CHAPTER 7: WANTING SOMEONE

Before she knew it, July was already coming to an end.

Shu Jia had been busy with the dessert shop’s new menu launches, completely drained of energy.
Finally, when a slightly freer weekend came around, she rejected every invitation and appointment from friends, buried herself under the blankets, and slept like the dead.

She only woke up the next day at noon — because of a phone call from Xiao Du.

Xiao Du was a local and also a semi-popular illustrator online.
The two of them had clicked instantly because of their shared love for desserts and good food, and after discussing it thoroughly, they decided to open a dessert shop together.

Shu Jia, still groggy, squinted at the screen and picked up the call.

Xiao Du wanted to discuss the upcoming Qixi Festival event for their cake shop — hiring one or two more employees, launching new desserts, and planning some Weibo marketing campaigns.
Shu Jia forced herself awake and talked it all through with her.

But once the call ended, she couldn’t fall back asleep.

After staring at the ceiling for a while, she simply crawled out of bed, turned on her computer, and went online.

The moment she logged into QQ, dozens of unread messages popped up.
She replied to a few selectively, and after a while, a private chat from Jiang Yuyu appeared.

[YuYuJiang]: Jia Jia, don’t forget about my birthday live concert tonight~

[ShuFuJia]: Okay.

[YuYuJiang]: You’re my mystery guest! I’m keeping it secret to surprise my fans~

[ShuFuJia]: …I feel like your fans probably don’t even know who I am…

[YuYuJiang]: Excuse you! Ever since you went to the LPL match, sat front row, and got snapped by the team photographer, you’re totally famous now. You seriously don’t know?!

[ShuFuJia]: …

That whole thing started because of a League of Legends official photographer on Weibo, whose ID was “Yituan’s Little Secrets.”
He often went to LPL venues, taking backstage shots of players and match highlights for fans, and occasionally pushed out photos for promotions.

That one time Shu Jia attended an LPL match, she’d been accidentally photographed — and he even posted it on Weibo.

[@Yituan’s Little Secrets]: “Caught a random WR fan girl in the wild.”

In the photo, Shu Jia was holding WR team merch with both hands, tilting her head up to watch the big screen.
Her long hair cascaded smoothly over her shoulders, and the arena lights happened to land perfectly on her — she looked stunning, almost glowing.

Then, WR’s official account reposted it.

The post blew up.
Tons of thirsty LOL male fans flooded the comments, demanding to know who she was.
Soon, someone dug up her info and found out she was a small-time streamer under YuYu’s platform.
For a while, her Weibo and livestream chat were constantly being spammed.

Especially because…

Later, someone anonymously leaked a “rumor” claiming she had some ambiguous connection with Wan Shuai…

And that was Wan — WR’s team captain, the famous “male model team” leader in esports, with tens of thousands of female fans and countless fanwives behind him.
Not only that, he was notorious for keeping his distance from women and was practically scandal-free.

The female fans went nuclear.

Even though Shu Jia repeatedly denied it, explaining that she was just his fan and even defending Zhou Dang’s reputation, it didn’t stop jealous fans from secretly lurking on her page and scrutinizing her every move.

After that, Jiang Yuyu constantly teased her, saying:

“Before you’ve even stepped one foot into the esports circle, you’re already famous inside it.”

….

Shu Jia rested her chin in her hand, absentmindedly browsing the web.

Thanks to Jiang Yuyu’s reminder, she suddenly realized — she hadn’t seen Zhou Dang in quite a while.

Her little star-shaped earring was still with him.
She didn’t know if he’d forgotten about it… but she didn’t dare disturb him either, worried it might affect his matches.

Even though she was busy, whenever WR had a game, she always found time to watch.
If she couldn’t catch the livestream, she’d at least check the results afterward.

Just last night, WR had played their final group-stage match against YG.
With an undisputed first place in Group A, they’d smoothly advanced to the finals.
The whole team would be resting for a while before heading to Suzhou in mid-August for the championship match.

Curious, Shu Jia opened the LoL app on her phone and pulled up WR’s match video from last night.

WR had crushed YG with an overwhelming advantage, and Zhou Dang had taken MVP for the BO2 series.

The highlight reel replayed his iconic kills — flawless teamfight initiations, insane flash engages, and clean mechanics.

The post-match interview?
Of course, it was him.

Even just watching through the screen, she could hear the deafening screams of female fans.
The atmosphere was electric.

The camera panned across the stage — a little far away, lights dimmed — but she could still see the crowd of girls packed tightly against the barricade, holding up glowing banners.

The interview area was set up on the other side, beneath the stage backdrop.

Zhou Dang walked down from the opposite staircase.

He’d taken off his team jacket, leaving only a short-sleeved shirt on, and the tattoo along his arm was strikingly visible.

The camera cut to a gorgeous female host. She smiled sweetly at the lens.
“Hello, everyone! Welcome to the LPL post-match interview! Today, we have WR’s ADC — Wan!”

Zhou Dang sat casually on the high stool, picked up the mic, and gave a simple greeting.
“Hi, I’m Wan.”

His voice was cool and even, his expression detached — like winning the match had nothing to do with him.

The host chuckled and teased him.
“Up close, Wan Shuai’s skin is flawless! First, a personal question — have you ever considered joining the entertainment industry after retirement?”

“No.”

“Then what about the whole thing online, where WR’s called the ‘male model team,’ and you’ve been crowned its captain?”

“No opinion.”

The host finally had a rare chance to interview him and eagerly kept going:
“Recently, there were rumors linking you to a certain streamer. Fans have been anxiously waiting for an official response. Would you like to clarify now?”

Shu Jia choked on her yogurt.
Wait— she was talking about her, wasn’t she?!

Her cheeks burned.
When did post-match interviews turn into this kind of… tabloid nonsense?

Then, she heard him reply, completely unfazed, his tone casual and lazy:

“She’s a face fan of mine.”

The entire venue erupted in whistles.

Shu Jia nearly wanted to crawl under her bed and disappear.

He’s so bad…

The host looked surprised at such an ambiguous answer.
“So… sounds like the two of you aren’t just ordinary acquaintances?”

Zhou Dang said nothing.

Sensing his unwillingness, she tactfully switched topics.
“Alright, let’s wrap up with a fun question. People online say you never smile. Could you maybe give the fans a smile right now?”

The moment she said that, the crowd went wild.
One particularly bold female fan screamed, “Zhou Dang, I love you!!”

The whole stadium chanted his name.

But Zhou Dang himself remained stone-faced, calm as ever, like he hadn’t heard a thing.

Whether it was exhaustion or just plain laziness, no one could tell.

Probably only Shu Jia thought… that even if he did nothing, even if he just sat there blank-faced, she could never get tired of looking at him.

And right then, she finally believed something Jiang Yuyu once told her:

“When you really like someone, you can’t help but start fantasizing about their body.”

The host, sensing his lack of response, smoothly shifted back to match-related questions, wrapping up the interview.

But Shu Jia was staring at him through the screen, lost in thought.

His waist is way too skinny… he needs to put on some weight.

---

Author’s Note:
T_T This trash author is drowning in negative energy right now…

Finals week is coming, and next semester’s course selection too. Ugh, so busy…
Starting tomorrow, updates will be every other day. T_T

chu chu

Writing is… such a lonely thing, sigh.

Also, here’s a little spoiler:
My ML isn’t actually the cool, untouchable, alpha-god type you guys think he is.
He’s actually… a clingy, dramatic, fragile little princess. (???)

To make up for it, here’s a bonus scene ↓

In the third year of Zhou Dang and Shu Jia’s relationship, when he was twenty-two, the two of them got married at lightning speed.

All their friends were utterly shocked.

Both of their fans were heartbroken, holding back tears as they gave their blessings.

Female fans: Our arrogant, aloof captain… just gone like that.

Male fans: Our gentle, adorable goddess… just gone like that.

And then, the male lead who almost never posted online suddenly broke his silence with a Weibo update:

Before I met her, I never thought about getting married.
After I met her, I never thought about marrying anyone else.

Ahhhhhhhhhh—could it get any sweeter?

The truth was, outsiders didn’t know: Zhou Dang’s possessiveness toward Shu Jia had long since reached the point where he couldn’t bear to be apart from her for even a step.

He was fragile, proud, and clingy—so clingy that he would even get upset whenever Shu Jia was good to someone else.

And Shu Jia? She always spoiled him without any bottom line, indulging him in everything.

There was nothing she could do. Who told him to be a Pisces little princess? All she could do was love him dearly.

—By someone who turned the author’s “author’s note” into an article.