Sister, Choose Me, I'm Super Sweet [Esports] - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: You’re Different

After about twenty minutes of conversation, Xiao Mu spoke up to remind Song Ming, “General Manager Song, time is almost up. You should rest now.”

Song Ming nodded. “Xiao Mu, take Shiqing to the car to wait. I want to have a quick word with Xiao Yi alone.”

Tong Yi, who was about to stand up and leave with Zhou Shiqing, froze. Zhou Shiqing also gave them a confused look but didn’t ask any questions, leaving with Xiao Mu.

Soon, only Tong Yi and Song Ming were left in the reception room. Tong Yi felt a surge of nervousness.

“Is there anything else, General Manager Song?” Tong Yi asked.

“Don’t be nervous,” Song Ming said with a smile, pulling a photo and a signing pen from her coat pocket and handing them to Tong Yi.

Tong Yi took them and was stunned. It was a photo of her, likely an official promotional picture from New Fire during a match last year.

“My daughter is your fan. Would you mind signing this for her?” Song Ming asked in a gentle tone.

“Of course.”

Tong Yi quickly signed her in-game ID on the photo and added a few words of blessing, wishing her a happy day.

“Thank you,” Song Ming said, taking the signed photo with satisfaction. Her tone suddenly shifted. “Xiao Yi, how old are you this year?”

“Twenty-one.”

“You’re still very young. You’ll get the championship sooner or later.”

Tong Yi smiled and nodded along with Song Ming’s words. In truth, 21 was considered a bit old in esports, but Song Ming didn’t know that, and there was no need to explain.

“Where are you from, and what’s your relationship with your family like?” Song Ming asked.

Though Tong Yi didn’t understand why Song Ming was asking, she answered truthfully. “I’ve been in Jiangcheng for over six years. I haven’t been in contact with my family for a long time. I’m on my own now.”

Hearing her answer, Song Ming paused for a moment but didn’t ask further.

Soon, Song Ming stood up. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you out.”

Tong Yi quickly stood up as well.

At that moment, Song Ming took off the scarf from her neck and wrapped it around Tong Yi’s. A faint, elegant woody fragrance filled Tong Yi’s senses. The scent, like Song Ming herself, felt mature and comforting.

“It’s cold out. You should wear this,” Song Ming said to Tong Yi.

Tong Yi was a little bewildered. “You don’t have to…”

Song Ming just smiled, saying with a meaningful look, “Don’t be a stranger with me.” With that, Song Ming led Tong Yi out.

Tong Yi was completely confused by Song Ming’s words. But she knew that the woman was definitely helping New Fire because her daughter was a fan. In that moment, Tong Yi felt incredibly lucky. After losing for so long, she still had a true fan.

Tong Yi got back into Zhou Shiqing’s car and headed back to the New Fire base. After they had been driving for a while, Zhou Shiqing asked curiously, “Why is General Manager Song’s scarf on your neck?”

“She said it was cold outside and told me to wear it.”

Zhou Shiqing gave Tong Yi a suspicious look. “Then why didn’t she give a scarf to me?”

Tong Yi was also a little puzzled. After a long silence in the car, Zhou Shiqing suddenly said, “General Manager Song, could it be…”

“Could it be what?” Tong Yi turned to look at Zhou Shiqing.

“Could it be that she’s interested in you?!” Zhou Shiqing said, shocked. It was the only explanation for her behavior.

Tong Yi: “…”

“General Manager Song has a daughter,” Tong Yi said, reminding Zhou Shiqing not to jump to conclusions. She knew it was normal for some women to be attracted to other women, but Song Ming’s actions were clearly not like that.

“Oh, right…” Zhou Shiqing realized.

“I think General Manager Song’s concern for me is more like a family member’s,” Tong Yi said after a moment of thought.

“Oh well, let’s not worry about it! Our New Fire team is back on its feet. We’re a top-tier team now!”

…

Back at the base, Xia Yun was still awake, waiting for Tong Yi’s news. After all, she was very concerned about the future of New Fire.

When Tong Yi personally told Xia Yun that New Fire was about to have a new beginning, Xia Yun was so excited that she started jumping around the base. Then she and Tong Yi embraced and cried with joy.

It was only then that Tong Yi truly felt it: New Fire was saved. They didn’t have to disband anymore.

The two were so happy that they couldn’t sleep all night. They opened a few bottles of beer, shared a bag of peanuts, and talked until dawn before going back to their rooms.

After returning to her room, Tong Yi went online and searched for the scarf Song Ming had given her. The price shocked her, and she quickly put the scarf away in a box. After only a few hours of sleep, Tong Yi was woken up by her 10 AM alarm. She forced herself to get up and go to training.

The first thing that truly made them feel that New Fire was different now happened two days later. Xiao Mu brought their new coach to a meeting.

“This is your new coach, Li Qinghan.”

“Coach Li?!” Tong Yi and Xia Yun both took a step back in shock.

Li Qinghan was a top-tier coach in the league. She had previously worked for the Star Splendor team, a strong team that won the championship in the Summer Split last year, though they did not win the world championship. At the end of last year, Li Qinghan left the Star Splendor team for some reason, and this year, the team’s performance has visibly declined. Their performance in the Spring Split was noticeably worse than before.

After Li Qinghan left Star Splendor, the team placed a non-compete clause on her, so according to the agreement, Li Qinghan could not work as an esports coach for the next two years.

But none of that was the most important part. The most important thing was that Li Qinghan was the most demanding coach in the entire league. She had made countless players cry, and many of them couldn’t handle the pressure and transferred teams, with some even running away from the base in the middle of the night and causing a media frenzy.

At this moment, Li Qinghan stood next to Xiao Mu with a faint smile on her face, quietly watching the two of them. But her smile was somehow unsettling.

“I’ve been following you for a long time. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Li Qinghan said with a smile, extending her hand.

Tong Yi nervously shook her hand first, followed by Xia Yun.

“Um, Coach Li, what about your non-compete agreement…?” Tong Yi asked hesitantly.

“We’ve already paid the penalty,” Xiao Mu said decisively.

Xia Yun gasped. “That’s a huge penalty! It’s as much as my and Xiao Yi’s two-year contract fees combined!”

“It’s a small amount of money. For General Manager Song, it’s nothing,” Xiao Mu said, maintaining her smile.

Xia Yun felt like she was floating. She couldn’t help but grab Tong Yi’s hand tightly. “Oh my god, Xiao Yi, we’ve found a true sugar mommy.” Xia Yun still felt like this wasn’t real.

“The transfer window for coaches is still a while away, but New Fire desperately needs a coach. I specifically did some research and chose Coach Li, who is currently under a non-compete clause. Her resume is excellent; she’s trained many famous players.”

As Xiao Mu spoke, she took out a stack of documents from her bag and flipped through them. “For now, we’ll have Qinghan serve as the head coach for all of you. When the transfer period arrives, we’ll also arrange for a second-team coach and an assistant coach. We’re already recruiting new players, and we’re looking for a data analyst, team leader… We’re also scouting locations for a new base.”

Listening to Xiao Mu’s words, Xia Yun felt that New Fire had never been so rich.

“Alright, that’s all for today. I just wanted to introduce you. You can go train now. I have other things to do,” Xiao Mu said.

After Xiao Mu left, Li Qinghan had Tong Yi take her to the training room to watch the five first-team members train. Throughout the day, Tong Yi didn’t hear Li Qinghan scold anyone, but she did hear her sigh countless times while standing behind them.

When training was over, Li Qinghan bluntly said to the three players who had been promoted from the second team, “The three of you are terrible.” Their faces instantly paled.

Tong Yi looked at Li Qinghan, wanting to tell her not to discourage the new players, but she didn’t know what to say.

“The jungler is one thing, but how do the two of you in the bottom lane have zero synergy?” Li Qinghan continued her lecture. The marksman and support had no words to argue and remained silent.

“In short, I’m just telling you now. New Fire is recruiting new players. If your skills aren’t up to par, you’ll go back to being a substitute. Alright, dismissed.”

Everyone left the training room, but Li Qinghan asked Tong Yi to stay behind.

“I’ve done some digging. It’s very unlikely that any excellent junglers will be available during the transfer period after the Spring Split,” Li Qinghan said directly to Tong Yi.

Tong Yi nodded, not surprised at all. In the current jungle-centric meta, every team was in need of a top jungler, so it was impossible for a good one to be put up for transfer at this time.

“And New Fire is in desperate need of a jungler right now, so we can’t wait for the transfer period. We have to use a rookie,” Li Qinghan said.

“Do you have a rookie in mind, Coach?” Tong Yi asked.

Li Qinghan nodded. “I’ve scheduled a few to come for tryouts. During the tryout period, you’ll observe them and see who’s a good fit. We’ll choose one to be the first-team jungler, and the others will go to the second team or the youth training squad.”

With the investment from Mingsheng, New Fire was now doing well and was going to have its own youth training squad.

“I observe them?” Tong Yi was a bit taken aback.

“Yes,” Li Qinghan replied. “We need not only someone who can play a jungle-centric style but also someone who can play a mid-jungle synergy.”

Hearing the words “mid-jungle synergy,” Tong Yi couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows.

“But many teams have given up on the mid-jungle synergy style now. Everyone is just playing utility heroes,” Tong Yi said. In the current jungle-centric meta, all the top teams were focusing on jungle-centric styles. To give the jungler more gold, the mid-laners were choosing heroes that didn’t need much gold.

“You’re different,” Li Qinghan replied, her tone serious and firm.