Ye Shaoyang played the Battle Royale mode with Xie Weiyu and Chen Qianhua until 1 AM before ending the stream.
He bade the netizens in the livestream goodnight, closed the channel, and turned to lie down on his bed. Suddenly, a message from Chi Shuo popped up on his phone: "Ready to sleep?"
Ye Shaoyang was puzzled: "How did you know?"
Chi Shuo said, "I was watching your stream. The Border Breakout mode is quite interesting."
Ye Shaoyang smiled and replied, "I think so too. A chaotic battle with a hundred people is more fun than the fixed tower-pushing mode of 5v5. However, equipment drops are random, and you have to search for treasure chests everywhere, so luck is also very important."
It was clear that Shaoyang had truly enjoyed himself tonight.
Chi Shuo was happy for him that he could find friends in the circle who treated him with sincerity.
Alphas naturally develop a strong possessiveness toward the Omega they have set their sights on, but Chi Shuo didn't want to interfere with Ye Shaoyang making friends. Shaoyang's personality was like a little sun; it was easy for him to garner goodwill from those around him.
He wouldn't block the light of the sun just to keep it all to himself.
Chi Shuo sent a voice message: "If you've played enough, go to sleep early. I'll take you to get breakfast tomorrow morning. I found a breakfast spot nearby with pretty good reviews."
Ye Shaoyang asked curiously, "Did you download a food-finding app?"
Chi Shuo: "Mm. I don't want to eat the hotel buffet either. Let's go out and eat the local specialty breakfast."
Ye Shaoyang replied, "Okay, goodnight Captain Chi!"
In reality, Chi Shuo wasn't picky about breakfast at all; some milk and bread would usually suffice. However, last time in Ya'an, Shaoyang mentioned he didn't like hotel breakfasts and wanted to taste local delicacies, even dragging Chi Shuo to queue for rice noodle rolls.
Chi Shuo had taken this to heart.
In the past, his brain only contained matches. He had never paid attention to anyone else like this; everyday details were usually forgotten as soon as he heard them, and he left all matters of food, clothing, housing, and transportation to the team manager. But ever since he started liking Shaoyang, Chi Shuo found himself involuntarily remembering Shaoyang's habits and preferences. Many details regarding Shaoyang seemed to be magnified in his mind.
When you like someone, you naturally want to treat them a little better. It was only right.
Chi Shuo fell asleep thinking of Ye Shaoyang and had a sweet dream.
Ye Shaoyang's dream, however, was about the Border Breakout mode. He used the [Abyssal Lord] to go on a rampage, killing over a dozen players in a row and surviving until the end.
When they woke up the next morning, both were in a good mood.
Ye Shaoyang messaged Chi Shuo: "Up yet?"
Chi Shuo: "Mm, washing my face."
Ye Shaoyang replied conveniently: "I'm going to wash my face too. Meet at the elevator in 10 minutes."
At 8 AM, the two arrived at a breakfast shop near the hotel.
Unlike the rice porridge and rice noodle rolls of the south, citizens of Binghe City preferred to eat steamed buns in the morning. The shop Chi Shuo picked mainly sold soup dumplings (Xiao Long Bao). It was very popular, with a long queue even this early in the morning.
Steam billowed from the large steamers at the entrance, and the scent of delicious food wafted through the air.
Ye Shaoyang rubbed his hands excitedly. "I saw this place while scrolling yesterday too, and I was just thinking about trying it. Captain Chi and I thought of the same thing again!"
Chi Shuo smiled faintly. "The reviews looked good. Many locals queue here for breakfast."
Ye Shaoyang said, "I used to love searching for local snacks in different places. Any shop with a queue usually isn't bad. It's a pity the league matches are only arranged in four cities, so we can't go anywhere else."
Chi Shuo turned to look at him. "After the tournament is over, I'll take you to walk around other cities."
Meeting the Alpha's gentle gaze, Ye Shaoyang's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Take you to walk around other cities? Why does that sound like a conversation between a couple?
Did I read too much of the #SunMoonShineTogether# super topic and start thinking like a CP fan?
Chi Shuo is just being polite, don't overthink it!
Ye Shaoyang quickly calmed down and said casually, "It's true we can't run around during the tournament. If there's a chance in the future, I'd also like to visit other places to relax."
The line moved up to them just then, and Ye Shaoyang ran to the counter to order.
Sitting upstairs eating delicious buns, Ye Shaoyang sighed with emotion, "I really don't like eating bread and eggs. Do you think I'm a picky eater?"
Chi Shuo said, "No. Everyone has their own preferences."
As they were chatting, a girl's timid voice suddenly came from behind them: "Is it Captain Chi and Yangyang?"
Ye Shaoyang paused and looked back.
It was a girl with a ponytail eating buns at the next table. When she met his gaze, her face flushed red with excitement. "It really is you guys! I'm a fan. What a coincidence, you're eating breakfast here too?"
Ye Shaoyang smiled and said, "Yeah, got up early to taste the local specialties."
The girl was so excited that she was incoherent. "You two really do sleep early and wake up early; it's true! By the way, c-can you give me an autograph? I like you guys so much!"
She rummaged through her backpack, found a notebook and a pen, and handed them to Ye Shaoyang.
Ye Shaoyang's attitude toward fans had always been gentle. In his previous life, he was known as the captain who spoiled his fans the most in the esports circle.
Meeting the girl's expectant eyes, he opened the notebook without a second thought, wrote down his ID "Lieyang" in a smooth hand, and passed the notebook to Chi Shuo. Chi Shuo also signed "Shuoyue" beside it.
Ye Shaoyang asked, "Are you a student?"
The girl said, "Yes, I'm an art student preparing for exams. I have to go to extra classes this weekend. I'm going to my teacher's house to practice painting after eating." She scratched her head shyly. "C-can you write a sentence wishing me success on the art exam?"
Ye Shaoyang smiled and said, "No problem."
He wrote a line of dashing, large characters on the notebook: Wishing you success in your art exams; may all your wishes come true.
The girl took the notebook and stood up excitedly. "Thank you, Yangyang! Let me treat you to breakfast!"
Ye Shaoyang said, "No need, you're still a student. Let us treat you."
He proactively scanned the code to pay for the adjacent table's bill. The girl's eyes turned red. Suddenly thinking of something, she took another notebook out of her bag and handed a page to Ye Shaoyang. "This is a Q-version (chibi) portrait I drew of you guys during practice. It's for you! I hope Tianhuan makes the playoffs, wins the championship, and goes to the World Tournament!"
The girl's drawing skills were quite good; the portraits were very cute.
Chi Shuo's Q-version big head still had a cool expression. Ye Shaoyang's Q-version head was smiling until his eyes were curved slits, pulling maximum aggro—it actually bore a 70% resemblance to Ye Shaoyang's own expression.
Ye Shaoyang took the drawing and said, "Thank you, it's drawn very well."
After finishing breakfast, the two bid farewell to the fan and left the small shop.
Ye Shaoyang held the portrait given by the fan, unable to put it down. "That girl should be able to get into art school, right? I think she draws very well."
Chi Shuo usually wasn't interested in Q-version merchandise. But since Shaoyang liked it, perhaps it was a case of "loving the house and its crow"? He also felt the pair of portraits looked very pleasing to the eye, so he took a photo with his phone to save it.
A moment later, a girl on Weibo posted a screenshot of the two signatures: "Ahhh, bumped into Shuoyue and Lieyang while eating breakfast and got both their autographs! I'm ascending to the heavens!! Captain Chi was still very serious; I didn't dare speak to him the whole time~! Yangyang is truly a super warm guy, his attitude toward fans is so good. Wu wu wu, I really didn't love the wrong person!"
The comments section went crazy very quickly.
[Sister, you actually saw them up close? Envy, jealousy, hate!]
[Yangyang's signature is handsome; his handwriting is so dashing. Captain Chi's signature is as proper as printed text, haha.]
[They really are esports players who sleep early and wake up early. It's only just past 8, and they're already up eating breakfast?]
[Esports players eat breakfast? Don't they all just eat afternoon tea?]
[Which shop? Is it too late for me to fly there now?]
Some people tagged Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo, worried the poster was maliciously faking their signatures.
Ye Shaoyang clarified under the Weibo post: "I signed it. Met a fan at breakfast, quite a coincidence ^_^"
Immediately, countless fans in the comments section begged for autographs.
By noon, Weibo was flooded with comments asking for signatures.
Realizing things had blown up, the girl immediately sent a DM to apologize: "I'm sorry, my Weibo doesn't have many followers. I posted the autographs out of excitement; I didn't expect to cause you so much trouble. I'm sorry!"
Ye Shaoyang looked at the row of crying emojis in the DM, guessing the girl was frightened by the sudden explosion of comments.
He replied: "It's okay. Focus on preparing for your exams. Good luck."
Actually, the feeling of wanting to show off after getting an idol's autograph was understandable.
Ye Shaoyang had been very popular in his previous life and had seen this situation too many times. As long as it wasn't malicious hype or rumors about his relationship with Chi Shuo, this small matter wasn't enough to cause a negative impact.
It was just a chance encounter with a fan and giving an autograph.
Of course, since this fan got an autograph, it was normal for others to be jealous and come running to ask for one too.
At noon, Ye Shaoyang contacted Tianhuan's team manager and asked, "Sister Tang Can, isn't Tianhuan's merchandise about to go on sale? Do you need signatures?"
Tang Can's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly said, "The first batch of merch includes promotional postcards and custom bookmarks. If you're willing to sign them, that would be best! However, the pre-orders for Tianhuan's merch this season alone are in the tens of thousands. If you sign all of them, you won't finish in a week. You still have matches to play. How about we try printed signatures?"
Ye Shaoyang went back to ask for his teammates' opinions.
Chi Shuo said calmly, "Our main task is still the competition. The club has specialists responsible for the merchandise. We can randomly sign some with well-wishes as a bonus, and the rest can have printed signatures."
Ye Shaoyang agreed. "Mm, if we ignore the fans asking for autographs, it's not good. With printed signatures, everyone gets one. The hand-signed well-wishes can be a surprise drop?"
Chi Shuo nodded. "That works. We can take one day to sign, just don't let it affect training."
Old Qin, Qu Jiang, and Cheng Xing had no objections.
After returning to the base, everyone cooperated with Tang Can to get this done. Coach Lin also gave everyone a day off.
Two empty tables were cleared in the large training room, and rows of postcards were laid out for everyone to sign.
Ye Shaoyang signed incredibly fast. In his previous life, he had signed tens of thousands of postcards. His ID back then was also Lieyang, so writing the two characters for "Lieyang" was naturally incredibly familiar to him. In the blink of an eye, he had signed several hundred well-wishes.
His handwriting was dashing and spirited; simple blessings looked very good when written by him.
When Ye Shaoyang finished signing, Cheng Xing was still drawing seriously next to him. Ye Shaoyang leaned over to look—Xiao Xing's handwriting was crooked but quite cute. He drew a star on every autograph, his attitude very earnest.
In fact, the fans' love and support were one of their driving forces. Every match, fans would bring support posters to the venue to cheer for them. They really should give something back to the fans.
That night, the official Weibo account released Tianhuan's Fan Appreciation Plan:
For this batch of merchandise, all postcards would feature the players' printed handwritten signatures. Since signing all of them by hand would take too much time and affect the matches, the fans understood.
In addition, the 5 players had hand-signed several hundred copies with well-wishes, which would be dropped randomly.
The official blog also announced a lottery event after the regular season ended for official limited-edition figurines, special bookmarks, hero pillows, and other merchandise. The fans were overjoyed, flooding the comments with "Go Tianhuan" and "It's so happy to be a Tianhuan fan."
Merchandise sales this season were significantly higher than the last. The keyboards endorsed by Tianhuan players were also selling exceptionally well, reportedly sold out, with the manufacturer rushing to produce a second batch.
In just a few short months, Ye Shaoyang's Weibo followers had broken through 20 million, ranking him among the top-tier players in the professional league. At the same time, the popularity of Cheng Xing, Qu Jiang, and Qin Yizhu also saw a significant increase.
Everything was developing in a good direction.
The team's results were improving, popularity was rebounding, and the players' conditions were getting better and better.
Coach Lin looked at the players busy signing autographs in the training room, smiled slightly, and casually posted a Weibo message: "There are two matches left in the playoffs. Although Tianhuan has secured a spot in the Winner's Bracket, we cannot start strong and finish weak. For the final two matches, win or lose, we will prepare well and live up to everyone's trust and expectations."