Desire to Lure [Esports] - Chapter 19

For the sake of his “canine son,” Ware indeed rushed back from home early.

Seeing its owner, the little Teddy became much more active, running all over the stairs and eating its dog food with much more gusto in the evening.

Sheng Xu, however, was no longer used to having other people in the training room.

He watched as Ware pulled out bags of cold-served rabbit meat, spicy rabbit heads, spicy dried tofu, and Sichuan-style sausages from his suitcase, crowding them all onto a plate. After a minute in the microwave, once the aroma wafted out, Ware insisted on picking up a piece for Yu Wenzhi to taste.

Holding the chopsticks, Ware offered a piece of rabbit meat coated in red oil and chili to Yu Wenzhi’s lips.

“Come on, Captain, my grandmother made this herself. It’s delicious; she used to run a restaurant.”

“Alright then.” Unable to decline, Yu Wenzhi tucked his hair back and opened his lips.

Ware immediately fed it into Yu Wenzhi’s mouth, looking expectant.

Sheng Xu’s eyelid twitched. He’s so easy to feed.

Yu Wenzhi pursed his lips and chewed a few times. Initially, he could taste the fresh savor of the seasonings, but soon, his tongue felt as if it were on fire, rapidly becoming piercingly hot. The temperature of his mouth fanned the flames of the chili, and the pain became increasingly clear.

Yu Wenzhi finally couldn’t help but gasp, letting the momentary coolness carry away some of the heat. Then, before the pain could surge back, he hurried to grab a bottle of rose cold tea from the side and tilted his head back to gulp down several mouthfuls.

His mouth began to salivate profusely. After finishing half the bottle, the spicy sting seemed finally suppressed. Only then did Yu Wenzhi set down the bottle, his face already a bit flushed.

The spiciness came quickly and left quickly. Having recovered, Yu Wenzhi used the back of his hand to dab a water droplet from his lip and smiled helplessly: “I can’t do it. It’s too spicy. You eat it.”

He hadn’t eaten much spicy food since childhood; at most, he could handle the mild spice of Cantonese cuisine. Ware’s hometown delicacies were a bit too much.

Rarely seeing the Captain with moist eyes and a slight blush on his cheeks, Ware joked while holding his chopsticks: “Captain, I specifically brought the ‘mild’ spice for you. Usually, I eat ‘extra hot.'”

Sheng Xu finally couldn’t help but ask: “Didn’t you say the dog is fine now? Why are you back?”

There were still ten days left before the break ended. He could have had Yu Wenzhi all to himself for a while longer.

“It wasn’t all for the dog. Mainly my mom got tired of me and couldn’t wait for me to come back.” Using the same chopsticks he had used to feed Yu Wenzhi, Ware picked up two pieces of rabbit for himself, talking as he ate. “And it’s not just me; Ever is coming back too. Otherwise, are we supposed to watch you duo-queue with the Captain every day?”

Ware’s last sentence was purely meant to tease Sheng Xu. He didn’t actually know what Ever was thinking, but he knew saying this would shut Sheng Xu up.

Sure enough, Sheng Xu’s face darkened.

But it wasn’t because of Ever; it was because of those chopsticks.

Sharing a pair of chopsticks how was that any different from an indirect kiss?

A faint sourness, like touching electric wires, sparked with a crackle.

Unfortunately, Ware was a straightforward straight man who hadn’t thought that far ahead at all. After a few bites, he even wanted Yu Wenzhi to try a piece of sausage.

“Captain, why don’t you try the sausage? This one isn’t spicy, and it’s really savory with white porridge.”

Yu Wenzhi raised a hand to block his face and tilted his head, unable to keep from laughing: “Spare me, please.”

Just then, his phone rang. The ringtone gave him an excuse to escape the torture of capsaicin. He pulled out his phone, making a gesture to answer, and signaled to Sheng Xu nearby with his eyes: “Let him eat it.”

After speaking, Yu Wenzhi went to the side to take the call.

Ware turned to look at Sheng Xu.

Sheng Xu knit his brows: “I don’t eat rabbit.”

It wasn’t out of pity for the long-eared creatures; he generally didn’t touch animals he had never eaten before.

Ware had already mastered the way to handle Sheng Xu. Hearing this, the corners of his mouth turned down, his brow furrowed slightly, and he tilted his head to look sideways at Sheng Xu: “S City native, right? I knew you were afraid of spicy food. ‘Don’t eat rabbit,’ my foot.”

Sheng Xu stared at Ware, thinking silently: This kind of reverse psychology is so stupid.

Then he snatched the chopsticks from Ware’s hand, flipped them to the other side, picked up a piece of rabbit meat, and stuffed it into his mouth without changing his expression.

Ware looked at the chopsticks with red oil on both ends, incredulous: “I thought you were a germaphobe.”

“You used it.”

“But the Captain used it too. You’re disgusted by me and the Captain?”

Sheng Xu was too lazy to explain.

His gaze started from the tip of the chopsticks, gave a hop, and landed on Yu Wenzhi’s back.

When Yu Wenzhi took a call, he was in the habit of resting his free hand on his waist. As luck would have it, he was wearing that blue Tencel shirt again today, only this time, he had tucked the hem into his jeans and pulled it out slightly, letting the soft, translucent shirt drape lazily over the beltline.

When his hand rested there, it was as if he had drawn a highlight for the viewer’s gaze. Sheng Xu’s eyes fluctuated up and down for a few moments, ultimately landing mostly on that superior dividing line: above was a slender, firm back and waist; below were firm, full buttocks and straight, long legs.

“Sister Meiran,” Yu Wenzhi greeted with a smile, his eyes flickering toward the window, though he wasn’t really looking at any scenery.

“Wenzhi, isn’t my wedding this weekend? I was wondering if you could bring Sheng Xu along too?”

Wang Meiran was one of the earliest professional hosts for League of Legends. When Yu Wenzhi first joined Team TEA, Wang Meiran was at the height of her popularity. By the time Yu Wenzhi won the championship, she had resigned to further her studies, going overseas for a Master’s in Education.

But the friendship from those years remained, so her wedding was attended by many friends from the e-sports circle.

“Him?” Yu Wenzhi was slightly surprised and instinctively turned to look at Sheng Xu.

Caught off guard, Sheng Xu was nabbed right in the act. It was too late now to pull away his blatant, exaggerated gaze.

Yu Wenzhi followed his line of sight down, fixing it right on his own waist and hips.

Yu Wenzhi casually dropped the hand that had been resting on his waist.

In just an instant, he turned his head back, returning his attention to Wang Meiran.

“Wenzhi, it’s like this: my husband’s family is quite well-off. The guests on his side are all quite… prestigious, you could say. You know I came from a small town and my parents are ordinary people; I can only rely on myself. I heard Sheng Xu is quite popular lately; let him come to help make up the numbers.”

Wang Meiran and Yu Wenzhi had a good relationship, and she knew Yu Wenzhi was perceptive and socially savvy, so she wasn’t afraid to lay out her true thoughts.

A dating relationship is about love at first sight, dry tinder and a raging fire it’s reckless, impulsive, or something that can be tried again.

But a marriage relationship is about balance, constraints, treading a balance beam in a void, finding the optimal solution in a linear program.

Perhaps there wouldn’t be intentional disdain, but a condescending posture or the self-satisfaction when discussing family background could secretly sting a sensitive and ambitious heart.

Yu Wenzhi glimpsed the vulnerability and stubbornness behind her words. His heart softened, and he couldn’t help but want to help fulfill this trivial bit of perfection. However, he still spoke with restraint: “I’ll ask him.”

He had to seek Sheng Xu’s opinion, after all; it was an entirely unrelated wedding.

Yu Wenzhi turned back. Sheng Xu had already guiltily averted his gaze, finding refuge in Ware’s unpopular plate of rabbit meat.

“Sheng Xu, do you want to attend a wedding?”

The sudden question made Sheng Xu’s brain go blank for a moment, and his heart couldn’t stop racing.

The word “wedding” carried an unpredictable impact, especially coming from Yu Wenzhi’s mouth. Even though Sheng Xu realized a second later it was someone else’s wedding, he still couldn’t get his heart rate to slow down immediately.

“Whose wedding?”

Yu Wenzhi: “A friend’s. Just consider it accompanying me.”

“Oh. I’ll go.”

The key was accompanying you, not whose wedding it was.

Yu Wenzhi smiled and said to the other end of the line: “He agreed. We’ll be there on time.”

Wang Meiran: “Thank you, Wenzhi. Don’t let Sheng Xu bring a gift; I’ll prepare a big gift bag for him as a thank you.”

When the call ended, Ware had finished the plate of rabbit. His lips were red, and he spoke with a slight lisp: “Whose wedding is it, Captain?”

“Sister Meiran’s.”

“Oh, Sister Meiran! She’s getting married? Where is it being held?”

“Doan International Sky Garden.”

“That’s not far from our club.”

Ware had heard of Wang Meiran but had little contact with her. He just offered a comment of sentiment, then took the plate of spat-out bones to find a trash can.

Yu Wenzhi walked toward Sheng Xu, and as he walked, he slowly pulled the tucked-in shirt out of his jeans.

The fabric of the shirt didn’t wrinkle easily; once released, it fell like a light cloud, hazily covering his waist and hips, making that firm curve impossible to see clearly.

Yu Wenzhi raised his eyes, his tone carrying a hint of imperceptible teasing: “Since you’re always staring at it, if you like this shirt so much, should I buy one for you too?”

Sheng Xu sat leaning against the computer desk with a fake air of nonchalance, raising a hand to rub his nose, his eyes darting miles away.

Ware suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs: “Captain, let’s not waste these bones. Can the Alaskan eat them?”

Yu Wenzhi had made his point and stopped teasing Sheng Xu. He tilted his chin toward the corridor, frowning: “Aren’t they too spicy?”

Ware: “I’ll wash them!”

Ware picked out the gnawed rabbit bones and rinsed them three times with water; as it happened, dogs shouldn’t eat things that are too salty anyway.

The Alaskan was delighted to get an extra meal. A small pile of rabbit bones sat on its stainless steel dish, still faintly smelling of cooked meat.

The big dog’s mouth was slightly open, its tongue poking past its teeth, panting excitedly as it watched Ware pour a good amount of dog food and freeze-dried treats over the bones.

It couldn’t wait and stamped its feet, the little bell at its neck jingling wildly.

Ware, a self-proclaimed dog-rearing expert, weighed the stainless steel dish full of food, watching the Alaskan’s gaze follow it up and down, stuck tight to it.

Ware: “See? It’s not usually like this. Staring like that today means it wants to eat meat.”

After Ware finished his sentence, he noticed a subtle silence in the surroundings. It was one thing for Sheng Xu not to speak, but even the Captain was silent.

Ware looked up, glancing at Yu Wenzhi in confusion: “Did I say something wrong?”

Yu Wenzhi rubbed the cuff of his shirt, dusting off non-existent dust, and said unhurriedly: “Just feed it.”