# Chapter 10
Yu Sui, who had been waiting for Shi Luo to come kowtow and beg for friendship, couldn't process the rejection notification.
He got rejected?
It had been way too long since anyone had rejected Whisper's friend request.
Yu Sui stared at the friend rejection notification and did some deep self-reflection. Could it be that he wasn't "emo" enough?
Yu Sui watched the stream where Shi Luo was acting provocative and arrogant, and felt he might have been a bit too conservative. Someone of that nobility's status wouldn't be impressed by this.
Yu Sui was embarrassed and wanted to give up, but thinking about how Ke Hao had taken care of him back in school, and thinking about his entire evening of fruitless effort, he gritted his teeth and continued modifying his nickname and sending friend requests to Shi Luo.
Based on experience, Yu Sui guessed that someone like Shi Luo, with three earrings in one ear, who'd seen all kinds of storms and waves? He'd naturally look down on such petty tricks.
He needed to up the ante.
Shi Luo, who was currently streaming, glanced at the friend notification in the lower left corner of his screen and opened it.
System notification: [残酷血色之夢] (Cruel Blood-colored Dream) requests to add you as a friend. Reason: [wo de wu li qu nao, ni hai neng ren shou duo jiu?...] (My unreasonable demands - how long can you endure them?) Accept?
Shi Luo: "..."
Shi Luo didn't want to endure even one second. He directly clicked reject. But before half a minute passed, a new friend notification lit up.
System notification: [芯痛到-麻痹叻] (Heart Aching Until Numb) requests to add you as a friend. Reason: [xin yi qian chuang bai kong, liu bu chu xue le, wo yi xi guan le...] (My heart is covered in wounds, bleeding profusely, I've grown used to it...) Accept?
Shi Luo clicked reject again.十几 seconds later...
System notification: [过嘚不好] (Living a Bad Life) requests to add you as a friend. Reason: [yi yi wei ni du guo zui guo shang guo tong guo, wo mai ding li shou cong bu hui hui...] (I've gotten drunk, been hurt, suffered for you countless times, I'll never regret my bets) Accept?
Shi Luo clicked reject at lightning speed. Ten seconds later...
System notification: [①切为了兇弟] (Everything for My Bros) requests to add you as a friend. Reason: [cao! Shui gan zhe duan wo xiong di zhi chi bang, wo ding ran hui ta zheng ge tian tang!] (Damn! Who dares clip my brother's wings, I'll destroy their entire heaven!) Accept?
Shi Luo closed his eyes. His eyes were burning from the cringe.
Shi Luo clicked reject again. A new game match had been queued, and he stopped looking at system notifications, focusing on playing this round.
At the FS base, Yu Sui stared at the screen, frowning.
This was unexpected.
He'd run into a tough cookie today.
Why wasn't this kid adding him?
Didn't he like this kind of style?
Wasn't the intensity enough?
He could go even more brain-dead, but Yu Sui himself was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.
This was way too embarrassing.
Yu Sui had originally been able to start a stream today and rack up some streaming hours from checking in on other streams. He'd only decided to forgo his valuable evening time because he thought successfully adding this kid might require some unconventional tactics.
Yu Sui had been an esports star since he was young, and he actually carried quite the idol包袱. He absolutely would not let this kind of embarrassing black history get out.
But if he didn't add the kid now, who knew when the little brat would stream next? If he let him go today, would he have to go door-to-door looking for him again? What if he migrated to a food-streaming channel one of these days?
Yu Sui couldn't let the tiger return to the mountain.
While Yu Sui was hesitating, he watched through the stream camera as Shi Luo took out his phone and turned it on during a brief moment when he was shielding and channeling for someone. He made a phone call.
Yu Sui raised an eyebrow. So the little brat really hadn't had his phone on just now.
But who was he calling? Ordering food?
If it was a food order, he'd definitely have to give the internet cafe's address. Yu Sui quickly turned up the stream volume, ready to record Shi Luo's address to send to Ke Hao.
Yu Sui bent down to grab a pen from the neighboring table, ready to take notes once Shi Luo's call connected. Before he could find some paper, Shi Luo's cold voice came through the stream: "Ke Hao, is this the best you've got? Posting my info on some emo dating forum and letting a bunch of weirdos cyberbully me? Heh... you think I'm scared?"
Pen and paper in hand, Yu Sui: "..."
Yu Sui thought to himself, of course you're not scared. You're one of them. You'd be happy to find your tribe - what are you scared of?
Before Yu Sui could put away the pen and paper, Ke Hao called back.
Yu Sui had no choice but to answer.
Ke Hao was baffled. "What did you do?! My cousin suddenly called me out of nowhere to yell at me!"
Yu Sui rubbed his temples in annoyance. He picked up his cigarette box and held a cigarette between his lips, frowning. "Nothing much. I wanted to add his friend and talk to him..."
Ke Hao was even more confused. "Then why is he yelling at me?"
Yu Sui lit the cigarette. "He figured out you were the one who asked me to find him."
"Oh." Ke Hao couldn't help but complain. "How did you get found out so early? If he knows we're acquainted, wouldn't he just add you?"
"I..." Yu Sui couldn't be bothered to explain to Ke Hao just how much suffering he'd endured all evening. "Don't want to get into details. Gotta go. I'll try one more time."
Without waiting for Ke Hao to say more, Yu Sui hung up and got back on his alt account, buying another nickname change card.
Yu Sui was too lazy to register a new account, so he just kept buying nickname change cards to modify his nicknames. Two hundred yuan per name change. For one alt account, Yu Sui had already spent over a thousand yuan tonight.
Yu Sui stared at the stream, grinding his teeth. He could only follow Shi Luo's script.
Yu Sui changed his nickname and signature, and sent another friend request to Shi Luo.
In the internet cafe, Shi Luo finished another game and continued queuing for ranked matches. Seeing the flashing system notification icon, Shi Luo coldly smiled and opened it.
System notification: [網戀，玩伈吗？] (Online Romance, Wanna Play?) requests to add you as a friend. Reason: [QAQ forum someone posted that harassing you once earns 10 kuai, little brother me has no money for tomorrow's breakfast, can you let me add you just once? Big brother, help me out!] Accept?
Shi Luo's hand, ready to press reject, paused.
Ten kuai...
Shi Luo stared at the friend notification with an ugly expression. His face was dark as a wok.
After half a minute of hesitation, Shi Luo clicked accept.
Shi Luo opened the in-game chat and coldly typed to his newly added friend: [You with those guys from before?]
The other side replied immediately: [No, wo only emos for myself, didn't join any clan.]
Shi Luo felt his arm itching from the cringe.
Resisting the urge to delete the person directly, Shi Luo typed: [Whatever. Don't bother me.]
"Online Romance, Wanna Play?" immediately replied: [Ok, but big brother me also plays this game, can you take me for one round?]
Shi Luo typed: [No.]
"Online Romance, Wanna Play?" continued: [Then big brother, can you add my WeChat? Text me whenever you feel like playing with me.]
Shi Luo压制着怒火, hesitating for a full minute before typing out a string of numbers. With a ding, the friend request came through on the other end.
Shi Luo quickly closed the in-game chat interface and focused on his game.
At the FS base, Yu Sui likewise endured the disgust as he looked at his gaming alt and the WeChat account with its newly changed nickname. He let out a long breath, suppressing his anger, and called Ke Hao.
"Got him added in the game. I'll play a couple rounds with him when I have time. Not now though." Yu Sui was exhausted in body and mind. "Added him on WeChat too. I'll keep an eye on it for you. If his family really can't get in touch with him, if there's anything urgent, I can pass a message for you... does he have a place to stay?"
Ke Hao quickly thanked him. "Thanks a million! You're always so thorough. Where does he live... I don't know either."
Yu Sui couldn't help but laugh. "Your cousin? He's a student, ran away from home, streaming from some sketchy internet cafe, and you're not worried about where he's sleeping? What if he's living under a bridge?"
"Oh, don't worry about that." Ke Hao said. "He's been running away from home since he was thirteen or fourteen. At first the whole family would search the whole city for him. But... he does this several times a year, has been doing it until now. He's used to it by now, and the family's been used to it too."
Yu Sui frowned. "Running away since childhood? What's got him so troubled?"
Ke Hao sighed. "Anyway, he has his own allowance, so he's got somewhere to stay. The rest... it's hard to explain in a few words."
Yu Sui hadn't been particularly interested in listening anyway. He said, "Alright then. Just doing this to pay back your favor from back in the day. Once I've confirmed things for you, I'm deleting him. I don't have time to babysit him for you..."
Ke Hao hastily agreed: "Of course, of course."
Yu Sui hung up and glanced at Shi Luo's stream - Shi Luo had already gone offline.
Yu Sui rubbed his aching eyes. His phone rang again.
It was Ji Yanhan calling.
Yu Sui leaned back in his gaming chair, spreading his long legs out lazily. "Captain."
"Just finished dinner with someone." Ji Yanhan was smiling. "How's that thing about finding the streamer going? I've got time now, want me to help out? I can have someone do a specialized search for you?"
Yu Sui shook his head. "No need. I handled it myself."
Ji Yanhan had clearly had quite a bit to drink - he was in a chatty mood. "C'mon, tell me. Did you find some skilled player you like? What role do they play?"
Yu Sui said, "Nothing to do with me. He plays medic."
Ji Yanhan laughed. "Good at it?"
Yu Sui furrowed his brows. "...Not bad."
Ji Yanhan asked: "Not bad meaning what? Better than you?"
Yu Sui's mouth curved slightly. He smiled but said nothing.
Ji Yanhan also laughed. "That's a dumb question from me. But even if he's not as good as you, he could still recruit. Make him your substitute."
Yu Sui raised an eyebrow. "Did you drink too much? Our coldhearted, ruthless team has always been about whoever can play gets to start, whoever sucks gets kicked out. We don't even have a second team. When have we ever had something as gentle as a substitute?"
"Other people don't get one, but you can." Ji Yanhan said half-seriously, half-joking. "So what do you say? Get a substitute, free up your time, and slowly start taking over team management... Yu Sui, I'm really stretched thin. Help me out?"
Yu Sui didn't even hesitate: "Impossible."
Ji Yanhan asked again. "You really don't want a substitute?"
Yu Sui said flatly: "Don't need one. As long as my hands don't fail me, I can play."
Ji Yanhan laughed. "Fine, fine, whatever you say. If you don't want to, you don't want to. Oh right! Did I send you the schedule for the regular season?"
Yu Sui said, "No."
"Oh sh*t!" Ji Yanhan slapped his own forehead hard. "My bad, my bad, all my fault... Our manager's on leave recently, so they sent the schedule to me. They sent it two days ago! I've been so busy with business negotiations, I forgot!"
Yu Sui frowned. "You..."
"All my fault." Ji Yanhan hurried to apologize. "I've been exhausted these past few days. I'll send it to you on WeChat right now."
Yu Sui helplessly said, "Send it to me. I'll pass it to logistics so they can book travel arrangements early."
Yu Sui hung up the phone. Just as he was about to order some takeout, Ji Yanhan called again.
Yu Sui answered. "Yeah?"
Ji Yanhan was completely bewildered. "Sui ah, my eyes are a bit blurry. Why can't I find you on WeChat? Did you delete me?"
Yu Sui was irritated. "How much did you actually drink?"
Ji Yanhan hastily apologized. "My fault, my fault, all my fault."
Yu Sui said, "I'll send you a message on WeChat first."
Ji Yanhan, knowing he was in the wrong, kept agreeing. "Sure, sure, sure."
Yu Sui hung up and sent the WeChat message.
Thousands of kilometers away, Ji Yanhan, reeking of alcohol, stood in the best-lit spot in the hotel lobby, squinting as he held his phone with solemn anticipation. Half a minute later, his phone buzzed—
[Online Romance, Wanna Play?]: The schedule. Now.