Chapter 380: Long Live Ma Ge

Gao Jun's remark proved true; VG has indeed been winning and feeling great ever since the season started!

Of course, we kept grabbing the red envelopes too.

Although it's not as many as in the first match, even a mosquito leg is still meat.

Today we also sent out 888.

GT isn't much of a strong team, Lu Wenjun didn't come either, Gao Jun led the team, and after the match they went straight back to base by car.

In the car, everyone was in high spirits.

Ma Ge suddenly said:

"Let's go out and have some fun tomorrow."

The following days had no matches, so Gao Jun gave everyone half a day off.

Gangzi burst out laughing upon hearing that.

"Ma Ge, if you want to treat us to a meal, just say it straight—no need to beat around the bush!"

There's a reason Sima Laozei is being teased by Gangzi.

Every time they win a match and get a red envelope, Sima Laozei's share always gets spent on treating others within two days; this has basically become a norm within the VG team.

Xiao Duan shook his head and swayed, putting on a look of regret, and said:

"Ma Ge, why does it feel like your bonus has become our group meal fund? I, Duan Delian, feel terribly guilty about it."

Fu Lan Duo immediately urged Xiao Duan:

"If you feel guilty, you should also invest a bit."

Xiao Duan's face instantly turned solemn.

"No way, I'm saving up for a wife!"

Long Ge chuckled and said:

"No need, Xiao Duan, when you're dating, don't treat girls like princesses to be pampered, or you'll regret it after marriage."

"Oh wow, Long Ge, marriage crisis!"

"No, no, don't talk nonsense, we're fine!"

"Then it looks like you didn't feed enough during the honeymoon."

"???"

Fu Lan Duo glanced at the back of Liang Yan's head sitting in front, smiling mischievously:

"Hey Liang Yan, where's your girlfriend? Why didn't you bring her over for the brothers to see? Do you not consider us brothers? Are you hiding a beauty in a golden house?"

Liang Yan didn't turn around, and with his back to Fu Lan Duo he raised a middle finger.

…

After returning to base, they discussed a bit more and finalized tomorrow's activity plan.

The next morning they trained as usual, and in the afternoon the vacation started; the eight members of VG changed clothes, took two cars, and headed straight for Disney.

Sima Laozei wanted to buy everyone's tickets, but Wang Liangyi spoke up:

"Ma Ge, no need to spend extra—the boss approved the travel budget!"

Sima Laozei was taken aback and said:

"Oh, then I'll treat everyone to dinner tonight."

Who wouldn't like such a good meal ticket?

In the afternoon they went wild at Disney; the bitter cold couldn't stop this bunch of gaming otaku from enjoying themselves. They also didn't want to be caught by fans for a photo, so they ran at full speed, logging nearly 20,000 steps in a few hours. Later on, the frail Gangzi couldn't keep up.

"Huff, puff, I can't go on… brothers, I'm about to die."

Gangzi braced his hands on his knees, standing by the roadside like a shrimp, gasping heavily.

Xiao Duan and the Marquis looked slim, yet they were actually doing much better than him.

Xiao Duan marched in place and shouted:

"Fan Ge, a man can't say he can't!"

Fu Lan Duo was also drenched in sweat, waving her hand and said:

"Forget it, I can't walk either—let's head out."

Wang Liangyi looked at Liang Yan:

"Brother, what do you think?"

Liang Yan said he was fine with anything, Wang Liangyi asked the others for their opinions, and ultimately, worried about having to explain to Gangzi if they kept running, they unanimously agreed to end today's activities.

After heading out, they called two cars and went straight to the Little Western House hot pot.

Although it's already spring, Shanghai is at its coldest—perfect for hot pot—but since they're public figures, Wang Liangyi suggested:

"Let's order something not too spicy, or else we'll break out in pimples and look awful."

Everyone imagined sitting in the player seats being filmed close-up by the camera, with red, shiny pimples on their noses—an unpleasant sight—so they all agreed with Wang Liangyi's suggestion and ordered a triple-fresh hot pot.

In the broad sense, a triple-fresh pot's core is fresh ingredients plus a light broth, sprinkled with some scallions and mushrooms etc.; the Little Western House's triple-fresh pot uses a broth made from pork bones and various mushrooms, with no messy seasonings—just a pinch of salt.

It's quite pricey—the base costs over two hundred—but it's indeed fragrant and fresh.

Liang Yan's favorite is the plump white squid; he drops the whole thing into the pot to swish for about half a minute, lifts it out, blows on it twice, gives it a quick stir in a bowl of special soy sauce mixed with a little lemon juice, then pops it hot into his mouth—pah! —the juice bursts in his mouth, absolutely amazing!

After eating until their bellies were round, they returned to base and then took a stroll outside to digest, walking for over an hour before heading back to wash up and sleep.

Fu Lan Duo and Gangzi shared a room; after the lights went out they lay in bed chatting, filled with emotion—this kind of life was unimaginable back when they were in Snake.

Long live VG!

Oh wait, long live Ma Ge!

…

For the next three days, with no matches, VG conducted normal training.

Life is wonderful, mood is good, and training enthusiasm is high.

In one training match after another, opponents, amidst the laughter and cheerful shouts of VG members, type GG and quit the game in embarrassment with Alt+F4.

Although some teams dare not play VG again after being crushed too badly, VG will never lack training opponents.

This isn't a world championship elimination match; during the regular season, the stronger the opponent, the more welcome they are in training matches for strong teams.

If you don't take hits in practice, how can you endure when it matters?

Teams seeking practice matches with VG come in an endless stream; even people from LCK proactively come to challenge, though they go through the connection of VG's former coach, Hongmi.

VG naturally is happy to practice with LCK teams, but this means LPL teams get far fewer slots, so someone, to get more practice match slots, secretly slips gifts for favors… New coach Zhu Xiaolong learned for the first time that being a pro team coach can also earn kickbacks.

Of course, Zhu Xiaolong has been around the world; although he loves money, he knows what can and cannot be done, he holds to his bottom line, and never took any money privately.

That day, in a practice match against AFS—the match that broke SKT's unbeaten golden streak—Zhu Xiaolong noticed the enemy often picked Lulu and the Wine Barrel, thinking it wasn't a meta pick, feeling quite puzzled, so he asked the "know-it-all" Liang Yan.

Liang Yan explained to him:

"The new patch, 7.2 went live first on the foreign servers. Oh, it's actually 7.2 plus 7.3."

Zhu Xiaolong was startled, feeling a bit guilty, thinking he had neglected his duties.

"Has the new patch already been released?"

"It's been up on the foreign servers for a few days; these days Fu Lan Duo has been playing the Wine Barrel in ranked, haven't you noticed?"

"Sorry, I really didn't notice."

"No big deal; the domestic servers aren't up yet, and actual competition implementation is even further off—just study it slowly."

"Yes, I will definitely study it thoroughly."

"Mm."

Zhu Xiaolong didn't feel anything wrong, so he hurried back to his coach's seat and began gathering information on the new patch.

He couldn't understand English, but online there are many porters, and various strategy creators make preview videos based on the foreign server updates.

After Liang Yan responded with an acknowledgment, he suddenly felt something was off.

How did it happen that, without realizing it, their communication had become somewhat like that between a superior and subordinate?