Chapter 19: 19

Before Yu Zhaohan could get a reply from the netizens, he heard the sound of the bathroom door opening. He instinctively hid his phone behind his back, but soon realized his foolishness and searched for a video game, which he watched as if nothing was wrong.

Shi Du had forgotten to bring his top into the bathroom and came out in only his sweatpants. “The bathroom is ready to use,” he said as he quickly wiped his hair with a towel.

The boy’s arm was slender and strong, and when he lifted it, a small piece bulged. He clearly did not dry his body thoroughly, as there were still water droplets on his abdominal muscles. They weren’t muscles that had been worked on in the gym. They were naturally beautiful, with distinct teenage silhouettes and lines.

Yu Zhaohan shifted his gaze away from the drawstring at Shi Du’s sweatpants and checked the time: 23:58.

How should he say it? It would not have been his turn to speak if Cheese and the others were present, but he was the only one with Shi Du right now.

What needs to be said is set; what matters is how it is said.

Yu Zhaohan remembered all the good moments. R.H would not have been able to get rid of the rotten boss so easily if it hadn’t been for Shi Du. Shi Du addressed him as “Brother Zhaohan” and invited him to drink chocolate milk and homemade milk green tea. Shi Du looked handsome.

He didn’t want to say “Happy Birthday” coldly and carelessly. Forget about other birthdays; today is his eighteenth. Shi Du is no longer an underage younger brother as of today. He is allowed to drink and is not required to sit at the kid’s table at dinner parties. He can also go to an Internet cafe, open a room with an ID card, and drive with a driver’s license… He will be an adult.

Yu Zhaohan recalled his eighteenth birthday present from Old Tan and the others at the club. There were cakes, gifts, and blessings. The only thing he missed was that he no longer had a captain.

His captain is Wan Feng. And he is now Shi Du’s captain.

Just a little softer, gentler, it shouldn’t collapse his persona…

23:59. Shi Du wiped his hair half-dry and sat by the bed to deal with the overwhelming information. His mother even said that if he refused to go home for the birthday party, his inheritance rights would be canceled. He was so annoyed that he agreed to fly back to Beijing as soon as the game was over tomorrow.

When Shi Du opened the software to book a flight ticket, the light dimmed and a shadow was projected on the screen. He raised his head to see Yu Zhaohan standing in front of him, hesitant to speak.

Shi Du raised the corner of his lips and smiled: “Does Captain Yu have any instructions?”

The warm yellow lighting in the room seemed to warm the High Cold Beauty’s brows. Yu Zhaohan was dressed in a pink team uniform and a white coat, with stiff limbs and drooping eyelids. Shi Du could see his eyelashes quivering slightly due to nervousness from his point of view.

Shi Du heard Yu Zhaohan call his name.

The boy suddenly lost the mood to tease. He vaguely felt that something was wrong, and looked down at his heart rate on the watch: 120 beats per minute.

“…Fuck.”

Yu Zhaohan was stunned for a moment, his expression quickly turned cold, and his tone contained a barely discernible hint of discontent: “Why are you swearing at me?”

He finally decided to send Shi Du birthday wishes softly. Why did Shi Du swear at him?

The boy who is about to become an adult in a few seconds is inexplicably flustered, like a primary school student who bullied his deskmate into crying by pranking too much: “I’m not, I didn’t, I—”

A beeping sound drowned out Shi Du’s words. Cheese rushed into the room after unlocking it with the key card he had borrowed from the front desk, and shouted, “Happy birthday to my little brother!”

Shi Du was an adult now, and the strange atmosphere had dissipated on the new day.

Old Tan, Lu Youshan, and Qi Xian rushed into the room behind Cheese. Everyone had gifts in their hands, and the room instantly became lively. Shi Du was surrounded by them: “You don’t have to go this far, didn’t you say we could celebrate after the game is over.”

“Let’s have a small celebration first, and have a good time tomorrow, you can’t let your eighteen birthday pass plainly at 0:00,” Cheese said as he handed Shi Du the gift, “Brother, come and open the gift, I don’t tell anyone what I have prepared for you…”

Yu Zhaohan sighed with relief. It was great. He should be extremely busy. It was much better than he could hold his fart for a long time.

There are only a few things that Internet addicts can send. Cheese gave a keyboard, Qi Xian gave headphones, and Lu Youshan gave “Timeless Career Mistakes Collection,” which he worked tirelessly to compile.

Lu Youshan told Shi Du: “As long as you watch it carefully and repeatedly, learn from it and correct it, you will be the next FMVP.”

Qi Xian shook his head and said with pity: “It’s so miserable, what’s the difference between this and giving high school students ‘ a 5-Year College Entrance Examination and 3-Year Simulation.’[1]”

Old Tan, who is half an Internet addict, gave Shi Du a basketball: “I heard from Brother Feng that you used to play basketball with your teammates in the IPL. No one in R.H likes sports. If you always sat in front of the game, you will get occupational diseases sooner or later. In the future, you should play it to move more.”

Shi Du tried the basketball: “Good point.”

“I think boys who can play basketball are very handsome.” Cheese said, “Isn’t that right, Captain?”

Yu Zhao said coldly, “I don’t think so.”

Basketball is a great tool for boys who want to appear aloof. Ten of the ten male protagonists are very good at basketball, and he has studied it specifically to perfect his act, and his playing isn’t too bad either. But he doesn’t think being a good basketball player is a big deal. This is a very common skill, and the security guards at their base are also very good at it.

Cheese was used to being splashed with cold water by the captain, so he didn’t feel disappointed at this time: “Brother, do you know that one?”

“Which.”

“It’s that one,” Cheese stretched out a finger, “That, that one!”

Shi Du understood, and the basketball spun around his fingertips with a slight spin: “Did you mean this?”

“Damn!” Cheese quickly pulled out his phone, “Hold on for a moment, I’ll take a short video and send it to the group. Captain… Captain, isn’t he handsome?”

Yu Zhaohan was unenthusiastic, he also could do it with practice.

Shi Du set the basketball down, smiled at Yu Zhaohan, and asked, “Has captain Yu prepared a present for me?”

Yu Zhaohan drew a box from his backpack and tossed it to Shi Du expressionlessly. He didn’t even get a gift wrap, so he could see what was inside at a glance—a newly released smartwatch, an updated version of the one he wears all the time. Yu Zhaohan chose white for the strap to better match their team uniforms.

“Awesome,” Shi Du raised the corners of his mouth and looked up, “This should also show the heart rate, right?”

“Nonsense.” Yu Zhaohan said, “Why are you obsessed with heart rate— do you have a bad heart?”

Shi Du smiled to himself as he lowered his eyes to unpack: “Maybe.”

After all of this commotion, the time unknowingly came to one o’clock. Old Tan urged everyone to get some rest, so as not to affect tomorrow’s game. After Cheese and the others left, Yu Zhaohan quickly took a shower and went to bed. Shi Du, who was on the other bed near him, asked, “Should I turn off the light?”

“Yeah.”

Click, the room fell into darkness, and only Shi Du was illuminated by the light from his phone. Yu Zhaohan slept gracefully while lying upright with his eyes closed and his hands folded in front of his chest.

Yu Zhaohan heard a rustling sound after an unknown amount of time. He slowly opened one eye, and when he saw Shi Du put down his phone, he opened the other.

In the dim light, he looked at the boy’s indistinct outline, opened his lips, and said quietly, “Happy birthday, Brother Timeless.”

The “Destination” Carnival is an annual event for game companies as well as a fan carnival. For the first time, the carnival was held in Chinese this year, and the enthusiasm of domestic players was unprecedented. Even after the real-name system was implemented, scalpers still tried to get on tickets several times.

It began to rain early in the morning, and the R.H team blocked the intersection in front of the exhibition hall, causing long lines to form. Cheese said over the phone, “The carnival this year is the best in recent years. Aside from the friendly competition of the ‘Five Tigers in China,’ there are cosplay contests, symphony concerts, fan creations, and face-to-face activities… Aside from that, I need to conquer that plan. One after another. Don’t try to stop me.”

“It’s too much, the schedule is so tight, and the game will be finished in one day, so you can’t conquer the plan,” Old Tan said.

The pink bus arrived at the venue’s back door, and fans’ screams could be heard through the doors and windows. The screams were instantly amplified when the door was opened, and the voices were too loud to be heard clearly. The Ah Ah series was the most frequently heard: Shine Ah Ah Ah, Ah Ah Ah Timeless, Ah Ah, and Cheese Ah.

A few people got out of the car and noticed two large light signs, one saying “Happy Birthday Timeless” and the other saying “Shine, I am your dog.”

Yu Zhaohan walked through the crowd, with a blank expression as if he hadn’t seen anything. Shi Du followed him and smiled as he waved to the fans, causing even more screams. “Happy birthday, little brother,” he heard a milky voice over the roar of people’s voices.

Shi Du stopped when he noticed a small boy under the age of five sitting on his father’s shoulder with a game logo painted on his face. He took off his baseball cap, placed it on the little boy’s head, and smiled, “You have to call me big brother.”

The cheers of fans faded as they entered the stadium. They came across a narrow road with IPL on their way to the backstage lounge. The IPL manager gave Old Tan a slap-throat gesture and then cast a resentful look at Shi Du when Old Tan greeted his brother’s team warmly.

Shi Du wrapped his arms around the former manager’s shoulders and smiled, “Brother Feng, don’t be like this, the layout is bigger.”

Brother Feng rolled his eyes but didn’t move, allowing Shi Du to wrap his arms around him: “Come on, you don’t have a conscience. PL is not good for you? Just leave, R.H is giving you some kind of **soup.”

The game started immediately, and Bi An and Xu greeted them and left. Lu Youshan stared at a few players in the IPL and said: “I hope they didn’t prepare well, I hope the other side didn’t sleep well yesterday…”

Shi Du turned his head and asked Qi Xian, “Have you taken him to see it?”

Qi Xian understood what Shi Du was saying and smiled: “I did. The doctor said it is already in the late stages and cannot be saved. But don’t worry, he will only get sick during the competition.”

Chongqing EUA and Guangzhou ZC were regrettably eliminated after the first round of competition. The veteran strong team DSD didn’t seem to take the friendly match seriously. In the second round, they used half of their substitutes and were unsurprisingly eliminated by IPL with no wins. IPL and R.H both advanced to the final.

The final is scheduled for the evening as the carnival’s grand finale. The atmosphere at the scene today is much more relaxed than it was during the International Invitational Tournament, and the commentator also stated, “Friendship first, competition second.”

“Don’t listen to their bullshit. The game is to win!” said Lu Youshan to the four people about to play.

“Think about your mother’s bag.” Old Tan pushed behind Cheese, “Go!”

The four took their seats and then put on headphones to drown out the commentator’s voice.

“I think I can guess what the commentator is on about. Today is Timeless’s eighteenth birthday, can Timeless beat his old club?” Cheese said while adjusting the sensitivity of the mouse.

“Be quiet. Go to the shooting range to warm up,” Yu Zhaohan advised.

Qi Xian: “Timeless, how much do you know about IPL’s new short/gun? He seems to be your substitute before.”

“You mean Guo Jiang?” Shi Du asks. “He and I are the two styles that are more group-oriented and enjoy showing off.”

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“You mean you like showing off a lot?” asked Cheese.

“Of course, if you don’t want to show off in competitive games, it’s better to go home and farm,” Shi Du says.

The game began with IPL selecting a map, and they chose an ancient Chinese map – Daming Palace. The four R.H people soon saw that Guo Jiang was not very showy, he knew that he couldn’t cut the C-position from each other, so he didn’t look for a way to go around the back, and instead followed his teammates to fight a frontal team fight to protect the support.

Xu chose a speed-up support, accelerated his teammates to the target point, set up the formation, and the four of them tightly defended. The advantage of this formation is that it prevents the opponent from cutting the back row. The disadvantage is that once the formation is broken, the group is effectively destroyed and will be unable to get back.

The IPL has obviously put in a lot of practice time with this lineup, and the defensive idea is very clear. It was a one-on-four as soon as Shi Du got close to the back, and when he went up, it was a suicide. And Yu Zhaohan’s guns all hit the tank’s shield, and they were often forced to retreat before the shield was broken by the opposing long/gun.

IPL was the first to take a point with their unexpected lineup.

Cheese was a little confused by the play: “What is this play all about, how come the shield of the other side can’t be broken?”

Shi Du said, “It’s not that we can’t break it, it’s that our shield is breaking faster and their guns are stronger.”

Cheese asked, “Then what should we do?”

Yu Zhaohan said, “Look at the coach.”

The coach can use voice to arrange tactics at halftime. As soon as Lu Youshan came in, he said, “Join if you can’t beat it. In the next game, Cheese will use Magpie, and all resources will be given to Shine, as well as a head-on battle like Guo Jiang.”

Magpie is a single-assist hero with a relatively high fault tolerance rate who can only help one person at a time. Low fault tolerance was commonly used in the occasion of three protection. Lu Youshan wanted to focus all of the resources on Yu Zhaohan.

Shi Du said leisurely: “I didn’t expect that I would also have a day as a tool man.”

Yu Zhao said coldly, “Don’t want to?”

“If you don’t want to, you have to listen to the coach.” Shi Du replaced his usual assassin, “Then it’s up to you to win, Captain Yu.”

In the second game, Qi Xian, Cheese, and Shi Du only need to do one thing well- protect their captain.

The IPL has some thoughts on what happens when a Human Targeting Essence has access to the entire team’s resources. When the shield on the other side was broken, the four people became completely exposed to Shine’s gun line and died one by one. Finally, all of the members gathered so that they could try to counterattack, and the tool man discovered another opportunity.

Shi Du cut off the IPL’s pairs of four long/guns without the cover of any teammates or the care of the support and successfully escaped.

Cheese said excitedly: “This wave of a scene, brother, come back and get some milk!”

“You shouldn’t count this as disobeying the command,” the boy’s voice was full of smugness that could not be concealed, “I didn’t use Captain Yu’s resources.”

“The game isn’t over yet, don’t slack off,” Yu Zhaohan said calmly.

The friendly match only took three games, and R.H defeated the IPL 2:1, delighted to receive a million in prize money in a single day.

“My mother’s Hermes gets it!” said Cheese, hugging the little birthday star.

Shi Du quickly returned his hug, then packed up the keyboard and mouse before shaking hands with each IPL player in turn. He was hugged again when shaking hands with Bi An, and Bi An wished him a happy birthday.

Shi Du’s popularity has made them envious and jealous.

As usual, the official will conduct post-game interviews following the game. The official had intended to interview Shi Du on his birthday, but no one could have predicted that after the game, Shi Du would be gone. Yu Zhaohan was forced to answer the interview questions.

The host is a lovely young lady with a warm smile. Her smile faded when she learned she was going to interview Shine. Good professionalism supported her to stand beside Yu Zhaohan, smiling and shyly asking, “Hello, Shine. We all know that R.H has undergone tremendous changes in the last two months. What do you think is the team’s biggest change compared to last season?”

Yu Zhaohan said with a world-weary face: “The short/gun has been changed.”

The host: “We noticed that R.H changed his tactics at the beginning of the second round. What did you think about deciding to do this?”

Yu Zhaohan continued with a world-weary face: “The coach’s arrangement.”

“The last question, today is R.H’s new short/gun Timeless’s birthday, does Shine have anything to say to Timeless?”

Yu Zhaohan paused slightly and looked directly at the camera, still with a world-weary face: “No.”

What he wanted to say, he already quietly told his brother last night.

“Thank you Shine for accepting our interview- thank you!”

Yu Zhaohan returned to the backstage lounge and found that IPL’s people were also there. Brother Feng was locking the old man Tan on the sofa. When he saw Yu Zhaohan coming, he immediately released his hand and said politely, “Captain Yu is here.”

Yu Zhaohan asked, “What’s the situation.”

Qi Xian explained: “Old Tan made an appointment with IPL to celebrate Timeless’s birthday together—what about the little brother?”

Just as Old Tan wanted to call him, Shi Du came back. “Where have you been? We’re all waiting for you.” Old Tan rubbed his neck and said, “I’ve booked the restaurant and KTV, I’ll walk around and celebrate your birthday for you.”

Shi Du’s face was not very happy: “My Mom wants me to go home for my birthday, so I won’t go, you guys go.”

Cheese’s eyes widened: “You are a birthday star, how can we play without you?”

Yu Zhaohan motioned Cheese to shut up with his eyes: “He is due for a trip home.”

Old Tan thought for a while: “That’s right. Then you go, is it enough to give you two days off?”

“One day is enough. Brothers, have fun and call me for reimbursement.” Shi Du said while using the phone to call a taxi while walking towards the venue outside.

Yu Zhaohan stopped him: “Timeless.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s not easy to call a taxi on rainy days,” Yu Zhaohan said, “I’ll take you to the airport.”

He had only thought about the game all day, and after the game, he would deal with the family; he had almost forgotten about the incident with Yu Zhaohan last night. But now he remembered Yu Zhaohan’s expression when he asked him why he was swearing in the warm light.

He hasn’t explained it yet, but… there seems to be nothing to explain.

The words of refusal were swallowed again. Shi Du curled his lips into a smile and said, “Okay.”

They stayed in the stadium all day, only to come out to find it heavily raining. They went back to the hotel, grabbed their luggage and car, and drove straight to the airport. With the approaching Spring Festival, there were many more cars on the airport highway than usual, and it was raining heavily at night. Even if time was tight, Yu Zhaohan didn’t dare to drive too fast.

Shi Du looked at the phone and said, “Don’t you drive a little slower?”

Yu Zhaohan thought Shi Du was sarcastic and responded coldly, “Don’t you know that safety comes first?

“Good reason to be fierce to me again.” Shi Du raised his mobile phone, “I just received the message that the flight was canceled due to heavy rain.”

“…” Yu Zhaohan said in his heart, ‘I’m not fierce. Where did I? I’m clearly just being “cold,” but you called me fierce.’

“Do you want to change your ticket?” Yu Zhaohan asked.

The boy who couldn’t go home seemed to be in a good mood: “Let’s find a place to eat first, I’m so hungry.”

It was almost eight o’clock and they still hadn’t eaten dinner, Yu Zhaohan was also a little hungry. They got off the highway at the nearest exit, and Shi Du found a KFC, bought a set meal in the heavy rain and went back to the car to eat. Professional e-sports players are considered public figures, especially star players like him and Yu Zhaohan, who have no less fans than third- and fourth-tier stars, and it is easy to be recognized.

Shi Du handed Yu Zhaohan a hamburger. Yu Zhaohan didn’t answer: “Do I look like someone who will eat this kind of thing?”

Shi Du laughed: “You don’t look like it, but that’s all there is now, can captain Yu relent a little?”

There is only junk food, so he couldn’t blame him. Yu Zhaohan said reservedly: “Then I want to eat chicken rolls.”

Shi Du was really hungry, and he finished off two hamburgers and a box of spicy chicken in three or two minutes. Yu Zhaohan continued to eat chicken rolls slowly. Shi Du suddenly sighed after filling his stomach: “This birthday doesn’t even have a cake.”

Yu Zhao paused, put down the chicken roll, and asked, “Do you want to eat cake?”

Shi Du looked at the raindrops hitting the skylight and said carelessly. “It doesn’t matter if I eat or not, I can make a wish if I have cakes and candles.”

Yu Zhaohan paused, took out a french fry, placed it on the mashed potatoes, and hesitantly held it up to Shi Du: “Well?”

Shi Du was stunned and his chest itching as if scratched by a cat’s paw. He wanted to say it was already good, but he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Don’t want to if it’s not chocolate.”

Yu Zhaohan suddenly felt that his good intentions fed the dog and said with a condensed face, “Whatever.”

The boy had a lot of nonsense.

Shi Du couldn’t help but laugh. He took the mashed potatoes from Yu Zhaohan’s hand and closed his eyes beside him in the rain-soaked car.

The eighteen-year-old boy does not have to worry about food or clothing, has not yet realized his love, and his wishes are extremely simple.

He wishes his career could last a little longer…a little longer than two years.

 

References

↑1	“5-Year College Entrance Examination and 3-Year Simulation” is a college entrance examination teaching supplement that has swept across the country. It can be said to be a collection of college entrance examination reviewers.

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