WCG Chapter 97

Thank you s for the generous donation~ I’ll finish the bonus chapters ASAP, especially since this series is near its ending…

The netizens in the livestream didn’t even bother to spam question marks this time—just a string of ellipses expressing their speechlessness.  

Jiang Shi was just too easy to appease.  

During dinner, at the table, Jiang Lele casually asked, “T Bao, did you duo queue with Xiaoxiao during your stream today?”  

Jiang Shi took a bite of his food and mumbled an “Mhm.”  

Jiang Lele tilted his head. “What did you talk about? How many games did you play together?”  

There was a trace of tension in his voice, as if he was worried that Jiang Shi might develop feelings for another mid-laner.  

“Just one game.” Jiang Shi finished the vegetables Xie Xu had picked for him, then reached over to grab a piece of stir-fried pork from Jiang Lele’s plate. “He mentioned something about North, and that was about it.”  

“North?” Jiang Lele frowned. “Why’d he bring that up?”  

The beating they took at last year’s finals was still a sore point for him.  

“I switched to the starting lineup right when he left,” Jiang Lele said, poking at his rice. “I heard he wanted to take the captain to YB with him back then. He tried to convince him for a long time, only giving up when his visa was about to expire.”  

If Xie Xu had really left with him back then, TLG would have been done for.  

Jiang Shi had been focused on eating, but at those words, his gaze suddenly shifted to Xie Xu.  

Xie Xu wiped away a grain of rice from the corner of his mouth and casually ladled him a bowl of fish soup. “I was never going to Korea.”  

Since they all trained together, Yuan Yang, who was eating with them, chimed in, “North was definitely strong back then, but he didn’t believe in the future of Chinese esports. When YB extended an offer, he accepted without hesitation.”  

It was common knowledge that Korea had a more refined and mature esports system. They had always looked down on Chinese players, so for a top-tier team like YB to recruit North was proof of his skill.  

“Actually, YB’s first pick was Xu. Xu turned them down,” Yuan Yang said, setting down his chopsticks.  

Jiang Lele was surprised. “Why did the captain refuse?”  

To be honest, with YB’s strength and double the contract pay, anyone would have been tempted.  

Yuan Yang wiped his mouth and asked, “Do you know why Xu joined TLG in the first place?”  

Aside from Xie Xu, four pairs of eyes instantly turned to him.  

“Because when TLG was founded, the owner said he wanted to build an all-Chinese roster.”  

Yuan Yang clapped his hands together. “That’s how the two of them hit it off.”  

“Back then, Xie Xu even made a bold declaration—”  

Yuan Yang cleared his throat, mimicking Xie Xu’s cold and serious expression. “I will lead Chinese esports to the peak.”  

Xie Xu hadn’t expected this to be dug up again. He sighed. “I was young and arrogant.”  

Jiang Lele burst into laughter. “That’s so cheesy, hahaha…”  

It was hard to imagine Xie Xu ever being like that.  

But at the same time, it was kind of cool.  

Jiang Shi gulped down the fish soup. “I’m heading back to training.”  

Jiang Lele hastily finished his food and ran after him. “Do you ever stop grinding?!”  

In the end, only Yuan Yang and Xie Xu remained at the table.  

Thinking about North, Yuan Yang couldn’t help but say, “Actually, he reached out to me recently. Said he wanted to talk to you.”  

To outsiders, it seemed like North and TLG had parted on good terms. But in reality, when North transferred, he and Xu had a major falling out.  

Xie Xu believed that Chinese esports was on the rise and that North shouldn’t switch to Korea at such a crucial time, boosting a rival region instead.  

But North wanted to pursue better opportunities and didn’t care which country he represented.  

Their ideologies clashed, and even after Xie Xu voiced his concerns, North still tried to convince him to leave. That was when Xie Xu completely lost faith in him.  

They had cut ties ever since.  

Xie Xu refilled Jiang Shi’s soup bowl and took a slow sip. “What does he want to talk about?”  

“He didn’t say.” Yuan Yang looked at Xie Xu’s calm expression and, for some reason, chuckled. “You two nearly came to blows back then. Thinking about it now, I kind of miss that version of you.”  

The young Xie Xu had been arrogant and untamed, no less so than Jiang Shi.  

But over the years, he had smoothed out his edges. Now, even when discussing an old rival, his tone remained steady.  

Yuan Yang asked, “Do you think you two will make up?”  

Xie Xu took another sip of soup and said indifferently, “There’s nothing to make up. If we meet at Worlds, I’ll still say hi.”  

He was past the age of holding grudges over personal choices.  

Seeing that Xie Xu had truly moved on, Yuan Yang smiled. “Alright. If he asks me again, I’ll just make up an excuse.”  

“Oh, right. You should have them play more international ranked games. Time doesn’t play on the international server, so I got him an account. Let him know.”  

Starting from the lowest rank was a waste of time, so Yuan Yang had gotten Jiang Shi a high-rank account instead.  

As Jiang Shi downloaded the client, Zhao Jiu asked in surprise, “Xiao Shi hasn’t played international ranked before?”  

There were plenty of strong players there. He had thought Jiang Shi, who loved high-difficulty challenges, would be obsessed with climbing the leaderboard.  

Jiang Lele smirked and teased, “Do you know why he doesn’t play international ranked?”  

Zhao Jiu asked, “Why?”  

Jiang Lele burst out laughing. “Because of the language barrier. That Little White Hair can’t fully maximize his advantages.” 

He had watched Jiang Shi’s streams before. Occasionally, he would play a few games, but whenever he encountered an idiot teammate and wanted to curse them out, he had to translate his insults first.  

By the time he sent the message, his anger had already faded. Sometimes, his teammates didn’t even understand what he was saying.  

It pissed Jiang Shi off so much that he swore never to touch that “trash” server again.  

But now that the coach required it, he had no complaints.  

As the end of the month approached, Jiang Shi begrudgingly streamed to make up his required hours. Whenever he played ranked, he turned on his stream, though he was usually silent.  

Late at night, hunger struck, so he grabbed a snow cake from his drawer, biting into it as he pinged his teammates to retreat.  

Since it was international ranked, he didn’t use voice chat, but his viewers automatically translated for him.  

[My son is pinging you!]  

[They’re collapsing on you, and you’re flirting with the jungle creep?!]  

[Do you want me to bring you a bed and a blanket so you can cuddle that pig?]  

[Are you deaf or blind? He’s been spamming pings, and you still won’t move?!]  

Even with Jiang Shi’s warnings, his teammate failed to escape in time. But Jiang Shi was quick to capitalize on the situation, snagging a kill on the enemy mid-laner.  

As he returned to base to restock, his snow cake was already gone. He reached to grab another when Xie Xu pushed his drawer shut.  

“There are still dumplings from my place. I’ll cook some for you.”  

Jiang Shi eagerly nodded.  

Homemade dumplings were way better than snow cakes.  

Jiang Lele instinctively raised a hand to join in, but Yu Hui smacked it down. “Who was just saying they needed to lose weight?”  

This guy had just inhaled a milk tea and a dessert.  

Jiang Lele sulked and watched longingly as Xie Xu left to cook for Jiang Shi.  

Full and satisfied, Jiang Shi continued his game. While buying items, his phone buzzed.  

Smile had sent him a WeChat message.  

[ST-Smile: Was that Oz who killed me just now you?]  

Jiang Shi glanced at the scoreboard and confirmed the enemy mid’s ID before replying with a “yes”.  

[ST-Smile: There’s something I want to ask. Is Xu free right now?] 

Jiang Shi instinctively thought Smile wanted to schedule a practice match. Too lazy to type, he directly made a WeChat call. “The captain went downstairs to cook dumplings. I’ll tell you when he comes back up.”

As he finished buying equipment and headed toward the bot lane, he heard Smile’s puzzled voice. “Dumplings this late at night?”

Jiang Shi’s hand controlling his hero paused slightly. “I was hungry, so Xu made them for me.”

He hadn’t meant to show off.  

After clearing the minion wave, Jiang Shi suddenly added, “They’re dumplings Xu’s mom brought a few days ago. They’re really good.”

Smile didn’t catch the implication, but the viewers in the livestream chat certainly did.  

[Alright, alright, we get it. You’ve already met the parents.]  

[Look at your face now. Totally showing off.] 

[Poor, clueless Xiaoxiao has no idea what Time is flexing about.]  

[Is this dog food specifically for us in the livestream?]  

Just then, another phone rang on Xiaoxiao’s end. “Xiaoxiao, someone’s calling for you,” a teammate said.  

Xiaoxiao was confused. “Then why didn’t they call me directly?”  

Despite his words, he still picked up.  

Jiang Shi was in the middle of a skirmish with the enemy AD when he suddenly heard an unfamiliar male voice through the phone. “Hello, Time. I’m North.”  

Because of Xiaoxiao, North had added many ST team members to his contacts.  

“I asked Xiaoxiao to find Xu for me. When he gets here, let me know.”  

Xiaoxiao sounded slightly nervous. “Uh, Time, the topic changed earlier, and I didn’t get a chance to say this.”  

To him, North and Time didn’t know each other well, so this sudden request felt odd.  

Jiang Shi responded flatly with an “Mm.”  

The voice chat fell silent. Jiang Shi, whether intentionally or not, focused on aggressively attacking Smile.  

Smile kept sucking in breaths through his teeth from the hits but didn’t dare say a word. After being taken down again, he finally spoke. “Maybe let’s not do this tonight. North, didn’t you ask TLG’s coach before? He said Xu was busy, right?”  

Caught in the middle, he was beyond uncomfortable.  

North let out a chuckle. Busy cooking dumplings for Time? His tone carried a hint of mockery.  

Even though Xiaoxiao’s Chinese wasn’t perfect, he could tell something was off. “So what if Time was hungry and Xu helped him? Bai Yun often brings me food too!”  

Bai Yun was the captain of ST.[mfn]um… I think I translated his name differently before. I don’t remember… Was it just Baiyun? Or White Clouds? I think I remember that his ID is ST-Baiyun, so I tl’d it that way, seeing that it’s quite literal. Today, however, I remembered that everyone in this series have a very literal name (The “Shi” in Jiang Shi does mean “Time”, Zhao Jiu’s “Jiu” does mean “Nine”, etc) so… yeah. Bai Yun should be his real name. In other note, another ST member’s name I fucked up before should be Huaxu (highlights). I’ll tl his name as Hua Xu in the future.[/mfn]  

Xiaoxiao muttered under his breath, “And they’re a couple. Cooking dumplings isn’t a big deal. It’s not like it’s hard.”  

North clearly hadn’t expected Xiaoxiao to say that and fell silent.  

Meanwhile, the game had finally evened out, becoming a close match.  

Xu returned with a plate of dumplings, setting it on the small table beside them. “Come eat before they get cold.”  

Jiang Shi took off his headset. “But I haven’t finished the game.”  

Xie Xu naturally removed Jiang Shi’s headset and put it on himself. “I’ll take over.”  

Cold dumplings don’t taste good.  

[Ahhhhh! Xu! Someone’s bullying Time!]  

[Someone was shading Time and trying to mess with your relationship!]  

[Sob sob sob, my poor, fragile T Bao didn’t even dare to speak.]  

Xu glanced at both team compositions and items, confirmed their advantage, and then asked, “Who’s bullying him?”  

The livestream chat exploded with “North” flooding the screen.  

North was also watching Time’s stream. Seeing the chat’s reaction, he hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Xu, I didn’t say anything.”  

He laughed and changed the topic. “Long time no see. How have you been? You’re playing ADC again, I see.”  

North’s tone carried nostalgia. “Honestly, you taught me how to play most of my ADCs.”  

“I watched your match against ST in the finals. Your Snowman was irreplaceable, but I won’t let it through in Worlds.”  

Jiang Shi’s livestream chat erupted with question marks.  

[Wait, you abandoned TLG to join a Korean team, and now you’re reminiscing?]  

[If you were so grateful, why did you leave in the first place?]  

[If you’re gonna leave, leave for good. TLG is thriving now. Why are you coming back to stir things up and wedge yourself between the couple?]  

[If you have anything to say, say it at the Worlds. Watch my T Bao wipe the floor with you.]  

[Get out!]  

North hadn’t expected such a backlash from the livestream chat and hesitated. “I didn’t realize TLG’s new AD’s fans were so aggressive. Is he like this too—”  

Before he could finish, Xie Xu cut him off. “Enough.”  

Xie Xu led his team to win a decisive fight and added, “Little Bear TV doesn’t allow Korean players to stream domestically. If you don’t have anything else to say, I’m hanging up to avoid getting Time’s stream banned.”  

[Hahahaha, Xu, you’re really good at bullshtting with your eyes open.] 

[Xiaoxiao and North have connected countless times before, and nothing happened. No way Time’s stream would get banned.]  

[Masterclass in shutting down a conversation.]  

[Xu clearly can’t be bothered with North’s nonsense.]  

[Compared to North’s fake warmth, Xu is ice cold!]  

[As expected to the man my son has chosen~~~] 

Meanwhile, Jiang Shi, eating dumplings with Zhao Jiu’s phone open to the livestream, suddenly found his food much more flavorful.  

After winning the game and ranking up, Xu was about to hang up when North spoke up. “Wait, Xu, does it have to be like this between us?”  

Since the call had been on speaker, the entire training room heard it. Jiang Lele, annoyed, interjected, “We’re busy. If you have something to say, get to the point. If you want to schedule a scrim, we’d be happy to.”  

They rarely scrimmed against Korean teams because every match came with a hefty price tag.  

Yuan Yang and Xie Xu always felt it wasn’t worth it. But if YB was initiating, that was a different story.  

Yu Hui added, “We offer fair rates, only half price for you.”  

Jiang Shi, in the middle of eating, choked and coughed violently. Xu handed him a glass of water. “No one’s rushing you. Eat slowly.”  

Jiang Shi took a big gulp. “Too much chili.”  

Under the table, he gave Jiang Lele and Yu Hui a thumbs-up.  

Jiang Lele responded with an “OK” sign.  

A true Time fan—no one messes with Time on his watch.  

Zhao Jiu, who had been teammates with North for years, sighed. “North, just say what you need to say. Stop beating around the bush.”  

North looked at Xu sitting in front of Time’s desk, wiping down the keyboard and mouse with a wet wipe. He spoke in a heavy tone. “I just wanted to say, the finals were amazing. Congratulations.”  

“But I feel sorry for Xu.”  

His voice turned colder. “I don’t care if Time’s fans keep insulting me. I still have to say it.”  

“The FMVP should have been Xu’s.”  

Everyone was stunned.  

Xiaoxiao was so shocked he started speaking Korean, roughly saying that Time was strong and deserved the FMVP, telling North not to talk nonsense. But it was no use.  

The livestream chat exploded with spectators rushing in.  

[Can Time’s toxic stans stop blindly attacking people? After all, North was just trying to talk to Xu because of their past friendship.] 

[North gains nothing from this. He’s purely standing up for Xu. Honestly, when I saw Time get FMVP, I was surprised too.]  

[Could there have been some shady dealings? Time’s just a rookie. He’s good, but not better than Xu.]  

[Were they already together before the finals? Maybe Xu gave it up on purpose!]  

[Such a love-struck fool.]  

[Xu is doomed. TLG is doomed.]  

[Wake up, you guys!]

As the topic fermented, many people began questioning the fairness of the judgement. They even theorize that TLG’s championship was unfairly gained.

Jiang Shi laughed at the ridiculousness.  

At that time, when TLG just won the championship, they were also bombarded by many doubts besides the congratulations. Many unknown sources stirring up trouble, however they couldn’t make it big. The controversy North stirred up gave conspiracy theorists the perfect excuse to cause chaos.  

Jiang Shi couldn’t contain himself. He turned to the camera with a cold expression. “If you have a problem, go complain to the officials and see if they care.”  

[Yeah! Where did these sewer rats come from?]

[What, the appearance of the turn-coat North gave you the confidence to shout out? Are you joking me?] 

[Time deserves the FMVP, and your barking is useless.]

[Some people are just jealous of my T Bao. Sigh, there is nothing I can do.]

[Baby, don’t be angry, you haven’t finished the dumplings on your plate yet!]

Jiang Shi’s expression almost fell when he read this particular comment. 

He was too anxious at the time and brought the plate over.

But then, he saw Xie Xu turn his head to look at him. “Are you full? I think I might’ve cooked too much.” 

Jiang Shi hummed, picked up one naturally and handed it to Xie Xu’s mouth, “Do you want to eat it?”

Xie Xu cooperated and opened his mouth to eat it.

The livestream viewer, be it haters or fans, became speechless.

[Uh… we are in the midst of a war right now?]

[Helloooo? Can you two read the room?] 

[I know Time is stupid. But Xu, can you please don’t be led astray by him!] 

[Excuse me, what kind of filling are those? It looks delicious.]

[Judging from the color, maybe cabbage and pork?]

[No, no, no, the color is a little green, is it leeks?]

[It can’t be celery?]

[Who eats celery filling? Have some taste!] 

[What’s wrong with celery! It smells so good!]

As the topic became weirder, North couldn’t hold his temper. “Xu, don’t you have anything to say?”

“Yes,” Xie Xu left the last dumpling to Jiang Shi, took out a tissue and wiped his mouth, “I have a question for you.”

North’s tone was obviously softened, “Ask anything you want.”

“Are you jealous of Time?”

Xie Xu raised his eyes, “After all, when we are in TLG, you have never won the FMVP.”