Chapter 4: Pig Teammates Are Scary
Friends for over a decade didn’t need many words. Shen Yanjin carried his pitiful amount of luggage and followed Lu Hui into the car. The two drove straight to a barbecue restaurant.
When they were students, they used to patronize this place almost every day.
Finding a seat, Shen Yanjin took off his jacket and placed it aside. Looking around the familiar interior decor, he sighed emotionally, “It’s been over ten years, and this place hasn’t closed down yet.”
“…” Lu Hui’s mouth twitched as he handed the menu and pen to the waiter beside them. “You really have a way with words, saying that in front of the owner.”
“Owner?”
Shen Yanjin turned his head in surprise, his gaze following the youthful and energetic waiter who had just left. “No, don’t lie to me. The proprietress was forty when I left. Five years later, she rejuvenated into a young girl?”
Lu Hui poured him a glass of water. “What are you thinking? That’s the proprietress’s daughter.”
So that was it.
Shen Yanjin picked up the water glass and took a sip. “Wow, she was just a little bean when I saw her last. Time flies.”
“Doesn’t it? Old Hai got married too.”
“Oh? Didn’t he used to say that people who get married are idiots?”
“Heh, isn’t he one?”
“That’s true.”
“Also…”
Not returning for five years, the changes in Bincheng were earth-shattering; things change, people change. The two reminisced about the past and exchanged updates on their current situations, unknowingly polishing off hundreds of skewers which piled up like a small mountain beside them. Lu Hui was a smart person; he did most of the talking about current events. As for how Shen Yanjin was doing recently? Since Shen Yanjin didn’t speak of it, he kept his mouth shut tight.
At first, they drank water, then beer, and later white spirits. Chatting, talking, eating, and drinkingâby the time they finished the last skewer, Shen Yanjin checked his wrist to see it was already past ten o’clock.
His alcohol tolerance was good; despite drinking so much, his mind was incredibly clear. Lu Hui had already collapsed on the table, defeated. Shen Yanjin shook him awake and called a designated driver for him.
Lu Hui stood up unsteadily and asked, “Little Gold, where are you going back to? If it comes to it, just crash at my place for the night?”
Not returning home for five years, going out to eat, drink, and have fun with old friends straight off the plane, and getting wastedâany fool could see his relationship with his family wasn’t great.
Shen Yanjin said, “No need, go back. Don’t let your partner wait too long.”
“Alright,” Lu Hui scratched his head. “By the way, Little Gold.”
“What?”
“If you need help, contact me anytime.” The driver arrived quickly. Lu Hui had a splitting headache. He extended his hand and made a ‘call me’ gesture by his ear to indicate keeping in touch, then left.
He still had someone waiting for him at home.
Shen Yanjin watched his friend’s departing figure, an indescribable emotion stirring in his heartâgratitude, envy, jealousy…
Guess he really drank too much to be this sentimental.
He stood in place blowing in the cold wind for a while, moved his feet, and flagged down a taxi.
Getting in, the driver smelled the alcohol and said warily, “Young man, let me say this upfront: vomit in the car and it’s a 500 fine.”
Shen Yanjin grinned. “Sure. Master, go to Galaxy Prestige City on Xihe Road.”
This apartment was bought with savings when Shen Yanjin first started competing. Three bedrooms, two living rooms, fully furnished.
He had already hired a cleaning company earlier. Arriving now, the furniture was complete, the house was tidy, and it was livable. Boiling a kettle of water, Shen Yanjin took out his phone. No texts, no calls, no messages.
His finger moved to the Weibo icon, hesitating for a long time.
Shen Yanjin was a bit afraid to see the aftermath of that retweet incident, but also a bit curious.
He knew clearly how snobbish that action looked to uninformed eyes. What was even more unbearable was that regardless of his intentions, all the coincidences were “irrefutable ironclad evidence,” leaving him unable to defend himself.
But… what if?
Damn it, a dead pig isn’t afraid of boiling water!
Shen Yanjin dwelled on it for ages. The kettle beside him bubbled and rolled, almost boiled, before he finally gritted his teeth and clicked in.
First glance: KW-Red Moon’s new status.
[@KW-Red Moon: Welcome myself home~~ // @Red Moon Fan Club: Returning to the country. [Image]]
Comments underneath:
[This familiar format, these familiar tildes, hmm…]
[Grass (a plant)? Are Moon God and Sliver acquaintances?]
[Welcome Moon God home~~ (Doge face)]
Instantly, Shen Yanjin felt the nerve that had been tight all this time relax. His heart pounded wildly in his chest.
Red Moon actually helped him out of the awkward situation.
As this thought surfaced, Shen Yanjin felt like he exhaled foul air that had been stifling him all day. His heart felt more than just a little bit better.
His eyes glanced down.
[@KW-Lucida: Moon God is super handsome~]
Below that was a like from Red Moon.
Shen Yanjin sucked that breath right back in.
He knew this Lucida; KW team’s Support. Although Shen Yanjin didn’t have much interaction with her, she had messed with his mental state.
Once, right before a match started, Lucida lost her own mouse somewhere. Without caring about the facts, she pointed at Shen Yanjin’s nose and claimed he must have stolen it, the reason being simply that he looked too gloomy!
Later, the mouse was found in the corner of her own peripheral bag. However, let alone apologizing, she didn’t even give him a glance, just turned her head and walked away in her high heels.
Every time he recalled this, Shen Yanjin felt a thousand words stuck in his throat. Sometimes, when a framing is too ridiculous, it leaves you unable to clarify.
There were many such incidents, but no matter how she acted out, Duan Mingyue always maintained an attitude of letting it beâneither accepting nor rejecting, occasionally responding.
This distance and handling method were actually just right for teammates. But Lucida was a woman, and a beautiful one at that. So, the normal distance took on an ambiguous shade. Even someone as dense as Shen Yanjin couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild about their relationship.
Even though he knew from the start he had no chance, seeing the interaction between the two, a hint of bitterness rose in Shen Yanjin’s throat.
He patted his pockets, finding them empty, before remembering belatedly that his cigarettes were still in his team uniform pocket, and the uniform had been returned to HG.
He looked at the Weibo post, thought for a long time, and clicked like.
The next day, Shen Yanjin went to the supermarket to buy a bunch of daily necessities. Back home, he stared blankly out the window for a while. No more training meant he had huge chunks of time to squander, yet he couldn’t think of anything to do.
Finally, thinking whatever, he decided to play games. He unzipped his backpack, took out the only luggage he brought back from Cloud Cityâhis laptopâconnected to the WiFi, and practicedly opened the WL game client.
The social software, auto-logging in at the bottom right corner, dinged and donged.
[WOF-Mountain: Arrived?]
[HG-Sliver: En.]
Seeing this prefix, Shen Yanjin remembered he had only changed his Weibo nickname; other social accounts hadn’t been changed yet. He hurriedly modified it.
[Sliver: En.]
Yue Fengling didn’t ask why he sent the same word twice.
[WOF-Mountain: Is your hand any better?]
[Sliver: It’s okay.]
[WOF-Mountain: Play a couple of rounds?]
[Sliver: You ADC?]
[WOF-Mountain: Correct.]
The scene of the two of them duo-queuing and feeding spectacularly last time floated uncontrollably into his mind. Shen Yanjin’s finger trembled.
[Sliver: Uh, suddenly feeling a bit unwell physically. Next time for sure.]
[WOF-Mountain: . ]
Closing the chat window, the WL client finished updating.
He naturally didn’t log into the main account used for rank-pushing streams, but logged into a smurf account. What Shen Yanjin needed right now wasn’t mechanical training, but physical and mental relaxation and joy.
Enter queue.
First match, a couple with matching IDs on his team. Shen Yanjin took one look at the female’s name, “Little Cutie Acting Spoiled,” and knew he had no chance at Support this game. He sensibly pre-selected a Top lane tank, planning to silently be an orphan on his own.
Unexpectedly, another random teammate didn’t indulge them at all, insta-locking Support and typing a smiley face in the chat.
So, as soon as the match started, three people began “playing piano” (AFK/typing) in the fountain. They initiated a surrender exactly when the timer allowed. Everything happened as fast as a storm; before Shen Yanjin could even react, his own crystal shattered with a crack.
“…”
Fine.
Adjust mindset, queue again. This time he got Support, but it came with bonus actor teammates. The ADC played in a way that made one’s scalp tingle; not grouping was one thing, but he was feeding and selling teammates consecutively. In one match, Shen Yanjin rushed in to start four team fights, the most impressive one controlling all five enemies in the dragon pit, yet they still lost. Ten minutes in, they were directly behind by four thousand gold.
Talent. Pure talent.
The game screen turned gray again, respawn countdown starting. This match was basically over. Shen Yanjin opened the chat box with a smile and typed.
[UOOW (Fish Woman): ADC Big Brother, can I add you as a friend later~]
[Moment Unforgettable (Western Sharpshooter): Wow, a girl? Sure, add me, I’ll carry you.]
Shen Yanjin looked at the ADC’s score, 2/9/1, and was momentarily unsure where this person’s confidence came from.
[UOOW (Fish Woman): Thank you, Brother. I haven’t had much of an appetite recently, but after watching your gameplay, I immediately ate two big bowls of rice. Adding you so I can spectate and stimulate my appetite later~]
[UOOW (Fish Woman): It doesn’t matter if Brother’s aim isn’t true, because Brother’s skills connect perfectly~ I’ve already contacted the enemy team to write couplets for Brother. Top scroll: Marksmanship kind and benevolent. Bottom scroll: Delivering heads like a Bodhisattva saving the world. Horizontal scroll: Growth depends on him.]
[UOOW (Fish Woman): Brother, did I do it right?]
After buying wards, Shen Yanjin clicked to mute the battle chat, cleared the dialogue box, waited about thirty seconds, selected the ADC’s avatar, and clicked report.
Report reason: Verbal abuse.
Three minutes later, report successful.
Unmuting, Shen Yanjin calmly typed: Brother, so sorry, I accidentally clicked mute just now. Did you say something? I didn’t see a single sentence. Can you say it again? Oh, sorry, turns out Brother has been muted for low quality and using profanity. Can’t speak anymore. Boohoo, Brother is so pitiful~
Click send.
Refreshing.
Unfortunately, the refreshment was only temporary. After exiting, Shen Yanjin looked at his rank points, and the corners of his mouth that had just lifted drooped down again. Although this smurf account wasn’t high rank, as a “score slave,” the pain was unbearable.
Thinking back to the two matches just now, an absurd thought actually surfaced in his mindâYue Fengling’s ADC seemed to play… not that bad actually…
Hiss, too scary.
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