At the end, Yuan Yang kept Jiang Shi behind to review on his own, while the others went back to continue their training.
This scrimmage marked the end of the off-season, and everyone had to prepare earnestly for the Spring Split a little over a month away.
Yuan Yang scolded Jiang Shi until it was dark outside.
Jiang Shi not only tended to get carried away, but his coordination with other lanes was also terrible. The timing of his control chain and damage chain were often out of sync, and sometimes when his teammates initiated a fight, Jiang Shi would hesitate for a moment.
In ranked games, such hesitation might not be noticeable, but in professional matches, it was a fatal error.
Ultimately, it boiled down to Jiang Shi not having enough practice with his teammates and lacking trust.
However, this didn’t apply to Xie Xu.
Sometimes, when Xie Xu made a fake move to bait the enemy’s abilities, even before the enemy could react, Jiang Shi would charge in without hesitation, starkly contrasting with his previous cautiousness.
Yuan Yang looked at the deflated Jiang Shi in front of him, took a sip of water, and continued, “Starting tomorrow, you need to practice coordinating with other lanes properly. Otherwise, I’ll consider letting the ADC from the second team play in the regular season.”
Jiang Shi raised his head, “The second team?”
Yuan Yang nodded.
He liked Jiang Shi, but he didn’t need an ADC who focused solely on the support, ignoring the rest of his teammates.
Jiang Shi realized Yuan Yang wasn’t joking.
In the end, Yuan Yang told Jiang Shi to stay in the meeting room to watch the replays and reflect before going back to the training room.
After closing the meeting room door, he walked a few steps and turned to see Xie Xu leaning against the wall in the break room, drinking coffee.
Yuan Yang wondered, “Why aren’t you live streaming? Why are you here?”
Today’s attitude from the MR team made Yuan Yang realize that TLG’s reputation had fallen to a frightening level.
The fastest way to regain confidence was to have their star player, Xu, appear.
A single live stream answering fans’ questions would significantly increase TLG’s visibility, and with the Spring Split around the corner, all rumors would be dispelled. It was more effective and cheaper than hiring marketing accounts.
So, after the review, he had told Xie Xu to live stream more often recently, even if it was just chatting with fans.
But he didn’t expect Xie Xu, who should have been in the training room streaming, to be leisurely drinking coffee in the break room.
“I haven’t forgotten to stream,” Xie Xu said, putting down his coffee. “Lele is chatting with the fans.”
Yuan Yang looked exasperated, “You really know how to slack off.”
Xie Xu didn’t like streaming and would rarely do it unless necessary. However, he often appeared in his teammates’ streams or played duo queue with them during his streams, sharing his traffic with them.
As a result, the other members of TLG gained many fans and saw their signing fees and revenue shares from streaming platforms increase.
Xie Xu remained silent, his gaze passing Yuan Yang to the training room door behind him, “It’s been a while, and you still haven’t let him out?”
“Already worried?” Yuan Yang laughed, “Looks like Jiang Shi didn’t waste his adoration on you.”
Xie Xu took a sip of coffee and spoke calmly, “His problems are obvious but not difficult to correct. As for watching my screen, it might just be a fan’s habit.”
When they duo-queued, Jiang Shi would occasionally sneak a glance at him.
Yuan Yang raised an eyebrow, “Are you saying I’m exaggerating the problem?”
“You didn’t reject my suggestion before the scrimmage, did you?”
Before the match, Yuan Yang knew Jiang Shi lacked coordination with other lanes, but MR wasn’t a strong team. If Jiang Shi played too smoothly, it would be hard to expose his issues.
So, he suggested Xie Xu play a roaming support, letting Jiang Shi fend for himself.
After all, with Xie Xu protecting him, even if three people ganked Jiang Shi, they might not kill him.
However, Yuan Yang hadn’t expected Jiang Shi to be so straightforwardly baited by the enemy, almost getting taught a lesson.
Xie Xu said nothing.
That was why he was here waiting.
Yuan Yang pondered for a moment, feeling doubtful, “Do you think I went too far?”
He initially thought Jiang Shi was a resilient player who accepted his criticism and earnestly promised to improve. But when he showed the personal perspective clip during the review, Jiang Shi’s ears turned crimson.
After all, Jiang Shi was just a 19-year-old boy. Pushing too hard could backfire.
Xie Xu didn’t provide an answer, “You go ahead. I’ll stay here.”
Yuan Yang thought about the pile of tasks he had and agreed, “Alright, he should be out soon.”
Compared to himself, Xie Xu’s words would definitely be more effective.
“Oh, by the way, An is leaving TLG tomorrow. I heard he’s packed his things. Are you going to see him off in the morning?”
Since being rejected by Xie Xu regarding the endorsement deal, An hadn’t come to the main building, and no one had seen him since.
Xie Xu lowered his eyes, looking at the coffee in his hand, his tone neutral, “Everyone will be practicing late tonight, so we won’t be able to get up in the morning.”
Yuan Yang paused, wanting to say something but held back. “Suit yourselves.”
Not being able to get up was just an excuse.
The night before Jiang Shi joined TLG, Jiang Lele practiced crazily until 5 AM, dragging his teammates into all-night ranked games.
But no matter how late it was, everyone was downstairs, fighting off sleep, to welcome Jiang Shi the next morning.
Despite his outwardly warm demeanor, Xie Xu’s heart was harder than anyone’s.
Less than three minutes after Yuan Yang left, Jiang Shi emerged from the meeting room with his head down, and even his usually rebellious hair seemed deflated.
He rubbed his face, trying to perk himself up, and just as he lowered his hands, a voice came from the break room next door, “Want some coffee?”
Jiang Shi turned quickly, “Captain!”
Xie Xu couldn’t help but smile at his reaction, “Yes, it’s me.”
Jiang Shi looked around; there was no one else. So, Xie Xu was either here waiting for him or to scold him…
Thinking of the latter, Jiang Shi’s brief excitement quickly vanished.
“Captain, I’m sorry.” Jiang Shi lowered his voice, “I know my playstyle has a lot of issues, and I’ll work hard to improve.”
He used to watch replays but focused more on his own mechanics and positioning, not on coordination with teammates. Today’s review made him realize that playing well and winning in professional matches were two entirely different things.
Jiang Shi stood up straight in front of Xie Xu, like an elementary school student being scolded, and when he lowered his head, his smooth hair crown was exposed.
Xie Xu’s hand twitched, and he raised it, intending to pat Jiang Shi’s head to comfort him, but Jiang Shi quietly added, “Does this mean I can’t screen-swap to watch you when I play?”
Today, Yuan Yang had publicly reprimanded him. While he didn’t care much about the others’ attitudes, it was Xie Xu’s opinion that mattered.
Xie Xu’s raised hand froze in mid-air. After a moment, he lowered it, looking at Jiang Shi with amusement, “So, you’re upset because of this?”
“Yes!” Jiang Shi’s eyes showed clear confusion, “What else?”
Xie Xu realized he and Yuan Yang had completely misunderstood. Jiang Shi’s psychological resilience was truly strong.
“Screen-switching is a personal habit. As long as it doesn’t affect your gameplay, it’s fine.”
Jiang Shi’s eyes lit up, “It doesn’t affect me! So, I can still watch you, right?”
For a moment, Xie Xu wasn’t sure if Jiang Shi was referring to his in-game character or himself. After a pause, he nodded.
Relieved, Jiang Shi remembered the initial offer, “Captain, did you mention coffee earlier?”
Ten minutes later, Jiang Shi walked out of the break room holding a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
After all, Obedient Jiangjiang should drink juice!
Meanwhile, in the training room, Jiang Lele was ready with a bunch of comforting words for Jiang Shi.
Despite Yuan Yang’s usually kind demeanor, he was always blunt and ruthless when addressing personal issues.
If there were problems that went uncorrected, then unfortunately, one might end up just watching the water cooler.
This was a crucial reason why TLG remained so strong.
‘Little White Hair won’t cry because he got scolded, right?’
Jiang Lele was watching the comments in Xie Xu’s live stream but was actually listening intently for any sounds behind the door.
“Where did Xu go?” Jiang Lele read aloud a comment. He then replied, “The captain went to make coffee, he’ll be back soon,”
Just then, the door opened, and Jiang Lele immediately turned around, only to see a cheerful Jiang Shi, as if he was injected with chicken blood.
Jiang Lele: “?”
Why was it completely different from what he expected?
Jiang Shi noticed Jiang Lele sitting in Xie Xu’s seat and was about to speak when he suddenly caught sight of the live streaming interface on the screen.
The first thing Jiang Shi did was take a step back to the left.
Just now during the review, Yuan Yang had emphasized not exposing his presence at TLG. That pink tie guy situation would be handled by Yuan Yang.
Jiang Lele, noticing Jiang Shi’s retreat, realized something and quickly paused the live stream.
“The captain is back, I’ll let him take his seat.”
Xie Xu’s seat was very close to Jiang Shi’s, and there was a chance he might appear on camera when sitting down. Besides, Jiang Lele was very curious how Jiang Shi could come out looking so refreshed after facing Yuan Yang.
Once the live stream was confirmed to be off, Jiang Lele couldn’t help but ask, “Why aren’t you crying?”
Jiang Shi, holding his cup, replied, “Did you cry before?”
Jiang Lele: “…”
Zhao Jiu burst out laughing. “Xiao Shi, your guess is spot on.”
When Jiang Lele first joined TLG, he had a lot of issues. After being reprimanded by Yuan Yang, he walked out of the training room and burst into tears.
Yu Hui added, “At that time, Jiu-ge was live streaming, and many fans heard his crying. Because of that, there were long-standing rumors outside that TLG bullied their new players.”
Zhao Jiu nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, the number of TLG trainees that year was the lowest in five years.”
Jiang Lele’s face turned red, “Why are you bringing up old stories!”
He didn’t want to use his scars to comfort this Little White Hair!
But Jiang Shi seemed to understand what he was thinking. “Thanks, I feel a lot better.”
Jiang Lele still couldn’t understand why Jiang Shi could be so calm after being scolded until he noticed Xie Xu behind Jiang Shi.
“Captain, did you go to comfort him?”
Jiang Lele’s loud voice drew everyone’s attention, including Jiang Shi, who looked at Xie Xu.
What? Did Xie Xu comfort him just now?
Seeing Jiang Shi holding a glass of juice, Jiang Lele concluded, “Captain, you even used that juicer for him!”
This juicer was something Yuan Yang had specially added, saying everyone should drink more natural juice instead of coffee and soda for their health.
However, no one showed much interest, especially since the high-end juicer was imported with all the buttons in English, making it even less popular.
Xie Xu was the only one in the main building who knew how to use it.
With a sour tone, Jiang Lele asked, “Captain, why haven’t you made juice for me?”
Xie Xu glanced at him, “Want some?”
Jiang Lele nodded like a chicken pecking rice.
“Do it yourself,” Xie Xu said, pulling out his chair and sitting down. “If you don’t know how, the manual is right next to it.”
Jiang Lele cried out dramatically, “Captain, you’re biased!”
When he had cried buckets, Xie Xu didn’t even pour him a glass of water!
Yu Hui, irritated by the noise, interjected, “The day you cried, didn’t the captain order you a family bucket from KFC behind Yang-ge’s back?”
“Who was it that kept wiping his nose while eating chicken wings, saying the captain was the best person in the world?”
Jiang Lele reluctantly admitted. “Oh right.”
However, he still felt these situations were different.
Jiang Lele looked at the orange juice in Jiang Shi’s cup enviously and whispered, “It must be sour.”
As soon as he said that, Jiang Shi took a big sip in front of him and frowned.
Jiang Lele’s eyes widened, “Is it really sour?”
“Of course not.” Successfully fooling Jiang Lele, Jiang Shi smacked his lips and said slowly, “It’s incredibly sweet.”
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Jiang Shi: Little Winter Melon is just jealous!
