Top Esports' victory immediately shot to the top of the trending searches.
At number one on Weibo was "Top Esports Wins."
Right behind it were "Rise of Kingdoms Bro" and "Just Watch Him."
Guo Hao sat on his stool, rubbing his temples as he stared at his phone.
They finally win a match—and this guy still manages to cause another trending topic?!
Couldn't he just train properly during his stream?
Why does he have to play other games on stream?
Can't he mess around privately?
Ever since Lin Fan helped the team end their losing streak, Guo Hao's opinion of him had improved a lot.
From a performance standpoint, both Syndra and Varus showed extremely high proficiency.
It was obvious—this was the result of secretly grinding behind the scenes.
Using a school analogy, Lin Fan was the type who looked carefree in public—never studying, always playing—
but behind everyone's back, he'd be memorizing textbooks until one or two in the morning.
So every exam, he ranked near the top.
Meanwhile, the onlookers would be completely baffled.
"Doesn't he play with us every day?"
"Why is he top three in the class, while we're bottom one and two?"
Unfair.
Re-test!
Thinking about it, Guo Hao couldn't help but laugh.
Forget it.
No need to expose him—if he enjoys this kind of prank, so be it.
The real headache was what came next.
Lin Fan had shown extremely strong mid-lane potential—
far beyond what he'd ever shown as a support.
But the team already had Left, a once-in-a-generation mid-lane prodigy.
Even if his performance this season wasn't ideal, his raw skill and fanbase were undeniable.
This was just one match.
Better to observe a bit longer.
After all, the sample size was too small.
Who doesn't eat dumplings during the New Year?
For now, the priority was raising his salary.
Given the value he'd already demonstrated, paying him only 15,000 a month no longer made sense.
At the very least, it should match a normal starting LPL salary.
Guo Hao picked up the phone on his desk.
…
*Ding.*
"Task Generated."
"Daily Slacking: 3 hours."
"Task Reward: Golden Shining Beef Noodles (Stamina +10 Duration)."
"No matter whether you're a man or a woman, everyone desires lasting love.
You will become one in ten thousand."
TL: Meaning, he gets a really really strong sex ability.
"?"
Lin Fan was momentarily confused.
This slacking system really gave some bizarre rewards.
But wasn't this reward… given to the wrong person?
I'm already this strong.
If I eat these beef noodles, who could possibly handle me?
Same routine as always.
Boot up the computer, log into Rise of Kingdoms, and fire off a few cannons first.
The others in the training room were long used to this.
Honestly, Lin Fan opening League of Legends would've been more surprising.
After finishing up, he directly opened Tencent Video…
Luo Sheng had just finished breakfast when he received a notification from management—
Lin Fan's monthly salary was being increased by another 10,000.
In a good mood, he headed straight to the training room to tell him the news.
Pushing the door open, he scanned the room.
Everyone was training as usual.
He paid special attention to Left.
This game, Knight was playing Sylas—and his performance was outstanding.
Looks like Lin Fan's showing yesterday had really put pressure on him.
According to the security guard, Knight hadn't gone out at all last night.
Seems he'd realized his mistake.
A team needs internal competition.
Without it, players just slack off and get distracted by nonsense—
which seriously affects match form and career longevity.
Knight's recent performance proved exactly that.
If he could fully readjust and return to form,
he'd still be a top-tier mid laner in the league.
Winning really was the best catalyst.
In just one day, the entire team's morale had changed dramatically.
Very good.
Extremely good.
Even at a 1–6 record, Luo Sheng felt Top Esports' future was bright.
Then he turned his gaze to the hero of yesterday's victory—Lin Fan.
His eyes nearly popped out.
Heart racing.
Face full of disbelief.
Did this guy finally decide to work hard after winning?
To be fair, with proper training, Lin Fan clearly had huge growth potential—
especially with that unconventional champion pool.
Suddenly, their tactical options expanded.
Two distinct mid-lane systems.
Rubbing his eyes, Luo Sheng stepped closer, worried he was seeing things.
The monitor really was playing League-related content.
It was yesterday's V5 vs RNG match.
Clearly—a VOD review.
Being willing to learn is the first step toward improvement.
If someone isn't even willing to learn, then nothing else matters.
Good.
Very good.
After more than ten days, Lin Fan had finally realized his limitless potential…
and started working hard.
———
"Hahaha, Teacher Guo is still the GOAT. That was hilarious—play another one."
Luo Sheng froze.
The burning excitement in his chest slowly cooled.
Because he saw Lin Fan move the mouse—
and switch the QQ Music playlist.
"Guo Degang Crosstalk Collection."
Front and center.
After a long silence, Luo Sheng muttered to himself:
"What exactly… was I expecting?"
"Coach, when did you get here?"
"I've been standing behind you for more than ten minutes," Luo Sheng replied irritably.
"That long? I really didn't notice."
Taking a deep breath, Luo Sheng felt that if he stayed any longer,
he might actually explode.
Compared to this guy, even 369 was child's play.
This was the real rebellious phase.
"I've got some good news for you."
"The manager approved your salary increase today."
"During your current contract, you'll receive 25,000 per month."
To be fair, Top Esports handled this quite decently.
They didn't re-sign the contract—
they simply raised Lin Fan's pay unilaterally.
The original contract remained.
Its flaw was weak binding force.
If Lin Fan performed well and another team contacted him privately,
they could break him out with only a small penalty.
Of course, that would violate contract ethics.
But professional leagues aren't just sports—
they're also capital games.
To capital, a bit of "contract spirit" is nothing compared to profit.
It had happened before.
Clubs secretly contacted players, poached them outright,
and offered extremely low transfer fees.
In those cases, the original club could only swallow the loss.
If both sides reached intent,
the other party could simply take an irregular route and pay the penalty—
leading to even greater losses.
A careless mistake.
No stricter clauses—that's the price.
If it were certain other clubs,
with Lin Fan's performance yesterday,
they'd already be offering a massive new contract—
painting dreams, adding clauses, restricting transfers.
At least from this,
Top Esports could be considered relatively professional.
Of course—
trusting capital completely would still be foolish.