SITS Ch10

Chapter 10: Cheap and Useful

On the way back, Shen Man sat in the last row, looking listless.

The cough medicine prescribed by the doctor upset his stomach, and combined with the persistent coughing, it further affected his appetite. After an exhausting day, his lunch had consisted of only a few bites, and in the afternoon, he’d had a cup of black coffee—practically his only energy intake for the entire day.

The photoshoot had been physically draining, involving standing, sitting, walking, and various poses. By the end, he was nearly out of strength. If not for the foundation and blush on his face, his pallor would have frightened the staff.

At least they completed the shoot without any mishaps. Closing his eyes to rest, Shen Man occasionally trembled due to coughing.

The car was quiet since everyone was exhausted.

Leaning his head against the window, Shen Man dozed off. When he woke again, he found a large jacket draped over him. Beside him sat Xu Zhouye, engrossed in his phone. The dim light from the screen revealed an expressionless face, cold and distant—an unfamiliar look.

However, as soon as Xu Zhouye noticed he was awake, his demeanor transformed. It was like a black-and-white sketch suddenly filled with color. His lips curved into a smile, and his eyes softened with warmth as he greeted him, like a puppy eagerly waiting for its owner to wake up. “Captain, you’re awake. You slept for quite a while.”

Shen Man murmured, “What time is it?”

“Eleven o’clock,” Xu Zhouye replied.

Shen Man hadn’t realized he’d slept for so long. Sitting up, he grasped the jacket draped over him. “Yours?”

“Yeah.” Xu Zhouye grinned. “Warm, isn’t it?”

It was warm, Shen Man thought, Thanks.

The jacket was oversized and clean, with a faint orange scent—likely the smell of laundry detergent. When Xu Zhouye took it back, it retained Shen Man’s body heat.

After putting the jacket back on himself, Xu Zhouye’s smile deepened. “Captain, when we get out of the car, keep it on. It’s colder at night, and your cold might get worse.”

Shen Man responded with a muted “Mm.”

…..

The weather had grown oppressively hot, leaving everyone confined to air-conditioned rooms all day. After a rare rain brought some relief, everyone wanted to step outside for a bit.

Xu Zhouye stood in the hallway on the phone. “Okay, okay, yeah, it’s all my fault. I swear I won’t do it again.”

Passing by, Zhao Rui overheard and teased, “Girlfriend?”

“My mom,” Xu Zhouye replied.

“Oh…” Zhao Rui said.

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

Zhao Rui said, “You should make a call. If you disappear for too long, your mom might think you’ve joined a pyramid scheme.”

“That wouldn’t happen.” Xu Zhouye chuckled. “She just says I’ve forgotten my mom now that I have a girlfriend.”

Zhao Rui paused, then suddenly picked up on something. “Hold on. What girlfriend? There’s only the cook here who’s a woman. Where’d you get a girlfriend?”

Zhao Rui suddenly remembered something and hesitated. “By the way, don’t bring up family stuff with the captain… His situation is a bit complicated.”

In the two years Zhao Rui had been with ACE, he’d never heard Shen Man mention his family. Even during holidays, Shen Man never seemed to go home. Everyone has their own circumstances, and since Shen Man didn’t talk about it, no one pried. Later, Zhao Rui privately asked their boss, who was close to Shen Man. The boss vaguely explained that Shen Man’s family situation was “special” and advised against bringing it up.

Xu Zhouye softly acknowledged, “Got it.”

“Just remember,” Zhao Rui said.

“I won’t bring it up.” Xu Zhouye nodded. If Shen Man didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t ask.

……

Both MIN and ACE were local teams, and their bases were close—just one bus stop apart or a ten-minute walk.

Zhang Chaoyun, who’d been crushed by ACE, brought a few teammates to their base to “study techniques.” But really, they were just freeloading meals.

The cook at the ACE base was a local who excelled at making spicy dishes. Zhang Chaoyun, a fan of strong flavors, would’ve happily camped at ACE daily if he weren’t MIN’s captain himself.

“What’s with the food today? It’s so bland,” Zhang Chaoyun muttered, resting his chin on his hand as he eyed the dishes on the table.

Shen Man hadn’t noticed until Zhang mentioned it. Upon closer inspection, there wasn’t a single dish with chili.

“What do you need chili for?” Liu Shishi snapped. “Our captain’s coughing his lungs out, and you want chili?”

“Exactly.” Zhao Rui chimed in, “Just eat and stop complaining.”

Zhang Chaoyun sulked. “Why are you guys so mean? And Captain, your face looks even thinner since last time I saw you. What’s the deal? Losing weight for a wedding?”

Before Shen Man could respond, Xu Zhouye grinned and cut in, “Zhang-ge, we’re halfway through the summer season already. Are you guys planning to win even one match?”

Zhang Chaoyun: “…” Bro, you’re ruthless.

The season had been ongoing for nearly a month, and MIN hadn’t won a single game. Their fans had gone from angry to disappointed to outright resigned—now just watching to see how many matches the team could possibly lose. The players themselves, having hit rock bottom, had stopped lamenting and simply adopted a “drag anyone else down with us” mentality.

They figured that with nowhere to go but up, even one win would feel like a championship victory.

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

Zhang Chaoyun replied, “What can we do? You guys stole Xu Zhouye from us! I had my eye on him first. Honestly, I’m impressed…”

During the summer transfer window, Xu Zhouye, a ladder legend who’d topped both the national and Asian servers, caught the attention of many teams. Zhang Chaoyun had watched his ranked games and immediately contacted him for a trial with MIN. He assumed Xu Zhouye would join KL, but to his surprise, ACE swooped in.

“I didn’t see that coming,” Zhang Chaoyun complained to Xu Zhouye, who was calmly chewing his food. “ACE really plays dirty.”

After swallowing, Xu Zhouye said, “Actually… ACE didn’t approach me at first.”

Zhang Chaoyun: “?”

Xu Zhouye said, “I’m the one who submitted the resume to ACE.”

Zhang Chaoyun: “……”

Xu Zhouye added, “The transfer window is almost over, and they couldn’t find a suitable jungler, so they reached out to me.”

Zhang Chaoyun’s eyes widened in disbelief: “Huh?”

Xu Zhouye grinned, flashing his signature radiant smile. “But aside from ACE, I won’t go anywhere else.”

Zhang Chaoyun: “……” Got it. Another one here for Shen Man. Can’t blame him for thinking this way—after all, their team’s little marksman is a devoted fan of Shen Man.

At this moment, their little marksman, Luo Zhimo, couldn’t take his eyes off Shen Man. He barely ate a few bites of food and didn’t even bother moving his chopsticks.

Shen Man noticed the gaze and turned to look.

Their eyes met, and Luo Zhimo, feeling shy, blushed furiously. Like a bashful young girl, he quickly averted his gaze and lowered his head.

“What are you blushing for?” Zhang Chaoyun, who had witnessed everything, was stunned by his teammate’s reaction. “Weren’t you all bold and confident before we came?”

Luo Zhimo kept his head down, too embarrassed to say a word.

“Alright, alright, stop bullying the kid,” Zhao Rui said. “When you first saw Shen Man, you were no different.”

Zhang Chaoyun: “……”

Zhang Chaoyun suddenly recalled some unpleasant memories.

He and Shen Man had joined the HCC league around the same time—Shen Man joined ACE, while he joined MIN. Back then, MIN was at its peak. He could still remember the scene from their first match against each other. During the post-game handshake, Shen Man, who had just turned 18 and was not fully grown yet, had a face so beautiful it was hard to distinguish his gender. When Shen Man approached to shake hands, Zhang Chaoyun inexplicably blushed under his gaze.

Later, after becoming familiar with Shen Man, Zhang Chaoyun realized that this guy was essentially bullying the entire HCC with his looks, and he was just one of the many victims.

Zhang Chaoyun sighed, patting Luo Zhimo’s shoulder in consolation.

Luo Zhimo blushed for quite a while before finally gathering his courage. He looked at Shen Man and said, “Shen-ge, I have some questions I’d like to ask you.”

“Don’t mention teaching; just ask,” Shen Man replied. “I’ll answer whatever I can.”

As fellow marksmen, they naturally had plenty to discuss. Luo Zhimo abandoned his meal and eagerly scooted closer to Shen Man.

Xu Zhouye’s chopsticks suddenly paused midair. He called out, “Captain.”

Shen Man, distracted from his conversation with Luo Zhimo, turned to Xu Zhouye. “What is it?”

“Are we about to play against UN again?” Xu Zhouye asked.

UN had lost two matches and was currently second on the leaderboard, making them the strongest competitors in the playoffs.

“Yes, why?” Shen Man asked.

“I heard their bottom lane duo is pretty strong,” Xu Zhouye said, rubbing his fingers nervously and lowering his head, looking rather pitiful.

For some reason, seeing him like this softened Shen Man’s heart. Even though Xu Zhouye was skilled at gaming, he was still just an 18-year-old kid. When Shen Man first joined the HCC, he had been nervous too, but since he wasn’t talkative or expressive, his teammates never noticed.

“It’s alright. UN might not even be as tough as TKR,” Shen Man reassured his young jungler. “Their jungler versus Nine is at best a 4-to-6 matchup.”

Xu Zhouye said, “But I’m still nervous…”

Shen Man replied, “Just play freely. I’ve got your back.”

Luo Zhimo, left to the side: “…”

Zhang Chaoyun muttered, “So young, yet already so possessive.”

“Alright, alright, remember, we’re opponents,” Zhao Rui said. “Are you eating this eggplant fritter or not? If not, I’ll take it.”

Zhang Chaoyun grabbed it with his chopsticks. “Eat, eat, eat.”

Zhao Rui wasn’t wrong. They were, after all, opponents. Shen Man was generous enough to teach Luo Zhimo, but it would’ve been entirely reasonable if he hadn’t. As for Xu Zhouye—he was quite intriguing. It’s just a pity they couldn’t buy him for MIN. Otherwise, their team’s results this season wouldn’t have been so dismal.

What a shame. Based on Xu Zhouye’s current performance, once this summer season ended, MIN likely wouldn’t be able to afford him anymore.

Speaking of costs, Zhang Chaoyun couldn’t help but be curious about Xu Zhouye’s signing fee. Lowering his voice, he asked, “Xu Zhouye, how much was your signing fee this year? You don’t have to give me the exact number—just an estimate.”

Signing fees were technically confidential, but everyone had a rough idea. For a T0-level player like Shen Man, you couldn’t even start thinking about it without tens of millions. Meanwhile, rookies like Xu Zhouye usually came at bargain prices.

When signing fees were mentioned, Shen Man remembered the exaggerated expressions on their manager’s face and suddenly had a bad feeling.

Xu Zhouye blinked. “The manager said I shouldn’t tell.”

Zhang Chaoyun pressed, “Was it at least this much?” He gestured a five with his hand.

Xu Zhouye scratched his head. “Not much, really. But the manager said I get free food and housing, social insurance, and even free vacations.”

Everyone: “……”

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

Xu Zhouye grinned brightly, and the more radiant his smile became, the colder everyone else’s hearts felt. The sunny and cheerful boy said, “Not even close.”

Shen Man: “……” Manager, you’re ruthless.

The ACE players felt a chill in their hearts. Their team’s signing fees were linked to termination penalties. With Xu Zhouye’s current performance, other teams would likely be willing to pay the penalty to snatch him up next season.

Zhao Rui sighed. “Save money all you want; sooner or later, it’ll cause trouble.”

After a moment of silence, Shen Man asked, “What do you want for dinner? I’ll have the housekeeper make you something nice.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Chaoyun laughed gleefully at their predicament.