[Is that a two-fish emote? Am I overthinking it? Is Conquer provoking Fish??]
[No way, why is this person so arrogant? Flashing emotes again and again, so uncouth!]
[Conquer is such a toxic player, get out of LPL soon!!!!]
Even Ultraman, who was usually slow on the uptake, sensed something was off.
After the game ended, he turned off his mic, held back for a long time, but still asked: “Bro, what’s your deal? Why target Will so much, are you asking to get flamed?”
Chen Yuzheng didn’t respond.
Killer, who had watched the whole thing, said sarcastically: “He’s mad, he’s mad, he’s mad, Chen Yuzheng is mad.”
“What do you mean mad?”
“What do you think?” Killer hinted, “Why do you think he kept flashing emotes?”
Ultraman was shocked: “Could it be that he’s mocking Fish and his teammates for being useless?”
Killer: “……”
“Are you stupid?”
…
…
Ultraman went downstairs to get milk tea.
Killer pondered briefly, lowered his voice gossip-style, and asked the person next to him: “You really have feelings for Fish’s sister?”
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.”
His voice was flat as he denied: “No.”
“Then why did you keep ganking Will?”
Chen Yuzheng said carelessly, “Just for fun.”
Killer: “……”
—
Although it was just an entertainment match organized by a fan site, Will and OG’s fans were still furious.
Ganking once or twice would have been fine, but targeting someone the whole game was clearly not letting them play. The previously settled feud between the two sides was reignited. After the match, Weibo was filled with curses.
Chen Yuzheng wasn’t even famous yet, but he’d already been cursed to the trending topics twice.
The first time was the massive “Conquer get out of LPL” campaign, this time it was an overwhelming wave of mockery:
[Hah, someone couldn’t win in finals so they’re venting in a casual match? Pathetic.]
[Feel bad for our Will… running into this cowardly idiot]
[So satisfying, seeing Will get destroyed and all the OG fans jumping around like clowns, so satisfying]
Thus, fans from both sides argued for two hours. Meanwhile, a certain secret super topic was celebrating joyfully.
[Shipping so hard uwu, Yu-Zheng SZD] [Even found such an obscure Two Poles Without Rules emote? Zheng put in effort.]
[I’m dying from shipping this I’m dying]
…
…
Yu Nuo didn’t know what had happened.
After finishing her work, she lay in bed browsing Weibo for a while, but she didn’t pay much attention, just casually looked and closed it.
The days at OG base were quite lively. Yu Nuo had nothing else to do anyway, so she usually helped the base auntie cook meals and make soup for them. She had always liked being in the kitchen since she was young, and besides cooking, she also liked making homemade snacks.
A Wen was very satisfied with the care, after meals he sighed to Yu Ge: “Fish, with such a good sister like yours, which lucky dog will she end up with? I suggest this: let’s hold a matchmaking event at OG, call over people from the Honor of Kings and PUBG divisions, we’ll carefully select a brother-in-law, keep the benefits in the family, right?”
Yu Ge maintained his usual ice-cold face, glancing at A Wen with a ‘what nonsense are you spouting’ look, not engaging.
Roy sighed: “He probably thinks it’s best if his sister never marries anyone.”
“What?” Yu Ge calmly asked back, “I have money to support her, why does she need to get married?”
A Wen: “……”
Will: “….feeling sympathy for your future brother-in-law.”
A few more days passed, and OG gave their first team members a day off to rest well. They were preparing to go abroad for this year’s MSI the day after tomorrow.
Yu Nuo’s foot had recovered somewhat, and it wasn’t good to stay longer, so she planned to return to school tomorrow.
While packing her luggage at night, she suddenly thought of something and opened Chen Yuzheng’s WeChat. She typed a few words in the chat box, then deleted them.
Ten minutes later, she finally sent:
“Are you asleep?”
After half an hour, he replied: “No”
Yu Nuo hesitated, then typed another message: “Didn’t we agree to have a meal together last time… do you have time tomorrow?”
Conquer: “No”
Yu Nuo: “Then, the day after?”
Conquer: “No either”
Even though Yu Nuo wasn’t the brightest, she could sense Chen Yuzheng’s perfunctory attitude, thinking he probably couldn’t be bothered to go out for a meal with her.
She considered for a moment, very tactfully saying:
“Okay, I understand~ Just let me know when you’re free.”
After sending it, the other side showed “typing…”, but for a long time there was no reply.
She put her phone aside, and while waiting, Yu Nuo fell asleep. The next morning, she got up with bleary eyes and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she picked up her phone, she found Chen Yuzheng had replied at three or four in the morning:
“Tomorrow”
—
Yu Ge was suddenly called away for a media interview, so he asked Will to take Yu Nuo back to school.
Will drove Yu Nuo back to school and helped her take her things to the dormitory.
He had nothing else to do and asked Yu Nuo: “Sister, can you show me around the school?”
Will had gone straight into professional gaming after high school and had never attended university, so he had a strange longing for college life.
Yu Nuo looked at her phone, it was still early before her meeting time with Chen Yuzheng. She agreed, “Okay, but I might walk a bit slowly.”
Will ruffled her head again, “No problem, take it slow, I’ll match your pace.”
Today was the weekend, and there were many students coming and going on campus.
Yu Nuo showed him around the cafeteria, teaching buildings, and sports field. They even ran into some male students who were OG fans and came up to ask Will for autographs.
Yu Nuo habitually walked on the left side, casually introducing some of the school buildings to him.
“Do you want milk tea?”
At a milk tea shop entrance, Yu Nuo pointed and said: “This is the favorite shop of me and my roommates.”
Will agreed.
Walking to the ordering counter, Yu Nuo asked him: “What would you like?”
“The same as you.”
They walked around a bit more with their milk tea, and Will asked: “It’s getting late, shall I treat you to dinner?”
Yu Nuo made an “ah” sound, feeling a bit embarrassed: “I have plans with someone later.”
Will smiled: “No problem, I’ll take you there then, where are you meeting?”
—
The meeting place with Chen Yuzheng was at the Starbucks entrance of a commercial building.
Will parked the car and sat with Yu Nuo to wait for a while.
The two chatted casually, Yu Nuo looked at her watch, four-thirty.
Will suddenly passed her an earphone, “Sister, watch this video, it’s super funny.”
Yu Nuo: “What is it?”
She was about to put it on when Will remembered something and thoughtfully switched the right earbud for her, “Wait, use this side.”
Yu Nuo paused, “Thank you.”
It was a Super Mario game video uploaded by a Bilibili creator. Yu Nuo watched with Will for a while when suddenly someone knocked on the table edge.
Yu Nuo turned her head.
A few seconds of silence.
Chen Yuzheng raised an eyebrow, seeing two identical milk tea cups placed side by side on the table, he exchanged a glance with Will and asked Yu Nuo: “What, am I interrupting?”
“Ah…” Yu Nuo quickly stood up, “We were waiting for you.”
“?”
Chen Yuzheng suddenly realized, “Three people eating?”
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Will turned off his phone and answered for Yu Nuo: “I’m not joining you.”
He knew Chen Yuzheng but wasn’t close enough to have meals together.
Will said goodbye to Chen Yuzheng, gave Yu Nuo a few instructions, took his car keys, and left.
…
…
Coming out of the coffee shop, Yu Nuo followed beside Chen Yuzheng and asked: “What should we eat?”
He looked ahead, carelessly: “Don’t know.”
Yu Nuo carefully observed his expression, “Are you not feeling well?”
“It’s fine.”
Yu Nuo flipped through the Meituan takeout app. Her injury had just healed, and she couldn’t walk fast either. She looked down to check her phone, and when she looked up again, Chen Yuzheng seemed to have no awareness of waiting for others, walking far ahead by himself. She jogged to catch up, showing him the places she had just found, “Um, take a look.”
He took it, quickly scrolled through, and tossed the phone back to her, “No appetite.”
Yu Nuo barely caught the phone: “Then what do you want to eat?”
“Don’t know.”
Yu Nuo good-naturedly continued asking: “Should I look for something else?”
Chen Yuzheng didn’t respond.
After walking in silence for a while, Yu Nuo suddenly realized that he seemed… to be in a bad mood today? Could it be because of being cursed out these past few days?
She was browsing Dianping1, silently pondering, when she heard Chen Yuzheng say: “Don’t feel like eating today.”
Yu Nuo: “?”
Chen Yuzheng was somehow different, seemingly in a very bad mood. His few words were distant, completely different from how he had teased her the past two days.
He hadn’t looked at her once since the beginning, “I have something to do, you go back.”
“……”
Yu Nuo felt at a loss from his coldness: “But you’ve already come out…?”
Chen Yuzheng made a perfunctory sound of agreement.
What was just a guess before, Yu Nuo was now certain.
Chen Yuzheng must have been annoyed by someone. She happened to be in the line of fire, becoming the scapegoat, here to be his emotional punching bag…
Yu Nuo put her phone in her pocket, stopped walking, and asked him: “Alright then, if you don’t want to eat today, shall I head back to school?”
Chen Yuzheng glanced at her.
Yu Nuo was as calm and gentle as usual, not pushing further, just waiting for an answer.
He left.
Yu Nuo: “……”
At least he had given her some response earlier, now he just ignored her… and left?
Left?
In a flash, Yu Nuo suddenly thought — could it be because of Will?!
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
He had just been cursed online because of Will a few days ago, and today she brought Will to meet him…
Oh no…. it must be because of Will.
No wonder his expression was so sour.
Yu Nuo cursed herself silently, her emotional intelligence was really too low.
During the time she was lost in thought, Chen Yuzheng had walked very far.
Yu Nuo quickly followed, starting to run, her foot hurting a bit. She frowned slightly and called out: “Chen Yuzheng!”
He heard her, paused, didn’t turn around, and continued walking forward.
Yu Nuo called again: “Wait for me.”
She ran up to him, quickly blocking his way, apologizing, “I’m sorry…”
Chen Yuzheng stopped: “What?”
“You…” she blurted out, “Are you in a bad mood because of Will?”
Chen Yuzheng: “……”
Seeing him not speak, Yu Nuo became more certain of her guess, “Um, I didn’t consider your feelings, I’m really sorry. I forgot about you being cursed the other day…”
Chen Yuzheng: “?”
“Sorry sorry.”
Chen Yuzheng looked at her for a while, “What are you saying?”
Yu Nuo was immersed in guilt, not noticing his strange expression. She thought of a solution, trying to make up for it: “If you don’t want to go to a restaurant, or… is there any dish you’d like to eat? If I know how to make it, I can help you cook…”
After a long silence, Chen Yuzheng withdrew his gaze, “Let’s go.”
Yu Nuo: “Hm? Where?”
Chen Yuzheng’s voice was very calm: “Back to base.”
He looked at her: “Weren’t you going to cook?”
“Oh oh, yes yes.” Yu Nuo quickly agreed.
—
There was a Walmart next to TG, Chen Yuzheng parked nearby.
Yu Nuo unbuckled her seatbelt and asked him: “Are you going to the supermarket?”
“Aren’t you buying ingredients?” Yu Nuo paused, “Buy ingredients at the supermarket?”
Chen Yuzheng didn’t think anything was wrong: “Where else?”
Yu Nuo told this otherworldly youth, “The wet market, of course.”
“……”
On the way to the wet market, Yu Nuo educated him: “Many things in the supermarket aren’t fresh, and the prices are expensive, very misleading.”
Chen Yuzheng looked at the muddy road beneath his feet, dogs and chickens running around, a peculiar smell permeating the air. He stopped walking, frowning, “Sister, it’s so dirty here.”
Yu Nuo: “……”
She had already resigned herself to this strange form of address, casually comforting him, “Wet markets are all like this, or you can go back and wait in the car first?”
“Never mind.”
Yu Nuo asked what he usually ate and if he had any dietary restrictions.
Chen Yuzheng gave occasional responses.
He seemed to be in a better mood than before… Yu Nuo felt relieved inside.
She stopped at a stall, squatting down to pick string beans. After carefully selecting for a while, she asked the vendor how much.
The vendor named a price.
Yu Nuo pondered, “Isn’t that a bit expensive?”
“How is it expensive, this is the price everywhere now.”
Yu Nuo muttered unwillingly: “It was more than a yuan cheaper last week.”
They haggled for a while, and the vendor gave in, lowering the price by fifty cents per unit. Yu Nuo happily put the string beans in a plastic bag.
Chen Yuzheng carried it for her, “Didn’t expect you to be such a good negotiator.”
Yu Nuo was bright-eyed from her successful bargaining, “When I was young and went shopping with my brother, he would pay whatever price people asked, so later I always did the negotiating. It’s one of my skills.”
“What about your parents? Why did they let you two go shopping?”
Yu Nuo fell silent, her smile fading, didn’t say much: “My parents divorced when I was very young.”
After walking in silence for a while, Chen Yuzheng coughed, “Um, sorry about that.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Yu Nuo said, “It was a long time ago.”
—
The esports youths who usually lived day for night normally woke up around seven or eight in the evening.
As soon as Killer came downstairs, he smelled a rich chicken soup aroma. He took a deep breath, following the smell to the cafeteria, shouting, “Damn, are we having a feast today!”
The base auntie was on holiday recently, and they had been eating takeout for a week, getting quite tired of it.
Pushing open the door, Killer saw a table of leftover dishes and exclaimed in pain: “Fuck you Chen Yuzheng, having a private feast without calling your brothers?”
Chen Yuzheng leaned back in his chair, “What’s it to you? Get lost.”
Killer was speechless with anger: “You… you…”
As they were talking, Yu Nuo came out wearing thick gloves, carrying a pot of soup.
Killer was surprised to see her, “Why are you here?”
He took two seconds to react, then pointed at Chen Yuzheng: “You two…?”
Yu Nuo put the soup on the table: “You’re awake? I just made some soup, would you like to try?”
Killer swallowed, saw Chen Yuzheng’s expression, and tactfully said: “I’ll pass, I’ll get takeout later.”
Yu Nuo said, “Or I could cook another meal for you all? I have nothing else to do anyway, we bought quite a lot of ingredients.”
Killer struggled for a few seconds, painfully refusing, very perceptively closing the door for them: “No need, no need, you two chat, I’ll head out first.”
—
Yu Nuo took off her apron, sat nearby, watching Chen Yuzheng drink the soup, and tentatively asked: “How’s the taste?”
“Passable.”
“……”
Yu Nuo had made a lot of soup, too much for two people to finish. Thinking that when the TG members all woke up later, they could have some too.
She got up and went back to the kitchen, turning the stove back on to keep the soup warm.
Yu Nuo had a small appetite and was full after just a few bites. She thought for a moment, then took out the pomelos that had been soaking in salt water.
Using a knife, she cut open the pomelo and peeled off the skin.
“What are you doing?”
Yu Nuo glanced back.
Chen Yuzheng stood with his hands crossed, leaning against the wall, watching her work.
Yu Nuo shifted her gaze: “Making some pomelo candy for you all.”
She squeezed out the water from the pomelo, lifted them from the water, and put them in a pot with white sugar.
It would take another hour for the sugar syrup to dry.
Having nothing else to do while waiting, Yu Nuo asked Chen Yuzheng, “Were you angry this afternoon?”
Chen Yuzheng was very frank: “Yes.”
“……”
The kitchen light was warm-toned, Yu Nuo’s hair was half tied up with just a few loose strands falling by her cheeks. She held a spatula, stirring the pomelo peels in the pot.
After a quiet moment, Chen Yuzheng stared at her: “Sister, when you have a meal with me, bringing another man, don’t you think something’s wrong with that?”
Yu Nuo was stunned for a moment.
Not catching his deeper meaning, she thought he was still talking about his conflict with Will. She honestly admitted her mistake, “I’m sorry.”
Chen Yuzheng straightened up.
Yu Nuo called out to him: “Where are you going?”
“Have a smoke.”
—
At three in the morning, TG base was brightly lit.
Having just finished training, Automan wandered into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, and suddenly noticed a jar of pomelo candy in the corner.
He grabbed a few bottles of cola and took the candy along too.
In the training room, the others were still playing ranked games. Chen Yuzheng had his legs crossed up on the desk edge, playing with his phone.
“Who bought this pomelo candy? It’s really good,” Ultraman hugged the glass jar, smacking his lips, “Want some?”
Chen Yuzheng caught sight of that jar of candy in his peripheral vision, put away his phone, and reached out to Ultraman: “Mine, give it here.”
Ultraman: “Why are you so stingy, what’s wrong with eating a couple pieces?”
Killer made a teasing sound, “This was made by Yu Nuo, did Conquer give you permission to eat it, you clueless troublemaker, put it down quick!”
Ultraman tossed the glass jar to Chen Yuzheng, “Fine fine fine, it’s yours it’s yours, all yours.”
Van suddenly said: “This pomelo candy looks kind of familiar…?”
Everyone went quiet and looked at him.
Van scrolled through his phone, slapped his thigh: “Found it! Isn’t this the same candy Will posted on Weibo two days ago!”
Chen Yuzheng, who had just popped a piece of pomelo candy in his mouth, froze.
Killer reacted, asking with some sympathy: “Zheng, you okay? Heart broken? Can you handle it? Did the candy suddenly turn bitter in your mouth?”
- It’s a third-party review app for restaurants and local businesses, similar to Yelp. Also has a group buying feature similar to Groupon. ↩︎
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