Chapter 5

Pei Jiyin spent two hours getting ready for the evening meeting—applying makeup and picking out the perfect outfit. Once everything was done, she stood in front of the full-length mirror and snapped a photo.  

**[Pei Jiyin: Check out these abs. Jealous?]**  

**[Cheng Yu: Why don’t you just drop dead (smiling face)]**  

Satisfied, Pei Jiyin carefully selected two pictures to post on her social media, instantly racking up countless likes. When she noticed Song Zhen had liked it too, she couldn’t help but smile.  

Earlier that afternoon, she had scrolled through Song Zhen’s feed, which mostly consisted of reposts from the college’s announcements. There was hardly anything personal—not a single photo.  

The meeting was held in the teaching building. Since it took Pei Jiyin twenty minutes to get to campus, she left early to avoid being late.  

When she entered the classroom, Song Zhen was the only one there, standing at the podium organizing materials. Today, she wore a black dress with her hair braided and draped over her shoulder.  

“Hi, senior!” Pei Jiyin’s eyes lit up.  

“You’re early?” Song Zhen seemed surprised.  

“Didn’t want to be late,” Pei Jiyin replied with a smile. “It’s the first day, after all.”  

“Need any help, senior?” Pei Jiyin naturally sidled up next to Song Zhen, the whole motion effortless.  

“Not really,” Song Zhen said.  

“There’s still half an hour left. I was thinking of ordering bubble tea—want some?” Pei Jiyin pulled out her phone.  

“No, thanks.”  

Pei Jiyin watched as Song Zhen licked her lips. “Senior, really? You look kinda thirsty.”  

Song Zhen: “…”  

Their eyes met briefly.  

“Honestly, one drink won’t meet the minimum order.”  

“Fine, I’ll take one then,” Song Zhen conceded.  

“Which shop do you want?” Pei Jiyin handed her the phone.  

Song Zhen immediately spotted the one with a 10-yuan minimum but pretended not to notice.  

“The Berry Blast from this place is really good,” Pei Jiyin suggested. “But I like mine sweet—not sure what you prefer.”  

“I’ll have the same. I like sweet too,” Song Zhen said. “Let me pay you back.”  

“No need! I’m the one forcing you to order. Wouldn’t feel right taking your money.” Pei Jiyin adjusted the delivery address and paid.  

“Then I’ll treat you next time,” Song Zhen said. She knew if she insisted on transferring the money now, Pei Jiyin probably wouldn’t accept it.  

The tea arrived just before the meeting started. By then, most people had already gathered in the classroom. Pei Jiyin set her things down in the front-row center seat before slipping out to grab the order.  

When she returned, she handed the drink to Song Zhen, who was talking to someone else. Song Zhen murmured a quiet “thanks,” and Pei Jiyin grinned before heading back to her seat.  

Pei Jiyin poked her straw into the tea and stole another glance in Song Zhen’s direction.  

*Her profile is so pretty.*  

Song Zhen sensed the intense gaze from nearby and instinctively turned around. Pei Jiyin ducked her head before their eyes could meet.  

The meeting didn’t last long—just introductions, followed by an overview of the Chinese Dance Club’s rules, activity locations, and schedule.  

Pei Jiyin had started off diligently taking notes, but at some point, she ended up sketching Song Zhen’s side profile. Of course, no one would recognize it as her, and even Pei Jiyin thought it looked a little ugly. She quietly scribbled over it.

After the meeting, Pei Jiyin had initially wanted to see if she could leave with Song Zhen, but noticing others around her, she decided not to approach.

Every action needed moderation—overstepping might make one seem like a creep.

“How’d it go?”

Pei Jiyin looked at Cheng Yu, who was walking over from a distance. They’d both had meetings today—Cheng Yu had joined the university’s Youth Volunteer Association.

“Pretty good. We talked, and I even treated her to milk tea,” Pei Jiyin said with a smile, her voice tinged with excitement. “She’s so gentle, and her voice is so soothing, ahhh.”

Cheng Yu looked slightly surprised. “Weren’t you too scared to talk to her?”

“When I got to the classroom, she was the only one there. Not saying anything would’ve been weird. Besides, courage is a fickle thing,” Pei Jiyin replied. “She said she’d treat me to milk tea next time. See? Back and forth like this, and we’ll get familiar.”

“By the way, you’re not the type to lose your mind if you can’t chase someone, right?”

“Why would I lose my mind?” Pei Jiyin retorted irritably.

“Good. I was afraid I’d have to smack some sense into you later,” Cheng Yu sighed in relief.

“Heartless woman.”

Cheng Yu rolled her eyes. “I’m out. My boyfriend’s waiting for me at the east gate. Time for a date, lonely queen.”

Pei Jiyin: “…”

By the time Pei Jiyin got home, it was past eight. She took a shower, lay in bed, and opened Kings of Glory.

Mengmeng Little Cutie seemed to be online, so Pei Jiyin sent an invite. No response. After waiting a bit—oh great, they’d just logged off.

In her dorm, Song Zhen sat at her desk, circling a date on her calendar. Studying was the real deal today—gaming could wait.

Pei Jiyin sighed leisurely and started her livestream to play Peak Matches. The chat immediately flooded with question marks.

[Didn’t you say no stream today?]  

[Finally grinding for the rank? Finally doing something productive?]  

…  

“Finished my school stuff, so I’m back. I play Peak Matches every day, right? Tonight’s just Peak Matches—if I don’t, I’ll drop off the National Server Leaderboard.”  

This season, Pei Jiyin was maining Mirror, currently with over 15,000 combat power, ranked fourth nationally. During these matches, she spoke less, only occasionally muttering a comment or two.  

In the sixth match, Pei Jiyin posted her stats as usual and asked for help picking her hero.  

[Peak Summoner 1: Is third floor the streamer?]  

Before Pei Jiyin could reply, first pick secured Mirror for her and then locked in Jiang Ziya with Retribution.  

[Peak Summoner 3: ???]  

[Peak Summoner 3: What are you doing?]  

Pei Jiyin turned on her mic.  

“Don’t troll me. I’ve been grinding all night—do you know how hard this is?” she said.  

[Peak Summoner 1: Oh, it’s a girl?]  

“What’s wrong with being a girl?” Pei Jiyin snapped.  

[Peak Summoner 1: Nothing. Just makes me want to troll more.]  

[Peak Summoner 4: Is this Yinsong?]  

“Yeah.”  

Once the game started, the Jiang Ziya stuck to Pei Jiyin’s side without buying the support item, making her life miserable.  

“I was in a pretty good mood today,” Pei Jiyin said. “Thanks for that.”  

“Yinsong, come take my lane farm,” the mid-lane Xi Shi offered.  

“Okay, thanks.”  

[Peak Summoner 1: Who asked you to be nice?]  

“If you’re in a bad mood, go sightseeing. No need to ruin the game for others.”

“Although I’m not sure about your level of education, your behavior and attitude toward women clearly show that nine years of compulsory schooling was probably wasted on you.”

“Honestly, it breaks my heart to think of our taxpayers’ money being spent to educate such a freak of nature.”

Pei Jiyin’s voice was gentle, yet dripping with sarcasm to the extreme.

[I’m dying of laughter. The game can be lost, but the person must be roasted. Who knows if you’ll meet them again next match.]

[It’s been so long since I’ve heard Yinyin this sarcastic. Kinda nostalgic.]

…

[Peak Summoner 1: So what if I’m throwing the game on purpose?]

“Nothing much, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling bad for the taxpayers,” Pei Jiyin chuckled. “Only a truly pathetic person would randomly sabotage four teammates in a game for no reason.”

“Could it be brain damage? Or just a complete lack of proper upbringing? Either way, it’s truly tragic.”

“My apologies, I shouldn’t have been sarcastic with you. Maybe you’re genuinely going through something, since no normal person would act like this.”

Pei Jiyin was already carrying the game. Both the top and mid lanes had given up some farm, and the enemy Jiang Ziya’s kills weren’t worth much anymore after feeding so much. Aside from Jiang Ziya, the rest of the team was doing well, with solid skills all around.

“Are you perhaps suffering from an inflated ego? Look, whether you feed or not, whether you’re in this game or not—it makes no difference. Wait, no, there is a difference. Without you, we’d win faster. So is your sole purpose in playing this game to prove you’re nothing but dead weight?”

“Why don’t you shut the hell up, you annoying bitch?” The Jiang Ziya player finally unmuted.

“Oh wow, you can troll all you want, but we can’t call you out on it? If you’re gonna be disgusting, at least own up to it. Alright, team, push the Nexus. Being in the same game as this aberrant species is making it hard to breathe.”

“Ugh, the stench is unbearable.”

Jiang Ziya took a deep breath before launching into a stream of vulgarities Pei Jiyin could barely comprehend. After a couple of sentences, she muted him.

“Guys, I’m crying. How can someone live for so many years and still have such a limited vocabulary? Repeating the same garbage eight hundred times—disgusting.”

The Nexus fell, ending the game. Pei Jiyin gave the other three teammates a thumbs-up and reported the troll to customer support. No doubt his account would be suspended.

“May the world be free of trolls.” Pei Jiyin checked her stats. “It’s past eleven. One last game, then bedtime.”

[Please teach a class on how to roast people. I wanna learn.]

“What do you mean ‘roast people’? I didn’t even swear.” Pei Jiyin queued up for her final match. She didn’t get Jing and had to play Ma Chao instead. They were about to win, but the enemy team pulled off a comeback.

Before bed, Pei Jiyin posted on her social media:

[Pei Jiyin: Turns out my eloquence comes from playing Kings of Glory.]

Song Zhen, who had just lost six straight games in the Canyon, gave it a like. She thought avoiding that woman would help her climb—who would’ve guessed…

Pei Jiyin stared at the like for a moment, rubbing her chin.

[Pei Jiyin: My senior liked my rant about Kings of Glory. Does that mean she relates?]

【Cheng Yu: Want to take your senior sister gaming? Tsk, you never want to play with me normally, but now you’re all eager.】  

【Pei Jiyin: That’s right.】  

【Cheng Yu: You can ask, but she seems pretty busy—might not even reply.】