【55】Jiang Yan’s Childhood Sweetheart
With the economy to back him up, Wen Ran happily switched to a full damage build. He would never build like this in a formal match, but right now in an online game, he didn’t care about that much.
He and Nan Xi used to duo queue in the past, and basically, all his gaming time during that period was spent with him, so Wen Ran didn’t decline his offer.
They used to play like this often anyway; as long as they were happy playing together.
When Wen Ran was using skills to take the Blue, Nan Xi, who was originally going to start the Dragon and had already gone around, specifically used a movement skill to come back and use Smite to help Wen Ran secure it.
“Damn, Nineteen, you’re a real one!” Wen Ran hadn’t experienced this kind of treatment for a long time. With the Blue Buff under his feet, he made a finger heart gesture in front of Nan Xi. “Watch me carry you this game!”
Nan Xi gave a faint “Mn.”
The viewers in the live stream were going insane—
[Nan Xi? If you’ve been kidnapped by this sprayer, just blink.]
[Giving Blue, giving Red, and even giving the Dragon. Dawn, what did you do to my husband??]
[Why do my Junglers use Smite to steal Blue, while this one comes back specifically to help take it? Nan Xi, you really know how to play!]
[The League’s coldest and most ruthless cool Jungler has actually been reduced to a Buff-leashing tool. Is this a distortion of human nature or a loss of morality?]
[Perhaps, did you guys see Nan Xi’s ID just now? ‘Want to protect Little Wen.’ This Little Wen couldn’t be this little sprayer, right?]
[No way, no way. Thinking with your toes tells you that’s impossible. Maybe they are just friends playing together.]
[Exactly. Who could stand Dawn, acting like everyone’s Daddy every day?]
[Then why does Dawn call Nan Xi ‘Nineteen’?]
[Could it be Nan Xi’s nickname?]
[Then the relationship is definitely not simple.]
Wen Ran didn’t look at the dense barrage of comments, focusing on the game.
Although a long time had passed, the familiar gameplay made Wen Ran feel completely unconstrained in front of Nan Xi. In the second game, the opposing Jungler picked a hero that countered Wen Ran and ganked him several times. Although Wen Ran’s KDA was still positive, he played with extra trepidation.
“He’s ganking me again!” Wen Ran was taken out by the Jungler who suddenly popped out, and he slammed the keyboard hard. “How can there be such a ‘Lao Liu’ (campy/sneaky) hero like Snake Man!”
“Daddy has to play a round of Snake Man next game. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!”
Wen Ran finished speaking angrily, then thought of something. “Forget it, Nineteen, you play this next game. Avenge me!”
Nan Xi responded very gently:
“Mn, okay.”
Wen Ran just said it casually, but he didn’t expect Nan Xi to actually pick Snake Man next and even secure the MVP.
You didn’t have to be that literal.
Wen Ran queued with Nan Xi for four games. By the time they finished, it was almost twelve o’clock. Nan Xi took care of him in every single game. When they played at that internet cafe before, Nan Xi was like this. Now that so much time had passed, he was actually even more attentive than before.
After Wen Ran went offline, he chatted with Nan Xi a bit on WeChat:
[Wen Ran: Good thing I carried tonight, otherwise I really would have let down those dozens of Buffs you gave me.]
[Jian Yu: Did you have fun?]
[Wen Ran: Of course I had fun.]
[Jian Yu: Then can I play with you again next time?]
[Wen Ran: Just invite me when you see I’m online.]
His coordination with Nan Xi was very comfortable, and only a fool would refuse a Jungler who took such good care of him!
[Jian Yu: Wen Ran, do you blame me for leaving without saying goodbye back then?]
Jian Yu thought for a long time before finally taking the initiative to send this message.
He owed Wen Ran an apology.
[Wen Ran: Do you want to hear the truth?]
[Jian Yu: …Mn.]
[Wen Ran: When I saw you hadn’t come back, I went out and looked for you. On the third day, I went to the police station, but I couldn’t even say your name, so I couldn’t file a case.]
[Wen Ran: I looked for you myself for ten days or so. A shop proprietress told me someone fitting my description was picked up by a luxury car.]
[Wen Ran: So I figured you probably went home.]
[Wen Ran: I was actually quite angry at the time. Rebellious son, going home without saying a word, making your Daddy worry for nothing!]
Jian Yu looked at the text Wen Ran sent. Wen Ran had definitely been worried about him, yet now he could send it using such understated language.
It made the guilt and sadness in his heart deepen.
[Jian Yu: Sorry.]
[Wen Ran: But… having a home to return to is pretty good.]
Unlike him, who was escaping from that place.
[Jian Yu: I promise you, it won’t happen again in the future.]
Absolutely will not leave without saying goodbye, leaving you alone.
[Wen Ran: Mn mn, Daddy knows.]
[Wen Ran: Won’t stay angry at my son.]
Jian Yu looked at those two messages and couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile. Wen Ran was still the same as before.
He opened his Weibo and edited a post to send.
[Today is suitable for duo queueing and ranking up.]
There were quickly comments from fans below.
Nan Xi usually picked a few to reply to.
[–Did Nan Xi gain a lot of points tonight?]
[–Mn, gained four stars.]
[–I saw you in Dawn’s stream. You were both so amazing!]
[–Thank you.]
[–Nineteen, Nineteen, is that your nickname? It sounds so cute.]
[–You cannot call me that. That form of address belongs to Dawn.]
Fans: ???
That very night, someone secretly created a CP (couple/shipping) super-topic for the two of them.
[Sisters, I never thought there would be a day I’d ship a CP from two different teams.]
[Tonight’s stream was real. Anyone who watched knows. Nan Xi, famous for being cold and ruthless, actually responded to every request from Dawn. My boyfriend doesn’t even do that when playing with me.]
[And “Avenge me.” It feels wrong no matter how I look at it.]
[Come on, those can be explained by being good brothers. But Nan Xi personally replied that we’re not allowed to call him Nineteen, only Dawn can. Oh my god, what is happening?]
[Wuwu, my husband ran off with another team’s sprayer!]
—
Team DS traded wins and losses in Group A, basically maintaining a winning streak.
There was an unshakable iron law in the esports circle: reformed teams are very strong.
Since “Ling Xiao” was a multiplayer cooperative team game, players not only had to pay attention to their own mechanics but also to the system and coordination. As opponents, naturally, others would study their playstyle. As a “new five-man group,” DS’s main carry, Wen Ran, had no recorded match data. Based merely on the existing matches, they couldn’t figure out his playstyle, so DS advanced triumphantly.
Wen Ran also had more time off.
The S/A Seeding Match was still ten days away.
The opponent was Team UA.
Team UA was quite an oddity. Other teams reinforced their rosters, but UA sold off most of their veteran players, leaving two veterans to lead three rookies. Now playing in the S Group, they couldn’t beat anyone. Almost everyone was certain they would definitely drop down.
Even the coach’s tactical planning was much more relaxed than before.
However, Wen Ran felt something was wrong recently.
If it were before, Jiang Yan would wish he could stick to him all day long. But in the past few days, even though Wen Ran had moved back home to stay, Jiang Yan didn’t seem very interested in teasing him.
Sometimes, even when Wen Ran played games with Song Zixuan at home all day, Jiang Yan wouldn’t say a single word to him.
Maybe he was busy.
Wen Ran lowered his eyes, intending to find some snacks for the kitten.
The little guy had been pestering him for a long time.
As soon as he walked to the balcony, he heard that familiar lazy and loose voice: “How big of an ego do you have that I have to go pick you up?”
He didn’t mean to eavesdrop on Jiang Yan’s call; he was just passing by. Reason told Wen Ran he should leave quickly—even for a boyfriend, this was impolite—but his feet seemed rooted to the spot.
Soon, he heard Jiang Yan laugh lightly. “Really can’t do anything with you.”
“Definitely on time. How could I make the Eldest Miss wait?”
Because Jiang Yan’s back was turned, Wen Ran couldn’t see his face, only hear the ease in his tone.
Eldest Miss…
Who is that?
Jiang Yan had never mentioned her to him.
Wen Ran returned to his room empty-handed. Not seeing the snacks, the kitten meowed and lay on the floor acting coquettish. Wen Ran reached out to rub its belly, and the kitten hugged his finger with its short legs.
Its round, big eyes were deadly cute.
The kitten was curious about everything, so Wen Ran could only play with it.
By the time the kitten finally got tired of playing and fell asleep in Wen Ran’s arms, it was already 7:15.
Wen Ran put the cat on the chair, stood up abruptly, and walked out of the room.
The door to Jiang Yan’s room was tightly closed.
He struggled internally for a moment before trying to knock twice. No one opened.
Instead, Song Zixuan heard the knocking and shouted to him, “Wen Ran, are you looking for my brother?”
“Mn,” Wen Ran lied casually. “Wanted to ask him something.”
“He left at six-thirty,” Song Zixuan said. “He told me he won’t be back tonight either.”
Tonight… not coming back…
And he didn’t even tell me.
Wen Ran clenched his fists. “Oh…”
“If it’s nothing important, just say it tomorrow,” Song Zixuan winked. “After all, interrupting someone’s date tonight wouldn’t be good.”
This sentence was like a bolt from the blue to Wen Ran.
He squeezed the words out of his mouth with difficulty: “…Date?”
“Yeah,” Song Zixuan didn’t notice Wen Ran’s abnormality at all and continued, “He probably went to pick up Mu Yan. I just saw Mu Yan say on her Moments that she lands at 7 PM tonight.”
Wen Ran was stunned. “Mu Yan, who is that?”
“My brother’s childhood sweetheart,” Song Zixuan told him. “She’s incredibly good-looking.”
“Totally goddess-level!”
“You know, the ‘ideal type’ I told you about before.”
Boom!
Wen Ran felt his brain explode for an instant.
As Song Zixuan spoke, he found a photo from his album and handed it to Wen Ran. “Here, look. Isn’t she beautiful? And she matches my brother so well.”
The photo must have been taken when Jiang Yan was in high school. At dusk, he was wearing his school uniform, looking lazily at the camera.
Beside him, the girl had soft, long hair, her bangs blown by the breeze, her eyes containing a smile.
They looked just like a legendary couple.
It seemed that in campus novels, this was the matching school hunk and goddess.
Wen Ran clenched his hands until his knuckles turned white.
He asked hoarsely, “Are they friends?”
“They are childhood sweethearts,” Song Zixuan corrected him. “Much closer than friends, okay?”
“Wen Ran, you don’t know what ‘childhood sweethearts’ means, do you?”
“…I know,” Wen Ran said somewhat bitterly.
“Sigh, back then we all thought my brother and Mu Yan were a good match. It’s just that Mu Yan went abroad. Now that she’s back, isn’t the opportunity right in front of them?” Song Zixuan tsked twice. “If things move fast, they might talk it out and get together tonight.”
“Tomorrow I might have to call Mu Yan ‘Sister-in-law’.”
Wen Ran felt his chest was stuffy, making it a bit hard to breathe.
“Maybe… it’s not like that.”
“What do you mean?” Song Zixuan said. “I know my brother very well. If he meets someone he likes, he definitely won’t be cowardly.”
“Otherwise, why would he be so certain about not coming back tonight?” Song Zixuan looked secretive. “Besides, with his conditions, if not to wait for Mu Yan, why would he have remained single all this time?”
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