[FLOTG] Chapter 17: Change in Opinion

Shen Huai clung to the toilet bowl, puking his guts out. His eyebrows were tightly knitted, and from the sound of his retching, it was almost as if his very intestines would be thrown up as well. One couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Song Xue-Yang wrapped a towel around himself and crouched down to pat Shen Huai on the back.

Shen Huai turned his head to look at him with dazed eyes, and then, as if just realising Song Xue-Yang was still half-naked, he instantly stood up and took two steps back.

Song Xue-Yang found his reaction rather funny. Shen Huai could not look straight at him, eyes only dropping down briefly to glance at Song Xue-Yang's towel-clad lower body before he turned his head aside as if he had been electrocuted, revealing a red-tinged ear.

Song Xue-Yang could see that Shen Huai was easily embarrassed. He resisted the urge to tease Shen Huai and handed him a cup of water, also scrounging up some medicine to help with the process of sobering up.

"These pills will help. Take them and go sleep, and you'll be fine tomorrow."

Shen Huai swallowed them without hesitation and then just sat down on the edge of the bed. His hands hung loosely by his sides, and he was soon swaying once again.

Song Xue-Yang merely stood by and watched. His alcohol tolerance was very good, so he often ended up being the one taking care of others who were drunk. Still, Shen Huai was undoubtedly the easiest drunk he had ever had to take care of.

He neither made a fuss nor said much of anything at all, as quiet as a cat curled up on one's lap.

Shen Huai swayed for a bit, and when he finally couldn't sit up any longer, he flopped down to lay on the bed.

He was also very quiet in repose, his soft hair clinging to his forehead, his eyes gently shut. He did not frown in his sleep, and even his breathing was soft and light.

Song Xue-Yang suddenly thought of Ash Wing, who was also quiet like this and didn't like to say much. If they met up in real life, Ash Wing would definitely be the type like this, who wouldn't make a fuss even when drunk, right?

Song Xue-Yang shook his head. He must be going crazy over his desire to pull Ash Wing into the team, relating any random person he sees to Ash Wing.

He carried Shen Huai onto the bed and tucked him in properly with a blanket, and then he went to the living room and spent the night on the sofa.

The next morning, Shen Huai was still sleeping when Song Xue-Yang woke up. He carefully made his way to the bathroom to wash up, and by the time he was dressed and ready, there was a knock on the dorm room door.

Hai Xing and the others were standing outside the door, looking like they had something to say.

Song Xue-Yang smiled and leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed. "When have you lot been able to get up so early after a night of drinking? Didn't you all always sleep till late afternoon in the past?"

Hai Xing pushed him aside to enter the room. "Is Shen Huai here with you?"

He opened Song Xue-Yang's bedroom door, and there was indeed someone curled up on the bed, covered in Song Xue-Yang's blankets. The situation truly resembled someone stashing away a secret lover.

Fan Jing-Ming said contemplatively, "Looks like I didn't drink enough last night."

Hai Xing still hadn't gotten over his shock. "A superstar is sleeping in our captain's bed!"

Song Xue-Yang: "......"

Why does a perfectly normal thing sound so wrong when said out loud?

The group fell silent, staring at Shen Huai. The scene was like the seven dwarves surrounding the sleeping Snow White.

Shen Huai laid along the side of the bed, wrapped up in the blanket. He was curled up into a ball, one arm dangling down from the bed. His slender and flawless fingers were lovely from any angle.

Song Xue-Yang was suddenly struck by the thought that it would certainly be beautiful to see these hands operate a keyboard.

Perhaps sensing the intense stares levelled at him, Shen Huai slowly opened his eyes. His gaze swept over the group around him, and then he sat up expressionlessly, yawning.

"Uh, Shen, Shen..." Hai Xing began stammering again.

This was the time for Vice-Captain Zhou to step up. "How do you feel?"

Zhou Ning had an androgynous appearance, with gentle features and semi-long wavy hair pulled into a tie at the back of his head. He looked like an artist.

Shen Huai said, "Thank you. I'm feeling much better."

Fan Jing-Ming leaned over the back of a chair. "You're welcome. It was rather exciting being able to rescue a superstar."

Hai Xing was very curious. "Shen Huai, why were you being chased by reporters? Where's your manager?"

Song Xue-Yang pulled Hai Xing back and changed the topic. "Are you hungry? Do you want to have lunch?"

Shen Huai did not refuse. "Okay."

It wasn't easy to treat a superstar to a meal. First of all, they could not take him out. If Song Xue-Yang was right, there was most likely a horde of reporters already lying in wait outside the club. And secondly, they could not take Shen Huai to the club cafeteria either.

After some thought, Song Xue-Yang instructed, "Go ask the kitchen manager Uncle Zhao for some ingredients. We'll cook on our own."

Shen Huai looked at him in surprise. "You're going to cook?"

Song Xue-Yang smiled and said, "Don't worry, I can cook pretty well."

Shen Huai wanted to clarify that it was a misunderstanding, that he had only been surprised that Song Xue-Yang was actually going to cook, but before he could say anything, Song Xue-Yang added, "But it might not taste as good as the food you treated us to yesterday."

Shen Huai: "......"

As expected, nothing could get by this old fox.

Hai Xing and the rest went downstairs to the kitchen to get the ingredients. Meanwhile, Shen Huai went to take a shower, while Song Xue-Yang sat on the sofa browsing Weibo.

Unsurprisingly, the incident last night had already exploded all over the internet. It seemed like everyone was talking about Shen Huai's imminent retirement from the entertainment industry. Under the hot search topic, there was even a thread discussing how Shen Huai had leapt into Maple Moon's team car in his desperation to get away from the reporters trying to corner him...

Song Xue-Yang's Weibo had gained 200,000 followers overnight as the netizens eager for news pretty much blew up his Weibo.

The trending hot searches on Weibo in real-time:

#Shen Huai retires; terminates contract with Promise Corporation#

#Shen Huai jumps into Song Xue-Yang's car#

#Song Xue-Yang's Weibo is overwhelmed#

......

Song Xue-Yang would like to clarify that the car belongs to the team, and that he was not the only one in the car at the time. Was he dragged into it just because he's the team captain?

[ Esports and entertainment are part of the same family; Hubby, when did you get to know Shen Huai?!! ]

Very honestly, we just met last night.

[ I've long said that Song Xue-Yang has some serious backing. My friend is part of the upper management in Promise Corporation, insider news says that Captain Song has shares in Shen Enterprises! ]

Hmph, if so, then I must be really wealthy.

[ Can you all stop drawing random conclusions?! Captain Song was celebrating his birthday yesterday and must have just happened to eat at the same restaurant as Shen Huai! From the video, Shen Huai is clearly the one shamelessly charging into Captain Song's car! Our Captain Song has nothing to do with that flower vase! ]

Excuse me, "that flower vase" is currently taking a shower in my dorm room.

The "City of Despair Gossip Group" on WeChat populated by the various pro teams was also pinging non-stop.

Tang Yuan-Wei: Who knew that Captain Song was Shen Huai's fan!

Zhang Jia-Yan: Song Xue-Yang, you're going to lose next year!

Liang Ming-Hui: Captain... Captain Song can see this...

Si Qian-Jin: Haha, is Captain Song trying to pull Shen Huai into his team? An all-star lineup! Scary, scary!

Song Xue-Yang turned off his phone. It was unexpected that Shen Huai had been chased by the reporters due to his retirement.

He had watched a few of Shen Huai's movies before. Every single one was very famous, but the fame of these films were basically due to the contribution of the other actors involved. If Shen Huai hadn't had such an internationally renowned movie star for a father, he probably wouldn't have been able to star in such great films.

When Shen Huai came out after his shower, he had changed into a set of Song Xue-Yang's clothes. They were about the same height and figure, so the clothes fit him well. The simple white shirt and jeans lessened a little of his star glamour; he looked like a regular university student.

Song Xue-Yang remembered that although Shen Huai had debuted a long time ago, he was still only 21 years old this year.

21 years old... there was still time for him to change careers.

Song Xue-Yang helped him connect his phone to the wifi network. "The security guards of the Maple Moon Club are very strict. Those reporters won't be able to get in here, so you can stay and rest for two days."

Shen Huai found that Song Xue-Yang was always so considerate. "I've changed my flight back to Xi'an to tomorrow afternoon."

"That'll work. It won't be as easy for the reporters to spot you during peak hours when there are more people." Song Xue-Yang quickly realised Shen Huai's intention. "Is your luggage still at the hotel? You'll go get it tomorrow?"

Shen Huai shook his head. The reporters would most certainly have already uncovered which hotel he was staying at and would be staking out the hotel. "I'll call the hotel and ask them to mail my luggage."

Once everyone else returned with the ingredients, Song Xue-Yang and Zhou Ning headed to the kitchen, while Hai Xing and Fan Jing-Ming accompanied Shen Huai.

The three of them sat on the sofa in silence; the atmosphere was rather awkward.

Hai Xing was brimming with questions, but Zhou Ning had cautioned him earlier not to ask any questions which would invade Shen Huai's privacy. He floundered for a topic and said, "Shen Huai, I've watched many of your movies!"

Shen Huai nodded, and Hai Xing resumed his efforts, "I think you act really well! Especially as Wen Xi in 'Phoenix Tree'."

This was one of Shen Huai's more relatively well-received roles. Wen Xi, a mute who could not speak...

Fan Jing-Ming tugged urgently on Hai Xing's sleeve. Of all the roles he played, you just had to praise his acting as a mute!

Hai Xing belatedly realised he had put his foot in his mouth and he stammered, "I didn't mean that! Your acting is good no matter what role you play. I've liked watching your movies since I was a kid!"

Shen Huai, who had debuted as a child star: "..."

Hai Xing: QAQ

Everything he said was a mistake... Captain, please stop cooking and hurry back to salvage the situation!

When Song Xue-Yang returned to the room with the dishes, he found the trio still sitting on the sofa in silence. Hai Xing had his head bowed, face flushed, looking guilty like he had done something wrong.

"There wasn't much time so I didn't make much. Let's just make do."

Song Xue-Yang was really being overly courteous. In such a short time, he had made braised prawns, Kung Pao chicken, lotus and broccoli stir-fry, and winter melon soup with meatballs. As soon as the dishes were on the table, it was a meal which checked all the boxes of smell, look, and taste. The braised prawns in particular were bright red and glistening with oil, extremely appetizing on sight alone.

Hai Xing finally found a safe topic of conversation. "Come and have a taste. Our captain's cooking is very good!"

The ingratiating way Hai Xing pushed the food at Shen Huai made Song Xue-Yang wonder for a moment whether he was really the one who had made the dishes on the table.

Shen Huai picked up a prawn with his chopsticks. It did indeed taste really good. He would never have guessed that Song Xue-Yang could cook so well in addition to being so good at gaming.

He said neutrally, "It's delicious."

The group: "......"

Then you should express it better!

Shen Huai ate very elegantly; you could tell that he had been raised well. He made no sound as he ate, not even producing the clink of chopsticks against the rim of his bowl. It was very pleasing to watch.

Hai Xing snuck a glance at him. "Shen Huai, are you really not going to act anymore?"

They had all seen the posts on Weibo and were rather stunned by this development.

Shen Huai put down his chopsticks. "Not anymore."

Fan Jing-Ming asked curiously, "So what are your plans after this?"

"You'll find out next year." At the pro leagues next year.

Fan Jing-Ming assumed Shen Huai wasn't comfortable sharing this information, so he stopped asking.

Hai Xing felt it was a shame. "Shen Huai, you've acted for so many years and you're so handsome. Why quit so suddenly? I also get scolded very often. When I play well, I'm scolded by the other team's fans, and when I don't play well, I'm scolded by my own fans. There are even people who tell me to stop playing and to just go home to farm!"

Shen Huai seemed to be very interested in this topic. "And then?"

Hai Xing puffed up, "Of course I yelled back!"

His three teammates collectively shook their heads and sighed.

"I should just go home because he tells me to? Why should I? Even if I go home, I want to bring a championship trophy back with me!"

Shen Huai's gaze changed. He stared at the ambitious Hai Xing. "You want to become champion?"

"Of course! Why play professionally if I don't want to be a champion? Our training everyday is just as tough as the other teams. If they can get a trophy, we can too!"

Shen Huai was silent. He had always thought that Maple Moon was not very passionate about becoming champion. Not every professional player would be aiming for the champion's trophy, just as how not every actor would aim to be an award-winning best actor. Those who stood at the pinnacle would always be rare ― most people were content to be just famous enough.

Shen Huai did not want to join a team like that. He purely wanted to win and prove himself. He wanted to lift up the championship trophy and tell everyone ― this was the path that he, Shen Huai, had really chosen!

Thus, considering this point, Maple Moon would not have been his best choice.

But now, seeing the determination in Hai Xing's eyes, Shen Huai wasn't so sure anymore.

Hai Xing did not notice any of this, still talking excitedly, "And Ash Wing will be joining our team this year, so we'll definitely be the champions next year! Oh, right, Shen Huai, do you know about Ash Wing?"

Shen Huai not only knew about Ash Wing, he was the one who chose the name.

Shen Huai did not confirm or deny. "He has already joined Maple Moon?"

Hai Xing wasn't worried. "With the captain around, Ash Wing will join us sooner or later!"

Shen Huai cast a pointed look at Song Xue-Yang. You seem very confident, Fox.

Song Xue-Yang found himself feeling inexplicably guilty under Shen Huai's gaze. "Since you're all so lively, we can start training in the afternoon."

"So soon?" Fan Jing-Ming's head shot up.

"This is soon? You've all been resting for 10 days already. If we don't start training, it might be difficult to rank within the top 8 next year, let alone become champion."

Fan Jing-Ming silently wept. He had been planning to watch a movie in the afternoon.

---

Previous: Chapter 16: Retirement Commotion
Next: Chapter 18: Training

Back to Index