Chapter 36

Yi Shen didn’t notice anything wrong and continued talking endlessly: “Other fans are okay, but she is a relatively famous one among your fans. So many people are watching her… Normally, lots of people add her as a friend in the game! If she plays too poorly, it wouldn’t sound good, right?”

The more he spoke, the more excited he became: “And, bro, you don’t know! There was one time when Ying Nian and I were duo-queuing, and someone saw her in-game name, deliberately picking a fight and provoking her, cursing so horribly. They were just waiting for her to get angry. I think it’s most likely one of our SF anti-fans!”

Yu Linran asked, “And then?”

“Then I destroyed that person! How could I let that slide! If their skill level isn’t enough to make it to the professional stage and they can’t compete with us, they just take it out on our fans. No way I’d let him off! I wanted to show them that our fans aren’t pushovers either!”

Yi Shen said angrily, “Later, I told Ying Nian on WeChat, next time you run into people who deliberately curse and cause trouble, just remember their ID and tell me. When I have time, I’ll find them one-on-one and solo them! Let’s see if I don’t utterly destroy them!”

Yu Linran’s smile paused slightly, but then deepened, “You two added each other on WeChat?”

“Yeah,” Yi Shen replied. “Since we always play games together, it’s more convenient to talk on WeChat!”

Cheng Run and Lin Shan, the two “old foxes,” had long sensed that something was off in the atmosphere. The more they observed Yu Linran’s expression, the more they felt something was going on, so they silently listened without interrupting.

Yi Shen was truly oblivious, completely unaware that the two older brothers were as quiet as quails. “No worries, bro, your fans are my fans too. We’re all family. I’ll take responsibility for Ying Nian’s gaming skills. She’ll definitely improve quickly.”

Yu Linran picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, ate it slowly, and only then calmly said, “You’re mistaken.”

“Huh? About what?” Yi Shen was confused. “What did I get wrong?”

“Ying Nian is my fan. What’s mine is mine,” Yu Linran said as he finished his meal. After speaking, he picked up his cup and stood to get some warm water.

“Huh? Bro…” Yi Shen was left dumbfounded, watching as Yu Linran walked away without a second glance. He turned to the others at the table, asking, “What did he mean by that?”

Cheng Run and Lin Shan exchanged a glance, fully convinced that something was definitely going on between Yu Linran and Ying Nian. Faced with the still-clueless Yi Shen, Cheng Run clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, “What your brother means is, if you’re going to teach someone, teach your own fans!”

Yi Shen was first stunned, then exclaimed, “Impossible! There’s no way my brother would be this petty. When has he ever been stingy about sharing anything with us? He’s always generous with everything, even his gaming tips. There’s no way he’d be this small-minded!”

He stubbornly refused to admit he had said something wrong, and even more so, he didn’t want to believe that Yu Linran would nitpick over something like this.

Lin Shan, however, looked at Yi Shen as if he were an idiot, shaking his head and sighing, “Forget about trying to play games with Ying Nian for now. Eat some walnuts first to nourish your brain, my dear brother.”

…

When Yu Linran returned to the team, the official Spring Festival holiday hadn’t ended yet. Ying Nian, now a second-year high school student, had already started extra classes, while Yu Linran and his teammates, as professional esports players, had begun the Spring Regular Season.

Ying Nian seemed to know that Yu Linran would definitely not agree to her attending the matches in person so soon after school had just started. During their chats on WeChat, she didn’t even bring it up, only talking about daily life or cheering for him from afar, and nothing more.

Whenever she sent him a message, he would always reply, but since he had returned, Ying Nian hadn’t asked him to play a single game together.

SF played three matches, and the holiday finally came to a full end. Once again, Yu Linran received Ying Nian’s usual congratulatory message. After exchanging only a few words, she quickly said she had to go, leaving Yu Linran with no choice but to stop her.

[Playing games?] he asked.

She replied, [Ah, yes.]

He asked directly, [Why didn’t you ask me?]

She said, [You’re playing in the regular season now, and I was worried it might affect your training…]

Yu Linran pressed his lips together, and before he could say anything more, he saw her next message: [Captain, didn’t you guys go out for dinner?]

He said, [The regular season has a match every few days, no time to go out for dinner after every match.]

[Then what are you doing?]

[Playing games.]

— After sending those three words, he squinted slightly.

On the other end, it seemed like Ying Nian had finally realized something and suggested, “Then let’s play together?“

Yu Linran relaxed the slight downward press of his lips and typed a single word: [Okay.]

After a long time, the two of them met again in the game. Yu Linran asked, [Did you have fun playing during the break?]

The reply came: [It was okay, not especially fun. The thing I did most was practice my skills in the game. I didn’t really go out much, just stayed at home.]

He pretended to casually remind her, [Your rank is higher than before.]

[Oh, that? It’s not really my own ability. I owe it to Yi Shen and the others.]

Then she quickly added, [During the break, Yi Shen helped me rank up, and it went pretty smoothly. Sometimes when he couldn’t carry me alone, he’d pull in other members of your team to queue up. Honestly, I really am such a burden…]

She didn’t hide anything, and Yu Linran’s expression softened slightly.

[Haven’t been playing with them lately?] he asked.

[How could I have time!] Ying Nian replied. [You guys have matches and training, and I’m in class all day. Other than after evening self-study, there’s barely any time, so I haven’t run into anyone.]

Before he could reply, it seemed like she suddenly remembered something, and another line appeared in the chat: [But a couple of days ago, I did run into Cheng Run online. He invited me to play, but I was just about to log off, so I declined.]

His fingers paused for a moment, then they moved across the keyboard: [Cheng Run?]

[Yeah.]

[He rarely uses his smurf account, like once in a blue moon.]

[Really? I thought they used their smurf accounts often. So I guess running into him on his smurf the other day was just a coincidence then…]

Unlike usual, they had been chatting for a while, and not a single game had started.

More than the game, today Yu Linran seemed more inclined to just “talk” with her.

[Actually, I knew right away that Yi Shen was helping you rank up when I got back,] he told her. [He mentioned it when we were chatting, and said it took a while, but your skills finally showed some improvement.]

[He told you all that?]

[Yeah,] he confirmed, then asked, [Missed a lot of skill shots? Flashed right into the enemy’s face?]

A string of exclamation marks came from her side, clearly showing her agitation: [Why would he tell you that! How embarrassing!]

Yu Linran replied, [It’s not like I don’t already know you’re bad at the game.]

[That’s different…] she struggled to defend herself, [Messing up in front of you is one thing, but being talked about in your conversations—that’s way more humiliating!]

Yu Linran didn’t comment, but he saw her typing: [Next time, I won’t queue with Yi Shen again! If I keep queuing with him, soon everyone at the base will know how hard it is for me to rank up even when I’m carried. How will I ever face anyone?]

Seeing Ying Nian resolutely deciding to sever her gaming friendship with Yi Shen, Yu Linran cheerfully responded, [Mm.]

However, it didn’t take long for her to come up with a new idea.

[I’ll just ask Cheng Run next time! Even though we’re not that close, he seems like a nice guy. He took the initiative to ask me to play, so if I invite him to queue, he probably won’t say no!]

Yu Linran pressed his lips together, his fingers tapping a bit harder on the keyboard: [Not necessarily. He tends to disappear easily. When we message him, it often takes him a long time to respond.]

[Then what about Lin Shan? He has a good temper; I don’t think I’d frustrate him too much.]

[He uses his smurf account even less than Cheng Run. When he has free time, he usually queues with other professional players he knows.]

[Then that leaves only one person…]

On the other side of the screen, it seemed like she had regained her energy: [Yeah, I’ll ask Bo Can! He doesn’t seem to talk much, but he’s actually really nice! When we queued together back then, every time I played badly, Yi Shen and the others would laugh at me a bit, but Bo Can never said anything. Last time I played really, really badly, I felt so embarrassed and apologized to him, but he ended up comforting me instead… Yeah, yeah, I’ll ask him!]

Yu Linran stared at the screen, not wanting to say anything for a moment.

Meanwhile, Ying Nian was delighted with her brilliant idea, filling the screen with [hahaha]s. After she finished typing, she probably noticed that he hadn’t responded for a while and found it strange.

[Captain?]

[Captain, are you still there?]

[Did you disconnect?]

…

Yu Linran slowly closed his eyes and let out a quiet breath.

She had thought of so many people, the whole team even, yet hadn’t thought of him.

[Do you still remember,] he typed, [that there are five people on our team?]

As soon as his message was sent, she quickly replied: [Of course I remember! Aren’t there five people? I counted them all!]

Yu Linran almost typed each word with a pause between keystrokes: [Really, and where am I?]

[……]

[??]

[!!!]

After a few lines of punctuation, Ying Nian followed up with: [You’re in my heart!]

[Ah, pfft! No, what I meant was, how could I waste your time, Captain! Playing ranked with me would be such a waste of time! No, no, matches are way more important!]

Yu Linran finally felt his mood ease a little, but there were still things that needed to be said: [This is a team game. If you’re holding them back, it affects the match just the same.]

[Huh? Then I…]

Seeing that she was about to start blaming herself again, Yu Linran quickly cut her off: [Besides, haven’t you wasted enough of my time already?]

Ying Nian quickly sent several crying emojis.

[Then I? Then…]

[One is enough, don’t push it.]

[Then if I ask you to queue with me, will you?]

[Do you really think there’s that much difference between queuing and soloing?]

[Deal then! From now on, I’m really going to ask you to queue with me. Captain, please don’t find me annoying!]

Yu Linran’s lips curved slightly, and his fingers gently tapped out a response: [Okay.]

…

As the Spring Regular Season progressed into its ninth week, SF’s performance was promising. This year, their goal was to go even further than last year. While the team members were full of drive, the pressure on their shoulders also increased.

However, this pressure didn’t seem to show on Yi Shen. On the field, he was becoming more aggressive and bold, while in everyday life, he remained as oblivious as ever.

During a break between matches and training, he noticed that Ying Nian hadn’t asked him to play games in a while, and he couldn’t help but wonder, “What’s Ying Nian up to lately? She hasn’t asked me to play games in ages!”

At the same dinner table were the other team members, Cheng Run and Lin Shan. Instinctively, they glanced at Yu Linran, but seeing his calm expression, they couldn’t discern anything unusual, so they quickly looked away.

“Why do you keep thinking about her? You think she has nothing to do all day and doesn’t need to study?” Lin Shan teased.

“There’s always time between classes! She told me she sometimes plays games before bed, but it’s been so long since she’s asked me to play…”

“We have a match tonight. Can you focus on eating?” Lin Shan lightly kicked him under the table.

“Do you think something happened to her? Or maybe she’s in some kind of trouble? Or maybe…”

“Don’t overthink it,” Yu Linran suddenly interjected. “Maybe she just doesn’t feel like asking you.”

“That makes sense… wait, no!” Yi Shen waved his hand. “Impossible! I’ve helped her rank up so many times, we’re on great terms!”

Yu Linran didn’t continue that conversation and abruptly changed the topic: “Where are we going to eat tonight?”

Bo Can answered, “Coach said we’ll probably go for barbecue.”

Yu Linran nodded slightly, “I won’t be going. I’ve already made plans to eat with someone.”

Cheng Run and Lin Shan’s eyes immediately lit up, “Who did you make plans with? A guy or a girl?”

Yu Linran remained silent. Cheng Run pressed on, “Is it the same person from last time?”

Yu Linran gave a noncommittal “Mm,” neither confirming nor denying, and simply said, “Cheng Run, you handle the interview.”

“Let Old Lin go, I’m not going. It’s such a hassle…”

“You’re going, stop complaining!”

“You—”

The two started bickering, each trying to push the responsibility onto the other, completely unaware that the conversation had already drifted off course. By the time they realized, Yu Linran had already finished eating and left his seat.

…

That evening, the match was won smoothly, and Cheng Run represented the whole team for the post-game interview. Once everything was wrapped up, the team headed off to eat barbecue.

Everyone except Yu Linran.

As they settled in at the barbecue restaurant and finished ordering, Yi Shen, still thinking about their absent captain, couldn’t help but comment, “I wonder where the captain went. Who’s he eating with? He didn’t join us for dinner! Same as last time, I wonder who’s important enough to have his time…”

Cheng Run spat, “Can’t you eat without Yu here? What’s your problem?”

Lin Shan, unwilling to miss a chance, added, “Looks like you’re trying to cling to Yu like a barnacle, dragging him down. Don’t you find yourself annoying?”

Yi Shen scoffed, “Tch, I was just curious. Don’t act like I don’t know you guys. Pretending not to care when you’re a thousand times noisier than me! Can you honestly say you’re not curious? Can you say you don’t want to know? Then why did you both pester the captain with questions when he said he had plans? Why ask at all?”

He poked Cheng Run in the side, and Cheng Run retaliated. The two of them playfully swatted at each other, going back and forth without stopping.

Bo Can, who had been quiet up until now, suddenly spoke up, “The captain—”

Before he could continue, Lin Shan interrupted with a snarky remark, “What, you planning to cling to Yu too now?”

“No,” Bo Can said, his eyes drifting toward the lobby, his brow slightly furrowed as he pointed. “The captain’s over there—”

Everyone immediately turned to look in the direction he was pointing, and sure enough, it was Yu Linran!

He was dressed in casual clothes, and with that face and his tall, striking figure, he stood out even more. Beside him stood someone, their smaller stature made even more noticeable next to him. She had long hair draped over her shoulders, and her beautiful, delicate features carried a hint of rare, almost heroic boldness.

—It was Ying Nian!

They stood together, Ying Nian holding the restaurant’s menu in her hand while Yu Linran leaned slightly toward her, talking as they both looked at the dishes.

“Y-Y-Ying Nian?!” Yi Shen was so shocked that he dropped his chopsticks.

At his shout, the two by the reception desk turned their heads toward the table. Their gazes met, and apart from Yu Linran, everyone else was completely stunned.