Since Jiang Shi had teamed up with Xie Xu all day yesterday, Yuan Yang had him pair up with Jiang Lele and Yu Hui today, with Jiang Lele streaming.
Following Yuan Yang’s suggestion, Jiang Shi also changed his secondary account ID to TLG-Time.
“You two should put on a good show today. The audience should enjoy it. I’ll make an official announcement in a few days and arrange a stream for Xiao Shi,” Yuan Yang said with a smile as he watched Jiang Shi prepare to put on his headset. “How’s the team uniform?”
He had initially worried that the black-and-red uniform might clash with Jiang Shi’s hair color, but it turned out that when someone looks good, they look good in anything.
This uniform gave Jiang Shi a more intimidating presence, with the dark colors suppressing any hint of cuteness, making him look quite imposing.
Yuan Yang, who had previously worried that Jiang Shi might be perceived as an easy target to bully on the field, now saw that as long as Jiang Shi kept a straight face and didn’t speak, no one would dare mess with him.
“It looks great,” Jiang Shi replied obediently, looking up to thank Yuan Yang. “Thank you, Yang-ge.”
Yuan Yang was overjoyed. “No problem, no problem. Are you two hungry? I’ll buy afternoon tea today.”
Jiang Lele rolled his eyes. “Yang-ge, you’re really wrapped around Little White Hair’s finger.”
Ever since Jiang Shi revealed that his ID was Time, Jiang Lele was convinced of his true identity.
The same playstyle, the same admiration for Xie Xu, the same coaxing and roasting style.
It was just that, at the base, Jiang Shi’s sharp tongue wasn’t as obvious, and only Jiang Lele had noticed.
Jiang Lele was about to work hard to expose Jiang Shi’s disguise when Yuan Yang smacked him on the head. “You think you’re so smart, huh? Behave during the stream today, and don’t talk nonsense.”
Jiang Lele pouted and rubbed his head, only to turn around and see Jiang Shi’s gloating expression.
Jiang Lele’s eyes widened. “You’re definitely Time!”
He said it with absolute conviction.
Jiang Shi: “…”
Sometimes, intuitive people are really annoying. Jiang Shi hated this kind of people.
Luckily, the others didn’t pick up on the meaning behind “Time” and thought Jiang Lele was referring to the new ID.
Seeing that no one believed him, Jiang Lele leaned closer to Jiang Shi and huffed, “Just you wait. This Uncle definitely expose your secret identity!”
“I swear on my level 35 fan badge in your stream!”
Jiang Shi: “…”
He felt a mix of exasperation and a growing sense of danger.
If Jiang Lele kept hounding him, it might deepen his teammates’ suspicions, especially with Xie Xu already uncertain.
Jiang Shi glanced at Jiang Lele, who was setting up the streaming equipment, and suddenly flashed a gentle smile. “Lele, let’s play mid-bot linkage today instead of duoing with Back.”
Yuan Yang entered the training room with the recently arrived afternoon tea, muttering to himself, “I hope Lele and Xiao Shi don’t start arguing during the stream.”
He’d been so busy lately that he could only drop by occasionally to check on the team’s status. But when he opened the door and saw what was happening, his eyes widened in shock.
“Dang, Little White Hair! You’re actually giving me blue buff?” Jiang Lele was so excited he almost jumped out of his chair. “And you even let me have the kill!”
“I declare, you’re now the second person who’s treated me this well after Back!”
Jiang Lele rubbed his hands together in delight. “Can you take me to get red buff too? I want double buffs!”
Jiang Shi, who was on his way to the enemy’s red zone, stopped and headed to the mid-lane to meet up with Jiang Lele. “As long as it makes you happy.”
If one ignored the sound of Jiang Shi’s mouse tragically creaking under the pressure, the scene was actually quite heartwarming.
Yuan Yang placed the afternoon tea on a nearby table. “Make sure to take a break and have something to eat after this game.”
Jiang Lele, usually the most enthusiastic about sweets and milk tea, didn’t even turn his head. “I’ll take Little White Hair to eat after this match!”
Hearing Jiang Lele call him “Little White Hair” countless times, Jiang Shi’s temple twitched, but he held back and simply responded with a “sure.”
“Little White Hair, help! They’re ganging up on me!”
Without hesitation, Jiang Shi Flashed in to block the damage for him. “Go.”
“Can I farm your minion wave alone?”
Jiang Shi, already on his way, forcibly stopped and tried not to let the sound of him gritting his teeth be too obvious. “Sure.”
“Little White Hair, come support me — I can’t win this fight!”
So, after clearing the wave, Jiang Shi rushed to mid-lane, roaming more actively than the support.
This scene not only puzzled Yuan Yang but also left the stream’s viewers in disbelief.
[Wait, when did these two get so close? The ADC is even giving up red buff!]
[Remember last time when Jiang Lele took a few minions from the ADC, and then the ADC hogged the mid-lane farm for the entire game?]
[They must be good friends. Last time, when someone made an inappropriate joke about Jiang Lele, the ADC was the one who stepped in to defend him.]
[That’s just being friendly. This is on a whole other level.]
[When Xu and the ADC played ranked, I never saw the ADC give up red buff!]
Jiang Lele was practically beaming and couldn’t help but brag to Xie Xu, “Captain, Little White Hair gave me red buff! No one’s ever given it to you, right?”
His tone was smug and boastful.
Jiang Shi: “…”
Xie Xu glanced at the two of them but didn’t comment.
Jiang Lele, however, remained excited, dragging Jiang Shi around the map while happily calling him “Little White Hair” over and over again.
The fans were just as entertained, but some couldn’t help speculating about their relationship.
[Could they be deliberately selling rot1basically queerbaiting. Rot here came from the “fu” in fujoshi/fudanshi/fujin. It means rotten, but as in “fermented” rotten.? ‘Little White Hair’ seems like a term of endearment between them.]
Jiang Lele burst out laughing when he saw this comment, “Haha, why would I sell rot with Little White Hair? You guys are being ridiculous.”
At most, Little White Hair was just his younger brother.
Jiang Shi hadn’t expected the chat to take such a turn. “We are not selling rot. We’re just normal teammates.”
His voice was slightly tense, clearly displeased with this kind of speculation.
If he were to flirt with anyone, it would be Xu, not this Little Winter Melon.
Plus, he wasn’t sure if Xie Xu cared about the red buff incident.
[Wow, the ADC sounds upset. His voice sounds so cute.]
[Can we stop calling him ‘the ADC’ or ‘that ADC’? He has an ID—call him Time.]
[Yeah, from now on, he should be called Time Baby2宝贝; the same as the previous AD Baby. If it’s just 宝, I’ll tl’d it as “Bao” to differentiate it!]
[Time Baby, talk to us more!]
Jiang Shi’s recent streams with Xie Xu had attracted a lot of new fans. Now, whenever any TLG player streamed, these fans would flock to watch, boosting even Jiang Lele’s stream numbers significantly.
[But why is he called Time? Isn’t there already a streamer with that name?]
[Finally, someone mentioned it. I’ve been holding it in all day. Didn’t TLG research the name before picking it?]
[Time has been streaming on Little Bear TV for years, even if he’s not that famous. I doubt TLG didn’t know.]
[Maybe the new ADC picked the name just to annoy the other Time after people compared their playstyles.]
[Can you stop with the conspiracy theories? People are free to pick whatever name they want. There are plenty of people with the same real name!]
[What, did your family register a copyright for the “Time” name or something? My baby can’t use it?”]
[Exactly, my baby can name himself whatever he wants. Some of these fans just want attention.]
Jiang Shi hadn’t anticipated the argument that broke out over this issue.
Although Time didn’t have many fans, the ones he did have were fierce, capable of taking on ten people at once. Soon, the two sides were at each other’s throats.
Even Jiang Lele was dumbfounded. “Guys, stop fighting!”
There had been some overlap between Jiang Shi’s and Time’s fans, but after Jiang Shi changed his ID, those fans switched sides and now staunchly defended Time.
Jiang Lele quickly messaged the moderators to ban those stirring up trouble, but the mods said none of the comments broke the rules. The argument seemed to have come out of nowhere, and they couldn’t identify who started it.
All Jiang Lele could do was watch as the chat devolved into a battlefield between Jiang Shi’s fans and Time’s fans.
However, it was now time for afternoon tea, so the group decided to pause the game. Jiang Lele, munching on a small cake, leaned in close to Jiang Shi and whispered excitedly, “My stream just gained a few thousand new followers!”
His tone was full of joy.
Jiang Shi took a sip of his milk tea, his voice cool, “And you’re just going to sit back and watch?”
Only he knew how it felt to see his fans fighting with each other. He couldn’t say anything, because any comment from him would just escalate the situation.
The worst part was that Time’s fans were so sharp-tongued, they silenced his new followers with ease.
[Can that small streamer stop trying to leech off TLG? I heard that streamer has a bad reputation—first leeching off Xu, and now trying to leech off TLG?]
[TLG? Just because you change your ID and slap on a TLG tag doesn’t make you part of TLG! They haven’t even made an official announcement yet!]
[Maybe TLG should consider recruiting Time instead. He’s got a sharp tongue and skills to match, way better than this bootlicker who gave up red buff to mid-lane.]
Jiang Shi felt a pang in his chest when he saw those comments.
Jiang Lele spoke up to defend him, “Little White Hair isn’t a bootlicker!”
“At most, he’s just my little brother.”
That last sentence felt like a dagger to Jiang Shi’s heart.
He chewed on his boba pearls a little too aggressively but still maintained a gentle demeanor as he looked at Jiang Lele. “I noticed some fans were asking if I’m the same person as Time.”
Jiang Lele, having just snatched a strawberry from Back’s cake, mumbled through a full mouth, “Of course not!”
“You’re my little brother, and Time is my precious son. They’re completely different.”
After being fed lies by Jiang Shi all afternoon, Jiang Lele was thoroughly convinced that Jiang Shi and Time were not the same person.
He even clinked his milk tea against Jiang Shi’s, declaring, “Little White Hair, I’ll protect you in the base from now on.”
Jiang Shi was so well-behaved that if Back hadn’t taken the strawberry cake, Jiang Lele would have given his favorite dessert to Jiang Shi.
Jiang Shi finally heard what he wanted to hear and couldn’t hold back any longer. “Since when did Time become your precious son?”
Jiang Lele was only a Level 35 no-name uncle!
No one in his stream was at Level 100, which would earn them the title of “Dad”!
Suspicious, Jiang Lele looked at him. “Are you sticking up for Time?”
With both fanbases fighting so fiercely, why was Jiang Shi still taking the other side?
Jiang Shi inwardly cursed.
He had spent the entire afternoon trying to win Jiang Lele over and didn’t want to ruin everything over a small slip-up.
As Jiang Shi debated whether to play a few more games to further confuse Jiang Lele, his mouse hovered over the matchmaking button, but then his chair was suddenly pulled to the side.
Xie Xu dragged Jiang Shi closer to himself.
“Lele, Yuan Yang said you shouldn’t queue with Time later. Either solo queue or play with Back.”
Jiang Shi found himself seated closer to Xie Xu, pulled away from Jiang Lele, who he had been sitting close to for the camera. Yuan Yang had suggested he occasionally appear on camera to help fans get more familiar with him.
Jiang Lele was unhappy when he heard of this. “But Captain, I want to keep playing with Jiang Shi…”
Having someone feed him in-game felt too good.
Xie Xu shot him a glance. “If you can stop the fans from fighting, then you can continue.”
That remark deflated Jiang Lele.
He had no control over these two fanbases that behaved like wild horses.
Jiang Shi pursed his lips, staying silent. He had secretly been using an alt account in Jiang Lele’s stream to explain things, but no one was listening.
Zhao Jiu hesitantly suggested, “Should Jiang Shi queue with me then? I remember Yang-ge saying Jiang Shi should stream all day to maintain his popularity. My fanbase is small, so they shouldn’t cause much trouble.”
“No, Jiu-ge,” Jiang Shi replied, pressing his lips together. “I’ll queue by myself.”
No matter which stream he appeared in, a fight would break out, so it was better to just stay solo and avoid dragging others into the mess.
It suddenly made sense why Xie Xu had pulled him away from Jiang Lele—he was trying to protect Jiang Lele from getting caught up in the drama.
Even though Jiang Shi understood the reasoning, he couldn’t help but feel a bit down about being treated like this.
He reassured himself that it was fine and exited the team-up screen with Jiang Lele, preparing to solo queue. But just as he was about to start, his chair was pulled to the side again.
His elbow brushed lightly against Xie Xu’s, and the distance between them was now even closer than it had been with Jiang Lele.
Before he could react, a party invitation popped up on his screen—
[TLG-Xu has invited you to join their team. Do you accept?]
Xie Xu turned to him, his tone calm, “Queue with me.”
