——  In room 1701, Bai Xuan came out of the bathroom and saw Xie Shurong lying on his bed watching a cartoon on his iPad. He smiled and wondered, “You are so big yet you’re still watching cartoons. Aren’t you afraid of people making fun of you?”

  Xie Shurong put his iPad down and looked up at Bai Xuan, raising his eyebrows and pretending to be serious. “I might but an adult but I still maintain a childlike heart. Don’t you know this is very rare?”

  Bai Xuan laughed. “The meaning is that you aren’t young but you’re still childish.”

  Xie Shurong looked at Bai Xuan with a wronged expression. “Why are you always hitting me?”

  Bai Xuan ignored him and starting drying his hair.

  Xie Shurong put away his iPad and asked, “Do you really think that Ling Xuefeng came to Guangzhou for a business trip? Why do I feel like it isn’t quite right? He came to Guangzhou for business just as Cat God is sick?”

  Bai Xuan smiled slightly and said, “Don’t meddle. Take care of yourself first.”

  Xie Shurong made an innocent expression. “How am I not taking care of myself? Today I played so well that Old Zhang praised me. You never praise me. You only complimented Xiao Li and Xiao Zhuo…”

  There were some grievances in his voice when he complained.

  Bai Xuan put down the hairdryer and looked helplessly back at him. “How old are you? You’re not a 17 or 18 year old newcomer. Do I need to praise you?”

  Xie Shurong got up from the bed and cheekily walked behind him, reaching out to hug Bai Xuan from behind. He placed his chin on Bai Xuan’s shoulder and wondered, “Haven’t you heard? No matter how good a person is, they are actually looking forward to be praised and acknowledged by others. Can’t you praise me with a few words? I want to hear you complimenting me.”

  Bai Xuan had to reach out and pat his head. “Yes, you are very reliable when playing the game. You are especially smart, tall, handsome and you have an impeccable personality. You even wash dishes better than other people. You are the most perfect person in the world… is this enough?”

  Xie Shurong listened to the perfunctory praise and didn’t let go, holding Bai Xuan tighter instead.

  “It isn’t enough?” Bai Xuan looked at Ah Shu shamelessly wrapped around him and couldn’t help laughing. “Did you intelligence regress to a kindergarten student? Xiao Shu?”

  Xie Shurong saw this man’s soft eyes and suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

  Bai Xuan had just showered. His skin was as white as flawless jade, his rosy lips were covered with a hint of water vapor, his body was fresh with the smell of shower gel and his voice was so gently that it made people’s hearts…

  Bai Xuan saw Xie Shurong staring at him in a daze and couldn’t help reaching out to hit him on the back of the head. “Hey, I am asking you something!”

  Xie Shurong, “…”

  He wouldn’t admit that he was watching a man like this!

  He was the handsome Tree God!

  He wasn’t the Xiao Shu whose intelligence had regressed to a kindergarten student!

  Xie Shurong touched his nose and said, “You just praised me in an exaggerated manner and there is no sincerity at all. Do it again.”

  Bai Xuan exclaimed, “There are too many problems!”

  He still looked good despite his anger. His round eyes staring…

  The two of them were too close. As long as Xie Shurong slightly leaned forward, he could kiss Bai Xuan on the lips.

  Would his lips be soft when kissed?

  Shouldn’t it be soft? After all… Bai Xuan was such a gentle person. Holding him was so comfortable that kissing him must also be soft.

  \r \r \r

  Xie Shurong put away the strange thoughts that suddenly popped into his mind and pulled back to reality. Then he realized that his body had reacted and he immediately let go of Bai Xuan in an embarrassed manner.

  Bai Xuan didn’t notice anything was wrong.

  He was used to being held by Xie Shurong in a petulant manner. When they were in the United States, Xie Shurong would always try to curry favour in order to not wash the dishes. After returning to China, he would still shamelessly demand ribs from Bai Xuan. This guy was more childish than Zhuo Hang and Li Xiaojiang.

  Bai Xuan had long been accustomed to being hugged by Ah Shu and thought it was just a joke. Therefore, he didn’t care and turned back to the mirror to finish blow drying his hair. “We don’t need to know why Ling Xuefeng came to Guangzhou this time. You just have to know that he and Cat God are equally responsible captains and won’t affect the team due to personal matters.”

  “Do you believe in Cat God?” Xie Shurong couldn’t help asking, “Do you believe him in any circumstances?”

  “Of course. I have been friends with him for many years.” Bai Xuan replied.

  Xie Shurong’s heart inexplicably felt uncomfortable and he frowned. “Is Cat God very important to you?”

  Bai Xuan nodded without hesitation. “Yes, he is like family.”

  A question popped into Xie Shurong’s head. ‘If he is family to you, what about me? Am I just a teammate? Is he much more important in your heart than me?’

  Once this question popped out, Xie Shurong was startled. Why was he comparing himself to Cat God? Cat God was the captain. Wasn’t it normal for Bai Xuan to care more about the captain. Besides, they had been partners for many years and faced a lot of bitterness and setbacks together. There was nothing wrong with them being very close.

  Still, Xie Shurong couldn’t help feeling a bit uncomfortable and sour, like he was jealous.

  Bai Xuan saw that Xie Shurong was suddenly silent and looked back in a confused manner, “What’s wrong with you?”

  Why did Ah Shu seem weird today?

  Bai Xuan placed a hand against Xie Shurong’s forehead in a natural manner. He wanted to see if this guy had a fever. Perhaps he caught it from Cat God? Otherwise, why would he ask such strange questions?

  However, his hand had just touched the forehead when it was suddenly grabbed. Xie Shurong’s fingers were particularly tight and Bai Xuan’s hand was almost crushed. Extremely complex emotions flashed in Xie Shurong’s eyes.

  Bai Xuan looked at him in a bewildered manner. “What is it? Are you in a bad mood?”

  Xie Shurong, “…”

  He quickly released the hand like he got an electric shock. Xie Shurong’s heartbeat was extremely fast as he quickly turned his eyes away. He awkwardly cried out, “It’s nothing! I’m going to sleep.”

  Then he fell down on his bed and buried himself in his quilt.

  Bai Xuan looked at this person wrapped up in the blanket and smiled slightly before ignoring him.

  Ah Shu’s sleeping posture was quite interesting. This guy was 21 years old but his personality was like a big boy. Sometimes he would act in a really childish manner. Bai Xuan didn’t find it strange.

  Bai Xuan finished drying his hair and went to sleep.

  In the next bed, Xie Shurong was rolling around in his blanket and finding it hard to sleep.

  He has seen many beautiful people before but Bai Xuan was special. His gently temperament entered deeply into his bone marrow. Bai Xuan’s movements, voice, smile and eyes were all gentle. People couldn’t help wanting to be close to him. Even if nothing happened, just listening to him speak was a special type of enjoyment.

  How could Xie Shurong watch a man in a daze? It was just unbelievable…

  Xie Shurong slammed his head against the pillows. He close his eyes and slept.

  In his dreams, Bai Xuan once again appeared. He was smiling and looking at his picture, making Xie Shurong’s heart feel unbearably itchy. He wanted to pounce and bit Bai Xuan a few times.

  ***

  Once he woke up the next morning, Xie Shurong found that his underwear was wet and ran to the bathroom to wash it.

  Bai Xuan saw him running to the bathroom and couldn’t help caring. “Do you have diarrhea?”

  Xie Shurong sighed as he looked at the white liquid. He felt a bit dazed and distressed.

  At noon, the team gathered in one place. The match was still being commanded by Zhang Jueming. Old Zhang carefully arranged the tactics and lineup before taking everyone to the venue.

  The opponent wasn’t strong but there were some minor problems in the team battles. The final score was determined to be 14:7, requiring three rounds in the arena and three rounds for the team battles.

  Li Cangyu’s cold wasn’t completely better but his mental state was good. Thus, he also went to the venue.

  After the match, he had dinner with Ling Xuefeng while Bai Xuan took the other players to a group dinner.

  The captain was absent from dinner again, making the teenagers very confused. However, they didn’t dare ask and could only return to the hotel after eating with the vice-captain.

  Xiao Han was chatting with Qin Mo every day to learn Chinese. Today was no exception. On the way back to the hotel, he sent a message to Qin Mo: [My master didn’t have dinner with us is it because he is having dinner with your teacher.]

  Qin Mo replied: [It is polite to type with punctuation.]

  Xiao Han: [Oh.]

  Then he added the punctuation and carefully resent the message.

  Qin Mo was pleased. He always felt that his position at the bottom of the food chain had changed. At least in the matter of learning Chinese, Xiao Han always listened to him!

  [My master went to Guangzhou to sign a contract with the BTA live broadcast platform. Wind Colour promised to cooperate with them. Later, professional players will broadcast a first perspective video and teach netizens how to play the arena.] Qin Mo patiently explained.

  Xiao Han said: [But his room is next door to my master’s room.]

  Qin Mo: [What’s wrong with that?]

  Xiao Han: [He came to see Master and has dinner with Master every day.]

  Qin Mo was surprised: [Is that right?]

  Xiao Han: [What do you think they are talking about all day? Will there be any plans? Is it like when they had me practice with you?]

  Qin Mo: [Get lost! I don’t have time to be your sparring partner! And don’t always use question marks! It is annoying to see!]

  Xiao Han: [Then why do you always use exclamation marks?]

  Qin Mo: […]

  Xiao Han: [What does the ellipsis mean?]

  [Your friend Shepherd is offline.]

  Xiao Han looked at Qin Mo’s dark symbol and was still confused. He felt that Chinese was really profound and didn’t understand the meaning of many symbols, especially the ellipsis. The meaning was too rich.

  ***

  Ling Xuefeng stayed in Guangzhou for half a month before returning to Shanghai. During this two week period, the youngsters of the Canglan team grew rapidly. The cooperation between Zhuo Li became smoother while Xiao Gu and Xiao Han’s play stabilized. Zhang Jueming and Li Cangyu’s command styles were different but the teammates cooperated well. Canglan won more games than they lost and stayed in the top three of the rankings.

  The schedule for the second division was very tight, allowing the intense competition to hone the players’ pressure resistance. After a few ups and downs,the four teenagers matured a lot. Even if they occasionally lost, they wouldn’t be frustrated as they were in the beginning.

  Next, Li Cangyu started to hone the other combinations in Canglan.

  For example, letting Ah Shu and Zhuo Hang fight together in a fast and fast combination or letting Gu Siming resist the opponents while Xiao Han used this opportunity to assassinate the enemies. There was also Ah Shu and Bai Xuan or Li Cangyu bringing Old Zhang to assist him…

  In more than 10 games, it was difficult for the audience to see a repeated lineup. The commentators Chen Weiwei and Shao Yu were very happy to see this because it was refreshing every time they explained a game.

  The audience also noticed that Cat God was using the second division as a training ground.

  The giant teams in the first division were much stronger than the second division. It was impossible to train the newcomers in the first division or Canglan would be in danger of not entering the playoffs.

  On the other hand, the overall strength of the second division was weak. After the Yaohua game that they lost due to Cat God’s mistakes, Canglan never suffered when in came to scores and their ranking was stably in the top three. It was reasonable for Cat God to use this opportunity to train the four newcomers. After all, he was aiming for the first division.

  Time passed quickly and it was the end of April.

  After experiencing more than 10 games, the Canglan team finally entered the playoffs stage of the second division with a rank of third.