After returning to the base, Yan Xiu sent a WeChat to Brother Cai. He and Qingbao followed the kook channel number Brother Cai had provided. By the time they entered the room, Brother Shan was already waiting.
Qin Baotian put on his headset, his voice dripping with obsequious flattery. “Aiyo, Brother Shan~! Long time no see! Last time we gamed together was before the Saudi Cup, right? Ah, the Autumn Split has just been so busy.”
Brother Shan was very straightforward, letting out a hearty, old-money laugh. “When Ushering Wealth was streaming today, I was on a call with him watching the match. It was my first time watching one. So intense! You pro players, your coordination is so on point, your aim is godlike. So cool! Not like me, I just prone in a corner every match.”
Qin Baotian said, “We practice every day. You just started playing. If you practice your aim more, you can be that accurate too.”
“Alright, let’s start then!”
“Let’s go!”
Playing with Qingbao made things much easier for Yan Xiu.
Back when he was a Game Companion, Yan Xiu was a pure warrior. He could only be a competent Escort Carry, ensuring the boss got nice and fat, but he couldn’t provide the boss with any emotional value.
Qingbao was more like a professional Game Companion. Amidst his joking and fooling around, his aim never wavered. He was both incredibly strong and entertaining. Even Yan Xiu was amused by him several times.
It was late at night. After Rose returned to the base, he went straight to the massage chair in the first team’s training room to get a massage.
This massage chair was a birthday gift Bai Wei had bought him last year. Rose’s lower back had always been bad; he had to go to a traditional Chinese medicine clinic for tuina twice a week. Whenever he felt minor discomfort, he used this massage chair for some relief.
Feeling refreshed after his massage, Rose got up, ready to head back to his room. He saw Bai Wei wearing headphones, leaning entirely against his ergonomic gaming chair, his expression icy cold. He seemed to have randomly clicked on a movie on his computer to watch, but his eyes flicked occasionally to Qin Baotian’s monitor nearby.
Yan Xiu and Qin Baotian had started gaming the moment they returned to the base, so neither had changed out of their team uniforms.
Bai Wei hadn’t changed either. He was still wearing that black-and-white OLG team uniform, sporting a cold face that seemed to promise death to anyone who dared look. He sat there, staring at his two gaming teammates like a haunting ghost.
Rose’s gaze fell on Yan Xiu, and he understood. He spoke up. “Little Bai, not going to sleep yet?”
Bai Wei took off his headphones and asked, “What was that, Brother Feng? Didn’t catch it.”
Rose asked again, “Want to head up together?”
Bai Wei: “I’m watching a movie.”
Curious, Rose walked over to look at his screen. Just at that moment, a bloodied, green-eyed female ghost flashed across the monitor, a jump-scare that made the elderly man curse, “Whoa, crap!”
Bai Wei, following Rose’s reaction, also looked at his computer and was startled. “Whoa, crap!”
Bai Wei immediately closed the randomly clicked movie and switched to a family-friendly animated film.
Rose clutched his heart and left the training room.
Yan Xiu noticed the commotion from Rose and Bai Wei’s direction. During a break in a 3v3 fight, he lifted his eyes and glanced toward Bai Wei.
Bai Wei’s lips were slightly pursed, his sharp, cold eyes narrowed in displeasure. Suddenly, he seemed to get a phone call. He picked up his cell and walked out of the training room.
Qingbao counted the number of guns in the enemy boxes and reported, “Should be a map clear.”
Brother Shan was happily looting boxes. Suddenly, in a reminiscing tone, he said, “Come to think of it, the first time I played this game was with you two. Back then, Show was still a Game Companion at Laifu Esports. And now, you two are actually teammates.”
Yan Xiu also recalled the events from three months ago.
That night, he had just been rejected for tryouts by Wolves and was about to rest. At the time, he never imagined he’d be able to play professionally again, especially for OLG.
Thinking of this, Yan Xiu couldn’t help but glance again at the empty seat diagonally across from him—Bai Wei had gone out to take a call and hadn’t returned yet.
Qingbao said, “At the time, I felt Show was way too fierce. It would’ve been a shame if he didn’t come to our OLG.”
Brother Shan asked, “Oh? Qingbao, was it you who recommended Show to go pro?”
Yan Xiu also froze. He’d never considered that possibility. But thinking back, after that night gaming with Qingbao, within just a couple of days, OLG had somehow contacted Old Jiu directly to ask if Yan Xiu wanted to come play professionally.
Although Qingbao very much wanted to take credit, it really didn’t have much to do with him. He honestly said, “WhiteDog recommended him to our Manager. Oh, wait, no—I mean Danger. Brother Shan, do you know him? Our OLG’s money tree.”
Brother Shan’s tone perked up. “Of course I know him! When I was watching the match today, God D was so freaking cool. I told Ushering Wealth I’d love to play with God D, but Ushering Wealth said it was probably impossible to ask him. He said Danger is the pro player with the highest commercial value in DFL. The bulk of his income comes from various commercial endorsements, ads, and tournament prize money. He never just plays games with random people.”
Qingbao felt a lump in his throat. He desperately wanted to ask: How come I’m just “Qingbao,” but WhiteDog is “God D”?
After a while, Qingbao noticed something. “What’s wrong, Show? Not talking? Lagging?” As he spoke, he took off one side of his headset to look at his teammate across from him.
Yan Xiu’s slightly trembling eyes slowly steadied. He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
In the KOOK room, Brother Shan was still praising: “Danger’s jump snipe in the sixth match was insane. I didn’t even see anyone in his field of view, he just jumped, and then the guy was dead. The director replayed it twice, and I still couldn’t see clearly…”
Yan Xiu stared at his monitor, restless. Suddenly, a delivery bag landed on the desk beside his hand. Yan Xiu paused and looked up at Bai Wei.
Bai Wei had one hand in his pocket, looking down at him. The diamond stud earring by his ear glinted with fiery brilliance, his eyes clear. “Want some late-night snack?”
Qin Baotian heard the commotion and looked up from his monitor, pleasantly surprised. “Late-night snack? What about mine, Brother Bai?”
Bai Wei retracted his gaze from Yan Xiu and scoffed. “What about you? You’re on a diet.”
Qin Baotian protested, “I’m not even in a relationship! Why should I diet! You can’t play favorites like this, buying a late-night snack for Show but not for me! This isn’t right! Don’t tell me buying late-night snacks is also locked behind a good-looks requirement?”
Bai Wei paused, then shoved another delivery bag onto Qin Baotian’s desk. “Is there anything that can shut you up?”
Qin Baotian cooed in a sickeningly sweet, pinched voice, “Brother Bai Wei is the best~~”
Brother Shan heard their voices and asked curiously, “Is that God D?”
Qin Baotian confirmed, “Yeah, Danger is treating the whole team to a late-night snack.” Between mouthfuls, the chubby guy’s eyes rolled cunningly, and he chuckled, adding jokingly, “Though, of course, I’m probably not the main reason he’s treating us.”
Brother Shan asked, “Ah, then who is he treating?”
Qin Baotian just snickered, not elaborating further.
Bai Wei heard his words, the corner of his mouth curling into a dangerous smirk. He kicked Qin Baotian’s chair, sending the guy sliding half a body’s width sideways.
The monitor’s faint blue light reflected on Yan Xiu’s handsome, cold face. His eyelids were lowered; his lips moved slightly, silently mouthing two words.
—Treating me.
His mouse hadn’t moved for a long time. The in-game character on screen swayed left and right.
Yan Xiu opened the delivery bag.
The next day, after official scrims ended, Yan Xiu started his solo-rank training after dinner.
He started his stream. He’d only been streaming for a short while when Brother Shan entered the room. As a Level 73 TikTok Spender, Brother Shan’s entry into the livestream triggered an incredibly flashy entry animation. Yan Xiu was in the middle of a fight and didn’t have time to check public chat. By the time he had a moment to glance at the comments, Brother Shan’s Carnival Rain of gifts had already finished.
Yan Xiu stared at the gift total value next to Brother Shan’s ID, stunned for a few seconds before hurriedly thanking him for the gifts.
After streaming for four hours, Yan Xiu ended his stream.
Guo Qiang tore open the RAM stick packaging and helped Yan Xiu install the new memory.
Guo Qiang said, “You just ended your stream. Everyone else on the first team has already swapped theirs. You’re the last one.”
Yan Xiu asked, “Does it need debugging?”
Guo Qiang thought for a moment. “RAM adjustments are quick. But I noticed you mentioned your stream sometimes drops frames lately. Let me also look into your streaming issues. Will you be gaming again tonight?”
“I might play a bit more.”
“Then come by at 1:30.”
“Alright.”
Yan Xiu returned to his room. Rose had just finished washing up and was getting ready for bed. Seeing Yan Xiu come up, he was surprised. “You’re going for a healthy sleep schedule too?”
Yan Xiu shook his head. “I’m going back down later.”
The Health God of health preservation looked deeply disappointed. “Ah, youth. You never listen. When you reach my age, you’ll understand. A whole list of occupational hazards: wrist pain, arm pain, shoulder pain, back pain, stomach pain… pain everywhere. How important it is to sleep and wake early. Otherwise, when the time comes and you’re dealing with deficiency, it’ll be too late!”
Yan Xiu: “…”
“Brother Liu, are you… deficient?”
Rose: “…”
Unable to withstand Rose’s murderous glare, Yan Xiu scurried back to the first team training room.
Qin Baotian had dragged some second-team kids out to eat Haidilao. Only Yan Xiu and Guo Qiang were left in the training room. After debugging the computer, Yan Xiu logged into the game and played a few rounds. When he shut down, it was already 3 AM.
Yan Xiu opened his TikTok livestream dashboard and headed toward the stairs. As he reached the landing, he heard some noise coming from downstairs.
Yan Xiu walked down.
The area near the first-floor entrance of the villa was piled high with various delivery boxes. Only a dim, amber night light was on in the foyer. Bai Wei was bent over, searching for something amidst the chaotic pile of boxes.
The dim light cast that head of eye-catching white hair into a faint platinum blonde. The silver chain on his wrist rustled with his movements. Hearing a sound, Bai Wei looked up toward the stairs.
Their eyes met.
After a moment, Yan Xiu asked, “God D, what are you looking for?”
Bai Wei slowly straightened up, his gaze lingering on him. The corner of his lips curled. “Mmm… looking for a package.”
Yan Xiu walked over. “I’ll help you look.” As he spoke, he bent down.
Bai Wei stared at the top of his head, the corner of his mouth curving even more. “Alright.”
Bai Wei had two packages total.
One was very large, half a person’s height, reaching Bai Wei’s thigh. The other was very small, buried amongst the multitude of boxes. Yan Xiu searched for ages before finally digging it out from some remote corner.
The two of them took the packages and went up via the elevator.
The villa’s residential elevator was very cramped and slow. Usually, everyone took the stairs. At a brisk pace, the stairs were even faster than the elevator.
The elevator first came up from the basement level. In the empty first-floor living room, only the rattling echo of the elevator’s traction ropes reverberated.
Yan Xiu stared down at the top of the delivery box. Suddenly, he said quietly, “God D, is your bank card number still the same as last time?”
The elevator chimed “Ding,” arriving.
Bai Wei looked at him before asking, a few seconds later, “Paying money back again?”
Yan Xiu nodded. “Mm. This month’s salary came through, and some streaming income too. I also sold an unused keyboard and graphics card on Xianyu.”
Bai Wei replied, “Still the same one.”
By the time Bai Wei moved the package into the elevator, the transfer from Yan Xiu had already gone through.
The phone in his pocket chimed. Bai Wei pulled it out, surprised. “You paid it all back?”
Yan Xiu said, “I don’t have many expenses. I stay at the base, food and drink are covered, and the club provides the hardware and peripherals.”
Yan Xiu had only been competing for just over a month. Although his prize money was accumulating, DFL’s prize money was distributed annually, only paid out at the end of the year.
After saving for two months, plus his salary and streaming income—spending almost nothing elsewhere—he’d finally saved enough.
Bai Wei frowned. His gaze landed on the loose collar of Yan Xiu’s T-shirt.
Yan Xiu seemed to have two or three identical gray T-shirts. Pure gray cotton, outwardly identical, even the washed-out, wrinkled hems looked exactly the same.
He’d gained a little weight since joining the club, but was still skinny. The deep shadows of his collarbones disappeared into the gap of his collar. His chin was sharp, his lips thin. His whole being exuded an air of detachment and stubbornness.
Yan Xiu stepped into the elevator.
The elevator was already cramped. With the addition of the huge box, the moment Yan Xiu entered, he was squeezed against the wall… and squeezed against Bai Wei.
He wanted to leave and take the stairs, but the elevator doors had already closed.
Bai Wei pressed the floor button.
In the narrow car, apart from the mechanical echo of the elevator shaft, there was only the quiet sound of their breathing.
Too close. Their breaths seemed to meld together.
…
Yan Xiu asked, “Was it you who recommended me to Boss Cat to play professionally… God D?”
