# Chapter 18
In the car, Yu Sui held Puppy's phone.
In Puppy's contacts, Shi Luo's name was still saved as "Luo."
Shi Luo's first league registration ID.
Shi Luo didn't reply again. Yu Sui returned the phone to Puppy and closed his eyes to catch some more sleep.
"Yu Sui…" Puppy looked at his own phone, hesitated, then said, "Shi Luo knows perfectly well that if he comes back, it'll cause another explosion on our forum. So why would you…"
Yu Sui smiled with his eyes still closed. "What do you think the forum wouldn't explode over?"
Puppy could only spread his hands in frustration and continued, "What's the point? An excess entry like an assault player—there are plenty of good ones out there. Even if they're not as good as him, they'd be perfectly happy to play support for Chen Huo. That'd be a very suitable option for us. And later, when Shi Luo comes, he's going to clash with Chen Huo for sure. Setting that aside, there'll be tons of麻烦 down the line. I wouldn't be surprised if Shi Luo's fans come to our base to poison us. Tell me, why would you willingly cause all this trouble…"
Puppy had arrived back late and didn't know about what happened at the club that night with the drinking bet. Yu Sui had no intention of bringing it up either. He only said, "It's not any trouble at all. And it's not like I went looking for trouble for nothing. If he didn't want to come back, I wouldn't have reached out to him again."
Puppy shrugged. "I don't understand you two… Why can't you just be a pair of destined rivals who never meet? The two of you tore each other apart back then, and you still haven't learned your lesson? It's not me digging up old grievances, but you really shouldn't have let Shi Luo join the team in the first place. That kid could've gone to any other team and done better than being your sub. I tried to talk you out of it back then. Gu Qian even said Shi Luo could go to them and start immediately. You wouldn't listen…"
Yu Sui fell silent.
Puppy muttered a few more things, then sighed and slowly put on his headphones to continue listening to his crosstalk.
When Shi Luo had first arrived at the FS base a few days prior, Yu Sui really had considered sending him to NSN.
At the time, besides the team owner Ji Yanhan, everyone else on the roster also thought Shi Luo should be sent away.
For the FS at that time, Shi Luo was essentially worthless.
But Shi Luo was someone Yu Sui had brought in, so the final decision had to be made by Yu Sui.
Yu Sui had agonized over it for a long time. Those days, he'd smoked like a chimney.
"Smoking out mosquitoes?"
Seventeen-year-old Shi Luo pushed open the door to Yu Sui's dormitory at the base, frowning. "Aren't you bothered by the smoke?"
Yu Sui stared worriedly at this half-grown kid he'd picked up, and exhaled another puff of smoke.
Shi Luo opened the window for Yu Sui, puzzled. "You're not even that old. Where did you develop such a heavy smoking habit?"
Yu Sui flicked the ash. "I'll be a four-year veteran soon. You think I'm not old?"
"I'm older than you… somewhat…" Shi Luo had no sense of proper posture. He crouched on the sofa across from Yu Sui, looking around. "You still play Gunpla?"
Shi Luo picked up a figure on the side and fiddled with it, muttering, "Damn, isn't this the crazy expensive one…"
Yu Sui said, "Yes. The one you'd absolutely not be able to afford if you broke it."
Shi Luo quickly and carefully placed the figure back where it belonged,老老实实地 crouching back on the sofa.
Yu Sui couldn't be bothered to care about his image in front of Shi Luo. His whole body ached from sitting too long. He propped one leg up on the sofa, resting his left arm on his knee, and continued to frown heavily while smoking.
The two of them just crouched there facing each other.
Shi Luo's expression was blank. "Can you please stop smoking?"
Yu Sui put out the cigarette. "My apologies, madam."
Shi Luo was so frustrated he nearly choked. He suddenly said, "You're worried about my situation, aren't you?"
Yu Sui instinctively didn't want to discuss this with Shi Luo. He kept his face neutral. "It's got nothing to do with you."
Shi Luo confirmed. "It's about me."
Shi Luo tried to keep his expression relaxed. "So… what are you thinking?"
Yu Sui hesitated, saying nothing.
Shi Luo said, "Ke Hao's really scummy…"
Yu Sui snorted. "What does that have to do with him?"
"He dumped this hot potato on you. Isn't that scummy?" Shi Luo narrowed his eyes. "Did you owe him a favor before?"
"I did." Yu Sui answered bluntly. "But it's not entirely about repaying the favor. He's my friend."
Shi Luo nodded, then countered, "Then why haven't you been in touch with your good friend lately?"
Yu Sui pressed his lips together, reaching for a cigarette again. Before he could move, Shi Luo grabbed the cigarette pack. "No point hiding it, right? You want me to spell it out for you?"
Yu Sui laughed despite himself. "What hiding is there?"
Shi Luo's eyes flickered with a hint of mockery. "Fine, stop covering for your good friend."
"Ke Hao and I… we've met less than ten times over the years. Said maybe twenty words total. Honestly, if I passed him on the street today, I probably wouldn't even recognize him." Shi Luo pinched Yu Sui's cigarette pack and asked, "He feels the same way about me. So tell me, what possible good intentions could he have for caring so much about my mess?"
Yu Sui paused. Before he could speak, Shi Luo continued, "Okay, even if he genuinely has my best interests at heart, shouldn't he want me to go back to school? My uncle and aunt are pretty capable. Transfer me to a strict boarding school, find some people to drag me in—hard? Or lock me at home, hire tutors and bodyguards to watch me twenty-four seven. That wouldn't last long either. Just get through the gaokao hurdle—that's hard?"
Yu Sui didn't say anything, because he knew in his heart it really wasn't hard.
Shi Luo smiled. "Why didn't they do that? Because Ke Hao, along with my uncle and aunt, don't want me going back to school at all."
"But they also can't just leave me drifting around outside, because they both know that streaming won't last forever. It can stop at any time. Maybe one day I'll happily go back to school, or do something else—that would make them uneasy." Shi Luo looked at Yu Sui. "So Ke Hao thought of you. Why you? Because compared to streaming, going pro is something that can last. It can delay the time before I get dragged onto what they consider the 'right path' longer. And also because you…"
Shi Luo raised an eyebrow. "You seem easygoing, but you're actually quite strong-willed in your actions. They know that once I came here, my father wouldn't be able to snatch me away from you… And that's exactly how it turned out."
Just a few days prior, Yu Sui's round of veiled mockery had successfully made Ke Chunjie not want to show his face here again for the time being.
"As long as my father can't take me back, then everything at home will eventually go to Ke Hao. He and my uncle and aunt don't have to worry anymore." Shi Luo said轻松地. "After my father left that day, you figured it out. On one hand, you were annoyed at Ke Hao for using you. On the other hand, you couldn't really say anything to Ke Hao, because he genuinely is good to you. One thing is one thing, your feelings are complicated, so you stopped reaching out to him first."
Shi Luo said it all matter-of-factly. "But you really don't need to stress over this. Based on all the crap my father has pulled over the years, my uncle's family treating me this way is already more than generous. We're all human, and humans have selfish motives. It's normal."
Yu Sui stared at Shi Luo, at a loss for words.
Shi Luo narrowed his eyes, watching the subtle shifts in Yu Sui's expression. "Not used to having everything laid out like this? But I do."
Shi Luo, being deliberately difficult, picked the exact words Yu Sui least wanted to hear. "Your boss has selfish motives too, doesn't he?"
Yu Sui could only give a helpless smile.
"Here… setting aside you, besides your boss Ji Yanhan, no one wanted me to stay. Everyone thought it was troublesome and pointless." Shi Luo sat properly on the sofa, his long legs stretched out. "I've overheard a few of Ji Yanhan's phone calls with you… His business has gotten too big now. He can't be bothered and doesn't really want to manage the club anymore. Several times he's mentioned to you that he wants to hand the club over to you, right? Side note, your old captain seems to treat you pretty well. I've seen the forums from back then. When you broke your contract with your first team, he was the one who paid your liquidated damages, wasn't he?"
Yu Sui said coolly, "His girlfriend almost broke up with him over that."
"At first I thought he genuinely wanted you to go into business with him, with me as your replacement. But you rejected that idea yourself, so that was probably just Ji Yanhan's initial thought. It's in the past now, never mind." Shi Luo continued. "You've clearly said you don't want a substitute. So why does he still want to keep me?"
Shi Luo grinned triumphantly. "Because he thinks I'm amazing."
"If I remember correctly, he only clearly stated he wanted to keep me after he learned several teams were competing for me."
"Every team is short on medics. So that his team could solidly hold first place in the division, Ji Yanhan would rather pay me a high salary to sit around doing nothing than let me go to another team."
"Your teammates don't have all these underhanded calculations, so they all think that rather than letting me watch the water fountain here, I'd be better off serving somewhere else where I could be fully utilized. Honestly, your teammates' thinking is the purest here."
After Shi Luo finished in one breath, he leaned forward slightly, his eyes bright and sharp as he looked at Yu Sui. "Now, about you."
Yu Sui lowered his gaze to look at Shi Luo and quietly warned, "Shut up."
Yu Sui really didn't want to be dissected and analyzed so clearly by Shi Luo.
"No way." Shi Luo looked at Yu Sui with what seemed like starlight in his eyes. "Only your position is the most complicated. Because your motives are neither pure nor profit-driven. You helped me register as a player, but you've been hesitating and haven't let me sign a contract until now. It's because…"
Shi Luo said, "You can't get past the hurdle in your heart."
"You want me to go back to school, but you also think you should respect my own choices. You want to sign me, but you don't want me to be your permanent substitute forever. You think I'd only truly find my own sky in another team. But if you actually let me go to another team…" Shi Luo grinned with a hint of mischief, "You're worried that with my situation, nobody would be watching over me if I went somewhere else. That I'd go astray and truly become a hopeless mess… You've been killing yourself over this, haven't you?"
Yu Sui leaned back slightly. After a long moment, he smiled helplessly. "You're only seventeen. Is it really necessary to be this clever?"
"I learned it from growing up." Shi Luo said casually. "I can see through everyone's little motives toward me at a glance."
Shi Luo looked at Yu Sui, hesitated, then said, "Except for you… You want nothing from me, so you're harder to read."
Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo with a complicated expression, headache setting in. "What about you? Your own choice. Where do you want to go?"
Shi Luo answered without hesitation, cheerfully, "Of course I still want to go back to streaming so I can annoy my father!"
Yu Sui's headache worsened. "Then you'd better be my substitute."
Shi Luo curled up on the sofa, laughing into his sleeves.
Yu Sui was very aware that Shi Luo had also seen through him perfectly. But what else could he do?
Though at that time, Yu Sui was still young and his tolerance wasn't great. Once Shi Luo had pulled one over on him, he was definitely going to find a way to get back at him.
That was Shi Luo's first official match. Yu Sui had already been worried enough as it was, but the day before, of all times, Shi Luo and Chen Huo had gotten into a huge argument at the base over a single grilled skewer and had exchanged threats. Chen Huo declared he absolutely would not cover for Shi Luo during tomorrow's match. Shi Luo swore he absolutely would not give Chen Huo a single photon shield. As a result of their fight, Yu Sui had Chen Huo sit out a match and replaced him at the assault position himself. It wasn't like it mattered anyway—FS had already secured first place in the regular season standings. Losing one match wouldn't hurt.
Chen Huo's jaw dropped. "Don't you hate playing other roles?"
Yu Sui did indeed hate playing other roles, but he still had the game sense for it. They still won that regular season match.
It was Shi Luo's first match. Afterward, Shi Luo's face was flushed, though he'd tried his best to hide it, the excitement in his eyes couldn't be concealed. Yu Sui smiled as he watched Shi Luo. When the backstage area had mostly cleared out, Yu Sui leaned in close and said quietly to Shi Luo, "Don't tell anyone. I'll take you to celebrate separately."
Shi Luo paused, then quickly nodded.
The two of them avoided everyone and quietly went down to the parking garage beneath the arena. They got into the car.
"The location is a bit far." Yu Sui drove himself. "At least eight hours. You can sleep. When you wake up tomorrow morning, we'll be there."
Shi Luo was confused inside. Where could they possibly be going?
Young people always love surprises, so there were some things Yu Sui didn't say, and Shi Luo didn't ask.
An unknown journey is always worth anticipating.
Shi Luo spent a wonderful eight hours in joy and anticipation.
They took the highway, passed rest stops, went through mountains, crossed waters, and finally entered a noisy city at dawn. They drove through somewhat crowded streets, then even more crowded streets, then streets so unbelievably congested that when they finally came to a complete standstill, Shi Luo finally realized something was wrong.
Shi Luo was bewildered. "Why are there so many cars out here? But almost no people. What's going on?"
Yu Sui parked the car. "The timing's perfect. Let's get out."
Outside the car, Ji Yanhan, holding a transparent document bag, waved. "Over here."
Yu Sui led Shi Luo over. He said to Shi Luo, "Phone."
Shi Luo numbly pulled out his phone and handed it to Yu Sui.
Yu Sui checked Shi Luo's pockets, then nodded. He took the transparent document bag from Ji Yanhan and stuffed it into Shi Luo's hands. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he pulled out a thirteen yuan children's watch from his own pants pocket and put it on Shi Luo's wrist, earnestly reminding him, "Keep track of time. Everything you'll need is in this folder."
Shi Luo looked at what was inside the document bag, then looked around. Finally, he caught on.
Before Shi Luo could run, Yu Sui kicked him right into the entrance of his hometown's gaokao examination center.
Shi Luo panicked. "I'm not taking the test!!"
Ji Yanhan comforted him. "Oh, Yu Sui took it too back in the day. After you finish the test and report to university, you can apply for a suspension and still chase your esports dreams. It's no big deal. Go, go. Do you have any idea how many people I had to pull strings with just to find your testing site and get these materials?!"
Shi Luo was already quite late. There was barely anyone left outside the school grounds. The gate guard impatiently yanked Shi Luo inside and locked the gate behind him. "They're about to seal the testing site, don't you know? If you don't take the exam, what are you going to do with your life?"
Shi Luo raged, "I can play matches! I'm top fifty on the Chinese server! I just won FOG regular season MVP!!"
The guard: "…"
"Whatever P you've got, you still have to take the test!" The guard looked at Shi Luo like he was insane,打量着 him up and down. "Youngster, if you don't take exams or go to school, you'll end up begging for food when you grow up!"
Shi Luo was so frustrated he couldn't breathe. "I have a base salary of two hundred thousand a month!!"
The guard stared through the iron bars at Yu Sui. Yu Sui pointed at his own head and said helplessly, "Please forgive him."
The guard nodded in understanding. "Got it."
Unable to convince the guard and not daring to make a scene that would disturb the other test-takers, Shi Luo was finally escorted to his seat under Yu Sui's benevolent gaze.
"I make over two hundred thousand a month…" Shi Luo sat at his testing seat, gritting his teeth as he pulled out the 2B pencil and black pen from the transparent document bag, humiliated as he murmured quietly, "I just won regular season MVP…"
The proctor coldly glanced at Shi Luo. "Test-takers, please do not speak."
Shi Luo trembled with rage. "Y-yes… sorry."