Chapter 11
Ji Yanhan had already touched Yu Sui’s nerve several times today. He didn’t understand and didn’t dare to ask. He quickly sent the schedule and sighed, “Isn’t it a bit too late to be going through a rebellious phase…?”
In this way, Yu Sui lost face all over without even knowing it. It was a whole 24 hours later that he remembered that he had changed his WeChat nickname in order to add Shi Luo on WeChat.
He was worried that he’d be exposed by Shi Luo if he changed it back so he could only put up with it and resisted changing it back.
Coming from Yu Sui, this situation was too weird. But his friends in the industry didn’t dare ask. Yu Sui also didn’t have a way to explain it. He could only swallow down his anger and carry this pot.
“Tomorrow, the new season will begin again. So, let’s get our spirits up…”
The manager of the team had returned to his hometown. Ji Yanhan, the club owner, had long been a hands-off kind of leader. As captain, Yu Sui had to carry the banner and symbolically hold the mobilization meeting for the team before the opening match.
The boss and manager were absent, and the team members were absent-minded, openly playing with their phones during the meeting. Yu Sui himself was not in the mood. He’d just opened the meeting but he was already impatient. “The regular season will begin immediately. We … if we play well, we get bonuses, if we don’t, we get sprayed online. That’s all, meeting adjourned.”
“It’s over?” The meeting leader, who was temporarily tasked with taking the minutes of the meeting, was told that the meeting was over so soon after he’d been seated. He was confused and said, all fl.u.s.tered, “I-I-I’ve just written two lines! The manager told me to send him the minutes after. It won’t do if it’s just this, right?”
“What’s wrong? You can just edit it a bit.” Yu Sui was used to just faking these things. He held a cigarette in his mouth and said vaguely, “Write in a bit more so they don’t say I just muddled through it. Alright, meeting’s over. ”
The team members were also all too glad to do things this way. They picked up their phones and left the conference room.
“Oh, one more thing.” The meeting leader chased after them, “This quarter’s bonuses are out. Take a look at your transfer records. If there’s a problem, report it within a week. Thank you for all your hard work, everyone.”
Yu Sui took out his phone and glanced at the six-digit transfer record. He didn’t care too much. When he was about to put the phone back into his pants pocket, the phone vibrated.
[Luo]: [Are you still short of breakfast money? ]
Yu Sui raised an eyebrow.
He’d been so busy the past few days, he’d almost forgotten about this rebellious boy.
He thought he’d have to be the one to look for the other and didn’t expect this rebellious kid to remember the matter about breakfast.
Yu Sui leaned against the wall of the corridor, holding a cigarette in his right hand and typing with his left. [Gege, you still remember me? ]
[Luo]: […I asked you something. ]
Yu Sui smirked and typed: [I am. Gege, will you give me some money? asdfdkjf!! ]
Yu Sui smoked his cigarette. When he was about to tease Shi Luo again, his phone buzzed. Shi Luo had sent him a red envelope.
Ten whole yuan.
Yu Sui’s WeChat transfers were deposited into his bank card in real time. He accepted the transfer and received a text message the second after.
[Your account ending in *8888 was deposited ￥10.00 at 16:05 on April 27th. Your available balance is 5,372,937.46 yuan. ]
“Wow.” Yu Sui laughed. “What a big spender.”
Yu Sui typed while smoking. [Thank you. Gege! Now, I’ve got money for breakfast tomorrow. ]
There was no reply there, Yu Sui raised his hands and typed again: [Gege, asdkfdjhjh, what about the day after tomorrow? ]
Yu Yan’s phone vibrated.
[Luo]: [I’ll give it to you the day after the day after tomorrow. ]
Yu Sui asked again: [Three days from now (O-O)? ]
[Luo]: [I’ll give it the day after three days from now. ]
Yu Sui laughed and continued to type. [You’ll give me breakfast money every day? ]
[Luo]: [… What are you f*cking relying on me for? ]
Yu Sui held back a laugh and typed. [Gege, I’m hungry. ]
[Luo]: […I’ll give you the money. ]
Yu Sui said: [Really? Gege, why are you so nice? ]
[Luo]: [Because when I didn’t have money, I couldn’t eat breakfast.]
Yu Sui laughed. “Your floor is all inlaid with gold and jade. You’re saying you didn’t have money, who are you kiddingk2026;?”
Yu Sui didn’t expose him and went along with it. [Thank you, Gege! Maybe you should give me a week’s worth already so that I won’t have to trouble gege every day?]
[Luo]: [If I give you a week’s worth, won’t you just spend it all in Internet cafes? ]
Yu Sui was quite surprised, this little rebel still had some life experience, he was able to think of this.
[Luo]: [Also, can you not call me ‘gege’? It’s sickening. ]
Yu Sui: [asdskjd Then what should I call you? ]
[Luo]: [Call me Shi Ge. ]
Yu Sui followed along. [Shi Ge. ]
Yu Yan was amused enough and began to get down to business. [Shi Ge, can you accompany me to play ① game? ]
[Luo]: [I don’t play with children. ]
Yu Sui typed. [Take me with you please. I’m no good, no one wants to team up with me. ]
[Luo]: [I need to get points for my main account. I have no time to take you. ]
After a while, Shi Luo sent another message: [Wait a few days. ]
Yu Sui didn’t force it. [Okay. ]
It was almost another week, Yu Sui had just finished the training match that day, when Shi Luo sent over a WeChat message with an unfamiliar account. He said: [Add this number. ]
Yu Sui knew that Shi Luo’s main account was already too high leveled at the moment. It was no longer possible for him to team up with Yu Sui’s side account. He had applied for a side account to accompany him.
The little rebel had unexpectedly remembered about teaming up with him for a game.
His teammates were all gone. Yu Sui sat back in front of his computer and turned it on. After logging in to his side account and he added the new account sent by Shi Luo. Shi Luo was already online. Shi Luo sent a message telling Yu Sui to open the voice chat. Yu Sui refused, making an excuse that someone in his family was sleeping next door.
Shi Luo didn’t insist, he asked Yu Sui to go to the live broadcast room to listen to his commands.
In the broadcast room, Shi Luo said apathetically, “Today, I’m taking a kid to play a low level match. Those who don’t want to watch me abuse noobs can leave.”
Yu Sui smiled and sent a team invite to Shi Luo.
The two queued up for a match. During the waiting period, Shi Luo opened his mic and asked dully, “You know the basics, right? Ah, forget it …let’s just treat this as a tutorial match today.”
Shi Luo’s voice had already changed from p.u.b.erty but it was still crystal clear. It was like he didn’t want to waste too much energy from talking so loud and he kept his pitch very low. His voice came across as having the mischievous tone particular to young people. Yu Sui thought it sounded very nice.
“We are in a group of four. I’m a medic. You and the other one are strikers. The one at the very back is a sniper. The opposite team has the same configuration as ours.”
“Half the map is our base and half is the opposing team’s. The way we see things, there’s no fog in our half. The opposite side is full of poisonous fog. The same goes for the opposing team.”
“You can’t walk into the opposing team’s fog, you’ll be poisoned upon contact. I can’t use a photon shield to protect you either. The poisonous fog is a chemical attack. There is no equipment that can resist it. It can only be dispersed.”
“Strikers and medics can disperse the poisonous fog. If you look in your backpack, there’s an unlimited-use purifying dish in there used to dispel the poison. Go down to the poisonous mist and set down the purifying dish. The radius of the purifying dish is 2.5 meters and will take effect after three seconds. The poison in the area will be cleared up…are you listening? ”
There had been no response from Yu Sui for a long time and Shi Luo, in the live broadcast room, frowned slightly.
Yu Sui typed in the in-game chat. [Taking down notes.]
Shi Luo threw him a disbelieving look through the webcam and continued: “You, me, and the other striker’s job during the early stages is to dispel the opposing team’s fog and prevent them from dispelling ours. We’ll dispel it all the way to their base’s resurrection stone. Once we destroy it and then kill them all, we win. ”
Yu Sui typed out. [Understood.]
The game started.
Shi Luo said indifferently, “Follow me.”
Shi Luo led Yu Sui forward, and said as they proceeded. “The opposite team might also ambush us at the common boundary of the map. In a while, you’ll need to be careful, don’t let them take your head and try to get theirs. You only have the basic equipment now. As a striker, you can only get enough points to upgrade by killing members of the opposite team, otherwise you’ll be as good as useless for this entire match. ”
Yu Sui typed. [How do medics upgrade?]
Shi Luo lazily said, “When you kill someone, as long as I’m no more than five meters away from you, I can get auxiliary points. With the auxiliary points, I can get a primary upgrade. I only have the original photon shield, the narrowest quadrilateral photon shield. With the auxiliary points, I can buy a much larger hexagonal photon shield, which is more resistant than the original shield. Of course, I can also upgrade without the auxiliary points and that’s by… ”
In the game, Shi Luo’s medic pulled out a long dagger. He blocked a bullet that came from one of the opposing strikers lying down and hiding just at the edge of the fog. At that moment, he also immediately cut down with his dagger. He followed up with a kick and another swipe of the dagger, successfully claiming first blood from the opposing striker.
“The medic doesn’t have a gun, but he can also get heads with a dagger.” Shi Luo calmly said, “After getting one head, I can directly buy the hexagonal photon shield at 70 percent less points. I can cover you and we can proceed better.”
In the FS base, Yu Sui’s eyes gradually brightened.
The job of a medic was mainly auxiliary. They were commonly known as the milk nurse profession. Most players took the milk tank route. In general, there were very few who took the a.s.sa.s.sin type route and those who could play it well were extremely rare and far between.
Although they were playing a low level match right now and the other side’s striker sucked, but Shi Luo’s series of moves and skills were the real deal. Yu Sui himself was also a medic, so he can see it most clearly. Even if this had been one of his teammates, Shi Luo would have taken at least half blood.
The little rebel did indeed play well.
Though the play was a little rough.
Yu Sui played with Shi Luo for three hours. They played seven matches during that time. During this time, Yu Sui asked Shi Luo so many questions, taking the opportunity to a.s.sess the extent of Shi Luo’s knowledge.
Yu Sui has already learned what he wanted to know. He pretended his parents would beat him up if he played for too long. He sent a message in the in-game chat saying he couldn’t play anymore.
In the live broadcast, Shi Luo said expressionlessly, “Oh, do you still need me to team up with you next time?”
Yu Sui smiled, there shouldn’t be any need for it.
After the game, he called Ke Hao to explain to him clearly. After paying back Ke Hao for his kindness back then, this matter would be officially closed. He shouldn’t meet this little rebel again.
The regular season was about to start, Yu Sui is no longer just Yu Sui. He was now also Whisper.
He was also the captain of last season’s World Championship team, the shield and light of the China division, and FS team’s strongest trump card.
The new season was officially starting soon. With so many eyes watching Yu Sui’s every move, he wouldn’t have time to tease some little kid.
Yu Sui typed in the game: [Thank you, Shi Ge, I have learned a lot today. I should be able to play by myself in the future. ]
In the live broadcast, Shi Luo looked at the team’s chat and sneered, as though thinking back on all of Yu Sui’s blind plays just now and refused to comment.
Yu Sui smiled as he looked at the live broadcast room.
In the live broadcast, Shi Luo had dropped his side account and switched to his main one. “I hope you can still say that after your mentality collapses from being abused. Won’t your dad punch you? Shouldn’t you be going?”
Yu Sui logged out of his side account.
Yu Sui picked up his phone and dialed Ke Hao.
Ke Hao quickly picked up.
Yu Sui ma.s.saged his neck. “With a slight change in att.i.tude, he can play professionally.”
Ke Hao was overjoyed: “Really? He really played that well?”
“Considering his age, he’s quite outstanding. Of course, whether or not a pa.s.ser-by can play well depends on his psychological quality and on-the-spot performance. This, I won’t be able to judge.” Yu Sui said, “Whether he turns out to be a horse or a mule, can only be known once he enters the compet.i.tion. But my preliminary evaluation…can’t be that far off ”
Ke Hao thanked him repeatedly. “Then I’ll tell my dad and my uncle. Sigh …I can finally hand over this matter to them. They’ve been nagging me nonstop. Thank you so much.”
“It was nothing big,” Yu Sui said, “So, I can delete his WeChat? I’ve been using that WeChat nickname for a week and I can’t stand it anymore.”
Ke Hao laughed out loud: “Okay, okay. I really owe you this time. I’ll ask you out to eat when I return home.”
“Okay, we don’t even know when that will be.” Yu Sui minimized the call interface and found Shi Luo in his WeChat. He said in pa.s.sing, “Oh yeah, your cousin has been giving me ten yuan for breakfast every day. It’s been a few days. ”
Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo’s chat record and couldn’t help laughing. “Should I pocket this money or return it to you?”
On the other end of the phone, Ke Hao was quiet for a moment. He said hesitantly, “He … gives you breakfast money every day?”
Yu Sui nodded. “Yeah.”
Ke Hao stopped talking.
Yu Sui smiled. “What is it? Are you distressed that I’m spending you family’s money again? This is less than a hundred yuan, should I return it to you?”
Ke Hao laughed bitterly. “That not what I meant.”
“Just that… no one cooks breakfast at my uncle’s house.”
“They used to let my cousin go out to buy breakfast for himself.”
“My uncle is a little too careless. When Shi Luo had just entered junior high school, my uncle forgot to give Shi Luo breakfast money for an entire semester.” Ke Hao whispered, “My cousin’s also really stubborn. If no one gives it to him, he won’t ask for it. He didn’t have breakfast for an entire semester, and finally winded up in the hospital because of low blood sugar. That’s the only time his family found out…”
Yu Sui thought he had a problem with his ears.
“You……”
Yu Sui couldn’t believe it. “When you went to school, there was enough money on your card to buy half an apartment. You’re both from the same family, how can your cousin not even have a penny? He still has to ask for breakfast money every day? ”
Ke Hao was quiet for a moment. “I told you I shouldn’t air out our dirty laundry in public. My uncle was afraid he’d steal money from the family, so …”
Yu Sui was dazed.
Afraid Shi Luo would steal the money?!!
Yu Sui couldn’t help but say, “Well, did he steal it?”
Ke Hao was silent for a moment. “That doesn’t seem to be case.”
Yu Sui was dumbfounded. “If he didn’t steal, then why did you guys …”
Ke Hao interrupted Yu Sui said, “Sigh, geez, don’t say any more.”
Ke Hao hung up.
Yu Sui sat in front of his computer and stared at still open live broadcast room. For a moment, he couldn’t come up with a reaction.
The FS team’s sniper, Puppy, walked into the training room and saw that Yu Sui hadn’t left. He swung by and saw the live broadcast on Yu Sui’s monitor. He said unexpectedly, “Luo?”
Yu Sui looked up. “Do you know him?”
“I know of him. Lately, he’s a king amongst the pa.s.ser-bys.” Puppy looked at Shi Luo in the live broadcast room. “Lao Gu from next-door contacted him. Lao Gu’s missing a medic and wanted to recruit him into NSN. This little kid’s really proud, Lao Gu asked for his contact information but he refused, like some aristocrat … Hey! Why do you have his WeChat? ”
Puppy looked down at Yu Sui’s mobile phone interface and murmured. “That can’t be. He said it himself. He won’t add anyone.”
Puppy looked at Yu Sui. “How come he added you?”
Why did Shi Luo add him?
Yu Sui remembered that day when he was looking for Shi Luo from one live broadcast room to the other. The only time he successfully managed to be accepted as Shi Luo’s friend, the reason he’d given was…
[QAQ Someone in the forum posted that I could get 10 yuan at a time for hara.s.sing you online. Little gege, I have no more money for breakfast tomorrow. Can I add you please? Brother help me out! ]
Puppy saw Yu Sui wasn’t looking so well and frowned. He asked, “What’s the matter?”
Yu Sui shook his head. He took a deep breath and exited the WeChat interface.
He knows better than anyone else that he didn’t have the time to be distracted. But in the end, Yu Sui still couldn’t bring himself to press the “Delete” key.
Translator’s note: We’ll be back to the present day timeline next week. =)