Sigh.

Xu Yitong rested her chin in her hands and let out a melancholic sigh.

CC paused, then shouted at her, “Xu Yitong!”

“Hmm…” 

Xu Yitong’s gaze drifted aimlessly. 

“Go on, keep talking, I’m listening.”

This slightly artsy little bar was located in an alley near Xu Yitong’s home. 

The owner was skilled at mixing drinks, but rumor had it he was a rich second-generation slacker who didn’t bother promoting the place, making it quieter than most spots.

As a result, it had become their regular hangout.

Today, for some inexplicable reason, as soon as they sat down, CC pulled out a laptop and announced she wanted to discuss business with Xu Yitong.

To everyone’s surprise, the two then proceeded to have a serious conversation about opening a store—business models, renovation budgets, and future profitability…

Before the drinks even arrived, Cai Yishi was nearly lulled to sleep and couldn’t help interrupting,

“Can you two stop? The people at the next table have glanced over here several times. You don’t actually think talking about work here is inspiring, do you? You look like micro-business girl bosses.”

Jasmine nearly died laughing, spearing a piece of fruit and stuffing it into her mouth as she mumbled, “Where are you planning to open the store?”

“Xuhui,” CC replied, slamming the laptop shut, too lazy to continue. 

“Xu Yitong found the location herself. I called to inquire a couple of days ago, and we’ll go check it out next week.”

“Why Xuhui?”

Xu Yitong dodged the question: “The location is good there.”

“Ha.” CC sneered. 

“Don’t think I don’t know—it’s 500 meters from your crush’s dorm.”

“Don’t be such a bumpkin. It’s not a dorm; it’s called a base.”

Cai Yishi looked troubled. 

“If you open a store right at his doorstep, what are you going to do if you stop liking him later?”

Xu Yitong argued stubbornly, “It’s not just for Yu Ge, okay? I happened to discover a store for rent when I was dropping off a friend there.”

Finally, she emphasized, “The customer base there is definitely good. Xuhui has several universities nearby, so there are tons of young people.”

Seeing how stubborn she was, Cai Yishi rolled her eyes but didn’t call her out further.

CC interjected, “Alright, let me make this clear—men are men, work is work. If you go on strike after a breakup, you’ll have hell to pay.”

Xu Yitong slammed the table angrily. 

“None of you ever wish me well!”

“How are we supposed to wish you well?”

Xu Yitong muttered, “Maybe I’ll actually end up with Yu Ge someday…”

Her voice grew weaker as she spoke.

“His fan girls outnumber my bank balance. Dream on.”

Xu Yitong didn’t retort this time, slumping back onto the table dejectedly.

Gazing at the small moon-shaped lamp on the table, her thoughts drifted away again.

Originally, she had been looking forward to attending the match the day after tomorrow, using the excuse of retrieving her umbrella to see Yu Ge. 

But after witnessing the incident at the hospital recently, she had wisely refrained from bothering him these past few days, let alone reminding him about the umbrella via text…

Such a trivial matter—Yu Ge probably wouldn’t even remember it.

Xu Yitong tried to console herself: if he didn’t remember, so be it. Once he was in a better mood, she could always go ask for it back.

*

After days of continuous rain, Thursday finally brought clear skies—a rare stretch of good weather in Shanghai.

A red-and-white bus trundled along the asphalt road.

Huige asked the driver a question, then turned and called out, “We’re almost there. Everyone, wake up.”

Little C rubbed his eyes drowsily. 

The man sitting beside him also slowly opened his eyes.

Awen yawned.

As the people on the bus gradually woke up, the bus turned a corner and slowed down. 

A pale gray stadium came into view.

From a distance, the area in front of the venue was a sea of people, packed to the brim.

Someone groaned, “Ugh, so many people came today. Are we playing against TG again…?”

“Who cares if we are?” Roy said indifferently.

“If we lose today, will we end up trending again?” 

Little C asked nervously, eyeing the “spectacle” outside.

Awen drawled, “Given the rivalry, it’s inevitable.”

To delve into the feud between OG and TG, one had to go back to the opening match of the Spring Split earlier this year.

At the time, the highly anticipated OG, a team with massive popularity, faced off against the unknown new team TG. 

What should have been a one-sided match ended in OG’s shocking defeat, losing two straight games in what could only be described as a brutal humiliation.

To make matters worse, at the end of the match, TG’s audacious new ADC not only fountain-camped the veteran players but also danced and flashed emotes at the spawn point, displaying an arrogance that bordered on disrespect. 

Thus, the rivalry between the two teams was born.

Will, however, was in the mood to joke: “Regardless, you both absolutely cannot lose today. Otherwise, that Conquer kid will be insufferable again.”

Little C stole a glance at the silent man beside him. 

Seeing no reaction, he spoke up defensively: “For the record, the previous losses weren’t the bot lane’s fault. Just so you know, Fish has been a lane-dominating Conquer by 30 CS.”

Will shrugged. 

“Then blame Awen. Always picking that damn Sejuani, inting all three lanes, spamming ‘Sorry’ in all-chat.”

Awen punched him in the arm. “Go to hell.”

Amid the banter and scuffles, the bus arrived at the side entrance of the stadium. 

A crowd that had been waiting there rushed forward as soon as they spotted the familiar team logo on the bus.

The driver was forced to slow down.

With no security to maintain order, the throng of people made it impossible to disembark. 

Huige had no choice but to direct the driver to another entrance, rolling down the window and shouting, “Move back a bit, and be careful!”

Deafening cheers poured in through the open window, with a few male voices even yelling for them to play well today. Little C was already sweating bullets.

No one paid any attention to Huige’s shouts. 

A few overly enthusiastic fans even began jogging alongside the bus.

Yu Ge frowned slightly, removing his earphones. 

He gestured for the crowd banging on the windows to step back.

What should have been just an ordinary regular-season match had, through the official hype and marketing, been artificially inflated into something resembling a clash of the titans.

Little C couldn’t even imagine how many people would be calling for their heads on social media if they lost to TG today.

Nervousness made him lightheaded. 

Weakly, he called out to Yu Ge, “Bro, give me some crackers. I think I’m hypoglycemic.”

“In my bag.”

Little C reached for Yu Ge’s black backpack. 

As soon as he unzipped it, he froze and blurted out, “Huh? Why do you still have this little pink umbrella…?”

Yu Ge paused, then wordlessly took his bag back.

His icy aura was so strong that Little C didn’t dare press further.

Yu Ge picked up his phone, unlocked it, and glanced at his messages.

The avatar of the first person in his message list had somehow changed to SpongeBob SquarePants.

However, she hadn’t sent him any messages these past few days.

The reason it was at the top was because of the unsent draft still sitting in their chat.

—[Umbrella]

Aside from Yu Nuo, Yu Ge almost never initiated conversations with members of the opposite sex. 

To him, he and Xu Yitong weren’t close enough for that.

The only reason he remembered the umbrella was that, over the past few days, his

 Moments had intermittently featured posts like:

Xu Yitong: [It rained yesterday, and I forgot my umbrella (sad)]

Xu Yitong: [Will it rain again today? Sigh, not like I have an umbrella anyway Orz]

Xu Yitong: [Going to watch the match tomorrow! The weather forecast says no rain, so no need for an umbrella ^-^]

Yu Ge glanced at them, tossed his phone back into his bag, and still didn’t send the drafted message.

*

Xu Yitong was convinced she had never had a day as unlucky as today.

For this match, she had woken up at 7 or 8 a.m., washed her hair, changed clothes, booked an at-home facial, and spent two hours applying makeup more elaborate than what she’d worn as a bridesmaid. 

With everything perfectly prepared, Xu Yitong stepped out the door, radiant.

When she arrived at the stadium, clad in 10-centimeter heels, she queued for hundreds of meters, only to be stopped by the ticket checker at the very last second: “Sorry, your ticket is invalid.”

Xu Yitong couldn’t believe it and asked them to check again.

The machine beeped mercilessly, its red light flashing.

Xu Yitong was thunderstruck.

A girl behind her in line sympathized, “Did you buy a fake ticket from a scalper, sis?”

“Ah… yeah.”

Xu Yitong was on the verge of tears—she had paid several times the original price for this ticket from a scalper!

That damned scammer. 

She wouldn’t let him off the hook.

Noticing her inexperience, the girl leaned in and whispered, “Why don’t you check the entrance? There are probably more scalpers selling tickets there. The seats might not be great, but at least you can get in.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Xu Yitong scanned the area, found a spot to sit, and pulled out her phone to bombard that wretched scalper with messages.

In just a few minutes, Xu Yitong had drafted a hundred-word essay, her bedazzled nails clacking against the screen without pause, as if they might pierce through it.

“Tongtong-jie?” A soft female voice came from behind.

Xu Yitong looked up blankly.

Yu Nuo stepped closer to confirm, then exclaimed, “It really is you!”

……

……

Just two days prior, Yu Nuo had officially become TG’s hired nutritionist. 

With her staff pass, she effortlessly brought Xu Yitong backstage to the lounge.

The TG members were startled to see Xu Yitong. “Cousin?”

Chen Yuzheng sprawled on the sofa, his black hair disheveled, his handsome face the picture of drowsy indifference.

“Why are you here again?”

Xu Yitong suppressed her irritation, smoothed her skirt, and sat down beside him, retorting, “Don’t worry, I’m not here to see you.”

Yu Nuo explained, “I went out to buy water earlier and happened to see Tongtong-jie being stopped at the entrance.”

Xu Yitong felt a bit awkward and laughed at herself. 

“I got scammed with a fake ticket. Just bad luck, haha. Good thing I ran into Yu Nuo.”

The group here was all around Chen Yuzheng’s age—young guys who were naturally enthusiastic about pretty older sisters.

Ultraman said, “If you want to watch our matches in the future, you can ask Conquer. We have internal tickets—no need to go to scalpers.”

Xu Yitong paused.

Internally, she replied, Thanks, but I’m really not here to see you guys.

Just then, Chen Yuzheng called out lazily, “Jie-jie.”

The coquettish tone sent shivers down Xu Yitong’s spine. She turned. “What?”

At the same time, someone else turned as well.

Chen Yuzheng smirked and nudged Yu Nuo’s hand. 

“Nothing, just wanted to call you.”

Xu Yitong: “…”

The atmosphere grew slightly awkward.

After Yu Nuo coughed awkwardly and shot him a few warning looks, Chen Yuzheng finally turned to Xu Yitong, baffled. 

“What?”

Xu Yitong hesitated. 

“Come out with me for a sec.”

……

The two stepped outside the lounge, and Xu Yitong closed the door behind her.

Chen Yuzheng leaned against the wall like a boneless sloth. 

“Well? What is it?”

Xu Yitong crossed her arms, pausing for half a second before asking seriously, “That day… you didn’t do anything to Yu Nuo, did you?”

Chen Yuzheng eyed her suspiciously. 

“Why are you asking something like that? Are you a pervert or something?”

“Eldest sister is like a mother! There’s nothing you can’t tell me.” 

Xu Yitong glanced around, then lowered her voice. 

“What I mean is, you’re not exactly the most stable person yourself, so don’t go messing around. Yu Nuo seems like a really sweet girl—don’t ruin her and then bail!”

Chen Yuzheng let out an “Oh,” then drawled, “You’re the one who shouldn’t mess around. 

My future brother-in-law seems like he’s had a hard enough time as it is.”

Xu Yitong’s face darkened.

“I’m being serious here, unlike you. Got it?”

Xu Yitong couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.

“Besides, even a rabbit doesn’t eat the grass by its own burrow. Why are you going after my future brother-in-law? You’re making things so awkward—how am I supposed to visit family during the holidays? If you’re that desperate, I can introduce you to Kill-sang.”

Under his relentless teasing, Xu Yitong finally snapped back, “Stop calling him ‘brother-in-law’ like it’s some done deal. By the time the holidays roll around, who knows if you’ll be calling Yu Ge ‘brother-in-law’ or ‘brother’?”

Chen Yuzheng scoffed.

Xu Yitong couldn’t stand his lazy, indifferent attitude. 

She scolded, “Stand up straight! You look like a slouch!”

Chen Yuzheng glanced to the side, then cut her off with a “Tch.” 

“Alright, stop talking. Anyway, I don’t approve of this thing between you two!”

Xu Yitong flared up instantly, raising her voice. 

“Yu Ge and I are a perfect match—handsome man, beautiful woman, a match made in heaven. Who are you, some monster, to object?”

“……”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Chen Yuzheng’s expression shifted.

“Why are you making faces?” she snapped.

After a beat, Chen Yuzheng calmly said three words: “Behind you.”

Following his gaze, Xu Yitong slowly turned around.

The world seemed to fall silent.

Two or three meters away, her eyes met Yu Ge’s in the hallway.