Chapter 34

The kiss landed on his knuckles like an electric current, making that area tingle.

Rong Yi instinctively jolted back, pulling his hand away. Xiao Yin looked up, his dark, deep-set phoenix eyes meeting his.

Rong Yi was still in shock from hearing those two words. For a moment, he felt his reaction might have been too exaggerated. As he anxiously tried to rationalize, the sound of a door opening came from behind him, followed by a few loud voices from a live stream.

“So we think there’s no food better than Spicy Soup Skewers! But Yin in the Club won’t allow it”

The voices drew closer, and the bright light of a flashlight shone into the room. Hydralisk, Wu Daogu, and Grey Cat collectively fell silent and quickly hid their phones, their cameras pointing down in perfect unison.

The silence was just as synchronized.

The live stream audience only caught a glimpse of two shadows before being forced to stare at the floor.

The chat was exploding with questions.

“What? What happened? Did anyone see?”

“I rewound and took a screenshot! It looks like one person is sitting and the other is kneeling! But it’s so blurry, just a shadow!”

“What kind of position is that? Are they looking for Yin and Easy? Does that mean the one sitting and the one kneeling are Easy and Yin?!”

At the doorway of the lounge, the three kids were frozen like they’d been hit by a stun spell, their wide eyes fixed on the scene before them.

Xiao Yin, in contrast, was completely unfazed. He even took three extra seconds before standing up and asking them, “Did you get everything? If so, let’s go.”

The live stream audience vaguely heard Xiao Yin’s voice and exploded with excitement: “So the one kneeling was Yin-Ge!! What were they doing?!”

“Keep streaming, don’t stop! Can someone tell me what the heck just happened?!”

Xiao Yin remained calm and collected. Rong Yi’s ears turned bright red in that instant. He stood up, his expression steady: “Let’s go.”

As long as he acted like nothing happened, then nothing happened.

He even doubted that Xiao Yin’s “baby” was something he had misheard.

When had Xiao Yin ever called him that?

Not even years ago, when they were intimate, had he ever called him that.

Xiao Yin was a cold person. Rong Yi had once gone through his phone, curious about how Xiao Yin had saved his contact.

It turned out to be “RS.EASY.”

In parentheses: (Mid laner but versatile).

The same format for everyone else, even Xiao Yin’s parents were saved with their full names.

Rong Yi never bothered to check again.

The three of them silently turned off their phones, each with an expression of “sorry for interrupting.” Xiao Yin remained silent, walking ahead with the others, and they took the elevator down to the underground garage.

It wasn’t until they returned to the villa that Grey Cat came to give Rong Yi a gift, diverting his attention.

Rong Yi said, “This is the first gift I’ve received since joining the League.”

He carefully peeled off the tape from his phone’s camera, took a photo of the Little Black Cat figurine, and happily posted it on social media.

Hydralisk, munching on Spicy Soup Skewers beside him, leaned over and asked, “Seriously, Captain, you’ve never received a gift before? Not from team members or fans?”

Rong Yi replied, “Fans and some friends have sent gifts, but this is the first one from a team member.”

Everyone else was around, and Xiao Yin glanced over at him.

Hydralisk put down his Spicy Soup Skewers and was about to run out. Rong Yi called after him, “Hey, where are you going?”

Hydralisk, looking like he was vying for favor, said, “I’m going to buy flowers for the Captain. The Captain receiving a gift from a team member for the first time? That’s unacceptable.”

“No need, no need.” Rong Yi laughed happily; he genuinely felt it was unnecessary. “Your thoughtfulness is enough. How about a SOLO match with me? I noticed your counter-ganking today has improved a lot.”

Hydralisk picked up his bowl of Spicy Soup Skewers: “I decline.”

After taking a bite of Spicy Soup Skewers, Hydralisk sat back down. “So, what were you and Yin-Ge doing there today?”

Rong Yi: “.”

Grey Cat and Wu Daogu straightened up, pretending to play games but actually fully focused, waiting to hear the gossip.

Xiao Yin shifted slightly, merely adjusting his position, resting his PAD on the sofa armrest, but his gaze remained on Rong Yi.

He didn’t seem inclined to speak.

Rong Yi thought for a moment and said, “He… helped me tie my shoelaces.”

Hydralisk: “?”

Grey Cat and Wu Daogu: “?”

Even Xiao Yin raised his eyes.

Rong Yi remained unfazed: “My lumbar muscle strain is severe. Bending over while sitting is very painful, so Yin-God was kind enough to help me.”

This made perfect sense.

Completely reasonable and based on facts known to everyone.

He indeed was a severe lumbar muscle strain patient.

The living room fell silent instantly.

For some reason, Xiao Yin paused, then picked up his PAD again and started the post match analysis.

VIT’s first win in the second round of the Regular Season was impressive, garnering a lot of overseas and domestic popularity. Rong Yi, who was pushed forward as the representative, saw his votes skyrocket to the top.

As the official voting period ended, despite RS team fans’ best efforts, they couldn’t outperform the strong casual player base.

This year, the Popular Star, splash screen recommendation, and advertising endorsements undoubtedly went to VIT.

When Operations Xiao Jiejie poked Rong Yi, he was still in solo training.

She reported, “We need to provide more than three high-definition headshots of the player for the process. Captain, can you provide them?”

Rong Yi stopped training and stared at the request for a long time in silence.

He asked, “Is this necessary?”

Operations Xiao Jiejie was troubled, “It’s necessary for the splash screen recommendation.”

Rong Yi was still struggling, “How about my fourth-grade elementary school headshots?”

Before Operations could reply with a period, Rong Yi retracted his message, realizing he was being unreasonable.

He thought for a long time, then typed to the operations team, “Can you tell the League Organizer that I don’t want the splash screen recommendation? They know my habits.”

“If it’s too difficult, I’ll withdraw.”

Rong Yi felt his solution didn’t fully solve the problem. He leaned back and sighed softly.

After all, who would have thought they could actually take first place?

Had he known, he wouldn’t have agreed to sign up.

Operations, unsure of what to do, asked Xiao Yin, “Then, I’ll ask the Boss.”

Xiao Yin had considerable influence.

Rong Yi thought for a moment and said, “I’ll talk to him myself.”

Since it was his own issue, it made sense for him to handle it rather than relying on Xiao Yin’s influence.

Operations sighed in relief, clearly also dreading the idea of conversing with Xiao Yin: “Alright, Captain. Please talk to Yin-Ge first.”

Rong Yi checked the time.

Four in the afternoon. Xiao Yin wasn’t in the training room or the lobby, so he was likely in his own room.

Rong Yi sent him a message: “I need to discuss something with you. Can I come up now?”

Xiao Yin replied almost instantly: “Sure.”

Then followed up with another message: “If you need anything, you can come up anytime. No need to send a message in the future.”

Got it.

Rong Yi put away his phone and headed upstairs.

One advantage he had was that he wasn’t particularly afraid of Xiao Yin. In fact, he liked his type the colder and stronger, the more he liked.

He knocked on the door. Xiao Yin said, “Come in.”

As soon as he entered, Rong Yi saw Xiao Yin at his desk, head down, reading some densely packed English documents, idly twirling a pen between his fingers.

The room had a faint scent of minty shower gel, and it was slightly warmer than outside. Xiao Yin’s hair was still damp, adding a touch of fragrance.

He had just showered and changed into a casual shirt, with a couple of buttons casually undone.

Rong Yi said, “About the Popular Star thing…”

Xiao Yin seemed to know what he was going to say: “They want player photos to be displayed on the National Region game page for an entire quarter.”

He looked up, his sharp phoenix eyes piercing: “Do you want to do it?”

Rong Yi replied, “No.”

“Alright.” Xiao Yin put down the pen he was twirling. “Then we won’t do it.”

…

The room fell silent.

Rong Yi hadn’t expected the topic to be resolved so straightforwardly. He thought for a moment, realizing he didn’t have anything else to say, and said, “Then I’ll go back downstairs.”

Xiao Yin never made mistakes in his work; there was nothing more to ask. Rong Yi gave him a smile, “Thanks, Boss. I’ll treat you to a meal sometime.”

“Sure,” Xiao Yin said, glancing at his calendar. “When?”

Rong Yi was taken aback.

It wasn’t entirely just polite talk, but he hadn’t expected Xiao Yin to take it so seriously.

Xiao Yin was meticulous and methodical, detesting any disruption to his plans, so everything had to be arranged well in advance.

Rong Yi, on the other hand, preferred spontaneity and freedom.

To avoid further internal conflict, Rong Yi decided to cut to the chase and asked directly, “When are you free?”

Xiao Yin’s gaze shifted slightly.

“The fifth.”

Rong Yi replied, “Alright.”

And that was the end of the conversation.

It wasn’t until later that Rong Yi realized the fifth was the day Xiao Yin had previously circled.

It was a brief off-season period following the Regular Season.

The break after the Regular Season typically wasn’t long, around four or five days. With VIT’s usual weekly day off, each of them would have a short relaxation period.

It seemed Xiao Yin could only spare one free day, so Rong Yi decided not to overbook it just a meal would suffice.

He still wasn’t sure if Xiao Yin had been joking or serious last time, so he simply chose not to dwell on it.

“The Popular Star traditionally shows their face, which makes this a bit tricky,” the League Organizer diplomatically explained. “We mainly want to hear from Easy himself, to know why he can’t appear on camera.”

“If there’s any inconvenience, we can make adjustments.”

They were sincere in their approach.

Everyone in the conference room looked at Xiao Yin.

Today was a small meeting with investors and VIT, with the League Organizer as a minor beneficiary representative present.

The issue of the Popular Star wasn’t initially a big deal, but Xiao Yin brought it up specifically in front of everyone.

The League Organizer quickly realized this was to set a precedent.

“No particular reason. He just doesn’t want to,” Xiao Yin said, fingers interlaced. “Maybe he will in the future, but until then, I hope he’s not troubled by these things.”

“As for a reason, none will be provided.”

“Easy has never appeared in any endorsement activities. This isn’t a new situation; you should have been aware of it long ago.”

Xiao Yin continued, “To prevent any future misunderstandings, I’ll state it here: everyone in VIT is the same. Their wishes come first, and they’re not bound by any activities.”

Despite having heard about his temperament, a few of the new partners couldn’t help but privately grumble.

“Yin is seriously too bold. How many people can avoid being tied down like this? Getting the Popular Star title but refusing to show his face, of course, that’s a losing deal for the League.”

“Yeah, totally.”

“But actually, I’ve heard that’s just Yin’s style. If you’re willing to respect his wishes, he’ll pay any price. But if you cross him, he’ll walk away without a word.”

No one dared to delve deeper. As newcomers, they couldn’t see the underlying truth.

A few days later, the League compromised. They launched a splash screen recommendation featuring a black-and-white silhouette animation. The silhouette gradually morphed and intertwined with Li’s animated sequences.

The animation was taken from one of Rong Yi’s Regular Season games, showcasing Li’s Triple Kill and subsequent escape.

The light and shadow shifted, his form graceful. If you clicked on the mysterious silhouette with your mouse, you would hear a voice clip from Rong Yi himself, also taken from the arena:

“Just a scrim.”

The voice was calm and elegant, yet carried an undeniable sharpness.

Many people couldn’t even tell if this voice was his real one or the dub by the national voice actor, thinking it was a new line for Li.

This splash screen recommendation turned out to be more stylish and intriguing than any before.

Previously, the high-definition photos of players would be ignored unless they were exceptionally handsome. Casual players would close the screen immediately. But this time, Rong Yi’s faceless promotion successfully piqued countless people’s curiosity.

“No player has ever broken the rule before. The Popular Star always shows their face, yet he won without showing his.”

“Ahhh, Easy, just let me see you! Would it kill you to show your face?”

Rong Yi hadn’t streamed for many days, but his live stream chat was filled with fans who could only squeal. The lonely fans even started rewatching old streams.

“Well, even though he never turns on his camera, we already know his voice.”

“Great, this time he didn’t turn on his camera, but during Hydralisk’s stream, an unfamiliar foot appeared. Based on their seating arrangement, that foot didn’t belong to Grey Cat, Yin, or Gu-Ge. It must be Easy’s foot.”

“He’s wearing XX brand sneakers! The ice blue ones look so good.”

“Almost there, almost there.”

Hydralisk often joined the fun in Rong Yi’s stream, stirring up trouble by saying, “We’ve pieced together a foot, soon we’ll have the whole person.”

Unsurprisingly, he was met with a barrage of complaints from netizens.

“Be a decent person! Show us what your Captain looks like!”

The netizens pleaded, “Really, we’re not curious at all. We just want to see the Captain, just a glimpse, even half a glimpse would do.”

“Is Easy trying to torture us?”

After one Regular Season match and a splash screen recommendation, Rong Yi’s search rate and nomination rate skyrocketed to the top of game discussions. The audience had a love-hate relationship with him, but Rong Yi himself seemed indifferent to these matters, leaving fans scraping for any bit of content they could find.

But they found nothing.

The rest of VIT protected Rong Yi fiercely.

With the second round of the Regular Season ending, VIT played three matches, the last one against a weaker team that had been struggling this season.

Once Rong Yi started working, he immersed himself completely, forgetting about everything else. After matches, he would analyze the opposing team to identify their issues.

On the night of the fourth, he was in the living room with Grey Cat and Hydralisk, studying a recently defeated team.

“Their Top Laner is clearly underperforming this season. The Competition Training Team doesn’t seem to have a unified strategy. Look at this two-second operation, it’s obvious…”

Rong Yi sat in the living room, scrolling through the replay.

Others gathered around him, watching.

Tomorrow was a rest day. Wu Daogu wasn’t at the Club today, having taken leave to visit his parents in R City. Xiao Yin had just gone on a business trip yesterday.

After his analysis, Rong Yi set the tablet aside and stretched his neck.

He thought it was time to visit Lin Yi for some health adjustments again.

Thinking of this, he checked his phone.

Xiao Yin wasn’t around today. According to their previous agreement, Rong Yi would treat him to a meal tomorrow.

However, Xiao Yin was still on his business trip. According to the operations team, he seemed very busy, sometimes even flying overseas.

This time he had flown to the NA Region, with some unfinished business to attend to.

Saying he was incredibly busy was no exaggeration.

Rong Yi took a shower and, noticing it was past 10 PM, sent a message: “Are you busy?”

Xiao Yin must have been really busy, as it took two hours for him to reply: “Just finished. Didn’t see your message earlier.”

“Are we still having dinner tomorrow?”

Rong Yi saw the message quickly and carefully considered his response. “If you’re busy, we can skip tomorrow. No need to rush back.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be back by early morning. You should rest,” Xiao Yin said.

Rong Yi felt even more apologetic, thinking he had chosen the wrong day. He didn’t want to inconvenience Xiao Yin and replied, “No, no, it’s fine. Let’s skip the meal this time. You’ll be too tired coming back early in the morning. You should rest during the break.”

Xiao Yin didn’t reply for a long time.

After a while, just as Rong Yi was about to fall asleep, Xiao Yin finally responded.

“Then I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“Consider it a date.”