Chapter 27
Yu Sui looked into Shi Luo's bright black eyes, hesitating for a long time between slapping this little brat to make him come to his senses and just saying to hell with it and confessing directly.
It took so long that Shi Luo got tired of squatting and simply sat down on the carpet in front of the sofa.
Yu Sui watched Shi Luo, then suddenly said softly, "For me?"
Shi Luo nodded. "Yeah. For you."
Yu Sui was silent for a long moment before asking, "What do you think of me as?"
"My ultimate career goal. My starter. My captain. My friend. And also..." Shi Luo seemed a bit embarrassed, turning his head to look around. "Why are you suddenly asking this..."
Yu Sui tried to keep his tone natural. "And also?"
Shi Luo found it hard to say. "Bro... brother."
Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo silently, then said slowly and deliberately, "Shi Luo, fuck your grandpa."
Shi Luo protested. "What did I do wrong to deserve being cursed at?!"
"Far from it. I also want to hit you." Yu Sui was quiet for another moment, then smiled wryly. "Never mind. We'll deal with it later."
Shi Luo didn't understand what Yu Sui meant, rubbing his knees and being shameless. "No need to wait until later. Hit me if you want, curse me if you want. When Ji Yanhan messaged me yesterday, I already guessed you two had been fighting about this for a while, otherwise he wouldn't have come to me. I don't get what there is to hesitate about? Don't tell me you're still thinking about letting me sign with another team? Weren't you the one who decided you wanted me long ago?"
"I want you, but not for you to sign for this long." Yu Sui asked Shi Luo, "Do you know how many years are left on my contract?"
Shi Luo愣了一下. "How many years?"
Yu Sui said softly, "A little over two years."
Shi Luo blinked. "What does that mean? Are you going to transfer after two years? Fuck, don't mess with me!"
A week ago, if someone had asked Yu Sui this question, he would have answered without hesitation that it was absolutely impossible.
But now Yu Sui wasn't so certain.
He and Ji Yanhan had different understandings of many things, but it wasn't originally so irreconcilable. Even setting aside the debt from back when he bought out his contract, Ji Yanhan had always been very good to Yu Sui over the years. Yu Sui never showed it on the surface, but he was genuinely willing to dedicate his entire career to Ji Yanhan and FS. Even when he eventually retired, Yu Sui was willing to stay with the club.
But recently, or for quite some time now, there had been a subtle tension between Yu Sui and Ji Yanhan.
This subtle tension had existed even before Shi Luo joined the team. Yu Sui had originally been considerate of Ji Yanhan's increasingly stressful business expansion, letting many things slide. But recently, Ji Yanhan had done some things that made it impossible for Yu Sui to keep pretending not to see.
Both Yu Sui and Ji Yanhan knew that Shi Luo was at an age that couldn't handle provocation, and that he was somewhat extreme and impulsive. Therefore, regarding the contract, Yu Sui had long ago told Ji Yanhan to negotiate with him first. After he reviewed and approved it, he would then notify Shi Luo's family. Although Shi Luo was already over sixteen and didn't need a guardian's signature, he wasn't fully an adult yet. Following industry practice, family notification was still required, regardless of which team he was on.
Ji Yanhan had clearly understood this and had agreed beautifully before. But during yesterday's standoff, he went behind Yu Sui's back to find Shi Luo, and while Yu Sui was sleeping, he quickly pushed Shi Luo through the contract process.
The contract was indeed signed voluntarily by Shi Luo, but the way Ji Yanhan handled it was really恶心.
Setting aside the fact that he already knew Yu Sui's feelings for Shi Luo—even if it were a complete stranger as a player, one shouldn't be so ruthless and underhanded.
Shi Luo, seeing that Yu Sui wasn't speaking, couldn't help but urge him on. "Go on, what's wrong with you? No wait—didn't Ji Yanhan say before that he would give FS to you? How could you possibly transfer?"
Yu Sui didn't speak.
Ji Yanhan had indeed mentioned giving the club to him before, but that was before.
Ji Yanhan had stopped mentioning it altogether now.
Yu Sui had never thought about owning FS, nor had he thought about leaving FS. But Shi Luo's contract really made him uncomfortable.
It was uncomfortably similar to his time with Blade Edge team.
Lack of freedom.
Shi Luo looked at Yu Sui with confusion. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. I'm not transferring." Yu Sui lit a cigarette. "I just hate your contract."
Shi Luo smiled. "Mad that your good captain played you?"
Yu Sui didn't respond. Shi Luo said lightly, "I told you long ago—Ji Yanhan is very selfish. And even though he was once a pro player, he's already different from you and your teammates... There's a fundamental difference between someone chasing money and someone chasing dreams. He's not the same kind of person as you guys anymore. I've seen plenty of people like him. Him going behind your back to find me? Not even a little bit surprised."
Shi Luo looked at Yu Sui. When Yu Sui still didn't speak, Shi Luo looked at him again, then looked at him again, repeatedly.
Yu Sui said irritably, "Shi Luo, I'm already showing tremendous restraint by not beating you up right now. Don't expect me to praise you for being clever."
His little schemes exposed, Shi Luo coughed and stopped hinting. He looked at Yu Sui, worried he might really be angry, and thought for a moment. "It's precisely because I saw through what kind of person he is that I've never understood why someone like you would be so devoted to him. Why you'd have sacrificed so much for him back then... When Ji Yanhan told me yesterday that you also signed a five-year contract back then, I almost wanted to come find you and make a scene. But then I thought about it... What right do I have to say anything?"
Shi Luo raised his eyes to look at Yu Sui, muttering softly, "Isn't my situation exactly the same now? For you..."
"Weren't there other things he did that were nice to you too?" Shi Luo inexplicably felt jealous. "Did he also stand up for you in front of the other players? Was his first match with you? Did he teach you hands-on? Did he take you out for wontons? Did he—"
"Stop." Yu Sui said coldly. "Before he retired, he was an attacker. I've been playing medic since I started this game. He couldn't have taught me hands-on, and I've never eaten breakfast in my life. If he dared wake me up before 11 AM to make me eat wontons, I'd have fought him."
Shi Luo pouted. "But there must have been other nice things he did for you, right? It has to be. Speaking of which, I'm the one who got the worst deal. This is a closed circle... He was good to you, you're good to me. I should have been good to him originally, but Ji Yanhan is really too disgusting. I can only turn around and be good to you instead. So the three of us will never have equal relationships. In this cycle of fate, the three of us..."
"Please." Yu Sui felt a stomachache coming on. "Shi Shen, I absolutely do not want to have this kind of love triangle. Have mercy on me."
"What's that got to do with love triangles?" Shi Luo stood up, brushing off his pants. "Isn't Ji Yanhan getting married anyway?"
Indeed, he was getting married, and Ji Yanhan was also straight. Yu Sui's head was spinning from Shi Luo's "cycle of fate theory," and his stomach hurt too. Shi Luo was the pitiful one? Hell no. A movie with three people, and if the other two were both iron-straight, Yu Sui was the one who was truly pitiful.
Yu Sui said irritably, "Go back to your room and catch up on sleep. Training resumes after 4 PM."
Over the next few days, whether it was from anger over the contract situation or something else, Yu Sui's stomach pain got increasingly worse. The playoffs were approaching and training was getting more demanding. There wasn't time to go to the hospital. Whenever he had a chance, Yu Sui would rather spend it fighting with Ji Yanhan about undoing Shi Luo's contract.
Ji Yanhan's girlfriend Min Min's family business seemed to have hit some serious trouble. Yu Sui originally didn't want to cause problems during this time, but that five-year contract was really too screwed up. Yu Sui had no choice but to keep arguing with Ji Yanhan. Ji Yanhan's attitude was hot and cold—occasionally he'd suddenly say something neurotic about wanting to walk away from everything, giving the whole club to Yu Sui, abandoning his own business to come back as a coach.
Then other times he'd flip out about having all four starting players—including Yu Sui—sign additional contract renewals, making sure everyone's contracts aligned with Shi Luo's year. Naturally, Yu Sui absolutely would not agree.
Between arguing with Ji Yanhan, Yu Sui couldn't help but worry about his state, asking if he'd been drinking. Ji Yanhan would say no, then hang up abruptly. When Yu Sui called back, it was either a busy signal or he was being blocked.
Yu Sui and Ji Yanhan had known each other for years, but their relationship had never been this strained before.
Fortunately, Ji Yanhan only vented to Yu Sui and didn't say anything to anyone else at the club. Yu Sui hid his emotions well, and the entire FS club wasn't affected.
Only the naturally sensitive Shi Luo noticed something slightly off. But thinking about his own contract—which was practically a giveaway—he naturally assumed it was about his own mess again.
Shi Luo felt guilty, and also a bit regretful. He shouldn't have signed the contract at this critical time. The semifinals were coming up. Why cause Yu Sui this kind of trouble? Watching Yu Sui worry every day, Shi Luo worried too. But whenever he heard or saw Yu Sui arguing with Ji Yanhan, Shi Luo couldn't help but feel happy.
Bizarrely, Shi Luo couldn't even explain why to himself. But he just liked watching Yu Sui fight with Ji Yanhan over him—the fiercer the argument, the more satisfied he felt.
Every time he saw Yu Sui frowning, smoking, fingers flying rapidly over his phone, Shi Luo knew Yu Sui was tearing into Ji Yanhan again.
The nameless possessiveness of adolescence made Shi Luo increasingly extreme. He was jealous of Ji Yanhan's close relationship with Yu Sui after years on the same team. Clearly he didn't want Yu Sui to be worried, but every time he saw Yu Sui standing at odds with his former captain for his sake, Shi Luo couldn't control his happiness.
This dark joy was originally something Shi Luo could keep hidden in his heart, but it didn't stay hidden for long.
Every time Yu Sui called Ji Yanhan, he'd walk back to his own room. Shi Luo, like a tail, would stick close behind Yu Sui. Taking advantage of Yu Sui not closing the door yet, he'd slip in and sit beside him, listening with great interest to the live broadcast.
Yu Sui: "..."
Yu Sui really wanted to throw this troublemaking little brat out the window.
Shi Luo absolutely refused to leave. If Yu Sui tried to kick him out, he'd whisper, "I'll scream! I'll scream! I'll let Chen Huo and everyone else know!"
Yu Sui had no choice but to give Shi Luo a cold look and ignore him.
Shi Luo was extremely pleased. See! Chen Huo wasn't qualified to listen! But he could! He was sitting here live!
Another day or two passed. The inflated Shi Luo was no longer satisfied with openly eavesdropping on Yu Sui's calls. He also wanted to take the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.
Every time Yu Sui argued with Ji Yanhan, Shi Luo would be especially attentive to Yu Sui. During these times, Shi Luo would bring Yu Sui a cup of hot water or grab some snacks. His bright black eyes provocative and direct—almost directly saying:
"See who's really concerned about you? It's not that bastard Ji Yanhan—it's me, Luo Luo!!"
Yu Sui, exhausted from the mental and physical battle with Ji Yanhan, while watching Shi Luo repeatedly offer him hot water, felt no comfort at all. Instead, a cold wind pierced straight through his heart.
The way Shi Luo eagerly handed him hot water looked just like a straight guy.
What good were five ear piercings anyway? The熟练 way Shi Luo poured hot water was hopeless.
Yu Sui was being fed cup after cup of hot water by Shi Luo, growing increasingly exhausted. He barely held on, and finally made it to the day of the semifinals.