X’s goal this year is to win the CRLC Grand Slam. To achieve this, the club has hired Korean star Lee Yoon-heo with a high salary, forming a five-player team.

Cheng Yu was scrolling through the X official Weibo page, where the latest post announced Lee Yoon-heo’s addition to the team. The photo showed Lee Yoon-heo and other team members posing in front of the club’s entrance.

Lee Yoon-heo’s silver earrings were particularly eye-catching, and his smile was bold and arrogant. Yuan Xiu stood on the far right, smiling slightly with a friendly but reserved demeanor. Ah Heng had a beaming smile, making a peace sign with a cheerful “Yay” gesture.

Ren Xiang looked cool with his hands in his pockets, while Gu Zhefeng showed his disdain openly, frowning and flaring his nostrils.

Cheng Yu regretted ever suggesting that she might consider joining the professional scene, knowing now that her refusal led to this outcome.

Lu Manman was sitting in her hanging chair, scrolling through Weibo and casually said, “It’s not really about you. Yang Chen’s discussion with me was based on Yuan Xiu’s influence. Whether I could join or not was uncertain, and even if I did, it would be as an insider. Miss W shouldn’t be so frustrated.”

“As the saying goes, gold will shine sooner or later. You will use your strength to prove that Yuan Xiu’s judgment was correct.”

“They’ll regret it,” Lu Manman said, “Although this player Lee Yoon-heo is good, in the context of the Major League, he can’t even compare to a first-level player.”

In the Major League, players are classified into levels from five to one, with different levels corresponding to different salary ranges.

Cheng Yu peeked out from the bed, surprised and asked, “He’s not considered a first-level player in your Major League? But many teams in the Asian region are offering high salaries to recruit him.”

Lu Manman proudly stated, “Otherwise, how do you think the Major League has been able to maintain its dominance for so many years.”

Curious, Xia Tian asked, “So you must be a first-level player in the Major League?”

Lu Manman shook her head.

Cheng Yu exclaimed, “What, you can’t even rank as a first-level player?!”

Xia Tian added, “Unbelievable!”

Lu Manman’s lips curved into a mysterious smile, “X is a special-level player, unique in the entire Major League, bow down to the goddess!”

“……”

Cheng Yu and Summer rolled their eyes in unison.

Xia Tian said, “You can tell just by looking at her scheming, smirking face.”

Cheng Yu replied, “The goddess makes me want to hit her. Should we team up?”

…

Small Limping Donkey: Yuan Xiu, Yuan Xiu.

Before going to sleep that night, Yuan Xiu finally had time to reply to Lu Manman’s message.

“Mm?”

Small Limping Donkey: “Congratulations on the new team member joining.”

Yuan Xiu: “Just finished arranging the room for the Korean aid, explaining our club’s rules. His English isn’t very good, so it was a bit of a struggle.”

Small Limping Donkey: “I think your English is quite good.”

Yuan Xiu: “It’s the Korean aid’s English that’s not very good.”

Small Limping Donkey: “Oh.”

Yuan Xiu: “He and Gu Zhefeng had a small argument earlier. He broke Gu Zhefeng’s favorite game controller. Gu Zhefeng almost cried.”

Small Limping Donkey: “How did that happen?”

Yuan Xiu: “He’s deliberately looking for trouble because Gu Zhefeng hasn’t been kind to him. There might be issues with their interactions in the future.”

Small Limping Donkey: “It’s the captain’s responsibility to manage the team dynamics.”

Yuan Xiu: “I’ll handle it as best as I can. It won’t affect the matches.”

Small Limping Donkey: “If you run into problems and can’t make a decision, just call me anytime. I’ve been a captain at Queen for three years, so dealing with eccentric team members is something I’m experienced in.”

Yuan Xiu looked at the message, his gaze soft and warm, thinking that she really is a good friend.

Yuan Xiu: “Do you have to be so warm?”

Small Limping Donkey: “Quick, kneel down and worship the goddess.”

Yuan Xiu: “Kneel and lick.”

Small Limping Donkey: ⊙o⊙

Lu Manman shouted from under the bed, “Yuan Xiu has now moved up to my top friend ranking no.1! You two have been pushed down, hmph!”

Cheng Yu, who was applying a facial mask, looked up and asked, “What did he send you?”

Lu Manman showed them the text message. Xia Tian commented, “He added a space between the two words, so my focus is on the word ‘lick.’ What about you?”

She looked at Cheng Yu, who replied, “I think I might have picked up on something significant.”

…

At X Team, there was a disagreement regarding which players to send for the solo tournament.

A team can send up to two players to participate in the solo competition, which is the most revealing of a player’s potential. It’s also the most eye-catching event—winning the solo tournament can significantly boost a player’s popularity.

Last year, X’s solo tournament seed player was Yuan Xiu, who easily won the championship with no suspense and became the center of attention.

This year, X planned to send Yuan Xiu again along with Gu Zhefeng, who was making his solo tournament debut. The risk was that Ren Xiang and Ah Heng, who are primary support players, might not perform as well in the solo competition.

However, when Yuan Xiu entered the club’s office, he saw Lee Yoon-heo sitting casually on a chair, Gu Zhefeng looking very displeased, and Yang Chen along with two other board members present.

Yuan Xiu could guess that there might be changes in the selection of solo tournament players this time.

After Lee Yoon-heo arrived in China, he had his hair dyed a striking silver-grey and styled with some flamboyant curls, creating a very ostentatious look.

Generally, domestic competitive clubs impose restrictions on their players to prevent them from appearing too flashy in public media.

Even at Yuan Xiu’s level, there are significant limitations on things like retweeting, commenting on Weibo, or who to follow.

Lee Yoon-heo, being new, evidently had little understanding of these rules.

Yuan Xiu sat down and said, “Korea may not have such strict management of players as Chinese teams do.”

He spoke in English, clearly aiming his words at someone.

Lee Yoon-heo flicked his silver-grey hair, “Yeah, your Chinese teams have so many rules and restrictions. You can’t do this, you can’t do that—it’s so boring.”

Gu Zhefeng coldly retorted, “That’s because the number of Chinese fans is ten or even a hundred times greater than those in your country. If you want to gain fans and compete here, you need to follow the rules.”

Lee Yoon-heo shrugged nonchalantly, “Yes, yes, I know you have a lot of fans, which is why I came to China to develop my career. But so what? If players don’t even have the right to choose their own hair color, what’s the point of competing? Besides, my fans actually like my hairstyle.”

“Many of your fans are young teenagers. Whatever the idol does, they tend to imitate.”

Yuan Xiu pulled out a chair and sat down, saying in a serious tone, “If you appear in public with your silver-grey hair today, tomorrow many kids at school will be showing up with their own ‘youthful white’ hairstyles.”

Lee Yoon-heo snorted, “Your country is so boring. Are you still living in the Qing Dynasty?”

“If you find it boring, then don’t come here to make money off our fans!” Gu Zhefeng, who rarely showed such hostility, was provoked. Yuan Xiu gave him a glance, signaling him to tone it down.

Lee Yoon-heo sneered, “Please, it was you who invited me here!”

“Stop arguing,” Yang Chen intervened to halt the dispute among the team members. “The purpose of gathering you today is not to discuss Lee Yoon-heo’s hair.”

Yuan Xiu looked at him calmly and asked, “What are your thoughts on the single-player competition?”

“Our team originally planned to send Yuan Xiu and Zhefeng for the single-player matches, with Yuan Xiu as the seed player for safety’s sake.”

Yang Chen paused and then continued, “However, the board unanimously believes that since Yoon-heo has just arrived, this is the perfect opportunity for him to make a name for himself and attract fans. Therefore, one spot in the single-player competition should be reserved for Yoon-heo.”

So it was about this matter.

Other teams might handle such situations privately, negotiating with their members behind closed doors. However, X Team operates differently. Yuan Xiu, Zhefeng, and A Heng have always had a very close relationship, almost like siblings. Therefore, when the board needs to discuss internal matters, they gather everyone together and discuss openly.

Zhefeng, known for his straightforwardness, asked, “So who are you going to remove, me or the captain?”

“What do you mean by ‘removing’?” Yang Chen frowned. “The single-player competition happens every year, and every member has the opportunity to participate. There’s no need to make it sound so serious.”

So it seems the decision is already made. The real purpose of bringing everyone together is to decide who among Zhefeng and Yuan Xiu will withdraw from the single-player competition.

It really is about favoring the new over the old.

However, he could understand the board’s decision, as it was ultimately for the team’s development.

Zhefeng said, “Then why discuss it? I’ll withdraw…”

Before he could finish, Yuan Xiu spoke up, “Zhefeng is participating in the single-player competition for the first time, which is significant. I won the championship last year; there’s no need for me to compete again.”

Yang Chen raised an eyebrow. His personal preference was for Zhefeng to withdraw, given that this was Zhefeng’s first single-player competition and Yuan Xiu’s chances of winning were higher. Since Yuan Xiu had already made this statement, Yang Chen had no reason to argue further, as opposing it would only make Zhefeng uncomfortable.

The meeting concluded quickly. That evening, Zhefeng sent an “explosive” emoji in their WeChat group of four.

The group chat was named after four differently colored and shaped stars, representing the four members of the team. Originally, Yuan Xiu intended to add Lee Yoon-heo to the group, but Lee yoon-heo insisted on using Line instead of WeChat, so the group remained with just the four members.

Zhefeng: I hate, hate, hate that person!

Ren Xiang: ?

Ah Heng: 【Head pat】

Zhefeng: I absolutely hate that person.

Yuan Xiu: Leave personal emotions out of training. I’ll remind you just once: if you point a gun at him again during practice, you’ll owe me five hundred push-ups.

Zhefeng: He stole your spot in the single-player competition, and you’re still defending him!

Yuan Xiu: It’s fine. Single-player matches can be played or not played.

Zhefeng: Stop pretending. With M4 in the single-player competition, don’t you want to compete against her? Even Ah Heng wouldn’t believe that.

Yuan Xiu: …

Ah Heng: [Sweat] I believe it.

In any case, he’s sticking with the captain.

Ren Xiang: Stop throwing a tantrum. Zhefeng, you should understand the captain’s position. A team can’t function without anyone. Lee Yoon-heo is new and far from home; we can’t let others say we’re bullying him.

Yuan Xiu thought to himself, Ren Xiang actually has a point today.

Reflecting on recent times, he had indeed changed quite a bit. He had uninstalled all dating apps like Tantan and Momo and stayed home obediently in the evenings.

So, had he really changed?

….

That night, after finishing her evening routine, Lu Manman excitedly texted Yuan Xiu from her bed: “Xiu Xiu, Xiu Xiu, single-player match! Single-player match!”

Yuan Xiu was sitting at his desk reviewing his coursework. He only had time to study late at night when everything was quiet. Even though he wasn’t particularly interested in the economics books on his shelf, this didn’t stop him from ranking high in his finals.

It was a compromise he made for his family.

Yuan Xiu glanced at his phone, understanding why she was so excited.

“Stop dreaming, I’m not participating in the single-player match.”

Lu Manman: “qaq”

Yuan Xiu: “[Pat Pat]”

Lu Manman: “Why not?”

Yuan Xiu: “The team only has two spots, and Zhefeng has been looking forward to the single-player match for a long time.”

There was silence on the other end for nearly a minute.

Lu Manman: “That’s perfect! I won’t have to worry about our friendship and go easy on you. [Hehe]”

Yuan Xiu’s lips curled into a smile. Despite feeling disappointed, he tried to appear happy, though his acting was rather poor.

But she was comforting him.

Yuan Xiu: “Will W go easy on the enemy?”

Lu Manman: “Of course not!”

Yuan Xiu: “Am I the exception?”

There was silence on the other end for a few minutes. The typing indicator was on, but no new messages appeared.

After a long time, Lu Manman: “[Yawn] Good night.”

Yuan Xiu: “Good night.”