Spirit Snake

Bin leaned against the door, scrolling through Weibo. Many of the new comments were cursing him out. Furious, he hurled his phone onto the bed, his hands trembling nonstop. Suddenly, he felt a wave of nausea and rushed to the bathroom.

"Blegh... urgh..."

Bin clung to the toilet and retched. The intense physical reaction brought tears to his eyes. He forced himself to his feet and washed his face. Looking at himself in the mirror, he froze for a moment, then quickly let out a self-mocking laugh.

He rummaged through a drawer, pulled out a packet, and slipped it into his pocket. Then he picked up his phone from the bed. Its dim glow lit bin's face in the dark room, outlining his madness as he opened a hidden contact and sent a message.

B: Send the stuff to me by express delivery. [Transfer: 20,000.00]

He left his room, planning to get some air on the rooftop. As he passed the team manager's office, he happened to hear Brother Qian on the phone. He paid it no mind and continued toward the elevator.

Then he heard the words "Spirit Snake." He paused, stepped back a few paces, and pressed his ear close to the door, holding his breath.

"An endorsement? All right, all right, I'll discuss it with Jin. I understand. Mm, we certainly know Spirit Snake by reputation. All right, all right, I'll confirm the details with you later."

After hanging up, Brother Qian beamed at the electronic contract Spirit Snake Company had sent over, humming a tune. He had known Wu Jin's commercial value was exceptionally high.

She had yet to play a match, and a major company had already approached her about an endorsement. She certainly wouldn't lack opportunities in the future.

Having heard everything, bin slammed the door open. Brother Qian jumped and looked up to see bin, whose face was cold and whose gaze was so sinister it made Brother Qian uneasy.

"Why did you come looking for me all of a sudden? Is something wrong?"

"Spirit Snake."

?

Brother Qian frowned. Why was this kid eavesdropping on his phone call? Though displeased, he kept a polite expression on his face.

Seeing no real reaction from Brother Qian, bin clenched his fists, his jaw tightening. He had told Brother Qian a long time ago that he wanted to work with Spirit Snake.

Why? Why hadn't Spirit Snake responded all this time, only to suddenly seek out that bitch Wu Jin for a partnership? How was he inferior to a newcomer?

The look he gave Brother Qian gradually turned resentful. The club didn't value him... it hadn't fought for him.

"You promised me the Spirit Snake endorsement before. Why have you given it to Wu Jin now?"

"She hasn't played a single match! Why did they choose her? How am I worse than her?"

The more bin spoke, the more agitated he became, his voice rising uncontrollably. The others training downstairs heard the commotion and looked up.

Wantonly raised his eyebrows and made faces to signal to them. Clear got the message and clicked his tongue in disdain. Wu Jin opened her eyes wide, trying to decipher Wantonly's signal, only for Shi Mu to tap her on the head.

"Focus on training."

Shi Mu was serious for once. The others took the hint, lowered their heads, and put on their headsets. Only Wu Jin was a beat behind, still wondering why the captain had suddenly turned serious.

The next second, her headset obediently found its way onto her head. Watching Shi Mu leave, Wu Jin looked away and resumed practicing the basics, repeating the same move over and over.

Coach Ming had said she needed to turn it into muscle memory.

In the office.

Brother Qian understood what bin meant and sighed. It wasn't that the club hadn't tried to get the opportunity for him. Who wouldn't want their own players to have greater commercial value?

He had sent several emails asking, only to be told each time that they weren't considering an endorser for the time being. Who could have known that soon after Wu Jin arrived, Spirit Snake would approach her on its own? He could only say it was fate.

"It's not that you're worse than Wu Jin. This was the brand's choice. It isn't something we can control."

"Heh, don't think I don't know. You're all playing favorites with that bitch Wu Jin!"

"Chen Bin, stop acting crazy."

Shi Mu's voice was icy as he shut the door. His peach-blossom eyes were like a deep spring, dark and bottomless, cold and lifeless. Shi Mu rarely looked at people without a smile.

Seeing that expression, bin felt intimidated. But resentment and anger flooded over his fear, leaving him with nothing but grievances to air.

"Make no mistake, they didn't choose you because you weren't good enough. If you're not a coward for taking it out on Old Qian, who is?"

Brother Qian gave Shi Mu a look, telling him not to go on. The team still needed bin, and they couldn't let things get too ugly. They still had matches to play.

He had to find a way to put the player at ease. He sighed deeply.

"I'll help you reach out to some other potential partners. You don't have to fixate on Spirit Snake alone..."

"Easy for you to say. When have you ever valued me?"

Bin cut Brother Qian off with a sneer.

Brother Qian's face darkened too. GOD Club had done right by every one of its players.

He admitted that he paid Wu Jin more attention because he felt sorry for her, but everything she had gained came from her own efforts and her own value. The club had never gone out of its way to secure anything for her.

Looked at that way, what bin had just said made him no different from an ungrateful wretch. It chilled Brother Qian's heart.

Shi Mu slipped one hand into his pocket and sneered. "Doesn't Coach Ming value you? You make more mistakes on your own than the rest of the team combined. Instead of acting crazy here, get the hell back to training. If you don't want to play, there are plenty of people who do."

With that, Shi Mu turned and left. He had nothing more to say to someone like bin.

Besides, bin's performance really had declined considerably, and that was directly related to his state of mind.

Once someone's original aspirations became tied to personal gain, they would become unrecognizable, like wastepaper crumpled up and tossed into a trash can.

Brother Qian sighed and rubbed his forehead. That kid Shi Mu's words really were harsh, but he wasn't wrong.

He looked at the young man, who had lowered his head and was holding everything in, and felt sorry for him. After all, he had watched the kid grow up, and now things had come to this...

"Go on out and think it over carefully. Shi Mu's words were harsh, but he had a point."

Bin kept his head down, his lips pressed tightly together, and walked out without a word. He entered the elevator and lit a cigarette. Smoke clouded his eyes and befuddled his heart.

He ground the cigarette butt viciously into a flowerpot. The blue-gradient forget-me-nots silently faced bin in the night. A breeze bent their stems, and petals fell to the ground, where they were crushed beneath his feet.

Bin took the thing out of his pocket and inhaled its scent, unable to stop himself. The intense excitement left his legs weak and his hands trembling. Craving, madness, oblivion—it was as though he were embracing the most beautiful thing in the world.

Back in his room, bin started a livestream. Fans flocked in, curious why he was streaming so late at night.

Bin's body trembled slightly, and he kept his head down. Only then did his fans sense something was wrong. Concerned messages scrolled through the chat, and some of bin's most devoted fans kept sending gifts and asking what had happened.

After quite a while, bin finally raised his head. The corners of his eyes were slightly red, but he still forced a smile and pretended to be relaxed. He even jokingly imitated other livestreamers who clowned around as he thanked his fans for their gifts.

But the more he acted that way, the more worried his fans became. In particular, the redness around bin's eyes made it obvious he had been crying. Fans kept asking in the chat what had happened.

One chat message mentioned Wu Jin. Bin looked at the comment for a long moment. "No, it has nothing to do with Jin."