Chapter 17

True to his word, Xiao Yi went to his room and began packing while Xiao Qiu finally headed off to bed. Although they were in their twenties, the two brothers had severely different sleep schedules. Xiao Yi usually slept throughout the day with his first pillow option being his brother's shoulder while his second option was literally anywhere else, no matter if it were a desk, couch cushion, headrest…

Xiao Yi hadn't told Xiao Qiu about going to another city for V's company's shareholder meeting yet but he was fully taking advantage of this chance to gather everything that he couldn't replace with money.

He was planning to look for an apartment when he went on a business trip.

The thought process came and went quickly, but everything that happened yesterday made him realize just how dependent he'd been on his older brother in these past few years. His brother was forced to tiptoe around certain topics, like his past teammates - a few years ago he skipped around the topic of esports in general. As an esports player who ran a stream!

During that time Xiao Qiu even played farming sims on stream instead of Valley of Light until Lee got involved.

Furthermore, living in this apartment was never supposed to be a permanent thing for Xiao Qiu. The original plan that Lee had come up with was for him to bring Xiao Yi back and nurse him back to health, perhaps take a few months to help him settle in, and scoop Xiao Qiu back to the base. It was only a few minutes walk, he could visit the apartment daily.

Obviously, Lee's plan had failed. Xiao Qiu decided to run away with his little brother and, like a child going to college, go back to the base only when he was called back.

Not the plan!

Xiao Yi also found this quite idiotic but it was Xiao Qiu's life and he couldn't exactly boot him out the front door - he should thank Mu Yichen for the opportunity to make his brother run back to the base all on his own.

He, a former captain, understood Lee's pain and would send his brother straight to the door.

Admittedly, he also couldn't wait to see his older brother get scolded. It should be quite a show.

Xiao Yi hummed contently as he zipped up his suitcase and a duffel bag he'd stolen from the company when he left. Both were pitch black, only with the English letter 'X' written in white on the sides.

X could mean anything. It could be a fashion statement, a letter of a name, etc, so Xiao Yi wasn't too concerned. No one had said anything when he was living on the streets with them out in the open.

His sharp eyes glanced around the apartment and he sighed dejectedly.

'When did we become so messy?'

Xiao Yi glanced at the counter littered with take-out containers and frowned.

'Should I call a cleaner?'

His eyebrow twitched as he found a similar situation in the living room.

'Gosh, we're such slobs. Who's going to marry Xiao Qiu like this?'

It was quite normal for the two siblings to throw out trash once a week but… Weren't they leaving in the morning? When did they have time to clean?

His shoulders sank as he glimpsed around the apartment, seemingly seeing everything for the first time - as if he hadn't contributed to the mess.

Garbage not in the proper place - the garbage or recycling bins.

Clothes everywhere… His clothes. The ones he was too lazy to put in the hamper in his room. Mainly sweaters.

Dirty dishes were left in their spots as neither brother bothered to throw them in the dishwasher.

He could see his older brother's marriage prospects running away the more he looked at the mess.

Xiao Yi stared at the apartment with a speechless expression for a few moments before he promptly grabbed his phone and a can of soda and made his way outside, onto the balcony connected to the apartment by a sliding door into the living room.

He sat on the chair and placed the soda on the little table next to the balcony before he turned his phone that he'd abandoned earlier back on and entered V's conversation.

[V]: Wow, I didn't think they'd be that shameless.

[V]: Chen Qiang reached out to me for your contact information.

[V]: He's asking where you are now.

[V]: Now he's asking me where I am, am I being dragged into a trap?

[V]: God damn it - while I was gone, the bastard really tried framing me! I told them to hold a shareholder meeting in three days, I'm buying you a ticket.

[V]: Why am I dealing with your drama and my drama at the same time?

Xiao Yi stared at the messages for a moment and chuckled softly. He'd messaged nearly every hour since Mu Yichen's speech, the last being only a half hour ago.

Although he didn't want to get V involved any deeper into the strained relationship between old friends, he certainly didn't want to be the one to see or talk to them. Hence, after a few moments of contemplation, he sent two messages.

[X]: Tell Chen Qiang to inform everyone that both my wrists are injured, I can't play even if they begged the gods.

[X]: OK.

After he pressed send he leaned back and closed his eyes. Those boys could never know what he did, but they also needed to know that they should search for another teammate. Even if the contract didn't exist, it was unlikely he'd join the esports world again.

He had nostalgia towards his time playing professionally… Spending time with his friends, the late nights he spent trying to write plans, management duties, shining on the stage in front of millions.

Alas, he also found that he quite valued his peaceful little life.