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After Qi Xian finished his therapy, the four of them got into the car and headed back to the base. Yu Zhaohan drove his SUV with Old Tan in the passenger seat, while Shi Du and Qi Xian sat in the backseat.
Shi Du watched as Qi Xian continuously opened and closed his right hand and asked, “How does it feel?”
“It’s good, much more comfortable. It’s better than the ones I found on my own before,” Qi Xian asked Old Tan, “It must have been expensive, right?”
“Money is not a problem,” Old Tan said with an air of wealth, “Our boss has plenty of money.”
Qi Xian laughed: “It’s not easy for you to say such things.”
After experiencing a year of R.H being in a slump, Old Tan had long been afraid of poverty. The word “frugality” had been engraved in his DNA. Even though their current R.H benefactor treated them like his own sons, Old Tan remained true to his principles. He was still the “Thrifty Tan,” such as refusing to book a separate room for the aloof captain when they went to other cities for competitions. Fortunately, the captain only objected once, and then silently accepted this practice.
Only when his teammates were plagued by injuries would Old Tan utter the words “money is not a problem.”
While waiting at a traffic light, Old Tan suddenly thought of something and hesitated as he looked at Yu Zhaohan.
Yu Zhaohan kept his gaze straight ahead, “Speak.”
Old Tan shuffled in his seat, feeling uneasy, “Shine, how many points did you get on your written test?”
Shi Du, who was browsing his phone in the back seat, raised his eyes, “Why are you suddenly asking about that?”
Old Tan’s eyes avoided contact, “I’m planning to get your driver’s license, so I just thought to ask.”
Yu Zhaohan said: “Full marks, of course.”
Old Tan slow-wittedly responded with an “Oh.” “One hundred points” and “full marks” meant the same thing, but when it came from Shine’s mouth, it felt so different.
Upon returning to the base, Yu Zhaohan parked the car in the garage. Qi Xian saw the light blue car that had just recently appeared and said, “My brother has not even gotten his driving license, but he has bought a car first. To be honest, the first time I saw this car, I thought it was bought by Cheese.”
Shi Du chuckled, “Don’t you find small cars cute?”
Old Tan said: “How many people can your car fit? The passenger seat can’t even fit Xiao Jiang. Buying a car is for performance and convenience, what’s the use of being cute?”
Shi Du didn’t take it seriously: Shi Du shrugged indifferently, “I just like cute things. Don’t worry about it too much, thanks.”
Old Tan had a sudden realization. It’s true that one’s behavior can be influenced by their surroundings. Shine’s mental age suddenly seemed younger, most likely influenced by Timeless.
Before walking out of the garage, Yu Zhaohan couldn’t help but look back at the blue car.
——I’m sorry, little car, I didn’t drive you today.
The four of them arrived at the training room where Cheese was playing a duo game with Jiang Di. Jiang Di was playing his support role, while Cheese was chasing his ninja dreams. Upon seeing them enter, Cheese performed a ninja double jump while saying, “Qi Xian, where did you and the captain go? Wait for me, I’ll interrogate you as soon as I finish this game!”
Shi Du stood behind Cheese, sipping cola and casually watching his performance. After a quick glance, he frowned and walked away, leaving only the cold word “Noob” behind.
Yu Zhaohan said to Lu Youshan, “Let’s go to the meeting room.”
Lu Youshan, unsurprisingly, had a breakdown when he heard about Qi Xian’s injury. He saw this year’s international invitational tournament championship as a must-win, and they were his dream team. R.H was not complete without either of them.
Lu Youshan sat on the chair, covered his face with his hands, and his lips trembled uncontrollably: “Why is it so difficult
 Every year there are accidents and every time we come so close
 This was supposed to be R.H’s most hopeful year. Shine, this was the year we were closest to the championship
 Why is it so hard?”
Old Tan hugged Lu Youshan’s head, “Enough, Old Lu. It’s not as bad as it seems. Every professional player has some occupational disease these days.”
Lu Youshan’s mentality had always been his weak point. The head coach couldn’t be the pillar that stabilizes the team; that responsibility fell to Yu Zhaohan, the team captain.
“That’s enough,” Yu Zhaohan said, “Even if Qi Xian has to reduce his training time, R.H will still be the champions this year.”
Lu Youshan’s eyes seemed unfocused as if he hadn’t fully registered his words.
Yu Zhaohan spoke with a firmer tone, “Lu Youshan, raise your head.”
Lu Youshan raised his head and looked at him with red eyes.
“In the future, in Qi Xian’s training, I will take him to review more games, understand the opponent, and study the map.” Yu Zhaohan paused, “Also, bring in a substitute tank to the first team.”
Lu Youshan stared at him blankly and then quickly wiped his face, responding in a hoarse voice, “Okay.”
Yu Zhaohan nodded: “Now go wash your face and go back to the training room to continue training.”
Having witnessed the powerful control on the battlefield by the great beauty Captain, Old Tan, as Shine’s fan, felt immense satisfaction in his eyes and heart. What did he say? Shine’s mental age must be over thirty.
Lu Youshan brought a tank player from the academy team to the first team, a short guy with the ID “boulder.” Everyone called him Stone.
When Old Tan brought Stone to the training room, he kept his head down and spoke very little. Yu Zhaohan was still thinking if the first team needed a third cold-faced player when he saw Stone taking out a keyboard, mouse
 and a chibi version of Shine’s standee from his backpack.
Stone took out his phone and shyly said, “Captain, can I add you on WeChat?”
There was a conclusion—this wasn’t a cold-faced player, but a shy little stone.
Yu Zhaohan replied, “Sure.”
With that, R.H’s main team returned to a roster of six players. Three players were above 1.85 meters, and three were below 1.85 meters, a clear distinction.
Cheese came to Qi Xian’s side and whispered to him: “Xianxian, I’m not criticizing you, but you’ve been too lazy lately, always the first to leave every day. The coach and the captain couldn’t bear it and found a substitute for you.”
Qi Xian smiled and said, “What’s the matter? Don’t you also have Xiao Jiang? It’s just a tactical adjustment, don’t think too much.”
Easily fooled, Cheese said, “Oh, I see. It seems like the coach often discusses tactics with you. Are you going to switch command positions?”
Qi Xian followed his words and said, “Yeah.”
Cheese happily slid back to his own position, “That’s what I thought.”
Yu Zhaohan glanced at Cheese calmly.
Cheese joined R.H two years ago when Wan Feng was already sick. Yu Zhaohan was busy trying to get rid of his own spoiled and coquettish habits, so he didn’t have much time to mentor Cheese. It was Qi Xian who gradually helped Cheese adapt to the unfamiliar environment and the pace of professional players, so their relationship had always been good.
Yu Zhaohan always felt that Cheese resembled him in some aspects, otherwise, he would not have chosen Cheese to be his spokesperson and face representative. But Cheese only resembled the side of him when he turned into Yuyu privately. The maturity and steadiness that Yuyu displayed within the team couldn’t be learned by Cheese. He was likely to be affected by Qi Xian’s hand injury, which could impact his performance.
Of course, when he said “resembled,” he meant in terms of character. Cheese’s face had absolutely no comparison to his.
Over the weekend, R.H flew to Guangzhou for a match. This time they were playing against the lowest-ranked team, ZC, who had a record of all losses and hadn’t won a single map. In the pre-match prediction segment, all the commentators and guests stood on R.H’s side, predicting a 3-0 victory for them. Some haters jokingly said that if ZC could take even one point from R.H, then the men’s football team could also play in the World Cup final next year.
Some panelists speculated that R.H would field substitutes or use this opportunity to practice with a new lineup. However, when the starting lineup was announced, it was the two ace double C players, the tanks, and the support, with Jiang.
Jiang was no longer considered a substitute in R.H. He and Cheese had different playstyles and would rotate based on tactical needs. The commentators jokingly said that R.H was ensuring stable happiness for their fans.
In the first two rounds, R.H crushed all the way and won the game within ten minutes. The second round also broke the record for the shortest single round time this season. After the two maps, ZC didn’t win a wave of team battles and only got two kills. Many viewers couldn’t bear to watch it.
[As an R.H fan, I feel like I’m bullying others[cover my face]]
[To be honest, Alligator’s tactics are on point, but the players are just not on the same level, no competition]
[I really like ZC’s attitude, and the younger players are working hard, but how did they become so bad?]
[Because ZC’s boss was learning from the R.H. ex-boss of last season. I heard ZC’s training base is located in a urban village in Guangzhou, it’s truly unbelievable]
[Will I live long enough to witness ZC’s first victory
]
During the intermission, Cheese handed water to the captain and couldn’t help but ask, “Captain, are you going to continue playing the same way in the third round?”
Yu Zhaohan said, “Why do you ask that?”
Shi Du laughed and said, “Brother Cheese is full of sympathy, and wants to give ZC their first win in a round?”
Jiang Di looked at Cheese abruptly.
“I didn’t mean that! I just thought that since we’re definitely going to win 3-0 in the end, why don’t we let them have a better showing on their home turf? At least let them win a team fight or get a kill or two
” Cheese didn’t finish his sentence as he was silenced by Jiang Di’s cold stare.
Jiang Di said coldly: “What’s the difference between this and the fake match?”
“How can this be called a fake match!” Cheese argued angrily, “It won’t affect the rankings or the score. It’s just to make their loss less embarrassing. In table tennis, they even have a saying to ‘give one ball’ so that the score doesn’t look too one-sided
”
“It’s not enough to fight fake matches.” Shi Du said, “But if you were ZC, would you want this kind of charity?”
“I
” Cheese fell silent.
“I’m hungry and don’t want to drag it out too long,” Shi Du said decisively. “Let’s finish the game quickly and have a meal.”
The break time was over, and the referee reminded them to get ready to go on stage. Yu Zhaohan stood up and said, “Play however we should play.”
In the third round, ZC didn’t get a single kill. They were overwhelmed by R.H’s firepower, often getting mowed down by bullets from all directions before even getting close to the objective point.
It was a one-sided match.
After the game, the ZC players had pale faces, lacking the strength to even greet the R.H members with a forced smile backstage. Only their coach, Alligator, approached them on his own, wearing a bitter smile. He said, “R.H is the most serious team we’ve faced.”
Cheese felt very embarrassed and was about to say something when Shi Du spoke first.
“Sorry, coach,” Shi Du said with a smile, “for making your loss look so bad.”
“When you’re falling behind, you’ll get hit. It’s nothing,” Alligator sighed. “I still want to thank you for treating ZC as a normal opponent.”
“That’s progress,” Yu Zhaohan said. “Keep up the good work.”
with a perfect record of six wins, placing them first in the Eastern Division. They would then head to South Korea to complete the second half of the regular season in a foreign country. Old Tan was busy arranging visas, booking flights, renting villas, and cars for them. They would be staying in Korea for two months, and everything from their daily needs to accommodations had to be taken care of meticulously.
Two days before their departure to South Korea, Old Tan informed them that the little boss wanted to treat them to a big meal as a token of appreciation. When they played in China, the little boss would always go to the venue to cheer for them whenever he had the time. But when playing abroad, it wasn’t as convenient, considering that their little boss was still a university student
Before their departure, Yu Zhaohan specifically asked Old Tan what the young boss planned to treat them to, and Old Tan told him it was a Japanese restaurant. So, on the way to the restaurant, Yu Zhaohan declined Shidu’s invitation to play mobile games together, saying, “I want to take the opportunity to brush up on my knowledge of Japanese cuisine. I’ll find a chance to pretend later.”
Shi Du shuddered as he remembered his fear of being dominated by Yu Zhaohan’s comments on Huaiyang cuisine and kissing scenes, and he said, “Don’t pretend, I’ll call your wife and burn your ears off if you pretend.”
Yu Zhaohan complained angrily: “Listen to yourself
 Are you even human?”
As they got out of the car, they were greeted by a Japanese-style courtyard, with two girls in kimono standing at the entrance, welcoming guests who had arrived a little earlier than them. Yu Zhaohan recognized one of the guests as their little boss, but he hadn’t seen the tall young man standing beside him before, yet he couldn’t help but take a few more glances.
This boy looks pretty good, and he seems to be a cold beauty, but his skin was too pale, giving the impression that he wasn’t in good health.
Cheese shouted, “Little Boss, we’re here!”
The little boss turned around to see them, and smiled happily: “Long time no see, brothers.”
Yu Zhaohan asked, “Who is this?”
“Oh, this is my senior, Nan Xu.”
Shi Du said casually: “Inviting the senior instead of the boss’s wife? The little boss sure knows how to have fun.”
The little boss said: “The senior is my wife.”
Shi Du was stunned for a moment, as were Cheese and Stone, but Shi Du was not stunned. Old Tan knew that the little boss’s partner was a man, so he was not surprised at all. Qi Xian narrowed his eyes even more, while Yu Zhaohan kept calm habitually.
Nan Xu looked at the little boss helplessly: “Li Yuexi.”
The little boss smiled and re-introduced: “The senior is my boyfriend and your little boss’s wife.”
Qi Xian said with a smile: “The lady boss and the little boss make a perfect match.”
Yu Zhaohan agreed: “Indeed.”
The little boss said: “Then shall we go in?”
The group of people walked into the courtyard one after another, with Shi Du and Yu Zhaohan walking last. While others couldn’t see, Shi Du grabbed Yu Zhaohan’s wrist abruptly: “Yuyu
”
Yu Zhaohan was taken aback, and said in a low voice, “Yuyu is here.”
Shi Du’s voice trembled slightly: “Did you see it?”
Yu Zhaohan asked, “See what?”
Shi Du murmured, “The boss lady is a man.”
“Yeah, I saw,” Yu Zhaohan replied.
Shi Du continued to mutter: “The little boss is also a man.”
“Yes.” Yu Zhaohan said, a little puzzled. “Is there a problem with that?”
Shi Du’s Adam’s apple rolled, his lips moved, but he couldn’t utter a word for a long time.
Yu Zhaohan: “?”
Faced with the questioning look on Yu Zhaohan’s face, Shi Du forced himself to smile and said, “No problem, absolutely no problem. Just, don’t talk to me right now, I’m a bit confused.”