The Doctor said I Have to be A Kept Man - Chapter 15

The match between Chaoge and Xingxiu was held in C City. Flying Cloud brought the team a day early, traveling via private jet.

Lin Huo flopped onto the sofa in the cabin, boasting to the newcomers, “Don’t you think our boss is incredibly loaded? In the domestic circuit, Chaoge is the only team that travels by private jet.”

“Truly, humanity-defying wealth,” Chaoyang remarked. “But who actually owns us? There’s no logo on the uniforms.”

Lin Huo smirked. “Ever heard of the Jin Group? The internet giant?”

“The one owned by the richest family in the country?” Zhaoxing asked curiously.

As the others huddled together to gossip, Chi Ruanfan took a sip of his juice and glanced at Jin Zhu beside him. Jin Zhu was staring intensely at his laptop, seemingly deaf to the noise. Only Chi Ruanfan and the coach knew Jin Zhu’s true identity.

“The training intensity has been so high lately, and now you’re working on the plane? Aren’t you tired?” Chi Ruanfan leaned over.

Beyond training, Jin Zhu had been helping him set up the streaming platform. They had spent every spare minute discussing the design for Yexian Live, the name Chi Ruanfan chose to honor his team from his previous life.

Jin Zhu lowered his volume. “I’m fine. Besides, we get to sleep early tonight.”

Chi Ruanfan took one of Jin Zhu’s earbuds and put it in. “Let me see too.” He wanted to study Xingxiu one last time.

“Sure.” Jin Zhu shifted the laptop toward him, but his gaze drifted down to Chi Ruanfan’s hand, which was resting casually on his shoulder. Slender, pale, well-defined…

By the time the plane landed, Jin Zhu realized he hadn’t processed a single second of the replay. His mind was entirely occupied by the image of Chi Ruanfan’s hands.

When they deplaned, Chi Ruanfan noticed Jin Zhu nearly walking into a wall. He grabbed Jin Zhu’s hand to lead him. “Still thinking about the replays?”

“…Mn,” Jin Zhu looked down.

“Don’t worry,” Chi Ruanfan comforted him. “Xingxiu has to choose between banning my Melee Mage or my Puppeteer. That’s enough to give them a headache.”

“Your hands are very beautiful,” Jin Zhu said suddenly.

“Huh?” Chi Ruanfan blinked at the non-sequitur, then laughed, lifting Jin Zhu’s hand and interloping their fingers. “Yours are nice too. The hands of a Jungle King.”

“Are we talking about hands? Look at mine!” Lin Huo spun around, displaying his own fingers.

Jin Zhu glanced at Lin Huo’s hand and said flatly, “Average.”

Sunday, 8:00 PM: The Match Begins

The match was held at Xingxiu’s home stadium in C City. Fifteen minutes before the start, the crowd was roaring.

Lin Huo was still obsessing over his hands. “My hands are okay, right? Fans say they’re my best feature.”

Lu Lu retracted his own slightly chubby hands. “Probably because your other features are so underwhelming.”

“Brother Chi! Listen to him! Is that how a teammate speaks?” Lin Huo cried out.

Chi Ruanfan smiled. “It’s standard Mandarin. Sounds accurate to me.”

“Damn it! Even you, Brother Chi…”

Coach Flying Cloud walked over. “Equipment and accounts checked?”

“All good,” the team replied. Jin Zhu closed the social tab on the official tournament account. He felt a slight pang of regret—the official accounts didn’t have the “Couple” tag he and Chi Ruanfan shared on their private ones.

“Lin Huo, Lu Lu,” Flying Cloud said seriously. “You two need to play well this round. The twins haven’t debuted yet. If you win this first game, it’ll take the pressure off them for the next one.”

“No problem,” Lin Huo said, regaining his spirit. “I’ll show them my Ice Arrow!”

Chi Ruanfan calculated the points in his head. Chaoge had lost too much in the first half of the season. To make it to the World Championship, they had to win every single remaining game with a clean 3-0 score. One lost map meant elimination.

“Nervous?” Jin Zhu whispered.

Chi Ruanfan smirked. “Just feels a bit… thrilling.”

The pick-and-ban phase began.

“Welcome everyone, I’m Emerald.” “And I’m Cabbage.”

Emerald started the commentary: “Chaoge signed the genius rookie Chi Fou last week. He became famous overnight with his Melee Mage. We also heard they signed two more rookies this week. I wonder if we’ll see them today.”

Cabbage noted, “The camera is on Chaoge. Jin Yi, Chi Fou, Lin Huo, Lu Lu, and Guzi. No new faces in the starting lineup for Game 1.”

On the official stream, the chat exploded the moment Chi Ruanfan’s blonde hair appeared on screen.

“Add a chicken leg to the cameraman’s lunch! That close-up is insane.” “How does Chi Fou look that good? Is he even real?” “To the new viewers: this is my cub, Chi Fou. His Melee Mage is legendary!”

“Xingxiu has banned the Melee Mage first,” Emerald noted. Then he paused in shock. “Wait, Heart-Moon Fox has locked in the Array Master? A control mage is never his style. Is he just trying to deny the pick to Chi Fou?”

Cabbage added, “With Melee Mage and Array Master gone, what will Chi Fou play? He’s locked in the Puppeteer! Another control class, but with a much higher difficulty ceiling.”

Emerald observed the Xingxiu booth. “The Xingxiu players look incredibly grim. Why is that?”

The stream chat was less analytical:

“Look at the Xingxiu coach’s forehead, the stress is real.” “Heart-Moon Fox is going to teach this rookie a lesson. He’s a veteran Mid-lane King!” “He’s just a rookie. He’ll probably cry when he loses, right?”

Support The Doctor said I Have to be A Kept Man