Chapter 37

The result of the Operations Team working overtime was that the business deals for the VIT members were finalized quickly and in bulk.

The kids in VIT each have their quirks. Operations Xiao Jiejie was practically frowning like a character in a comic, arms crossed, watching them pick and choose.

Grey Cat, somewhat socially anxious, would rather be dead than go shoot a commercial.

He said, “I’ll sit with the Captain. If the Captain doesn’t show his face, I won’t either. I don’t even want to talk.”

Hydralisk, on the other hand, was holding the contract with a faux-serious look: “Ah, the new keyboard model from ATP this year doesn’t look that good. Do their competitors have an offer?”

Wu Daogu said, “Don’t even talk to us for less than ten million.”

Operations Xiao Jiejie wanted to strangle the three of them.

Xiao Yin, sitting on the sofa, slightly raised his eyes: “Have money and still picky?”

“Who wouldn’t be picky if they had money?” Hydralisk retorted, “It’s because you pay us so well.”

“Fine, next year we’ll base salaries on performance,” Xiao Yin said casually. The rest immediately sat up straight.

When Rong Yi came downstairs, this was the scene he saw. Grey Cat confidently said, “You wouldn’t dare, not with the Captain in the team. You wouldn’t cut the Captain’s pay, would you?”

Rong Yi didn’t plan to join this daily squabble. He walked over to one side with a cup of black tea, unscrewing the hot water lid. Then he saw Xiao Yin glance in his direction.

His voice remained casual.

“He’s special.”

With that one sentence, the three instantly fell silent.

Rong Yi steadily held his cup of black tea, as calm as an old dog.

After brewing his tea, he looked over the contracts he’d received.

His contracts typically went through the Operations Team and Xiao Yin first. Judging by the content, it was clear they had been carefully selected.

There were no requirements for showing his face. Most were sponsorship deals, but the prices were extraordinarily high, and the Club took no cut.

Although this was something Xiao Yin had promised, the treatment far exceeded Rong Yi’s expectations.

There was only one contract that involved the entire Team. It was a live-streaming task where his only requirement was to show his hands while playing games all night.

After reviewing the contracts, Rong Yi found no issues, put down his tea cup, signed them, and handed them to Operations Xiao Jiejie. Then he said, “Thank you, you’ve worked hard.”

Operations Xiao Jiejie, knowing what he meant, waved her hand, “Don’t thank me, Captain Rong. Your contracts were personally selected and negotiated by the Boss.”

Rong Yi paused for a very subtle moment, then raised his tea cup and sincerely turned to Xiao Yin, “Thank you, Boss.”

After thanking him, he suddenly remembered something and quickly averted his gaze, pretending to study the contracts, not even glancing at Xiao Yin’s expression.

He only heard Xiao Yin’s voice, “You’re welcome.”

There was nothing unusual in his tone.

Rong Yi wouldn’t have thought much about it, but every time he saw Xiao Yin, he couldn’t help but remember that night.

“I want to pursue you.”

What reassured him slightly was that Xiao Yin hadn’t made any particularly bold moves or actions since then, and he gradually returned to his usual self. However, Xiao Yin’s unpredictability sometimes made him overthink.

He feared Xiao Yin might follow up with, “How are you going to thank me?” and then they’d repeat the dinner scene…

Fortunately, Xiao Yin didn’t say anything like that.

Rong Yi glanced at the team’s scheduled live stream date it wasn’t far off, just during this month’s break. So he took the initiative to ask, “Is everyone going? Or should we help the Boss generate some revenue?”

“He doesn’t take a cut, so what revenue does he need?” Grey Cat, despite his words, immediately shook off his social anxiety and sat up straight upon seeing Rong Yi’s interest. “Captain, you probably don’t know how rich Yin is.”

Rong Yi chuckled.

He really didn’t know much.

But he remembered helping Xiao Yin with a courier delivery one day and seeing his custom photo frames made of pure red sandalwood and high-grade glass protection. From common sense, he knew that anyone who used carving wood for picture frames was just burning money for fun.

A wealthy family indeed.

However, no one gossiped too much. After confirming their schedules, they each went back to extra practice.

The most anticipated regular season match against RS had already taken place several weeks ago. They quickly finished matches against two other teams and remained undefeated so far. VIT’s points had already risen to second place.

On the day of the live stream, Xiao Yin contacted the League staff and changed the streaming location to VIT’s own workspace. All the cameras and angles were adjusted in advance, and Rong Yi arranged for himself a spot in the corner, comfortably facing away from all the cameras.

VIT hadn’t released any new team content in over ten days, so when the fans and viewers learned about the team-wide live stream, they pounced like hungry tigers.

“OMG, Easy! I miss you so much, Easy! I want to hear you talk!”

“Easy! Easy! How can I live without you?!”

“I’ve been dreaming about Easy every night!”

When the time came, everyone entered the Training Room.

Rong Yi sat at his workstation and looked at the live stream setup.

There was an adjustable standing desk and a retractable camera next to it, not pointing at him at all.

He reached out to tweak the angle, then heard Xiao Yin approach and ask, “Is there anything that doesn’t work for you?”

Even though he wouldn’t be on camera, Rong Yi still needed some mental preparation since it had been a while since his last appearance. He took a deep breath, turned, and smiled at Xiao Yin, “No, it’s fine. You guys don’t need to worry about me.”

“I had all five camera positions in the Training Room adjusted. Take a look,” Xiao Yin said.

Rong Yi exhaled slowly and smiled again, correcting him, “It’s six. There’s another one to my rear left.”

“You’re right.”

Hydralisk, upon hearing this, looked around from Rong Yi’s perspective and finally spotted a mobile camera hidden in a flower stand. “Captain, you’re so sensitive to cameras. Most people wouldn’t notice that.”

“I’ll have it removed immediately; that’s an infrared security camera.”

Xiao Yin’s voice was calm and gentle.

Rong Yi nodded, feeling the prickly tension in his body finally ease a bit.

He looked down and powered on his computer, thinking Xiao Yin had left. When he looked up again, he realized Xiao Yin was still standing there.

He looked up at him, only to see Xiao Yin’s gaze fixed on the back of his head. When Xiao Yin noticed Rong Yi looking, he withdrew his gaze, then gently brushed his fingertips through Rong Yi’s hair.

“Why are you so nervous?” Xiao Yin asked. “Do you need to see a doctor?”

Continuing Chapter 37

Rong Yi closed his eyes for a moment and said, “I’ve been like this since I was a kid, very sensitive to cameras and such.”

“I can also sense when someone is watching me.”

In novels, you often read descriptions like “if looks could kill.” For Rong Yi, this was a tangible reality. He could keenly sense any camera field or monitoring gaze, as if they carried a physical weight.

Though not life-threatening, it entirely crossed his safety threshold, like standing on the edge of a cliff.

He knew it was psychological, but it hadn’t improved over the years.

“I’ve seen doctors, but it hasn’t been very helpful.”

Xiao Yin nodded.

Rong Yi didn’t know what he was thinking.

However, staff in another room encountered a problem and called out to Xiao Yin. He paused and said, “It’s okay, it doesn’t need to be fixed.”

“Your comfort is the most important.”

The clock pointed to 7:30 PM.

Everyone had already eaten and prepared to watch the live stream. The stream was hosted on the official tournament channel, where viewers could freely switch to any guest’s individual stream.

From 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM, this time slot was essentially a variety show window for the League. Occasionally, teams would be invited for fun matches, or streamers and commentators would come over to chat, making it a sort of esports entertainment segment.

At exactly 7:30 PM, Rong Yi’s camera feed was the first to go live.

“Holy crap, it’s starting!”

“Easy is so dedicated. Why are the others still dawdling?”

“Easy!! My wife! I missed you so much!”

Rong Yi’s popularity had long reached the peak level in the League. His stream’s bullet screen and gifts were so overwhelming that they were hard to see clearly, scrolling up at a dizzying speed.

The first thing to appear on camera was a pair of hands.

Rong Yi had signed a hand-streaming contract, mainly to endorse today’s sponsor, ATP keyboards.

He chose a dark blue keyboard with silver switches and backlighting mysterious yet elegant. The white light reflected off his knuckles, making them appear incredibly fair, with a beautiful hand shape.

Rong Yi’s hands were remarkably attractive, with long, slender fingers, smooth fingertips, and well-defined knuckles. They were devoid of any excess flesh, almost glowing white.

“Good evening, everyone,” Rong Yi said.

It was still that clear and gentle young man’s voice.

The audience, who hadn’t heard him speak in a long time, responded with a flurry of excitement:

“!!!!”

“Ahhh—Baby—”

“Ahhh—I’m suffocating! Your voice is really like this! So pleasant!”

“The hand fetishists have fainted! How can there be such beautiful hands in the world? And Easy is so fair-skinned!”

“I’ve been dead for three days and I’m still not as pale as E-God.”

“Hey, let’s not say such things.”

Rong Yi was already used to the bullet screen teasing him in various ways, his expression unchanged. He turned on the team chat and asked his teammates, who were at the other end of the room, “Are you all online?”

The others quickly got into position. “We’re here, Captain.”

“What are we playing today?” Grey Cat asked.

Though it was a free-form stream, they still needed a general plan. Revealing too much about their operations and tactics or playing too seriously wouldn’t do.

“Let’s play some normal matches, just for fun,” Rong Yi suggested.

The others quickly agreed.

Rong Yi glanced at the live stream.

Wu Daogu was using a virtual avatar for his stream, while Hydralisk and Grey Cat were obediently on camera.

Xiao Yin hadn’t started his stream, perhaps because he was tired or for some other reason.

Xiao Yin had been leading the progress for several days, causing complaints within the company. He had already completed his own streaming tasks.

This was a prime time when many streamers and pro players went live, making stream sniping highly likely.

The thrill of a casual stream lay in this unpredictability.

After forming the team, Rong Yi queued up with the others.

Since it was a casual session, they decided to switch roles.

“Yin-Ge to mid lane!” Hydralisk, seeing that no one was stopping him, said proudly, “I’ll be the jungler! Let me show you the world’s best AD jungler!”

Grey Cat chimed in, “I want to be top lane!”

Wu Daogu quietly added, “Then I’ll be the AD, I’m good with anything.”

After some discussion, they realized Rong Yi was left with the support role.

“Captain, do you want to switch? You supporting Gu-Ge, I can’t even imagine it,” Grey Cat said with reverence.

“It’s fine. I’m quite used to playing support,” Rong Yi said, flexing his fingers slightly without any sign of discomfort.

Xiao Yin suddenly spoke into the mic, “Can I switch to AD?”

Wu Daogu had already locked in the AD Empress and looked up at Xiao Yin when he heard this. Everyone else also turned to look at Xiao Yin.

Hydralisk intentionally started coughing violently into the mic, while Grey Cat fidgeted and made exaggerated expressions.

The bullet screen quickly caught on to the unusual atmosphere: “Hahaha, what’s going on with them? Why do they all look so weird? What’s wrong with Yin wanting to play ADC?”

“Yin actually wants to play ADC! Hahaha, I can’t wait to see how he does!”

In this game, the support is usually paired with the ADC in the bottom lane. Simultaneously, there’s a vast difference between the roles of jungler and ADC.

The ADC position usually involves intricate mechanics like animation canceling, dodging crowd control, and optimal positioning, which require high individual skill. In contrast, the jungler needs a more global perspective, focusing on strategy and timing for engagement.

Switching these two roles typically spells disaster.

Xiao Yin repeated, “Switch AD with me. I’ll go bot with Easy.”

Rong Yi took his hands off the keyboard, leaned back, took a sip of water, and then coughed lightly.

Wu Daogu took the opportunity to make a demand, “Yin-Ge, give me some money, and I’ll switch.”

A donation notification quickly popped up in the live stream.

[VIT.YIN] has gifted [Cultivating Loneliness and Peace] three Rainbow Crystals.

A total of three thousand yuan.

“Holy crap, he really did it! And three thousand!” Wu Daogu quickly swapped the Empress to Xiao Yin, “Boss, you’re so generous. Boss, you’re so generous. I wish you and Easy a harmonious partnership in the bot lane.”

“A harmonious partnership, harmonious partnership.”

Hydralisk chimed in, “I also want to say something auspicious. I wish Yin-Ge and Easy smooth sailing in the bot lane, winning every match and being forever bound.”

Grey Cat, not very good with words, also tried to join in. He thought for a long time but didn’t know what to say, so he looked at Rong Yi for help, “Captain, I also… um… I want to…”

Rong Yi: “…”

“The bullet screen already has people catching on: ‘I’m dying of laughter. Is VIT shipping Easy and Yin? This is too funny with how they’re all acting.'”

“Wow, but it’s actually kind of shippable.”

“In their team, doesn’t Yin-Ge really only protect Easy?”

All three players were waiting for red envelopes, but Xiao Yin looked at Rong Yi. “Is it okay?” His gaze was rational and calm, without any other implication.

Xiao Yin had a very well-mannered demeanor, habitually considering that Rong Yi might not like being teased about shipping in front of the public, so he specifically asked.

It was pure and direct, yet also impossible to deny.

Rong Yi felt his ears heat up, “It’s okay.”

He touched the back of his ear and then placed his hands back above the keyboard, finding it difficult to settle them anywhere.