Chapter 15 – “I always keep my word.”
Faith Esports Club Base · Cafeteria
Jiang Jiang sat beside Pei Ming, glaring at him with puffed-up cheeks.
Before this, he had begged Pei Ming countless times to drop by his livestream whenever he was broadcasting. He didn’t even care if Pei Ming sent gifts — just having him stay in the stream without doing anything would’ve been enough.
But after pleading to the heavens and practically worshipping their ancestors, he still hadn’t succeeded once in the five years they’d been teammates.
In the past, Jiang Jiang could at least comfort himself by saying that their captain had never visited any other streamer’s broadcast either. Fair and impartial.
But today…
“I mean seriously, Captain, why are you letting that little green-haired Ghost ride your popularity instead of letting me do it?” Jiang Jiang finally lost it, his face crumpling in frustration.
Pei Ming drank his soup while scrolling through his phone. “Eat.”
“Waaah, Captain, you don’t even want to listen to me anymore today!” Jiang Jiang wailed dramatically. “What’s so great about that little green-haired guy anyway? The way he talks is awful, he’s one of your haters, and you even sent him Shining Galaxy gifts. That was fifty-eight thousand!”
Ink had just come back from the drink station with a beverage in hand. As he passed by the table, he corrected him.
“Fifty-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-eight.”
Jiang Jiang started counting on his fingers.
“One is 29,999, so two would be…”
Ink smirked. “You couldn’t calculate circle equations back then. Don’t tell me you still can’t do this much now?”
Jiang Jiang choked on his words and shot Ink a vicious glare.
“Oh, screw you. Funny coming from the guy who couldn’t even memorize Epang Palace Fu back then.”
Pei Ming laughed at the exchange.
“How about you two settle it with a solo match?”
Holding his drink, Ink chuckled and sat down.
Ignoring him, Jiang Jiang continued complaining.
“Come on, brother, and that little green-haired guy is way too scheming! You went to ask him to queue with you, and he told you he wasn’t interested. But what happened after that? He immediately switched to an alt account and entered the draw for your friend slot!”
“You agree, right, Captain? He definitely has some kind of ulterior motive. You can’t let him use you like that!”
Pei Ming finished the last spoonful of soup and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
“Mhm.”
“You’re brushing me off!” Jiang Jiang clutched his chest dramatically. “Brother… you’ve really broken my heart!”
Ink took a sip of his drink.
“I wouldn’t say Ghost is riding the hype. He won that friend slot fair and square through luck.”
Jiang Jiang immediately protested.
“I don’t care. Ghost is riding the hype. Captain, tell him I’m right.”
As he spoke, Jiang Jiang leaned closer toward Pei Ming, only to realize Pei Ming wasn’t paying attention to him at all. Instead, he was busy typing something on his phone.
Jiang Jiang’s irritation instantly flared up, but the moment he saw the message content, he felt like he was about to have a heart attack on the spot.
“!”
“Brother, y-you-you-you—!”
Pei Ming had just sent out both the message and a file. Hearing that, he finally looked up.
“What about me?”
Jiang Jiang looked utterly devastated.
“You actually already submitted Ghost’s data to management! And you even asked Brother Bang to check whether Ghost’s willing or not?!”
Hearing that, Ink raised an eyebrow.
Pei Ming merely responded with a simple, “Mm.”
Then he put away his phone and leaned back lazily, saying nothing more.
Jiang Jiang huffed.
“Ink, look at Captain. If he really brings that little green-haired guy onto the team, won’t that put us in an insanely awkward position?”
Ink clicked his tongue.
“You’re such a fence-sitter. You switch sides whichever way the wind blows.”
“How am I a fence-sitter? I’m stating facts, okay?” Jiang Jiang slammed the table angrily. “Think about it — when has Captain ever cared this much about making something happen? And do you even know what I overheard in the restroom yesterday? Captain called Ghost little friend — little friend!!!”
Ink had been letting Jiang Jiang rant without paying much attention, but the moment he heard the words little friend, he raised an eyebrow.
“Little friend?” Ink asked, puzzled.
“Yeah. Little. Friend.”
Pei Ming calmly continued typing on his phone, making no attempt to deny it.
Ink said, “Well, if he’s a little friend, then paying extra attention makes sense.”
After saying that, he glanced at Pei Ming thoughtfully.
…
The following afternoon.
Qi Qiao last-hit the final minion and wrapped up that afternoon’s training session.
Wink Gaming had invited him out for hotpot at a restaurant nearby that evening. Since it was still early, he had planned to practice a little longer.
But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Bang standing outside the door, staring at his phone.
He was the only one in the training room right now. If Bang was standing there, it definitely meant he had something to say to him.
And most likely, it had something to do with what happened yesterday.
Qi Qiao ran through every possibility in his mind and decided that the worst-case scenario was probably Monster kicking him out of the youth training camp and leaving him to fend for himself.
He had already prepared what he was going to say.
Something along the lines of:
“I’m sorry for bringing negative attention to Monster. I’ll apologize publicly on my main account.”
Anyway, after embarrassing himself so thoroughly on stream last night, losing a little more face didn’t really matter anymore.
Thinking that, Qi Qiao walked over to the doorway.
The moment Bang saw him, his lips twitched and his gaze shifted nervously.
“I’m sorry for bringing negative attention to Mon—”
“Faith invited you to join their main ros—”
Both of them spoke at the same time, then instantly fell silent in mutual understanding.
Qi Qiao stared at him blankly.
“Uh… you go first?”
Bang immediately waved his hands.
“No, no, no… uh… maybe you should go first.”
Neither of them said anything.
An almost solid layer of awkwardness filled the air.
Unable to take it anymore, Qi Qiao finally spoke first.
“I’m sorry about last night. I brought negative attention to Monster.”
Bang looked as if he’d been granted amnesty and immediately blurted out:
“Faith invited you to join their starting team.”
A perfect example of completely reading the message and replying with something entirely unrelated.
After speaking, both of them fell silent again.
Being older, Bang recovered first and improvised on the spot.
“About what happened last night… it’s really not a big deal, so don’t take it to heart.”
Meanwhile, Qi Qiao’s mind was completely occupied by just two words:
Faith.
Starting team.
Everything Bang said after that sounded distant and muddled to him.
Bang continued, “Compared to everything else, what’s more important right now is Faith inviting you to join their starting roster.”
Qi Qiao let out a breath, forcing himself to calm down.
“Does this have something to do with that youth trainee exchange agreement people were talking about before?”
Bang gave a helpless smile.
“It wasn’t just a rumor. Our two clubs really did sign that agreement. It’s basically a mutually beneficial arrangement, and honestly a fairly player-friendly policy for all the youth trainees involved.”
Qi Qiao nodded, but remained silent.
Bang rubbed his hands together.
“Ghost, you’re talented — a rare mid-lane prospect. But the problem right now is that Monster doesn’t need another mid laner. With talent like yours, once the youth training camp ends, the club would definitely keep you around…”
“…but only as a substitute.”
“It’s the same situation over at Faith. They don’t need another ADC, so if Wink stays there, he’d end up in exactly the same situation as you.”
“To put it simply… the two of you picked the wrong youth training camps from the very beginning.”
By the time Bang had said this much, Qi Qiao already understood what he meant.
What both Monster Esports Club and Faith Esports Club wanted now was for him and Wink to switch teams.
As the two biggest teams in ACR’s Chinese division, neither Faith nor Monster had ever recruited foreign imports before.
But during the transfer window before the new season, both teams had lost their ADCs and mid laners to the European division.
At that point, if they didn’t want to recruit from other clubs and also didn’t want to bring in foreign players, their only option was to start cultivating talent directly from their youth academy teams.
And among this year’s trainees, his mid-lane skills and Wink’s ADC abilities just happened to be considered the strongest.
Now, with this trainee exchange agreement in place, it was practically an arrangement with benefits all around and almost no drawbacks.
Except…
Seeing Qi Qiao stay silent, Bang pulled out his phone and forwarded him a file.
“How about this — take your time and think it over. I’ve sent you the details of the agreement, along with the conditions Faith is offering. Give me your answer in a couple of days, and I’ll report back to the club.”
Only then did Qi Qiao nod.
“I’m heading out to eat. Want to come with me?” Bang asked.
Qi Qiao snapped out of his thoughts and waved his hand.
“Thanks, Captain. I’m going to grab hotpot with Wink later.”
“Ah… alright then. I’ll get going first.” Bang turned around as he spoke. “See you around.”
“Okay, see you.”
Once he got downstairs, Bang finally took out his phone and sent a voice message through WeChat.
“Brother, I’ve said everything that needed to be said. Whether he agrees or not is up to him now.”
Pei Ming replied with a simple: Thanks.
Then another message followed immediately.
[D] : Has he eaten yet?
Bang sucked in a breath, thinking to himself, What does whether he’s eaten have anything to do with you?
Still, he sent back a reply.
“Just heard him say he’s apparently going out for hotpot with Wink.”
After that, there were no more messages from the other side.
Bang put his phone away and clicked his tongue.
When Pei Ming first brought up this exchange agreement to him, he honestly hadn’t expected him to move this fast.
Normally, when a club recruits a player, they have to review a lot of different factors. But in barely two days, Pei Ming had already sent him all of this information.
And on top of that, he had specifically asked him to be the one to talk to Ghost, since Ghost would probably be more willing to accept it that way.
Bang knew Pei Ming came from an extraordinary background. Part of Faith Esports Club’s investment even came from his family.
But this was signing a player, not some trivial matter, and yet it had all been approved so quickly.
No matter how he looked at it, one thing had become obvious to him.
Pei Ming was paying an unusual amount of attention to Ghost.
Far beyond what could simply be described as desperately seeking talent.
…
A light snow had started falling outside, and his conversation with Bang earlier had delayed him for a while.
By the time Qi Qiao arrived at the restaurant, Wink had already started cooking slices of fatty beef in the hotpot.
“You didn’t wait for me. That’ll cost you a hundred,” Qi Qiao said as he took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair beside him.
Wink scooped up the beef.
“Fine. I’ll pay for this meal today.”
Qi Qiao opened a bottle of beer first and took a sip.
Wink raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? You’re drinking beer today? Didn’t you used to feel sick after just two sips?”
Qi Qiao’s expression darkened a little.
“It’s fine. Drinking occasionally won’t hurt.”
Wink shook his head and snatched the beer from his hand anyway.
“Forget it. Don’t drink. If you accidentally get drunk later, I’ll have to drag you back.”
Qi Qiao used his chopsticks to dip some tripe into the clear bone broth pot beside him, not bothering to stop him.
As for beer…
Back when he lived at home, he used to watch his older brother drink it and had wanted to try it himself.
But every time, his brother would just toss him a carton of Want Want milk instead and leave it at that.
The first time he actually drank beer was a little over ten months ago.
The night he ran away from home.
Qi Qiao had gone out and bought a bottle of beer, then sat by the observation deck at Lujiazui while drinking.
Maybe it was psychological, or maybe it was because of the cold wind blowing that night, but after just one sip, he threw up.
Ever since then, his body had developed a physical aversion to alcohol.
“Anyway, I didn’t invite you out today just to beat around the bush,” Wink said as he picked up some fatty beef from the bone broth side and dropped it into Qi Qiao’s bowl. “Has your club talked to you about that youth trainee exchange agreement?”
Qi Qiao chewed on a piece of fish tofu and nodded.
Wink took a sip of beer.
“I’ve thought about it, and honestly, I think this could be pretty beneficial for both of us. But if you don’t want to do it, then don’t force yourself.”
Qi Qiao replied, “It’s not that I’m unwilling. I’m still thinking about it.”
Qi Qiao could tell that Wink was the type of person who valued loyalty.
Honestly, if he agreed to the exchange, it would benefit both of them.
But back when Wink had first suggested that they join Faith’s youth training camp together, Qi Qiao had refused.
Then so many other things happened afterward.
Wink could definitely tell how resistant he was toward Faith.
Wink said, “The reason I’m talking to you about this today is because I don’t want you feeling too pressured. This only works out perfectly if both of us agree willingly.”
Qi Qiao took a sip of his drink.
“I know. That’s why I’m still thinking about it.”
After a brief pause, he added quietly:
“I’m not going to force myself to do something I don’t want to do.”
Wink visibly relaxed, his shoulders loosening.
“Hearing you say that makes me feel a lot better.”
“But speaking of that…” Wink said, blinking before breaking into an expression full of curiosity. “Last night… didn’t you say on stream that you weren’t going to queue with him? So why’d you turn around and enter the draw afterward?”
Qi Qiao’s movements slowed for a moment.
“Shut up.”
Wink smiled meaningfully.
“Alright, alright. If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t.”
That was just how the two of them got along.
They teased when teasing was appropriate, talked seriously when serious conversation was needed, and never crossed boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed.
The two ate quietly for a while.
Wink pulled out his phone and started scrolling through videos. While he was browsing, a voice message suddenly popped up on WeChat.
It was from Devil.
Wink had gotten Devil’s WeChat from Jiang Jiang back when they were still in youth training camp.
He had added him, sure, but never dared to actually message him. And naturally, Devil had never contacted him either.
So if Devil was suddenly messaging him today…
Could it have something to do with Qi Qiao?
Wink raised an eyebrow and quickly tapped into the chat.
“Oh, stop eating for a second. Devil just sent me a voice message — come listen.”
Qi Qiao paused midway through picking up a piece of fish, then quietly set down his chopsticks.
Muttering “Weird…” under his breath, Wink tapped play.
There were two voice messages.
The first one played.
“Hello. I saw online that you seem to be on pretty good terms with Ghost. If you have time, could you help me pass along a message to him?”
Wink turned to look at Qi Qiao, confusion written all over his face.
Qi Qiao froze for a second.
Wink suddenly grinned, eyebrows dancing excitedly.
“Not bad, kid. I’m guessing Devil wants to talk about that friend slot thing from last night.”
“You think…” Wink looked increasingly excited. “Could it be his account ID—”
He quickly added:
“Let’s agree on this first. If you don’t want that friend slot, give it to me. I want it, I want it.”
Qi Qiao was getting irritated by all the noise, but at the same time desperately wanted to hear the second message.
“Whatever. If it really is about the friend slot, I’ll transfer it to you.”
As he spoke, Qi Qiao tilted his chin toward the phone, signaling him to press play.
“Stop talking and hurry up.”
Wink clicked his tongue, but seeing how serious Qi Qiao looked, he quickly played the second message.
Qi Qiao focused completely.
Waiting.
Until that calm, deep voice finally came through the speaker.
He said—
“I always keep my word.”
“Nothing’s changed.”
Author’s Note:
Thanks for waiting, babies. Sending you a kiss~ 💋