This will not be repeated.

“Captain Wen means…” that team member asked in a low voice.

“It’s fine; you all train as usual.” Wen Man waved his hand, “More specific matters will come out in a few days. Until then, keep things unchanged.”

Xue Wei woke up naturally, as if from an afternoon nap, groggily around eight or nine.

He woke because he felt someone turn on the small yellow light by the door.

It wasn’t turned on accidentally; he could feel that the person was waking him up, but chose the most gentle way: the small light was far from him, not dazzling, but it let him know the time: he could wake up.

Xue Wei rolled over in the quilt and found Wen Man kneeling on the floor, packing his luggage.

As if he had eyes on the back of his head, he asked softly: “Awake?”

Xue Wei had forgotten his introversion from before sleeping.

He replied: “Mm, awake.”

He climbed out of bed.

Wen Man also stood up, temporarily put down the suitcase in front of him, then came to the sofa and called him: “Come over and eat; I brought you some food.”

Xue Wei got out of bed, put on his clothes, brushed his teeth, then ran over.

It was eight o’clock, the time the national team finished training.

Outside, people were noisy, but the room was quiet.

Wen Man hadn’t turned on the main lights; the room still held the scent of night.

Only a soft, beautiful yellow lamp gently illuminated their faces.

Late-night snacks floated on the table, steaming with warmth.

He hadn’t brought him food made by the cook auntie, but rather snacks bought from outside, from the food stalls Xue Wei loved.

Clay pot stew, spicy hotpot, rice balls—all available.

Xue Wei didn’t stand on ceremony.

He picked them up and ate.

As he ate, he heard Wen Man ask him from beside him, with a hint of a smile: “Were you angry this afternoon?”

“Not angry.” Xue Wei bit into a rice ball.

A hint of grievance reappeared in his expression, but he finally obediently said, “I need to blend in, adapt to the team. I will try my best. This is my problem.”

Wen Man picked up one of his sausages, listening quietly.

Xue Wei paused for half a second, then said in a muffled, fierce voice: “But! Their problem is also huge! They’re too bad! Too bad! No matter what you say, they’re just too bad!”

The smile in Wen Man’s eyes widened: “Mm. I’d like to hear your opinion too.”

Xue Wei was fuming, poking the sausage with his chopsticks, poke, poke, poke.

Suddenly, he wasn’t angry anymore.

He mumbled: “You can see it too.”

Wen Man’s tactical skill level was on par with his.

Their playstyles were developed together.

“Why didn’t you lead them to become world number one?” Xue Wei looked up and asked, very seriously.

“Restricted by rules, as you saw,” Wen Man spread his hands.

Xue Wei stared at him seriously, his young eyes clear.

He didn’t believe it.

Wen Man met his gaze for a while, then raised his hands in surrender: “Alright, I’ll tell you.”

Xue Wei then waited for him to speak.

Wen Man paused for a few seconds, then finally said: “I was waiting for you.”

Xue Wei had just woken up, his mind still fuzzy.

He hadn’t expected him to say that.

He stared at him blankly: “Huh?”

His mind was fuzzy, but his heart started pounding, as if a balloon filled with warm water had burst, spreading heat everywhere.

“See? You don’t believe what others say. You don’t believe what I say either.” Wen Man still smiled, “This kid is so hard to please.”

His voice softened, becoming a bit gentler: “I am the national team captain, but many things shouldn’t revolve solely around the captain. In this game, individual performance can be greater than the team’s, but if individual performance is built on a foundation that completely disregards the growth of others, then the future of a team becomes concerning. The CHNC team had a very difficult start. If it always relies on one person as the core, this path will stifle others’ opportunities to rise. Before more geniuses emerge, we cannot take this path.”

“So you deliberately didn’t win the championship?” Xue Wei asked blankly.

“To be able to win a championship and not take it, that lacks competitive spirit. I definitely wouldn’t do that,” Wen Man chuckled, “Besides the reasons above, in the national team, I don’t have absolute control. There are some areas where compromises need to be made. For example, this change to the M82A1 was my suggestion to the planners. Also, for team composition and tactical choices, I alone don’t have the final say. Furthermore, if the organizing committee emphasizes teamwork, then we must play as a team.”

Xue Wei silently took a sip of spicy hotpot soup.

He didn’t quite understand.

Back then, they didn’t have much coordination either.

He and Wen Man covered one point, Poet and BlackWhite went to another.

Whether attacking or defending, it was all that haphazard playstyle, and they still won.

As for tactics, they simply enjoyed researching them.

He suddenly suggested: “Then why don’t you work with me? We’ll find Brother Poet and Brother BlackWhite. The four of us playing together, wouldn’t that be great?”

He glanced at Wen Man again, then said grumpily: “…It’s just that we might not have as much money as you do now, that’s all.”

After all, he could offer a fifty-million transfer fee.

Then, a little unhappily, he took the opportunity to add: “You didn’t come back for me either.”

Wen Man’s voice paused. He didn’t reply to that sentence.

He asked softly: “Can I smoke?” After receiving Xue Wei’s permission, he lit a cigarette and extinguished it after two puffs.

“Naonao, those two aren’t coming back,” Wen Man said in a low voice.

He rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward to move the ashtray further away. “I didn’t originally intend to tell you. I wanted to take you with me before, but you weren’t an adult yet, and your health was poor. I talked with…”

“Your father,” Wen Man said softly, “We talked for a bit. He left me a contact number, and we spoke on the phone.”

Xue Wei had never heard of such a thing.

He looked up, wide-eyed, at him.

Wen Man, however, seemed disinclined to discuss it further: “But it’s all in the past. As long as your health is good, everything is fine.”

Xue Wei still stared at him blankly; he didn’t quite believe it.

Wen Man took out his phone, flipped to his contacts, and read out a string of numbers to him: “See, is it this one?”

Xue Wei was even more stunned.

That really was his dad’s phone number.

Wen Man went to his dad?

Xue Wei mumbled: “They never bothered with me.”

“Perhaps,” Wen Man looked at him gently, “But I couldn’t take you then. You were too young. And you already had a high fever once during the World Championship. I didn’t dare to risk it.”

“What did he tell you?” Xue Wei asked.

Wen Man fell silent for a moment.

‘—I knew it, his health is poor and he still causes me trouble. Playing games is one thing, but he’s also hanging out with shady people.’

‘—International competition? Can playing games be called a competition? I’ll ignore all this for now, but in short, I don’t agree. Don’t show me any signed papers or anything. You’ve come to me several times, it’s a bad influence. Go back. He’s my son. He has money and time with me. Would he give up such good conditions to run off with you?’

Wen Man said: “He said your health was poor. I also asked your attending physician. Your condition at that time was not enough to support the high-intensity training of the esports industry.”

“But you should have told me,” Xue Wei said, counting on his fingers, his voice dropping.

“Sorry,” Wen Man’s voice was soft.

“Never mind.” Xue Wei picked up the spicy hotpot, satisfied, and took a sip of the steaming, piping hot soup, then gently exhaled.

He still had some things he wanted to say, but after hearing Wen Man’s explanation, he suddenly felt it wasn’t that important whether he said them or not.

“You mean, you were also planning to ask me to play games with you at that time?” Xue Wei confirmed.

“Mm,” Wen Man said.

Xue Wei was still a bit skeptical, but he decided to put his worries aside for now and temporarily believed his words.

“Then you said those two aren’t coming back, what does that mean?” Xue Wei asked.

Wen Man paused: “They both have their own things going on in real life. Coming back to esports would be very difficult. Knife went to find them; the current situation isn’t clear.”

“Oh,” Xue Wei replied.

He silently ate the food in front of him, then thought for a moment: “Then, since there’s no way to form a new team, I might have to leave the national team.”

Wen Man:

‘His words halted abruptly.’

Xue Wei said: “After eating, I’ll go draft a resignation statement…”

He pondered.

If he didn’t stay in the national team, taking EGT to the top wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Wen Man interrupted him: “You can do whatever you want. You’ve only been here for a day, Naonao.”

He finally seemed somewhat helpless, sighing with a chuckle.

Xue Wei was half-skeptical: “I can do whatever I want?”

“The maximum authority I can give you within a captain’s scope,” Wen Man said, his tone very steady.

“Then you should have said so earlier!” Xue Wei slapped his thigh.

He was instantly energized, speeding up his eating of the rice balls: “Then I’m going downstairs to play training matches right now.”

He was full of enthusiasm.

He picked up his spicy hotpot bowl and walked downstairs.

Wen Man sighed and followed behind him, leaving together.

Outside the training room.

National Team One members were still doing extra training; a few Team Two members also stayed to continue their research.

Xue Wei, holding his spicy hotpot, swaggered into the training room.

The unfamiliar coach coughed, stopped him, and pointed to the training rules on the wall.

[No snacks or takeout allowed in the training room.]

Xue Wei put down his bowl, turned to glare at Wen Man, mouthed a few words, and whispered: “I’m going to write a resignation letter.”

He didn’t actually find any pleasure or intention in breaking rules; he just wanted to test it out.

Wen Man coughed slightly, then nodded towards the coach, giving him a meaningful look.

Coach:

‘His words halted abruptly.’

The coach cleared his throat: “Be careful not to spill on the keyboard and desk. Don’t let it happen again.”