Chapter 11

Yan Xiu’s breath caught. He immediately explained, “Not five hundred thousand, it’s one hundred and fifty thousand. And it’s not even one-fifty; I have a bit saved. One hundred forty, one hundred thirty thousand would be enough.”

Bai Wei didn’t react much to the over-transfer. He wasn’t afraid of the guy running off. If Show really did scam him, well, that would be valuable, too. At least he’d only lose five hundred thousand and see the person’s true colors, without getting scammed out of his virtue.

But Yan Xiu didn’t dare be careless. His whole appearance was very faint, cool and aloof, but now his brow was tinged with urgency.

Before Bai Wei could speak, he’d already taken Bai Wei’s hand, prompting him to open his phone.

Yan Xiu’s tone was solemn. “God D, I’ll transfer it back to you.”

Seeing his earnest expression, Bai Wei compliantly unlocked his phone. After Yan Xiu noted down the card number, he began the transfer.

“Transfer 350,000 back.”

Yan Xiu paused, then transferred the excess 350,000 back.

The hot potato had mostly been removed, yet Danger had still given him 150,000 yuan. Yan Xiu could borrow 200,000 from Brother Cai because he’d known Cai for over a year, and Cai had always looked after him. When he joined Laifu Esports, besides paying a deposit, Yan Xiu had also handed over a copy of his ID card.

Laifu Esports was a proper gaming companion club. Every companion who reached the tax threshold had their taxes deducted, then received their salary, and the club even paid social insurance.

His fingertips damp with cold sweat, Yan Xiu pulled his ID card from his pocket. “I’ll show you my ID card.”

Bai Wei was surprised. “You carry your ID card on you?”

“I was moving today, so I had it in my pocket,” Yan Xiu explained.

Bai Wei took the ID card. It wasn’t about confiscating it; he suddenly wanted to see what Yan Xiu’s ID photo looked like.

The ID was issued in ’25, valid for five years, expiring next year.

Bai Wei’s gaze swept over the date of birth. October 4th…

Libra.

Next was the address. Wujiang District, Suzhou City…

The photo was blurry, yet still very delicate-looking. A short, neat student haircut, big eyes. His features weren’t much different from now, but his temperament had matured, gaining a bit more edge.

Bai Wei handed the ID card back. “Keep it safe.”

Yan Xiu: “God D, let me write you an IOU.”

His voice was too firm. Bai Wei fixed his eyes on him for a few seconds, then didn’t refuse. “Okay.”

Yan Xiu let out a breath of relief.

“You’re going to write me an IOU in the bathroom?”

The ceiling light in the fifth-floor hallway shone from behind Bai Wei. Silhouetted against the light, a smile played on his lips, the diamond stud on his earlobe scattering brilliant fire.

Bai Wei led him to his own room.

Yan Xiu didn’t enter, just stood at the doorway. By the time Bai Wei found paper and a pen in his drawer and turned around, the person was still outside.

His thin silhouette was stretched long and thin by the corridor light, swaying unsteadily on the floor.

Bai Wei brought the paper and pen out. Yan Xiu followed an IOU template he found on Baidu, writing it out stroke by stroke, then signed his name.

Bai Wei took it and glanced at it.

Yan Xiu’s handwriting wasn’t exceptionally beautiful, but it had a sharp quality. The hooks and strokes were especially slender and sharp. It was hard to associate someone so quiet and reticent with such handwriting.

Bai Wei folded the IOU a few times and put it in his room’s drawer.

As the two went downstairs, Qin Baotian was about to head up. He asked curiously, “Why are you two coming down together? Sister Hua told me to call you, Show. Auntie Wang just finished cooking, come eat.” After saying this, he noticed Bai Wei and was even more puzzled. “Didn’t you say you were going up to remove your makeup first? Why isn’t it off yet?”

Bai Wei glossed over the money matter casually. “Got held up. Happened to run into him.”

Yan Xiu was silent, but then he suddenly noticed something. “God Qing, weren’t you going to cut the same hairstyle as me? Why did you shave it into a buzz cut?”

Qin Baotian’s expression froze on his face. He feigned profundity. “Ultimately, I decided to test the limits of my handsomeness.”

Yan Xiu: “?”

Qin Baotian could only weep without tears.

Without Yan Xiu, the jade, as a comparison, if he’d gotten a handsome hairstyle, at worst it’d just be not quite as handsome, still decent enough. But with Yan Xiu, the handsome guy, as the control group, after his haircut, he found it more and more displeasing no matter how he looked, as if the person in the mirror hadn’t had a beauty filter applied. The very next day, he went and shaved it all off.

After dinner, the three from the first team played a few rounds of trios to warm up. Bai Wei assigned tasks. Each person was to do Solo vs Trios on Aerospace Base and Bakesh for two hours each, to recover their form, in preparation for the Autumn Split starting next week.

Yan Xiu’s computer would only arrive tomorrow. OLG had provided him a PC, all top-spec. But after using it, he still preferred the settings he’d had someone specifically tune for him.

Jack: “You can take whatever parts you want from this rig and put them in your own machine. Whatever’s most convenient.”

Yan Xiu asked, “I can strip it any way I want?”

Jack: “This computer already belongs to you. If you need help, ask Guo Qiang. He handles assembly and maintenance problems in the club.”

The first team’s training room was a bit smaller than the second team’s, but with far fewer people.

There were four gaming desks in total, arranged in a square, connected in pairs, facing each other directly. Bai Wei and Qingbao sat on the same side, closer to the back, facing the door. Rose sat alone; the spot next to him by the door was an empty desk, now belonging to Yan Xiu.

Yan Xiu removed the Helios case’s glass side panel and, with a screwdriver, carefully began taking out the graphics card. He squatted on the floor, his whole body hidden below the desk edge, able only to hear the sporadic communication sounds from the first team’s trio.

Qin Baotian: “I’m counting bags. Three teams over here, so there are two more teams. Old Liu, is that bag a two-gun?”

Rose: “Single gun.”

“Medical room, footstep audio. Qin Baotian, follow me. Sneaking.” Bai Wei’s voice was clear yet low, a bit hoarse. After giving the command, the training room immediately went silent, everyone following his lead.

When he suddenly spoke again, Bai Wei’s command was swift. “Behind the crate. Give me a recon arrow.”

Qin Baotian: “Your daddy’s big treasure arrow is coming!”

Bai Wei: “Dumbass.”

~

The next day, Yan Xiu went to the manager’s office to confirm the transfer fee issue with CatClaw.

After watching Yan Xiu transfer the fee to BOX’s account, CatClaw asked, “Where’d you get so much money? Like Danger, are you some Shanghai young master coming to experience life?”

Yan Xiu: “I saved up a bit from doing game companion work before. When I signed with BOX, my streaming contract was also in their hands, so I couldn’t stream. That’s why I went to Laifu Esports to be a game companion.”

“Ushering Wealth’s game companion group?” CatClaw nodded. “Then you can start streaming from now on. Our OLG streaming contracts are signed with TikTok. Danger has 40 hours a month. You, like Qingbao and Rose, have 60 hours a month. You’ll start counting from next month. Right, what are your TikTok, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu handles? Send them to Huarong later.”

In the afternoon, Yan Xiu’s desktop arrived. He installed the new graphics card the club provided into his own rig.

While Guo Qiang was building it for him, Yan Xiu confirmed again, “Am I really free to use the club’s computer however I want? If I switch teams later, do I have to return it?”

Guo Qiang wiped his sweat, grinning. “Nah, CatClaw’s generous enough for that. Little Gun took his computer with him to Chaoge too.”

In the league, clubs as rich as OLG were still a minority. Not only was their prize money lucrative, but sponsors were practically fighting to throw money at them, unable to be stopped.

Only then did Yan Xiu feel at ease. He listed his replaced old graphics card and RAM stick on Xianyu.

That evening, Huarong posted the 2029 Autumn Split roster on all of OLG’s official platform accounts.

The comment sections instantly exploded.

【DDDDDDDDD!!!】

【Holy crap, the first team has a new sub, OLG-Show? Who is this show???】

【God D definitely taking the Autumn Split championship. I’m trading ten years of my life for it!!】

【Little Gun came for a whole season and never played a match. Another new guy comes, and he won’t get to play either. Why does OLG keep buying new players?】

【Thank heavens Rose is still here. Holding the banner high for Liu Jianfeng!!!】

Each official account’s post tagged all four first-team members. That was why Huarong had asked Yan Xiu for his accounts yesterday. Yan Xiu hadn’t registered on Weibo, so he specifically registered one and sent it to Huarong.

Within five minutes of the roster post going up, all of Yan Xiu’s accounts gained tens of thousands of followers. His TikTok directly gained a hundred thousand.

【This new guy hasn’t posted anything on any account. A complete newbie, huh?】

【Does anyone know who Show is?】

【Laifu Esports has a celebrity tier-one escort also named Show. Is it him?】

【I heard Brother Cai bring it up when playing with Boss Shan on stream. Boss Shan mentioned that Show from Laifu Esports is insanely strong, a super top-tier escort. It really could be him.】

Yan Xiu’s phone was like Chinese New Year, pinging rapidly with follower and private message notifications. After he set all social platform accounts to not notify, it finally quieted down.

But WeChat started blowing up.

[Brother Cai: OLG?! Brother, that’s awesome! Go for it. Coming out of our Laifu Esports, you’re going straight for the championship!]

[Boss Ling: I’m still in class, and I hear you’re going to OLG? 666, buddy. When I get back to China, I’m watching your match.]

[Sister Qiqi: Why didn’t Rose tell me you were going to OLG? I’m gonna yell at him.]

[Pineapple: ???? Holy crap crap crap, God Show, you’re going pro, and the pro team is OLG? You should’ve said so earlier!!!]

Yan Xiu replied one by one.

Pineapple replied coyly and hesitantly: [God Show, Brother Show, my dear brother, you know I got into this game watching God D’s matches. Could I beg you to get me God D’s autograph… In the future, even my butt is yours!]

Yan Xiu: ?

[What do I need your butt for.]

[I’ll get the autograph for you.]

Pineapple sent a string of “!!!”, followed by a blushing pink Loopy twerking sticker.

Jack was just finishing a post-match review with Rose on the micro-operations of his last Solo vs Trios game. Hearing Yan Xiu’s phone buzz non-stop, he said, “These next few days, a lot of people might come to express concern. Just turn off all the notifications on your social platforms.”

Yan Xiu nodded. “I already turned them off.”

Jack: “Everyone who joins OLG gets this treatment. You’ll get used to it later. Even outside, remember to maintain your image. You could pick your nose and get secretly photographed by someone from who-knows-where, and they’ll post it online. Other teams don’t have so many stalker photographers—OLG has them everywhere. You need to be careful even during your personal time out.”

Rose laughed and said, “Show isn’t Qin Baotian. Why would he pick his nose?”

Yan Xiu and Rose had been roommates for two days now. Brother Liu’s living habits were truly good. Early to bed, early to rise, and he kept things clean. Living together, they didn’t disturb each other. Liu Jianfeng was very satisfied with this new roommate.

A few minutes later, Rose asked awkwardly, “Show, you know Sister Qi?”

Yan Xiu recalled Sister Qiqi’s recent WeChat message. “Yeah, back when I was at Laifu Esports, Sister Qiqi often hired me as a companion.”

Rose sighed helplessly. “Ah, Sister Qi is blaming me for not telling her earlier. I wanted to tell her, but if I did, wouldn’t CatClaw just straight-up kill me?”

Yan Xiu was stunned for a moment, then asked, “Brother Liu, how about I explain things to Sister Qiqi?”

Rose froze. “You’re way too polite. Sister Qi was joking with me. I’ve known Sister Qi for three years.”

Yan Xiu: “Ah, I see.”

Bai Wei and Qingbao were both not in the training room. Yan Xiu played a game to test his new computer, but his gaze flicked over to Bai Wei’s seat several times.

Jack noticed his little actions and asked, “What’s up? Something you need from Danger?”

Yan Xiu lowered his eyes. “I have a friend who’s a huge fan of God D. Hearing I joined OLG, he asked me to get him God D’s autograph…”

Rose: “What’s the big deal? Lots of people want Little Bai’s autograph.”

Jack also said, “That’s simple. Later, I’ll have Guo Qiang grab a set of OLG autographs from storage. Besides Danger, there are also ones from Qingbao and Rose. Do you want those too?”

Yan Xiu was surprised. “Can I?”

Rose: “If your friend also wants my autograph, I can sign it directly, personalized To sign.”

“He’d want that.” When playing games with Pineapple, Yan Xiu had heard him say it. Pineapple had once been scrolling TikTok and saw Danger 1v10 in a match, solo clearing the map and extracting. He was so awed he almost went gay. That was when he officially got into Delta Force. After that, he became a hardcore male fan of Danger, and through love for the player, he became a fan of the whole OLG team.

Rose: “Alright, what’s your friend’s name?”

“Whose friend?” Qin Baotian’s booming voice shouted from the training room entrance.

Rose explained, “Show’s friend. Likes Little Bai, also a fan of our OLG. I’m writing a To sign for him.”

“My fan? Male or female?” Bai Wei entered the training room.

Yan Xiu’s fingers on the mouse tightened. “It’s a girl… no, a guy. I misspoke.”

Bai Wei: “Really a guy?”

Yan Xiu: “Really.”

Qin Baotian said, incredulous, “You’re so desperate for female fans? What do you need female fans for? You have tons of them.”

Bai Wei fixed his eyes on Yan Xiu, but Yan Xiu didn’t look at him, just kept his head down, only a small hair whorl visible.

Bai Wei gave an “mm” and said very seriously, “I can also write a To sign. What’s his name?”

Yan Xiu looked up in surprise, right into Bai Wei’s half-smiling eyes.

Yan Xiu: “…Pineapple. The fruit, pineapple.”

The three OLG first-team members started dividing up pens to write their signatures. Bai Wei was the last one, personally handing his signature to Yan Xiu.

Looking at the name “Danger” on the card, Yan Xiu wanted to ask for one for himself, too. But his lips moved and he ultimately didn’t say anything.

At that moment, Huarong walked into the training room. “What’s everyone standing around for? The Autumn Split is next week. The roster’s confirmed. Tonight, we have a team dinner!”