He quietly approached Kuang Ye, feeling somewhat guilty. “Captain, I’m sorry.” Everyone has their own private space, and this time they had overstepped.

Kuang Ye glanced at him. “No next time.” He then patted his shoulder. “But you don’t have to be so careful. It’s not a big deal, I was going to introduce her to you all sooner or later.”

Jiang Shixi and Jiang Yu immediately sighed with relief. Jiang Yu, being the good buddy he was, threw his arm around Kuang Ye’s shoulder and looked at his well-tailored suit, praising him. “You know, clothes make the man. If you wore this when shooting the team’s promo video, you might even steal some of the spotlight from the celebrities.”

Kuang Ye paused at these words. He looked up at the various luxury brands on Shen Lele’s flashy outfit, then glanced down at the mechanical watch on Xu Yijin’s wrist, the limited edition headphones on Jiang Shixi’s neck, and the expensive sneakers Jiang Yu was wearing.

“…”

[How much do you guys in esports earn?]
[Three thousand!]

“Great.” Kuang Ye rubbed his forehead, feeling like this fire was about to explode.

Jiang Yu asked, “What’s great?”

Kuang Ye sighed. “My love life.”

Xu Yijin was confused. “What does that mean?”

Kuang Ye briefly explained the situation about the three-thousand-yuan salary, and instantly, the three teammates looked at him as if he were some kind of animal.

Kuang Ye glared back. “It’s not what you think.”

The three teammates quickly looked away. “Oh.”

—

When they arrived at the reserved private room, Shen Lele sat down and sighed. “If it weren’t for the sister-in-law’s help, the captain wouldn’t have brought us to such an expensive place to eat.”

Kuang Ye gave him a sidelong glance. “Have I let you go hungry?”

Shen Lele grinned. “Well, not exactly, but speaking of food, when we went to G city for a competition, the Cantonese food there was amazing, though it was so expensive. One meal cost nearly a thousand…”

Xu Yijin immediately covered his mouth and laughed awkwardly, cutting in. “One meal cost us nearly a thousand. For people like us who only earn three thousand, it’s a real luxury.”

Shen Lele, who had been chatting with Mu Wan and hadn’t joined in on the internal team conversation, looked confused. “Huh? Who earns three thousand?”

Mu Wan blinked, looking at Kuang Ye with a pitiful expression. “It is indeed quite a luxury, since your salary is only three thousand.”

Kuang Ye: “!”

It seemed… something was off?

At that moment, the waiter brought the dishes to the table, and Jiang Yu quickly changed the topic. He picked up a piece of steamed shrimp. “Ah, I’m so hungry. Let’s eat. This shrimp is so delicious, it’s just as good as the Australian lobster from our base…”

Kuang Ye and Xu Yijin both stared at him, perplexed. “??”

“Far, far from it. We’re so poor doing esports, how could we possibly afford Australian lobster? I meant the shrimp at our base is far worse than Australian lobster—this here is much better,” Jiang Yu quickly corrected himself.

Kuang Ye and Xu Yijin: “…”

Mu Wan picked up a shrimp and placed it in Kuang Ye’s bowl. “If it’s good, eat more. Ah-Ye, you should eat too.”

Kuang Ye: “!!”

Xu Yijin tried to smooth things over. “Let’s just focus on eating.”

But Mu Wan’s gaze landed on the dark blue mechanical watch on Xu Yijin’s wrist. “That’s from Patek Philippe’s Reincarnation series, right? I used to have a rose gold one like it. I remember it cost over 1.7 million yuan when I bought it.”

Xu Yijin looked awkwardly at the watch on his wrist, which had been hidden but was revealed when he reached for food. Embarrassed, he tried to explain. “Oh, this? Just a random purchase from Taobao. Probably a high-quality fake. No way I could afford something that expensive.”

Mu Wan nodded. “It’s a very convincing replica.”

Kuang Ye: “…”
If he didn’t understand what was happening now, he was truly an idiot.

—

After the meal, Shen Lele, being as outgoing as ever, suggested adding Mu Wan on WeChat and even asked if she wanted to visit their team base.

Mu Wan shook her head. “I’ve got things to do later. Maybe next time.”

Shen Lele grinned. “Alright, we’ll meet again when there’s a chance. Thanks for helping me with the jade bracelet, and I wish you and the captain a long and happy life together.”

Kuang Ye: “…”
Although he expected this, he still turned a dark gaze toward Shen Lele. “What jade bracelet?”

Shen Lele explained, “Oh, it’s for my mom’s birthday next month. I wanted to buy her a jade bracelet, but I don’t know anything about jewelry. I heard the jade market is tricky, so I asked Mu Wan-jie^[1]Jie short for Jiejie, it still means, sister for help.” He boasted, “Lucky I did. Mu Wan-jie said the one I was eyeing—priced at over 300,000—had poor quality in terms of material and craftsmanship. I almost got scammed!”

Xu Yijin and Jiang Yu: “…”
So all their earlier efforts to cover up were pointless.

They stole a glance at Mu Wan. Her expression remained calm, but they felt their faces heat up, unable to stay a moment longer.

“Well, Captain, we won’t disturb your date anymore. Bye-bye!” They grabbed Shen Lele and bolted, leaving Kuang Ye alone to face the impending storm.

Mu Wan crossed her arms, looking at Kuang Ye. “Xiao Didi, salary of three thousand?”

Kuang Ye: “…I can explain.”