【59】 Match-Fixers Are Lying Down Counting Money; It’s Not Our Place to Feel Sad for Others
Jiang Yan’s heart was a tangled mess. He could guess that Wen Ran should be at the base, but esports bases did not allow outsiders to enter. Jiang Yan couldn’t just tell them he was Dawn’s partner.
He had also tried writing cards, ordering takeout, and flowers to be sent to Wen Ran, but without Wen Ran’s new phone number, the original number couldn’t get through at all.
Plus, Wen Ran was about to play a very important Seeding Match, so Jiang Yan didn’t dare think of any more forceful methods.
This resulted in Song Zixuan being unable to stay at home these past few days. having caused such a huge disaster. The air pressure around Jiang Yan alone was enough to suffocate him. If not for their blood relation, Song Zixuan felt he might have been flayed alive.
To preserve his personal safety, he sought refuge with his friends.
He didn’t dare wander aimlessly in front of Jiang Yan.
The Seeding Match was held in City S. Knowing Wen Ran would be coming, Xiao Huang felt it necessary to fulfill the duties of a host.
He proactively messaged Wen Ran:
[Stinking Brat: Little Sprayer, I have to stream tonight. You’re not in a rush to leave this time, right? Your brother is treating you to a meal.]
[Little Sprayer: ? No respect for elders, trying to take advantage of your Daddy?]
[Stinking Brat: Wow, you person. I’m specifically treating you to dinner, can’t you just pretend not to see that form of address?]
So annoying. I’m not even allowed to secretly take a little advantage.
[Little Sprayer: No.]
[Stinking Brat: However, for the sake of your match today, I won’t haggle with you.]
[Stinking Brat: Wait until I meet you in Group S, I’ll definitely beat you until you explode.]
Xiao Huang knew about Team UA. When meeting them, it was no exaggeration to say it was like slicing vegetables.
With Wen Ran’s strength, crushing UA’s Mid-laner in the lane would be absolutely no problem.
[Little Sprayer: Thanks, I’ll take extra care of you.]
Xiao Huang remembered his various tragic ways of dying. Those who played Assassin Mages were all dark and shady, popping out from who-knows-where like ghosts.
[Stinking Brat: Go away, go away, don’t touch me. Streaming your match tonight, don’t embarrass me.]
Because this Seeding Match was quite interesting to watch, the viewership was high. Since Xiao Huang was a relatively famous star player, his stream immediately filled with people.
[What title did Xiao Huang put up today? Watching Dawn’s match? Are they on such good terms?]
[Son, why are you hanging out with that tumor Dawn?]
[Didn’t they fight a while ago? Xiao Huang directly called Dawn short on Weibo, and Dawn replied to him.]
[Be bolder. Maybe Xiao Huang is here to mock him.]
“I’m not!” Xiao Huang saw this comment just as he finished adjusting the camera. “My relationship with Dawn is pretty good. I’m his brother!”
Anyway, Wen Ran was in the arena now, so Xiao Huang wasn’t afraid of being discovered by him at all. “Don’t talk about my Brother Ran like that.”
[Hahaha damn, Brother Ran. Xiao Huang’s guts are really getting bigger.]
[What virtue or ability does Dawn have for my son to like him so much? I’ve never seen him specifically watch anyone’s match.]
[Son is so cute. But are you sure you are his brother, not him being your Daddy?]
Xiao Huang: “…”
[I don’t understand. You’re a perfectly good star player; wouldn’t it be better to interact with other pro players? Look at his reputation; aren’t you afraid it will affect you?]
[Turn-off. Why does a good kid like you insist on hanging out with someone like him?]
[Exactly. A scrub who picked up Night Heart’s leftovers, trash who got famous by cursing. Bu Mie, I really misjudged you.]
“What do you mean ‘someone like him’?” Xiao Huang had never scolded anyone in his stream before. “Dawn is my friend. You haven’t interacted with him, so what right do you have to define him?”
“First, let me clarify, I’m not inciting any rhythm (drama),” Xiao Huang said. “Dawn being a starter relies entirely on his own strength. It was Night Heart who couldn’t play. If you’re dissatisfied, go tell the League; don’t bombard Dawn here.”
“Also, don’t casually call a pro player a noob. Dawn’s skill level is very high. Please go catch up on his matches and see how many MVPs he’s won before you open your mic.” Xiao Huang’s face was cold. “Mods, please mute those people just now.”
“Everyone is here to watch the match; pay attention to stream etiquette.”
Xiao Huang’s smooth operation stunned everyone in the live stream.
The Little Roses who were grabbing their keyboards ready to charge at those idiots: ???
Stunned for a long while, they could only spam a few sentences in the chat: [Xiao Huang is badass!]
[As expected of the Little Sprayer’s friend, the skill of roasting people hasn’t fallen behind at all.]
[Dying of laughter. You don’t understand the friendship between shorties.]
[Our Xiao Huang has always been very good and gentle to his friends.]
In the first game, DS had a clear strategy from the start, invading the jungle and breaking the opponent’s rhythm. With the economy gap rolling larger on both sides, UA couldn’t fight back at all and lost the game.
In the second game, Wen Ran got his best Assassin Mage. The bullet comments were all flaming the UA coach for having his brain kicked by a donkey—actually letting Dawn have his signature hero. That wasn’t just underestimating someone; it was asking for death.
The audience didn’t know if they saw how terrifying Renling was without a counter, but Team UA certainly felt it completely. It was simply like a ghost; if touched by a skill, one would basically die suddenly under continuous control and high burst damage.
They were beaten with no power to fight back. Score 2:0.
In the third game, Four Leaf Clover and Ivan’s bot lane duo coordinated perfectly. After Four Leaf Clover initiated team fights accurately with his ultimate multiple times, the advantage grew larger and larger. UA struggled to hold on, but eventually, their crystal was pushed.
Straight to match point.
They only needed to win one more game to advance to Group S!
But if they lost, they would have to go to the Loser’s Bracket to play the playoffs.
[DS’s form tonight is really peak. If UA keeps playing like this, I guess they’re done for.]
[For real, never seen a match that cut through melons and chopped vegetables like this. Trash like UA should hurry up and roll to Group A.]
[I originally thought they could at least hold on for two games. Why are they so bad? Looks like they’re going to get shaved bald (swept 4-0).]
The coach had originally worried about Wen Ran’s state, but he never expected that not only did Wen Ran not drop the ball at all, but he played brilliantly in every one of these three games. He didn’t disappear at all and contributed many highlight plays.
Just when he also thought this match could be won in one go, the Jungler, Qiu Shan, started acting up in the fourth game.
He confidently camped in a bush for a full-health Jingyue. Knowing that Jingyue had physical damage immunity, one usually needed to bait out the skill first. But Qiu Shan used his life-saving skill directly, was dodged by Jingyue, and then counter-killed.
He had the highest economy in the game.
Fortunately, Wen Ran arrived in time, taking down the skill-less Jingyue and mitigating the loss.
But Qiu Shan got picked off twice in a row, and even leaked vision leading to a sudden death in a key team fight.
A late-game Jingyue was very hard to deal with; almost untouchable with protection. DS lost the game.
In the fifth game, the side lane was given a warrior carry. Correspondingly, a Jungler with stronger support utility was picked. The opening advantage was huge, but Qiu Shan lost four dragons in a row, directly letting the opponent take the advantage back.
And in a late-game dragon fight, Qiu Shan simply handed the Baron over to the enemy and was the first to be taken out. DS lost again.
The bullet comments were dense:
[???]
[No way, they can throw this?]
[This Jungler is ridiculous. Helping the opponent take the dragon every time. Is his Smite control that bad?]
In the sixth game, Qiu Shan didn’t make major individual mistakes, but it was like he was invisible, completely failing to display the strength he should have had.
Team UA seemed to have been injected with chicken blood (adrenaline) and destroyed their crystal.
Both the audience and commentators had started talking about a “reverse sweep” (Let three chase four).
By this time, Wen Ran’s expression was very heavy, and the other teammates were also very unhappy.
He didn’t want to speculate about his teammates randomly, so he could only speak up: “We just need to win this game. Don’t be nervous, add oil (good luck)!”
Qiu Shan lowered his head and seemed to give a “Mn.”
In the deciding game, almost everyone was trying their best, playing extremely hard. Even so, Qiu Shan acted up again. While at a disadvantage, he went out to clear lines and was solo-killed twice, leading directly to a collapse.
“Let us congratulate UA! Recovering from 0-3 to win 4-3! They defended their place in Group S and showed everyone their strength…”
The commentator was still speaking incessantly. Wen Ran took off his headphones with a cold face. Four Leaf Clover followed suit; both of their expressions were terrible.
[Xiao Huang, what do you think of this match?]
[Help, how did they get reverse swept!]
[The Little Sprayer has a black face. Help, why does my heart ache for him a bit?]
[It’s right to feel heartache. Dawn carried so hard tonight, but he couldn’t withstand that idiot forcing opportunities for the enemy.]
[The Junglers on both sides were really ‘Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick’ (idiots). One worse than the other, Qiu Shan especially.]
[Come on, he couldn’t really carry before either. Tonight the coach actually gave him a carry hero. Now, his intestines must be green with regret.]
[Wuwuwu, I lost everything. I bet all my guessing coins on DS. Who could have thought it would end like this!]
[Blindly bet on UA, I won big!]
[Sigh, but Qiu Shan must be having a hard time too. You can tell he wanted to find opportunities. Probably his mentality collapsed later.]
[I think so too. Wanted to win too much, so he was a bit rash.]
Some viewers spoke up for him, but as a pro player, Xiao Huang could clearly see that Qiu Shan’s entire thought process was strange. Absolutely no coach in the League would teach a player like that; it looked like he didn’t want to win.
Superficially, it looked like he was rash because he wanted to win quickly. But even if camping Jingyue and losing dragons could be whitewashed, leaking vision, being solo-killed, and repeatedly entering the fray to cut the Carry without slowing/controlling first, ending up counter-killed—these operations were very suspicious.
But after all, Xiao Huang couldn’t directly incite rhythm against others. He could only use a euphemism: “I didn’t quite understand his operations. If he had changed his playstyle, the game might have ended long ago.”
The interview section today featured Qiu Shan and Wen Ran.
From the moment they stood up there, Wen Ran didn’t give Qiu Shan a single glance.
With a dark face, he looked very unhappy, while Qiu Shan lowered his head, one hand constantly picking at his clothes.
Host: “This match today must be regrettable for both of you, right? Is there anything you want to say to the fans and teammates?”
“I was too anxious and made a lot of mistakes.” Qiu Shan held the microphone. “Sorry to the fans who support us, and sorry to my teammates.”
Qiu Shan bowed, speaking sincerely. “I apologize to you all here. I will definitely double my training in the future to give everyone an explanation.”
“What about Dawn?” The host turned her gaze to Wen Ran.
“I think there was no problem with the four of us tonight,” Wen Ran said directly. “We didn’t let anyone down.”
As soon as Wen Ran said this, everyone, including the host, was stunned.
One had to know, this was a five-player team game. For Wen Ran to say “four people” now meant that one person was excluded.
“Losing the match is quite sad; Dawn is confused,” the host hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “But, as long as you did your best. You will have your next honor and victory.”
Wen Ran’s voice rang out: “Not confused.”
“I said four,” he faced the camera, his face indifferent. “Match-fixers are lying down counting money; it’s not our place to feel sad for others.”
Wen Ran slowly turned his head, his voice cold: “Isn’t that right, Qiu Shan?”
📖 Advance Access: Complete Novel
- Option 1: Note your email on PayPal/Ko-fi.
- Option 2: Email proof to beezzzreads@gmail.com.
- Option 3: Comment below.
Recommended Reads
