lele wasn’t whining about training all the time on Weibo, your ambiguous words might’ve led me to believe you.]
[Xu isn’t here, huh? Otherwise, he wouldn’t be talking this big.]
[If it really happened, you’d be the one crying.]
[Xu is almost 1.9 meters, right? And, uh… isn’t that thing supposed to be proportional?]
[Wouldn’t it be quite punishing?]
Jiang Shi stared at the chat, confused. “What?”
After getting an explanation from the viewers, he was so shocked he almost picked the wrong champion. “You guys have no bottom line.”
Just because the system wouldn’t detect it, they were going wild.
While chatting, Jiang Shi moved toward the bot lane. A lot of viewers were curious about his relationship, so he teased, “Why don’t you all go get a boyfriend yourselves? Oh, wait, you won’t find someone like Xie Xu. Fine, I’ll share a few stories.”
He humbly and subtly recounted ten small moments from their relationship. “Don’t say I’m keeping secrets. When you guys get a date, learn from me. Consider this a free lesson for you all.”
[Whoever asked, show yourself. Share some of that dog food with me. I’m so sick of it.]
[This kid looks calm, but his smile is reaching the sky.]
[Xu even cleans T Bao’s shoes?! I thought he was the aloof and reserved type!]
[Reserved? Did you miss when he signed his autograph as ‘Time’s’ in the most high-profile declaration of love?]
[Summary: Xu is deeply in love. In comparison, Little White Hair’s feelings seem more shallow.]
[Bet he only likes Xu for his face? Maybe his hands.]
Jiang Shi wasn’t having that. “Bullshit! I love everything about him!”
[Got it. Not just a face guy, not just a hand guy. Completely whipped.]
[This kid is just utterly out of control.]
Jiang Shi: “…”
He couldn’t be bothered to respond to the chat anymore and focused on the game instead. After a match ended, ST’s Xiaoxiao sent him a team invite.
TLG had been playing a lot of scrims against ST lately, so they were more familiar with each other than before. Jiang Shi didn’t think much of it and accepted the invite.
Just as they were about to finish selecting champions, Xiaoxiao finally sent a message:
[ST-Smile]: I saw you solo, so I wait. I didn’t think I actually play with you~~~
[TLG-Time]: Yes..
Once the match started, Jiang Shi had already cleared two waves of minions before Smile sent his second message.
[ST-Smile]: I see you streaming. Can we voice chat? Typing is hard.
Jiang Shi didn’t feel like reading and responding to messages with a delay, so he agreed.
After connecting to voice chat, Smile called his name a few times in an overly cheerful tone.
“Time, Time~~~”
[Hahahaha, is Smile a little fan of T Bao? So cute.]
[Time is all cool and aloof, they actually make a good pair.]
[Get out! Anyone trying to break up the official couple deserves to die!]
[Xu: Let’s see who’s out here making up CPs while I’m gone!]
[They’re obviously the same type. Don’t be fooled by how cool Time is now. Once Xu is here, he’s just a soft little baby.]
[Correct.]
Smile couldn’t read the comments. As they played, Smile casually started chatting. “Time, you’re going to Worlds soon. Are you nervous? Oh, by the way, you’ll probably run into North. They qualified too, and you’re playing in Korea.”
“Do you want me to teach you some basic Korean?”
Jiang Shi finished a 1v2 and killed the enemy ADC before replying, “No need.”
Xie Xu knew Korean.
“Oh, I see!” Smile sounded a bit disappointed. “But no worries, when North first went to Korea, his Korean wasn’t great either, and he was fine.”
Jiang Shi frowned at how Smile kept mentioning North. “You two are close?”
Smile hummed in affirmation. “I used to be a trainee in YB for a while before transferring to another team, and then I came to China.”
During his time as a trainee, North had taken good care of him.
“When I first saw your playstyle, I almost thought North was back. You two are really similar, even your champion pool,” Smile continued enthusiastically. “And North showed me videos of him and Xu playing together—your synergy is the same.”
Jiang Shi lazily lifted his eyes. “What, are you treating me as North’s replacement?”
“No way!” Smile quickly denied it. “At first, I was drawn in by your playstyle, but after meeting you, I realized your personality is completely different from North’s.”
“I like you too!”
The blunt confession made Jiang Shi’s initial irritation turn into speechlessness.
Can this kid stop throwing around the word “like” so casually?
But Smile’s words triggered the chat’s memory about this person.
[North has been with YB for a long time now, right? TLG’s crushing defeat in last year’s finals was against YB.]
[Yeah, YB spent a fortune to poach him. It was basically like cutting off one of TLG’s arms.]
[On top of that, their mid-laner retired, and Lele had to take over. TLG was in complete chaos, barely held together by Xu, and they only managed to win a few trophies.]
[But they still got crushed by YB at Worlds. I wonder how Time will do against him.]
[Honestly, their playstyles are very similar. Both have insane synergy with Xu. I really can’t tell who’s better.]
[Back then, North and Xu were called the “Twin Stars” of the league. That era was the golden age of Chinese esports.]
[In fact, he and T Bao got different treatment. Many aren’t optimistic about T Bao and Xu getting together, but North and Xu had more CP fans than career fans.]
[They were practically inseparable in TLG. Were they secretly dating?]
[Not sure, but people say YB poached North and forcibly split them up.]
[They’re one of the most famous tragic duos in esports history.]
Jiang Shi hadn’t intended to read the chat, but his dynamic vision was so good he caught every word.
After that match, he used an excuse to leave the party and disconnected from Smile’s stream.
He reached for Xie Xu’s drawer, hoping to find some candy, only to realize it was empty.
Xie Xu used to keep snacks and candy there for him.
Wait… what had originally been in that drawer? He had never really paid attention before. Could it have been food too…?
[Hahaha, look at Time’s mouth. His lips are practically dragging on the floor.]
[Little White Hair doesn’t know about North? You’ve been with Xu for so long, and you still don’t know this?]
[North might be Xu’s ex! Aren’t you at least a little curious?]
[Rumor has it that North still has feelings for Xu in Korea. What if sparks fly at Worlds?]
Jiang Shi frowned at the chat. “Were they really that close?”
Xu had never mentioned it before.
[Of course! Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been called the Twin Stars.]
[Let me put it this way: their relationship was exactly like yours and Xu’s now.]
[Time, as Xu’s current boyfriend, isn’t it normal for you to ask? Why are you bottling it up?!]
[This is your right as a boyfriend! Go push Xu against a wall and interrogate him!]
[What kind of boyfriend are you? I feel bad for you!]
[Stand your ground! If they still have feelings for each other, you’ll be the one crying!]
Encouraged by the chat, Jiang Shi’s expression turned serious.
Even his one and only past online dating experience had been dug up by Xie Xu, and that was with the same person. Why couldn’t he ask about this?
Jiang Shi clenched his jaw. “Just wait.”
Then, he stormed off from his seat.
When he arrived outside the meeting room, he suddenly realized that Xie Xu was in a meeting with upper management.
He immediately lost his nerve and pressed himself against the wall.
The soundproofing was too good, he couldn’t hear anything.
Just as Jiang Shi hesitated on whether to leave, a shadow suddenly loomed over him.
Xie Xu’s face carried a hint of exhaustion, but when he saw Jiang Shi, his lips curved slightly. He reached out and pinched his cheek. “Looking for me?”
He had already spotted Jiang Shi’s glaring white hair from the glass door.
“The meeting is on break. You don’t have to worry about disturbing me.”
Hearing his familiar, indulgent tone, and recalling the chat’s words, Jiang Shi turned his head away. He didn’t let Xie Xu pinch his cheek this time and, instead, kicked the wall in frustration.
“What was your relationship with North?”
“Did you also pinch his face and buy him couple sneakers?!”
The more Jiang Shi spoke, the angrier he got. He lifted his head, his tone fierce. “Be honest!”
Less than five minutes later, Jiang Shi returned to his stream.
The chat bombarded him with questions.
[Well? Well? What happened?!]
[Did you teach him a lesson? Someone like Xu needs to be kept on a tight leash!]
[So, did Xu and North ever date?]
As soon as they finished asking, Jiang Shi looked up and answered.
“No, they didn’t.”
He rubbed his reddened ears. “Xu said I’m his first love.”
Jiang Shi you need to stop listening to your fans lol