Huang Shaotian could remember all the details on this street. He knew what had changed and what had stayed the same. On first glance everything seemed the same as years ago, but he could clearly see the changes. They weren't necessarily bad, but it made him feel out of place. This wasn't the city he had lived in for so long; not the city he had worked in for so long; not the city in which he had found a second family and his love.
Today was a special day, so he was waiting here, a block away from their regular restaurant. Their former regular restaurant. Snowflakes were falling down, covering the world in a soft white. The cold was creeping into his bones. So, with a smooth motion Huang Shaotian pulled out his phone. The other one was late, which was quite uncharacteristic for them. Should he send a message? He had already sent a hundred or so. Until now he had received no answer. Had something happened? Before he could worry too much, a loud bark interrupted him. At his feet sat his dog TianTian, an energetic little puppy, which his parents had bought about a year ago, but had to give up on three months ago, since his mother had developed a pet hair allergy. Huang Shaotian didn't mind having a puppy. TianTian was such a cute little one and it brought him a lot of joy.
"Are you worried too?" Huang Shaotian asked.

Tenderly he petted TianTian and therewith removed the snow on TianTian's back. They had been waiting here for quite some time, so both of them were covered in snow. Maybe they should go ahead to the restaurant and continue to wait there? With sudden determination, Huang Shaotian typed a message to the other and decided to wait for five minutes. If he did not receive an answer by then, he would go to the restaurant and continue to wait there. He didn't want TianTian to get sick or worse.
Luckily he didn't have to wait too long. Three minutes after sending his hundred-and-first message, he finally got an answer.
I am sorry. Go ahead, I will come later.
Huang Shaotian let out a sigh.
"Let's go, TianTian. We will wait at the restaurant."

Since he was worried about TianTian's well-being, Huang Shaotian decided to carry him to the restaurant. To hell with his own health! TianTian was a baby and had to be protected! So, with a little puppy under his jacket, Huang Shaotian made his way to their destination.
Due to the heavy snow and cold temperatures, only those who had to be outside were wandering the streets. He also wanted to be at home now. There it was warm, he wasn't alone and he could watch a few Glory matches. Maybe he could even talk Ye Xiu into a few rounds of PK. And maybe a few cuddling sessions were also possible with his loved one. However, he wasn't at home, but out on the cold streets on his way to a small restaurant at the end of the street.
It truly was a good thing that he put on so many clothes. Half of his face was covered by his scarf, so only his eyes could be seen. Although he had left the professional Glory league a few years ago, his fame was still present. Currently he was in G City, team Blue Rain's hometown. So of course every now and then, whenever it was fitting, advertisement of the team showed up or old footage of their former glory. Huang Shaotian had been part of said former glory. Nowadays the team wasn't doing badly, however they also had not gotten any championship and the first half of the season had not gone all too well. Huang Shaotian had faith in his former teammates. Blue Rain had prevailed through other hardships and always came out stronger than before. This time it won't be any different.

The restaurant was mediocre. Over the years it had renovated a bit and now it looked quite nice. The most important aspect for Huang Shoatian was the atmosphere, which made him feel welcomed and at home. Maybe this was also due to how often team Blue Rain came here in the past.
The waitress at the reception knew him well and brought him to the booked room as soon as she saw him. Inside the room Huang Shaotian met his former captain and mentor Wei Chen, former vice-captain Fang Shijing as well as his successor Lu Hanwen. When Huang Shaotian entered Wei Chen was scolding Lu Hanwen for not being dirty enough, while Fang Shijing tried to encourage Lu Hanwen to stay true to himself and not listen to Wei Chen's nonsense. It was a lively and heartwarming scene, which reminded him of the past, back when he had just become a member of the training camp and later joined the team as a substitute.
"Senior Huang!" Lu Hanwen greeted enthusiastically.
Both Wei Chen and Fang Shijing stopped talking and looked towards Huang Shaotian. While Fang Shijing smiled at him, Wei Chen already turned his scolding from Lu Hanwen to Huang Shaotian.

"What have you taught that brat? I taught you everything I knew! I made you into a great pro player! And what are you doing? That brat does know nothing about creating opportunities! How is he supposed to be the core of Blue Rain?"
As the founder of Blue Brook, the guild behind the team, Wei Chen had a special place for team Blue Rain in his heart. He may have become a player for team Happy in season ten and afterwards joined their guild, but in the end, he still had a soft spot for Blue Rain. Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian were both his pupils in the past, thus he also gave them a special place in his heart and memories. Those two perfectly displayed Blue Rain's core strategy of creating opportunities. More precisely it was Yu Wenzhou creating the opportunities and Huang Shaotian seizing them. Their teamwork had always made Wei Chen's heart bleed. On one hand, he was so proud of them. On the other hand, he had always wished it was him on stage together with them, displaying such great teamwork and winning the championship, therewith pushing Ye Xiu and Excellent Era from their throne.
All of this was in the past. Now in the present, Wei Chen was quite unhappy with Lu Hanwen being such an honest guy. He didn't even expect the kid to play dirty or shameless, but he expected the kid to be a bit more "cold blooded". How did the new team Blue Rain intend to win anything with such a soft core player?

In a flash, Huang Shaotian put down his jacket and TianTian, walked to the table, sat down next to Lu Hanwen and put his arm around the young player.
"Little Lu is a great player! Have you seen how little Lu won that last match? Have you? Have you? Eh? Eh? Have you won a championship for Blue Rain or has he? He has! You ran away! He stayed! Little Lu is a tough cookie! Have you seen that? Have you? Are you blind? Are you? You must be! Or your age has gotten the best of you! Everyone knows that little Lu is a good core! He is a great core! You think he is soft? Then fight him! Try to kill him! You won't be able to win! Because he only looks soft, but is made out of steel!"
While Huang Shaotian tried to murder Wei Chen with his talking, Lu Hanwen tried to get away from his former vice-captain. As much as he liked the other man, he did not like the other one's nonstop talking. No, even during the years with Huang Shaotian on the team he never got used to it.
Wei Chen, on the other hand, didn't seem to be affected by Huang Shaotian's talking and countered it with his own trash talk. However, it was obvious that Wei Chen had no way of countering Huang Shaotian's flood of words.
Fang Shijing could only smile.

TianTian was extremely excited. To make his excitement known, he ran around barking and at some point ended up on Fang Shijing's lap. He loved getting petted. So, when Fang Shijing stopped petting him, he made his dislike known, which led to him being petted again.
"I didn't know that Huang Shaotian had a dog. Though, I have to say that the little one here does fit him well," Fang Shijing said to Lu Hanwen, who had finally escaped from Huang Shaotian's arm.
"TianTian was Huang Shaotian's parents' dog. But his mom got allergic to dog hair all of a sudden, so they had to give TianTian away," Lu Hanwen explained as he took TianTian out of Fang Shijing's lap and placed him on his own.
"I have to say that little pup does suit Huang Shao very well, don't you think so too?"
"That's what captain Yu also said. Sometimes, when senior Huang does not have time to take care of TianTian, senior Yu brings him along. Those are always the loudest days. It brings you back to the time when senior Huang was still in the team."
"Do you miss him?"
"Um, not really. It was a great time with him, but everything has its time and has to end someday. I wouldn't have minded if our time had been a bit longer, but the way things are now is also great."
Fang Shijing understood Lu Hanwen. Although he had only stayed with Blue Rain for three years, it had an everlasting impact on him. The people he had met and raised were always on his mind. Seeing Blue Rain rising up to become a powerhouse and even winning a championship made him proud. His feelings for Blue Rain could not be put into simple words, yet he also would not go back. His time in Blue Rain and the league was over. It had been a brilliant time in his life. A great part that had come to an end. All good things had to come to an end someday.
With a soft smile on his face Fang Shijing ruffled Lu Hanwen's hair. Lu Hanwen may be an adult by now, but in his eyes, the boy was still a little child. Having someone so positive and upright in Blue Rain was a blessing. How nice would it have been if they had someone like that back when Wei Chen had still been the captain?

The "harmonious" interaction between the four men was interrupted when the door was opened by a man, who complained about everything and everyone. Apparently he was not in a good mood.
"Captain Xu. Vice-captain Li."
Cheerfully Lu Hanwen greeted the two men that had entered the room.
Li Yuan, who had opened the door, nodded back at Lu Hanwen and stepped aside so Xu Jingxi could enter. As soon as the door was closed again, both of them were attacked by a hyperactive TianTian, who wanted to greet his friends.
"If this isn't Xiao Tian! How are you?"
With a big smile on his face Li Yuan lifted TianTian up and got rewarded with a wet tongue across his face. The first victim of everyone's amusement for the night was Li Yuan, who took it with pride. Well, at least he got a kiss from the cute puppy!

After the laughter died down the situation turned grim. Li Yuan was still holding TianTian in his arms, when Huang Shaotian jumped up from his chair, pointing at the other one accusingly.
"You, you, you! Let him down! Let him down! Down!"
For a few seconds everyone just starred at Huang Shaotian in shock. Wei Chen and Fang Shijing were exchanging glances already: You hold down that hyperactive bunny and I will evacuate the room.
Luckily before Wei Chen could get up and take the bunny out, the other three regained their composure and seemed to have remembered something.

When TianTian had been introduced to them, they had been in the middle of training. Everything had been fine, one could even say peaceful and quiet until the door was smashed open by an overly happy Huang Shaotian. Without any greetings he had walked straight up to Yu Wenzhou and pushed something into the other one's face.
"Wenzhou, Wenzhou, Wenzhou! Look, look, look! Isn't he the cutest? My parents got him some months ago, but forgot to tell me. Can you believe that? And when I visited them a while ago, he had been with my cousin. I feel betrayed! Oh, by the way his name is TianTian, because he reminded my parents of me, whatever that means. The little one and I have nothing in common… Nevermind, TianTian is now my dog. My mom got allergic to him. Well, maybe she always had been allergic, but never realized. He is also the reason why I was gone for the last few days. I just returned today."
By now most had gotten used to Huang Shaotian and were able to filter his words and voice. However, his action still caught a few eyes. Yu Wenzhou had stayed silent, but one could see he wasn't all too pleased with Huang Shaotian's behavior. Slowly he stood up.
"Let's talk outside. We are in the middle of training. You should know better than to interrupt everyone's concentration."
His words were spoken in his usual soft and pleasant voice. It was hard to say what he truly thought or felt. For the Blue Rain members it wasn't that mysterious, because they knew Yu Wenzhou for a long time and had gotten used to him just like they had gotten used to Huang Shaotian. Yet even they could not read him sometimes.

By now only Li Yuan was still busying himself with training. Lu Hanwen was the first, besides Yu Wenzhou, to recognize the thing in Huang Shaotian's arms as a puppy. Stealthily he had approached his former vice-captain and without anyone noting petting the dog. Of course TianTian was extremely pleased with the given attention and care, which he expressed by barking, which caused the other members, excluding Li Yuan, to turn their full attention towards their old vice-captain.
"I will take care of TianTian while you two talk outside," Lu Hanwen suggested while getting the puppy out of Huang Shaotian's arms.
To his surprise the other two said nothing against it and left the training room as soon as TianTian was safe in Lu Hanwen's arms. This was the point where the actual tragedy started. In all their excitement no one had paid attention to Li Yuan, who starred at his screen as if his life depended on it, and maybe it actually did.
Everyone else was busy watching TianTian running around, trying to catch his tail or some invisible dust particles. Barking carefreely and happily, while getting a lot of praise for being so "smart" and good. The training room was so big and there was so much to see: all those strange long things, also known as cables, on the floor; all those colorful lights and blinking; all those new and different smells. For TianTian this new place wasn't scary. He loved it.
Huang Shaotian's parents had been good to him, but they were old. They could not play with him like he needed them to. Now that he was in Blue Rain, he could more or less jump and run around like he wanted and needed. Only a free field would have been better.
However, in his excitement he made his way behind Li Yuan's chair, who finally finished whatever he had been doing and pushed himself away from the desk, not paying attention to what was on the ground or behind him. Exactly at this moment, Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian reentered the room just to see how Li Yuan almost overrun TianTian. In his panic Huang Shaotian let out a piercing screech. It was a totally manly screech! No one could screech manlier than Huang Shaotian! No one!
Scared from the sudden loud noise behind him, TianTian rushed into a corner of the training room and hid there for the rest of the day. Li Yuan, on the other hand, had stopped pushing his chair back, when he heard his former vice-captain's shrill voice. Instinctively he held onto his table as if he otherwise would fall over.

In the end, thanks to Huang Shaotian's manly screech no one had been injured. The several almost heart attacks could be ignored. The rest of the training Huang Shaotian stayed under the table with TianTian, trying to calm the puppy down and get him out of under the table without force.
Everyone else resumed their training. Every now and then they would steal a glance towards TianTian, with Li Yuan feeling especially guilty. Due to his guilty feeling he later paid his utter most attention to TianTian and showered the puppy with all his love.

This almost accident now caused Huang Shaotian to point at Li Yuan accusingly. In retrospect, it was not the first time that he did so, the other times the others were just too busy to care.
"Huang Shao, have you still not gotten over that stupid accident? Forget it already! See, Xiao Tian had already forgiven me. I am sure he was more scared by your screech than by me and my chair. Also your screech almost gave all of us a heart attack. You are the one who hurt Xiao Tian, not me."
"I wasn't screeching! I gave a warning shout! Do you know what that is? Do you? Do you? A shout. A shout is not a screech! It's different! Learn the difference! And now give him back to me, you monster."
Wei Chen and Fang Shijing could not fully understand what was going on, but they understood that nothing serious was going on. Apparently, Li Yuan had done something that could have hurt TianTian, which made Huang Shaotian angry.
It was all just Huang Shao being overdramatic? It was all just because of the puppy?
Yeah, nothing serious.
Kids these days.

"Oh, seems like Huang Shao is jealous. How dare someone be popular with his little puppy," Xu Jingxi mocked.
Head shaking, Xu Jingxi made his way to the table. He was hungry and done with Huang Shaotian's antics, although he had also, deep down, missed the other one. Huang Shaotian may have retired for some time now, but he knew that besides himself the others would also sometimes look at the former place of their vice-captain. It was a little bit like back when Wei Chen left Blue Rain. There had been a silent agreement to not get on the former captain's computer. Even nowadays no one dared to touch it. Maybe the same would apply for Huang Shaotian's place as well. At least for the next few years no one would do so. The reason could also lie in the fact that Huang Shaotian came over for a visit once or twice a week. It didn't feel like he had left. Everyone dealt differently with retirement. Yet, in the end, there was still a difference between having the other around all the time and only seeing him once or twice a week. Maybe the visits made it even harder to accept reality, because it reminded them of what once was and made them think of what could be. The new teammates were good guys, really. They have integrated into the team well, but people were just like that, always holding on to the past.

After everyone calmed and sat down again, the question of where the rest were came up. Besides the new team members, who had excused themselves, Yu Wenzhou, Zheng Xuan and Song Xiao were still missing. Fifteen minutes had passed since their agreed meeting time.
"I think we should start ordering our food," Fang Shijing suggested.
He had already heard a few stomachs rumbling.
"I will send Zheng Xuan and Song Xiao a message. Senior Yu may still be busy. As far as I know, he is in Blue Rain due to a meeting," Xu Jingxi said.

Tonight was a special day. One and a half year ago Yu Wenzhou had stepped down from his position as captain. One and a half year ago Xu Jingxi became the fourth captain of Blue Rain and Li Yuan took over the role of the vice-captain. Tonight, Yu Wenzhou would sign his retirement and give Swoksaar to the new player Han Lifeng. Whether the new player would come over was unclear. Yu Wenzhou said, he would invite the newcomer, but maybe the other one didn't want to take part in a gathering of so many unknown people. Half of the people present were already retired. It could be a bit uncomfortable for someone new to sit between a bunch of old friends and comrades without really knowing anyone.
Yu Wenzhou was currently at Blue Rain to welcome the new player and sign his retirement contract. Afterwards he wanted to come over, however for some reason all of this took longer than they had thought. Xu Jingxi, Li Yuan and Lu Hanwen were not surprised by this, while Wei Chen and Fang Shijing only knew about the retirement contract and not the welcoming part. Huang Shaotian, on the other hand, was quite worried. While he knew about the newcomer and the contract signing, he didn't know about Han Lifeng's parents that pushed the contract signing for their son from summer to winter.
"Zheng Xuan and Song Xiao will need another half hour to make it here. Traffic jam," Xu Jingxi informed the others.
"What about Little Yu? You said he is in a meeting, but he is not the captain anymore. And signing his retirement contract should not take that long," Fang Shijing inquired.
"Our new Warlock is coming today and senior Yu is welcoming him. Probably Han Lifeng's parents are making things difficult again."
"Again?"
"Yeah, when the contract should have been signed in summer, Xu Jingxi and I were in the conference room to welcome our new player, but his parents suddenly didn't want to sign the contract for whatever reason," Li Yuan explained.
It was obvious that he disliked Han Lifeng's parents, which was understandable.
"I guess, it was because of the money. Team Happy had also been interested in him and their offers weren't small. However, they stopped their attempts quite early. Han Lifeng had no interest in leaving Blue Rain. When he heard that he would be promoted into the team he beamed and jumped around like a little kid. Well, I guess, he still is a little kid. However, when it was finally time to sign the contract, his parents suddenly didn't want to sign it, because other teams, according to them, have given them better offers," added Xu Jingxi to Li Yuan's explanation.
"And now the contract is better? If team Happy has given up on him then other teams most likely have also given up. A player that does not want to join a team is of no interest to the team."
The better offers from other teams had probably been a lie, however there had been nothing Xu Jingxi, Li Yuan or even the management could have done. As long as Han Lifeng's parents didn't want to sign the papers there was nothing anyone could do besides waiting. Waiting until they were satisfied or until Han Lifeng came of age and could sign it himself. In case of the latter, the problem was that Yu Wenzhou didn't want to stay for much longer. He had planned to leave Blue Rain by the end of the last season, but stayed half a season longer due to the signing problem. Yu Wenzhou loved Blue Rain, however he also didn't want to stay just because there was no successor ready. His future plans had already been postponed for half a season, he didn't want to postpone them for much longer. After so many years playing Glory; after so many years being Blue Rain's captain; after so many years being a pro-player he was finally at his end, he was tired. He wanted to take a rest. See more of the world and spend more time with his love. Maybe it was indeed a bit much to ask for, but one year of rest was all he wanted and needed. Afterwards he wanted to return to Blue Rain as either a core guild member or training camp supervisor.
"Who knows? I don't think that much has changed. The management was quite dissatisfied with the run of events. Team Happy has given up on Han Lifeng and now they have Wang Rou. I don't think they offered more than Blue Rain. From what I heard the only other team that made an offer was team Miracle. They could not have better conditions to offer, could they?" Xu Jingxi answered.

"Han Lifeng is really not a bad guy. However, his parents are so obnoxious. They only care about money. They don't care about him," Lu Hanwen added.
"Let's wait for senior Yu. Maybe he will bring Han Lifeng with him and if not, well so be it."
Just after Lu Hanwen said that, the first batch of food was delivered to them. If they weren't all grown up men, they would have not even waited for the waitress to put the food down. They were hungry!
TianTian was also hungry and made it clear by barking and running around the table, hoping someone would give him something. Luckily, Huang Shaotian was a thoughtful puppy dad and had taken some food for TianTian with him. Eating human food was forbidden for the puppy!

When Zheng Xuan and Song Xiao finally arrived the already present men were in a deep discussion about team Happy's new player Wang Rou and how the addition of a witch had changed their fighting style, as well as whether Blue Rain should also add a new class.
Without saying much the two sat down and joined the conversation. Song Xiao joined, while Zheng Xuan preferred to listen and pet TianTian, who was the first to greet them when they entered the room. At least someone had some manners!