Don’t Be Afraid, Let’s Do It Together (E-sports) - Chapter 14

As the former captain of the SUS team, Jiang Song had a fanbase comparable to some top celebrities before retiring.

He was skilled and handsome, a true star in the e-sports world. If he didn’t appear so serious and reserved, with a face that was handsome but fierce, even when he smiled it looked like he was mocking someone, his fanbase would probably have grown even larger.

Even so, Jiang Song still had a diverse group of fans, despite his years of professional play with a face that seemed to mock and charm at the same time.

Among them were girlfriend fans. As the name suggests, girlfriend fans were different from ordinary fans who only admired Jiang Song’s skills and looks. They typically fantasized about him as a boyfriend, and some even advanced to become wife fans.

Jiang Song was used to having girlfriend and wife fans, but hearing about husband fans was a first for him, especially from a broadcaster he found amusing.

His emotions were complex at the moment.

In just three days, it’s hard to say how many surprises Xie Yao has brought him. Jiang Song squinted his eyes and rubbed his temples twice.

Xie Yao has always been outspoken when speaking through the internet, he might hold back a bit if he’s talking to strangers, but tonight he played duo with Jiang Song for a full four hours.

The relationship between men is usually straightforward, and after playing countless games together for four hours, they might as well be brothers. With such a deep relationship, of course, you have to share your idol with your brothers!

Xie Yao had no idea that he had danced right up to the main character and caused his idol to feel awkward.

People who are familiar with Xie Yao know that he can talk about praise like it’s his favorite thing. He can talk about anything related to praise from the time he first appeared on the sus starting lineup to his retirement, including all the big and small events during the seven years in between.

He can be said to understand praise even better than Jiang Song himself.

After sending out the message about being a “husband fan,” Xie Yao smacked his lips and stared at the words in the chat bubble, feeling a bit uneasy.

Which normal straight man would call himself a husband fan? Is he scaring the boss? Why has he been typing for so long without sending any messages?

He waited for a while, still no response. Then he cleared his throat and immediately typed out the top four list of the night’s newly released content in his own live stream chat.

Gad: Well, the thing is, boss…

Gad: I’m just a plain old brainless fan among Praise’s ten million fans.

Gad: I never really cared about labels before, but with more and more Praise fans, everyone has their own classification. There are girlfriend fans, technical fans, looks fans, etc.

Gad: I’m the only one who doesn’t fit into any category.

Gad: My friend once joked that I knew more about Praise than his future wife, so I just decided to call myself a “husband fan.”

Gad: Hey, don’t mind me, boss.

The bubble in the chat window kept popping up, and Jiang Song had been waiting for Xie Yao to finish his explanation.

Seeing the little boy trying so hard to explain himself, Jiang Song couldn’t help but “puff” out a little laugh, feeling as if a deflating balloon had just gone flat.

Gad: Praise has always been my idol, and it’s because of him that I started playing King of Glory.

Jiang Song raised his eyebrows as he read the last message from Xie Yao.

River: How old are you, kid?

Gad: Nineteen. Is there anything wrong, boss?

Jiang Song laughed suddenly, finding himself ridiculous. Why was he arguing with someone six years younger than him? The little brat probably hasn’t even been in love.

Jiang Song immediately regained his composure and put aside the topic of being a “husband fan.” He still found the young streamer an interesting person.

No one knew who was who through the internet, so it was okay as long as they were interesting.

Jiang Song stopped worrying, but after getting a response, he noticed that Xie Yao had something to say.

Gad: Boss, are you also a fan of Praise?

Jiang Song chuckled. He wasn’t so self-absorbed as to like himself, so he answered no.

Then, quickly, another message came from Xie Yao.

Gad: Then how did you recognize that the person in my profile picture is Praise?

Xie Yao’s profile picture was an old image from seven years ago. Although the image quality was still clear, Jiang Song was standing in the center of the stage wearing the first-generation black SUS team uniform, with a duckbill cap covering most of his face.

At that time, Jiang Song had just had corrective eye surgery, and he wore a cap to shield his eyes from the bright lights on the stage. The uniform he wore was also quite different from the current version and was not covered with sponsor logos like the current ones.

It can be said that with such a blurry and heavily outdated photo, it would be impossible to recognize it without sufficient knowledge of Jiang Song, like in the case of Xie Yao. Unless it was personally acknowledged by Praise himself, even his own mother might not recognize her own son in the photo.

As Jiang Song thought about it, he became even more curious about how he was able to recognize the person in the photo.

Jiang Song: …

What other reason could there be? Of course, it’s because he’s the person in the photo!

But he couldn’t just say that to the little broadcaster.

Fortunately, he could easily find an excuse.

River: In that year, the e-sports industry was just starting to develop, and Praise’s team SUS won the world championship. Our company sponsored them, and as SUS grew, the company made quite a bit of money from it, so it left a deep impression on me.

This wasn’t exactly a lie; the incident did happen, but the sponsorship was actually a reward that Jiang’s father gave to him, and all the money earned later went to Jiang Song himself.

Xie Yao didn’t think much about it, and Jiang Song explained it seriously, so he believed him.

Gad: Oh, I see.

Gad: My food delivery is here, I’ll eat and chat with you later, boss.

Jiang Song checked the time and saw that it was already 10 PM. Late-night snack?

However, he didn’t force him to stay and just said “go ahead” before closing the chat window.

As for Xie Yao, he ate lunch early in the afternoon and got hungry again after the broadcast, so he decided to order takeout.

While Xie Yao was eating, Jiang Song accidentally clicked on his friend circle.

Xie Yao rarely posts on his friend circle, and it’s clean without any photos of girlfriends, travel pictures, or selfies. It looks just like an ordinary 19-year-old single guy.

But among the few posts, they were all related to SUS, more specifically, to Jiang Song.

Every time SUS won a championship in a formal competition, Xie Yao would post about it in his friend circle. The accompanying text was usually congratulating SUS and praising them, but the pictures were always of Jiang Song.

There were pictures of Jiang Song with different expressions, Jiang Song speaking to the host with his head down, and Jiang Song accepting post-match interviews…

All of them were Jiang Song!

Jiang Song himself: …feeling complicated. Is this what they call being a fan of my husband?

If you read Xie Yao’s entire friend circle from beginning to end, it’s like watching Jiang Song’s journey to become a god.

At the top are two friend circle posts, with the earlier one posted on the day Jiang Song announced his retirement. The photo shows Jiang Song leaving through the gate under the flashlights after the end of the game. It’s clear that the owner of the friend circle put a lot of effort into editing the picture. Jiang Song looked at the photo and felt like he was glowing all over with his back facing the camera.

The text above reads: “I am willing to be your most loyal believer, you don’t have to even look at me.”

Jiang Song was stunned. This kid… really is his loyal fan. But why does that sentence sound a little strange?

The friend circle displayed the latest update from today, with the time stamp showing 2:00.

When Jiang Song clicked on the post and saw the picture, he immediately recognized the origin of the items. One was the original team jersey he wore when he won his first championship in KPL, and the other was the headphones he took off on the day he retired.

Xie Yao’s post was short, only a few words: “Someone will always replace me.”

Jiang Song looked at the post and felt a little uneasy. He knew his own value now, and the value of these two items in Xie Yao’s post was not low. From what he saw in the livestream, Xie Yao’s economic situation seemed unable to support his purchase of these items. Did he spend all his money on them?

This reminded him of his own younger cousin, who would spend money recklessly as soon as he got his hands on it. Jiang Song frowned and wondered if Xie Yao’s parents didn’t keep an eye on him. Spending money recklessly was not a good habit.

In fact, Jiang Song’s thinking was completely wrong. The headphones and jersey were gifts from Zhou Tian to Xie Yao, and he didn’t pay a penny for them. As a wealthy second generation, Zhou Tian didn’t care about the value of these items, but he did feel that they were hard to come by since they were limited edition.

So when Xie Yao finished his late-night snack, took a shower, and lay in bed scrolling through his phone, he was a little bewildered when he saw the WeChat message from his boss: “Making money is not easy, and idolizing someone should be done in moderation.”

Although a little confused by the boss’s words, as a qualified and professional streamer, Xie Yao would never argue with his boss.

He responded very quickly.

Gad: Okay boss!

On the other end, Jiang Song breathed a sigh of relief when he received the reply. However, he turned his head and thought that the young streamer was still young and might not be able to resist the temptation and end up spending all his savings.

Thinking this, Jiang Song rubbed his chin.

He turned his head and looked at his room, took a glance around, and then began to type on his phone.

The sound of a WeChat notification rang out.

River: Do you really like praise?

Although Xie Yao may not seem reliable online, he always takes his boss’s questions seriously, especially when it comes to praise.

He thought for a moment and replied one word at a time: “Praise is the only faith in my dark life.”

Gad: So I really like him. Boss, why are you asking?

Jiang Song didn’t say anything.

He admitted that when he saw the sentence sent by the little anchor, he seemed to suddenly understand the thoughts and beliefs of those fans who were chasing him crazily.

Maybe it’s just like the little anchor, when you like something to a certain extent, even if you are facing a stranger, you will seriously declare your love, as if speaking slower and slower when talking about the other person is blasphemy1 to each other.

After a few more minutes, with his head resting on the pillow and his eyes blinking uncontrollably due to fatigue, a notification sound from WeChat woke Xie Yao up.

River: Do you want the trophy that Praise won in the first world championship?

Author’s note:

Jiang Song: What’s the point of a kid spending money? I’ll give you all my stuff!

Note :

1blasphemy refers to speaking or acting in a way that shows disrespect, irreverence, or lack of reverence towards a religion, religious beliefs, or sacred things. It can be considered a serious offense in many religions and cultures.