TRSBPASO 69

That day, in the living room.

Lin Yi sat leisurely on the sofa, legs crossed while holding a storybook in his hand, reading fairy tales to Huo Mianmian.

Huo Mianmian nestled beside Lin Yi, resting his chin in his hands with his big round eyes wide open as he listened quietly.

After Lin Yi finished telling a story about a prince and a princess, Huo Mianmian tilted his head and asked, “Xiao Ba, why do princes and princesses always live happily ever after at the end of every fairy tale?”

Lin Yi turned to look at him and smiled. “Well, imagine this—if the prince and princess didn’t end up living happily together, but were sadly separated instead, would that make you sad?”

Huo Mianmian thought for a moment, then nodded his little head. “It would. Mianmian would cry.”

Lin Yi chuckled. “That’s why, so Mianmian won’t cry, every fairy tale ends happily.”

Huo Mianmian nodded in sudden understanding.

So that was the reason.

Lin Yi then continued reading fairy tales to Huo Mianmian.

It wasn’t until a little past eleven in the morning that Huo Shi came downstairs.

Though the young esports pro had been staying at home during this time, he still followed the same schedule he had at the base—essentially sleeping during the day and staying up all night.

At that moment, Huo Shi came down with tousled hair and let out a yawn. He didn’t look anything like the invincible “God Huo,” just a regular teenage boy.

Of course, the boy had good looks—just a bit of grooming, and he could walk out the door and shoot a team poster on the spot.

After coming downstairs, Huo Shi greeted Lin Yi, “Good morning, sister-in-law.”

Then, still in his slippers and yawning, he headed straight toward the game room.

Lately, his wrist had recovered quite a bit, enough for short training sessions.

Lin Yi reminded him, “Come out on time, don’t train too long.”

Huo Shi nodded. “Okay.”

However, even though he said that, he still hadn’t come out by two in the afternoon.

Lin Yi: “…”

This kid really knows how to stress people out.

Lin Yi walked to the game room door, leaned lazily against the doorframe, and looked at Huo Shi inside. “That’s enough, your wrist can’t handle this kind of intense training for too long.”

He understood that ever since Huo Shi saw his team lose that day, he hadn’t been able to let it go and was pushing himself hard. But sometimes, no matter how urgent things felt, you had to take it step by step.

Huo Shi heard Lin Yi’s voice, let go of the mouse, and rubbed his wrist. “I think it’s fine, it doesn’t really hurt.”

He was trying to squeeze in a couple more matches.

Lin Yi didn’t argue with him at all. He simply said, “Out.”

It’s just that one word, nothing extra, yet it left no room for defiance.

Huo Shi: “…”

His sister-in-law could be pretty scary when he got stern.

In the end, Huo Shi stood up and left the game room with Lin Yi.

Lin Yi walked ahead, and Huo Shi followed obediently behind.

The old butler saw this and smiled in relief.

This house really couldn’t function without Mr. Lin.

The next day, Xu Zheng came again to check on Huo Shi’s wrist.

To his surprise, he found that Huo Shi’s wrist had recovered remarkably quickly.

He looked at Huo Shi in disbelief. “I didn’t expect you to actually follow the doctor’s orders.”

He had told Huo Shi to take good care of his wrist, but wasn’t confident he’d actually listen. After all, Huo Shi could be so stubborn that no one could change his mind once it was made up.

Huo Shi, hearing this, glanced toward Lin Yi and said, “Didn’t really have a choice.”

Xu Zheng: “…”

So in the end, it wasn’t his advice that did the trick—it was all thanks to Lin Yi.

Wait a minute, why did it sound like Huo Shi was showing off just now?

He narrowed his eyes and asked suspiciously, “Are you bragging to me about having a good sister-in-law?”

Huo Shi raised an eyebrow. “Took you long enough to notice.”

Xu Zheng: “??”

Was this really the same rebellious and stubborn second young master of the Huo family he remembered?

Just like that, Huo Shi’s wrist continued to improve, and after a while, it was pretty much fully healed.

At the same time, a major event was brewing in the esports world.

The world championship was about to begin.

In the days leading up to it, every team was in full training mode and no one wanted to fall behind.

During this period, the organizers held another major tournament.

This was a great opportunity to gauge the strength of each team, so every esports team in the country, big or small, signed up for the tournament.

News about the competition was everywhere online—everyone was talking about it.

Among all the buzz, discussions about the Team Sky and the Team Wild Dragon were still the hottest.

Sky, as the reigning champion team, was the biggest name with the largest fanbase and most organized support. On the other hand, Wild Dragon, the dark horse that had recently risen to fame, was also drawing plenty of attention.

Wild Dragon had won a championship not long ago, so their fans were particularly arrogant online.

【Is Sky really going to compete this time? They fell off so badly last time, they might as well just sit it out.】

【Exactly. Sky’s current pathetic state is embarrassing—I can’t believe I used to be a fan.】

【Without Huo Shi, Sky is just a bunch of noobs.】

【This match has no suspense. Wild Dragon’s going to crush Sky all over again.】

【Sky has some nerve. Even now, they still dare to show up. They may not feel embarrassed, but I sure do on their behalf.】

【Let them come, whatever. Just another scrim for Wild Dragon to farm experience.】

Sky’s fanbase was massive. They had just been feeling down recently because of Huo Shi’s retirement—not absent. Now, seeing Wild Dragon fans getting cocky, they began firing back.

【Can Wild Dragon fans calm down? You really think no one’s left on our side?】

【I’ve been in a bad mood lately, so if any moron comes looking for trouble, I won’t hold back.】

【Already reported all the troll comments—you’re welcome.】

【Until the last moment, nobody knows who’ll win. I suggest some fans dial it back before they end up eating their words.】

And so, the fan war escalated fiercely. Soon, it was game day.

That morning, Huo Shi actually woke up early.

When Lin Yi came downstairs, he was surprised to see Huo Shi already in the living room.

He glanced over at him in astonishment.

Today, Huo Shi had the aura.

He was dressed in his team uniform, zipper pulled all the way up, his expression cold and sharp.

His bangs hung naturally over his forehead, and his eyes carried a piercing chill, like a wild wolf pup brimming with aggression.

The fearsome “God Huo” of the past was back.

Lin Yi looked at him and couldn’t help but praise, “Not bad at all.”

Huo Shi turned at the sound of Lin Yi’s voice, a small smile appearing on his face. “Sister-in-law.”

Lin Yi walked over lazily and asked, “Heading to the tournament today?”

Huo Shi nodded. “Yeah, I already contacted the team manager and coach in advance.”

His return to the team was already in progress, though only a few people at the club knew about it so far.

Lin Yi said sincerely, “Good luck.”

Then Huo Shi asked, “Sister-in-law, could you come with me?”

Lin Yi was a bit surprised. “You want me to come?”

There was a flicker of hope in Huo Shi’s eyes. “Is that okay?”

Today was an important day—his return to the arena. He wanted someone to be there with him.

That person could only be Lin Yi.

Lin Yi thought for a moment and nodded. “Sure, I’ll come.”

He had nothing else to do today anyway, so why not?

Half an hour later, the two set out together.

Huo Shi drove, while Lin Yi sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through his phone.

Since today was the tournament, discussions online were more intense than ever, with several trending topics climbing the charts.

One of the top searches was speculating whether Huo Shi would show up.

Lin Yi clicked in to read the comments.

【So, is Huo Shi coming to compete today? This is the last big domestic event, right? Next is the world championship.】

【If Huo Shi shows up, there’s no doubt Sky will win the title.】

【Wuwuwu, God Huo, please come!】

【I worked so hard to get a ticket—I’m only going because I want to see Huo Shi.】

【Huo Shi, we’re waiting for you. Please come.】

Mixed in with the fan comments were remarks from haters.

【LOL, Huo Shi’s fans are hilarious. You’re still hoping for someone who’s disappeared?】

【Even if he shows up, what then? He’s been away so long, he probably forgot how to launch the game.】

【Better if he doesn’t come. If he does, I worry he’ll end up crying after getting destroyed.】

【Now that you mention it, I actually hope he shows. I want to see the look on his face when he gets eliminated—should be entertaining.】

Fans and haters went at each other again, pushing the topic to the top of the trending list.

Wherever Huo Shi went, there was bound to be heat.

After all, he wasn’t called the most popular player in the esports world for nothing.

Before long, Lin Yi and Huo Shi’s car arrived at the tournament venue.

The place was massive, able to hold thousands.

The organizers had hyped up ticket sales early on, and now the entire stadium was packed, buzzing with excitement.

Lin Yi followed Huo Shi into the venue.

Huo Shi must’ve played here often in the past because he seemed very familiar with the layout.

After entering, the two reached a hallway.

Huo Shi turned to Lin Yi and said, “Sister-in-law, you can walk around here for a bit. I’ll go meet our manager and coach first. I’ll come find you later.”

Lin Yi nodded. “Alright, go ahead.”

Soon, Huo Shi left.

Lin Yi strolled a few steps down the hallway.

He realized this area was backstage. Through a one-way glass window, he could see the seating area of the venue.

At that moment, the stands were packed to the brim.

Countless fans had gathered, waiting for their idols to appear.

Lin Yi took a quick scan and noticed most of the crowd seemed to be Huo Shi’s fans.

Even though none of them were sure he would show up, they still came, holding banners and light signs, silently hoping.

As Lin Yi watched, he suddenly heard a commotion behind him.

He turned to look.

Two teams had run into each other in the hallway.

Judging by their uniforms, it was none other than Sky and Wild Dragon.

Over on the Wild Dragon side, one of their players sneered arrogantly at the Team Sky. “Trash.”

A Team Sky member immediately snapped, “Who are you calling trash?”

The Wild Dragon player smirked. “Who else? Obviously our defeated little playthings.”

Another Sky member frowned. “Don’t go too far.”

A Team Wild Dragon member sneered, “If I were you, I’d be too embarrassed to even show up. After losing that badly, how do you still have the face to parade around like nothing happened?”

Another Wild Dragon member mocked, “Maybe they didn’t get humiliated enough last time and came crawling back just to get wrecked again.”

A few of the Wild Dragon players immediately joined in, egging each other on.

“Hahaha, seriously, how shameless can they be?”

“No worries, we’ll make sure to trash them extra hard this time. That’ll teach them.”

“If they cry from the beating, don’t go crying home to mommy, alright?”

The Sky players had a lot more restraint and class, so for a moment, they didn’t even know how to respond.

One of them was so angry that his eyes had turned red.

But truthfully, things weren’t looking great for them these days. Their captain had left, their backbone was gone, and no one was there to stand up for them anymore.

Seeing this, Lin Yi narrowed his eyes and slowly walked over. He spoke calmly, “We’ll see who ends up crying.”

His voice came out of nowhere, catching both teams off guard. They turned to look at him.

None of them recognized Lin Yi, but all of them were momentarily stunned by his appearance.

Lin Yi had delicate, striking features, and his eyes—soft and fox-like—were incredibly alluring. He was wearing a white casual jacket that made his fair skin look almost radiant.

The moment he stepped in, it felt like the entire hallway lit up.

That face hit straight to the core.

The Wild Dragon players picked up on the sarcasm in Lin Yi’s voice and scowled. “Who the hell are you? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lin Yi gave a cold smile. “I mean, if you have any last words, you’d better say them now. You might not get another chance later.”

Wild Dragon: “??”

They were usually the ones throwing punches with their words and this was the first time someone clapped back like that.

One of them immediately stepped forward, face darkening. “Cut the cryptic act. If you’ve got something to say, say it.”

Just then, another player seemed to recall something. He pointed at Lin Yi. “Wait, I remember now. Isn’t he someone from the entertainment industry? Lin something… Lin Yi!”

One of them snorted, “What a joke. An entertainment guy poking his nose into esports now?”

Lin Yi replied calmly, “If I can’t speak, then how about Huo Shi?”

“What?!”

The player who’d just spoken changed expression in an instant.

Huo Shi?!!

He’s here?!!

The Wild Dragon players instantly turned pale.

To them, Huo Shi was nothing short of a nightmare.

With him around, they were always stuck in second place. No matter what they did, they could never surpass him.

The Sky players, on the other hand, lit up at the mention of Huo Shi.

They quickly gathered around Lin Yi.

“Hey, is our captain really coming?”

“What’s your relationship with him? Is this info legit?”

Lin Yi looked at the young players in front of him and answered with certainty, “I’m not lying. Huo Shi is coming very soon.”

They were instantly overwhelmed with excitement and started cheering.

As long as their captain came, they had nothing to be afraid of.

Meanwhile, the Wild Dragon players’ faces turned gray, one by one. They were clearly anxious.

Didn’t Huo Shi retire?

Why would he suddenly come back?

They had finally managed to win a championship—was it all about to slip away again?

But time passed and Huo Shi still didn’t show up.

The Team Sky players started getting nervous.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. They were starting to fear Lin Yi had given them false hope.

The Wild Dragon players, on the other hand, got cocky again. One of them scoffed at Lin Yi, “Hey, didn’t you say Huo Shi was coming? Where is he?”

Another chimed in, “Maybe Lin Yi’s just his mouthpiece, trying to stay relevant? I bet Huo Shi’s just rotting at home bored out of his mind, desperate to stir something up.”

Someone else added with disdain, “If Huo Shi doesn’t show up, that trophy’s ours again.”

Just as the last words fell, a loud, cocky voice rang out—

“You want the trophy? Maybe try asking me first.”

As the voice echoed, Huo Shi stepped around the corner.

His face was full of cold arrogance and sharp intensity—exactly like the unstoppable team captain he once was.

The moment he appeared, the outcome of the match was basically sealed.

The Wild Dragon players looked at him and turned pale as death.

It was over. Everything was over.

As long as Huo Shi was here, their defeat was inevitable.

The Sky players, on the other hand, were instantly moved to tears. In unison, they shouted, “Captain!!”

Seeing Huo Shi again, their anxiety finally lifted.

Huo Shi gave them a smile. “What’s with the tears? Save that for when we’re holding the trophy.”

They burst into both laughter and tears, overwhelmed with emotion.

Their captain was back.

Their captain hadn’t abandoned them.

Soon, the match was about to begin, and all the teams went off to prepare.

Before leaving, Huo Shi had someone escort Lin Yi to the VIP viewing area.

From there, Lin Yi had a clear view of everything happening on the stage.

One by one, the teams began making their entrances, and the audience broke into cheers.

Then, at one moment, the Team Sky took the stage.

The entire venue fell dead silent.

Everyone was waiting—to see who exactly would be stepping up for Sky.

And then they saw him—Huo Shi.

“AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

“HUO SHI!!!! IT’S HUO SHI!!!!!!”

Instantly, the arena erupted with deafening screams and cheers, loud enough to blow the roof off.

All of Huo Shi’s fans jumped to their feet, many of them crying tears of joy.

They had waited so long and finally, he was back.

The cheers didn’t stop.

Everyone was celebrating Huo Shi’s return.

Lin Yi watched the overwhelming scene, unable to resist getting swept up in it.

Passion really did trump everything.

At that moment, he thought of something and opened Weibo.

He scrolled to someone’s profile.

That person’s latest comment had changed from 【Huo Shi, could you come back and play again?】 to 【Wuwuwu, I finally waited long enough for you.】

All that waiting had finally led to a perfect ending.

Lin Yi smiled, put away his phone, and focused on the match.

With Huo Shi there, the outcome was practically a given.

In the end, Sky crushed the competition and took home the championship.

The arena burst into thunderous cheers once again.

“AAAAHHHHHH!!!!”

“GOD HUO!!! GOD HUO!!!!”

As for Wild Dragon, they landed in second place—again.

They didn’t even want to stay for the closing ceremony. Faces sullen, they left in a hurry, clearly devastated.

At that moment, the host invited Huo Shi to the stage to accept the trophy and deliver a victory speech.

Huo Shi walked up on stage.

He took the mic, still the same as always—cool, composed, and not one for many words.

He started with, “Thank you all for waiting for me.”

A roar of deafening cheers exploded from the crowd.

Huo Shi continued, “I’ll keep walking this path, until the day I can’t play anymore.”

That was all he said, but it was more than enough to express everything on his mind.

His fans were used to his style—tearing up while cheering with joy.

Normally, Huo Shi would’ve stepped down after saying that much. But today, he didn’t leave.

The audience grew curious and stared at him, puzzled.

Then, Huo Shi spoke again. “Right now, I’m able to stand here again, all thanks to one person.”

Everyone perked up.

Who was it?

Who could’ve convinced Huo Shi to return to the arena?!

With everyone waiting in anticipation, Huo Shi slowly and solemnly said, “That person is… Lin Yi.”

He probably wanted to say “my sister-in-law,” but given the occasion, he just used the name.

In that instant, everyone in the audience remembered the name Lin Yi.

When Lin Yi first heard his name, he didn’t even react right away. But then, a spotlight swung over and landed on his seat.

The next second, Lin Yi’s face appeared on the giant screen.

The crowd was instantly stunned.

What a gorgeous face!

So who exactly was this Lin Yi? Why would Huo Shi thank him in front of everyone?!

With just one sentence, Huo Shi had made Lin Yi the unexpected focus of the entire event.

Lin Yi froze for a few seconds, then quickly composed himself and smiled at the camera.

That smile lit up the entire stadium.

Very soon, in addition to trending topics like “Huo Shi returns” and “Sky wins the championship,” another name shot up the rankings—Lin Yi.

【Wait, my God Huo just mentioned Lin Yi?? Double fandom meltdown!!!】

【AHHHHH I’m at the venue!! You don’t know how shocked I was to hear my Lin Yi wifey’s name from God Huo’s mouth!!】

【Me too! Where is Lin Yi sitting?! I need to get his autograph!!!】

【So Huo Shi and Lin Yi actually know each other? What’s their relationship??】

【Hard to say. At first I thought there was something romantic going on, but then looking closely… their eye contact seemed normal.】

【Friends, maybe?】

【Could be relatives??】

【Whatever their relationship is, I’m so excited I could faint—who understands this feeling, ahhhh!!】

【Girl above, I do!!!】

【Who even is Lin Yi?】

【Who cares? With a face like that, how can you not notice him? I’m announcing it now—I’m officially a face-fan.】

【LOL same. One look and I instantly became a fan.】

Just like that, Lin Yi’s popularity Skyrocketed. He became a hot topic of discussion, and his Weibo followers shot past 20 million.

Advertisers took notice and started trying to contact him for endorsement deals.

That afternoon, Huo Shi went to the celebration banquet.

They had just won the championship, so naturally the whole team gathered to celebrate.

Lin Yi tagged along, of course.

He was clearly one of the heroes of the night, surrounded and toasted like a VIP.

One by one, the team members came over with drinks to thank Lin Yi.

They were all grateful to him for bringing Huo Shi back.

The team manager also walked over to Lin Yi, lowering his voice like he had a secret. “So, how did you convince Huo Shi to return to competition? I talked myself hoarse and couldn’t move him at all.”

Lin Yi thought for a moment. “I don’t think I really did anything?”

At most, he had just had a couple conversations with Huo Shi.

Team manager: “……”

Unwilling to give up, he pressed on. “You really didn’t use any special tactics?”

He genuinely seemed desperate to learn from Lin Yi’s experience.

Lin Yi said helplessly, “Nope.”

Team manager: “……”

Fine. It’s better to stock up on blood pressure medicines.

The next time Huo Shi acts out, he’ll just pop two pills and deal with it.

After the rowdy celebration wrapped up, Lin Yi and Huo Shi went home together.

Huo Shi had drunk quite a bit and was still riding high.

It was clear that being back in the career he loved made him truly happy.

Lin Yi hadn’t drunk as much, but was still a little tipsy, sitting on the couch with Huo Shi.

Huo Shi kept chatting nonstop, going on and on about esports.

He wouldn’t be staying home much longer. He would soon move back into the team base to train full-time with his teammates.

Lin Yi just listened, chiming in with a word or two here and there.

Before long, Huo Jihan came home from work.

Both Lin Yi and Huo Shi looked up and greeted him.

Huo Jihan nodded slightly and sat down in a nearby armchair.

Huo Shi, still buzzed, kept talking and talking to Lin Yi.

But at some point, he and Huo Jihan made eye contact.

Just that one look and Huo Shi instantly sobered up a bit.

There wasn’t much emotion in his brother’s eyes, but somehow that glance jolted him awake, as if he’d suddenly realized something.

Maybe he shouldn’t be hogging his sister-in-law’s time like this?

It was fine during the day when his brother was at work but now his brother was home.

Thinking this, Huo Shi hurried to his feet. He stood too fast and wobbled a little.

He quickly steadied himself and said to both Lin Yi and Huo Jihan, “I’ll stop bothering you now.”

Even light bulbs should know when they’re being a light bulb.

Lin Yi, clueless the entire time, just stared at him, confused.

What was this kid even saying?

Finally, Huo Jihan spoke for the first time.

He said to Huo Shi, “I already heard about today’s match. Keep it up.”

Huo Shi’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

His brother… had followed his match?

And even sort of gave him a compliment?

He didn’t dare ask more. He just said, “O-okay.”

Huo Jihan replied calmly, “Good. Off you go.”

Huo Shi floated away like he was dreaming, wondering if something was wrong with his ears.

Once he left, Lin Yi had nothing to do, so he turned on the TV.

He flipped through a few channels, then settled on an old movie.

At some point, Huo Jihan got up without a word and sat down beside him.

Their distance instantly shrank to just a few inches. Close enough that they could smell each other’s scent.

Lin Yi turned his head and asked, a little confused, “Mr. Huo, you like this movie too?”

Huo Jihan nodded. “Mm.”

“Oh, I see.”

Lin Yi nodded in understanding. No wonder Huo Jihan suddenly came over.

He put down the remote and focused on the film.

Huo Jihan, meanwhile, turned his head slightly and looked at Lin Yi, his gaze tracing his brows, nose, lips…

His eyes were steady and focused.

About a third into the movie, Lin Yi suddenly said, “That murderer showed up just now, right?”

Huo Jihan’s thoughts returned to the moment. For once, he was caught off guard. “What murderer?”

Lin Yi: “??”

He looked puzzled. “The killer in the movie…?”

Wait a minute. Didn’t Huo Jihan say he liked this film? Had he not been paying attention?

And the killer was a key character in the plot.

Huo Jihan, hearing Lin Yi’s question, finally seemed to realize and replied calmly, “Oh. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Lin Yi: “???”

Then what were you watching?!