After that review session, Jiang Shi worked hard to coordinate with other lanes, especially with Zhao Jiu, who also got up early and stayed up late. Often, when the others arrived at the training room, Jiang Shi and Zhao Jiu were already duo-queuing.
Jiang Shi, with a piece of bread in his mouth, mumbled, “Jiu-ge, I’ll try using a late-game AD this match. Can you pick a tanky side lane to protect me?”
Zhao Jiu replied, “OK.”
Xie Xu placed a cup of hot milk beside Jiang Shi.
Jiang Shi quickly took the bread out of his mouth and thanked him, “Thank you, Captain!”
Yuan Yang thought Jiang Shi’s weight was unhealthy and specifically instructed that every meal should include eggs and milk. When Yuan Yang wasn’t around, it was Xie Xu who made sure he followed this rule.
Xie Xu sat down next to him and asked, “Still duo-queuing with Zhao Jiu today?”
Jiang Shi took a sip of milk and nodded, “Yes, Jiu-ge wants to practice his tank heroes, and I want to try out late-game ADCs.”
Yuan Yang had not only pointed out Jiang Shi’s coordination issues with others but also mentioned his hero preferences. Jiang Shi couldn’t rely solely on assassin-type ADs – sometimes, depending on the enemy’s composition, a late-game ADC would be more suitable.
Jiang Shi continued, “Yu Hui and Jiang Lele are duo-queuing today, so I didn’t join them.”
Jiang Shi’s detailed explanation was clearly him reporting his training plans to Xie Xu, the team captain. However, the plan didn’t include Xie Xu at all.
Xie Xu watched as Jiang Shi turned to discuss tactics with Zhao Jiu, a glint in his eyes.
Was Jiang Shi taking Yuan Yang’s words too seriously?
When Yuan Yang entered the training room for his routine inspection, he was surprised to see Xie Xu casually playing with the support champion The Cat. “Xu, what rank are you now?”
“Master,” Xie Xu replied nonchalantly while jumping off his teammate to shield them. “Why?”
Yuan Yang was puzzled, “Weren’t you a Grandmaster just a few days ago?”
As he spoke, Xie Xu’s The Cat died. Xie Xu rubbed his wrist and explained, “I’ve been using different champions lately. Some of them I haven’t played in a long time, so I’m a bit rusty.”
Yuan Yang was shocked, “So you’ve been losing games? And you dropped an entire tier?”
Not only was Yuan Yang surprised, but even Jiang Shi, who was duo-queuing with Zhao Jiu, couldn’t help but glance at Xie Xu.
He had watched Xie Xu climb to Grandmaster when they duo-queued together not long ago.
Seeing their expressions, Xie Xu raised an eyebrow, “Can’t I lose?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Yuan Yang reconsidered, “It’s the end of the season, the competition environment does get more challenging.”
Moreover, it’s harder to rank up as a support in solo queue since not all teammates listen to you or cooperate.
“If you have nothing else to do, you can live stream and chat with the fans.”
Yuan Yang then glared at Xie Xu, “Last time you let Jiang Lele stream for you, many fans complained on TLG’s official Weibo, saying they waited forever and didn’t see you.”
Since Jiang Shi had entered the training room, Jiang Lele had paused the live stream, and later, Xie Xu had just turned it off entirely.
Under Yuan Yang’s nagging, Xie Xu reluctantly started his live stream.
#Just Chatting#
Jiang Lele was also streaming and immediately noticed viewers leaving his stream. He shook Yu Hui’s arm vigorously, “Did the fans hear you complain about my Flash hitting the wall last game?”
Yu Hui, dizzy from the shaking, replied, “No, it’s because the captain started his stream. Can you stop accusing me randomly?”
Jiang Lele immediately looked over to Xie Xu, “Captain, are you streaming! Want to join us for a sweet trio-queue?”
Xie Xu responded, “No, I’m practicing heroes. Don’t want to drag you guys down.”
Jiang Shi moved his cursor away from the ‘cancel match’ button.
He continued playing a few more matches with Zhao Jiu, winning all of them, while Xie Xu seemed to win only one.
Despite losing games, Xie Xu didn’t seem unhappy, occasionally chatting with his fans.
“Why don’t you use the webcam?” Xie Xu said, “It’s troublesome.”
“Who’s that unfamiliar voice next to me?” Xie Xu glanced at Jiang Shi and replied normally, “Probably Lele? He’s been talking a lot.”
“Yeah, his voice got distorted a bit during livestream.”
Jiang Shi breathed a sigh of relief.
On the other side, Zhao Jiu asked, “Xiao Shi, you don’t want to play anymore?”
Jiang Shi looked at his friend list, seeing that Xie Xu’s match had been going on for 18 minutes. He shook his head and whispered, “No, Jiu-ge, I’m going to practice last hitting.”
Xie Xu’s match ended, and he lost again. The chat was full of sympathy.
[Xu lost again? What’s with these idiotic teammates? They either AFK or feeding. Xu gets MVP as support every game, it’s unbelievable.]
[Watching this makes me feel so bad.]
[It’s the end of the season, all the weird players come out. Xu’s really unlucky, not a single decent ADC in sight.]
“It’s not my teammates’ fault,” Xie Xu said, “I haven’t been playing well myself, kind of a letdown.”
“I’m going to get some hot water, be back in a bit.”
After he left, Jiang Shi’s hand finally relaxed, revealing he was watching Xie Xu’s stream on his phone using an alternate account.
Besides the usual comments, there were also many harsh ones flashing by.
[Without teammates, his true skills show, huh? The so-called best support in esports, what a joke.]
[TLG is really declining, right? Now they have their star player playing The Cat to entertain female fans. Might as well just become a casual streamer.]
[Freeloader player, go retire early!]
Jiang Shi wasn’t one to tolerate such trolls and immediately retaliated using his alternate account.
[Typing a few words makes you feel important, huh? Xu is the best, deal with it.]
[I’m a guy and I love watching Xu play The Cat. If you’re so good at “constructive criticism”, why not get a job at a construction site?]
[To the one calling for retirement, don’t worry. When you’re six feet under, I’ll plaster a photo of Xu’s ten championship wins on your gravestone.]
While practicing last-hitting, Jiang Shi kept his head down, his right hand flying across his phone screen as he fiercely responded to all the trolls in Xu’s stream.
Jiang Shi’s swift and sharp responses did not go unnoticed by Xu’s fans.
[Wow, there’s a fan who’s amazing. I saw him replying to every hate comment.]
[He’s typing so fast, my eyes can’t keep up.]
[If you can curse, do it more, I love to hear it.]
A sound of the door opening came from behind, and a cup of warm water was placed on Jiang Shi’s desk.
Jiang Shi quickly turned off his phone screen and whispered, “Thank you.”
[Where did that person go?]
[Probably scared off all the trolls, so he rested now?]
These comments quickly got buried as Xie Xu returned to his seat, took a sip of water, and said, “I’m back, let’s continue.”
[Husband!]
[Xu, why don’t you ask your teammate to help you? It’s easier to rank up at the end of the season with a duo.]
[I saw Back and Lele duo-queuing. Nine is in-game too. Hopefully, they won’t bring back the former AD…]
[Speaking of ADs, TLG wouldn’t really use that AD from the second team, right? Not to be rude, but at least An can play late game. This marksman can’t hold his own in any situation.]
[Please, match Xu with a decent AD in the next game! (I’m not even asking for a great one)]
“My teammates are busy. As for a good AD—” Xie Xu said, “Any recommendations?”
The chat was instantly filled with names, with some even suggesting players from Time.
But none were faster than Jiang Shi.
Jiang Shi directly messaged Xie Xu.
[Don’t Look For Abuse]: Can I recommend myself?
[Don’t Look For Abuse]: I’m very free.
Accompanying the message was Jiang Shi’s game invite—
[Don’t Look For Abuse invites you to join his team, do you accept?]
Xie Xu looked down at the invitation, silently smiled, and clicked accept.
The skilled AD had arrived.
