Full-time: Starting from Ye Xiu vs. Faker

Chapter 419: Happy Internet Cafe, Ye Xiu, Wu Xuefeng, Goodbye (Part )

Several years ago, probably after Wu Xuefeng retired, someone, who seemed to be a staff member of Excellent Era, or a teammate or a youth trainee, once asked Ye Xiu a common question:
"What do you think is the significance of Wu Xuefeng to you and the Excellent Era team at that time?"

At that time, Ye Xiu had just been eliminated in the new year's playoffs. It didn't matter whether it was in the first or second round. All in all, compared to last year, it seemed to have declined a bit.

At the same time, with the gradual rise of the younger generation and the increasing number of teams in the Honor Professional League, the fan base has gradually become larger and more mixed.

Naturally, the not-so-harmonious voices gradually began to linger in the ears of everyone in Excellent Era, especially Ye Xiu.

Ancient champions, taking advantage of the fact that there were few teams in the alliance and the rules were incomplete and simple...these are all old news that have been turned over a lot.

The more creative fans have also come up with a lot of new "black spots" with "clever ideas":
For example, there are outrageous statements like, if Ye Xiu hadn't met Wu Xuefeng, he wouldn't have won a single championship.

Although it is obvious that such outrageous remarks are truly unrealistic and unfounded, Excellent Era fans have countless ways to refute the rumors.

But the audience just loves to read such "cold knowledge" and is happy to drag down a legend who has fallen from grace.

At that time, the rift between Ye Xiu and Excellent Era had already begun to show during several unsatisfactory seasons.

The uniform team was unhappy with his resistance to commercial endorsements and participation in activities, and his teammates also began to complain about his overly strict management style.

In such an atmosphere, someone suddenly came up to ask Ye Xiu such a question. It was obvious what his intention was.

Not to mention wanting to get rid of Ye Xiu, at least he had the intention of disgusting him.

However, Ye Xiu, who originally thought that even if he didn't get angry, he would be reprimanded for this malicious question, was stunned after hearing it, and then answered without hesitation:
"Without him, the Excellent Era team would have been finished long ago."

Needless to say, if these words from Ye Xiu himself were to spread to the outside world, then Ye Xiu's three championships would have their value stripped away by Ye Hei.

But when Ye Xiu made this comment about his old teammate, he did not hesitate at all.

In his opinion, this sentence was definitely not a compliment or praise to Wu Xuefeng.

Rather, it is a consensus among those who have worked with Ye Xiu and Wu Xuefeng, which is not much controversial.

But it was obvious that Jia Shi and Tao Xuan, who had no plans to optimize Ye Xiu at that time, would definitely not allow such words to spread and become a weapon for the haters.

So this sentence was passed around seven or eight times within Excellent Era. When it was finally passed to the outside world through Su Mucheng's mouth, it had become much more ambiguous:
"Without Wu Xuefeng, Excellent Era wouldn't have won three championships."

After the wording was changed, the outside world generally believed that this was a compliment to Wu Xuefeng's outstanding personal strength.

After all, Wu Xuefeng, who plays games with his brain and has a sharp mind, has real combat power that is indeed higher than his surface data performance.

But only those who have experienced that era know that this sentence is more about Wu Xuefeng's pillar status in Excellent Era outside of competition.

Ye Xiu asked himself, in the seven and a half seasons of the Glory League, he was qualified to compete for the position of "the most incompetent captain" in at least five seasons.

Especially in the first three seasons, if you ask yourself, apart from tactical command and spiritual leadership, he has hardly fulfilled any of the captain's duties.

In Jia Shi, although he was the nominal captain, just like Zhou Zekai of the later Samsara team, he always played the role of "ACE" in the team.

And that "Leader" was actually the nominal deputy captain, Wu Xuefeng.

Uniting the team, guiding team members, assisting management in handling and arranging daily chores... Wu Xuefeng does these things meticulously.

Even because Ye Xiu never showed up and never took any business orders, these activities were still run around by Wu Xuefeng and the people from Jia Shi.

To paraphrase a joke that isn't very appropriate: Ye Xiu only needs to think about how to win the game, but Wu Xuefeng has a lot of things to consider.

At that time, Ye Xiu had just experienced the departure of a close friend. He was still young, and due to the environment he was in during his early years, his social skills were not very good.

After joining Excellent Era, I basically focused on studying games and tactics. I felt that everything in the outside world was troublesome and that winning the game was enough.

In his first year, he was the youngest member of the team and was known as the "little captain" by his teammates.
There were not many makeshift troupes, shoddy competitions, and mundane affairs, so there was really no need for him to care about them.

However, starting from the second year, Excellent Era's personnel began to change, the Glory League began to be initially formalized, and the "captain" began to transition from an in-game leader to a leader of an out-of-game team.
In Excellent Era, it was Wu Xuefeng who solved all of this for him without saying a word.

Otherwise, just the fact that Ye Xiu refused to accept business orders and did not show up, if Wu Xuefeng had not mediated between the two of them, the conflict between him and Tao Xuan would have probably erupted a year or two earlier.

Ye Xiu spent the three purest and happiest years of his career in the Glory League under such silent protection.

It wasn't until the fourth season that Wu Xuefeng retired, and all the responsibilities that were originally borne by him were suddenly placed on Ye Xiu's shoulders.

Feeling overwhelmed, he finally began to understand little by little how much his old friend, who was always inconspicuous, had done for him without his knowledge.

Facts have proved that not everyone has the ability like Wu Xuefeng to be a reliable adult and lead a team in an orderly, harmonious and united manner.

Having been a young master for fifteen years and an internet addict for six years, Ye Xiu had to start from scratch in this regard.

He found that three years later, the relationship between him and Tao Xuan was no longer the model of an Internet cafe owner and an Internet cafe master, but he was at a loss as to how to deal with the new way of getting along.

So when he still directly rejected Tao Xuan's request for commercial endorsements as before, the gap gradually emerged.

He still demands the same strictness from his juniors and those young people he believes have great prospects as before.

But without Wu Xuefeng to appease the young people's dissatisfaction after being scolded by him, they were destined not to have much sense of belonging to Ye Xiu as the captain.

The world of e-sports has long been very different from the initial makeshift team. Learning to embrace the market and business is the only way for every team to mature.

But Ye Xiu always felt that this kind of e-sports was not pure enough, and coupled with his personal resistance to his family, he refused any commercial shaping for many years.

After a long time, it even started to take on a bit of a temper.

Pressure, emotions, commercialization... Every day, Ye Xiu felt that he would be crushed by these heavy pressures in the near future.

Over time, he also learned from the first batch of Glory captains, like Wei Chen. When he felt tired, he would light a cigarette for himself and take a deep puff like an old smoker.

"So, he has been carrying so many things for me for those three years?"

"If I were to rely on myself, I wouldn't even have to think about winning the championship. I'm afraid that within half a year, Excellent Era would be disbanded due to internal conflicts."

Sometimes Ye Xiu also wanted to chat with Wu Xuefeng, talk about his life and games in the past few years, and even learn from him how to put this broken team back together. But by then, Wu Xuefeng had already left for a foreign country and had little contact with the country.
Unfortunately, Ye Xiu himself was an old-fashioned person who could not keep up with the times. His knowledge of computers was almost limited to games. For a long time, he did not even have a mobile phone, so naturally he had no way of contacting Wu Xuefeng.

Tao Xuan, one of the few who might still be in contact with the other party, has a relationship with Ye Xiu that is getting worse year by year.

So Ye Xiu could only grit his teeth, buy a few more packs of cigarettes, and after smoking them, cheer himself up and go all the way.

He originally thought that, at least before his career came to an end, he and Wu Xuefeng would probably never have the chance to meet again.

Unexpectedly, as time passed, when he was finally able to form and maintain a team with ease like Wu Xuefeng did back then, and become their beloved leader,
The name that had not been heard from for many years has become active again.

There is a feeling of being separated from another world.

At the bar in the lobby, Wu Xuefeng was chatting and laughing with his real boss, Chen Guo, amidst the gazes of a group of old Excellent Era fans who were looking at him as if he were a giant panda.

He was still very curious about this extraordinary woman who had given Ye Xiu a place to stay during what was probably the darkest time in his life, and who had since soared to become a legend in the e-sports world.

Suddenly I heard a familiar yet unfamiliar "Long time no see" with extremely complicated emotions, and I immediately turned my head.

Then he saw Ye Xiu staring at him with an indescribable look.

Tao Xuan, who was standing next to him, originally wanted to go up and ask about the other person's well-being, but when he noticed that the atmosphere suddenly seemed a little off, he tactfully moved a few steps to the side.

It has been many years since we last met, old brothers. It is only right that we catch up on the past.

As for the old fans of Excellent Era in the store, they were almost suffocating at this moment. If Chen Guo hadn't just issued a strict order prohibiting filming in the store, the flash lights would have been flashing right now.

Even so, looking at the wolf-like eyes of these people, Tao Xuan couldn't help but wonder, should he let the two of them go up first and then reminisce about the past?
It seems like they don’t need to say anything. If they just stand here for a while longer, tomorrow’s news will explode.

"Long time no see, Captain."

Calling Ye Xiu by the name that was a bit of a joke from almost ten years ago, Wu Xuefeng looked at Ye Xiu, whom he hadn't seen for seven years.

I finally learned to take care of myself. This was the first thought that came to his mind.

During the days when he was still in Excellent Era, Ye Xiu didn't care about his personal image at all. He wore whatever was comfortable and didn't care what his hairstyle was.

My body management is also a bit bad, and I am a little bloated.

Now, after being a host for several years and beginning to try to embrace commercialization, Ye Xiu has finally lived up to the good looks his parents passed down to him.

In addition, Su Mucheng was also happy to help him with his clothes and hairstyle, so Ye Xiu was now a recognized handsome guy in the e-sports circle.

I have grown up...

From Ye Xiu's gaze, Wu Xuefeng analyzed countless complex emotions.

There is even a hint of bitterness in it.

Yes, the kid seemed to have suffered a lot in the years since he left.

A few months ago, when Tao Xuan called Wu Xuefeng and asked him to come out and lead the younger generation of Excellent Era, Wu Xuefeng readily agreed.

Since that year, the relationship between him and Tao Xuan has always been pretty good.

After agreeing, the two who hadn't seen each other for a long time chatted a lot, talking about old times and their experiences in recent years.

But both of them were in tacit agreement and did not mention the disaster in Season 8 that almost destroyed Excellent Era.

Of course, it is impossible for Wu Xuefeng not to pay attention to this major earthquake in the domestic Honor circle.

However, when countless ordinary fans and players from other teams were overwhelmingly supporting Ye Xiu, Wu Xuefeng, who had the closest relationship with Ye Xiu, also favored Ye Xiu, but also had some understanding for Tao Xuan.

During the days at Excellent Era, he was the one who had the most contact with Tao Xuan, and was also the one who witnessed Tao Xuan's helplessness the most.

At that time, Tao Xuan was busy running around every day in order to get more sponsorship and funds for Excellent Era, and he almost ran his legs off.

The club needs money everywhere, and the sponsorship he wants will not go into his own pocket at all. Instead, he needs to pay out of his own pocket to fill the hole.

But the general environment of e-sports at that time was like that. Big capital didn’t even look at it, and mainstream society had no idea about it.

As a team of champions, Excellent Era should have some respect.

But here comes Ye Xiu who dislikes commercial activities.

Wu Xuefeng saw Tao Xuan's fatigue, struggle, and helplessness.

From that time on, he had a vague feeling that after he left, if there was no one who could perfectly replace his duties, all the landmines buried by Jia Shi would start to explode.

Sure enough, after he retired, even though Su Mucheng had done her best,

On the one hand, he calmed Ye Xiu's emotions and took the lead in obeying Ye Xiu's command to maintain the cohesion of the team. On the other hand, he used his top commercial value to help Tao Xuan share his worries, so that Jia Shi finally had the opportunity to make money without doing anything.

But before Ye Xiu grew up, that Excellent Era team still lacked someone to pull the strings.

The fact that they were able to hold on until the eighth season before bursting out was the result of the rapid growth of both Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng.

But now... at least judging from the results, it seems pretty good.

Looking at Wu Xuefeng, Ye Xiu had a lot to say, but for some reason, it all got stuck in his throat. In the end, he could only say one sentence:

"How long do you plan to stay this time? Will you return to North America after the game?"

"...No, after the fight, I returned home."

　I'm busy these days with exams and defenses.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)