All-Round Mid Laner

Chi Shuo, of course, didn't forget Ye Shaoyang's birthday.

Ye Shaoyang's personal information had been listed clearly in his club registration forms, and Chi Shuo had also overheard Cheng Xing and Tang Can quietly whispering about a 'birthday' in the car.

Once they returned to their dorms, Chi Shuo closed the door to his bedroom and turned on his computer to do a search.

What kind of gift should he get for Ye Shaoyang? Chi Shuo was a bit perplexed.

He'd never prepared a birthday gift for anyone before.

Ye Shaoyang was also fairly rich now; the five million yuan from Tianhuan had reached his bank account a long time ago. If Ye Shaoyang was in need of anything, he could buy it for himself. But buying a necessity for yourself and receiving it from someone else were two different matters entirely. Chi Shuo decided it would still be best to get Ye Shaoyang something practical.

Chi Shuo carefully mulled it over, first ruling out a few options.

Fresh flowers, or artsy decorations—better forget about those. It was obvious from just one glance that Ye Shaoyang wasn't the kind of delicate omega who enjoyed arranging flowers or decorating with artsy things.

Clothes, belts, cufflinks, and so on… these things were all a bit too intimate. It wouldn't be too late for Chi Shuo to gift them to Ye Shaoyang later on.

Chi Shuo had originally planned on giving Ye Shaoyang a laptop, but then the Silver Dragon Group gave one to each of them.

What other practical thing could he give?

Chi Shuo lowered his head and looked at his own cell phone—oh, right. Cell phones.

If Chi Shuo remembered correctly, the phone Shaoyang was currently using was a model that had been popular around two years ago. A few days ago, the kitten was playing rambunctiously and had knocked Shaoyang's cell phone onto the floor. Chi Shuo wasn't sure if it had suffered any damage or not.

Advancements were made in tech very rapidly. If Ye Shaoyang had been using his phone for a few years already, it was time to upgrade anyway.

Plus, a cell phone was a necessity in life. It was something that would be used every day. And whenever Shaoyang used it, he would remember who gave it to him. It was extremely practical, and it would constantly remind Shaoyang of Chi Shuo's warm intentions.

Chi Shuo made the decision on the spot. The next morning, he drove out to a cell phone store.

It was eight in the morning, and the shop had just opened for business. That was when their employees saw a tall, handsome young man walk in, wearing a cap and face mask. The young man pointed to the newest foldable cell phone and asked, "Do you have this model in stock?"

A staff member greeted him very excitedly, happy for the early morning business. "We do! This is our limited edition model of the year, selling for twenty-five thousand yuan. It comes with the newest processors and top-of-the-line camera, and the foldable screen is our company's latest tech as well. It's absolutely seamless. And the phone is extremely thin and lightweight. Sir, please feel free to take a look."

The staff member took out a model phone from a cupboard. Chi Shuo turned it on and checked it out, finding that it was indeed pretty good.

Online reviews had praised this phone to the high heavens. But many people had been dissuaded by the price tag. The model's main selling point was its foldable screen, which allowed the phone to be collapsed into a very small item that could be carried around in any pocket. When the screen was unfolded, the phone was still very thin and lightweight. It was handy for watching streams, reading articles, skimming Weibo, playing mobile games, and so on.

Shaoyang would probably like it, right?

At that point, Chi Shuo lifted his head and said, "I'll take a quicksand silver and a sun gold one, both with all the features available."

The staff member froze for a second. "Sir, you want to buy two?"

Chi Shuo nodded. "Mm."

The staff member instantly smiled brilliantly. "Will you be matching with your sweetheart? The two colors you chose really couldn't be more perfect. They're perfect for a sweetheart set."

Chi Shuo coughed lightly. His ears started to burn.

His sweetheart? No, not yet.

He hadn't deliberately picked out a 'sweetheart set' of phones. It was just that online reviews had said both of these colors were the best-looking ones. The rose gold, forest green, and sky blue ones… Chi Shuo really didn't care for them.

This phone, in silver, had a special treatment on its back, which made the surface ripple like quicksand under the light. The gold one was a bit more low-key, coming in a darker shade. It had the same quicksand ripple effect. Both phones were very attractive to the eye.

The staff member immediately took out two new phones. Chi Shuo paid the bill, and returned to Tianhuan's base with the phones in hand.

March 25th arrived very quickly.

The Silver Dragon Group worked very efficiently. Tianhuan's custom keyboards and mice were finished and delivered to the club. The switches each player chose were pre-made; they just needed to be installed with new keycaps. The modifications didn't take more than a few days.

After receiving their new keyboards, Tianhuan's players laid them out neatly in their training room.

They loaded up the game and started to play around to get a feel for their new equipment. Since the keyboards were functionally very similar to the ones they'd used before, they got used to the change very quickly. They were pretty much acclimated to their new gear after playing a game or two. And they still had some time until their next official match, so they would probably be able to take these new peripherals straight to their next tournament game.

Cheng Xing excitedly said, "I feel like I can get a triple or quad kill with this keyboard!"

At just that moment, Coach Lin walked into the training room. He smiled faintly and said, "We'll be off tonight, everyone take a good rest. Let's go out to eat together. We'll get something good."

Everyone cheered to celebrate their day off.

Nearly everyone knew why they were off that night. Only Ye Shaoyang remained in the dark.

At six that evening, everyone trooped out to a classy restaurant nearby. Tang Can had reserved a private room for them in advance.

As soon as Ye Shaoyang reached the VIP room on the third floor and pushed the door open, a sudden bang of celebratory party poppers rang out. Countless scraps of rainbow confetti flew through the air, drifting down onto Ye Shaoyang's head.

Ye Shaoyang was silent.

What was happening? Had he mistakenly entered the wrong room and stumbled upon a wedding reception?

"Happy birthday, Shaoyang!"

"Yang-ge, happy birthday!"

Ye Shaoyang remained frozen.

Damn, with all this fanfare… were you guys planning to give me a surprise or a fright?

After a moment, he hesitantly scratched his head. "Today is my birthday?"

Chi Shuo gave him a helpless look and said, "That's right."

He'd even forgotten his own birthday? Was he really easygoing, or was he just careless?

Ye Shaoyang gave it some careful thought—March 25th really was his birthday!

They'd been so busy with training over the past few days that he'd forgotten all about it.

But his teammates had carefully planned this birthday party. The banquet room was decorated in a very festive style. It was full of colorful streamers, and large stickers that spelled out the words 'Happy Birthday Tianhuan-Lieyang' were stuck up at the back of the room. There were some cute balloons scattered around as well. On the table, there was a large cake…

Qu Jiang and Cheng Xing had probably planned this.

Ye Shaoyang smiled and said, "Thank you, everyone."

Those gathered around him all clapped.

Coach Lin walked up to Ye Shaoyang and warmly said, "Shaoyang, this is your first birthday with Tianhuan. Everyone has helped plan this party for you. We'd like to give you a proper celebration."

In his previous life with Team GD, Ye Shaoyang had passed most of his birthdays quite casually. Some years, he wouldn't even remember to get a cake. He would just invite his brothers from the team out for a barbecue and call it a day. He didn't care too much about these things.

Of course, this thoughtful gesture from Tianhuan's players still did move him.

Ye Shaoyang swept his gaze across the decorated room. The other players must have secretly bought these streamers and balloons, then snuck out to decorate the place themselves, right? The 'yang' in 'Tianhuan-Lieyang' had even been stuck up crooked.

Ye Shaoyang walked up to the table which held the three-tier cake. He couldn't help but exclaim, "This cake is way too big, isn't it?"

Cheng Xing happily declared, "For my Yang-ge's birthday to be memorable, we had to get the biggest birthday cake possible."

Ye Shaoyang turned back to him. "Little Xing, did you accidentally order a wedding cake?"

Everyone in the room started to laugh.

Cheng Xing lowered his head. Red-faced, he said, "I went to the cake shop and told them I wanted the biggest, most expensive cake they had. And this is what they made… I guess it does look a bit like a wedding cake?"

Ye Shaoyang nearly had tears in his eyes from laughing. He lightly patted the little dude's shoulder and said, "Not bad. I really haven't ever seen a cake this big in all my life. This birthday really will be memorable!"

Chi Shuo watched this merry scene unfold. The corners of his lips quirked up slightly.

He stepped up to Ye Shaoyang's side and lowered his voice to say, "Go ahead and make a wish."

A few candles were inserted into the top of the cake. Chi Shuo took the initiative to light them. Cheng Xing made his way to the wall to turn off the lights in the room, and everyone around Ye Shaoyang started to sing—

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…"

One of the guys got way too excited and went wildly off key. His voice even cracked.

In the dark room, the warm candlelight illuminated the surroundings and spilled across the faces of these youths.

Ye Shaoyang looked around at the familiar faces surrounding him. More than half a year had already passed since he was reborn in this world. At first, he hadn't been used to anything. But now, he had already adjusted to the new world, the new game, and his adorable new teammates.

He really was very lucky to have joined such a warm, welcoming family.

These teammates treated him so well. They valued him and acknowledged his worth. Every day, they called him 'Yang-ge' or 'Yangyang', just like they were all one big, happy family.

Ye Shaoyang's nose felt a little ache. He clasped his hands together and silently made a wish.

No matter how hard the road would be, he hoped that Tianhuan would be able to fight through all obstacles and reclaim the domestic championship throne that year. And he hoped he would finally realize the unfulfilled dream of his past life, of winning the world championships.

After making his wish, Ye Shaoyang took a deep breath and blew out all the candles.

Everyone clapped again. Cheng Xing ran off to turn the lights back on, and Ye Shaoyang took a knife to cut the cake. It was really pretty hard to cut a three-tier cake. Chi Shuo took the initiative to step up and help him. Ye Shaoyang cut through the cake layer by layer, giving each person a big slice.

Everyone made their way to a seat to dig in.

Chi Shuo really disliked sweets, but this was a slice of birthday cake that Shaoyang had personally served him. So for Shaoyang's sake, he still dutifully finished everything on his plate.

The servers from the restaurant started to serve up their dishes after that. Ye Shaoyang was the man of the hour, so he was invited to sit at the head of the table. He was even given a 'Happy Birthday' headband to wear. It made him look pretty cute.

Cheng Xing was the first to take out an exquisitely wrapped present, passing it over to Ye Shaoyang. "Yang-ge, a birthday present for you."

Ye Shaoyang curiously asked, "There are even presents?"

Qu Jiang passed him a box as well. "I prepared something too."

Qin Yizhu chimed in, "Me too!"

The kids from Team Two collectively gave Ye Shaoyang one big box. "This is from us, to express our feelings!"

Ye Shaoyang was a bit overwhelmed by all their kindness. "There's really no need to make such a spectacle of a birthday. But thank you everyone, you must have spent a lot!"

Chi Shuo quietly said, "I'll give you my present when we get back."

Qu Jiang joked from the side, "Is Captain Chi's present something that has to be kept secret?"

Chi Shuo coughed lightly. "It's nothing much. Just something practical."

Ye Shaoyang was just about to start opening presents before Cheng Xing suddenly stopped him. Cheng Xing blushed fiercely while saying, "Yang-ge, it's better if you open them at home."

Ye Shaoyang could only suppress his curiosity for the time being.

After dinner, he and Chi Shuo carried all his gifts back to their dorm room.

Xiao Bai must have thought that Ye Shaoyang had gone out to hunt for its food. It excitedly circled the gift boxes, meowing noisily. Ye Shaoyang carried Xiao Bai out onto the balcony, then returned to the couch. He sat down, crossed his legs, and started to open the gifts with a pair of scissors.

He opened Cheng Xing's gift first. Then, the smile on his face went a bit rigid.

There was a very beautiful crystal ball in the box.

When it was turned on with the switch at the bottom, the crystal ball would start to rotate on its own while playing music. There were seven light options to choose from.

Ye Shaoyang was thoroughly baffled.

Cheng Xing, there's a big problem with your sense of aesthetics. You're giving your ge a rainbow crystal ball?

Next, Ye Shaoyang opened Qu Jiang's gift.

Inside that box, there was a pretty cute blue buff strap.

Ye Shaoyang took out the plush cell phone strap and grinned. "Qu Jiang is a tiny bit more reasonable. He knows I like blue buffs, so he got me a blue buff strap."

This was an official, limited edition piece of game merchandise. It must have been pretty difficult to find. Or maybe it had come from Qu Jiang's personal collection?

Qu Jiang used to play mid laner, after all. He must have also liked blue buffs.

Next, Ye Shaoyang unwrapped the massive box that the second-string kids had given him. Inside, there were a bunch of disassembled parts—sort of like Lego blocks, that he would have to put together himself. There was a picture inside as well. Once the blocks were pieced together, they could create a 3D model of the Gods War rift.

This must have been a limited edition collaborative item between the toy company and the Gods War game. It was an item that would be very valuable to collectors.

It was just that… no one would be able to finish putting this thing together in under a month. Ye Shaoyang figured he'd better wait until after the tournament season to slowly put it together.

As for Old Qin?

Ye Shaoyang curiously opened the package from Qin Yizhu.

It was a blue thermos.

Ye Shaoyang nearly did a spit take.

While training, Old Qin usually liked to carry a thermos in which he brewed some tea. He typically had some snacks like peanuts and walnuts around as well. He was still so young, but he'd already started living the lifestyle of a retired old man.

Ye Shaoyang rubbed at his own temples and said, "I really have received gifts of every kind today."

He lifted his head and looked towards Chi Shuo. "Oh, that's right, Captain Chi. You said you prepared a gift for me too?"

Chi Shuo made a trip into his own bedroom, bringing out a box for Ye Shaoyang. "Happy birthday."

Ye Shaoyang opened the box. His eyes instantly lit up. "A cell phone?"

Chi Shuo said, "Mm. You've used your current phone for at least two years, right? Better to upgrade to a new one."

Ye Shaoyang excitedly unwrapped the packaging while saying, "My cell phone took a fall a while back. It got a little crack in the screen. I was just thinking about changing it… this must have been really expensive, right?"

Ye Shaoyang had seen commercials for this phone recently. It was currently the most high-tech cell phone on the market, priced at over twenty grand. The body of the phone was thin, lightweight, and foldable. It could be used as a tablet after it was unfolded. Surfing the web and watching videos—these things were all super convenient with that phone.

Ye Shaoyang hit the power button and lowered his head to check out his new phone. His whole face showed that he loved it so much he never wanted to let it go.

When Chi Shuo saw him studying the phone so seriously, his own heart softened faintly. He quietly asked, "You like it?"

Ye Shaoyang nodded. "I like it a lot… it's just too expensive."

He'd never spent more than ten thousand yuan on a cell phone before.

Chi Shuo said, "The price is irrelevant. I know this sort of money isn't an issue for us."

Ye Shaoyang looked up and grinned at Chi Shuo. "Thank you, Captain Chi. Then I won't be shy. Truth be told, I didn't think you guys would celebrate my birthday at all. But you actually did so much to prepare. I'm really so happy to have met you guys."

Chi Shuo warmly said, "Of course your birthday is very important. In the future, I'll be with you for every one of your birthdays."

Ye Shaoyang froze for a second. Wasn't there something a bit… off about that declaration? Then again, his birthday was in March. It fell during the regular season. Chi Shuo would be with him, along with the rest of the team. There wasn't anything wrong with that.

So, after a moment, Ye Shaoyang nodded and asked, "Captain Chi, when is your birthday?"

"Late December."

"Then, that's around the time the season ends? I'll prepare a gift for Captain Chi at that time too."

Chi Shuo silently wondered, if it would be possible to not get a physical gift… but something more significant and memorable?

Like… their first kiss?

He'd already marked Ye Shaoyang twice, after all. Sharing a kiss to confirm their relationship would be a very normal next step.