After playing against Tokyo Sakura, everyone in R.H only rested for one night, and then went back to intense training and preparations the next day. Yu Zhaohan didn’t even have time to review his recent activities with Timeless.

But in this short night, Cheese had a stomachache from eating British BBQ; Jiang Di was hit on by several European girls and guys in the pool with his muscular body. Yu Zhaohan’s inner thighs were red, and he needed to stick to Shi Du, so Shi Du had to bother Lu Youshan to go buy some medicine, which Lu Youshan did.

Therefore, Shi Du’s impression of Coach Lu changed greatly, and he made a firm decision to respect the coach as much as possible in the future and avoid arguing with him.

Fortunately, these were all minor issues that wouldn’t affect their training.

The next match was their first match against a Western Division team this season, and it was against Lawman. To say there was no pressure was definitely just showing off.

To quickly adapt to the fast-paced style of the Western Division and the emphasis on individual skills, Coach Lu arranged for them to play training matches against strong Western teams. Especially the New York PPZ ranked second in the West. R.H. played against them almost every day.

PPZ was about to face the Little Devil DSD, and they needed to adapt to the Eastern Division’s operation-oriented and team-based playstyle, which was perfectly aligned with R.H.

In training matches, R.H. won seven out of the ten games against PPZ. However, PPZ was also a team that had been shut out by Lawman in the regular season. Winning against them didn’t necessarily mean that the operation system was better than the fast-paced and shooting-focused strategy.

In the next few games, PPZ narrowly defeated DSD 4:3, and DSD fell into the loser’s bracket; IPL eliminated a team from Canada and continued to stay in the losers’ bracket. Eau lost to Tokyo Sakura and ended their season early.

At this point, of the four domestic teams, one had been eliminated, two had fallen to the losers’ bracket, and only R.H. remained in the winners’ bracket. Many domestic fans were already starting to get anxious.

On the day Eau returned to China, several brother teams took some time to send them off.

Eau’s manager was rather relaxed, “At least we spent two weeks in Europe and won a match; that’s already historic for our team.”

Eau’s captain smiled bitterly and said: “The Sakura team is strong. It was just our bad luck that we had to face them in the second match; otherwise, we might have gone further.”

Bi An looked at him and joked, “So, are you blaming R.H.? They’re the ones who sent the Sakura team to the losers’ bracket.”

Captain Eau said hurriedly: “I don’t think that way!” He looked at Yu Zhaohan, fearing that Captain Yu might dislike him. “Captain Yu, please believe me!”

Yu Zhaohan nodded, “Okay.”

Archer, the long-gun player from DSD, suddenly said, “I feel the same way. I’d rather lose to you guys than get eliminated by a foreign team.”

The boys from IPL and DSD fell silent.

The next losers’ bracket match was between IPL and DSD, and regardless of who won or lost, one of these two teams would be eliminated, leaving only two domestic teams in the final four.

In the silence, Shi Du laughed out loud: “Come on, guys. Isn’t it a bit too much? Who hasn’t eliminated a brother team themselves in this day and age? When did you all become so melodramatic? No need for that; I swear I’ve got goosebumps all over the place.”

Shi Du’s sarcastic remark actually lightened the mood considerably.

Cheese proudly declared, “Our little brother has always had one of the sharpest tongues in the league. Oh, I can’t take it anymore. I need to go to the bathroom. Jiang Di, remember to bring me some toilet paper later! I’ll return the favor next time!”

Jiang Di: “…”

Lu Youshan looked at Cheese, who was clutching his stomach in pain, and frowned, “Could this be a conspiracy by the London team? Using their cuisine to launch off-field attacks on players from other countries and cause harm?” As he thought more about it, Lu Youshan became increasingly anxious. “I said it back then, why host the playoffs in Europe!”

Bi An asked Yu Zhaohan: “Is Cheese okay?”

Yu Zhaohan said: “I hope so.”

“What about Clown?” Bi An asked again, “How is he recovering? Can he catch up with your game against Lawman?”

Although Qi Xian’s surgery was not announced to the public, people within the league knew more or less.

Yu Zhaohan said: “It’s hard to say.”

IPL had just finished playing against Lawman, and Bi An had a clear understanding of the North American Big Devil’s strength. “Captain Yu, pardon my bluntness, but if Clown can’t play, R.H. will have a hard time beating Lawman.”

Upon being coldly scrutinized by Yu Zhaohan, Bian hastily added, “Of course, with you and Timeless, Lawman will also have a difficult time against R.H.”

Shi Du turned to Xu and said, “Hurry up and take your captain away. He’s starting to talk nonsense.”

Both Yu Zhaohan and Shi Du knew that what Bi An said was not entirely nonsense. If Qi Xian could play, their chances of beating Lawman would definitely be higher. However, they had already consulted Qi Xian’s attending physician, who said that Qi Xian’s current condition was not suitable for long-duration, high-intensity matches.

The BO7 format in the playoffs was also a challenge for the players’ physical stamina. Forcing Qi Xian to play would be irresponsible to him personally and to the team.

As the match against Lawman approached, the tension in the hearts of everyone in R.H. grew. Yu Zhaohan appeared calm on the surface, still the steady and dependable team captain, but when he returned to his room at night, he had to snack and watch his boyfriend play balls to relax.

Not long after, even watching Shi Du play ball couldn’t help Yu Zhaohan relax. He remained resolute and didn’t put on his dinosaur pajamas, which were his last resort, and he didn’t want to use them unless it was absolutely necessary.

Before the match, the league officials asked for one representative from R.H. to record some pre-match trash talk. The recording location was quite far from the hotel, and the Internet-addicted teenagers who slept until noon every day stayed away from it.

Old Tan wanted Jiang Di to go, but Jiang Di stated that he couldn’t talk trash. Old Tan suggested, “No worries, just sit there and say a few words casually, and then flex your muscles for the rest of the time.”

Jiang Di said, “Could you let Timeless go? He’s great at trash-talking.”

Old Tan waved his hand emphatically and said, “Impossible. Timeless can’t get up in the morning.”

Jiang Di unexpectedly insisted: “If he can’t get up, he should practice more.”

Shi Du said, “Okay, I’ll go.”

Old Tan looked like he’d seen a ghost, while Jiang Di looked relieved.

Old Tan asked uneasily, “Are you all right?”

“I love to trash-talk,” Shi Du said half-seriously, half-jokingly, “plus, I happen to have something to do outside, so I can take care of two things with one early wake-up.”

Old Tan was somewhat perplexed. “What could Timeless possibly have to do in Europe?”

Shi Du rarely got up early and was so sleepy that he couldn’t open his eyes, still managed himself to cook a bowl of noodles for Yu Zhaohan.

Yu Zhaohan asked: “Who is Lawman sending to trash-talk?”

Shi Du said sleepily: “I don’t know. Yuyu, I’m so sleepy…”

“Whoever they send, they won’t be able to out-trash-talk you, Shi Du,” Yu Zhaohan said as he held a bowl of noodles, handing chopsticks to his boyfriend. “Go ahead, I’ll be waiting for you to come back.”

Shi Du was gone for most of the day and barely made it to the afternoon practice match when he returned. They were playing against PPZ again in the training match, and today, all of PPZ’s members were in high spirits. Their weaknesses and shortcomings had been improved, and they won this training match with a score of 4:2.

After the training match, everyone’s mood was somewhat heavy. Stone’s lack of confidence resurfaced, and he said despondently, “If Brother Xian was here, we definitely wouldn’t lose.”

Jiang Di confessed, “I was too greedy for damage, and didn’t support the double C well. That’s my fault.”

Shi Du also said simply: “I was pretty bad today too. I didn’t do much. I’m sorry.”

Old Tan asked: “Is it because you are too sleepy after getting up early?”

“No, I was just bad. Making excuses doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s just a training match, it doesn’t prove anything,” Yu Zhaohan said calmly. “Let’s prepare for the analysis.”

After the analysis, everyone paired up and returned to their rooms. Yu Zhaohan remained silent throughout, and as soon as he got back to his room, he snuggled into Shi Du’s arms.

“Shi Du, I was just as bad as you today—no, I was even worse,” Yu Zhaohan said dejectedly. “Even without the support, I shouldn’t have dealt so little damage. In the final team fight, I found the PPZ support’s position, but I only hit his body… If that shot had headshot him, we wouldn’t have lost.”

Obviously, Yu Zhaohan’s stress had almost exceeded Yuyu’s load.

Shi Du picked up Yu Zhaohan, walked to the bedside, and sat him on his lap. “It’s just a training match; it doesn’t prove anything.”

Yu Zhaohan sighed, “Aren’t these the words I use to comfort everyone? You’re stealing my lines.”

Shi Du smiled and said: “You also know that these are your exact words. We have played so many training games with PPZ, and they only won four games this time. We have beaten them seven games.”

“But Lawman is stronger than PPZ.” Yu Zhaohan asked anxiously: “Shi Du, what do you think is the difference in strength between Lawman and PPZ?”

“I don’t know.” Shi Du, “but I do know that you’re too nervous right now. You need to relax and shift your focus.”

Yu Zhaohan asked, “Are you going to play with your ball now?”

“…Can’t you think of anything else besides playing ball?” Shi Du took out an envelope from his pocket and held it between his two fingers, “Look at this.”

Yu Zhaohan looked at a string of English words on the envelope: “Is this…?”

“The university my family applied to me is indeed in the UK.” Shi Du said, “I found an overseas study agency online and went with them. Having me personally go through the procedures and my parents representing me is as good as it gets.”

Yu Zhaohan opened the envelope. He learned English very well and could understand the contents at a glance.

Yu Zhaohan opened his eyes wide: “You want to drop out of school?”

Shi Du smiled: “Surprised? I told you about not discussing long-distance relationships, didn’t I?”

Yu Zhaohan hesitated, “But your parents…”

“You don’t need to worry about that,”

Yu Zhaohan repeatedly read Shi Du’s withdrawal application but still couldn’t be certain. “So, can I stick to you from now on?”

Shi Du grabbed Yu Zhaohan’s hand and put it on his shoulder: “Don’t worry, I won’t let you not stick to me.”

As the team captain, Shine would respect every player’s decision. So even if Shi Du wanted to retire early, he wouldn’t oppose it too much.

As Yuyu, he would also respect his boyfriend’s decisions. As long as they were healthy, didn’t get sick, and still liked each other, there was no problem with a long-distance relationship.

Both Shine and Yuyu will accept and face the reality, even though it’s not what they truly desire.

Yu Zhaohan’s eyes welled up with tears as he asked, “How long are you going to keep playing?”

Shi Du said: “Until I can’t play anymore, until I get old and my vision blurs, my reaction time slows, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t carry my teammates. Until the day I can’t hear the audience shouting ‘Timeless’ and ‘Shine’ in the arena.” He chuckled and added, “I’m sorry; my strong desire to win is a bad habit I can’t change in this lifetime. I can’t stand being worse than others.”

Yu Zhaohan was moved expressionlessly: “Shi Du, I’m so touched. Let’s kiss.”

Shi Du held one of Yu Zhaohan’s cheeks with one hand and agreed, “Sure.”

But halfway through the kiss, Yu Zhaohan suddenly remembered something.

“But why are you withdrawing from school instead of taking a leave of absence?” Yu Zhaohan worried, “When we retire, you still need to go to school; you can’t just have a high school diploma.”

“We’ll apply for another university when the time comes. Even if I go to school, it will be with you,” Shi Du said with a bright and handsome smile. “Okay? Senior Yu.”

Yu Zhaohan thought for a moment and pointed out, “But Shi Du, you’re a terrible student. How could you possibly attend the same university as me in the future?”

Shi Du: “…”