Ning Qiuxiu gradually began to enjoy the game and transformed into a gaming addict, pulling out her phone to play whenever she had free time.

Although she didn’t have the innate talent of Zhan Qingyue, she had more time and was young, with quick reflexes, so she improved rapidly.

Jingjing, who heard that Ning Qiuxiu was playing “Summoner’s Call,” happily asked to join her.

Jingjing was skilled at the game and had stubbornly climbed to Platinum IV, understanding the game quite well, making her a solid support.

Ning Qiuxiu clung tightly to this valuable support.

She found the most fun in matchmaking, where the focus was purely on playing the game without worrying about winning or losing. It was exhilarating, with a sense of “carefree and fighting to the end.”

So while Zhan Qingyue was at work, she played matchmaking with Jingjing every day.

Sometimes, Tang Yu would invite Ning Qiuxiu to join his ranked matches.

Tang Yu, who mingled with professional teams daily, was an even more reliable support.

Playing with him, they rarely lost.

But after a few days of enjoyment, Zhan Qingyue noticed something was off: Despite his two weeks of intense training, Ning Qiuxiu’s skills hadn’t improved; in fact, they had declined.

“Qiuxiu, go control their top laner, don’t let him deal damage—why are you… The jungler died. Retreat. We can’t win this team fight. Help me block a skill…”

Before Zhan Qingyue could finish his instructions, he was taken out by the opponent’s well-fed top laner with one shot.

“……” Zhan Qingyue looked at the black-and-white screen, feeling a bit doubtful about life.

“Sorry, I made a mistake this time,” Ning Qiuxiu admitted with a good attitude.

“It’s okay, we can still play this game. Let’s stay steady,” Zhan Qingyue reassured her as they respawned, bought new equipment, and started again.

However, this wasn’t the last time. To better support Ning Qiuxiu, Zhan Qingyue played ADC (a core damage-dealer role), and Ning Qiuxiu played support.

This way, they could better coordinate their movements in the bottom lane, and he could quickly spot and correct any mistakes she made.

But he noticed she, as a support, wasn’t stepping up to block skills for him.

Instead, she habitually stayed behind him to cast skills and often missed her skill shots due to poor positioning.

Even worse, she had a killer instinct and, in team fights, her first reaction was to attack the opponents rather than control them.

Due to her hero’s limitations, she couldn’t get kills and ended up causing her teammates to be defeated.

After the game, Zhan Qingyue patiently pointed out her issues and invited her to queue again.

But even after another match, these problems weren’t well addressed.

After another tough win, Zhan Qingyue set his phone aside, pulled over a small stool, and placed it in front of him.

He said to Ning Qiuxiu, who was comfortably snuggled in a single sofa while playing: “Come here, Qiuxiu.”

“……” Ning Qiuxiu knew she had performed poorly and felt anxious and guilty.

She felt like a bad student called to the principal’s office, wishing she could stretch the short distance into thousands of steps.

She wasn’t afraid of being scolded by Zhan Qingyue—he had never been harsh with her, not even using strong words.

However, Ning Qiuxiu was more afraid of this kind of situation.

She would rather he scold her.

“How long did you play during the day?” Zhan Qingyue asked.

“A few hours,” Ning Qiuxiu confessed honestly, “Playing matchmaking with Jingjing.”

“Did you play as support?”

“N-no,” Ning Qiuxiu was unable to hide under Zhan Qingyue’s gaze. “I played ADC like you.”

In matchmaking, playing support wasn’t as fun. Every time she played with Zhan Qingyue, he was always dominating the game, so she tried ADC and found it very enjoyable.

Although ADC heroes are often fragile, if teammates take care of her, she can carry the game once she’s developed, just like the well-equipped marksman in “Magic Realm,” taking out opponents with ease.

So she fell in love with the kill-heavy ADC role and mostly chose it for matchmaking, avoiding support.

Zhan Qingyue identified the problem: she was used to playing as ADC during the day, and suddenly switching back to support was challenging.

Although she could remind herself during normal play, the pressure during team fights caused her to make mistakes.

He thought for a moment and asked, “Do you like playing ADC?”

“It’s okay, I just find it very satisfying,” mainly because killing enemies felt incredibly rewarding.

Zhan Qingyue nodded and said, “Then you play ADC this game, and I’ll play support.”

“Eh,” Ning Qiuxiu felt both nervous and excited, “Is that okay?”

“Let’s give it a try.”

So, after finding a match, Zhan Qingyue picked a support hero, and Ning Qiuxiu got her best AD hero.

They entered the game, and Ning Qiuxiu, excited, headed to the bottom lane.

She thought she could show off her AD skills in front of Zhan Dad.

She was determined to impress him! Ning Qiuxiu clenched her fist.

However, ranked games are different from casual matches; everyone’s skill level is evident.

Ning Qiuxiu got her farm stolen from her right away, falling behind in gold.

Their jungle also targeted their bottom lane aggressively.

Even though Zhan Qingyue was an excellent support, he couldn’t turn things around.

Fifteen minutes later, the bottom lane was crushed, and Ning Qiuxiu was 3k gold behind the enemy AD.

Ning Qiuxiu: “……”

They switched phones.

Although the bottom lane was struggling, their top and mid lanes gained an advantage.

Feeling uneasy, Ning Qiuxiu played extra hard.

With Zhan Qingyue’s help, who was indeed different from ordinary players, they managed to turn the game around and won narrowly.

“How was it?” Zhan Qingyue asked with a smile after the match.

“……” Ning Qiuxiu felt hurt even though Zhan Qingyue didn’t scold her.

He always seemed to hit her sore spots.

Ning Qiuxiu, feeling defeated but trying to smile, said, “I suddenly find supports so cute. I really like them.”

“You can only play a maximum of three AD games per day from now on.”

Huh? Three games!

Ning Qiuxiu’s eyes lit up.

She jumped in front of Zhan Qingyue and tackled him onto the sofa, saying, “Teacher Zhan, I love you.”

Zhan Qingyue nearly got his back broken by Ning Qiuxiu’s enthusiastic tackle. He hugged her waist and squeezed it, saying, “Aunt Wang is going to get a raise.”

Aunt Wang is their family cook.

Ning Qiuxiu: “……”

Recently, she hadn’t controlled her diet, and after a vacation abroad by the sea, where she tried various seafood, she…

She didn’t even know how, but she had gained weight and now weighed 91 kg.

Damn it!

Ning Qiuxiu reached out and poked Zhan Qingyue’s waist, saying, “You eat more than I do, so why aren’t you gaining weight?”

Since his recovery, Zhan Qingyue had maintained a balanced diet and had always enjoyed good food, including a lot of meat.

But he didn’t gain weight, and his fit body made Ning Qiuxiu, who felt like she gained weight just by drinking water, envious and frustrated.

Zhan Qingyue chuckled, “Because I do a very enjoyable but weight-maintaining exercise to keep in shape.”

“What? Work or just a practice match?” He would definitely break your legs if you said it was just practice.

However, it was clear that Ning Qiuxiu hadn’t fully grasped the nuances of this, so Zhan Qingyue, seeing her still not getting it, said, “Try it out in the evening, and you’ll know.”

“……” Ning Qiuxiu finally realized what he meant, her face turning three shades red.

This dog of a man just wanted to trick her into taking the initiative.

Not a chance!

Determined to master her role, Ning Qiuxiu started practicing support heroes intensively to broaden her hero pool.

With the airing of “Floating,” the popularity of Ning Qiuxiu and Ji Weiliang, the two female leads, soared.

Despite Ning Qiuxiu’s impressive skills, some people thought she had advantages due to her family and marriage, so it seemed somewhat expected.

Ji Weiliang, however, had a different story. Coming from an ordinary background, she faced setbacks including a failed talent show and the collapse of her studio due to investor withdrawal.

Eventually, she made a strong comeback through her work, becoming a model of grassroots success.

Yixing finally recognized her potential and began heavily investing in her.

Two weeks after the release of “Floating,” Ji Weiliang’s official Weibo announced she had secured the leading role in a highly anticipated drama, collaborating with top director Deng.

By early July, after over a month of “devil training,” Ning Qiuxiu’s skills had improved dramatically.

She was no longer the novice everyone could easily defeat.

One day, while she was on a break from shooting an ad, she couldn’t resist pulling out her phone for a quick game.

She selected ADC and, having improved her support skills and awareness, found she could now easily carry games.

Just as she was having a blast and dominating the game, Xiao Chi, who was looking at her phone, suddenly exclaimed, “Ji Weiliang is a mistress? What’s with this trending topic?!”

Ning Qiuxiu, who had been hiding behind and outputting damage, accidentally pressed the flash and charged into the enemy’s crowd—game over.

With a 20-second respawn time, Ning Qiuxiu leaned over to see Xiao Chi’s screen and indeed saw the topic #JiWeiliangMistress# trending.

Xiao Chi clicked on it and read aloud, “Ji Weiliang has been frequently spotted with Yixing’s Hu Nianzong, appearing close, suggesting a romantic relationship.

Recently, a source revealed that Hu Nianzong was married to his mixed-race wife in New York three years ago and they had a child last year. If that’s true, Ji Weiliang is… a third party in the relationship?”

Xiao Chi finished reading and showed Ning Qiuxiu the blogger’s post with pictures.

The first few were chat screenshots from the “informed source,” while the last three were striking: one was a photo of Hu Nianzong, his mixed-race wife, and their newborn; the other two showed Ji Weiliang and Hu Nianzong entering and exiting together, captured by paparazzi.

Ning Qiuxiu was stunned: “Isn’t this a bit… far-fetched?”

Xiao Chi was also shocked: “Although Ji Weiliang is unpleasant, she wouldn’t do something like being a mistress.”

Even if the original female lead’s values might seem outdated and quirky, it was hard to believe she would be a mistress.

It was more likely that Hu Nianzong had hidden the truth, leading to Ji Weiliang being deceived.

If that’s the case, Ning Qiuxiu, who originally disliked Ji Weiliang, felt a bit sorry for her.

With her current popularity, the more famous she became, the more envy and hatred she attracted.

Whether or not she was at fault, the scandal would lead to her being criticized.

The walls have ears, and no matter how well Ji Weiliang’s public relations team managed it, she couldn’t escape this completely.

Moreover, at this critical moment, Ji Weiliang’s studio made a very foolish emergency PR move—they immediately distanced themselves from Hu Nianzong.

The studio released a statement claiming: “The two are merely friends and have a superior-subordinate relationship. Hu Nianzong’s presence at Ji Weiliang’s filming location was simply to visit on behalf of the company.”

This was quickly contradicted by a video.

The video was from an elevator, where Ji Weiliang and Hu Nianzong had just entered.

Ji Weiliang, unable to control herself, hugged Hu Nianzong’s arm and snuggled up to him, while Hu Nianzong wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her face.

“……” Can you say this is normal behavior between friends or between superiors and subordinates?

With this video and the accompanying statement, Ji Weiliang’s situation was completely ruined.

Even if she tried to clarify that she was deceived and didn’t know Hu Nianzong was married, it was too late to fix it.

Zhan Qingyuan had been restless since the afternoon.

When he saw Ji Weiliang’s studio being exposed by the video, he couldn’t sit still anymore.

He turned off his computer and left his office.

Online discussions were saying Ji Weiliang’s situation was hopeless, and only a miracle could save her.

And Zhan Qingyuan might just be that miracle.

As he reached the stairs, he saw Zhou Yang waiting there.

Zhou Yang politely said, “Second Young Master Zhan, Mr. Zhan is requesting your presence.”

“…… My brother didn’t go to Fengyi today?” Why was he suddenly at Zhuosen?

Zhou Yang replied, “It seems he had something to handle personally, so he came over around noon.”

— In reality, it was because he saw the news about Ji Weiliang being a mistress and came over.

“Alright…” Zhan Qingyue had called him, and Zhan Qingyuan didn’t dare refuse.

He had to suppress his inner turmoil and followed Zhou Yang to Zhan Qingyue’s office.

At the door, Zhan Qingyuan took a deep breath to calm himself and hide his emotions.

When he entered, he put on his signature smile and said, “Brother, you wanted to see me?”

“Hmm,” Zhan Qingyue shook his phone, “We’re short one for a group game.”

Zhan Qingyuan: “……”

As a boss, it’s already surprising that you’re playing games at work, but now you want me to join?

Since Zhan Qingyue and Ning Qiuxiu were both playing games, Zhan Qingyuan, seeing them having fun, couldn’t resist joining in.

However, he wasn’t very good at it since he only played occasionally.

Zhou Yang wasn’t interested in games, but after learning from Ning Qiuxiu that Jingjing was also playing, he decided to join in to accompany the boss.

So, in the late afternoon, Zhan Qingyue, as the big boss, led the second boss and his assistant to play games in the office with Ning Qiuxiu and Jingjing.

After playing two matches, work hours ended, but Zhan Qingyue still wanted more and invited them to dinner and continue playing afterward.

He also used the excuse that Ning Qiuxiu was busy with an ad shoot elsewhere and was bored alone, “conveniently” taking Zhan Qingyuan home with him to keep him company.

After dinner, they sat on the sofa in the living room, and Zhan Qingyue pulled out his phone to continue.

“……” Zhan Qingyuan felt like kneeling to his seemingly mind-reading brother.

After playing two more matches, it was already 8:30 PM. Zhan Qingyuan finally couldn’t hold back and said, “I’m done with the games. I need to go out for something.”

“Is it for Ji Weiliang?” Zhan Qingyue looked up at him.

“I’m the only one who can help her,” Zhan Qingyuan lowered his eyes, then looked at Zhan Qingyue with intense eyes, “One last time, brother.”

Zhan Qingyue didn’t answer but re-invited him to the game: “Come on, let’s continue.”

Zhan Qingyuan: “……”