Chapter 305: A Kidnapped Child

Yu Luocheng’s mind was still in a state of confusion as he returned backstage. This unexpected information had come too suddenly.

The match was still ongoing and with one glance he noted that Team Skycrown’s inner turret had been taken down.

Not long after, even the nexus turret had been crushed. Team Skycrown stood up and took off their headphones, feeling slightly conflicted about the outcome.

3 to 2. This time, Team LM lost the match and only obtained two points.

It wasn’t because Team Meteor was much stronger than them, but because their Jungler was good at disrupting their rhythm, leaving Team Skycrown at a loss on what to do.

Team Skycrown was still not familiar with a lot of things and hadn’t practised enough to improve on what they didn’t know. Yu Luocheng had already predicted that this sort of thing would happen.

But right now, Yu Luocheng was more concerned about the problem with Xiao Bei’s identity.

***

Although they lost the match, the members of Team Skycrown didn’t feel very frustrated. While studying the LPL teams before this, they realized it would be hard for them to break through Team Meteor’s solid teamwork. Being able to obtain two points from this match was already good enough for them.

“Xiao Bei, it looks like it’s up to you to save the world. Countless people are definitely gonna edit your three consecutive kills from when you were 1v3 during the third game and post it all over the forums. Play a few more games and you’ll be famous in no time.” Li Meiqi laughed as she spoke to Xiao Bei.

Xiao Bei still felt flustered and would blush whenever he spoke to Li Meiqi, so he could only nod his head in embarrassment.

“Yeah, if it wasn’t for Xiao Bei, we really would have lost with a score of 3 to 0. Team Meteor is stronger than Team Stardust, it was quite stressful to play against them,” said Lin Dong.

Zhou Yan, Da Luo, and Wu Sen all nodded their heads in agreement. Xiao Bei’s performance was the best of them all. After going through the pre-season games, the rate of his progress was astounding!

It was obvious that Team Meteor was better than Team Stardust. The core of Team Stardust was Earth so they would give him all the resources. However, if he couldn’t perform despite all the advantages given to him, or if something happened to Earth, then defeat was inevitable…

Putting it plainly, Team Stardust had a fatal weakness.

However, Team Meteor was more balanced in terms of strength. They didn’t have any roles that specifically stood out, and none that were particularly weak either. With their experience, they used their stable teamwork and fast coordination against Team Skycrown.

In terms of teamwork, Team Skycrown was not as close-knit as Team Meteor. This defeat also allowed them to learn what the absence of teammates was like.

At their current total of six points, Team Skycrown wasn’t in a bad position.

Sadly, their next opponent was Team Revelation, one of the top four teams. Getting just one point from them would already be a cause for celebration.

As they were leaving the hall, Xi Xi spoke to Yu Luocheng. “Luocheng, please deal with your team’s issue as soon as possible.”

Zhou Yan, Da Luo, and Lin Dong all turned in confusion, looking at Xi Xi who had a slightly dissatisfied expression.

“What’s wrong?” asked Lin Dong, watching as Xi Xi left.

“It’s nothing, we’ll talk about it when we get back,” replied Yu Luocheng.

***

It started to rain just as they arrived at the apartment. The cold air leaked through the battered windows and a musty smell spread throughout the place. Every time it rained, not a single comfortable spot could be found in the whole apartment, no matter where you stood.

Da Luo cursed loudly as he stepped onto a wet floorboard. Zhou Yan silently brought a cloth over and wiped the wet spot.

“Zhou, stop wiping it. It’ll get wet again in a while. On that note, when will the grant for the teams be released? Once we get it, we’ll be able to change accommodation. I really can’t stand this place!” Da Luo growled.

“It’s been delayed,” said Yu Luocheng.

“Delayed?”

Everyone was startled and stared at Yu Luocheng in confusion.

“Until when?”

“Why is it delayed? Did Sky Club do something again?”

Yu Luocheng shook his head, waving his hand for them to sit down. He looked at Xiao Bei, and said, “Xiao Bei, tell us honestly, where did you get your identity card?”

Xiao Bei was already sixteen years old. He had given Lin Dong his identity card when they were registering for the competition, who had then proceeded to register him based on the information stated on the card.

Xiao Bei stared at Yu Luocheng, completely taken aback by his question.

“Boss, what’s wrong?” asked Lin Dong.

“Xiao Bei’s identity card is fake,” replied Yu Luocheng.

Zhou Yan, Da Luo, Wu Sen, and Lin Dong instantly turned their gaze on Xiao Bei who had an uncomprehending look on his face.

Lin Dong repeated the question. “Xiao Bei, where did you get your identity card?”

“It’s… my uncle gave it to me,” said Xiao Bei.

“Why your uncle? What about your parents?” asked Lin Dong.

“My parents were from an old, rural village and my uncle didn’t know where the public security bureau was so he couldn’t make my identity card. That’s why he bought one for me and told me I could use it…” said Xiao Bei, anxiety clearly in his voice as he looked at everyone. “Could it be that my uncle bought a fake card?”

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Listening to Xiao Bei’s words, everyone present was at a loss for words!

The question here wasn’t whether the card was real or fake—have you ever heard of buying an identity card??

You had to present yourself at the public security bureau to make your identity card! It wasn’t possible to buy one!

“Is your uncle blood related to you?” Lin Dong asked suddenly.

“I don’t know. When I was about eleven years old, he came to our village and said he would bring me out to earn money.”

“Did your parents agree?”

“He said my parents agreed and asked me to go with him. There was a car waiting for me at the village gate. I ran home but there was no one there and he kept insisting that there would be no next time if I didn’t get in the car right then and there. I waited a while but they didn’t come back, so I told my neighbors to let my parents know that I was leaving to make money…” replied Xiao Bei.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Everyone was speechless!

It could seem like just a typical, boring story, but they had realized the horrifyingly cruel fact behind Xiao Bei’s words.

And the saddest part of it all was that Xiao Bei was still oblivious to the truth.

He didn’t come to Shanghai to work with his uncle, but was in fact abducted by a complete stranger when he was eleven years old!

This was a common occurrence in the northwestern area. Traffickers would pretend to be distant relatives and use the excuse of making money to deceive children with elderly family members, then take them far away to use as child labor.

When they first saw Xiao Bei at the grocery store, Yu Luocheng and the others had assumed that he was the nephew of that drunkard. Little did they know that Xiao Bei was not related at all to the asshole who had actually abducted him from a nameless village.

Now everything made sense. No wonder he always scolded Xiao Bei. No wonder he never allowed Xiao Bei to attend school. No wonder he always worked the poor boy like a dog, and even consistently tried to stop him from playing E-sports. Finally, it was Xiao Bei itself that had enough and left the grocery store.

How could someone like that give Xiao Bei a real identity card? When Xiao Bei requested for one, he just gave him a fake one that cost less than ten yuan and wasn’t even from the public security bureau!

***

The room was silent.

They had always been a little puzzled by Xiao Bei’s situation, but seeing his joyful appearance every day, they always assumed that it wasn’t what they thought…

“Xiao Bei, you haven’t once gone back to your village?” asked Yu Luocheng.

“According to Uncle, my parents passed away and he arranged for the funeral. He said it was a beautiful one that cost about 30,000 to 40,000 yuan. He told me that I have to pay back the money, otherwise it would be disrespectful to my parents,” said Xiao Bei.

“What the f*ck, you believed that nonsense?!” Da Luo exclaimed angrily.

As Yu Luocheng looked at Xiao Bei’s confused face, a kind of sadness and sorrow grew in his heart.

Was Xiao Bei so hopeless that there was no hope for him? Or was he simply too naive to suspect anything?

It couldn’t be helped, he had lived in a sheltered mountain village since young. Once he arrived in the city, all he did was work hard day and night. The only salvation in his life was E-sports and the only people he had who cared about him were the members of Team Skycrown…

Suddenly, Da Luo, Lin Dong, Zhou Yan, and Wu Sen realized they had a big problem!

They had registered for the LPL with Xiao Bei’s fake identity card! Lin Dong recalled the dissatisfied look on Xi Xi’s face when they left. With horrified expressions on their faces, they turned their attention to Yu Luocheng.

Yu Luocheng sighed and nodded his head. “The organizers found out that Xiao Bei’s an illegal immigrant.”

“This…”

The room descended into silence once again.

The sound of the rain falling on the roof was the only noise and the temperature in the room felt like it had dropped a few more degrees.

“Xiao Bei, why didn’t you tell us earlier…” Da Luo’s face was full of anger.

They were well aware that using a fake identity card to register in a professional league was subject to harsh penalties. Getting kicked out of the competition was considered a light punishment. Worst case scenario, they could be permanently banned from participating in all future competitions!

Yu Luocheng hurriedly shook his head at Da Luo, signaling for him not to do or say anything rash.

This wasn’t Xiao Bei’s fault, they could only blame this sad society. This kind of abduction was quite a common occurrence in the northwest after all.

And the many people in Shanghai who didn’t have identity cards now lived at the bottom of society. They were like hard-working ants who tired themselves out every day, but still couldn’t even find out who they were.

“Xiao Bei, you have a problem with your identity card. You still remember how to get back to your village right? You should return there and get your household registration from your parents, then go to the local public security bureau. If your village doesn’t have one, go to one in the nearest town and register your identity card there.” Yu Luocheng spoke seriously to Xiao Bei.

Xiao Bei wasn’t stupid, he just had too little life experience.

“Oh my… is this matter affecting the grant for the team…?” said Xiao Bei, hanging his head.

“Don’t worry, Ai Ke has given us some leeway. We still have a few days to fix this. The grant has only been delayed, it doesn’t mean that they’re not giving it to us. As long as you solve your identity card problem, we should still be given what is rightfully ours,” said Yu Luocheng.

Xiao Bei nodded his head.

He never expected that things would be so serious, but fortunately there was still a chance to remedy this.