SITS CH18

Chapter 18: A New World

In the afternoon, Zhao Rui returned with his “fried shrimp” hairstyle after meeting his online friend in real life.

He brought back a load of local specialties in big bags and small ones. Faced with everyone’s warm and friendly inquiries, Zhao Rui exhibited the classic trait of a “dead duck”—stubbornness.

“Actually, he’s a pretty nice guy,” the “dead duck” declared. “He treated me to meals, bought me stuff, and we even played sweet duo-queue matches for three days…”

Everyone listened with amused smiles. In the end, Xu Xiaochong made a historic conclusion about this meet-up:
“Take it easy, man. A sore butt will affect your gameplay.”

Zhao Rui jumped to his feet. “…Shut up, you!”

Speaking of gameplay, many teams had recently been scheduling scrimmages with ACE. The days following the holiday were packed with matches. According to the coach, even TKR wanted to schedule one, but he turned them down.

“If nothing unexpected happens, we’ll probably face them in the playoffs,” the coach explained. “Let’s keep some cards close to our chest.”

Having defeated the two giants, TKR and UN, ACE was almost guaranteed a spot in the playoffs this season. And given TKR’s current strength, they were also locked in for the playoffs.

Playoff results were directly tied to qualifications for the global championship, so everyone took them very seriously.

The coach had already begun preparing for the playoffs—and even for the championship matches beyond that.

Xu Zhouye had just joined HCC this year. Logically, he should’ve been under a lot of pressure, but clearly, an even greater challenge awaited him—clearing Shen Man’s name. No, not clearing his name, but proving his innocence.

Xu Zhouye posted on Weibo with a photo of himself smiling brightly and Shen Man playing ranked matches in the background. The caption read:
“My relationship with Shen-ge is great, so don’t spread rumors.”

The comments section exploded:
[Commenter]: If you’re being held hostage, change your Weibo name to ‘Super Happy Today.’

Xu Zhouye: “?” His Weibo name was already Super Happy Today.

[Commenter]: Look at the glass on his desk. Isn’t there a crying face drawn on it? He’s smiling on the outside but crying on the inside.

Xu Zhouye: “??”

[Commenter]: Look at the blue curtains next to him. Blue is B-L-U-E, starting with BL. That’s shorthand for bullying! He’s hinting that Shen Man is bullying him!!

Xu Zhouye: “???”

You guys would score full marks on high school reading comprehension, wouldn’t you?

These terrifying comments made Xu Zhouye break out in a cold sweat. He didn’t dare show them to Shen Man and quietly deleted the post. But deleting it only made the netizens more excited.

[Commenter]: Confirmed! Shen Man kicked Xu Zhouye and forced him to delete the post!
[Commenter]: That’s right! I’m Shen Man’s shoe, and I can testify it’s true.

Great. Xu Zhouye’s attempt to dispel the rumors had failed spectacularly. The pressure was now worse than when he got one-shot by jungle monsters during his first week.

To make matters worse, his teammates, who had witnessed everything, added fuel to the fire. Zhao Rui’s first words to Shen Man every day were:
“Yo, Captain, beat up Xu Zhouye again today?”

With headphones on, Shen Man didn’t even turn his head. “Yep, twice.”

Zhao Rui laughed so hard he doubled over, sounding like a duck: “Quack, quack, quack, quack!”

Xu Zhouye, who had witnessed the entire scene, quietly went out alone that evening. When he returned, he was carrying a bag.

Zhao Rui, the greediest of them all, leaned over to take a look. “What good stuff did you buy?”

Xu Zhouye smiled. “Something tasty.”

Zhao Rui asked, “What is it?” He rummaged through the bag and found it full of sticky rice cakes.

Xu Zhouye took one out. “Just bought them. Eat while they’re hot.”

Zhao Rui said, “Looks pretty good…” He picked one up and stuffed it into his mouth.

Zhao Rui: “…”

Xu Zhouye asked, “Tasty?”

Zhao Rui: “Mmm…ugh…” He felt his mouth glued shut by something stickier than glue. He couldn’t spit it out or swallow it, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Xu Zhouye tilted his head, his smile dazzlingly bright: “Where’s the manager?”

Zhao Rui: “?” Bro, your smile is terrifying.

That night, everyone at the base tasted the peerless delicious sticky bean buns that Xu Zhouye brought back. As soon as the sticky bean buns entered their mouths, every classic flavor came rushing back, and everyone was misty-eyed.

Especially the manager, who was nearly forty, almost passed away from the sticky bean bun. After pounding his chest for a long time, he finally swallowed it. The moment tears slid from the corner of his eyes, he realized that the sticky bean bun Xu Zhouye and Shen Man had mentioned wasn’t an excuse but the truth. He choked up and said, “You could have just told me, you didn’t need to actually buy it for me to eat…”

Xu Zhouye still looked like a well-behaved child, standing beside him and seriously saying, “I was afraid you wouldn’t believe it; experiments reveal the truth.”

Coach: “…” You young people are really scary.

Shen Man had no interest in refuting rumors. Before Xu Zhouye arrived, everyone knew he had a bad temper. Though no one knew how it spread, he had gotten used to it. Everyone thought he had a terrible temper, and after joining the team, they treated him with great respect and didn’t dare to provoke him. This was fine.

But Xu Zhouye still couldn’t accept it. He opened a live stream that night, trying to continue clearing his name.

This matter had already been quite hot in recent days, and when he started the live stream, it became even more lively.

Xu Zhouye turned on the camera and seriously said, “I ask everyone not to spread false rumors. Shen-ge is really a good person, he has never bullied me. That day…” He originally wanted to mention the sticky bean buns, but since it was too absurd, he found another excuse. “That day, I encountered something very upsetting, and Shen-ge was comforting me.”

The bullet comments flew by rapidly: [He was comforting you? His expression was about to burst out laughing.]

[Can’t say it, but Slow’s face looks pretty good when making that expression.]

[Hehe, don’t be fooled by his face; he doesn’t look like a good person.]

[Exactly, a bad beauty.]

Xu Zhouye: “…” He really wanted to kneel to the comments and ask them to believe him, but if he did, the comments would definitely think that it was Shen Man who kicked him in the knee.

Xu Zhouye felt dizzy; his body felt cold.

At that moment, a huge gift image suddenly popped up in the live stream, followed by a string of text flying across the screen.

ShenManACE.Slow sent a Super Rocket x10

Xu Zhouye: “…”

Then, in the chat box, he saw that Slow had sent a smiling emoji.

Xu Zhouye felt dizzy, swearing that he would never touch a sticky bean bun again in his life.

The wrongly accused Shen Man sending rockets became evidence of him bribing Xu Zhouye. The crowd, who loved to watch the excitement, rushed in and cheered: [Look, look, you still say you weren’t bribed by Slow; this is the evidence.]

[Hahahahahaha, why is Slow’s smiling emoji so funny.]

[Fest looks like it’s about to break.]

Xu Zhouye quickly ended the live stream, sitting in the chair, his soul leaving his body. He didn’t even notice when Shen Man walked up behind him.

“The one who’s been wronged is me; why are you so upset?” Shen Man’s voice came, with a hint of confusion.

Xu Zhouye turned his head: “But this matter started because of me.”

Shen Man said, “Without this matter, wouldn’t I still have a bad temper?”

Xu Zhouye said, “That’s different.”

Shen Man said, “Don’t pay too much attention to online comments. Looking at them too much is bad for you.”

The logic made sense, but Xu Zhouye felt a bit discouraged. He lowered his head, looking like a dog that had gotten into trouble. It wasn’t the trouble that made him sad, but that his owner hadn’t scolded him for it at all. Instead, he was gently comforting him.

Shen Man looked at his appearance and sighed, “I really don’t care.”

Xu Zhouye said, “I’m thinking…”

Shen Man asked, “Thinking about what?”

Xu Zhouye said, “How about I do a giveaway?”

Shen Man asked, “A giveaway?”

Xu Zhouye said softly, “The prize is one box of sticky bean buns for each person.”

Shen Man laughed out loud.

At the end of June, the final results of the playoffs were announced.

After several months of fierce competition, ACE ended up with one loss and tied for first place on the points table with TKR.

TKR also performed well, only losing the match against ACE.

On the day the playoff spots were confirmed, the promotional video they had filmed was also released.

In the promotional video, Shen Man, dressed in a custom suit, sat on a throne. He had no smile on his face; his expression looked cold and arrogant. In the darkness behind him, four black silhouettes holding different weapons stood, slowly moving forward—it was ACE’s four team members.

The camera gradually zoomed in, focusing on Shen Man’s eyes. The background music shifted from slow to intense, and as the camera pulled back again, Shen Man appeared in the driver’s seat, with Xu Zhouye beside him in the passenger seat, propping his chin and smiling as he looked out the window. The loud roar of the engine echoed, and three differently colored racing cars appeared behind them, like wingmen flanking Shen Man.

Xu Zhouye’s voice echoed in the background: “Captain, can we win?”

Shen Man replied in his usual indifferent tone, “There’s no other choice on this road—only winning.”

Then sharp words appeared on the screen: XX, your only choice.

The promotional video was clearly well thought out, and Shen Man, as the main character, was filmed very handsomely. It was said that the sponsors were very satisfied after watching it, feeling like they had gotten both an esports player and a celebrity for the price of one.

Of course, the most satisfied were Shen Man’s fans, who, watching the video, seemed to forget about his “crimes” from a few days ago and lovingly showered him with affection.

This allowed Xu Zhouye, who still wanted to clear his name, to finally relax a little.

“Don’t worry about this matter,” Shen Man really didn’t care. “I have so many rumors about me; one more or one less doesn’t matter; some people believe, some don’t.”

Xu Zhouye said, “It’s different.”

Shen Man asked, “How is it different?”

Xu Zhouye said, “I don’t want you to be scolded because of me.”

Shen Man: “…” This was the first time someone had said that.

According to the playoff rules, with ACE’s current record, they only needed to play two more games, one of which would be against either TKR or UN.

The temperature had been near forty degrees for several consecutive days, pushing summer to its peak.

The air conditioning in the base ran non-stop day and night, making everyone feel parched.

Shen Man was fine, but the others in the base were about to go crazy.

Around 1 PM, after finishing a practice match, Zhao Rui rolled up his sleeves and said he was going to conquer nature, wearing flip-flops as he headed out the door.

Xu Zhouye watched his back and said, “Aren’t you going to stop him?”

Shen Man said, “Zhao Rui has three strengths.”

Xu Zhouye: “Huh?”

Shen Man said, “He doesn’t eat things off the ground; he knows how to use a smartphone, and…”

Before he could finish, Zhao Rui, sweating profusely, came back inside. Shen Man leisurely completed his sentence, “And when it rains, he knows to run home.”

Xu Zhouye: “Pfft.”

Zhao Rui said, “Can’t go out, can’t go out; I’ll be half-cooked if I go out for a bit.”

The manager said, “Why go out in this heat?”

Zhao Rui hesitated.

The manager eyed him suspiciously, “Why do you look like that? Is someone waiting for you outside?”

Zhao Rui said, “Nothing, nothing at all.”

The manager was skeptical, but since Zhao Rui refused to admit anything, he had no choice but to let it go.

The manager looked at Shen Man and said, “Man, come over here; I need to talk to you about something.”

Shen Man stood up and followed the manager to the meeting room.

They sat facing each other, and the manager pulled out a cigarette and handed it to him.

Shen Man didn’t take it, frowning, “Just tell me what’s going on.”

The manager eagerly said, “It’s like this, you know the promotional video you filmed before? The response was great…”

Shen Man: “Not interested.”

The manager, feeling wronged, said, “I haven’t even finished yet.”

Shen Man said, “I’m just saving you time.”

The manager said, “Don’t refuse just yet, they’re still negotiating, and the price they offered is really good…”

Shen Man said, “Do you see anywhere I need to spend money?”

The manager was speechless. Shen Man was wearing a simple T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, and the total cost of his outfit probably didn’t even reach a thousand. He lived and ate at the base, rarely went out, and the coach had never seen him buy any luxury items. His material desires were almost nonexistent, and his self-discipline was unnervingly strict.

Under the business contract signed with the club, the club would take a cut, so they were eager to facilitate partnerships between the players and brands. But Shen Man was notoriously hard to deal with, so getting him to agree wasn’t easy. The promotional video that had been filmed was only made because the boss stepped in and Shen Man gave a little face.

“I don’t want to do it anymore,” Shen Man said, “I don’t like it.”

The manager, with tears in his eyes, asked, “Really not filming?”

Shen Man shook his head.

“Alright then.” The manager sighed deeply, “Think about it some more…”

No need to think about it. Shen Man stood up and left.

The promotional video had indeed been a hit, and within a few days, Shen Man’s Weibo followers had increased by over 100,000, but he didn’t think it was a good thing—he was getting cursed by the new followers.

Under the post that shared the promotional video, the hot comments were full of excitement. Shen Man had just wanted to take a quick glance, but his gaze suddenly stopped on a particular image. After clearly seeing what was in the image, his pupils visibly shook.

The image showed two people—one sitting in the other’s lap, the other looking down, gazing affectionately at the person in their arms. At first glance, it seemed harmless, but the biggest problem was that one of the people was him, and the other was Xu Zhouye.

Shen Man: “…” This wasn’t the first time he had seen something like this, but this time, he couldn’t suppress his curiosity.

Shen Man closed his eyes, took ten minutes to mentally prepare himself, and clicked on the comments under the image.

[Wuwuwu, our little couple is so sweet.]

[Food!! We have food!! I’m eating!!!]

[I could watch this promotional video for a hundred years. When they looked at each other, it felt like they’d done it a thousand times in the car.]

[Did you see the hand on Slow’s shoulder? The color difference between their skin is making me hard.]

…

All sorts of provocative comments filled the screen. Shen Man put down his phone and lit a cigarette.