Chapter 46

Ying Nian calls her parents every Saturday, so she isn’t surprised when she occasionally receives a call from her dad or mom outside of that schedule. But this time was different—after a long while, she received a call from her brother, Ying Heng.

Ying Heng had been abroad for several years, and over the past few years, he had become busier each year. During Ying Nian’s three years of high school, Ying Heng hadn’t even returned home for a single Spring Festival. While holidays abroad don’t follow the same schedule as domestic ones, Ying Heng didn’t come back even during his time off, being busier than Ying Yaoxing, the big boss.

Seeing her brother’s face in the video call—familiar yet with a hint of unfamiliarity—Ying Nian didn’t know whether to feel surprised or to sigh in emotion.

Ying Heng didn’t have time for small talk and immediately said, “Did Mom and Dad tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Ying Nian was taken aback by his question.

“About Grandpa.”

“Grandpa? What happened?”

On the screen, Ying Heng pressed his lips together and first said, “I’m flying back tomorrow.” Ying Nian’s face had barely begun to show excitement when he added, “Grandpa is sick. Dad asked me to come back and visit. Jiashu and the others will be returning too.”

Ying Nian truly hadn’t known. “Sick?”

“Mom and Dad didn’t tell you?”

“No, they didn’t.”

The siblings both fell silent. Judging by Ying Yaoxing and his wife’s attitude, they likely knew this situation would be somewhat difficult for Ying Nian.

“What are you thinking?” Ying Heng asked her. “It’s been so long, don’t you miss your brother?”

“I miss you.” She paused for a moment. “But I don’t want to go back.”

“Can’t you and Grandpa talk it out?”

“That’s impossible, brother,” Ying Nian said with a bitter smile. Ying Heng had been abroad, and to avoid worrying him, both Ying Yaoxing and his wife, as well as Ying Nian, only told him the good news, never the bad. They shared happy things, but no one ever mentioned the fights between her and their grandfather, which made family gatherings unbearable.

“I had a video call with Mom and Dad this morning. Mom said Grandpa’s been getting worse these past two years?” Ying Heng wasn’t naive. Thinking about their grandfather’s temper, he could easily imagine what kind of treatment his sister had endured. Although he respected their grandfather, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for his sister. “Forget it. You focus on your studies. I’ll go back first and visit you afterward.”

Ying Nian gave a heavy nod in response.

…

Due to Grandpa Ying’s sudden severe illness, Ying Nian was unsettled for quite some time. After Ying Heng returned, he stayed for three or four days without leaving, which made it seem that Ying Zhaoguo’s condition was not looking good.

She called her parents and also asked Jiang Jiashu, and from both, she received confirmation that Ying Zhaoguo was indeed in poor health.

With age comes more ailments, and his health had been declining year after year. Although Ying Zhaoguo still seemed rather vigorous, illness struck him as quickly as a mountain collapsing.

Yu Linran had been busy with competitions, but after finishing his most recent match, he met with Ying Nian at her apartment. The moment they saw each other, he immediately noticed that she didn’t look well.

“What’s wrong? You look so pale.”

Ying Nian curled up with him on the sofa, her expression heavy. “My grandpa is sick… but I don’t want to go see him.”

Yu Linran didn’t say anything. Seeing her like this, he knew she needed someone to listen, not to comfort her.

“My grandpa has never liked me since I was a child.”

Ying Nian began to voice the things she had kept inside: “When I was little, he would buy snacks for all the kids in the family, but mine would always be left out. He held every grandchild in our generation, except me. He called my cousins by their nicknames, but he always used my full name. He was strict and harsh, but sometimes he’d joke around with them—never with me.”

Ying Nian rested her face against his chest, curled up in his arms, and closed her eyes. “When I was younger, this made me really insecure. I always thought that if I had done better, maybe Grandpa would have liked me. But later, I realized that even if I scored full marks on a test, he wouldn’t praise me. Yet, for the other kids in the family, even if they only scored seventy or eighty, he’d still say, ‘Not bad, keep working hard.’”

“It wasn’t until I grew older that I realized my mistake in my grandpa’s eyes wasn’t that I wasn’t good enough—it was my gender.”

From that moment on, she let it go, acknowledging her own worth, but at the same time, she began to resent Ying Zhaoguo.

Because of the old memories she had brought up, the atmosphere became somber, and neither of them spoke.

Affected by the past, Ying Nian’s mood was low. After a long silence, she suddenly looked up at Yu Linran and asked, “…Why do you like me?”

The environment and the people around a person have an undeniable impact on their growth. Take Ying Nian, for example. Even though she is so accomplished now, a small shadow still lingers deep in her heart. The most authoritative elder in her family planted the seed there, and the repeated blows of favoritism in her childhood caused the fear of not being accepted or loved to take root and grow within her.

Yu Linran’s expression grew more serious than ever. He slowly stroked Ying Nian’s hair, not answering her question directly but instead saying, “I’ve never told you about my family, have I?”

Ying Nian looked at him and nodded, “No, you haven’t.”

“I have a cousin, five years older than me,” Yu Linran said. “He and his parents moved abroad to be with my grandfather earlier than my family. My grandfather was very good to us, but he was extremely controlling and didn’t tolerate anyone challenging his authority. My cousin is incredibly smart and excels at everything he does. His biggest passion was playing video games, and he was very talented at it.”

“My grandfather had high expectations for him and believed that playing games was a waste of time. My cousin once wanted to go pro in the European gaming league. When my grandfather found out, he was furious and locked him up for three months. Later, after much pleading from his parents, my cousin gave in, promising to quit gaming and focus on studying finance, preparing to take over the family business in the future.”

Ying Nian frowned. “And then?”

Yu Linran continued, “I first got into gaming because my cousin introduced me to it. He was even better than me. I knew he was really angry after he compromised with my grandpa, so I asked him why he didn’t fight for it. He just said, ‘You’ll understand when you’re older.’”

“Then you going pro must have…”

He nodded. “My grandfather doesn’t recognize me at all. When SF first reached out to me, I was ranked third on the foreign servers, but I wasn’t the most famous, especially since, unlike Bo Can, I specialize in support heroes. So I was a bit surprised when they invited me back to meet with them. After we finalized things, I decided to join SF and go pro. When my grandfather found out, he got just as angry. But unlike with my cousin, he didn’t lock me up. His expectations for me were never as high. He simply declared, very angrily, that if I wanted to ‘waste my life’ playing games, I would never be allowed back into his house.”

Ying Nian’s heart tightened as she listened. Yu Linran noticed her worry and gently squeezed her hand.

“These past few years, whenever I’ve taken a break and flown abroad, my grandfather has refused to see me, and he doesn’t allow my cousin to have any contact with me either. We can only meet in secret. I know my parents hope I’ll give in, but whenever I think of my cousin…”

He paused, then continued, “When we meet, we still talk about strategy. Just during my last break, we had two solo matches. I could never beat him before, but now he’s no match for me. He gave it his all and still lost. After the game, he smiled and praised me, saying I had improved, and even joked that I should bring him a championship trophy to see.”

“…But he was clearly heartbroken,” Yu Linran said quietly after a long pause.

It was the first time Ying Nian realized that Yu Linran also faced resistance from his family, the first time she understood that in chasing his dreams and doing what he wanted, he wasn’t recognized by his elders and was even shut out.

Leaning into his chest, Ying Nian gently wrapped her arms around him.

Yu Linran placed his hand on her back, letting her rest against him, with his long legs folded up on the sofa.

“The golden age for professional players is short. Anyone who stays away from games for too long will see their skills decline. I know what makes him sad isn’t losing the solo matches to me, but the fact that I can keep reaching higher levels in the competitive scene,” Yu Linran’s voice was calm, but there was a trace of helplessness within it, something quietly heartbreaking. “Someday, my skills might also decline as I get older, but at least I’ve had the chance to push myself to my limits. My cousin, though—he never reached the peak and no longer has the opportunity to chase his own limits. He never will.”

Ying Nian had known Yu Linran for a long time, but this was the first time she’d heard him speak so much.

Yu Linran lowered his eyes, meeting her gaze. “You asked me why I like you—because you’re wonderful.”

Ying Nian stared at him, dumbfounded.

“There are so many people off the stage—passionate, serious. They’ve shouted the word ‘like’ so many times, whether in person or online. But when it comes to standing face-to-face, no one dares—”

Yu Linran gently traced her eyebrows with his thumb, his eyelids half-lowered. “Do you understand what I mean?” he asked softly. “It’s only you.”

“And you’re different. Even when you get close, you’re not like the others. You always emphasize your identity as a fan in front of me, and everything you did at first was based on that. But deep down, you never lowered yourself. You’re proud, so smart, and exceptional… Look, you have so many good qualities. So stop asking stupid questions like that.”

Ying Nian stared at him in a daze for a long while before nodding, “Okay.”

She buried her head in his chest and mumbled, “Captain… What do you think I should do?”

Yu Linran thought for a moment. “I can actually understand my cousin now. He chose to compromise, and I chose to persist. At the crossroads of life, we chose two different paths, but neither is right or wrong. Whether it’s compromise or persistence, it’s just a step forward, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“So—” his hand stopped at the back of her head, “do what you want to do. You have the right to choose whom to love or whom to hate, and you also have the right to choose whether to forgive or not.”

…

Ying Nian didn’t go home, and neither Ying Yaoxing nor Ying Heng forced her to. After Ying Zhaoguo’s condition stabilized, Ying Heng took the fastest flight to come see Ying Nian.

The siblings hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and for her brother’s sake, Ying Nian had originally bought tickets to watch SF’s match live, but she had to reluctantly give them up.

Ying Heng rushed straight to Ying Nian’s apartment after landing. After touring her living space, the two chatted from afternoon to evening and had a meal that Ying Nian cooked herself. Though the food wasn’t perfect, Ying Heng praised it so much that he nearly licked the plates clean.

Upon learning that Ying Nian’s brother was coming, Yu Linran rushed over as soon as his match ended. He arrived just under two hours after dinner, finding the siblings in the living room, casually chatting while eating fruit.

The moment the two men laid eyes on each other, there was an unmistakable tension between them.

With Ying Nian sitting in the middle, Yu Linran and Ying Heng sat on opposite sides of the sofa. No one touched the sweet fruit anymore, and even though Ying Nian wanted to ignore it, she couldn’t overlook the palpable undercurrent of tension between them.

Ying Heng, now displaying the demeanor of a seasoned businessman, smiled politely and said, “My sister is simple-hearted and has always been well-protected by the family. She’s been fortunate to have Mr. Yu looking after her here. But friends taking care of each other is only natural, so there’s no need for much thanks.”

With one casual remark, he subtly categorized Yu Linran as just a “friend.”

Ying Nian sensed his underlying hostility and shot Yu Linran a look, signaling him to let it go and not take it personally.

Yu Linran didn’t react negatively, simply giving the same polite smile he used during interviews, as though he didn’t have a temper at all. “You’re right, brother. No thanks necessary.”

Ying Heng frowned slightly. “I’ve heard you’re an esports player? I imagine professionals like you must be pretty busy, right? With matches and training taking up most of your time? It must be hard for you to still find the time to look after my sister. But it’s fine—she’s just arrived here, and she’s only just started university. As she gradually meets more friends, you won’t need to trouble yourself, Mr. Yu.”

“You’re being too formal, brother,” Yu Linran replied calmly. “No matter how many friends she makes, it won’t affect the bond between Niannian and me.”

“…” Ying Heng raised his right hand, rubbing his index finger against his brow, and the smile on his lips not as high as before. “Ah, time really flies. In the blink of an eye, our Niannian is already in college. When she was little, she always clung to me, wanting me to hold her. She’d wear a little princess dress with two braids, looking just like a doll. My parents would tease her and ask what kind of man she wanted to marry when she grew up, and she’d put her hands on her hips and angrily shout, ‘I’m not marrying anyone! No one’s better than my brother!’”

“Why are you bringing up things from when I was a kid…” Ying Nian felt embarrassed, covering half her face with her hand.

“Brother is right, time does fly,” Yu Linran nodded. “Of course, when kids are young, they say all sorts of silly things. It’s perfectly normal.”

“…” Ying Heng tightened his grip on the water cup. That last comment had been irritating, but what annoyed him even more was the way Yu Linran kept calling him “brother.” “Can you stop calling me ‘brother’ all the time?! I might be older than you, but don’t you think it sounds a bit too much?”

Yu Linran smiled calmly, and Ying Nian immediately recognized that this wasn’t his genuine smile—he was putting on a front.

“Brother, what are you saying? You’re Niannian’s brother, so if she calls you ‘brother,’ it’s only natural that I do too. It might feel a bit strange at first, but don’t worry. Once we’re all family and see each other more often, you’ll get used to it after a few years.”

—What the heck!

Ying Heng nearly crushed the cup in his hand!

Family with you? Who the heck do you think you are?! “Frequent visits” and “getting used to it after a few years”?

I can’t stand you for even another hour!