In the afternoon of June 8th, twenty minutes before the college entrance examinations officially ended, a reporter waiting in front of the gate of Feng City No. 1 High School welcomed the first candidate to leave the campus after the exam.
Through the camera lens, the boy with his slightly childish face, wearing the blue and white uniform of Zhao City No. 1 High School walked briskly along the shade of wutong trees. He shook the examination bag in his hand, looking very happy, talking through a wired headset.
Walking under the mottled light with a head of light, silver-pink hair, he painted quite a dreamy picture.
He looked like a campus heartthrob walking out of a Japanese anime.
Seeing this bold head of pink, the journalist’s footsteps paused, but he immediately regained his professionalism to smile at the camera, starting his spiel with: “It seems that the current generation of candidates are very energetic. With a happy smile, I believe he is sharing his thoughts about the exam with his family!
“Let’s move closer to the candidate and listen to what he has to say about the test!”
Zuo Tao didn’t notice the reporter approaching and was busy looking for something in his pockets. He continued to talk to the person on the other end of the call, saying, “That won’t do.”
Finding what he was searching for, he took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, knocking one out and smoothly lighting it. “I had him fill in a cloze test, but he couldn’t get past me either… No, I’m not stupid, I wrote everything I needed to.” He spoke without a sense of reservation. “Don’t worry about it, I should have gotten a stable 985.
“There isn’t much more to say; my aunt’s coming to pick me up. Let’s queue together later.”
He looked up after speaking and was greeted by a microphone in his face. Startled, Zuo Tao raised his eyebrows, asking, “What are you doing?”
Mr. Reporter: “…” This child looks like a good boy, but the way he talks makes him look like a bully.
Mr. Reporter, who had been in the industry long enough, rarely found himself in such a tricky situation. It took a full two seconds before he finally regained himself and smiled, saying, “Hello, classmate, we are from SharkTV. I’d like to ask you a few questions about the exam.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m in a hurry.” Zuo Tao flicked the ash from his cigarette off, glancing at the camera behind the reporter before taking another puff. “Could I trouble cameraman-dage to please delete what you’ve recorded? I don’t want to be on TV, thank you.”
“But…” Mr. Reporter’s mouth twitched slightly as he watched Zuo Tang’s quickly departing figure. “…we’re live.”
When Zuo Tao appeared on camera, the comment barrage of the livestream increased in liveliness:
【Hahahaha, I was on the floor. It was my first time seeing a SharkTV reporter unable to keep up with their target.】
【IMHO: this guy is handsome. Secretarial department1This is a reference to how, in dramas, the characters’ secretaries can bring them all information they ask for., I need all of his information within three minutes!】
【Really handsome, and also quite pale, easily able to make this deadly color look good /jealous_of_beauty.jpg】
…
【Handing in your paper early, dying your hair, smoking… even with one glance you’re a slacker with no future.】
【Commenter above, I’m a sophomore from No. 1 High School. You’re right, he’s quite the tyrant at school, but his grades are also in the top ten. I think he’s a lot more promising than you, dearie /cute.jpg】
【Wow, the tyrant is on TV. So handsome!!】
Zuo Tao hastened his steps as he walked to the road. On the curb, a Mercedes Benz CLS300 was parked with its hazard lights on. He killed his cigarette and threw it into the garbage bin before he opened the door of the car, muttering to himself, “that scared me. Are journalists so idle now that they’re catching examinees? If that gets broadcasted on TV, my good boy image would be destroyed before I even graduate.”
“‘Good boy’, you were smoking again, weren’t you?”
Su Yueyao could smell the scent of tobacco from where she sat up front. Glaring at Zuo Tao through the rearview mirror, she shouted in frustration: “You little shitty brat, would it kill you not to smoke?”
“Auntie, I’ll be turning eighteen next month,” Zuo Tao corrected in all seriousness.
Turning the car around, Su Yueyao stepped on the gas and yelled along with the roar of the car: “That’s still a brat!”
When Su Yueyao was young, she’d been involved in esports, becoming known as a violent jungler, also winning the world championship. Her title as the world’s number one female jungler has yet to be taken from her. Even though she had retired and was now working as a coach, her impressive record was still highly discussed within the esports industry of today.
Of course, even more violent than her skills was her temper.
Zuo Tao was yelled at so much that he had no other choice but to shut up. After all, he had something to ask for, so all he could do was huddle in the backseat with a stupid smile on his face.
He kept quiet for a few moments. When Su Yueyao showed no signs of continuing her tirade, he couldn’t stop himself any longer: “Auntie, auntie, auntie…”
Su Yueyao: “Are you trying to call my soul!”
Zuo Tao laughed, not losing his temper even after getting yelled at again. He began hinting at what he wanted: “I’m already done with the exam, so what you promised me before, about Team Wildfire…”
Su Yueyao did not respond to his implications, focusing on the road ahead instead. A thought crossed her mind. “Wait just a sec, can you tell me just what in the world gave you the courage to pass your college entrance examination paper early?!”
“I was afraid that I’d come out of the venue late and we’d get stuck in traffic, and you’d have a hard time driving,” Zuo Tao answered sweetly, making guarantees: “And you know my proficiency in English. I finished answering and I’m sure I’ll get a high score!”
Although she was still enraged, Su Yueyao couldn’t deny his words. Zuo Tao studied foreign languages in primary and middle school, so his foundations were good. He also spent his winter and summer breaks abroad, so she knew that his grades in English were the best among all the others.
With a snort, Su Yueyao reached to the glove box and threw a stack of A4 papers to the backseat without looking back. “I’m saying this ahead of time: it’s only for three months. After three months, get out and go to college.”
Zuo Tao hurriedly took the papers, cheering with gratitude. “Auntie, you are an angel on this mortal plane!”
《Rising Wind》was an online 5v5 MOBA game that became popular worldwide as soon as it was launched. As interest in the game became more popular, professional teams within the region began to appear one after another. And, undoubtedly, the team with the strongest momentum so far has been FTU. A year after missing their first ever world championships, the team made remarkable progress by winning both the spring and summer championships, thus earning them the spot of the team most expected to represent the Chinese division at the world championships.
For some reason, at the start of this year, FTU announced that it was disbanding.
Zuo Tao was a die-hard fan of FTU’s starting AD, Song Shihan. When news about FTU’s dissolution broke out, it made him sad; but good news was that in April, Song Shihan announced that he was going to rebuild the team, naming it “Wildfire”, and that he was officially recruiting players.
But that wasn’t what caught his attention. His male god of many years, Song Shihan, was now Team Wildfire’s captain. Further than that, there was now only the slot for a starting support left open.
And the papers Su Yueyao had just given him was a contract to be Team Wildfire’s substitute support.
In layman’s terms: as long as he signed his name in the contract in his hands, he will immediately be airdropped2Basically, he’s going to get dropped on the team from a higher position via nepotism. into Team Wildfire to become part of the team. He could hold hands with Song Shihan as they wander through the game map — just thinking about the romantic scene made him feel like he was being filled by pink bubbles.
“I’ve already informed the team about the contract. You can take two more days of rest before going to the base.” Su Yueyao bent her finger, tapping it against the steering wheel. Glancing up and catching her nephew’s calm smile, she found herself speechless. “What’s so good about Wildfire? You’re exerting so much effort just to get there, when you can just come to me.”
Zuo Tao chuckled softly as he stared giddily at the contract in his hands. For the first time in his life, he actually felt that his dream — and the man within it — was within reach. It excited him. He asked: “Can I just go there tomorrow? Skip the rest days.”
“…” Su Yueyao was truly without words. “Whatever you want. Just remember, I recommended you. Don’t embarrass me.”
Zuo Tao’s smile shone with confidence, a hint of arrogance rising on his face. “Is that a joke? I’m the number one support in the local server. How could I embarrass the number one jungler in the server?”
Su Yueyao was secretly pleased by the compliment of being “the number one jungler in the server”, but she still raised her eyebrows and said, “Alright. Auntie’s going to keep her eye on you.”
Zuo Tao nodded happily. Putting the contract aside almost solemnly, he took his phone out, connected his headphones, and opened a video that has been saved in his gallery’s album.
It was a post-match interview with FTU a year ago, after the spring championships. Zuo Tao had split the interview and kept only this segment, which was of Song Shihan being interviewed as the match MVP.
In the video, Song Shihan was wearing FTU’s silver-white uniform, sitting on the sofa with his long, powerful legs bent arrogantly. Just like his skills as an AD, his casual sitting posture and his overall temperament was almost oppressive. Even after consecutive matches, his face showed no signs of fatigue. His gaze as he looked at the camera was cold, and if it was possible, a neon sign would probably flashing “impatient” on his forehead.
However, the person interviewing Song Shihan was well known for having a machine-gun mouth, his speech lengthy and uninterruptible and his questions unending. Although he wasn’t good at the game, he showed no sense of boundaries when he was talking to people about it. Netizens called interviews with this anchor a social nightmare.
In just five minutes, he had already thrown about a dozen questions.
“Finally, congratulations again to FTU for winning the spring split championships!”
This was the summary segment now, and Song Shihan’s furrowed eyebrows relaxed slightly. He nodded, moving as if he was about to get up, but the anchor reached out to stop him.
“FIRE3Words originally in English (especially IDs and team names) will be capitalized., just a moment. There’s one more question here, on behalf of a vast majority of the netizens!”
Song Shihan responded with an en, and though the look on his face was bad, he kept the basic amount of respect, saying: “Ask away.”
Machine Gun Mouth: “FIRE is twenty-two years old this year, I’m wondering what standards he has for his significant other?” The anchor smiled, continuing: “So that we, your fans, have a direction to follow in pursuit of you!”
Machine Gun Mouth was a well-known celebrity within the gay community, known for his bold demeanor. He was unrestrained, even openly expressing his admiration for Song Shihan on social media.
There was no need to ask whether his question was truly asked on behalf of the netizens, or himself.
“Standards?” Song Shihan leaned back on the sofa, his eyebrows rising slightly. He glanced at the anchor and said without giving it much thought: “They have to play the game well, not too talkative, and well-behaved.” After a pause, he added slowly, “It would be best if they didn’t ask too many questions and spoke a little less.”
The video ended there.
Zuo Tao sighed lightly and rubbed the screen with his fingertips.
Misery always arrived without warning. The male god shared his requirements for a partner, but he could only meet one.
But that was okay.
Zuo Tao patted his face, took a selfie, and after thinking about it, posted on his WeChat Moments with a tone that he would have beaten himself to death for as an eighteen-year-old—
【Done with college entrance exams, isn’t my macho hair color cute? /adorable_smile.jpg】
