c74

All-Round Mid Laner 74

Chi Shuo responded to the 'friendly concern' from the gods of these other teams with a simple 'thanks'. He really didn't know what else to say.

As for Zhao Xin'an's enthusiastic request to add Little Ye to their group chat, Chi Shuo didn't make a move.

He knew Zhao Xin'an was just joking.

[Gods War - Supreme Gods] was a group chat with extremely strict requirements for membership. Everyone in that group chat was a king of a major team. Shaoyang couldn't take a back door into that group of elites just because he was an omega. If Chi Shuo added him into this group chat of gods, a newbie like him—with no accomplishments—would only arrive to be teased as a cute and clueless rookie.

Once the next tournament season formally started, once Shaoyang got a few MVP titles, he would be able to join the group chat, bathed in glory.

And no one in that group would be able to tease Shaoyang then.

Chi Shuo called out to their coordinator Tang Can in Tianhuan's internal group chat: [@TangCan, Can-jie, the news has already become official on the trade site. What are the team's plans now? When will we make our own official announcement?]

Tang Can answered: [The coaching team has decided to make the official announcement after S10 begins. We haven't taken our team promo pictures for the next season yet. We can't just put a candid photo of our daily lives up with the official announcement, can we? I've already contacted a professional photography studio. Tomorrow, I'll take everyone to the studio for some photos.]

Every year, at the start of a new tournament season, all major teams would get new promotional photos taken of their players in their team uniforms. On those photos, each player would be labeled with their official tournament ID, and the photos would be sent to the league as the team's official promotional material for the year.

Since joining the team, Ye Shaoyang had already received his tailored team uniforms. But he really hadn't gotten any official photos taken yet.

Coach Lin saw these messages and said in the group chat: [Tomorrow will be a rest day, then. We'll all go for the photos together.]

Tang Can hurriedly added: [Oh, that's right. Tianhuan's streaming contract with Whale Streaming is almost up too. @YeShaoyang, I heard from Captain Chi that you haven't signed with Whale Streaming this whole time. Is that right?]

Ye Shaoyang: [That's right. I wasn't able to finalize contract negotiations with them at first, and then I started getting ready to join Tianhuan, so Captain Chi told me not to rush into anything. He said I could wait to discuss the streaming contract along with the rest of Tianhuan, to get better conditions.]

Tang Can wrote: [I'll be going to Whale Streaming with our lawyers to talk about the contract the day after tomorrow. Do you want to come with us?]

Ye Shaoyang looked towards Chi Shuo, silently asking for the captain's opinion.

Chi Shuo nodded and quietly said, "I'll go with you. If you personally go talk to them, you can negotiate a better share of profits."

Ye Shaoyang turned back to the group chat and typed: [Okay, then I'll go with you guys.]

Tang Can: [Alright, I'll book the plane tickets for you.]

After eating lunch the next day, Tianhuan's players all trooped out together to a photography studio. Everyone lined up neatly in one row and faced forward, wearing their badges that declared them members of Tianhuan's professional esports club.

It was Cheng Xing's first time taking such official promotional photos. With the bright lights of the studio flooding down on him and the cameras pointed directly at his face, he couldn't help but feel nervous. His expression became very serious and grave, like he was attending a funeral.

Ye Shaoyang stood nearby and teased, "Little Xing, you can smile a little. Don't be so serious."

Cheng Xing forcefully squeezed out a smile, ultimately producing a smiling expression that made him look even more unsightly than if he'd cried.

The photographer chided, "New kid, don't cry. We're just taking your picture. Why do you look like we're sending you to your execution?"

Everyone laughed, while Cheng Xing blushed to the tips of his ears.

Chi Shuo mildly said, "Stand up straight. Don't waste time."

The five members of the starting team stood in a line, in order—top laner, jungler, mid laner, marksman, and support. Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang just so happened to stand next to each other, and Ye Shaoyang wasn't so reserved. He smiled brilliantly for the cameras.

A cool, heroic jungler captain, and an omega mid laner with a handsome smile. The two of them took the visual appeal of Tianhuan's official photos to a whole new level. They practically looked like the cast of an idol drama.

The photographer happily praised, "That handsome ge in the middle, your smile is too beautiful!"

Hearing that, Chi Shuo couldn't help but look to the side. Ye Shaoyang was ten centimeters shorter than him. When he turned to the side, he was in just the right position to see Ye Shaoyang's dense lashes, and those clear, limpid eyes that were twinkling with a brilliant smile.

He really did have a beautiful smile…

Chi Shuo's heart faintly skipped a beat. Shaoyang's nape was still covered up by a pheromone suppressing patch, and there was no scent of pheromones emanating from his body. But with Shaoyang standing so close to him, Chi Shuo couldn't help that his mind drifted back to memories of the day he marked…

The photographer called out, "Captain Chi, don't space out!"

Chi Shuo coughed lightly, focusing up on the camera again.

The photographer swiftly hit the shutter, taking several photos in a row.

After taking the group photo, each person had their individual pictures taken. These individual photos were very important. Whenever a player took the stage during a game, the big screens at the stadium would display this photo. When a player took the title of MVP, the post-game screen would also put up this official photo provided by their team.

Chi Shuo and the others were used to having these pictures taken every season. They took very natural poses in front of the camera. When Ye Shaoyang's turn came up, he stood before the camera with a faint smile and flashed a V with his fingers.

Tang Can saw this from where she was watching off to the side. She couldn't resist whispering to Coach Lin, "Shaoyang really isn't nervous at all. He's so photogenic."

Coach Lin thoughtfully looked towards the photography set. "He isn't nervous when he plays in games either. His mental fortitude is really very strong. If I didn't see all this with my own eyes, I wouldn't have dared believe he was only a newbie who joined the league this year."

On the way back to their base, Coach Lin quietly warned Tang Can, "Tomorrow, when you take Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang to Star City for contract negotiations, remember to tell the people at the platform not to expose his identity before Shaoyang formally changes his name to 'Tianhuan-Lieyang'. There are so few omegas in the league. I'm worried that the platform will try to use his uniqueness to stir up hype and promote themselves. I hope Shaoyang will be able to put all his focus on the tournament, without being disturbed by those anti-fans from the streaming industry."

Tang Can earnestly said, "Don't worry, coach. If Whale Streaming wants to use our players to generate hype, they need our permission. Captain Chi's temperament… they've probably experienced his bad side before. They won't cause trouble."

Coach Lin nodded. "As for the terms of the contract, let the lawyers take a crack at it. Thanks for your hard work."

After Tianhuan's players returned to their base, the team from the photography studio swiftly fixed up their photos.

Tang Can carefully chose three of the team photos and sent them into the group chat so that everyone could pick one. Chi Shuo glanced at them and saw that in the second photo, he was looking at Ye Shaoyang with his eyes full of warmth.

His teammates might not have found anything wrong with that, but Chi Shuo felt an inexplicable wave of guilt.

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He typed back: [Let's go with the third one.]

In the third photo, everyone was looking straight ahead, and they were all standing at a fairly appropriate distance from one another. The five of them roughly formed a U-shape, with Ye Shaoyang taking the center position as mid laner. This slightly curved formation seemed to show a bit more team coordination than the photos where they were simply standing in a straight line.

Everyone chimed in with their approval: [Third one looks great!]

Next, everyone's individual player photos were sent into the chat for the players to choose from.

Chi Shuo loaded up the individual photos. The more he looked at them, the more he thought Ye Shaoyang was very photogenic. He looked good no matter how he was photographed. Chi Shuo impulsively saved Ye Shaoyang's photos to his cell phone. Afterwards, he immediately got the feeling that… it seemed a bit wrong that he'd only saved Ye Shaoyang's individual photos?

He was the captain. He should treat everyone equally when it came to saving their photos.

And so, he saved the individual photos of Qin Yizhu, Qu Jiang, and Cheng Xing as well.

The next day, Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo followed Tang Can out on a trip to Star City, to visit Whale Streaming.

Chen Feiyun, head of the talent department at Whale Streaming, heard about their visit in advance. She politely greeted their visitors when they arrived. "Can-jie, Captain Chi, it's been a while. Liu-zong is already waiting for you."

She looked at Ye Shaoyang, and her eyes suddenly filled up with shock that she struggled to hide—why was… why was the streamer Xiao Bai with the people from Tianhuan?!

Ye Shaoyang gave her a friendly wave and greeted, "Hello, Chen-zong."

Chen Feiyun was speechless.

She led the group from Tianhuan into Liu-zong's office. When Liu-zong saw Chi Shuo, he instantly stood up with a polite smile to offer a handshake. But then, when he saw Ye Shaoyang standing next to Chi Shuo, his smile went rigid on his face. His chin nearly fell off his face.

Tang Can smiled slightly and made the introductions. "Liu-zong, you've met Captain Chi before, you probably don't need me to make any introductions there. This is Ye Shaoyang, the new omega player signed to our Tianhuan."

Liu-zong was rendered speechless.

This was Ye Shaoyang's second visit to the head manager's office at Whale Streaming.

Everyone there still remembered the conditions Ye Shaoyang had raised during their first round of contract negotiations: 60% of earnings from viewer gifts, 50% of earnings from subscriptions, and the additional amendment that Whale Streaming would work with the streamer's esports team to terminate his contract if the streamer should become a professional esports player during the period of effect of his contract.

Back then, Liu-zong had figured that this was just a young man who didn't know anything, who spoke of big, wild dreams.

As a result, he'd decisively rejected Ye Shaoyang's requests.

After that, the streamer Xiao Bai's popularity skyrocketed. He broke viewership records on Whale Streaming again and again, and he even became friends with Whale Streaming's top male and female streamer. Although he'd cut back to streaming only two hours per day as of late, the popularity of his streaming room had stayed very stable. Liu-zong had just gone to take a look last night; Xiao Bai's streaming room had over eight million followers already.

The thing that had surprised Liu-zong even more was that Xiao Bai didn't want to participate in Whale Streaming's event for newcomers in December?

This person, with such immense popularity, actually didn't want to participate in a contest between new streamers? Wasn't that just leaving free money unclaimed?

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Liu-zong had been a bit perplexed at the time.

But now, Liu-zong finally understood.

Three months ago, Ye Shaoyang had confidently walked into Liu-zong's office and declared he would become the most powerful games streamer on Whale Streaming. He's even claimed he would earn as many national rankings as the top male and female streamer of the platform…

These words had all been true. He hadn't spoken a single word of a lie!

They weren't the wild words of a brazen newbie or a kid who thought the sky was the limit. It was Liu-zong who'd made a mistake and failed to believe in the rare talent this newbie exuded.

Liu-zong's face alternated between a deep red shade and a pale white. Very quickly, he swept away the awkwardness in his heart and put on a warm and friendly smile. He looked towards Ye Shaoyang and exclaimed, "Little Ye, it's been a long time! You've actually become an esports player now, and you've signed with a famous team like Tianhuan. As expected, I didn't misjudge you. I just knew you would make it big, hahaha!"

Ye Shaoyang breathed a laugh. He didn't bother responding to that sort of talk.

Tang Can straightforwardly said, "Liu-zong, I've already spoken to Chen-zong about my objectives for making this trip. Tianhuan's contract with Whale Streaming will expire at the end of the year. On the matter of renewing our contract, I thought it best to speak in person."

Liu-zong instantly said, "Then should we go with the old terms? Let's sign for two more years?"

Chi Shuo, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly said, "If we renew our contract with you, there would have to be a higher offer of some sort."

Liu-zong turned to look at him. This alpha captain had taken over Tianhuan when he was only eighteen. He'd weathered all sorts of tumultuous storms throughout the past years. When he spoke, he always gave off a calm and collected aura which made others feel some measure of pressure. It was impossible for others not to take him seriously.

Liu-zong coughed and earnestly asked, "Captain Chi, which conditions do you believe need to be adjusted?"

"Seventy percent of earnings from gifts, sixty percent of membership fees," Chi Shuo said. "And cut our monthly streaming hours down to thirty hours. We need to prioritize training and competitions, so we don't have that much time to stream. I hope Liu-zong will understand."

Liu-zong was speechless.

That would be cutting their monthly streaming hours in half?!

Chi Shuo glanced at Ye Shaoyang, then continued, "Shaoyang is a player of our Tianhuan now. The terms of his contract should be the same as the terms of mine. What does Liu-zong think?"

Liu-zong nearly blurted out, How could it be the same?

You're Tianhuan's captain, a celebrity player, with eighty million fans on Weibo.

Ye Shaoyang is just a newbie?

Liu-zong was still struggling with his answer when Tang Can smiled slightly and added, "Actually, Panda Streaming has been extending regular invitations to our Tianhuan. But our players are already quite used to staying with Whale Streaming. We'd rather not switch if we don't have to."

Liu-zong was speechless once more.

Did that mean they would jump ship if he didn't agree to their terms?

Tang Can continued, "We've worked together before, and everyone here knows one another. Liu-zong, you think about it. Although our Shaoyang is a newbie, his streaming achievements are more impressive than that of any other newbie your platform has ever seen. Plus, he's a professional esports player now. Asking for better terms now is a very ordinary request, isn't it?"

Liu-zong thought about it, then thought about it some more. When it came to Team Tianhuan, he could forget about all the other players and think about only Chi Shuo—that one celebrity player could draw more attention to a platform than a trending tag on Weibo. Every time Chi Shuo streamed, the platform servers would practically crash with the sheer amount of gifts sent in by his fans.

Furthermore, the streamer Xiao Bai really was a very powerful player. If he'd chosen to participate in the new streamers' contest that year, he would definitely have come in first.

Could Liu-zong let such a famous team fall into the hands of a rival platform?

He would have to be deranged to let that happen.

Making a bit less in profits didn't matter. Keeping Tianhuan was the most important thing.

Liu-zong instantly smiled brightly and said, "Well, of course! Let's go with Captain Chi's suggestions, then. Little Ye's terms will be the same as Captain Chi's. We treat everyone equally here, of course!"

It was only then that Chi Shuo faintly quirked up the corners of his lips. He took the initiative to extend a hand. "We look forward to doing business with you."

Liu-zong shook his hand. "As do we!"

When he thought of the millions in earnings that the streamer Xiao Bai had racked up over the past months, Liu-zong couldn't help but sigh internally—this Xiao Bai really had foresight.

He'd kept delaying things earlier, refusing to sign with the platform. And ultimately, he'd managed to sign along with a professional team.

Under the terms of his new contract, he could immediately receive a payment of several million yuan from the gifts he'd received.

Ye Shaoyang stepped up and smiled faintly as he shook hands with Liu-zong as well. "Thank you, Liu-zong. The name of my streaming room is still currently Xiao Bai, and I won't change it for the time being. Once the tournament season starts and we make the official announcement, I'll change the room name to 'Tianhuan-Lieyang' and link up with the rooms of Captain Chi and the other players. We'll be united under Tianhuan's name."

Liu-zong excitedly said, "Understood, understood! All team signings are to be confidential, of course! When the time comes, our platform will definitely cooperate with promotions of Tianhuan's official announcement. We'll be sure to give Team Tianhuan's streams the spotlight, with a huge marketing push!"

Once upon a time, Chen Feiyun had also promised a huge marketing push to the streamer Xiao Bai.

But Ye Shaoyang hadn't been interested in that at all.

Once he officially changed the name of his streaming room, the marketing campaign could surround Tianhuan. That would draw in a much more substantial amount of traffic than a marketing campaign surrounding one new streamer.

When the time came, Ye Shaoyang would once again enter the streaming world as a professional esports player, under the name Tianhuan-Lieyang.

Author's Notes:

The plot will advance step by step. I have an outline here, and Ye Shaoyang's identity will be exposed when the time is right. There's a plan for everything.

Don't be hasty~