Chapter One

The club could bring in a new generation of experts like Sun Xiang to revitalize. But what about a former king? He could only endure the erosion of time alone, choosing to leave sadly at this moment.

He left freely, but his heart was definitely not willing. He still wanted to fight, he didn't feel that his career had come to an end. But he had no choice. Accept the conditions and stay in the club as a training partner? This seemed like an option to endure humiliation, but Ye Xiu saw it more clearly. He knew that the club expected him to be unwilling to accept this kind of humiliation and would definitely choose to leave, which is why they gave him this option. Once he unexpectedly accepted, the club would come up with other ways to force him out.

This was cruel, but for the club it was just a business choice, and it was not mixed with any personal feelings. The alliance had become ruthless because of commercialization.

Ye Xiu was not yet at the time to retire, in fact, the club understood this. Taking retirement as a condition was proof that they knew this. They wanted to get rid of this burden, but they were afraid that other competitors would take the opportunity to become stronger. They would rather Ye Xiu rot than let him become an opponent.

So forcing Ye Xiu to retire became the result they wanted most, and undoubtedly they succeeded. Ye Xiu could understand all this, but he could only follow their script. A desperate struggle? He didn't want to, because he still had a road to continue. A year of retirement, this forced choice might not be an opportunity, taking a step back opens up a broader world! Although this step seemed a bit too big...

"It's over..." When such subtitles rolled across the projection screen, Ye Xiu finally couldn't bear to watch it anymore. The media deliberately made the program sentimental, and some people in the Internet cafe were already crying directly. But in terms of sadness, nostalgia, and bitterness, who among all the audience present could compare to him, the person involved? Ye Xiu squeezed out of the crowd and escaped from the Internet cafe, took a long breath outside the gate, and even heard sobs coming from his ears. Looking back, it was Chen Guo who was hiding alone outside the door, her eyes also sparkling.

They discovered each other. It seemed impolite not to say hello, so Ye Xiu had to greet, "Boss, are you crying?"

"You animal, don't you feel anything?" Chen Guo said.

"I feel too much, that's why I couldn't hold back and ran away," Ye Xiu said.

"Get out!" Chen Guo scolded, "Do you have any paper?"

Ye Xiu touched his whole body: "Is a cigarette case okay?"

"..."

"I'll go get it." Without waiting for the boss to get angry, Ye Xiu quickly ran back to the Internet cafe to find paper.

The sound of crying in the Internet cafe seemed to be louder, both men and women. This time Ye Xiu really couldn't bear it and felt a pang of sadness. He knew very well who these people were crying for. Thinking of this, his eyes couldn't help but get hot. Ye Xiu hurriedly ran to the front desk to get a pack of tissues, rushed out and stuffed it into Chen Guo's hand, turned his back, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a hard puff.

"What are you doing? Are you crying too? Do you need paper?" Chen Guo seemed to notice behind him.

"How could I, how could I cry?" Ye Xiu turned around and spat out a puff of smoke, covering Chen Guo's face. The sad tears had just been wiped away with a tissue, and the smoke made her cry again.

Chen Guo waved away the smoke and surprisingly didn't say anything. She put the pack of tissues back into Ye Xiu's hand, turned around, and went back to the Internet cafe.

Ye Xiu leaned against the door of the Internet cafe, quietly finished the cigarette, took a tissue, blew his nose hard, and strode towards the small restaurant opposite the Internet cafe.

When Ye Xiu returned to the Internet cafe with a toothpick in his mouth, looking like he had eaten his fill, the special screening to commemorate Comrade Ye Qiu was finally over, but the atmosphere in the Internet cafe hadn't completely dissipated, and many people had red eyes. Fortunately, most people in the venue were like this, so they weren't embarrassed. On the other hand, people like Ye Xiu who looked calm were easily regarded as heartless animals. If you didn't explain that you didn't play Glory, you would be embarrassed to greet people.

The big boss Chen was nowhere to be seen. Ye Xiu went to the front desk to ask the little sister, mainly to ask what was going on with this special screening.

He learned that whenever there was a Glory competition, Xingxin Internet Cafe would hold such a live broadcast. There were no matches today, but after Ye Qiu's retirement, the electronic competition channel urgently produced a special program, so Xingxin Internet Cafe showed it as a match.

In the past, after the broadcast of a match, everyone would be passionate and eager to play the game, directly causing the Internet cafe to be full and revenue to increase. But after today's event, Glory players were unusually subdued. Some went home to hug their pillows, and some went to vent their feelings with three or five friends over drinks. Of course, some stayed in the Internet cafe to continue playing games. After all, not everyone was a fan of Ye Qiu, and some were indifferent to his retirement. However, under the influence of the overall atmosphere, they were also affected. Although they persisted in playing the game, they were a little listless.

The entire Xingxin Internet Cafe seemed very quiet. At this time, Glory players would usually be wearing headsets, talking or shouting, making it very lively.

Ye Xiu was thinking about what to do when he saw Chen Guo coming down from the second floor, so he quickly went up to greet her, "Boss, am I officially starting work today?"

"Okay," Chen Guo said, "But when you officially start work, you can't just find a place to sit. You have to stay at the bar."

"Can I play games?"

"Yes, use that one." Chen Guo pointed to the computer where the bar girl was watching Korean dramas.

"What about smoking?" Ye Xiu asked.

Chen Guo glanced at him and nodded helplessly: "Smoke, smoke, but there can't be any smell of smoke or ash when I come in the morning."

"Understood," Ye Xiu said.

Then Chen Guo taught Ye Xiu how to turn the machines on and off for the customers, and finally said: "Actually, most of the time these are customers who stay up all night. They are all scheduled before 11 o'clock, and the machines will automatically shut down at 7 o'clock in the morning. There is basically nothing for you to do. Just guard the place. Customers will ring the bell if they need anything."

"What if the machine malfunctions?" Ye Xiu asked. Although he was not completely ignorant about computers, he didn't have the skills to fix them.

"Restart," Chen Guo said.

Ye Xiu wiped his sweat: "What if restarting doesn't work?"

"Change the machine," Chen Guo said.

Ye Xiu sweated again. Just as he was about to ask again, Chen Guo interrupted: "You're on the night shift, there are plenty of empty machines, change them as you like, but you have to write down what's wrong with the machine, and find someone to fix it the next day."

"Oh, I understand," Ye Xiu nodded.