Chapter 32

The students’ schedules were especially tight. They had to wake up around six in the morning and wouldn’t get to bed until late at night.

In this regard, Ying Nian’s routine was quite good. She never struggled to get out of bed, never hit snooze, and had never been late. Her mornings followed a regular pattern: wash up, eat breakfast, have a brief chat with her parents at the dining table, and then head to school in the family car after eating.

Ying Nian didn’t have a habit of using her phone in the morning, so it wasn’t until lunchtime, when she saw a message from Xiaoxiao, that she found out what had happened on Weibo the previous night.

Xiaoxiao excitedly messaged her: [Niannian! The Captain posted on Weibo, did you see it?!]

Ying Nian never missed anything related to Yu Linran, but today, while the group chat was buzzing about it, there was no sign of her. Xiaoxiao figured she was probably busy with school and hadn’t noticed, so she quickly told her, fearing she might miss out.

As expected, Ying Nian really didn’t know: [What Weibo post?]

She hadn’t logged into Weibo at all, nor had she checked the group chat. Suddenly, it felt like she had missed an entire world.

[Last night, the captain posted on Weibo, and it wasn’t about work or the game!] Xiaoxiao said excitedly. [He posted a photo!]

Ying Nian was surprised, too caught off guard to ask more, [I’ll go check it out!]

With that, she quickly logged on to see for herself.

She had thought Yu Linran had posted a selfie, but when she clicked into his profile, she realized the picture he posted was…

The candy she had sent him.

Ying Nian was momentarily stunned. Last night, just before going to bed, she had a sudden idea and used a delivery service to send Yu Linran some Halloween candy. After all, he had given her “candy,” so she couldn’t let him off without returning the favor, right?

She hadn’t expected him to post about it on Weibo. This was the first time he posted something unrelated to work on his profile, and Ying Nian was both surprised and flattered.

Just then, another message from Xiaoxiao popped up: [In just one morning, Yu Linran’s fan name has already been decided!]

Ying Nian asked, [What is it?]

[‘Candy!’] Xiaoxiao said. [This is Yu Linran’s first daily post, and a bunch of his fans discussed it for a while in the comments before settling on this name! But who would’ve thought the captain likes candy? The contrast is really surprising…]

Candy?!

As the “instigator,” Ying Nian suddenly felt inexplicably guilty and wasn’t sure how to respond. Using the excuse of checking the comments, she ended her conversation with Xiaoxiao.

She did go through Yu Linran’s Weibo comment section, and sure enough, found fans discussing the fan name.

At first, fans were asking if his account had been hacked. Then, they started speculating about the meaning behind the picture. Eventually, the discussion veered off-topic, and somehow, the fans unanimously agreed that “Candy” was a pretty good name, unofficially deciding it on the spot.

Yu Linran even had male fans! Ying Nian secretly muttered to herself. The female fans clearly hadn’t considered the feelings of the male fans. What about the group of grown men? Don’t they care about their dignity?!

However, feeling guilty like a “thief,” Ying Nian, for the first time ever, maintained a “quiet as a quail” attitude when it came to anything related to Yu Linran.

…

After the S Tournament ended, the SF team entered a holiday period. However, the break was optional. The team members could choose to rest and relax for a while, or they could stay at the base and continue practicing as usual.

All five members of the team were single, and it wasn’t yet time to go home for the Spring Festival. Naturally, they all chose to stay at the base, too lazy to move.

The S Tournament champions were also known as world champions in another sense. The domestic division had brought the championship trophy home two years in a row, and with this year, it was the third consecutive year.

Three consecutive championships, two teams. The team that won the championship this year had ascended to the top of the world for the second time, firmly securing their place as the strongest team in the country.

If they win the championship again next year—

In the esports industry, there’s a saying: three championships make a dynasty. Winning three championships in a row would establish a dynasty, something that has never been done before in the history of domestic esports. It would undoubtedly make history.

Although SF, the rising star of this year, had an impressive momentum, proven by their performance in both the summer tournament and the S Tournament, they were somewhat overshadowed by the brilliance of the reigning strongest team.

Naturally, the focus of the entire esports scene was on the championship team, making them the hottest topic in the community.

Not to mention others, even the members of SF cared deeply about it. In competitive sports, strength determines everything, and especially for men, there’s a natural admiration for the strong. Only those incapable would refuse to acknowledge others’ excellence, and all five members of SF fully recognized the power of the championship team.

Given this, SF’s players had no intention of taking any vacations. They threw themselves into training with more dedication than ever before.

Ying Nian hadn’t seen Yu Linran for a while. During the summer break, they met every few days, and she had gotten used to it. Now that life had returned to normal, it felt a bit unsettling. It was as if the heavens had heard her thoughts, sending a pillow just as she felt sleepy. The annual Foreign Language Exchange Conference for high school students was scheduled a month earlier this year, and Ying Nian, along with four other classmates, formed a five-person team to represent Seventh High School at the event.

Taking time off to visit Yu Linran was certainly an option, but without a proper reason, it would be too obvious. If she brought it up with Yu Linran, it would immediately reveal her eagerness to see him, which wouldn’t come off well—too impatient, not graceful.

Taking advantage of the exchange conference to see him? Perfect timing!

When Ying Nian received the official notice and saw the location of the conference, she nearly burst out laughing.

It was in the same city as the SF base! Luckily, SF’s base was set in a big city, or this kind of coincidence wouldn’t have happened.

Ying Nian immediately messaged Yu Linran: [Captain, I’ll be attending the Foreign Language Exchange Conference in a few days, and it’s happening in your city. Last time you treated me to some great food, so I was wondering if you’d have time—I’d like to treat you to a meal this time?]

She asked cautiously, unsure if Yu Linran would agree.

About ten minutes later, she received his reply.

[What date?]

Ying Nian’s face lit up with joy as she told him the date.

He responded, [I should be free.] He didn’t give a definite answer, but his next words carried a hint of confirmation: [Let me know a day in advance.]

Ying Nian readily agreed, feeling like she was walking on air, her mood couldn’t have been better.

A few days before the departure for the exchange conference, the five-person team was scheduled to meet after class to practice their foreign language presentations. Among the five, two were first-year students, and the other two were in the same grade as Ying Nian.

As one of the only two girls, the other classmate in the group was an old acquaintance of Ying Nian’s, named Gao Yan, the class president of Class Eleven. On Halloween, Gao Yan had also given Ying Nian some candy. Although they didn’t interact much on a daily basis, they would greet and chat when they met, and they often ran into each other during competitions.

As soon as Gao Yan saw Ying Nian, she pulled her aside for a challenge: “Come on, come on, I brought a chessboard—let’s have a match!”

Ying Nian groaned internally. “We’re supposed to be in the conference room memorizing our scripts. Playing chess, seriously?”

“Who cares?” Gao Yan scoffed. “I can memorize it in one night when I get home. Why rush? Come on, chess is more important.”

A long time ago, during an out-of-town competition, Ying Nian and Gao Yan had shared a room. The two of them, unable to sleep, had entertained themselves by battling over the chessboard for most of the night.

Ying Nian once caught a cold and developed a fever. When she woke up, her body was burning up, but she still took medicine and went on stage sick, which caused her to miss out on first place for the first time.

Gao Yan felt really bad about it and apologized to Ying Nian after the competition. Ying Nian, half-asleep and with a groggy voice, told her not to take it to heart. She had used all her energy on stage, and once she was off, she could barely speak clearly.

The matter was eventually forgotten, but Gao Yan, being both quirky and competitive, couldn’t let it go. After losing to Ying Nian that night, every time she saw her at school, she’d say, “Let’s find some time to play chess again!“

Yet Gao Yan was also a bit lazy, always talking about it but never actually following through—until now.

When Ying Nian saw her pull out a mini chessboard from her bag, she sighed helplessly. “You really brought that with you?”

Gao Yan said, “Of course! As soon as I saw your name on the list, I went home and got ready!”

Without giving Ying Nian a chance to refuse, she dragged her to the end of the conference table and started playing chess.

That game lasted more than half an hour.

During that time, another boy from their grade saw the two of them looking so serious and came over to check out what was going on.

“Go?(board game) ” he asked.

Neither of them looked up. Ying Nian, holding a white piece between her fingers, had the same serious expression as Gao Yan, her brow tightly furrowed, and she responded in a grave tone, “No, Gomoku.”

The boy: “…”

He walked away and joined the two younger students, wisely choosing not to disturb them.

After about forty minutes of play, Gao Yan clapped her hands and laughed heartily, “I won! You lost, didn’t you? Ah, I finally won…”

It seemed like Gao Yan had studied the game since last time, and this time, Ying Nian conceded defeat.

“Hurry up, the punishment… the punishment!”

“You really want to change it?”

“Of course!” Gao Yan winked playfully. “We agreed at the start—if you lost, you’d change your wallpaper to a picture of my idol, and if I lost, I’d change mine to a picture of your captain!”

This “punishment” was more like a friendly bet, which started during their casual chat before the game. Gao Yan had noticed that the wallpaper on Ying Nian’s phone was a picture of a guy, and after her initial surprise, she pleaded to see it. After taking a look, Gao Yan proudly showed her own phone’s screensaver, which featured a popular young male celebrity.

The two of them then had a brief argument over who was better looking.

Neither of them was willing to back down. How could Ying Nian possibly give in? In her eyes, Yu Linran was undeniably the best-looking man in the world! So, she agreed to the bet, seeing it as harmless fun.

Now that Ying Nian had lost, she accepted her defeat and asked Gao Yan to send her the picture.

Gao Yan carefully selected a photo from the hundreds in her album. “This one’s my favorite—you’re in for a treat!”

“A week, right?”

“Yeah, just one week!”

As Ying Nian changed her wallpaper, she remarked leisurely, “If I had won, I would’ve sent you my second favorite picture of our captain.”

Gao Yan, curious, asked, “Why the second favorite and not your most favorite?”

Ying Nian chuckled, “Of course, I’m keeping my favorite for myself. You wish I’d give it to you!”

Gao Yan was momentarily stunned, then wore a “defeated” expression, immediately demanding to swap for a different picture. Ying Nian refused, and the two of them playfully argued for a while.

…

Yu Linran shut down his computer and changed into outdoor clothes, catching the attention of the others, who became curious.

“Yu, are you heading out?”

“Yeah.”

“Dinner is in a little over an hour, where are you going?”

“Not eating with the team today,” Yu Linran said. “I have plans with someone.”

As soon as those words left his mouth, all four of them stared at him, as if they had seen a ghost.

“Bro, who—who did you make plans with?!” Yi Shen stuttered, struggling to get the words out.

Yu Linran, of course, didn’t intend to tell them. He simply replied with two calm words: “No one.”

Cheng Run and Lin Shan, however, exchanged a glance, the duo of best friends thinking the same thing. They flanked Yu Linran, each hooking an arm around his shoulders and trapping him in between.

“Going on a date?”

“…”

“Ah Yu, what are you going to eat? Tell us, so we can get some ideas too?”

“…”

“Is the person you’re meeting a guy or a girl?”

“…”

Yu Linran remained silent, not saying a single word no matter how much they pressed him.

He adjusted his collar calmly, and treated the two weights on his shoulders like they were air. Cheng Run stared at his expressionless face and, with disbelief, finally said, “…Yu Linran, am I your dad?”

Yu Linran shot a sharp glance upward, and Cheng Run quickly jumped back, “I take that back!” Well, at least he got a reaction.

Yi Shen boldly made a guess, “Bro, who are you meeting? Could it be… Ying Nian?” He immediately dismissed the idea himself, “No way. We don’t have any games, and she’s probably in school.”

Yi Shen knew better than to try prying anything out of Yu Linran, unlike Cheng Run and Lin Shan, who were still wasting their efforts with arm-over-the-shoulder tactics. After making that one guess, Yi Shen didn’t expect to get any more answers.

He casually followed up on his own thought, “Oh, yesterday I checked out Ying Nian’s Weibo and saw she replied to someone in the comments. The person mentioned how it’s been a while since she posted anything about the captain and asked if she’d stopped being a fan. Do you know what she said? She replied, ‘That’s impossible! The captain is my absolute favorite.’ …She really doesn’t hold back at all, huh? Most girls would probably blush just saying that…”

Cheng Run, fully focused on finding out who Yu Linran was having dinner with, had no interest in listening to Yi Shen’s rambling. But he instinctively retorted, “You’re sneaking looks at her Weibo again? Must be nice having that much free time!”

Yi Shen snorted but didn’t respond. Could he really avoid checking Weibo? He hadn’t logged in for a while, and during that time, their captain had actually started posting! He only found out the day after Yu Linran had posted, and that was because of how little news was circulating on Weibo!

If he didn’t keep checking, who knew what changes he might miss next?

Yu Linran had no time for their nonsense. After packing up, he brushed off the two arms hanging on his shoulders and turned to head out the door.

…

Of course, the person Yu Linran had plans with was Ying Nian. Her exchange conference ended at 4 p.m., and they had arranged to have dinner together that evening. She had already picked the restaurant and sent him the address, and they agreed to meet at a spot that was midway between his base and her hotel.

Yu Linran arrived a few minutes early, but Ying Nian wasn’t far behind. She hurried toward him, with the chill in the air trailing behind her. Her breath turned into a thin mist, and her cheeks were flushed red from the cold, which made her smile even more strikingly beautiful.

“Sorry, I’m late!” she said.

“You’re not.”

Yu Linran lowered his gaze and noticed a small tuft of her hair sticking up. For some inexplicable reason, he had the urge to smooth it down, but he knew better and resisted the temptation.

“We can just grab a taxi and head over now. Let me check the address, I kind of forgot…” she muttered as she unlocked her phone.

Yu Linran unintentionally caught a glimpse of her screen as it lit up. In just a second before the screen changed, he saw it clearly.

Her wallpaper was of a guy—handsome, and looking like a celebrity.

Yu Linran’s eyes lowered slightly, and his gaze growing darker.

The last time they had dinner, her wallpaper had still been a picture of him.