"Alright, alright, everyone turn your heads over here for a second. Stop hunching over the computers all day."
The moment they stepped through the door, Xing Xing called out to the people in the living room.
The WAR Club was located in a two-story villa. The first-floor hall had been turned into a training room.
The teenagers who had been immersed in their games finally pulled themselves away from their screens. When they saw who had arrived, they couldn't help but exclaim.
"Damn, what a handsome guy. Please teach me how to look like that."
"Brother Xing, are these the trainees you mentioned?"
"Yeah. And you guys—can you at least act a little like seniors?"
Xing Xing spoke while tidying up the slightly messy sofa.
A boy with thick brows and big eyes, wearing a white T-shirt, walked forward with a smile.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Pei Xunan. And that one—"
He pointed at a boy sitting at a computer, playing seriously with slightly long hair.
"That's Jiang Chixin. Codename CX. He's a good guy, just doesn't talk much. He often wears headphones and his hearing isn't great. If you call him and he doesn't respond, don't take it personally. He probably just didn't hear you."
At that moment, Jiang Chixin took off his headphones and waved at them.
Pei Xunan then pointed to another boy on the sofa who was crunching on potato chips, his figure slightly chubby.
"And that one—"
"His name is Li Shu. You can also call him BOOK."
BOOK turned around and offered them the chips.
"Hello! I'm Li Shu. Damn, you guys finally arrived. You have no idea what happened last night—"
Before he could finish, Xing Xing coughed twice.
Li Shu reluctantly shut his mouth. Then he suddenly wailed.
"Wait, what?! My Composer calibration was going perfectly—why is Wu Chang teleporting to me?! No way! I need to repair to 95%!"
He tossed the chips aside and immediately focused on kiting the hunter.
Xing Xing exploded in anger.
"At least wipe your hands first!"
Li Shu looked wronged.
"Brother Xing, you don't care about me at all! I'm about to be killed by Wu Chang and you don't even ask!"
"..."
Lu Xiangyang's mouth twitched.
Shen Kuangye also turned his head slightly. The atmosphere wasn't far from what he had expected.
"Oh right, there's also Cheng Rang. Old Cheng! Stop sleeping! They're here!"
Cheng Rang had been dozing off in his seat. He had stayed up too late last night and now felt like he was floating in a daze.
Suddenly being called out startled him awake.
He struggled to open his sleepy eyes.
"Hello there."
His gaze drifted past Shen Kuangye before finally landing on Lu Xiangyang.
The moment he saw him, his expression suddenly cleared up.
He immediately stood up, tidied his hair, and walked over to Lu Xiangyang with a perfectly timed smile.
"Hello, junior brother. We're family now. How about we add each other on WeChat?"
Pei Xunan looked speechless.
Here he goes again.
Shen Kuangye glanced at Cheng Rang. The latter returned the look with a faint smile.
Shen Kuangye knew him, the observer position for EAR. In his previous life, during the Abyss tournament, Cheng Rang had disrupted their rhythm more than once.
Cheng Rang was individually very strong. Many teams had tried to poach him from EAR, yet he had never left.
Lu Xiangyang looked a bit confused but obediently took out his phone and scanned the QR code.
Shen Kuangye pulled Lu Xiangyang behind him. He didn't really want Lu Xiangyang interacting too much with Cheng Rang.
"Finished?" he asked.
His tone was calm.
Cheng Rang looked at him and smiled.
"Of course."
"Old Cheng, that's enough. Go sleep already."
Pei Xunan pushed him away while explaining to Shen Kuangye,
"He's always like that. Kind of annoying."
Shen Kuangye nodded faintly.
He could tell.
Very annoying indeed.
"Oh, there's one more person. Lin An. His health isn't very good. He went to the hospital last night."
Pei Xunan sighed.
"Not sure when he'll recover."
"Alright, enough about that."
Xing Xing finally finished tidying up the living room.
"You two haven't eaten yet, right? Let's go eat first. The food's ready. After we finish, we'll talk about the contract."
From the moment they entered, Shen Kuangye had already noticed Lu Xiangyang sniffing lightly like a small puppy.
Sure enough, when he heard the word food, Lu Xiangyang's eyes instantly lit up.
For Lu Xiangyang, there were three important things every day:
Eat.
Sleep.
Play games.
As long as those three things were done, he was happy.
The EAR club chef was actually quite skilled.
Lu Xiangyang had a sweet mouth, praising the food while eating. Uncle Li's smile never faded, and the others enthusiastically joined in the praise. The atmosphere was warm and lively.
Shen Kuangye sat beside him.
When he noticed the boy's slender wrist, he subconsciously picked up some food and placed it in Lu Xiangyang's bowl.
Only after doing so did he pause.
Lu Xiangyang had a serious cleanliness obsession when it came to food.
If someone used their own utensils to put food in his bowl, he usually felt very uncomfortable.
But the chicken wing was already in the bowl now. It would be awkward to take it back.
After finishing his conversation, Lu Xiangyang noticed the extra chicken wing.
Shen Kuangye hadn't yet withdrawn his hand. His Adam's apple moved slightly.
Then his eyelashes trembled.
Because Lu Xiangyang picked up the chicken wing without hesitation and took a bite.
No one understood Lu Xiangyang's level of cleanliness better than Shen Kuangye.
How could this be possible?
But Shen Kuangye quickly figured it out.
Lu Xiangyang was the type of person who never wanted to embarrass others.
He probably just didn't want Shen Kuangye to lose face in front of everyone.
After the meal, Xing Xing brought them to the office to discuss the contract.
Once the door was closed, Xing Xing chatted with them and explained that whether they chose to stay with EAR in the future would be entirely up to them. The club wouldn't trap them with contracts or unreasonable clauses.
He sighed.
"After all, the career lifespan of an esports player is only a few years."
Even though several players in Identity V were still active at twenty-five or twenty-six, Xing Xing knew better than anyone how difficult that was.
He then spoke to Lu Xiangyang.
"Before signing, I need to tell you the real situation of the club. If you can accept it, then we continue. If not, I respect your choice."
He first looked at Lu Xiangyang.
"Lin An's tenosynovitis relapsed recently and he's resting. The doctor estimates it will take about two months to recover. The regular season is starting soon, so you may need to go on stage immediately and handle the pressure."
Letting a nearly inexperienced rookie face the pressure of competition, everyone in the room knew what kind of public criticism that could bring.
But Lu Xiangyang simply smiled, sounding relaxed.
"What's the big deal, manager? Everything has a first time. Since I've chosen to join the team, I'll definitely do my best. As for what others think—I don't care at all."
Xing Xing finally relaxed.
"Really? Don't force yourself."
Lu Xiangyang raised his eyebrows, confidence shining in his eyes.
"Of course."
After solving the hunter issue, Xing Xing began discussing their salary.
EAR's salary level was about average among mainland teams—but compared to Ella's exploitative contract, it was far better.
After calculating his expenses, Shen Kuangye estimated he could still save about twenty thousand yuan each month.
Lu Xiangyang's eyes widened when he heard the number.
For an eighteen-year-old who had just graduated high school, it was still a huge amount.
Xing Xing laughed at his expression.
"There's more. If we win prize money in competitions, the club only takes twenty percent. The rest will be split among you."
The Identity V Summer and Autumn tournaments offered 10 million yuan in prize money.
The Abyss championship offered 20 million.
Second place: 10 million.
Third place: 8 million.
Lu Xiangyang silently calculated in his mind.
How much money would that be...
Shen Kuangye only needed one glance at his expression to know exactly what he was thinking.
A little money-lover.
Signing the contract went smoothly.
Xing Xing asked Cheng Rang and the others to help move their luggage upstairs and showed them their bedroom.
"You two will stay in this room. If there's any problem, tell me. If you want to eat anything, just tell Uncle Li and he'll buy it for you. And also—"
He was about to say something else when his phone rang.
He glanced at the caller and quickly answered it.
"I need to take this call. You guys organize your things first."
Shen Kuangye noticed Lu Xiangyang looking around the room.
When he realized there was only one large bed, he froze for a moment before quickly glancing at Shen Kuangye and turning away.
Shen Kuangye didn't understand.
?
Shen Kuangye didn't have many belongings, so he finished organizing quickly. The club had already made the bed, so there wasn't much to do.
Lu Xiangyang was different.
After half the day, he was still sorting his clothes. The bed was also piled with snacks.
Eighteen-year-old Lu Xiangyang had basically zero life skills.
He couldn't even fold clothes properly. Everything came out crooked.
He glanced at Shen Kuangye's wardrobe, where the clothes were neatly arranged.
He tried to copy it, but no matter what he did, it didn't work.
While staring gloomily at a hoodie he couldn't fold, Shen Kuangye picked it up.
In just a few motions, he folded it perfectly.
Lu Xiangyang gasped in admiration, his peach blossom eyes sparkling.
"Brother Kuangye, you're so good at folding clothes."
Shen Kuangye chuckled.
"It's just folding clothes. It's very simple."
Lu Xiangyang was passionate about everything.
He sat upright, eyes bright.
"I want to learn too."
Shen Kuangye smiled slightly and placed the last folded shirt aside.
"You don't need to learn these things."
"You just need to focus on playing games well."
He truly meant it.
Since he had already lived through life once before, Lu Xiangyang didn't need to learn these things.
He could handle them himself.
Lu Xiangyang only needed to play games and pursue his dreams.
In this life, he just needed to live more easily.
Shen Kuangye didn't realize there was anything ambiguous in what he said.
But when he noticed the sudden silence beside him and looked over, he saw Lu Xiangyang's face had turned red again.
Lu Xiangyang already had fair skin, so even the slightest color was obvious.
"What's wrong?" Shen Kuangye asked.
"Is it hot?"
Lu Xiangyang shook his head like a rattle drum.
His face turned even redder.
"Cough… no, Brother Kuangye."
To Shen Kuangye, it looked like he was just being stubborn.
After all, he knew Lu Xiangyang's personality very well. He hated troubling others. Even if he was uncomfortable, if others didn't notice, he would simply endure it himself.
Shen Kuangye casually lowered the air-conditioner temperature a few degrees.
He could feel Lu Xiangyang watching him the entire time.
He silently reflected, had he acted too rashly earlier and made him uncomfortable?
When he turned his head to look, Lu Xiangyang immediately shifted his gaze elsewhere.
Shen Kuangye was extremely experienced when it came to gaming.
But when it came to interacting with people, he had no clue.
Too much time had passed.
He didn't really know how to treat others well anymore. It was easy for him to accidentally cross a line.
Thinking this, he sat down beside Lu Xiangyang.
Looking down at him, he spoke after a moment of hesitation.
"I might not be very good at getting along with people."
Lu Xiangyang blinked at him, clearly not understanding.
Shen Kuangye thought for a moment and continued.
"If there's anything I do in the future that makes you uncomfortable, you can tell me directly."
Afraid Lu Xiangyang might not hear him, he braced one hand beside him, closing the distance between them.
His voice was low.
Lu Xiangyang suddenly shrank to the side.
And turned even redder.
Now even his ears and neck were red.
"I… I won't feel uncomfortable," Lu Xiangyang said, then suddenly changed his words with a red face.
"What I mean is… I think you're really good."