Desire to Lure [Esports] - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

After the finals, Team TEA officially went on break.

Zechuan, Ware, Maoyi, and Ever all returned to their hometowns, but Yu Wenzhi did not.

Before leaving, Zechuan couldn’t help but ask, “Captain, you’re not going home?”

Every year, Yu Wenzhi’s parents would mail the team some dried shrimp and fish cakes produced in their hometown. The cafeteria uncle would cook them into dishes for the whole club to eat, so everyone had a very good impression of Yu Wenzhi’s parents. Occasionally, when Yu Wenzhi called home, if a teammate passed by, they would specifically stop to say hello to his auntie and uncle.

“Couldn’t get a plane ticket.”

Yu Wenzhi was peeling a piece of pineapple cake to eat. His fingers gripped the wrapping paper, squeezing the pastry out. He took a bite; the rich aroma of pineapple filled his mouth, making his speech somewhat muffled and airy.

The bag he had bought for himself was already finished. This one was bought by Sheng Xu.

It was indeed an imported brand, a bit more tart than the box he originally had, but the flavor seemed more authentic and much tastier.

Zechuan didn’t think much of it and gave Yu Wenzhi a look of pity: “That’s too tragic, Captain.”

It wasn’t until he dragged his suitcase out of the club and sat in the taxi heading to the airport that he suddenly thought about it and found it strange.

Although Yu Wenzhi’s hometown was a coastal resort destination, the peak season should be over by now.

Zechuan pulled out his phone and searched on an app.

Sure enough… it seemed the only tickets you “couldn’t buy” were for fighter jets.

Sheng Xu was a native of S City. For him, there was no such thing as “going home”; since he had kept his house, he could easily travel back and forth several times a day.

But he didn’t want to go back to his own home at all.

When Yu Wenzhi went to the training room, he patted Sheng Xu on the shoulder and asked with a smile, “Duo queue?”

Sheng Xu’s eyelids lifted; he seemed unable to believe Yu Wenzhi was proactively inviting him to duo. But quickly, his eyes lit up, and he immediately put down his phone to follow Yu Wenzhi.

Once in the training room, Sheng Xu said, “I’ll stream, okay?”

If it was just duo-queuing to climb the ladder, streaming wouldn’t interfere.

“Hmm?”

“To pay you back sooner,” Sheng Xu said in a low voice.

“Do you want to get your promissory note back that badly?” Yu Wenzhi smiled, not really minding. “Go ahead and stream.”

Sheng Xu wanted to say no, but on second thought, wouldn’t it be weirder if he owed money and didn’t want his note back?

So, he said nothing more.

Just as the game opened and before the two had even entered a room, Zou Kai wandered in like a loiterer.

Holding onto that bit of guilt, he had been thinking about proactively repairing his relationship with Sheng Xu, but the rough man’s attempts at bowing his head were stiff and lacked finesse.

When he entered, he first kept his hands behind his back and stared at Yu Wenzhi’s screen, as if he didn’t even acknowledge Sheng Xu.

Then, out of the blue, he thumped Sheng Xu’s back. He hit hard enough that Sheng Xu’s back muscles tensed up, and he immediately looked at him with irritation.

Zou Kai tossed over a box of high-end cigarettes, landing them on Sheng Xu’s computer desk. Then he tilted his chin and said nonchalantly, “Sent by the boss. Take them and have a taste.”

They certainly looked like good cigarettes; the box was gold with embossed lettering in a flowery English script as graceful as a painting. They made a heavy thud when hitting the solid wood.

Before Sheng Xu could speak, he heard Yu Wenzhi say, “He doesn’t smoke.”

Zou Kai thought Yu Wenzhi was talking about himself, so he emphasized: “I’m giving them to Sheng Xu. He smokes.”

Yu Wenzhi created the room, his eyes never leaving the computer screen, yet he let out a faint, ambiguous smile: “I’m saying he doesn’t smoke. Why ruin your lungs at such a young age?”

Sheng Xu: “.”

He really didn’t touch that box of cigarettes.

Some words depend on who says them.

Over the years, the number of people who had reminded him to smoke less could probably not be counted on eight hands, but he had never listened to any of them. Instead, he found them meddlesome. Only this time, the first reaction in his mind was—he’s doing this for my own good.

Zou Kai stared at Yu Wenzhi and let out a hiss: “Wenzhi, have you noticed that sometimes you’re quite assertive?”

It was fine back when he was just a player; Yu Wenzhi was a junior, gentle and pleasant like a calm lake or a quiet, soft moon.

But ever since he became Captain, certain traits in his bones seemed to have been triggered. Although he was still easygoing most of the time, his speech carried an increasing sense of dominance.

“Really?” Yu Wenzhi asked, feigning ignorance.

“I don’t feel it.” Sheng Xu knit his brows and threw the box of cigarettes back. He refused to admit he wasn’t smoking because Yu Wenzhi disliked the smell, insisting, “I’m not used to this kind anyway.”

Zou Kai: “…”

Sheng Xu put on his headphones and logged into his stream, no longer obsessing over the cigarettes.

Yu Wenzhi: “I’ve opened the room.”

Sheng Xu: “Oh.”

“Come in.”

“Coming.”

The fans had just flooded into the stream, and these two lines of dialogue were the first thing they heard.

Yu Wenzhi’s voice was the magnetic yet clear type. According to current market classifications, it would be a 0.6—he could deepen it if he wanted, but usually, he spoke with a gentle warmth.

Whoa whoa whoa, the youth started streaming!

I’m still in math class and Big Brother started streaming, crying!

Holy crap, I just entered and got hit by a information overload. ‘Come in’, My God!

Is it a man? My King’s sexual orientation is also at the forefront of the times.

Master, Madam, look! The Young Master has grown up!

Don’t blame me for thinking too much, the voice saying ‘come in’ sounded so good my whole side went numb.

Sheng Xu hadn’t originally thought much of it, but seeing the suggestive comments in the bullet chat, his ears inevitably turned an irregular shade of red.

Open a room with Yu Wenzhi? A hotel? Come in where?

Sheng Xu’s nerves twitched, and he said fiercely to the chat, “Shut up.”

Yu Wenzhi glanced at him and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Sheng Xu instinctively covered the screen: “Nothing.”

Yu Wenzhi didn’t ask further. He simply entered Sheng Xu’s stream, read a few shameless comments, and laughed: “You guys have quite the imagination.”

He didn’t find it embarrassing; the e-sports circle wasn’t exactly highbrow culture, and since they were all adults, similar jokes were everywhere in daily life.

“I don’t have an imagination!” Sheng Xu’s face was taut, looking like a cat whose tail had been singed.

Looking at Sheng Xu’s reaction, Yu Wenzhi found it amusing and remarked, “Oh, quite pure.”

Ooh ooh, Captain Yu is here again! This is already the second time Captain Yu has visited the Powder Keg’s stream!

Times change. Congratulations Young Master Sheng for taking Captain Yu for yourself. In the future, the TEA bot lane will be your world!

I knew that voice sounded familiar just now, it was Captain Yu.

Duo queue! So excited!

This time, without waiting for Sheng Xu to speak, Yu Wenzhi proactively answered for him: “Mhm, duoing with our AD.”

Our AD.

Language seemed to take a physical form; Sheng Xu felt the corners of his mouth being pulled upward.

A game soon started.

Not long into the laning phase, Sheng Xu forced a tower dive. His “who else but me” momentum actually stunned the enemy bot lane into a daze.

Yu Wenzhi followed him, watching as Sheng Xu took a layer of tower plating.

Only two minions remained from the push.

Yu Wenzhi was planning to leave, but he noticed Sheng Xu’s ambition went beyond just one layer of plating, while the enemy jungler had already vanished in the jungle.

Yu Wenzhi remained calm, accompanying Sheng Xu to probe the danger zone without saying a word.

If they were facing a professional team, with Sheng Xu’s playstyle, he probably would have been gone long ago.

During team fights, Sheng Xu showed no fear, daring to fly directly into the enemy’s encirclement. Of course, he was indeed flattened by a barrage of enemy skills.

The mid-laner couldn’t take it anymore and typed in the team chat.

Team Shanks: Brother, be a bit more steady.

But he didn’t dare speak too harshly, as Sheng Xu’s kill count was still the highest at the moment.

Sheng Xu’s brow furrowed, and his fingers quickly tapped the keyboard.

Team Sheng: Shut up and wait for me to Carry.

Because it was a Diamond-tier game, they still won this one.

Yu Wenzhi thought to himself: No wonder DTG couldn’t control Sheng Xu. Although he lacked a system, his damage was the highest, his output the most, and he could even win—it was practically impossible to find a leverage point to change him.

So slick, my King Sheng!

Watching you play is really satisfying, just non-stop killing.

Damn, I feel bad just thinking about the idiot teammates I met yesterday. If B-king had played that game, it would’ve been over long ago.

Everyone shut up, wait for my Big Brother to Carry!

Sheng Xu was also very satisfied with winning a game in front of Yu Wenzhi. Almost unconsciously, he zipped his jacket up and down four times.

Yu Wenzhi nodded: “Again.”

Soon the second game began. Unlike the last one, there were two Challenger players in this game, seemingly members of the DOG second team.

This time, Sheng Xu was playing Xayah.

At the eight-minute mark, Sheng Xu killed the enemy AD and moved to attack their tower.

Yu Wenzhi kept his wits about him. While attacking the tower, he glanced at the positions of the enemy Alistar support and Lee Sin jungler.

Immediately following, the enemy Kai’Sa also respawned at the fountain.

Sheng Xu naturally saw this too, but both he and Yu Wenzhi were currently at full health. In his mind, he could definitely outplay them maybe even get a triple kill.

Yu Wenzhi knew it wouldn’t work, but he didn’t directly order Sheng Xu to retreat.

Sure enough, the Lee Sin tried to cut off their escape route, and Kai’Sa’s Void Seeker was already fired.

Sheng Xu raised an eyebrow, just as he was about to use Featherstorm to charge in, he heard Yu Wenzhi’s voice ring in his headphones: “Sheng Xu, come and protect me, quick.”

The slightly hurried, clear voice struck his eardrums without any interference. Sheng Xu’s heart gave a sudden leap; before his brain could even issue an instruction, his fingertips had already flown to the skill key.

He used Heal on Yu Wenzhi, perfectly recovering the damage from the Void Seeker.

The enemy’s encirclement naturally failed, and the two retreated at the perfect time.

It really is effective.

A flash of cunning passed through Yu Wenzhi’s eyes.

??? My eyes are playing tricks on me, he didn’t charge.

See that, sisters? He can retreat and avoid a fight. If a man won’t do it for you, it’s because he’s doing it for someone else.

666, I thought Big Brother was going for a 1v3.

Master, Madam, look! The Young Master can understand orders now!

This is the first time the Young Master has protected his support. I knew it, this man is different!

As expected of Captain Yu, he actually pulled back the Powder Keg. I thought he was going to say ‘shut up and charge with me.’

Sheng Xu’s palms were burning. Seeing Yu Wenzhi saved by his hand, his chest felt as if battle flags were fluttering wildly, a surging sense of satisfaction that was hard to describe.

His tongue circled his molars three times before he said in a deep voice: “You… whenever you need protection… just say it.”

After saying that, he nonchalantly touched the bone necklace at his neck, stealing a glance at Yu Wenzhi.

Yu Wenzhi leaned back against his gaming chair, raised his left hand to press against the bridge of his nose, but he couldn’t suppress his smile no matter what, and finally burst into a “pfft” laugh.

It was an intoxicating laugh.

For the entire day, Sheng Xu’s racing heart never slowed down.

Support Desire to Lure [Esports]