Actually, Yu Ge didn’t even realize he had smiled.  

Watching the terrified SpongeBob next to him, he seriously pondered for two seconds—what had he just done to scare her like that?  

Meanwhile, Xu Yitong was still holding her ice cream cone, frozen in place, momentarily speechless.  

Her head felt a little dizzy. 

The words “laughed” on one side and “bleep bleep baby” on the other formed a stereo loop, playing over and over in her ears.  

So strange…  

He had actually called her “baby.”  

She was so embarrassed she could practically feel steam rising from her head.  

Had no one ever told Yu Ge that his voice was deep and incredibly charming?

That icy tone calling her “baby”—no, wait, calling her “SpongeBob baby”—was really, really hard to resist…  

If souls had physical forms, Xu Yitong would have already melted into a puddle, just like the ice cream in her hand.  

Oh, right, the ice cream…!  

Xu Yitong snapped out of her daze and exclaimed, “Ah! My clothes!”  

Chaos ensued.  

She rummaged through her bag, pulled out tissues, and began frantically wiping—wipe, wipe, wipe…

But as she wiped, her movements gradually slowed. She still felt overwhelmingly shy.  

This was the first time she’d spent so much time alone with him at such close proximity.  

A thought crossed her mind, and she sneaked a glance at him.  

Yu Ge was holding a cookie, bringing it to his lips.

Under the dim, scattered light, the tips of his ears were faintly tinged with pink.  

Considering his behavior earlier, she concluded that he must be a little drunk.  

But… just one can of beer?  

He and Yu Nuo really were siblings—both had such low alcohol tolerance.  

With this in mind, Xu Yitong grew bolder.  

Trying not to make too much noise, she subtly inched closer and whispered, “How long have you been sitting here alone?”  

When he didn’t respond, she waited half a minute before rustling even closer.

“Why are you ignoring me again? Do you not recognize me?”  

Yu Ge continued eating his cookie in silence.  

As if the laughter she’d coaxed out of him earlier had been an illusion.  

Xu Yitong pressed her luck, moving even closer.

“Are you drunk?”  

Suddenly, Yu Ge stopped eating and slowly turned to look at her.

“You.”  

She froze, then eagerly asked, “Hmm? What about me?”  

She leaned in even closer, putting on an earnest listening expression, though her eyes couldn’t help but dart around.  

Ugh.  

At this distance, she could see his eyelashes clearly—so long…

His skin was flawless too, with no visible pores.

She really wanted to pinch his cheeks.

And whether it was because of the alcohol, his lips looked especially soft and rosy…  

Her gaze fixated on those thin lips as they parted slightly.  

“Are you planning to sit on my lap?”  

“……”  

Xu Yitong shut her mouth, awkward for a few seconds.  

Under his silent stare, she huffed indignantly and reluctantly scooted back to her original distance.  

Stupid iceberg.

Even drunk, he was still so guarded.

So annoying.  

He looked so good when he smiled—why did he always have to keep such a stern face?

Who was he trying to scare?!  

As they locked eyes, Xu Yitong couldn’t help but say, “Has anyone ever told you…”  

She raised her hands, mimicking waves with her palms, swaying them back and forth.

“Your face emits a freezing aura, you know?”  

Yu Ge: “…”  

Xu Yitong: “Honestly, it feels more effective than my air conditioner at home.”  

Yu Ge’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

He averted his gaze and calmly replied, “No.”  

He was answering her first question.  

A drop of water suddenly splashed onto her face.

Xu Yitong touched her cheek, confused.

“What was that…?”  

Then her arm was hit by a few more drops.

Xu Yitong looked up at the sky and muttered, “Is it… starting to rain?”  

Yu Ge remained seated, unmoving.  

Xu Yitong glanced at him hesitantly.  

What should she do?

He wasn’t moving… and she didn’t really want to either.  

She’d finally managed to spend more than ten minutes alone with Yu Ge… and they’d barely exchanged a few words.  

Forget it. She’d take the plunge.

If the heavens weren’t on her side tonight, she’d just treat it as accompanying him through a romantic rain shower.  

Summer rains arrived abruptly.  

Swift and merciless.  

Half a minute later.  

Xu Yitong struggled to wipe her face.

Her vision was completely blurred, and her heart was filled with despair.  

Seriously, what was up with this rain?  

Was it hail?

The drops actually hurt when they hit her.  

Ugh…  

Why not pour even harder?

Might as well wash her false eyelashes right off.  

Yu Ge stood up first.  

In just a short while, he was drenched too.  

He bent down to pick up the empty beer can from the ground when he heard a voice behind him.

“Wait, are you leaving already?”  

Yu Ge had regained his sobriety—and his usual aloofness. His expression said it all: *Obviously.*  

……  

……  

Yu Ge really did have a low alcohol tolerance—physiologically, he was slightly allergic to alcohol.

But he wasn’t the type to indulge anyway, so he usually avoided drinking.

And when he did, he never drank much.

He disliked the feeling of losing control.  

Tonight was an exception. He’d done things he normally wouldn’t.  

Including drinking. And also…  

One beer wasn’t enough to get him seriously drunk.

He’d just wanted to sit alone for a while, waiting to sober up before heading back.

But then an uninvited guest had shown up, pestering him until the alcohol in his system had practically evaporated.  

The base was only a few hundred meters away.

Since his clothes and hair were already soaked, he couldn’t be bothered to backtrack and buy an umbrella.  

He tossed the items in his hand into a nearby trash bin.  

As he walked, the rain above him suddenly lightened.

At the same time, someone grabbed his elbow from behind.  

Yu Ge glanced down.  

The hand gripping him was also wet, with bright red nail polish on the fingers.

He thought idly that it looked like the hand of a vengeful ghost haunting the night.  

“I—I brought you an umbrella from my car,” Xu Yitong said breathlessly, having run after him. “You long-legged people really walk fast. I almost couldn’t catch up.”  

Yu Ge turned to look at her.  

Ah.  

Maybe it was a vengeful SpongeBob instead.  

His gaze lingered on her.  

Those oversized geometric earrings swayed by her cheeks, glinting even in the rainy night.

He suddenly remembered Awen once saying she was pretty.  

Maybe the alcohol hadn’t fully worn off yet—Yu Ge felt his mind moving unusually slowly.  

One awkward fact was that Xu Yitong was only 1.6 meters tall.

She wasn’t wearing high heels today, so holding an umbrella for someone as tall as Yu Ge required her to secretly tiptoe while raising her arm as high as possible.  

Her arm was already starting to ache from the effort.  

After a moment of distraction, Yu Ge averted his eyes and said politely, “Thanks, but I don’t need it. You can use it yourself.”  

With that, he gently pulled his hand free and continued walking alone.  

Xu Yitong was exasperated.

She stomped her foot—how could someone be so stubborn?!  

She chased after him again, sticking close to his side while muttering under her breath, “No, you’ll catch a cold if you keep getting soaked. And if an esports player catches a cold, how are you supposed to compete? It’ll definitely affect your performance, right?”  

Mimicking his stern expression, she said very seriously, “If you won’t take the umbrella, then I’ll just have to walk you back.”  

Yu Ge paused, then repeated, “No need. Thanks.”  

Yu Ge wasn’t the type to talk much.  

Other than this, he didn’t know what else to say.

After a brief silence, he stepped around her and kept walking.  

Good grief, how could someone be this difficult…

Xu Yitong was completely out of ideas.

She let out a long sigh.  

“Ugh, stop walking in the rain,” she said, grabbing his arm again with her free hand.

“Getting caught in the rain after drinking is the easiest way to get sick. And if you get sick, you can’t compete, right?”  

After lecturing him righteously, she didn’t wait for his refusal.

Instead, she forcibly shoved the umbrella handle into his hand.

“Alright, stop being difficult. Just take the umbrella!”  

With that, Xu Yitong let go and dashed off.  

Except…  

Less than a minute later, she came running back.  

For the fourth time.  

Yu Ge seemed to have grown accustomed to it.  

He stopped walking and looked down at her.

“What now?”  

If she insisted on walking him back now, he probably wouldn’t refuse.  

Xu Yitong tilted her head, her eyelashes fluttering as she grinned brightly.

“You still don’t remember my name, do you?”  

Yu Ge: “…”  

His impression of her really wasn’t deep.  

Unless a dried-up SpongeBob counted.  

As if she’d expected this, she didn’t seem bothered by his silence.

After studying his expression for a moment, Xu Yitong cleared her throat and began introducing herself very seriously: “Let’s get to know each other properly now! My name is Xu Yi Tong.”  

“Xu, as in ‘take it slow,’ Yi as in ‘rely on,’ Tong as in ‘fairy tale.’”  

She spoke quickly: “Also, I don’t know why you called me SpongeBob, but I also have a nickname—Zhenzhen. It’s the same name as the whale daughter of Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob. If you can’t remember my full name, just remember my nickname!”  

Thunder rumbled faintly in the distance.  

The crisp sound of her voice mixed with the falling rain, clearly reaching Yu Ge’s ears.  

*  

The OG team members were shocked when Yu Ge walked in, drenched from head to toe.  

A-Wen’s surprise: “Why are you back so suddenly?”  

Roy’s surprise: “Why are you so soaked?”  

Will’s surprise: “Why are you holding a pink umbrella?”  

With white lace trim, no less.  

Yu Ge couldn’t be bothered to answer any of them.  

After neatly folding the umbrella, he walked straight past everyone and headed upstairs.  

……  

……  

By the time Yu Ge finished showering and changing, the others had mostly gathered in the training room, ready to start.  

The Summer Split officially began this week, marking the end of their vacation.  

The training room was as noisy as ever.  

Xiao C, who had just finished a ranked match, looked at Yu Ge with shining eyes, as if seeing a savior: “Bro… there’s something.”  

Yu Ge towel-dried his still-dripping hair as he booted up his computer. “Speak.”  

Xiao C pouted pitifully: “I lost another solo to A-Wen just now. He’s making me treat him to late-night snacks—and he wants the most expensive barbecue place.”  

“So?” Yu Ge sat down.  

Xiao C scratched his head sheepishly: “Can I use your Meituan account to order?”  

Yu Ge: “Did I lose?”  

Xiao C choked, then mumbled: “Last time you lost, you never treated us. Besides the red envelope, you were supposed to buy us food too. Awen just didn’t dare ask you.”  

His voice grew quieter, lacking confidence.

“Besides, I’m almost out of money on WeChat. Just spoil me this once.”  

Yu Ge tossed his phone to him.  

Xiao C grinned and swiftly opened Meituan.

Just as he was about to order, a WeChat notification popped up at the top of the screen.  

Xiao C called out: “Bro, someone named Zhenzhen messaged you!”  

After reporting, he went back to ordering.  

Grilled eggplant, green beans… spicy beef skewers, pork belly…

Xiao C asked: “Oh yeah, A-Wen, what did you want again?”  

Suddenly, the phone was snatched away.

Xiao C looked up: “Hold on, I’m not done ordering yet.”  

Yu Ge took back his phone.  

The number of people on his WeChat could be counted on one hand, so at this hour, there was only one person who’d message him.  

Happy Zhenzhen: 【I’m home~】  

He scrolled up slightly.  

She’d sent him plenty of messages before, but he’d never replied.  

Messages like, “Hi, have you eaten?”, “Wow, I saw your match today—you were amazing!”, “Hey, what are you up to?” and so on.

Yu Ge usually treated these as spam and ignored them.  

……  

……  

Meanwhile, in the OG training room, the clatter of keyboards and mice was incessant.  

Perhaps because the heavy rain had delayed deliveries, the barbecue that usually arrived in half an hour still hadn’t shown up, even though it was almost past the estimated time.  

Xiao C picked up Yu Ge’s phone again, ready to call the delivery guy.  

Coincidentally, as soon as he finished the call, another WeChat notification popped up.  

Xiao C couldn’t help but comment: “Damn, Fish, you’re too popular. In such a short time, so many girls are messaging you. First Zhenzhen, now Xu Yitong…”  

His words instantly drew everyone’s attention.  

*  

After sending the message to Yu Ge, Xu Yitong took a shower, dried her hair, grabbed a bottle of milk from the fridge, and lay on her bed.

She scrolled through Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu before finally, with trepidation, switching back to WeChat.  

She carefully tapped open the chat.  

—Still no reply.  

She was about to lose it.  

Yu Ge must have muted her!!!  

How could someone so cold-blooded actually exist in this world…  

Xu Yitong pondered for a long time before typing furiously: 【Oh yeah, don’t forget to return my umbrella, okay? Please don’t lose it!】  

Yu Ge received this message just as he finished a ranked match.  

For some reason, the first thing that came to mind was her stubborn insistence on shoving the umbrella into his hands earlier that night.  

The corner of his mouth twitched.  

Not far away, Will whispered to Roy, “Hey, is Fish… smiling? Or is it just me? Feels kinda creepy…”  

Roy glanced over discreetly.

“Nah… must be your imagination.”  

……  

……  

Five more minutes passed without a reply.

The scheming SpongeBob clutched her phone nervously.  

Had he seen through her little ploy…?  

Probably not.  

Xu Yitong pretended to be casual and sent another message: 【Just let me know when you’re free, and we can arrange a time for you to return the umbrella.】  

She’d already resigned herself to not getting a reply tonight.

Just as she was about to exit the chat, her phone suddenly dinged twice.  

Xu Yitong jolted.  

With trembling hands, she stared at the screen.

Two words appeared in the green dialogue box.  

Little Fish: 【Up to you】