Stranger

Wen Man broke off two pieces of chocolate for him.

Xue Wei had no time to react, and after being forced to eat both pieces, he finally had the strength to retreat slightly, his voice muffled and indistinct: “I’m okay.”

He kept his head down and didn’t look at him.

From this close distance, he could smell the sweet, warm, strawberry-flavored breath.

The training room was hot with the heating on; everyone else had stripped down to a single shirt, but he had only unzipped his down jacket.

Inside, he wore a fluffy high-neck sweater, with his scarf pulled up to his chin, and his mask still on, revealing only a pair of beautiful almond eyes.

Alan and the team doctor rushed into the training room, squeezing past others: “What’s going on?”

Wen Man: “Low blood sugar.”

Xue Wei: “Low blood sugar.”

Both said the phrase almost simultaneously.

The team doctor said: “The shop owner just called me and said a youth trainee seemed to have low blood sugar; was that you? Come over, let me check you.”

“I’m fine now.” Xue Wei was not the type to cause trouble for others.

He stood up, adjusted his hat, pulled his down jacket tighter, and spoke quickly, “This coach helped me find something to eat, I’m alright.”

Seeing that his speech was normal and he could indeed stand up, the team doctor felt slightly relieved: “Alright then, come with me to the break room first. I’ll get you some glucose to take back to your team.”

“No need, thank you, Coach.” He seemed to call everyone “coach”. “The team has collective training at 1 PM, I need to head back.”

“Collective training?” The team doctor was startled.

“EGT Team.” Xue Wei quickly packed his things, picked up the plastic bag, and thanked the group of people in front of him quickly, his tone very polite, “Thank you, teachers. I’m fine.”

He quickly slipped out of the crowd and stepped into the cold wind outside.

Wen Man’s phone in his pocket rang; at the same time, Alan also received a message.

Alan pulled out his phone and glanced at it: “Captain Wen, the people from the league events and the sponsors are here to discuss the transfer period.”

Wen Man glanced towards the door, paused, then said: “Alright. Let’s go.”

Xue Wei walked out of the esports park, waiting for the Route 11 bus to go back.

The cold wind was biting.

Xue Wei pulled down his scarf, raised his dark eyes, and glanced towards the esports park.

The youth trainees had dispersed, walking in twos and threes, arms around each other’s shoulders, occasionally looking his way, discussing what had just happened in the training room.

Everyone’s expression held an unspeakable strangeness.

“Nepotism?”

“Even with nepotism, God Wen and Coach Alan wouldn’t be doting and asking after them like that… Have you guys seen this person before?”

Xue Wei took out his headphones from his pocket and started listening to music.

At 12:30 PM, he returned to the EGT team, buying a jianbing from a roadside stall on the way.

Pushing open the doors of the EGT club, he was met with a suffocating smell of smoke and takeout food.

Inside, three people were doing everything except training.

EGT had been ranked last in points for two consecutive seasons, unable to even make it into the regular season, and their investors had long since vanished without a trace.

The only reason this broken team hadn’t collapsed was that the national team had designated them as a practice squad, responsible for studying and replicating the playstyles of foreign teams, then being sent to practice against various teams.

Colloquially known as ‘getting beaten up’.

“You’re back? Cold out there, wasn’t it?” Zhao Xiaoyi was lying on the sofa with a face mask on.

He had originally signed up for the promotion match with Xue Wei today, but didn’t go because he was afraid of the cold. “How did you do on the exam?”

Xue Wei took a bite of his jianbing: “Don’t know.”

Zhao Xiaoyi wasn’t really concerned about his exam results: “Your equipment is fixed; the technician came. I saw you also have streaming equipment?”

Xue Wei ‘mm’ed: “My contract includes streaming hours, and I want to try streaming. Maybe I’ll gain some popularity.”

“The boss who signed your contract ran off, and you’re still thinking about streaming hours.” Zhao Xiaoyi looked at the young man in front of him, who had a serious expression, and burst out laughing: “Give up, there’s no future in it. Just muddle through until retirement.”

Xue Wei signed with their team the year before last.

At that time, EGT could still play in the playoffs.

Two years passed, things changed, the team fell into decline, and anyone with half a brain knew not to jump into this fire pit, but he just had to jump.

Three days ago, Xue Wei arrived here with a backpack, only saying: “My body is a bit better than before, so I came.”

It snowed heavily outside that day, and his lips were so frozen they had lost all color; his whole body was as pale as a paper doll.

He was somewhat cold in personality, not one for much talk.

Everyone in the team kept to themselves, doing their own thing.

Only Zhao Xiaoyi, being the same age, would talk to him.

Xue Wei sat on the sofa, eating his jianbing, and logged into the website.

Zhao Xiaoyi, slumped beside him, suddenly shrieked: “Holy crap, God Wen went to watch the youth trainees’ promotion matches today? Is that true?!”

He abruptly sat up and turned to ask him: “Is it true? I saw someone talking about it on the forum, they even said God Wen gave chocolate to a youth trainee! This is too outrageous, I don’t believe it!”

Xue Wei bit his jianbing, not saying a word.

“Damn it–” Zhao Xiaoyi continued scrolling through the post, almost in tears, “I actually missed the chance to see God Wen in person! Damn, damn, damn – quick, tell me, what was God Wen like in real life? As handsome as he looks online?”

“In real life…” Xue Wei ate his jianbing while logging into the training camp, “He’s more handsome than on TV.”

“Is he tall?” Zhao Xiaoyi was flipping through posts, excitedly spewing spit, “Before, some entertainment industry fans insisted on comparing heights.”

“Quite tall,” Xue Wei said, “He had to duck his head to get through the training room door.”

“Damn, how handsome must he be then?” Zhao Xiaoyi shrieked, “I can do it!”

Xue Wei finally shifted his gaze from the training camp and asked: “Aren’t you straight?”

“I am, but if it’s God Wen, I guess I wouldn’t mind being the 0…” Zhao Xiaoyi was a bit coy.

“Oh.” Xue Wei turned his gaze back, “He seems… straight.”

Zhao Xiaoyi saw he wasn’t reacting, “Aren’t you a sniper? Aren’t you excited to see him? Damn it, if I were you, I’d go ask for an autograph on the spot! If I were that youth trainee who received chocolate from him, I’d carve my name and his on that chocolate right now and pass it down as a family heirloom for generations… Damn, who was that lucky person who got chocolate from Captain Wen? What’s their relationship?”

Xue Wei paused, then said: “Strangers, I suppose.”

Xue Wei put on his headphones.

The computer’s fluorescent glow reflected on his pale face, and his reaction that day was the same—quiet and silent, like a green rose standing against a white wall.

He adjusted his streaming equipment.

The platform prompted: [Since you are under 18, live streaming with your face visible is prohibited~]

He clicked open the official website registration page.

Professional players not having their own ID was not uncommon; one could say it was almost unheard of.

He entered the word “snow” in the nickname registration field, which showed as already taken.

He then removed the ‘s’ at the beginning.

The simple word “now” wasn’t taken.

Registration was quickly submitted successfully.

“Scrims?”

The head coach repeatedly checked the schedules of various teams, “Where would EGT get scrims?

All the major teams are on vacation during the transfer period, how could EGT possibly have scrims?”

“Dying laughing, Brother Wen got tricked!” Alan, watching the drama unfold, didn’t think it was a big deal, “Rare, it’s the first time I’ve seen a youth trainee ignore Brother Wen! He actually ignored Brother Wen! The first time I met Brother Wen, I wished I could chop off the hand I shook with him and frame it for preservation…”

The team doctor happily drank coffee nearby: “That kid seemed anxious to catch the bus. Route 11 direct line closes at noon.”

Wen Man leaned back in his chair, holding a dart, narrowing his eyes to aim at the bullseye five meters away, hitting it with one throw.

“Speaking of which, Captain Wen, there are still a few youth trainees whose performance standards haven’t been decided. Could you give me your opinion?” The head coach tossed the documents to him, “There are two.”

“One is from Team Two, the sniper, ID Ming Xu. His parent team is the SSQ prestigious team, very popular recently,” the head coach said. “His individual fan count in his live stream is almost eighty million. If he still can’t get into Team One, his fans will bombard our base.”

Wen Man glanced at it, cold and emotionless: “C.”

The head coach was very tactful: “I know you don’t like him; he’s failed to cooperate with team training numerous times… but sponsors have also invested heavily in him. Their meaning is, they hope he can at least stay in the youth training camp. He’s also recently become the new generation youth image ambassador… We need to establish an excellent role model in the esports industry.”

Wen Man showed a slight impatience.

At that instant, a chilling coldness appeared in his beautiful, almost demonic peach blossom eyes, but it vanished in a flash.

He quickly took another dart and said casually and naturally: “Then, I want one youth trainee for individual training. I will step down from some captain duties, and I will no longer participate in next season’s training activities.”

His statement was not a request for opinion, but a notification.

The head coach took a deep breath, choking.

The coaches’ room was quiet.

They knew that Wen Man’s tactical philosophy had always differed somewhat from the national team’s current chosen tactics.

He led China’s professional league, which lagged two years behind in 《Fire》, from qualifying for the regional championship to reaching the world championship semifinals.

During this period, Wen Man made countless decisions and discarded countless comrades.

Everyone in the international competitive scene knew that Wen Man, this national team captain, was an extremely dangerous and formidable man of action.

In the past, they would have tried to hold Wen Man back, telling him to rein it in, but now, his decision was met with universal silence.

Alan said: “As long as you’re still the captain, that’s fine.”

“What, afraid I’ll run off?”

Wen Man put down the dart, his fingertips lightly pressing his wrist.

Everyone’s expressions were grim, but he seemed to enjoy this atmosphere.

He gestured for the head coach to continue: “And the other one?”

“The other one is Xue Wei, the youth trainee from this morning.” The head coach hesitated, then said, “I want to give him an A. Although he can barely manage team coordination at all, I think his future is limitless…”

“You want him?” Wen Man smiled.

The head coach said: “I know this isn’t compliant with regulations…”

“It is compliant; I said so.” Wen Man twirled his pen, his voice cold and steady,

“Xue Wei, he’s mine.”