SITS Ch7

Chapter 7: As Fragile as Paper

The rain that had fallen all day finally stopped the next day.

The air after the rain was exceptionally fresh, carrying a slight chill. Shen Man, afraid of catching a cold again, wore a thick gray hoodie.

“Shen Man, how are you feeling?” The manager greeted him enthusiastically upon seeing him in the training room.

Shen Man coughed twice. “I feel a bit weak still.”

Manager: “…”

Shen Man: “How about postponing the promo shoot for a couple more days?”

Manager: “I knew you’d be waiting here to ambush me.”

Shen Man shrugged helplessly.

The manager, looking resigned, said jokingly, “Do you think I’d actually make you work while sick? Just rest up. Finish this week’s competition, and we can deal with it later. The sponsor is worried you’ll keel over during the shoot and has postponed it until next week.”

Shen Man: “Oh…”

Manager: “Shouldn’t you be happy about that?”

Shen Man pointed at the camera on his computer. The manager caught on instantly. “Livestreaming? You’re on your own for that one.”

Shen Man: “…Tch.”

If he wasn’t dead, he had to stream. Ideally, he’d die on camera—then his viewership would skyrocket, and maybe the platform would generously reduce his penalty fees.

The moment he turned on the camera, the comments started flying:

[Yo, you don’t look too good today. Livestreaming for days on end really does a number on you, huh? Look at how pale you are.]

[Told you, working is bad for your health.]

[I have back-to-back classes these days, and I look just as bad.]

[No way, your face looks thinner.]

Shen Man glanced at the comments and said faintly, “I’m sick.”

[For real? Why do you always get sick as soon as you start working?]

[Last time you took leave, it was because Zoop was getting married.]

[What marriage? Isn’t Zoop gay? When did our country legalize same-sex marriage?]

Zoop—Zhao Rui—happened to be standing nearby, watching Shen Man’s screen. Seeing the comment, he immediately yelled, “Are you all insane? I already said I’m not gay! And, Shen Man, when did I get married?!”

Shen Man glanced at him. “December last year. Didn’t you say so yourself?”

Zhao Rui was about to retort but froze, seemingly recalling something.

Shen Man asked, “Did I wrong you?”

Zhao Rui chuckled awkwardly. “Haha, I was joking.”

Shen Man: “Heh.”

Last December, it was this very person, now looking embarrassed, who had tearfully declared he had found true love. He had even said he had his household registration booklet ready and would get married as soon as he met the person. Shen Man, concerned for his team member and aware of Zhao Rui’s history, had advised caution. But Zhao Rui’s response was something Shen Man still remembered clearly:

“She’s my destiny! I even had it divined!” The most romantic fool in HCC had sworn with absolute conviction. “Wait and see—you’ll be drinking at my wedding soon!”

Shen Man: “…” Fine, drinking at a brother’s wedding sounded like a reasonable excuse for a leave of absence.

Now, Shen Man and Zhao Rui locked eyes, both finding the answers they sought in each other’s gaze.

Zhao Rui withdrew his head from the screen, muttering, “Captain, you’re so mean.”

Shen Man: “…”

Zhao Rui added, “And I’m really not gay!”

Shen Man thought the remark unnecessary. The chat would now be convinced otherwise.

Sure enough, the comments erupted:
[SW, whatever you do, don’t sleep back-to-back with Zoop.]

[Zoop should just move to Germany. He’d find both love and acceptance there.]

Shen Man sighed.

With Zhao Rui’s speed at falling for online girls, his sexuality had never been in question.

Shen Man played two ranked games but wasn’t feeling it. Being sick slowed his reflexes, and he even missed a few last hits.

Just as he was about to queue for a third game, someone tapped on his desk. Xu Zhouye’s gentle voice followed, “Captain, time for your meds.”

Shen Man took off his headphones and saw Xu Zhouye holding water and medicine.

“Prescribed by the doctor?” Shen Man asked.

“Yeah, from yesterday,” Xu Zhouye replied. “I forgot to give them to you—it was too late.”

Shen Man took the meds, popped them in his mouth, and swallowed them in one gulp with the water Xu Zhouye handed him. The water was warm—neither too hot nor too cold. While Shen Man took his medicine, Xu Zhouye glanced at the screen.

The comments were as ridiculous as ever:
[Hand-delivered meds? I can’t take this anymore.]

[Did you think “finding a teammate” wasn’t just a ploy to find a boyfriend?]

[That’s it. Zoop tried for years, but it’s Xu Zhouye who finally turned Slow.]

[This is doomed. Xu Zhouye doesn’t look like the submissive type. Slow, maybe reconsider Zoop?]

The absurdity of it all made Xu Zhouye chuckle softly.

Shen Man, used to the chat’s nonsense, said calmly, “Don’t take it seriously. They love making things up.”

Xu Zhouye curved his lips into a smirk: “Alright.”

After taking the cold medicine, Shen Man began to feel drowsy. He coughed while yawning repeatedly. His skin was naturally pale, and now, with the illness, he looked as white as paper. His thin lips had no color, and his face, already small, appeared to be disappearing under the hoodie.

It wasn’t long before the usually heartless barrage of comments became panicked.

[Bro, stop the stream, I’m really afraid you’ll die on my phone.]

[Quickly lay down, you’re gonna attract flies like this.]

[Why are his eyes closed? Is he starting to see the light?]

[Oh my god, if he dies from overwork, will we get criminal charges for making him stream every day?]

The barrage made Shen Man laugh in frustration: “Is this ever going to end? You’re not happy with the stream, huh? Alright, I’ll end it then.”

Surprisingly, no one stopped him. Everyone was urging him to lie back down and rest so he wouldn’t really die.

“Alright, I’ll stop then,” Shen Man said. “Guess I’ll make up for it next month.”

The barrage was filled with a bunch of “Bye” comments.

As Shen Man ended his stream, Zhao Rui’s stream was still going on. He was still desperately defending his sexual orientation, arguing that it was all rumors and that no one was more straight than him in the entire base!

Liu Shishi passed by, unable to resist giving him a slap on the back, saying, “Zhao Rui, if you’re going to explain, just explain. Don’t drag us down because you couldn’t get someone to love you.”

Zhao Rui angrily retorted, “Who couldn’t I get to love me?!”

Liu Shishi replied, “Heh, those who understand, understand.”

Zhao Rui: “…”

The rumors about Zhao Rui being gay didn’t come from nowhere; there was a source.

Not long after Zhao Rui joined ACE, his Weibo account was suddenly hacked. Normally, a hacked account wouldn’t be a big deal, but the hacker had a different sexual orientation and posted a lot of G/V content, some of which was very explicit.

At 3 a.m. that night, Zhao Rui was rudely pulled from his bed by his manager, who made him change his password, delete the posts, and even alter his sexual orientation on his profile.

But netizens loved stirring up drama, and since it was a hacked account, no one could be sure of the truth.

Thus, Zhao Rui earned the title of “HCC’s No. 1 gay,” and no amount of explanation could help.

During that time, he was so furious, he kept cursing the hacker, saying, “Can’t the hacker at least have some basic skills? If you’re going to use my account to scam teammates for money, that’s fine. But why post this stuff?!”

Liu Shishi sarcastically said, “What hacker? We don’t even know if there was a hacker. Maybe you just made a mistake while posting resources” This almost made Zhao Rui pass out from anger.

“At this point,” Zhao Rui said in fury, “I can only get a pretty girl to prove it to you!”

Two years later, that “pretty girl” was still just a picture on WeChat.

Seven attempts to meet in person, none successful, which only seemed to confirm his “gay” identity.

Amid the audience’s concern, Shen Man reluctantly ended his stream.

Though he said it was reluctantly, his eyes had already brightened, and he even had time to wander into the kitchen and ask the aunt if the porridge was ready.

The aunt was very kind and smiled as she asked what flavor of porridge Shen Man wanted, and if he wanted vegetables added.

“Just the vegetable porridge from last night will be fine,” Shen Man said.

“Last night?” The aunt paused. “I wasn’t at the base last night, so I didn’t make porridge.”

Shen Man: “…” He was stunned for a moment, then reacted and laughed, “Oh, then just plain white porridge will be fine.”

The aunt said, “Alright, I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

Shen Man thanked her.

As he walked to the training room door, he saw from a distance that Xu Zhouye was playing solo.

Xu Zhouye was also streaming. Unlike Shen Man, his temperament seemed to be very good. He wore a gentle smile that never faded, and despite the mixed barrage of comments, he remained very patient, answering those he could and simply smiling past the ones he couldn’t.

Because of their interaction earlier, and since Shen Man had just ended his stream, many viewers came from Shen Man’s channel. Some of the comments were less than friendly:

[Xu Zhouye, did SW scold you for playing like that in your first week?]

[Fest, does Slow bully you every day in the ACE team?]

Due to Shen Man’s usual indifference to others, there had always been similar rumors online. The most ridiculous and funny was that the GV content Zhao Rui posted on Weibo was allegedly forced by Shen Man.

Of course, these rumors were quickly rebutted:

[Are you kidding? If Slow really wanted to seduce someone, who in ACE could resist that face?]

[You guys are crazy; what kind of horror story is this?]

With this, Shen Man’s reputation was saved by his looks.

Xu Zhouye also saw these comments. He straightened his face and explained seriously: “The captain is really nice. Even though I played poorly in my first week, he never once scolded me.”

The barrage exploded: [Pretending]
“Of course it’s true,” Xu Zhouye blinked and said earnestly, like a dog defending its owner, “He not only didn’t scold me, but he even treated me to spicy hotpot.”

[？？？？？？？]

[Go away, you two gay men!]

[I can’t take it, Slow actually treated you to spicy hotpot?]

Xu Zhouye: “Hehe, I know you’re all jealous of me.”

Shen Man, who had planned to go over, stopped in his tracks upon hearing Xu Zhouye’s words.

He remembered the porridge and small dishes that suited his taste from last night and then recalled the leftover spicy hotpot he had eaten alone. Shen Man felt inexplicably guilty, and without continuing forward, he silently turned around and left.