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On Shine’s birthday, the operations team sent out the limited edition of Yu Zhaohan Chibi standees to his fans. Five of them shared the same address, R.H.’s base in Shanghai. When the operations team arrived at the base, they brought the standees with them, saving them money on shipping.
The standee was the size of Yu Zhaohan’s palm, but it was only half the size of a palm in Jiang Di’s hand. Jiang Di held the standee motionless in his palm and stared at it expressionlessly for two minutes. It would have been like an obsessed fan’s gaze if it weren’t for the hunk’s overly gloomy and tough face.
Qi Xian and Old Tan took the standee and went back to the room, who knows what they were going to do. Cheese secretly swiped his phone. Yu Zhaohan passed by him from behind and unintentionally caught a glimpse of him browsing a shopping app, selecting small furniture specifically designed for dollhouses. Yu Zhaohan saw a small princess pumpkin carriage with a light blue velvet cushion on it.
Does Cheese want to treat the standee as a doll? It was really that exaggerated, so if Little Shine wanted that pumpkin carriage, please help him purchase it.
Compared to these people, Shi Du was considered a normal fan. After receiving the standee, he simply placed it on his spot in the training room, where Yu Zhaohan could see it from across.
Yu Zhaohan watched helplessly as his teammates and manager each held a standee of himself, consumed by jealousy.
Why did everyone else get one, but he couldn’t have one? Even the Little Shine displayed in the living room was locked up in a glass case by Old Tan.
After Old Tan arranged the standees, he came to discuss the training match for the evening with Yu Zhaohan and Lu Youshan. “The Morning Tea team wants to schedule a training match with us. What do you guys think, should we agree?”
The Guangzhou ZC team was affectionately nicknamed the “Morning Tea Team” by fans. They were a completely new team, with even their coaching staff selected from a group of keyboard warriors who claimed “I can do it too.” The rookies trained hard and worked hard on the arena, but due to various reasons, halfway through the regular season, not only did they not win a game, they didn’t even score a single point, and they were beaten 3-0 by their opponents every game.
Out of the 32 teams in the league, there were only six teams in China, and fans usually had a soft spot for teams other than their main team. The sympathetic hearts of many fans led them to support the Morning Tea Team with tears, hoping that they could win at least one small map.
Lu Youshan waved his hand and said, “There’s nothing for us to practice with them.”
Yu Zhaohan and Old Tan knew their coach well and knew that Lu Youshan was not looking down on the Morning Tea Team, but just telling the truth. The two teams were not on the same level of skill, and for R.H., playing a training match with them wouldn’t bring much value. If they couldn’t identify their own problems, it would be like acting as practice partners for ZC, and they might even forget how to do things they originally knew.
From the Morning Tea Team’s owner’s unwillingness to invest heavily in recruiting players, some clues could be seen. This situation reminded Yu Zhaohan of R.H. from the previous season.
Old Tan opened WeChat, “Then I’ll reject them.” Old Tan sighed, “I heard that the Morning Tea Team didn’t perform too poorly in their training matches and even won a few. Although they only won against lower-ranked teams… they’re just unlucky.”
Lu Youshan made a fair assessment, “There were one or two matches where ZC could have gained points, but every time they were close to winning, either their shot-calling or their execution would inevitably have a problem. When it comes down to it, it’s their mentality. They want to play a training match against us, probably to practice handling pressure.”
Yu Zhaohan said, “It won’t take much time to play a training match against ZC. Let’s do it.”
Yu Zhaohan used his vote of approval. That evening, R.H. played a training match against ZC and unsurprisingly swept them aside. After capturing the final objective, as they were about to exit, they saw that all four members of ZC had sent them a “Thank you.”
For today’s training match, the coach had Jiang Di participate. Cheese sat beside Jiang Di, feeling a bit uneasy seeing the politeness of ZC’s younger players. “I really hope ZC can win a point in the next match.”
“It’s not that serious,” Shi Du lazily stretched his shoulders and neck. “You have to be prepared to lose when you’re not good enough.”
Cheese pointed at him and said, “Young Master Shi, you are so cruel!”
“Timeless is right.” Jiang Di said, “The strong win and the weak lose. This is e-sports.”
After midnight, the people in the training room gradually went upstairs to their rooms, leaving only Yu Zhaohan and Shi Du. Shi Du finished his last game and waited for Yu Zhaohan to finish reviewing the training match before walking out together.
Shi Du looked at the standee next to the computer, then looked at the captain with a jaded face across from him, silently smiling. He picked up his phone and took several pictures of the standee, capturing it from every angle.
It wasn’t entirely a bad thing to be photographed by fans while shouting slogans. At least he could openly show off on his Weibo account with a large following.
Shi Du selected the cutest photo he thought and posted it on Weibo with the caption:
（▼-▼）
Yu Zhaohan, who had finished reviewing, saw Shi Du playing with his phone and sneakily reached out his paw, only to be caught red-handed. Shi Du gently patted the back of his hand.
Yu Zhaohan retracted his hand in a grievous manner. “Shi Du, I wanted to…”
Before Yu Zhaohan could say his request, Shi Du said, “Impossible, don’t even think about it.”
“You know what I’m thinking?”
“Of course,” Shi Du smirked. “You’re thinking of stealing my standee, aren’t you?”
“I’m not thinking of stealing, I just want to borrow it from you,” Yu Zhaohan said. “And besides, isn’t that my standee?”
“It’s mine,” Shi Du emphasized. “I’ve already lost face for Little Shine, and I’ll be forever nailed to the pillar of shame by fans. There’s no way I’ll give it to you.”
Yu Zhaohan tried a different approach, “Can you let me touch it, then?”
“Sure,” Shi Du said, “but you have to be gentle.”
“That’s obvious. When I touch myself, am I not gentle?” Yu Zhaohan finally got to touch himself and couldn’t help but exclaim, “I’m really adorable.”
Shi Du laughed and looked down at the comments section of his Weibo.
[So what? What are you trying to express?]
[Ah, it’s my turn this time! Rebirth from the ashes, immortal hero 3, damn it]
[Hey, everyone, look in the top right corner. Isn’t that a mouse? The question is, whose hand is on the mouse?]
[It’s so fair, so slender. First of all, let’s rule out Cheese and Xiao Jiang.]
[Xianxian can also be ruled out. He’s currently live streaming in his room. There’s only one answer!]
[That’s right, that’s my wife’s hand, my wife just slapped me with this hand [Nosebleed][Nosebleed]]
[Timeless, I look down on you. The real person is right in front of you, why are you taking pictures of the standee? Go take pictures of the real person, face-to-face, hurry up]
[Welcome Timeless little brother to join the Shine fandom, follow the e-hashtag on Weibo, join the fan group, and get more updates in real-time~]
Shi Du: …Huh?
Late at night, a Weibo account with the nickname [9c] became a member of the “Shine Fans Shanghai Division” group. The group had a total of five hundred people, with ninety-five percent of them being female.
[Timeless stay away from my wife: Welcome new sister to join the group~]
[9c：.]
[Timeless stay away from my wife:?]
[9c: Thank you sister [Rose]]
[Shine’s clavicle is so beautiful: I managed to get tickets for this week’s R.H. and EAU match. Does anyone want to join?]
[Timeless stay away from my wife: I want to go too, but I couldn’t get the ticket [wailing jpg]]
[Timeless stay away from my wife: When you’re there, make sure to take plenty of photos of the beautiful person for all the sisters to enjoy. And remember to keep an eye on Timeless, I suspect he’ll go and hug my wife after the match.]
[Shine’s clavicle is so beautiful: Don’t worry, sister, leave it to me~]
[9c: But even if you keep an eye on Timeless, what can you do? Can you stop him from hugging your wife?]
[9c has been muted by the group owner for ten minutes]
R.H. had a match against Chongqing EAU during the May Day holiday, with the home game taking place in Chongqing. Qi Xian had been looking forward to going to Chongqing for a match because it meant they’d finally get to try authentic Chongqing hot pot.
Chongqing was already in summer in May, so the boys took off their hoodies and jerseys in favor of cool and refreshing pink short-sleeved T-shirts. They had flown to Chongqing the day before the game, and despite their excitement for Chongqing hot pot, Lu Youshan insisted on a light diet before the game.
There were three matches on the second day, and they were scheduled for the first match, and it was just right to have dinner after the game. Chongqing EAU was considered an upper-middle-level team in the league, and even in the face of the well-prepared Eastern powerhouse, they had the strength to put up a fight. R.H. lost a few rounds to them but ultimately won with a score of 3:1.
Overall, R.H. played relatively comfortably, and winning the match was expected. Everyone remained calm, and even Cheese didn’t go find his teammates for a hug. Shi Du didn’t want to go too far, so he didn’t hug Yu Zhaohan either. He just placed his arm on his shoulder when they stepped off the stage.
However, despite this, there were still some dissatisfied fans.
In the Weibo group of “Shine Fans Shanghai Division.”
[Timeless stay away from my wife: Today my wife’s marksmanship is still as stable as ever [Love]]
[Shine’s husky: Brother Xian’s performance seems quite average. If it weren’t for his silly mistake, we would have shut them out today]
[Shine’s collarbone is so beautiful: That mistake was really ugly. What happened today, he was obviously stable before]
[Timeless stay away from my wife: Damn, damn, damn, that disrespectful little brother put his arm around my wife again]
[Shine’s clavicle is so beautiful: Sisters, try to be more understanding. At least he didn’t hug him today. Let me send you some live photos to calm down and appreciate the beauty]
[Shine’s clavicle is so beautiful: [picture]]
[Timeless stay away from my wife: Because of my wife, I can’t reconcile with Timeless in this life [smile]]
Shi Du scrolled through the chat records, and his eyes hurt from the word “wife” that appeared from time to time.
“Timeless,” Yu Zhaohan called him, “Keep an eye on the road.”
Shi Du raised his head and saw several people from Guangzhou ZC walking toward them. The next game will be Guangzhou ZC against Seoul TCO.
Leading the way for ZC was their coach with the ID “alligator.”
When translated, “alligator” means “short-snouted crocodile.” Crocodiles are also fish, and as a fish himself, Yu Zhaohan had a good impression of this coach.
Alligator greeted them along with the team members and thanked them again for the previous training match: “During the three games we played against you, we discovered many issues. For example, the small coordination between certain skills…”
The captain of zc reminded him, “Coach, it’s time for us to go on stage.”
“Just a moment,” Alligator looked at Yu Zhaohan and smiled, “By the way, Yu, I also got a Q-version standee of you. Before we set off, our sniper even paid his respects, hoping to channel the spirit of the sniper king.”
Yu Zhaohan nodded.
People who praise him as the sniper king are good people.
The long-range sniper for ZC was a chubby guy wearing glasses. When the coach mentioned it, his face turned red with embarrassment. “Captain Yu, I’m not… Coach, you…”
Needless to say, he was another Shine fan.
Yu Zhaohan nodded slightly at the chubby guy. “Good luck.”
“Come on, brothers,” Cheese clenched his fist, “Don’t let the Koreans have the upper hand.”
Although the Morning Tea team wanted to win, their strength was evident, and in the end, they were defeated 3-0 by Seoul TCO. In the first match, they were just one step away from their first victory in a small round. But precisely because they were so close, their strong desire to win caused them to become anxious, leading to judgment errors and misplays, allowing TCO to seize opportunities and turn the situation around.
R.H felt sorry for ZC, but it didn’t stop them from celebrating their own victory by eating Chongqing hot pot. The spicy and numbing Mala hot pot with its heavy beef butter flavor was torturous for Lu Youshan, who couldn’t handle spice. Cheese wanted to eat but couldn’t handle the spice, so he had to pass each piece of meat and vegetable from the spicy broth through three rounds of cold water before daring to eat them. But even so, he was still crying and his nose was running from the spiciness.
Yu Zhaohan would never let himself have a runny nose in front of his teammates. He didn’t eat a single bite and his stomach growled with hunger. Later, Shi Du said he had to eat a staple food, so he ordered two plates of fried rice, and Yu Zhaohan managed to grab a bowl to fill his stomach.
Their flight back to Shanghai was scheduled for tomorrow, and they had free time in the evening. Qi Xian said he had a friend who recently had opened a bar in Chongqing and he wanted to go support him.
Lao Tan reminded him, “Even if you don’t have training tomorrow, you can’t drink too much.”
“I know. If you really can’t trust me, find someone to supervise me.” Qi Xian looked at Shi Du with a playful smile. “Timeless, do you want to come with your big brother to have some fun?”
Lao Tan vetoed it immediately. “Timeless can’t go. I’m afraid you’ll be a bad influence on your little brother.”
Qi Xian said with a smile: “He still needs others to teach him to be bad?”
Shi Du said, “Are you sure it’s a bar, not an Internet cafe?”
“Of course.” Qi Xian asked curiously, “Why do you think I’m going to take you to an Internet cafe? Is the training room not enough like an Internet cafe?”
Shi Du chuckled.
Yu Zhaohan thought for a while, and said, “Timeless will be recognized when he goes out. I will go with Qi Xian, and I will supervise him.”
Upon hearing this, both Shi Du and Qi Xian were somewhat surprised. Lao Tan, on the other hand, felt completely at ease knowing that the captain would be there, as Qi Xian wouldn’t dare to drink too much.
Before going to the bar, Yu Zhaohan had to return to the hotel to change clothes. Shi Du accompanied him and asked, “Why do you want to go to a bar?”
Yu Zhaohan took off his team uniform with his back facing Shi Du and picked up a black T-shirt to put on. “Qi Xian seems to have some issues, and I want to talk to him.”
Shi Du’s gaze lingered on Yu Zhaohan’s shoulder until he finished putting on his clothes before asking, “But why go to a bar?”
“Qi Xian is a mature man, and so am I.” Yu Zhaohan put on the watch Shi Du had given him. “Mature men have heart-to-heart conversations at bars.”
Making mistakes on the professional stage is very normal. Everyone makes mistakes, and no one is exempt. However, Qi Xian’s mistake today was somewhat basic, unlike his usual style. He ended up drowning in the water without any enemy interference. At that time, the commentators were silent for a few seconds, and then they cleverly attributed it to a slip of the hand.
After the match, Lu Youshan was the first to ask Qi Xian about that mistake. Qi Xian simply said, “It was a slip of the hand,” and then hurriedly went to the restroom.
Yu Zhaohan’s intuition told him that Qi Xian wasn’t in a good state during the match, but afterward, Qi Xian seemed to be back to his normal self. That’s why he wanted to talk to Qi Xian privately.
Shi Du asked, “Have you ever been to a bar?”
“I’ve been there once.” Yu Zhaohan said, “But I didn’t drink there, I just went to carry the drunk Qi Xian back to the base.”
Shi Du asked again: “Then do you know how mature men should behave in bars?”
“I know.”
Shi Du had a bad feeling: “You know?”
“I have the script.” Yu Zhaohan was full of confidence. Going to a bar is a must for a cool male lead, and he had long summarized his experiences. “Do you want to see it? I’ll send it to you.”
Shi Du: “…Don’t, I already ate a lot of greasy food just now.”