CH 41

Jiang Min exerted a lot of effort to carry Yu Hao from downstairs all the way to the room.

Reaching the bedside, he gently placed Yu Hao down, who, seemingly completely unconscious, collapsed on the bed.

Jiang Min thought about letting Yu Hao, reeking of alcohol, just lie there without covering him with a blanket, worried that he might catch a cold.

Leaning down, he gently nudged Yu Hao, “Xiao Yu, get up, change your clothes and then sleep, okay?”

“Hmm?” Yu Hao lifted his head in a daze, opened his blurry eyes, and looked at Jiang Min.

“At least freshen up a bit before sleeping? It’ll be more comfortable that way.” Jiang Min continued to suggest as it seemed Yu Hao was awake.

Yu Hao didn’t respond.

“Alright, I’ll go to the bathroom and get you a damp towel to wash your face, okay?” Self-aware that he should take care of his teammate, Jiang Min turned to walk towards the bathroom.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his wrist.

Jiang Min turned around and saw Yu Hao holding onto him.

“… What’s wrong? Not feeling well?”

Yu Hao still didn’t say anything.

“I told you to drink less, you’ll feel uncomfortable if you drink too much…!!!” Before Jiang Min could finish his sentence, Yu Hao exerted force, catching him off guard, and he ended up falling onto Yu Hao.

Although Yu Hao usually had his arm around Jiang Min’s shoulder, neck, this sudden full-body contact, ending up lying on top of Yu Hao, was a first.

Jiang Min’s right hand happened to be on Yu Hao’s chest, right over his heart, and he clearly felt the strong heartbeat.

Their eyes met.

Their breath seemed to merge, and the two were almost nose to nose.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Jiang Min realized the situation and immediately tried to prop himself up, but Yu Hao suddenly released his wrist, wrapped both hands around his waist, and deftly rolled over, pinning him down.

“…” Jiang Min was a bit bewildered, experiencing for the first time being pinned down by another guy.

“Sugar…” Perhaps due to both alcohol and fatigue, Yu Hao’s voice was slightly hoarse.

“Um… well, can you let go of me?” Jiang Min tentatively suggested.

“I won’t!” Yu Hao was unexpectedly firm.

“Sugar~” Yu Hao pressed himself against Jiang Min, burying his head in the crook of his neck, rubbing against him in a frenzy.

“…” Jiang Min was at a loss.

Well, he’s drunk; let’s allow him this once.

“Sugar~~ don’t leave me, okay?” Yu Hao’s voice had a hint of coquetry as he spoke.

“… I didn’t say I would leave. I won’t go, okay?”

People who are drunk are unreasonable, and Jiang Min wasn’t sure if Yu Hao had really heard what he said.

“I don’t care! If you don’t let me hold you to sleep, I’ll leave!” Yu Hao acted stubborn.

Jiang Min: “…Your logic… Fine, fine, let me hold you, but can you at least let me uncover the blanket first?”

“Really?” Yu Hao looked up, staring at Jiang Min.

Jiang Min was sincere, “Really.”

“You won’t coax me to sleep and then run away, will you?”

“I won’t.”

“…Alright.” Yu Hao temporarily released Jiang Min.

After Jiang Min arranged the bedding, Yu Hao pulled him back onto the bed, wrapping his long arms around Jiang Min’s waist, sticking to him.

“Sugar~~ I really like you!” Yu Hao squinted his eyes, looking blissful.

“…” Jiang Min thought Yu Hao was just talking nonsense due to being drunk.

Besides, Yu Hao’s “like” probably just meant the camaraderie between teammates.

“Sugar, I like you!”

“Uh-huh…”

“Sugar, don’t ignore me! I said I like you!”

“…Okay, I get it. Go to sleep already.” Jiang Min casually pressed the control switch by the bedside, turning off all the lights in the room.

Really, he hadn’t even washed up yet.

Oh well, skipping hygiene for one day wouldn’t hurt.

“Sugar~~” Yu Hao started rubbing his fuzzy head against Jiang Min’s shoulder.

“Don’t rub against me, just go to sleep,” Jiang Min said helplessly.

“Then say ‘I like you too,’ and I’ll obediently go to sleep!”

Jiang Min: “…”

Damn, why does this person demand so much even when drunk?

“Say it~~” With a teasing tone, Yu Hao coaxed him.

“Alright, alright, I like you too, satisfied now?” Jiang Min covered his face.

…This is truly embarrassing.

“Yep!” Yu Hao finally seemed content.

“Now go to sleep, I’m exhausted.”

“Okay!”

In the captain’s arms, he was satisfied with his new mid-laner.

After a while, when Jiang Min’s breathing became steady, in the darkness, Yu Hao opened his bright eyes.

Humph, drunk? How is that possible?

He prided himself on being “Yu, the Unyielding.”

Even if everyone in the entire club got drunk, he wouldn’t drink to the point of losing consciousness.

Back in the day, on the one-year anniversary of the WOC branch’s establishment, everyone was completely drunk, and it was him who footed the bill and arranged for transportation to get everyone back to the base.

As for pretending to be drunk, that must be purposeful.

Yesterday, he used the excuse of being afraid of thunder to trick Sugar into sleeping together. So today, he pretended to be unconscious after drinking to make it impossible for Sugar to refuse.

When Jiang Min said, “I like you too,” he even cunningly used the back of his other hand to secretly record the audio with his phone.

He could listen to it whenever he had nothing to do.

After all, the road to pursuing his wife was long, and he needed some “boosters.”

Carefully selecting the “essence” from that recording, Yu Hao saved it and then locked his phone screen, contentedly falling asleep hugging Jiang Min.

———-

Upon waking up, Jiang Min and Yu Hao tacitly avoided discussing the events of last night.

Yu Hao took advantage, not wanting to press Jiang Min too tightly.

And Jiang Min simply thought Yu Hao had gotten drunk last night, said some nonsense, and did some silly things, bringing shame to the team, so he chose to remain silent.

After the wild night at the beach bar, the JW team members all slept until noon.

After packing up, they headed to the airport, took a chartered flight back to S City, and thus, the team-building activities concluded satisfactorily.

Once back at the base, Fan Dadi resumed his role as the team’s “mom,” urging the players to tidy up and do some pre-vacation organizing.

The operations department was exceptionally busy, hiring video editors to compile several videos of the “highlight moments” of the team-building activities as a gift for the fans during the offseason.

Days continued to pass, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for the players to have their break from the club.

It was a rare vacation for the players who had been busy all year.

The WOC competitive league schedule was quite intense, leaving the players with very little time for rest throughout the year.

Thus, everyone cherished and eagerly anticipated this long-awaited vacation.

Hao Qianyi had already packed his luggage early, a petite figure dragging a huge suitcase, waving goodbye and setting off on the journey home.

The Gold and Silver Mantou brothers were locals in S City, not in a hurry to go home, standing at the door to see Hao Qianyi off, teasing him as usual.

Yu Hao had initially planned to go home in a few days, but the urgency from someone at home forced him to make a quick visit. Afterwards, he would see if there was a chance to return to the base earlier.

“Sugar, I’ll miss you!”

Jiang Min: “….”

Why did Little Fish’s recent words sound increasingly oily?

Jiang Min was a bit uncomfortable.

“When I’m not around, you have to be good~”

Jiang Min: “….”

What does it mean to be “good”?

“If those players who didn’t go home invite you to their base, don’t go, it’s very dangerous,” Yu Hao continued to advise.

“….”

Dangerous? What’s that about? Isn’t it normal to visit someone else’s base? He has a few buddies in the league that he often hangs out with.

Jiang Min was puzzled.

“Sugar….”

“Alright, you go now. The cars you called have been waiting at the door for a long time. If you don’t leave now, you’ll miss your flight, I’m telling you,” Fan Dadi couldn’t bear it anymore, interrupting Yu Hao’s incessant talking.

“Anyway, I’ll be back soon!” After saying this, Yu Hao was stuffed into the car at the base entrance by Fan Dadi and left the base.

The WOC branch’s players were left with Jiang Min and the twins.

The three of them stood at the door, watching the captain’s car disappear into the distance.

“Well, Captain Nan, Lao Bai, and the analysts have also gone home. Now, only the three of us are left in the training room,” Silver Mantou Wei Yafeng said, inserting his hands into the conversation.

“Is Sugar’s home also in S City? Aren’t you going back?” Wei Yabo was curious.

“Um, well, yeah,” Jiang Min said, “I don’t mind not going back.”

Anyway, whether he goes back or not doesn’t make much of a difference.

He spends this mid-season break alone every year.

“So… how about the three of us play something together?” Wei Yafeng suggested.

“Play some ranked games together?” Wei Yabo said, “While the offseason is still here, let’s hurry and climb some ranks. How can professional players let their arena rating look bad?”

Professional players are usually busy with training matches and analysis during the season, and they don’t have much time to play ranked games. After completing the designated daily training, they are already too tired to think about climbing the ranks.

The offseason is the perfect time to climb the ranks.

“Is Sugar ranked seventh on the national server?” Wei Yafeng suddenly asked.

“Yes.” Jiang Min didn’t know why he suddenly asked this.

“How about the three of us take turns playing with you, guaranteeing that you’ll reach first place on the national server?” Wei Yafeng said.

“This…” Jiang Min, who had been ranked first on the national server for a while when he first started playing professionally, seemed to be less concerned about that position now.

If we’re talking about going from seventh to first on the national server, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

Originally, he had climbed to second place on the national server.

“How about it, Sugar God? Let’s at least make our club proud with a first place on the national server!” Wei Yafeng patted Jiang Min’s shoulder.

“If we’re going to rank, it should be me and Sugar God. With our double carry lineup, wouldn’t we be invincible?” Wei Yabo, being the position 1 player, was quite confident.

However, for some reason, this guy seemed to be cursed, and his national server ranking just couldn’t improve.

He kept hovering around the 20-30 range.

“As for you? Cut it out. I’m just saying, get your own account into the top 20 first! You, a guy who can’t even break into the top 20 after all these years!” Wei Yafeng didn’t hold back, mocking his brother born ten minutes earlier.

“You’re not doing much better! Someone who just recently climbed to 19th place has no right to talk about me!”

“I’m a support! Pure support! Climbing to this position as a support is not easy, okay?”

“Tch, don’t make excuses if you’re not skilled enough!”

“You…”

Jiang Min felt that if he didn’t say something, these two would start fighting on the spot.

So, he interjected, “Alright, let’s give it a try and aim for first place on the national server!”

—–

Author’s note: Once again proving that Sugar has walked the longest road, which is Little Fish’s routine. Silly Sugar!