After the World Championship, the club's operations returned to normal, and the youth trainees were growing strong. The senior members of the team were causing trouble as always. Everything in HOG was heading in a positive direction.

During the brief period of leisure after the tournament, Yu Yang helped with the youth training during the day and enjoyed his time as the captain before going to sleep at night. Life was quite comfortable.

However, there was something that bothered him a little...

Yu Yang checked his bank balance repeatedly and realized that he had used up all the cash he had in USD without having the chance to exchange it back into Chinese yuan. In total, he had less than 20,000 yuan left.

As the captain of a top-tier team, it didn't make sense for him to be in such a situation. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, Yu Yang's salary card had been withheld by his former captain, who was now his boss.

Qi Zui had taken over the responsibility of managing Yu Yang's salary card, ensuring that he sent money to his mother and younger brother every month. He had also started saving some money for He Xiaoxu, who had become wary of Yu Yang's extravagant spending habits and wanted Qi Zui to set aside some retirement funds. Even though the incident with Yu Yang's stepfather had happened a while ago, Qi Zui continued to act as his guardian and manage his salary card.

On the surface, Yu Yang, the world champion captain, seemed glorious, but privately he had to wait anxiously every month for his guardian to give him pocket money, just like the underage trainees on the first floor.

The former captain had never been stingy with his pocket money. He initially promised to give Yu Yang 10,000 yuan per month, but he never received less than 30,000 yuan each month. Yu Yang spent most of his time training at the base and didn't have many expenses, so he managed to save quite a bit. However, he had spent almost all of it on buying gifts for Qi Zui's mother and father when he went abroad, and He Xiaoxu had encouraged him to invest the rest.

Yu Yang frowned and squatted by the flowerbed on the terrace, smoking a cigarette.

He had his eyes on a pair of rings.

The rings had a stylish design that Qi Zui would like, and they were adorned with three shiny diamond circles, which Yu Yang liked. The price wasn't too expensive for him, 78,000 yuan for one, but the problem was... he didn't have the money at hand.

If he wanted to buy two at once, it would cost him over 100,000 yuan...

Yu Yang took a deep drag of his cigarette, extinguished it, and returned to the training room.

Yu Yang started a solo livestream but his mind was elsewhere.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the ring would be perfect for Qi Zui.

Qi Zui had slender fingers with distinct but not exaggerated knuckles. He would be able to pull off wearing a ring with a wide face like that. Although they couldn't wear rings during training, they could still wear them during their time off, right?

With just a cellphone, Qi Zui could show off like he owned the world. He would probably appreciate a ring even more, considering its special meaning, right? Qi Zui would definitely wear it, maybe he wouldn't even want to take it off during training.

And during intimate moments, he would definitely be even less willing to take it off!

The thought of wearing the ring during intimate moments made Yu Yang blush.

Yu Yang cleared his throat, head shotting an opponent in the game, his mind racing even more. He wanted to buy it.

On the first floor, Qi Zui sneezed.

 

"You have a cold?" He Xiaoxu asked, concerned. "If you have a cold, remember to keep your distance from Youth and don't infect him."

"I'm not sick," Qi Zui furrowed his brow. "Someone must be thinking about me."

Lai Hua, who was writing documents nearby, sneered. "Someone must be cursing you, more like. What trouble have you caused recently?"

Qi Zui thought for a moment and reluctantly replied, "There are too many to count."

Lai Hua glared at him.

On the third floor, after finishing a game, Yu Yang exited the game interface and spaced out.

He could ask Qi Zui for his own savings, but Qi Zui would definitely ask what he wanted to buy, and that would ruin the surprise.

He needed to get the money from somewhere else...

Yu Yang glanced at Bu Nana not far away.

Amongst everyone on the team, besides Qi Zui, Bu Nana was the richest.

During the semi-vacation period with fewer practice matches, everyone was quite relaxed. Bu Nana had a lewd smile on his face as he watched a live stream of an internet celebrity. Yu Yang walked up behind Bu Nana and caught sight of the big headline on the livestream:

"Reward a meteor shower to the room moderator, reward ten meteor showers, and add the anchor's WeChat."

Yu Yang's eyes widened, shocked. "Adding WeChat... costs ten thousand yuan?"

"Oh my god!" Bu Nana was taken aback, hurriedly sitting up straight and pretending to be serious as he rearranged his keyboard and mouse. "I made plans to duo with Lao Kai for a while, but he hasn't woken up yet. I'm just waiting for him..."

Yu Yang bent down slightly, furrowing his brow as he looked at Bu Nana's monitor. "Are there actually people adding her WeChat?"

"I didn't add her!" Bu Nana raised three fingers in a vow. "You know how pure and chaste I am. I haven't even washed off the sand on the back of my heel, I'm still a complete virgin. If you don't believe me, I can take off my shoes and show you..."

Yu Yang frowned. "That's not what I asked..."

"A lot of people have added her," Bu Nana said lazily, realizing that Yu Yang wasn't there to supervise his training. He relaxed and slouched in his esports chair. "In the half hour I've been watching, several people have added her."

Yu Yang glanced at the popularity of this female streamer's livestream room... it wasn't even one-tenth of his own.

Yu Yang shook his head. Forget it, it was just a scam to get people's money.

After pushing aside the idea of adding WeChat and giving rewards, Yu Yang forgot about borrowing money from Bu Nana. He sat at his own station for a while, then stood up again.

Yu Yang went to find He Xiaoxu.

"Manager He..." Yu Yang dreaded asking people for money. After hesitating for a long time, he indirectly said, "About the investment I made last time..."

"Oh my, we hit it big!" He Xiaoxu thought Yu Yang was unsure about his own judgment and became ecstatic. "Go ahead and ask, is there anything more suitable than the investment I chose for you in the guaranteed investment? No, there isn't! Just wait for the money in half a year. We've really struck it big this time..."

"It's not that..." Yu Yang said awkwardly, "You can keep the profits from those investments. If you're willing..."

He Xiaoxu suddenly became cautious.

Yu Yang made up his mind. "If you're willing, give me the principal."

He Xiaoxu scrutinized Yu Yang, probing, "What are you planning to do?"

No wonder He Xiaoxu was cautious. Yu Yang had a history of troublemaking.

He Xiaoxu talked too much, and Yu Yang was worried he might tell Qi Zui in advance. After hesitating for a moment, Yu Yang furrowed his brow and turned around. "Never mind, it's nothing."

As Yu Yang walked out after his conversation with He Xiaoxu, he ran into Xinba, who was surrounded by the trainees.

Simba may not stand out in the first team, but he was still considered a god by the trainees. They surrounded him with expressions of admiration, bombarding him with questions and making Simba feel disoriented.

Yu Yang didn't want to disturb them, so he walked away.

After dinner, while smoking together on the terrace, Yu Yang handed a cigarette to Lai Hua. As they puffed out smoke, Yu Yang took a drag and whispered, "Can you... lend me some money?"

Lai Hua wasn't as meticulous as He Xiaoxu. He squinted his eyes and readily asked, "How much?"

Yu Yang let out a sigh of relief but still explained, "I just want to buy some jewelry..."

"Oh," Lai Hua nodded and took out his phone. "What do you want to buy? A gold necklace? I happen to have just claimed the reimbursement for a ten-thousand-yuan plane ticket. How about a few thousand?"

Yu Yang: "..."

Yu Yang hesitated and said slowly, "Around 130,000 or 140,000..."

That night, Yu Yang, who had been scolded by the frugal Lai Hua, spent a full half hour being trained on the terrace.

Feeling dizzy and disoriented from Lai Hua's scolding, Captain Yu returned to the training room and came face to face with Lao Kai.

Yu Yang's lips twitched.

Lao Kai looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"

Yu Yang was still thinking about borrowing money, but he didn't know how to bring it up anymore. After a while, he awkwardly said to Lao Kai, "Do you want to add me on WeChat?"

Lao Kai: "..."

Qi Zui, who had just finished his rehabilitation and come upstairs, said, "..."

Qi Zui looked at Lao Kai and smiled, "I've been neglecting you all this time..."

Lao Kai was dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. He couldn't defend himself and said, "What does this have to do with me? I already have Yu Yang's WeChat!"

Qi Zui nodded with deep meaning, "Already have..."

Lao Kai was creeped out by Qi Zui's smile and became exasperated. "Why are you suddenly adding this drama?!"

Yu Yang wished he could just smash his head against a wall.

---

After playing a few rounds that didn't go well together, everyone went their separate ways to play solo before the training session started in the evening. Yu Yang couldn't help stealing glances at Qi Zui from time to time.

Qi Zui was practicing alone in a custom server, completely focused on his game and not causing any trouble for Yu Yang. He didn't ask Yu Yang anything either.

Yu Yang didn't want to disturb Qi Zui, so he sent him a message on Steam to explain a few things.

Not long after, Qi Zui replied.

【Drunk】: Let's do something against the rules, secretly, without telling anyone.

Yu Yang adjusted his headset, his cheeks slightly flushed, and typed a response.

【Youth】: ...Okay.

Qi Zui quickly replied.

【Drunk】: Let's play duo on the NA server, but we won't land together. We'll play our own games and meet in the final circle. The one with fewer kills will pay the other based on the difference, 10,000 yuan per kill. Are you up for it?

Yu Yang's eyes lit up.

【Youth】: Let's do it.

Yu Yang was a skilled assault player and excelled at close-range combat. He wasn't inferior to Qi Zui when it came to accumulating kills in a single round.

Yu Yang logged into the accelerator and teamed up with Qi Zui to play on the NA server.

Since they were playing individually and not landing together, they didn't even use voice chat. They would fight their own battles until the final circle, and in the first game, when there were only three players left, Yu Yang and Qi Zui each had 12 kills.

There was only one outsider remaining apart from them.

Without waiting for Qi Zui's reaction, Yu Yang sniped Qi Zui and secured the last kill.

The game ended.

Yu Yang started a livestream, and his fans in the chat had no idea what had just happened. They were amazed by the duo's gameplay and flooded the chat with messages.

In the first round, according to Qi Zui's game rules, he lost 10,000 yuan to Yu Yang.

Qi Zui quickly transferred the money to Yu Yang, who looked at his phone and smiled softly.

Qi Zui tilted his head and glanced at Yu Yang through the monitor, with a smirk... "you little wolf cub."

He Xiaoxu was observant and nosy. After Yu Yang borrowed money from him, he immediately told Qi Zui about it. He Xiaoxu was worried sick, but Qi Zui didn't think much of it.

The current Yu Yang wouldn't do anything foolish.

Youth has grown up.

It was Qi Zui who felt somewhat guilty. He had been too busy lately and didn't pay attention to the balance on Yu Yang's card, putting Yu Yang in a difficult situation.

That's why they had this "bet" tonight.

Since it was still during a semi-vacation period, they treated it as a game. Qi Zui intended to relax and let Yu Yang win some pocket money along the way. However, he didn't expect the little wolf cub to be so ruthless, sacrificing one of his own kills. There was nothing more to say about it. Qi Zui opened a bottle of mineral water, took a few sips, sat upright, and focused.

After playing like this all night, Yu Yang lost 100,000 yuan to Qi Zui.

Yu Yang accepted his defeat and said honestly when they returned to their dormitory, "I'll owe you..."

"Owe? Who told you that you can just owe?" Qi Zui took off his team jacket. "You have to pay it back, right away."

Yu Yang hesitated for a moment, embarrassed. "I don't have the money..."

"No money?" Qi Zui smirked, "Then add me on WeChat? How much does it cost to add someone on WeChat?"

Yu Yang's cheeks turned red, and after a pause, he stammered, "Ten... ten thousand..."

"Alright, you still owe me ninety thousand," Qi Zui picked up his phone and asked Yu Yang, "What do people usually do after adding WeChat?"

Yu Yang was stunned. How could he know?

Qi Zui raised an eyebrow. "Flirting? Sexting? Heh... How much does that cost?"

Yu Yang closed his eyes in anguish...

He dug himself another hole.

Qi Zui was intrigued, placing his phone aside and squeezing Yu Yang to the edge of the bed. "You added HOG team captain God of Flames on WeChat for just ten thousand yuan. I made a profit..."

Yu Yang had become bolder recently. He wanted the money, so he mustered up the courage and said with a blushing face, "Ten thousand yuan... but no physical contact."

Qi Zui chuckled. "If you wanted physical contact... I probably would have to go bankrupt, right?"

After Yu Yang nodded, Qi Zui leaned down and kissed his lips.

Since recovering from his illness, Yu Yang had become more proactive on certain matters, but before he could even start, their lips separated as Qi Zui deepened the kiss, somewhat forcefully. Yu Yang's breathing became rapid, and his chest heaved.

After an intimate moment, Qi Zui stood up and handed his own salary card to Yu Yang. "The password is your birthday, and the online password is your ID plus your birthday. There's also 90,000 yuan left, transfer the money."

Yu Yang's eyes lit up as he took the card.

Of course, he didn't just transfer the 90,000 yuan owed to Qi Zui.

Yu Yang took advantage of the situation and moved more than 200,000

yuan from his own card.

Qi Zui closed his eyes, pretending to be oblivious, and waited to see what Yu Yang had in mind.

Two days later, Qi Zui received a ring.

As the poorest captain in HOG history, Yu Yang did everything he could and went out of his way to give Qi Zui a heartfelt gift.

Clumsy yet sincere, romantic yet touching.

- Extra Chapter, The End -

 

---

Yeyyyyy~

ITS FINISHED ToT 

I'll miss these two and the team.

Honestly, just how cute is this novel? Its gushing with cuteness >///<