Chapter 85
Shen Yanjin’s eyelid jumped. Remembering the ranked match last time, a guess popped up in his heart.
As if to confirm his guess, Kai continued, “The Mid Laner was Aiai.”
…Sure enough.
Shen Yanjin asked, “Did they win?”
“They won,” Kai said. “They lost too miserably in the second game. TWG’s new support couldn’t hold up, and his mentality collapsed in the third. Aiai forcefully took Mid to support Wind, holding the team together.”
It sounded simple, but the actual situation was obviously more complicated.
Shen Yanjin was slightly moved. “Aiai really switched to Mid.”
Kai said, “Yeah, sigh. Now I have another difficult opponent in the mid lane.”
Returning to the training room, Shen Yanjin found the recording of TWG’s third game.
Kai was absolutely right that Aiai forcefully took Mid to support Wind. He bought a support item, let Wind take all the mid-lane farm, and protected him while he invaded three jungle quadrants, feeding Shi Feng until he was overflowing with gold.
Not only that, because the support’s mentality had collapsed and his mechanics were deformed, Aiai took over the tasks of warding and peeling. Later, the support’s condition slowly warmed up, allowing TWG to get back on its feet.
If FTK gave the feeling of dense rain-like attacks that were impossible to guard against, then TWG with Aiai on Mid felt—sticky.
He was originally a top-tier protective support. After switching to Mid, he picked supportive, protective mid-laners. He would just stubbornly stay in lane without fighting. In team fights, he threw shields left and right, applying damage reduction and slows, making the enemies’ scalps tingle.
Although that being said, both FTK and TWG had new members this season, so many details weren’t handled perfectly. It was about 50-50.
Shen Yanjin thought, if KW could really enter the top four as the first seed, their opponent would likely be one of TWG, WOF, or FTK.
After the last match, WOF changed to a new Jungler promoted from the youth training camp. Rumor had it he was currently ranked third on the server and had fiery momentum.
All hard bones to chew.
Shen Yanjin closed the match video, opened the game client, and continued training.
The time he could maintain his competitive form was decreasing day by day. Shen Yanjin wanted to fight alongside Duan Mingyue a little longer, so he didn’t want to lose.
With three games left in the preseason, the Little New Year (Xiaonian) arrived first.
It was early spring, and the chill hadn’t faded. On Little New Year, the KW members booked a large private room at a hotel and had a meal together.
After two more matches, the alliance officially began the New Year holiday. The New Year was arguably the most important festival in the country, so even esports players got a break.
Usually during New Year, Shen Yanjin would stay at the base alone. He didn’t want to go home, and he had no home to return to.
This year was different; he no longer had a reason not to go back. Packing his luggage, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity and even some inexplicable anxiety.
Conflicting emotions of wanting to go home and not wanting to go home occupied his heart in equal measure. Shen Yanjin sighed and zipped up his backpack.
The door behind him opened, and immediately, his back was pressed against a warm chest.
Duan Mingyue kissed him behind the ear. “What’s wrong? Unhappy?”
Shen Yanjin shook his head. “No, it’s just… feels a bit weird.”
Although they were blood relatives, they had been separated for too long. Now that everything was out in the open, there was an indescribable sense of unfamiliarity and awkwardness. Perhaps it was timidity about returning home.
Duan Mingyue gave a short laugh, pulling his wrist to sit on the edge of the bed. “Yanjin, I want to discuss something with you.”
Shen Yanjin rarely heard him use this tone. “Okay, go ahead.”
“You said last time that your parents wanted you to bring me home?” Duan Mingyue curled his lips, holding his hand and slowly interlacing their fingers. “I also want you to meet my parents.”
Shen Yanjin’s eyes slowly widened, looking at him as if he didn’t understand.
Duan Mingyue looked at his silly appearance, feeling even more tenderness in his heart. “After the New Year, find a time. I’ll pick you up, meet your parents, and then you come home with me to meet my parents, okay?”
Meeting parents was a big deal. Especially for them, meeting parents was equivalent to settling the relationship.
No matter how ignorant Shen Yanjin was, he knew how deep Duan Mingyue’s family background was. The Duan family had profound foundations and was a giant among giants. In recent years, riding the ship of policy, their company grew larger and larger, becoming a behemoth beyond the reach of others.
It could be said that people in this position would generally never allow issues regarding sexuality to arise in their family. Moreover, Duan Mingyue was an only son, destined to shoulder the responsibility of leading the entire Duan family.
Shen Yanjin said, “Isn’t it a bit too fast?”
Duan Mingyue raised his palm, gently rubbing his face with his thumb. “Are you unwilling?”
“Willing, but…”
“Good.” Duan Mingyue knew what he was hesitating about and smiled frankly. “Don’t worry, my parents are very reasonable. I mentioned you to them, and this time they actively wanted to meet. Of course, if you aren’t ready yet, next time is fine too.”
Shen Yanjin hugged him, burying his head in his neck and shaking it twice. “I’ll go back with you.”
Duan Mingyue patted his back, half-joking, “You can run but you can’t hide. The ugly daughter-in-law must eventually meet the in-laws.”
As soon as the words fell, a sharp pain came from his collarbone. Duan Mingyue hissed lightly, looking down to see a round tooth mark on his collarbone. The skin was broken, stained with dots of moisture. The culprit looked straight at him without dodging, even with a hint of triumph.
“Putting a stamp on you.” After biting, Shen Yanjin was afraid he hurt him, so he carefully licked the broken skin.
Duan Mingyue reasonably suspected he was being seduced.
Captain Duan, who had little self-control in front of the person he liked, checked the time on his wrist. Still early. He stood up, locked the door, and then turned back to pin the person onto the bed.
Shen Yanjin returned to Bincheng with an apprehensive heart. He thought this New Year would be hard to endure, but unexpectedly, the days after returning home were very relaxed. Father Shen’s physical examination report came out, and the situation was quite good.
Buying New Year goods, spring cleaning, occasionally going out to play and relax with old friends—time passed quickly.
Shen Yanjin didn’t touch a drop of alcohol now. Lu Hui, Old Hai, and the others were understanding. News on the internet traveled fast; even thousands of miles away, they could learn from the increasingly frequent trending searches and news that Shen Yanjin had finally stood up from his lowest point.
As friends, they were naturally happy and supportive.
During these days apart, Shen Yanjin messaged his boyfriend every day, video chatting or voice calling at night. Under strong demand from fans, Duan Mingyue live-streamed a few times. Occasionally, when their times matched, he didn’t shy away from connecting with Shen Yanjin while streaming, just like before.
Now the fact that Duan Mingyue was in a relationship was inescapable. Every day, fans howled in the Weibo comments, crying about heartbreak and unfollowing while simultaneously curious about what kind of woman could capture a man like Duan Mingyue.
Of course, as expected, amidst the chaotic guesses, the name with the highest resonance was UOOW.
The strongest evidence was that when Moon God streamed a duo queue with UOOW for the second time, KW’s Mid Laner Kai had posted a comment supporting Moon-U with a weird expression. Before that, he had also streamed and praised UOOW to the skies. Any way you thought about it, it was highly likely.
However, since the parties involved didn’t appear or respond, all guesses could only be guesses.
During the holiday, the rare idle Shen Yanjin, besides maintaining daily training tasks, logged into his Weibo alt account. Sure enough, his DMs were full of concern from the girls in the fan group.
He popped up in the group to say he was safe and voluntarily resigned from his admin position.
Sweetheart Support was a veteran in the fan group. Seeing this, the group was in chaos again, asking if she was also unfollowing because Moon God had a girlfriend.
While replying, Shen Yanjin secretly muttered to himself: Your Moon God doesn’t have a girlfriend, only a boyfriend.
On New Year’s Day, at noon, Shen Yanjin met a circle of relatives he hadn’t seen for a long time.
Relatives were always gossipy. Shen Yanjin hadn’t returned for years, and suddenly appearing home today, he couldn’t avoid being asked those few questions—work, salary, partner.
These three questions were nothing to hide for him, so he answered truthfully and crisply.
Hearing that Shen Yanjin was now an esports player, several relatives inevitably showed contempt in their eyes: Oh, just playing games without a proper job?
But immediately after hearing Shen Yanjin say he earned over eight million a year including tournament prize money, those relatives’ eyes instantly changed again. After checking their phones and finding it was true, they started hinting overtly and covertly about borrowing money from Shen Yanjin.
Unfortunately, Shen Yanjin didn’t buy it at all. Father Shen and Mother Shen’s attitude was also very clear: they were them, the child was the child. Shen Yanjin had earned his own living early on and didn’t spend his parents’ money, so they wouldn’t take Shen Yanjin’s money either. The distinction was clear. No matter how others played the emotional card, they remained unmoved.
Helpless, those looking for profit could only call him stingy and give up resentfully.
As for the partner, Shen Yanjin spoke vaguely, only saying that such a person indeed existed.
The curious aunts and uncles pressed on: “Is that person good-looking? How is the family background? Treat you well? Met the parents yet?”
Under the barrage of questions, Shen Yanjin said helplessly, “Good-looking, extremely good-looking. Family background is also very good. Treats me well, everything is good. Parents… plan to meet after the New Year.”
As for the rest, he kept his mouth shut tight, refusing to say another word.
“Oh my,” one aunt laughed, “So Little Yanjin is getting married soon. Time flies.”
Married?
Shen Yanjin was stunned.
If it were the old him, he wouldn’t dare to think about it.
But now, even parents were met. Those two words became within reach.
He knew many same-sex couples would go abroad to marry.
Would he and Duan Mingyue do the same?
The seed buried back then was brushed by the spring breeze, slowly sprouting tender green shoots.
Just as Duan Mingyue treated him gently and indulged him, Shen Yanjin also wanted to bring him happiness.
Making the person you like happy was truly the most satisfying and joyful thing in the world.
He curled his lips, smiling uncontrollably. “Yes.”
The young man’s eyes curved, filled with water-soft laughter. His plain face took on a rosy hue from the joy. Several relatives stared blankly, thinking that indeed, happy events lift the spirit; a man with money and a wife looked different.
At noon, the relatives gathered after a long time, but the New Year’s Eve dinner at night was just the family of three. The TV played the Spring Festival Gala, and amidst festive music, the hosts passionately wished the whole country a Happy New Year.
Outside, the dark night sky reflected bright fireworks, and children’s laughter came from time to time. Red packets were sent occasionally in several player group chats. Shen Yanjin had good luck, grabbing the “Luck King” several times in a row, prompting people to call for Sliver to send red packets too.
He laughed and was just about to send one when he saw Duan Mingyue step in first, sending several red packets with astonishing amounts in the group, making everyone call the boss generous.
Duan Mingyue didn’t reply but @’d Shen Yanjin’s ID, saying directly that he sent them for Sliver.
The esports straight men didn’t think much of it. Seeing this, they joked that KW’s team benefits were good—the captain even sent red packets for team members—making them want to transfer.
Later, someone poured cold water on them, saying even if they had the thought, KW wouldn’t want them. So they laughed and joked together again.
Shen Yanjin covered his burning cheeks with his hand. Despite video chatting every day, a yearning for his boyfriend surged uncontrollably in his heart.
He really wanted to see him soon.
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