Chapter 10: Quite Obedient
After the four hours of individual training ended, during the break, Shen Guanchao stood on the balcony smoking. The evening breeze dispersed the smoke before his eyes. Lihua Na’s hearty laughter came from the phone: “Who exactly is that new sniper on your team? Hiding him so deep. Give me a hint to guess, I absolutely won’t leak it!”
Before the official announcement, NAVA’s new starter was kept confidential from the trial to the contract signing. This involved interest implications in many aspects. Shen Guanchao couldn’t reveal the bottom line to her, so he casually made something up: “The person is quite obedient and reliable. Don’t think blindly so much.”
“With this time to let your thoughts run wild, you might as well play two more high-elo matches.”
“Quite obedient and reliable?” Lihua Na didn’t let him change the subject and recalled, “That Little You from your second team, he’s quite obedient.”
“Or is it some random youth trainee? Youth trainees are all quite obedient, right? But whether they are reliable is uncertain.”
“Tell me more.”
“Confidential, you guess.” Shen Guanchao smiled and stubbed out the cigarette butt. “Didn’t you not tell me when Soso retired last time? And you expect me to reveal this kind of bottom line to you? Let’s all abide by the rules properly. There are no brothers in the arena; even with good friendship, we can’t break the rules.”
“Alright.” Failing to pry into the new starter, Lihua Na quickly said, “Then let’s not talk about this. Tell me about that first love boyfriend who made you dizzy with fascination before. What’s his name? How did your story begin? Weren’t you loved drunkenly and dreamily? How did you break up?”
Shen Guanchao’s sexual orientation wasn’t a secret in the circle. He and Lihua Na had come out to each other long ago. Besides, the two old hooligans didn’t distinguish between you and me; this bit of gossip could still be shared.
He snorted coldly, thinking, The new starter you are thinking about and my ex-boyfriend are the same person.
“Tell me?”
“That’s enough.” Shen Guanchao’s tone turned cold, and he said indifferently, “We weren’t together, just ambiguous. When we were about to get together, I suddenly discovered that he was lying to me from head to toe, so we split up.”
“Count it as my bad luck.”
He thought it was deep affection and heavy righteousness, but actually, it was flowers in the mirror and the moon in the water—an illusion.
When did he start seriously competing with Xie Jingchu on who could be more heartless?
He didn’t remember either. Probably from those glaring words in their WeChat chat box, from those things friends told him, and when those photos appeared around him.
He had wanted to trust Xie Jingchu very much, but the facts were right there. When he saw that scene with his own eyes, his heartbeat seemed to stop.
He wanted a broken mirror reunion, but could a broken mirror really be reunited? Would two people who had been shattered be sincere?
He no longer had confidence.
Whether it was a beautiful beginning with a sad ending or not. Dark clouds entangled, moonlight hazy; Shen Guanchao began to uncontrollably recall the various beginnings between them. For nostalgic people, there are always nights like this when dreams return at midnight, trapping people in memories.
During last year’s off-season, Zoe was hospitalized with a high fever from a viral infection, burning until he was unconscious.
His closest friend, Fox, happened to be unable to get away, so Shen Guanchao took the initiative to take on the task of caring for him.
Zoe stayed in the hospital for a full seven days. Shen Guanchao would go over to check on him every morning, bringing the nutritious soup brewed by the base auntie. He would stare at Zoe until he ate and wiped the bowl clean before taking a taxi back to the villa to sleep.
After taking care of him for two days, he found that the sick Zoe was very lethargic and rarely ate anything. Perhaps sick people just had poor appetites.
By chance, Zoe mentioned missing the taste of crystal dumplings with great difficulty, so he found a Cantonese morning tea shop near the hospital.
At 8:00 AM, the flow of people was bustling. Shen Guanchao crossed the street, smelling a familiar fragrance from afar.
He queued at the end of the line at the breakfast shop. While waiting, he looked down at his phone screen.
“Hey—” Just then, a passing student hurriedly bumped into him.
He couldn’t dodge in time and bumped into a young man in a white shirt next to him.
This young man was a bit taller than him, about 1.87 meters, with broad shoulders and thin muscles. Yet he was like the wind; upon receiving a little force, he stumbled back several steps. But his hand gently protected Shen Guanchao’s side, taking both of them backward together.
“Uh…”
Shen Guanchao looked up. A distinctively pale face came into view. The lips were bloodless, eyes slightly closed. The handsome, jade-like face was slightly furrowed. His hand rested loosely on his lower right abdomen. Shen Guanchao didn’t know if he was feeling very unwell or if he had been hurt by the bump.
“Sorry… what’s wrong?” Shen Guanchao asked with concern.
At first glance, he inexplicably felt this person looked somewhat familiar.
Hearing the voice, the boy’s originally lifeless eyes forced a curve. Cold sweat slid from his forehead as he held on and said, “Nothing, probably my gastroenteritis acting up again.”
He was a bit unstable and stumbled.
Shen Guanchao supported him with quick eyes and hands. “Do you need to go to the hospital? I accidentally bumped you just now. Let me take you; I’m really sorry…”
The moment their skin touched, he felt the boy’s body temperature was wrong. Besides gastroenteritis, there should also be a fever.
“It’s hard for you to hold on alone like this. I’ll take you to the hospital; consider it repayment for you holding me just now.”
The boy pursed his lips as if hesitating. After a long time, he finally agreed: “Okay… thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
So Zoe’s crystal dumplings weren’t bought, and the philanthropist of unknown moral character, Shen Guanchao, went to do another good deed for the day.
It was more than a kilometer from the breakfast shop to the nearby hospital. Shen Guanchao didn’t want him to suffer walking, so he reached out and hailed a taxi.
Sitting in the car, he seemed to be in even more pain. His body reflexively bowed down, and his arm accidentally rested on Shen Guanchao’s palm, rubbing slightly.
In the weather of over ten degrees, a layer of fine sweat oozed from the boy’s forehead, wetting the hair at his temples. His lips were pale to the point of purple, tight and tense. His eyes were red, and his whole being was in pain; even the breath he exhaled seemed to be burning.
“Driver, please hurry,” Seeing the person suffering, whether he knew him or not, Shen Guanchao felt a bit stifled in his heart and urged hurriedly.
Driver: “Okay, okay, don’t rush.”
The hospital wasn’t far. The driver stopped the car at the hospital entrance. He paid the money, supported the boy into the hospital, and registered him for emergency care.
“What is your name? Did you bring your ID card and medical insurance card?”
“Xie… Jingchu.”
“ID is in the pocket.”
“…”
The doctor confirmed the boy had acute gastroenteritis. Shen Guanchao stood by the side, accompanying him the whole time. Before leaving, he left a phone number: “Mr. Xie, my friend is also hospitalized here recently. I left you my contact information. If you have any problems later and need help, you can call me.”
He was the one who accidentally bumped into the person; he should have this bit of responsibility.
It was a pity Zoe’s breakfast fell through.
The boy took the sticky note with the phone number written on it. Watching his departing figure, surging emotions misted in his reddened eyes. Dumbfounded for a long time, he suddenly whispered, “Why is it you again…”
—As if you are my destined savior, always urged by coincidence to come and save me in my moments of danger.
The wooden door was pushed open.
Shen Guanchao returned to Zoe’s ward empty-handed. Meeting a pair of resentful eyes, he waved his hand: “What are you doing, pouting like a duck? Be happier.”
“You’re the one who looks like it.” Zoe turned over, back facing him, throwing a little tantrum. “Where are my dumplings? Where is my Fox?”
Shen Guanchao sneered and teased him a couple more times: “Fox is still on the show; he won’t arrive before you are discharged. As for the crystal dumplings… I stole and ate them.”
“I’ll compensate you with takeout. What do you want to eat? It can only be something bland.”
Zoe pulled the quilt over his head: “I won’t eat!!”
“Fine, starve then.”
Shen Guanchao sat lazily on the nursing chair beside him. Although his mouth said that, his fingers honestly ordered two servings of seaweed and shrimp wontons on the delivery platform.
With a viral infection, the patient would repeatedly have fevers and then cool down; the process was very tormenting. Shen Guanchao had experienced this feeling when he was small, so he spoiled Zoe exceptionally.
He leaned back in the chair scrolling through his phone. A moment later, he received a new friend request on WeChat. It was the handsome guy with gastroenteritis from just now.
He approved the request, set a remark name for the other party, opened the chat box, and sent a “Beckoning Cat” sticker.
The other side replied almost instantly—
[Xie Jingchu: Hello.] [Thank you for just now.] [Animated Sticker – Thanks] [Flesh: No need to be polite. After all, I was the one who accidentally bumped into you. How are you now?] [Xie Jingchu: Still very painful, and dizzy.] [I’ll transfer the medical and hospitalization fees to you once I feel a bit better later.] [Flesh: No need. Just rest well first.]
This small amount of money was nothing to the region’s Demon King Flesh, who earned tens of millions annually just from endorsement fees.
Xie Jingchu wanted to say more, but was brushed off by Shen Guanchao with a couple of sentences. He only regarded this as a small interlude. There weren’t many topics for two strangers to talk about, and the chat history stopped on this page.
Overwhelming fatigue hit him. He turned off his phone and closed his eyes to rest.
In their line of work, the body was the capital of the revolution. A little illness could easily affect performance in the arena; a youth meal (career dependent on youth) was just helpless like that.
Evening.
Back at the base, Shen Guanchao was idly scrolling through his friends’ circle (WeChat Moments) when he accidentally scrolled past a photo posted by that handsome guy with gastroenteritis from the day.
The photo recorded “the lingering charm of the setting sun falling on the hospital bed.” Without a caption, substituting into the photographer’s angle, it inexplicably had a sense of loneliness.
It was as if the owner of this photo was isolated from the world by everyone.
And indeed, Xie Jingchu completely didn’t understand socializing. He did everything alone—eating alone, playing games alone, going out alone. Except for necessary communication, he almost didn’t talk to others.
Shen Guanchao, who had been raised by his family to be lively and love bustle, couldn’t quite understand this type of person. Even Fox, who spoke the least in the team usually, would tell some cold jokes from time to time, making Zoe explode with anger.
He liked the post, scrolled down past the photo, and scrolled back up a moment later because he really couldn’t understand—how could a handsome guy be so… reclusive?
A waste of Nuwa’s good craftsmanship.
From the first moment he saw Xie Jingchu, he was infected by the distinctive temperament on this person.
That clean, sharp, yet indifferent feeling left a deep memory, especially that face—it could look that good even when pale like that.
If paired with a pair of refined square-rimmed glasses, he dared not imagine how satisfied he, as someone who judged by looks, would be.
During the day, Shen Guanchao didn’t have the mind to think about this. Recalling that face at night, however, left an endless aftertaste.
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