Chapter 182: Who in the World Doesn't Know You

"Mm-hmm, okay, got it, Manager. I'm almost home too."

Just off the plane and riding in a taxi toward home, Ye Bo hung up the phone.

"What's wrong? Did Manager Ming arrange more work for you?" Ye Ying turned her head to ask.

"No, he was just telling me about the details of the streaming contract~" Ye Bo looked at the familiar city scenery outside the window, his tone light and airy.

"Then he mentioned some interviews coming up, and some documentary footage that needs to be reshot. Also, Boss Zhu said he's really sorry he couldn't make it to the victory banquet last night."

It was a long string of things, and the two elders didn't really understand it all.

Ye Xiong, however, said calmly and seemingly casually: "Don't work too hard."

Hearing this voice, Ye Bo felt something strange in his heart.

Before this, it seemed his old man had never spoken to him in such a tone.

He still remembered the chaos at home the first time he said he wanted to drop out of school to stay home, climb the ranks, and practice his skills to become a professional player.

But Ye Bo just pretended to be casual and continued looking out the window: "It's not hard. I was streaming at home every day anyway, and I can make money streaming during the off-season, so it's pretty good~"

"I heard from the Manager that my streaming contract is actually quite sought after!"

"The lowest offer is five million, and the highest has even reached nine million, and the hours are..."

When Ye Bo mentioned these numbers, the two elders, who had already been shocked, didn't seem too surprised.

However, the taxi driver in the front seat couldn't stop sneaking glances at the rearview mirror.

He was trying to get a clear look at the young man in the back, and the gleaming gold trophy he was holding in his arms.

"Hey young man, are you that... that... the 'Grandpa' who plays games?!"

The taxi driver, who finally seemed to have made out his appearance, suddenly widened his eyes.

"I... I think so?" Ye Bo pointed to himself.

"Oh, driver, please drive carefully!"

The excited taxi driver suddenly whipped his head around to look at the back seat, giving Ye Bo a fright.

"Is it really you? I thought you looked familiar just now. My son has been shouting 'Grandpa, Grandpa' in his room every single day this past month. I remember seeing your autographed photo on his desk..."

"Wait, can we take a photo together? He really likes you. I'll waive the taxi fare for you!"

Wuhu has the second-highest housing prices in the entire provincial capital, and Ye Bo's home is in a relatively remote district; the ride from the airport costs at least two hundred yuan.

The driver had seen that face on the photo placed next to the computer desk, the one his son would "bow to" before every gaming session, claiming he was "invoking the gods."

That was an autographed photo his son had finally managed to snag during a post-match interaction at a playoff game.

Come to think of it, that young man was actually one of the people Ye Bo had "differentially treated" with a hug during the post-match segment.

"Of course!" Ye Bo laughed happily. "But you don't need to waive the fare. You guys are tired from driving too. Just thank him for his support for me."

The driver was still a bit emotional: "Last time he wanted to go watch your match, I didn't agree and we even had an argument. But after he came back, seeing how happy he was, I was happy too..."

Ye Mom and Ye Dad listened to the two of them talking from the side.

They realized they seemed to have underestimated their son's current influence.

Shouldn't this kind of gaming tournament be a relatively niche competition?

After a ride of over an hour.

Ye Bo finally saw the entrance to his residential complex.

Even though it had only been half a year since he was last home, Ye Bo suddenly felt as if several years had passed...

"Driver, it's the staircase at the turn ahead!" Ye Bo was just about to point out the direction.

But the other party spoke first: "It's that one over there, the staircase with a lot of people, right?"

Ye Bo looked closely and realized that a large crowd had gathered downstairs at his building.

Among them were many familiar neighbors—but clearly, they were all people attracted by the pile of cameras, looking like a television news crew, to watch the spectacle.

To avoid trouble, Ye Bo got out of the car early and took several selfies with the driver at the corner.

"Um, can I get an autograph?" The driver hesitated for a moment, but thinking of his son, he still spoke up, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"... ow about a video instead!" Ye Bo also seemed a bit awkward. "I can cheer him on."

Those autographed photos of Ye Bo were all signed by someone else on behalf of the club.

His handwriting was really not very good, and the club was afraid that signing them would affect his image.

Ye Bo decided he must practice his signature when he got back, preferably a simple design...

"Really, can I?"

The driver clearly hadn't expected this and quickly dialed a video call.

The call connected, and a slightly impatient voice popped out from the other end: "What's up?"

"Ah Wei! Look who this is!"

Ye Bo's face appeared on the screen: "Hi, hello!"

"Who—holy crap???" The camera on the other side suddenly flew into the air.

"Master Ye!!!"

Ye Bo had a brief exchange with the other party.

It was mainly just thanking him for his love and support, but just that was enough to make the other person excited.

"Mm, I'll keep working hard next year, and you have to work hard too!" Ye Bo said full of energy. "I heard from your dad that the school you want to get into is great. You're much better at studying than I am; we both have to keep at it!"

"I definitely will!! I hope that when you win the next championship, Master Ye, I'll be able to get into that school too!"

The face of the young man on the other side seemed more excited and motivated than ever before.

After hanging up, despite the driver's best efforts to block him—fortunately, Ye Bo fully utilized his predictive skills as a championship mid-laner, having already secretly scanned the payment code before getting out of the car, forcibly flanking him to pay.

It can only be said that it's worthy of being a strong attack that even the turtle formation of Gen. couldn't defend against!

"Thank you, thank you," the driver said with surging emotions, very sincerely: "You are a very good idol; he didn't like the wrong person."

"No, no, I'm not an idol, I'm just an esports player." Ye Bo laughed foolishly and waved his hands.

"But thank you for his support!"

Ye Dad and Ye Mom stood by the side, watching Ye Bo's entire interaction quietly, the two of them smiling at each other from time to time.

They could clearly feel that Ye Bo seemed to have changed a lot in the past half year, but it also seemed that many things hadn't changed.

Bidding farewell to this brief interlude, the three of them walked toward the building.

Soon, neighbors watching the commotion noticed the three of them walking over.

"Hey, the Ye family is back!"

The reporters waiting downstairs immediately turned their heads sharply.

Upon discovering it was indeed that face, they instantly switched from exhaustion to a smiling face, the microphone in their hand bearing the logo of "Huzhou Television."

"They really came looking for us..." Ye Xiong, who had never seen such a spectacle, couldn't help but sigh in a low voice.

"Hey, you don't understand! This is nothing~" Ye Ying was almost standing with her hands on her hips: "I remember when he won the championship last year, he was even interviewed by CCTV and the People's Daily!"

In fact, although from a perception standpoint, the esports industry has only gradually been de-stigmatized in recent years.

But in reality, as early as 2005, China's number one esports player, Sky, had already appeared in official media like the People's Daily, and even served as the first esports Olympic torchbearer in 2008.

Including the three world championship records in 2018, 2019, and 2021, all received celebratory articles from various official levels; the prestige was quite significant.

This is, of course, understandable.

After all, no matter how much is said, as long as there are enough people who like and love this project... even if XXX doesn't like it, who does XXX think they are?

And the local Huzhou television station would naturally not let this opportunity slip—this is a god-given opportunity for the development of the local esports industry!

China's esports user base has reached 490 million, and the industry scale has long exceeded 100 billion; who knows how many cities want to come and take a bite of this cake!

But this field has always been carved up by places like Wuhan, Shanghai, and Chengdu. Xi'an even directly provided land and money to build an official League of Legends home stadium for this, which shows their determination.

This is also why, in fact, even if one only wins a bronze medal or third place, it is possible to be welcomed by fellow villagers with banners...

Let alone this being the most highly-regarded championship!

Seeing the three of them return together, the reporter keenly sensed that this champion's "family" might be a good entry point for the topic, seized the scene downstairs, and directly conducted a simple interview first.

The neighbors stood by watching, chattering and discussing.

"Wow, little Ye has grown up so much? I feel like when I saw him before, he was such a small kid. It seems like I haven't seen him in a long time."

"Because I heard he was holed up at home training every day!"

"Making such a big fuss is too pretentious, isn't it? Isn't it just playing a game? Can playing games be a proper path... By the way, how much money do you think he can make?"

"Oh my! You really can't say that. I was scrolling through videos yesterday and saw online that this son of the Ye family is amazing now. They say dozens of teams are fighting over him, and he makes tens of millions a year!!"

"Tens of millions? How come I heard it's over a hundred million! Playing games is really profitable now!"

"No way, really?"

"Don't say that, little Ye actually looks quite talented, and my daughter is about his age..."

The interview went on until the afternoon.

After it ended, almost all the neighbors who had had any dealings with them came to the door one after another to offer their congratulations.

The Ye family were not strangers in the complex; everyone knew that the Ye family had a son with a cheerful personality who could talk to anyone, and they had watched him grow up since he was a child.

It was just that later, when they heard he had dropped out of school and was holed up at home, they all sighed in private...

But today.

The Ye family's dilapidated threshold seemed to be bearing a weight greater than the past twenty-plus years combined.

Having finished his busy day, Ye Bo finally had time to rest: "It's still most comfortable at home~~"

"Wait, Mom, why did my treadmill turn into a clothes rack?!"

"That was bought for you to run on. Since you weren't here, your dad and I didn't use it," Ye Ying said with a smile. "Wait, I'm going to go cook."

"Let's order takeout. I'm tired from the whole day, and I still have to go handle some streaming stuff later."

The details of Ye Bo's streaming arrangements have not yet been fully finalized.

In fact, there are only three streaming platforms with real strength out there: Fish, Tiger, and B-site, and the offers from these three are all different, each with its own characteristics.

Douyu's contract is relatively demanding regarding "revenue flow"—to put it plainly, it means the streamer needs to "trick" more gifts out of viewers.

Huya's contract is relatively demanding regarding "viewing duration"—to put it plainly, it means streaming as much as possible.

As for B-site, it is relatively laid-back—according to Mr. Ming, who wishes to remain anonymous, this is because the boss of B-site is very fond of Ye Bo and is willing to lower requirements in all aspects.

Ye Bo's first choice is actually B-site as well.

After all, this is where he first started streaming; the environment is more familiar, and there are many familiar people there.

Finally, he confirmed several conditions that he cared about more.

Although the signing bonus is slightly lower than Fish and Tiger, there are almost no restrictions.

Ye Bo prefers this feeling of free streaming, just like he was before, not like punching a clock for work.

"I'm heading back to my room first; call me when the takeout arrives!"

After sending the confirmation message to Ming Kai, Ye Bo returned to his room.

Looking at this room he hadn't returned to for half a year, yet it remained spotless, and even the bedding clearly looked like it had been changed recently.

Ye Bo felt a warmth in his heart.

In terms of time, his mom and dad had already arrived abroad at least a week ago, and since then, they had been in the same territory as Ye Bo.

That is to say, even if Ye Bo hadn't returned for these six months, his room should have always had someone cleaning and preparing it.

He lay down on the soft quilt.

Ye Bo comfortably took out his phone.

These past two days had been truly too busy, and his parents were also by his side.

Plus, during the time Ye Bo was sleeping, he was either training in the trial grounds or training in the "Pot."

It resulted in him having no time to scroll through his phone!

First, he batch-replied to a long list of 99+ unread messages, which included other LPL players, elementary school classmates he hadn't been in contact with for over a decade, childhood playmates he used to be close with, and even some teachers from his school days.

The troubles of being well-liked are just like this.

However, Ye Bo discovered that Li Xianghe had actually sent a message too!

It wasn't right after the finals ended, but several hours after that—as if he had gone through a period of psychological struggle.

The content was just a simple congratulation.

Looking back at their last chat history, it was still stuck at the end of the "Zhuge Liang Pushing Sand Soldiers. vi" video.

Ye Bo didn't know what to reply; after all, as the winner, whatever he replied at this time seemed to have a sense of "mockery."

So he just replied with a meaningless cat sticker.

And it is worth mentioning.

In the message list, there was no information from any other club personnel.

This is because of the strict 【Transfer Period Regulations】; before the transfer period opens, any private contact with players is considered a serious violation.

A light penalty is a fine and suspension, while a heavy one is a lifetime ban from the industry!

The opening of the transfer period is generally one week after the S-tournament ends, lasting until after the annual ceremony, right before the start of the Spring Split.

Ye Bo didn't have many thoughts about his own future for the next season for the time being.

Viper is definitely leaving; it is said that many strong teams in the LCK have ideas about him, making him an absolute hot commodity.

And this EDG team is destined to be unable to keep the original lineup, so parting ways is inevitable.

But Ye Bo didn't know exactly how many clubs were currently restless, frantically preparing ammunition everywhere, just waiting for the moment the war horn sounded to swarm out!

The repercussions of EDG's second consecutive championship had only just begun.

No one could imagine how terrifying the siphon effect would be as the first team in LPL history to win two consecutive championships.

One could say something a bit "darker."

Precisely because of the experience from the LCK region.

Every helmsman of the LPL teams surely does not hope for or allow the birth of an "LPL region's SKT."

It is conceivable.

This will absolutely be the craziest transfer period in history!

Ye Bo shook his head, no longer thinking about these uncertain things.

He just wanted to let things take their natural course, believing there would be the best arrangement.

Rather than thinking about these things, it would be better to practice the new version for a while or scroll through some videos!

As soon as he opened B-site.

Perhaps because he clicked on it every time he saw it, the homepage once again pushed a compilation of second-stream clips with extreme precision.

The title was quite eye-catching—"Everyone Stand Up! The Sea Reaches the End and the Sky Becomes the Shore, I Am the Peak Upon the Mountain! First Double Champion in History! A Panorama of All-Member Revelry!"

In less than a day, the view count had already broken a terrifying three million!

As soon as he entered, it was the old faces of DYS.

"Holy crap! Zeka got solo-killed again! Ye Wen also got a level-three solo kill in the finals!!" Sun Ye was screaming his lungs out, the top of his head reflecting a dazzling light.

"Zeka? Pika!!!" After Xika let out a strange cry, he giggled: "Professional casters dare to make professional judgments! Just watch, this solo kill is definitely just the beginning!"

Kid was nervously saying: "But this wave was actually so dangerous, that reaction to the Flash-E was so fast, he's too daring to make plays..."

However, just five minutes later, a pair of holey shoes suddenly flew into the sky above the Dragon Palace!

"HOLY!!! CRAP!!!"

"GRANDPA!!!!!"

Kid, who had excitedly slid off his gaming chair, was nowhere to be seen, but one could still hear his broken throat; the flush that instantly erupted on his round face as he climbed back up made one seriously suspect he was imitating a god.

"Flying! Thunder! God! Oh my god, it's the Flying Thunder God!!"

"It's so similar! TheShy! This is TheShy's Flying Thunder God from back then! Someone actually used it again, it's really too similar, this is Ye Wen!"

On the side, Xika was just about to jump up when he was hit square in the chest by the pickled-cabbage-scented holey shoes falling from the sky.

Instantly furious, he deliberately caught him and asked: "Where is it similar?"

Kid choked for a moment, but still stubbornly argued: "If it weren't for TheShy, could this move even be called 'Flying Thunder God'!"

Sun Yalong said with a grin: "To be fair, this is definitely Ye Wen's scientific research play; he must be the first one to use it like this!"

"I'm an Akali veteran, Akali shouldn't be able to Q in mid-air in this version; it must be some other trick of his, it has nothing to do with that old move~"

Kid went quiet, but his lip movements were clearly still muttering something unintelligible.

Immediately following that was the footage of Zeka being solo-killed three times in the first game.

Every appearance of those moments made the atmosphere overflowing from the screen even more intense.

"It's really too exaggerated, how can someone treat the opposing mid-laner like a pig to be slaughtered in the S-finals~" Xika shook his head, suddenly thinking of something.

"Wait a minute! That Cream might become the most mysterious mid-laner in the LPL! The only person who hasn't been outplayed by Ye Wen in lane, no one knows where his ceiling is!"

Sun Yalong heard the other person trolling, so he followed suit: "If we're talking about a ceiling, that really has to be our Top Esports, the eternal ceiling championship team! I suggest TES buys Cream next season to add to the ceiling!"

Kid muttered on the side: "That would be worse than buying Rookie; this time the ceiling lost to Vietnam, who knows who the floor could lose to..."

The chat was filled with 【Filial Piety】, and it seemed some people were actually discussing Cream's strength.

Come to think of it, Ye Bo was actually a bit curious about this mid-laner he had never managed to face.

The scene shifted to the moment of the "Peak of the Forbidden City" duel in the second game.

All the second-stream broadcasts were unusually similar, all filled with "Holy crap!", "Oh my god!", "Wow!", "Holy shit!"... and other unbelievable, astonishing moments!

Even Ye Bo himself, seeing that scene again, felt his blood boil instantly.

That final confrontation, even if the mechanics didn't look difficult, was in fact absolutely his most thrilling moment.

Coming to the third game.

The screen changed to the big streamer Doinb, who was feeling anxious watching the Bard causing chaos earlier.

"Oh my god, you can't let this Bard start a rhythm like this, you have to keep an eye on him..."

He didn't actually have any personal grudge against BeryL.

It was mainly during last year's transfer period when his big mouth couldn't help but take a jab at BeryL, saying that he "was ruined by mobile games, doesn't work hard, and now can't even find a job..."

As a result, he turned around and saw that the guy had already reached the finals!

If DRX won the championship, he wouldn't even need to think about it; what he said before would definitely boomerang back at him!

It wasn't until the mid-game, when Bard started losing his rhythm and the jungler was just wandering around, that he became energized again.

"Oh my god, this jungler, how can he follow the support around? Even the dumbest jungler should know to follow the mid-laner! Right!"

"No, I'm really not implying that the streamer is very familiar with this Fiddlesticks playstyle from EDG! The streamer played like this back then too!"

"What? Who is stronger between the streamer and Ye Wen? Aiyo brother, don't ask such questions, Ye Wen is definitely much stronger; the streamer is old now, if it were back in 2019..."

The screen cut sharply to the final counterattack.

No one would have thought that in such a desperate situation, at a moment when everyone seemed to have already seen the ending.

The opponent could actually find a fleeting gap under the cover of the sky-shrouding curtain.

"Sibal Deft!" Imp watched the Ezreal's blind ultimate hit and kill Nocturne, shouting with full emotion.

"Sibal, what is the chat saying! This ultimate has zero skill, the streamer tells you! If Deft can hit it, how could I not hit it!"

"Aiyo, it's just one step away, don't struggle, Deft!"

Imp and Deft are actually good brothers, but because the chat teases him every day that he is "not as good as Deft," he gets agitated easily.

And when the DRX members arrived in front of the fountain, just as everyone felt the overall situation was settled—the Fiddlesticks in the god's-eye view had already spread his arms on the dark stairs!

"It's coming!!!"

Imp mimicked the Fiddlesticks spreading his arms with extreme intensity, watching as a Flash-W ultimate sat on four people.

"Deft really can't do it!" Imp leaned over to light a mosquito coil outside the camera's view, his expression instantly becoming incredibly arrogant, his speech somewhat slurred: "Tsk, change the streamer, he definitely could have reacted!"

The scene cut again.

Uzi, who also had many ties with Deft, instantly raised his small fists high, nearly shaking off his pink headphones, his face full of excitement as if he thought he was the one about to lift the trophy.

"Beautiful, this mid-laner is too strong!"

"Sigh, the streamer has already admitted it, Deft is okay too, his performance this time was really good!" Uzi said, even speaking up for him.

"As an AD player, I can actually empathize; honestly, not many ADCs could accept a support like Beryl and still play like this. If the streamer went up there and encountered a support like Beryl, he would definitely overheat in one game!"

"Alright, the streamer is also getting ready to go lift the trophy~~"

As long as he wasn't on the competitive stage, Uzi seemed like a mature kid, crazily making fun of himself without a care.

But what truly had the best "program effect" was the final LCK commentary desk.

The LCK official commentary desk was screaming wildly one moment, and the next, it instantly flipped 180 degrees, shrieking and wailing with their voices hoarse and their emotions collapsed!

The scene played out a wave of absurd, ghost-like screaming that was enough to be recorded in history as a classic for the ages.

Ye Bo continued scrolling through other videos; there was no end to the various fan-made content, and the popularity was frighteningly high!

Moreover, it seemed that as long as the titles included the words "EDG" and "Ye," even if just forced in, the traffic would be terrifyingly high, all starting at a million views.

A true traffic code!

Some edge-playing streamers discovered this secret, and their video titles would inexplicably and forcefully include: "Today Y is a black-stocking JK senior student oh E."

As for serious videos, they were like:

"Under Master Ye, everyone is equal — Ye's 2022 World Championship solo kill highlight compilation!"

"2022 World Championship solo kill compilation (extremely high Ye content)"

"2022 World Championship finalist player data chart (Congratulations EDG!)"

"A review of the twelve S-series championships! Who are the most dominant players and teams in history, SSW? IG? EDG? SKT? Let the data speak!"

All kinds of videos were inseparable from the appearance of the characters EDG and Ye; their appearance rate was ridiculously high.

The comments under the videos were also incredibly lively.

【24 solo kills in 15 games? Ah???】

【Only 24? I feel like it was definitely undercounted! For example, that Sylas 1v3 counter-kill wasn't counted, right?! That's not even two per game on average, and he killed 5 times in the final game alone!】

【It's mainly because Chovy that turtle dragged the data down, otherwise he could have easily broken three!】

【No, what the hell is this, is everyone else's data just a balloon being pricked?】

【What is a circular mid-laner? Master Ye is simply a perfect god! I would like to call him: the perfect Circle God!】

【I can only say that data doesn't explain everything, for example, Flandre's role cannot be explained by data. But if it's this kind of data, then it's truly invincible.】

【No, is there any brother who can make Master Ye's "Career Operation Highlights" and "Map Highlights"? I'll put up a monthly ticket and two coins!】

Amidst these fan-made shots, Ye Bo reviewed the journey he had taken.

His heart was full of emotion and satisfaction.

He only felt that all the effort he had put in seemed very worth it.

And now, Ye Bo was also suddenly looking forward to how this "Championship Documentary" would be presented.

And that very night.

Bilibili's official Weibo account released several announcements in a row, officially announcing the streaming platform that signed Ye!

The moment it was released, it dominated the top of the Weibo trending list!

Within the app, it was paved with the grandest display imaginable, with push notifications and large screens visible almost everywhere, warming up for the upcoming debut.

The entire League circle was immersed in an atmosphere of joy and celebration.

At this moment.

Only EdZhu, the boss of EDG sitting in his Shanghai office, looked at the three phones in front of him that had been blown up, holding his head in a headache.

(End of chapter)