SITS Ch10

Chapter 10: Cheap and Useful

On the return trip, Shen Man sat in the back row looking listless.

The cough medicine prescribed by the doctor was somewhat rough on the stomach, which, combined with the coughing, further suppressed his appetite. After an exhausting full day today, he had only eaten a few simple bites for lunch and drank an iced Americano in the afternoon, which made up practically his entire caloric intake for the whole day.

The shoot was quite draining, involving all kinds of poses—standing, sitting, walking. Toward the end, he had almost run out of physical stamina. If not for the foundation and blush on his face, his complexion probably would have scared the staff to death.

At any rate, the shoot wrapped up without any hiccups. Shen Man closed his eyes to rest, his body occasionally shuddering from bouts of coughing.

Because everyone was tired, the bus was very quiet.

Resting his head against the bus window, Shen Man drowsily drifted off to sleep. When he woke up again, an oversized jacket was draped over him. Xu Zhouye sat beside him, head lowered as he played on his phone. In the dim glow of the screen, he saw that Xu Zhouye’s face was devoid of expression, his gaze cold and aloof—a look that transformed the instant he noticed Shen Man waking up.

As if a black-and-white sketch had suddenly burst into full color, the corners of his mouth curved up, and his eyes filled with a tender smile. Calling out to him like a puppy waiting for its master to awaken, he said, “Captain, you’re awake? You slept for a long time.”

Shen Man let out a low hum: “What time is it?”

“Eleven o’clock,” Xu Zhouye said.

It had actually been that long; Shen Man hadn’t expected it either. Sitting up, he grabbed the jacket draped over him: “Yours?”

“Mhm,” Xu Zhouye smiled brightly. “Warm, right?”

Warm, Shen Man thought. Thank you.

The jacket was roomy and clean, carrying a faint scent of oranges, likely from laundry detergent. When Xu Zhouye took it back, it was warm to the touch—warmed by Shen Man’s body heat.

Slipping the jacket back onto himself, the smile on Xu Zhouye’s face broadened even further: “Captain, let’s get off. The temperature drops at night; your cold might worsen.”

Shen Man let out a muffled hum of agreement.

The weather grew progressively muggy and sweltering, forcing everyone to stay cooped up in air-conditioned rooms all day. After a rare downpour finally brought a bit of coolness, everyone felt like heading outside for a stroll.

Xu Zhouye stood in the hallway taking a call, saying, “Yes, yes, yes, right, right, right, it’s all my fault. I definitely won’t dare to do it next time.”

Passing by, Zhao Rui overheard his words and teased, “Yo, girlfriend?”

Xu Zhouye said, “My mom.”

Zhao Rui: “Oh…”

Xu Zhouye explained, “I’ve been at the base for half a month and forgot to call home.”

Zhao Rui said, “A phone call is definitely necessary. Otherwise, if you just vanish, your mom might think you joined a pyramid scheme.”

“Not quite that extreme,” Xu Zhouye chuckled. “She just scolded me for forgetting my mother the moment I got a wife.”

Zhao Rui said, “Fair enough…”

Right after agreeing, the meaning suddenly hit him. He wondered what he meant by ‘forgetting his mother once getting a wife’—the only female at this base was the cooking auntie, where on earth did he get a wife from?

Zhao Rui suddenly remembered something and hesitated for a moment: “By the way, don’t mention family to the Captain… his family situation is a bit complicated.”

In the two years he had been with ACE, he had never heard Shen Man utter a single word about his family; even during holidays and New Year’s, Shen Man seemed never to go home. But every family had its own circumstances. If Shen Man didn’t speak of it, it wasn’t their place to pry. Later, Zhao Rui had quietly asked the team boss, who was on very good terms with Shen Man, and learned about Shen Man’s situation. The boss had kept it very vague, but the general gist was that it was a sensitive topic, best left untouched.

Xu Zhouye let out a soft “Oh.”

“Keep it in mind, okay?” Zhao Rui said.

Xu Zhouye nodded: “Understood.” If Shen Man didn’t mention it, he certainly wouldn’t bring it up.

Both MIN and ACE were local teams with bases close to each other—only one bus stop away, or a mere ten-minute walk.

Having been thoroughly pulverized by ACE, Zhang Chaoyun brought a few teammates over to ACE to “learn techniques.” Though they called it studying strats, they were actually there to sponge a meal.

The kitchen auntie at the ACE base was a local, and her spicy dishes were an absolute masterpiece. Zhang Chaoyun also favored a heavy palate from his hometown; if he weren’t the captain of MIN himself, he would’ve loved to run over to ACE every single day.

“Wait, what’s going on today? Why is it so bland?” Zhang Chaoyun propped his head in his hand, eyeing the food on the table.

If he hadn’t mentioned it, Shen Man wouldn’t have noticed. Looking closely, he realized there wasn’t a single chili pepper on the entire table.

“Who wants chili peppers?” Liu Shishi snapped back at him. “Our Captain is coughing so hard he’s about to fade from existence, and you’re still asking for chili?”

“Exactly,” Zhao Rui chimed in. “Even food can’t shut your trap.”

Zhang Chaoyun: “…” Why are all of you so fierce? He looked at Shen Man, clicking his tongue twice. “Haven’t seen you in a few days, and your face has shrunk another round. What, losing weight like this to get married?”

Before Shen Man could open his mouth, Xu Zhouye cut in with a smile: “Zhang-ge, the summer split is halfway through. Are you guys ever planning to win a game?”

Zhang Chaoyun: “…” Ge, you’re my real ge. How do you shatter my mental defense the second you open your mouth?

The split had been underway for nearly a month, and MIN hadn’t won a single game. Their fans had transitioned from anger, disappointment, and despair to “I just want to see how many games you can possibly lose.” The players had likewise devolved from self-reflection, remorse, and dejection into a vengeful ghost mindset: “Since things have reached this point, we’ll drag down whichever unlucky bastard we can with us.”

In any case, they had hit rock bottom—it couldn’t get any worse, so winning a single game would feel like winning a championship.

Shen Man asked, “What’s going on with your team?”

Zhang Chaoyun said, “What can we do? Who told you guys to snatch Xu Zhouye away? I had my eyes on him first, I’m completely speechless…”

During the summer transfer window, when Xu Zhouye, the pub-stomper king, hit rank one on both the CN and Asia servers simultaneously, he drew the attention of numerous teams. Zhang Chaoyun had watched Xu Zhouye’s ranked VODs and immediately contacted him, wanting him to trial for MIN. Other clubs were reaching out to Xu Zhouye at the same time. He had assumed Xu Zhouye would end up with KL, but who knew ACE would make a move too.

“I calculated a thousand scenarios, but never this one,” Zhang Chaoyun complained to Xu Zhouye, who was currently chewing his food beside him. “ACE truly has no martial virtue.”

Swallowing the food in his mouth, Xu Zhouye said, “Actually… ACE didn’t reach out to me initially.”

Zhang Chaoyun: “?”

Xu Zhouye said, “I submitted my resume to ACE myself.”

Zhang Chaoyun: “…”

Xu Zhouye added, “The transfer window was almost closing and they still hadn’t found a suitable Jungler, which was when they contacted me.”

Zhang Chaoyun listened, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets: “Ah?”

Xu Zhouye grinned, flashing that signature dazzling smile once more: “Regardless, other than ACE, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else.”

Zhang Chaoyun: “…” Fine, understood. Another one who came exclusively for Shen Man. Don’t blame him for saying “another”—the rookie Marksman on his own team was a die-hard Shen Man fan too.

Right now, that rookie Marksman, Luo Zhimo, hadn’t moved his eyes off Shen Man for a second. He had barely eaten a few mouthfuls, not even willing to move his chopsticks.

Shen Man noticed his gaze as well and turned to look over.

When their eyes met, Luo Zhimo was the first to get embarrassed, his cheeks flushing crimson as he averted his gaze and hung his head like a shy young maiden.

“No, what are you blushing for?” Witnessing the whole thing, Zhang Chaoyun was dumbfounded by his teammate’s reaction. “Weren’t you acting plenty brave before we came over?”

Luo Zhimo kept his head down, not daring to utter a peep.

“Alright, alright, don’t bully the kid,” Zhao Rui said. “Weren’t you the exact same brand of pathetic when you first met Shen Man?”

Zhang Chaoyun: “…”

Zhang Chaoyun recalled some unpleasant memories.

He had entered the HCC at roughly the same time as Shen Man—Shen Man on ACE and him on MIN. Back then, MIN was still in its golden age. Even now, he vividly remembered the scene during the post-match handshake after their first game: Shen Man had just turned eighteen, not yet fully grown into his features, his face possessing an ethereal, androgynous beauty. When Shen Man came over to shake hands and pinned him with those eyes, Zhang Chaoyun had inexplicably flushed bright red.

Only later, after getting familiar with Shen Man, did Zhang Chaoyun realize this guy was straight-up bullying the entire HCC with his face, and he had merely been one of the victims.

Zhang Chaoyun sighed, patting Luo Zhimo on the shoulder in consolation.

Luo Zhimo blushed for quite a while before finally gathering the courage to look at Shen Man and say, “Shen-ge, there are some questions I’d like to consult you on.”

“No need to call it consulting,” Shen Man said. “Ask away. If I know, I’ll answer.”

Both being Marksmen, they naturally had plenty of common topics. Abandoning his meal, Luo Zhimo happily leaned in closer to Shen Man.

The chopsticks Xu Zhouye was using to pick up food suddenly halted. He called out, “Captain.”

His attention diverted from talking to Luo Zhimo, Shen Man looked toward Xu Zhouye: “What is it?”

“Aren’t we playing UN again soon?” Xu Zhouye asked.

UN had lost two matches and currently sat second on the leaderboard, serving as their fiercest rival for playoffs.

“Yeah, why?” Shen Man asked.

“I heard their bot duo lane is really formidable,” Xu Zhouye said. “It’s making me a bit nervous.” As he spoke, he rubbed his fingers together with his head drooping, looking thoroughly pitiful.

For some reason, seeing him like this caused Shen Man’s heart to soften instantly. No matter how cracked Xu Zhouye was in-game, he was still just an eighteen-year-old kid. When Shen Man first entered the HCC, he had been nervous too; it was just that because he rarely spoke and showed few expressions, his teammates never realized he had been anxious.

“It’s fine. UN’s overall strength might not even be as high as TKR’s,” Shen Man consoled his little Carry Jungler. “UN’s jungler is at best a forty-sixty matchup against Nine.”

Xu Zhouye murmured, “Still nervous though…”

Shen Man said, “Just play freely. I’m right here.”

Luo Zhimo, who had been left hanging to the side: “…”

Zhang Chaoyun muttered under his breath, “So young, yet the jealousy smells so strong.”

“Alright, that’s enough, we are opponents after all,” Zhao Rui said. “Are you going to eat this eggplant fritter or not? If not, I’m taking it…”

Zhang Chaoyun shot his chopsticks over and snatched it: “Eating, eating, I’m eating!”

Actually, what Zhao Rui said made sense. They were competitors after all; Shen Man being willing to teach Luo Zhimo was a testament to Shen Man’s generous magnanimity, but choosing not to teach was completely justified too. This Xu Zhouye, on the other hand, was quite intriguing… It was just a shame they hadn’t managed to sign him to MIN, otherwise their league standings this year wouldn’t be in such a pitiful state.

What a pity. Judging by Xu Zhouye’s current performance, once this summer split concluded, his price tag wouldn’t be something MIN could ever afford.

Speaking of price, Zhang Chaoyun was genuinely curious about Xu Zhouye’s signing fee, so he lowered his voice: “Xu Zhouye, how much was your signing fee this year? If you can’t state the exact amount, give us a ballpark figure.”

Signing fees were supposed to be confidential, but in truth, everyone in the scene had a rough idea. For a T0-tier player like Shen Man, anything below eight figures was completely out of the question, whereas rookies just entering the scene like Xu Zhouye were the cheapest.

Hearing about the signing fee, Shen Man recalled his manager’s winking, smug expressions back then and immediately felt a bad premonition.

Xu Zhouye blinked and said, “The manager told me not to tell.”

Zhang Chaoyun asked, “Does it reach this number?” He held up five fingers.

Xu Zhouye scratched his head: “Really not much at all. But the manager said room and board are covered, there’s social security and housing fund, and even team trips on company dime.”

Everyone: “…”

Zhang Chaoyun: “…Not even fifty thousand?!”

Xu Zhouye broke into a wide grin. The more dazzling his smile grew, the more everyone’s hearts turned freezing cold. The sunny, cheerful young man said, “Where would I get that much?”

Shen Man: “…” Manager, you are truly ruthless.

The ACE teammates felt their hearts turn utterly bleak. Their team’s signing fee was tied directly to the penalty clause for breach of contract. Given Xu Zhouye’s stellar performance, other teams would likely be lining up to pay his buyout and poach him next season.

Zhao Rui said faintly, “Keep skimping. He’s going to skimp his way into a disaster sooner or later.”

Shen Man stayed silent for a moment before saying, “What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll have Auntie make something good for you.”

Zhang Chaoyun, on the other hand, burst into gloating, uproarious laughter.