Chapter 19 – He Saw It
Sang Ye played two more games with Xiao Pai and the others. After the stream ended, he added the top supporter on WeChat.
The person quickly accepted the friend request.
Sang Ye got straight to the point: [Give me your account number, and I’ll transfer the money to you.]
But as soon as he mentioned paying the money back, the other person disappeared. After that, there was no response. If someone didn’t know better, they might think it was the other person who owed money and wasn’t paying it back.
Sang Ye told Jiang Bo Bai about the new development with the top supporter.
Ben Boerba: [He gave you his WeChat account voluntarily?]
S.: [Yes.]
Ben Boerba: [And he still hasn’t asked you to repay him?]
S.: [Mm.]
Ben Boerba: [I get it.]
S.: [?]
Ben Boerba: [Maybe the top supporter just wants to have a sweet online romance with you.]
S.: [???]
S.: [Go to hell.jpg]
Sang Ye had just received 500,000 in donations. The next day, shortly after waking up, he got a call from his agent, Sister Jiang.
Sister Jiang gently complained at first, asking why he hadn’t responded to her messages, and then got to the point: “Xiao Sang, I noticed that your personal email is still on your homepage. Lately, you must have had quite a few people contacting you, right? Now that you’re popular, I suggest handing your email over to the agency. Any collaboration or promotional offers can be filtered by the management team. After all, we are more professional, aren’t we?”
“Professional? What kind of professional?” Sang Ye was sitting by the street eating small wontons, wiping his mouth with a tissue. “Professional scammers?”
Sister Jiang: “Xiao Sang, you—”
“Stop with that.” Sang Ye interrupted. “Let me ask you, have you received any emails about me trying out for a team recently?”
After a few seconds of silence, Sister Jiang suddenly raised her voice in surprise: “No, why? Haven’t you received any invitations from clubs yet?”
Sang Ye lowered his eyes and stirred his soup with a spoon. “Hung up.”
“No, Xiao Sang,” Sister Jiang hurriedly said. “The agency is actively recommending you to various esports clubs, but the feedback hasn’t been great. You lack major tournament experience, and you’re not that outstanding. Who would risk spending millions a year on a rookie? That’s why I suggest you stick to being a streamer for now. If you sign a formal contract with us, and if you don’t get signed by a club this year, you’ll automatically renew with us…”
Beep—
He hung up the phone. Sang Ye didn’t want to hear another word from that woman.
Not good enough?
Yeah, right.
Hearing that the agency hadn’t received any tryout invitations, Sang Ye couldn’t help but furrow his brow. He grabbed the vinegar on the table and poured it aggressively into his wontons, then lowered his head and noisily slurped his soup.
He liked vinegar, but always felt that the vinegar from other places lacked something compared to the one from his hometown.
Sang Ye was from a small town in north-central China, a simple and honest place. His parents didn’t pay him much attention, but with the care of friends, teachers, and neighbors, he grew up healthy. That was until, one month before turning eighteen, he met Sister Jiang. She told him that with their training, they would definitely get him into WLG.
The distance between the big city and Sang Ye’s small town wasn’t just geographical; it was also the distance between people’s hearts, a gap Sang Ye could never quite understand.
He was deceived, but he learned from it.
For example, the more impatient you are for success, the easier it is to fall into a trap.
And also, in this place, genuine emotions might not always bring good things, but indifference can at least protect you from being hurt.
Sang Ye finished the big bowl of pork wontons, soup and all. His stomach was satisfied, and his mood improved considerably.
He licked the savory broth from his lips, not in a hurry to leave. First, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through Weibo.
He then noticed that people had been tagging him repeatedly to check out a particular post—it was definitely about him, though whether it was good or bad, he wasn’t sure.
Sang Ye usually didn’t care much about his public image. If people praised him, he listened. If they criticized him, he didn’t change. So, without any mental burden, he opened the post to see.
After a moment, his usually carefree expression subtly shifted. His pale face slowly turned red as he held his phone with both hands, his eyes glued to the screen, reading every single word.
The post wasn’t long, with just a screenshot of a conversation attached, but it was enough for Sang Ye to read it over and over for five minutes. Afterward, he faintly smiled and got up to leave the wonton shop.
On his way back, Sang Ye couldn’t help but bounce as he walked.
It had rained the previous night, and the city’s air had never felt so fresh.
Sang Ye hopped over a puddle on a loose tile, spun around, and in the sunlight at ten o’clock, his bright black eyes sparkled, and his heart was filled with joy.
He had seen it.
Talk said.
That’s the person I noticed at first glance.
…
Tan Mo returned to the base on a Saturday. When he found Yu Haotian, he was in the conference room discussing the youth training team’s camp with the coach.
“Starting preparations this early this year?” Tan Mo poured himself a glass of water and sat down. “Has the first team recruitment ended?”
Yu Haotian exchanged a glance with the coach, their expressions subtly shifting. After a brief cough, he said, “It’s likely… going to be Elan.”
Tan Mo paused with the cup at his lips, raising his eyes. His voice turned noticeably colder: “I didn’t see Song’s tryout.”
“No, we really wanted to recruit him,” Yu Haotian hurried to explain, fearing Tan Mo would misunderstand. “I sent an email to Song’s agent, but she replied yesterday saying that Song isn’t interested in going professional. Since his current career is going well and he’s making good money, he prefers to stay as a streamer, so he didn’t accept the tryout.”
Tan Mo looked at Yu Haotian, seemingly scrutinizing him, until the sharpness in his gaze gradually dulled. He lowered his long eyelashes, set the cup down without drinking.
The coach could understand Tan Mo’s feelings. After seeing Song’s performance in squads, he also felt regret. With a sigh, he said:
“Everyone makes their own choices. The path of a professional player is tough, and not many young people are willing to endure the hardship. Plus, with his privileged background, we can only respect and wish him the best… Come on, don’t be so down. Like you said, whether he comes or not is his decision. We just need to handle our own matters.”
Tan Mo stared at the table, licked his lips, and nodded.
Seeing that Tan Mo had nothing more to say, Yu Haotian resumed his previous discussion with the coach:
“We have to strictly enforce the age limit of eighteen due to the national policies… Besides absorbing those recommended by esports schools, we’ll also release the recruitment announcement on the official site next week. I’ve hired an intern to help filter and review applications. Afterward, we’ll look more closely. We need to focus on these youth trainees carefully since it’s getting harder to buy talent…”
Tan Mo sat across the table, unmoving, his expression unreadable. No one could tell whether he was listening or lost in thought.
Five minutes later.
“I’ll personally oversee this round of youth training. Don’t worry,” the coach glanced at Tan Mo, then said, “Since everyone’s here, why don’t you also talk to Talk about the arrangements?”
“Okay.” Yu Haotian turned to Tan Mo and said, “A Mo, we just said…”
“Contact his personal email directly.” Tan Mo suddenly said without any context, “The address is written on his Maoya homepage.”
Yu Haotian was stunned for half a second, then realized that he was talking about Song, and said in embarrassment: “But he has a guild…”
“I don’t care.” Tan Mo looked up, “Send the letter, right now, don’t make me wait.”