# Chapter 12
Inside the private room, Shi Luo's chest heaved violently.
Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo with complicated eyes, slowly setting down the glass in his hand.
"Does this feel familiar to you?"
Shi Luo's eyes were red, his tone unsteady: "Back then... when you gave me money for breakfast, did you feel a pang of conscience too?"
"The night before you sold me to NSN, when I finally opened up to you—did you have even a moment of hesitation?"
"After killing Evil thirty-four times, only to find out it was my new account... did you regret it for a second or two?"
Shi Luo tried to make himself look indifferent, forcing down the lump in his throat: "Am I guessing right? But... you played the part so well back then, didn't you?"
After Shi Luo joined FS, when he brought up the old breakfast money incident, Yu Sui showed no guilt on his face. But from that day on, he never let Shi Luo go hungry in the morning again.
"What's going on now?" Shi Luo gripped Yu Sui's wrist, his eyes full of hatred, "Could you have pretended like before? You thought it wasn't good to fill all nine other cups with wine? No one noticed, no one saw through it... Was it so hard to pretend you didn't know, to not come back and verify?"
"God Yu..." Shi Luo wished he could swallow this man alive, "We're all adults here. Has no one ever told you that some things are better left unspoken once you've seen through them?"
That way I wouldn't be embarrassed, and you wouldn't have to suffer from a guilty conscience.
Yu Sui stared at Shi Luo. After a long while, he said压抑ly: "Shi Luo, this isn't what you told me before I left."
"What if I go back on my word?" Shi Luo's voice trembled, "Were your words ever reliable to begin with? I'm genuinely curious how you can say something like this... Someone like you actually has the nerve to blame others for going back on their word?"
Yu Sui took a deep breath. In mere moments he had regained his composure. He pulled his hand free from Shi Luo's grip: "Today's bet doesn't count."
Shi Luo's eyes widened: "You..."
"I'll negotiate your transfer through proper channels with your club." Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo. "Even if today's ten-to-one bet were real, I wouldn't let you join my team without a signing fee."
Shi Luo laughed despite his fury: "You think IAC will let me go? You think you can negotiate this?"
Yu Sui had already regained his calm: "That's my problem."
A fist he'd been building up for days finally struck nothing but cotton. Shi Luo found himself at a loss for words.
Shi Luo held back his tears with all his strength, refusing to let himself look even more pathetic. After a long silence, he said hoarsely: "...I'll just consider this the last time you played me. Pretend I never came today."
Shi Luo picked up his baseball cap, pulled it low, grabbed his phone from the table, and walked away.
When he returned to the IAC base, dawn was just breaking. Shi Luo didn't go straight back to the base. Instead, he headed to an early-opening breakfast shop near the base.
Shi Luo sat in the innermost seat by the window of the breakfast shop and ordered himself a bowl of wonton.
The steam from the wonton rose up, making Shi Luo's eyes slightly redden.
The whole breakfast money incident from back then? Shi Luo had let go of it long ago.
The Yu Sui of back then hadn't meant any harm. It was purely a misunderstanding, not a single ulterior motive, yet it just happened to hit Shi Luo right where it hurt.
Just a coincidence.
Besides, after that, Yu Sui had avenged him over the breakfast money.
That was when Shi Luo had just joined FS for less than a week.
Back then, Shi Luo's father Ke Chunjie hadn't given up. Seeing that Shi Luo had listened to Yu Sui's persuasion and moved from the black internet cafe to the FS base to become a pro player, Ke Chunjie got ideas again. He thought he could push things further and convince Shi Luo to return to school.
Of course, becoming a pro player instead of streaming on some random platform was much better, but it still wasn't enough. Ke Chunjie always felt that being a pro player wasn't a proper path either. Not to mention that with Ke Hao as a shining example, Shi Luo's rebellion made Ke Chunjie feel like he couldn't hold his head up in front of Shi Luo's grandfather.
The Ke family had only two grandsons. Compared to Ke Hao, who had early on entered a prestigious university, his own son was just too embarrassing.
So just a few days after Shi Luo moved to FS, Ke Chunjie, who had gotten the FS base address from Ke Hao, showed up in person.
Since it was the legitimate father coming to visit, Yu Sui had no reason to refuse him entry. Plus, at that time Yu Sui himself was uncertain—he thought it wouldn't be bad if Shi Luo actually agreed to go back to school. So he didn't say much and invited Ke Chunjie inside.
However, Yu Sui didn't take him to Shi Luo's dorm. Instead, he led him to the training room.
Yu Sui sat back at his computer station, put on his headphones, and started playing. He gestured for the two to do as they pleased.
In the empty training room, Yu Sui trained as usual while undercurrents surged between father and son. The atmosphere was strange.
Seventeen-year-old Shi Luo glared resentfully at Yu Sui's back, watching Ke Chunjie warily, not saying a single word.
With an outsider present, Ke Chunjie was also restrained. He looked around the training room environment and frowned slightly.
It wasn't noon yet. The other players were still asleep, and the cleaning auntie hadn't had time to tidy up yet. The training room was a chaotic mess—except for Yu Sui's station which was neat, everyone else's station had various peripheral cables tangled together, figures scattered everywhere. A puzzle someone had been working on lay spread out on the floor in the middle of the room, throw pillows had fallen off the small sofa, takeout boxes sat on the table in front of the sofa, along with a few cups of unfinished milk tea that hadn't been thrown away.
Ke Chunjie subtly covered his nose. He barely managed to sit down on the sofa before instantly standing back up.
There were a few keycaps on the sofa.
Ke Chunjie couldn't even bear to sit anymore.
A cold smile flickered in Shi Luo's eyes. He scooped up those keycaps and sat down on the sofa, propping his feet on the small table in front of him, looking down at the keycaps in his hand.
Ke Chunjie sighed: "Luoluo, I heard from your brother. This place is pretty good, but they don't actually need you, do they? You could go to school first, maintain a good connection with them here. With your brother's人情, this relationship won't break off."
Shi Luo looked up, glancing at Ke Chunjie like he was looking at an idiot, and snorted without saying anything.
Ke Chunjie had no idea what was wrong with his own words, nor did he feel how out of place he was standing there. He continued trying to persuade: "The college entrance exam is coming up soon. Your grades are so good. Don't you think it's a waste not to take it?"
Shi Luo pinched the keycaps, looked up, and asked back: "A waste of what?"
"Your grades, of course!" Ke Chunjie was furious. "Ten years of hard work got you these grades. You don't think it's a waste?"
"Not at all." Shi Luo looked at Ke Chunjie calmly, speaking straightforwardly, "My grades aren't good because I worked hard. I just have a damn good brain. I didn't suffer at all studying, so what's there to waste?"
Ke Chunjie was choked with anger: "Shi Luo!"
Shi Luo tossed the keycaps in his hand from palm to palm, a slight smirk tugging at his lips: "That's the truth. I don't feel even a tiny bit of regret."
Ke Chunjie suppressed his anger: "So you think that's something to be proud of?!"
"Not proud, but not ashamed either." Shi Luo's eyes were dark and bright, fixed on Ke Chunjie. "Someone's feeling ashamed, right? Can't face your grandfather?"
Ke Chunjie was hit in his sore spot and fell silent for a moment.
A flash of satisfaction crossed Shi Luo's eyes. He knew he'd scored a point but didn't continue. He tucked his legs in, crouched on the sofa instead, and softly whistled a tune.
"I understand now." Ke Chunjie dropped the formalities. "You're doing this just to spite me, aren't you? Shi Luo, using your own future to anger your own father—are you stupid? Won't you regret this in the future? Are you trying to spite me? You're the one who's wasting your own life!"
Shi Luo's lips moved, but he said nothing.
"Immature! Ridiculous!" Ke Chunjie said sharply. "When you're an adult, when you're truly mature, you'll know how irresponsible your behavior is now! Not towards me! You're being irresponsible towards yourself!"
Shi Luo exhaled.
"Don't make me say everything. It won't be pleasant to hear." Shi Luo narrowed his eyes slightly. "Who exactly is being harmed by me dropping out of school? You know best in your heart, Dad... some things, once said out loud, really ruin the fun. I don't want to curse grandfather. Let's just leave it at that."
Ke Chunjie was stumped.
Shi Luo sneered and said nothing more.
Ke Chunjie eyed Shi Luo warily, paced in place, took a deep breath, and softened his tone: "I get it. You're still resentful of me, aren't you?"
"Dad's been too busy all these years, haven't taken good care of you. But look at Ke Hao—did your uncle and aunt take good care of him? He was even worse than you. He went abroad to study before turning eighteen, has been taking care of himself all these years." Ke Chunjie said softly, "But look at your cousin. Did he ever blame your uncle and aunt? The first money he earned, he didn't spend a single cent of it—all of it went to buying gifts for your uncle and aunt. Why don't you look at him?"
Shi Luo laughed.
Shi Luo said seriously: "Then I'm really sorry. The first money I earn will all go to breakfast. Compared to buying you a gift, I need to eat first."
Ke Chunjie couldn't hold it together anymore. He下意识 glanced at Yu Sui and said quietly: "At this rate, how long are you going to keep bringing up the past?"
"Forever." Shi Luo said flatly. "Sorry, I like bringing up the past. The one who's embarrassed isn't me. Why can't I bring it up?"
"Fine, fine." Ke Chunjie tried to make his voice gentler. "Dad knows he was wrong. Dad promises never to limit any of your spending again, okay? I'll double your living allowance, so you always have money to spend, how about that?"
Ke Chunjie pulled out his phone to check something and said: "Two thousand... double that is four thousand. I'll add another thousand—five thousand. That should be enough, right?"
Ke Chunjie glanced in disgust at the overnight takeout bags on the table and said quietly: "You don't want the good meals the housekeeper makes? You want to come here and live like this? And even if you do game here, how much can they actually pay you?!"
Shi Luo paused.
He'd rushed over in such a hurry, and Yu Sui hadn't discussed this with him yet. He really didn't know how much it would be.
Ke Chunjie, seeing that Shi Luo had nothing to say, continued: "Have you figured it out yet? Your dad is supporting you and you don't want it, so you have to come here, mess up your sleep schedule, eat some three-no-takeout, drink drinks of unknown composition, and then in the prime of your life earn some small change and ruin yourself?!"
*Click.* From the other side of the training room, Yu Sui took off his headphones. The father and son下意识looked over.
"Sorry, uncle." Yu Sui smiled. "I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation with your son. I just noticed you've been curious and asking questions, so let me answer you."
"Our FS Club FOG division is a bit heartless. We don't have the tradition of giving players a mental buffer period, so we only have one team—no second team, no substitutes. Shi Luo joining us was an accident. He's nominally my substitute right now, and the first substitute we've had in years here. So there's no precedent for his annual salary—it took a bit of time, but we just finalized it."
"He's just a substitute, so getting one-tenth of my annual salary should be enough. His artist contract isn't with us right now, so endorsement fees, streaming contracts, etc. are pending. Just talking about the base signing fee..." Yu Sui smiled. "It should be 3.5 million, which comes out to less than 300,000 per month."
Ke Chunjie, who knew nothing about esports, froze when he heard this number. His face gradually turned green.
Shi Luo barely held it together and coughed twice.
Yu Sui picked up his headphones: "By the way, the takeout on the table was specially delivered by a private chef restaurant we often order from—not the kind you can order through a phone app. The ingredients definitely aren't as good as yours at home, but they're all air-flown from Japan the same day. They absolutely won't make Shi Luo sick. Rest assured."
Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo: "Also, those limited edition keycaps belong to Puppy. Four thousand each. You can play with them, but don't lose them."
Yu Sui put on his headphones and continued playing his game.
Shi Luo, who was holding keycaps worth a total of five digits, looked up at Ke Chunjie: "You just said... how much per month for me来着?"