CH 16

Xiao Yin finally let go of his hand and placed the files in his palm. It’s unclear whether it was just Rong Yi’s imagination, but Xiao Yin, who had always been calm and collected, seemed to have a faint smile in his eyes.

“So I’ll just tell them that from now on,” he said.

“Okay.” Rong Yi’s ears were burning, but he kept his composure, a result of his past experiences. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go down first.”

Xiao Yin didn’t say anything. Rong Yi grabbed the files and quickly left the room.

On his way to the training room, his ears were still red.

In the training room, Xiao Yin had changed his clothes and sat down at the desk. He saw that Rong Yi was still sitting with his back facing him, occasionally reaching up to pinch his ears. The tips of his ears were very white, with a thin layer of redness and translucency from being inflamed.

In fact, Rong Yi wasn’t as introverted and shy as he is now.

Five years ago, Rong Yi, the team captain at RS, was the most lively and active member in the league.

At the age of seventeen or eighteen, with his almond-shaped eyes and a hint of a fox-like charm, he dragged Xiao Yin around town, sitting on the side of the road with his legs crossed, eating grilled skewers.

At that time, Xiao Yin was very quiet and not familiar with the domestic youth training environment. He spoke very little, but he would accompany Rong Yi silently as they strolled around. At the end of the day, when the night fell, he would send him home, but Rong Yi didn’t even look at him and walked quickly towards the hotel.

The hands that were pressed together could feel the slight flick of Rong Yi’s fingertips, gently tickling his palm.

In the five years since then, Rong Yi had grown taller and more mature, with a touch of mature simplicity at the corners of his eyes. His temperament had changed from bright and lively to calm and gentle, and more rational. He was irresistible no matter what kind of person he was.

In just two weeks, they had quickly developed a new plan for the upcoming season, and now all they needed was to test it out and adjust.

Their first public scrimmage was against the CH team led by Lu Feng. It was also the only public scrimmage VIT had before the regular season, with the rest of their time spent training offline.

In their remaining time, they practiced as a team. After improving their teamwork to a new level, they began to observe more domestic teams.

CH ranked fourth in the regular season points last year, and Lu Feng was training a new system, so they usually played against the B team of Group B. Because of this, they didn’t have many opportunities to play against strong teams, so playing against VIT was undoubtedly a great opportunity.

However, according to Lu Feng’s prediction, they needed to seize this opportunity because once VIT got tired of playing with them, they would not have another chance to face them again.

His prediction was correct, as CH switched back to their main roster before the regular season and played their final non-public scrimmage against VIT. Both sides played for real this time.

There were no cameras, no millions of people gathering in the live broadcast room, no referees or staff, but both sides reached a silent consensus: tonight was the first real battle for both teams in this season.

It was still a BO3, and according to Lu Feng’s feeling in the jungle position, he first felt that VIT’s cohesion was much stronger than last time in just a few days.

In the first game, CH took the first point, but was then chased by VIT for three consecutive points.

It was not intentional to release heroes or throw the game, but they really hadn’t played before.

The strength of Rong Yi’s mid lane was still beyond everyone’s expectations, not to mention the hard-to-stop Xiao Yin.

After the fourth game, Lu Feng sighed and said with relief, “We’ll have another strong opponent this season. Whether we can stay in group A next season is still unknown.”

“Are all the players on the opposite VIT team newbies?”

His support player, Yin Hui, sighed softly. Like most professional players, he didn’t pay attention to outside news and just focused on training, so he hadn’t heard much about the recent rumors surrounding VIT.

He just gave his thoughts, “I feel like we’re still playing against RS in the Spring Split. It’s like hitting a wall.”

RS was incredibly strong in the Spring Split, and when they faced them, they were almost completely helpless. Not just them, even the team that placed second was beaten 4-0.

“That’s not RS. Their former team captain is on their team now,” Lu Feng provided some team knowledge, but he didn’t deny what had been said.

In fact, RS played like a wall, while VIT was more like a sharp and honed knife. It wasn’t impossible to break through, but the cost was high and painful.

Everyone else was saying that RS’s team captain, Rong Yi, was the only person on the team who didn’t fit in with their playstyle and was holding them back.

But was that really the case?

CH and VIT were not based in the same city, but the two teams quickly established a friendly relationship through their training over the past few days.

Before the regular season, Lu Feng brought his teammate Silver Wing to their side to register for the summer regular season and youth training with the league officials.

VIT didn’t know about this beforehand, and it was only when the league officials leaked the news that they remembered.

VIT decided to treat Lu Feng and his team to a meal.

Unlike other e-sports clubs, VIT had strict vacation policies. Professional staff would come to their player’s houses every Sunday to give them massages and muscle conditioning, but since their group of players were all overseas, they had nowhere to go on vacation, so they just gathered in a villa and had hot pot.

On Sunday morning, the operations manager knocked on Xiao Yin’s door. “Boss, there’s some registration information that needs to be completed for the summer regular season league.”

At that moment, Rong Yi was still lying in bed, vaguely waking up. Xiao Yin was sitting across from him and he heard his clear, light voice say, “Okay, I’ll go with Rong Yi later.”

Rong Yi became alert and got up, pushing open the door. “Is there something wrong?”

He was wearing a very loose tank top that read “Labor Workers Are Most Glorious” with his messy black hair sticking up.

Xiao Yin looked at him for a moment and then said, “Come with me to the league building. I want to talk to you about something.”

The hallway was cold with air conditioning, and Rong Yi touched his bare arm, about to turn back and find some clothes, when a warm jacket was draped over his head.

Rong Yi grabbed the jacket, which was slipping off his shoulder, and Xiao Yin continued without pause, “I want to transfer the captaincy of the VIT team to you.”

Rong Yi thought for a moment. “Transfer it to me?”

“The internal affairs of the team won’t change, and I’ll still be in charge overall, but I’m not suited to be the captain,” Xiao Yin explained succinctly.

Rong Yi knew what he meant. Because of his independent and aloof personality, Xiao Yin had never had the patience to be the soul of the team.

And VIT, for the time being, didn’t really have a core soul…

The other four members of their team were also cooperating, but their individual styles were very obvious. Ci She boasted every day about wanting to overthrow Xiao Yin and take over as team leader. Hui Mao looked obedient, but was also shrewd. Wu Dao Gu’s only concern was having even stronger skills.

“Okay.”

Rong Yi knew he was better at this than Xiao Yin and was happy to take care of these matters. After all, it was what he came for in the first place.

Xiao Yin looked at him and suddenly smiled.

“What are you laughing about?” Rong Yi tilted his head.

“I was just thinking that they really do respect you more than they do me.” Xiao Yin didn’t explain his comment, and then said, “Go change your clothes, I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

Rong Yi went back to his room and took off Xiao Yin’s coat.

Xiao Yin was a clean freak, and his clothes were always spotless with a faint scent of disinfectant and mint lemon.

Rong Yi hugged the coat in his arms for a moment, folded it into a small pillow, and put it beside his pillow, intending to come back and throw it in the washing machine later.

He changed his clothes and went downstairs with Xiao Yin.

It’s been raining lightly during the summer season lately, every time he goes out, the sky is overcast with a slight breeze and drizzle.

Rong Yi knew some of the procedures for the new season’s teams better than Xiao Yin, who had just taken over.

Usually, at the beginning of a new season, they confirm the team roster again, as well as the schedule and rules for the upcoming season.

Rong Yi wore a hat and a mask and completed the handover procedures with Xiao Yin before heading to the restroom.

Xiao Yin was waiting for him downstairs, and in a while, VIT was going to have dinner with Lu Feng and the others.

The 17th floor and above of the league building are the internal areas for event staff, and ordinary people cannot enter, so it is also very empty.

The sound of running water could be heard in the sink, and Rong Yi washed his fingertips when he suddenly heard several very familiar voices coming from a nearby corner.

“I don’t care who the captain is, but if I become the captain and we lose, I won’t take the blame. Whoever wants to do it can do it, but don’t treat me like an idiot.”

A very proud and indifferent voice.

“I just want to play well.”

RS, Lang Bai, the players he personally trained, gathered with a few teammates at the corner. The atmosphere was tense and oppressive, everyone was standing against the wall with their arms crossed, not speaking.

The RS manager from the side came out to coordinate: “Then let Xiao Yun be the captain. You’re the starting support, no one will blame you.”

Still no one spoke, Xiao Yun probably just silently agreed.

Rong Yi smiled and wiped the water off his hands, and left from the other side.

He was a person who could let go if he could pick it up. He had stayed in RS for five years and had once regarded this team as his life, but after accumulating disappointment, it was also very easy to let it go.

What he used to treasure now could be seen as worthless.

The RS manager was still trying to persuade them, but suddenly saw Lang Bai stunned for a moment, his gaze turning towards the other side’s safe passage, and then clenching his fingers.

Someone just passed by.

“Who?”

“Looks like Easy was there just now.”

Lang Bai spoke, for some reason his voice sounded a bit strange and difficult, and he didn’t choose the old nickname “Captain Rong”, but rather distantly referred to him by his ID.

“I saw it too, it’s not like.”

Another teammate, Yao Cao, had a slightly pale complexion and said in silence, “He saw us, right?”

Although they had long anticipated this day, it undoubtedly came a bit fast.

Rong Yi who used to smile warmly and brightly at them, now couldn’t even bother to say hello to them.