His luggage, sent through an intra-city courier, had already arrived earlier, but Zuo Tao hasn’t had the time to fix his things. Since it was impossible to go back to sleep in his state, the free time he had was better off used to clean up his room.
However, his plea to shift his thoughts by keeping himself busy was not only useless, it was also embarrassing.
Zuo Tao touched his still-tingling neck, thinking back to their conversation. Song Shihan wouldn’t think he was weird, would he?
He didn’t want to think about the chat between him and Song Shihan, because he would probably choke in humiliation. If it wasn’t for the fact that the other person involved was Song Shihan, Zuo Tao would have already started planning on how to silence him.
He cleaned up as quickly as he could before walking to the cafeteria, where he bumped into Wang Qiu, who had just woken up.
“Good morning,” Wang Qiu greeted. “Wanna eat together?” His hair was messy, and after greeting Zuo Tao, he looked at his phone again. “This video’s really funny, I just had to repost it with an alt.”
Zuo Tao walked with him through the cafeteria. “What video…” He hasn’t even finished asking his question, but he already regretted it.
From last night until this morning, what other ‘funny video’ did the esports circle have other than that?
“The one with ZZ and WIND,” Wang Qiu replied, laughing. “This ZZ is really fucking talented, isn’t he.” He looked at Zuo Tao. “You’re also brave, reposting it in the middle of the night without knowing what the hell is going on.” He also made a sincere suggestion: “As your ge, I suggest you make an alt account. If you say or do anything against league rules, use that account so people don’t notice.”
Wang Qiu showed his phone to Zuo Tao, letting him see his alt account, which had already forwarded ZZ’s post.
【Lone wolf dancing wildly under the rain: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA giving OP a thumbs up, good kill, great kill, dad is so cool!】
Wang Qiu: “I wish we’d have the opportunity to meet this awesome ZZ. His IP shows we’re in the same city.
Zuo Tao: …thank you ah.
However, it was still a harsh reminder for him that he must guard his personas better. If the illusion falls off, his only other choice would be to leave the planet entirely.
Zuo Tao ate his breakfast slowly, finishing only half by the time Wang Qiu had finished his own and left to go to the training room.
While he ate, he couldn’t stop himself from remembering Song Shihan taking his body measurements, his heart quickening.
He let go of his chopsticks to cover his face, unable to stop himself from giggling.
So exciting.
If the pull tab hadn’t gotten caught, it would have been perfect. Thinking of that, Zuo Tao sighed lightly; it was the first time Song Shihan had opened a can of milk for him, and he’d planned on commemorating it by keeping the ring.
His phone on the table vibrated.
It was Wildfire Internals.
【Autumn won’t come back: Peach, you still at the cafeteria?】
【PINK: Yes. Also, what’s with the nickname? /covering_face_and_crying.jpg】
【Autumn won’t come back: Hey, the name is cute and suits you well.】
【Autumn won’t come back: Si Zheng hasn’t had breakfast yet, can you bring something?】
【Zheng: Just a little.】
【Zheng: Also, peach is cute, and the color reminds me of your hair /laughing.jpg】
Zuo Tao was about to say he couldn’t, but another message immediately arrived.
【FIRE: If it’s not too much, can you bring me some, too?】
【PINK: No biggie!】
He was quick to finish what was left of his steamed buns. He went to the kitchen to ask the aunt for packed food, and then loaded the boxes with more steamed buns. After thinking about it further, he also filled a mug with soy milk before going upstairs.
Jiang Ming had already returned and was in the training room when he got there. He paused what he was saying upon seeing Zuo Tao, asking, “Done with your measurements?”
Zuo Tao glanced at Song Shihan almost instinctively before answering, “Done.”
“I forgot to send it,” Song Shihan said, busy spinning a pen between his fingers. Sniffing, he picked up his phone and sent Jiang Ming the measurements with a few taps.
Wang Qiu moved over to check, his pupils shaking. “God, your waist is so tiny, it’s almost as small as an actress’s. You’re too thin, I think you need to eat more.”
Zuo Tao was bent over, busy giving the mug of soymilk to Song Shihan. Hearing Wang Qiu, he almost fell over.
“Thanks,” Song Shihan said, picking up the mug as he studied Zuo Tao’s waist for a moment. The boy was indeed on the thinner side compared to boys his age, as if he could wrap him up with a single arm.
Zuo Tao shook his head. “You’re welcome,” he said, also leaving one of the boxes on the table. He turned to Si Zheng and said, “Zheng-ge, I couldn’t hold two cups at once, so I’ll just go down to get you another?”
“No need,” Si Zheng said, not taking it to heart at all. “I’ll just have some later.”
Wang Qiu, on the other hand, didn’t let it go. He laughed and clicked his tongue, teasing, “Really, the sentiment of the botlane duo sure is different, making sure to give his AD good things first.”
For a moment, Zuo Tao wanted to channel ZZ to teach Wang Qiu how to behave.
“Okay, stop making fun of Zuo Tao,” Jiang Ming interrupted, knocking his notebook on Wang Qiu’s head. “I’ll continue what I was saying. Zuo Tao, sit down.”
Jiang Ming continued, “From what I’ve been told, several veteran teams are participating in the preliminaries, including FG and GGF.”
Zuo Tao had already heard about this from Su Yueyao last night, so he wasn’t so surprised.
Si Zheng swallowed the bun in his mouth before asking, “Why? They all have enough points to go straight to the summer split, right?”
“There’s been a lot of talk online about the preliminaries this year, so team value for anyone who participates is also different.” Jiang Ming crossed his arms over his chest, frowning slightly. “We don’t have to focus on why. FG, GGF, several other popular teams, REBORN — all of them have signed up for the preliminaries.
“With so many popular teams, the competition is going to be different. Everyone wants to test the waters before the summer split to see each other’s strength.”
Zuo Tao could understand what the other teams were thinking. The summer tournament was approaching, and participating in the preliminaries would not only give them more time to improve, but also get a feel for the competition.
It was beneficial with no potential for harm.
More importantly, the other teams already had enough points to join the summer split without the preliminaries. It wouldn’t matter if they won or lost; they were simply there to test the waters.
The only teams who were truly being tried were Wildfire and REBORN.
Although both teams were new, they each had members that were equally famous. There was no need to say anything about their own captain, Song Shihan.
The preliminaries employed a best of three elimination format, with only the top 5 teams getting a spot to qualify for the summer split.
If they wanted to qualify, they certainly couldn’t simply play and test the waters, unlike FG.
Therefore, pressure was on these two new teams.
No wonder Su Yueyao teased him last night. It was all about testing their strength.
Jiang Ming continued: “The pressure is on us now, so everyone should focus on training. Our goal has always been to win the championship.” His gaze fell on Song Shihan and Zuo Tao. “Our other lanes are okay. I’m most worried about the bottom lane.”
Zuo Tao blinked.
Song Shihan also raised his head, his face blank.
Jiang Ming was tired. He sighed, “When it comes to actually playing against professional teams, like FG, you can’t move separately like you always do. You need to cooperate.”
Jiang Ming wasn’t worried about their strength. There was no need to think about Song Shihan, and Zuo Tao hasn’t shown any major problems the past few days.
But aside from their solo play, their team game alone — he could grab a random pair from the youth training camp and they would have better coordination than these two.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they had zero sense of cooperation at all. Zuo Tao was still better off in that regard; he knew to take a step back and give Song Shihan as much resources as he could, but that was it. Song Shihan was even worse. He acted like he didn’t know he even had a support, even planting wards himself to get vision. At most, he’d allow Zuo Tao to get a few kills.
It didn’t seem like they were even developing on the same lane.
Jiang Ming sometimes couldn’t help but admire them. Even with such messy coordination, they could still manage to beat their opponents.
Jiang Ming continued, “Do you even know what the internet is saying about you? Everyone’s speculating that we don’t have good internal relations, especially you two on the botlane. Antis are already starting to make fun of us, waiting to see us make jokes of ourselves.”
Si Zheng laughed. “We’re not that bad. Isn’t it enough as long as we win?”
Wang Qiu: “Yeah, with captain and peach here, there’s nothing to be scared of. But we’d still need to be careful if we face FG. They’re not at the same level as GGF at all.”
Jiang Ming’s head hurt even worse. “We should still consider our team’s reputation, right? Management already said something about it, that our investors are dissatisfied. They even specified FIRE and PINK.”
Seeing that the soft approach didn’t really work, Jiang Ming decided to go on hard mode: “So, I’m requiring you both to interact more frequently on social media. Livestream your duo queue as much as possible and eliminate this weird opinion.”
Jiang Ming also took out a contract, handing it to Zuo Tao. “The team got you a contract with Little Bear TV. Although the pay isn’t that good, you don’t have any required streaming hours.”
Zuo Tao: …
He looked at Song Shihan. Although his eyebrows were furrowed, he didn’t object.
Ten minutes later.
Zuo Tao used the professional account from the team to bind to Little Bear TV’s streaming platform, clicking on the button to start streaming immediately. He logged into the game client as his broadcast remained deserted.
It was nothing unexpected. He was a newcomer, and what little fans he had came from the last training match; it was a pitifully small number.
On the contrary, Zuo Tao was relieved. He had never livestreamed before, and now he was being put on the spotlight. He didn’t quite know how to deal with it.
He glanced sideways and saw Song Shihan with his head bowed, doing something on his phone. Soon, his phone rang with the notification for a followed Weibo account.
The blogger you are following, Wildfire-FIRE, just posted on Weibo.
【Wildfire-FIRE: Duo queue on the botlane with @Wildfire-PINK, watch. Room link: www…】
Zuo Tao was startled. He looked up and watched as the number of viewers in his stream rose, the comments also coming in quickly.
【I’m here~~~】
【Xiao Fenmao is so handsome~ are you still playing Fairy Song today?】
【The hidden husband’s first live.】
【Haha, I heard ZZ learned Fairy Song from you?】
Faced with this sudden surge of viewers, Zuo Tao was filled with sock. “Um, hello everyone, I might not play Fairy Song today.” Feeling uncomfortable, he looked at Song Shihan, asking, “Captain, are you opening the room or should I…”
Song Shihan had also started a broadcast, so he appeared on the screen.
【Why did you call him captain? Why don’t you call him gege?】
With this comment, the barrage suddenly turned in a strange direction, and the screen was quickly filled with —
【Why did you call him captain? Why don’t you call him gege?】
【Why did you call him captain? Why don’t you call him gege?】
【Why did you call him captain? Why don’t you call him gege?】
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