Chapter 20: Future Plans
The gathering place Lu Hui mentioned was the small restaurant they had eaten at before.
When Shen Yanjin pushed open the door to the private room, looking at the familiar yet strange faces inside, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of dizziness.
He was stunned at first, then smiled: “Old Hai? Brother Yu? Little Orange? Damn… it’s only been a few years, has time been so rough on you guys?”
Hearing this, Fan Cheng hooked his arm around his neck, shook him back and forth twice, and laughed loudly: “What do you mean, kid? You’re the only one who hasn’t been roughed up, huh!”
Old Hai, now a married man, calmly pried open a beer bottle and poured three full glasses of white liquor: “Come, come, come, old rules. The last one to arrive drinks three glasses as a penalty. Be self-aware.”
Yu Xiangwen wore glasses and looked gentle and refined, but unexpectedly, he added another glass next to the three with a backhand, smiling slightly: “Make it four. This kid has no conscience, must add an extra glass.”
Lu Hui was making a fuss on the side.
Shen Yanjin suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, didn’t decline, picked up the glass, raised his head, and downed it in one go.
This glass was larger than ordinary white liquor glasses. After four glasses were poured, the bottle was already half empty.
Shen Yanjin downed half a bottle of white liquor in one breath. After drinking, he turned the glass upside down to show there was no residue.
Fan Cheng originally wanted to pretend to stop him, but seeing this, he was dumbfounded: “Holy sh*t? Jinzi, how is your alcohol tolerance still so fierce?”
Old Hai smiled and lit a cigarette: “Look, what did I tell you? This kid is a liquor gourd; he drinks as if nothing happened no matter how much.”
Fan Cheng said strangely: “Even so, you shouldn’t gulp down so much in one breath… Waiter? Hurry up and serve the dishes to our private room. Let us pad our stomachs, don’t ruin our stomachs.”
After speaking, he said to Yu Xiangwen again: “Brother Yu is also sneaky bad, adding an extra glass. Jinzi is an internet-addicted teenager, can he handle it?”
Yu Xiangwen hurriedly raised his hands in surrender.
Lu Hui laughed: “Mama Orange, stop nagging, the child knows he’s wrong.”
Shen Yanjin laughed despite himself: “Are you guys all performing a crosstalk here?”
Fan Cheng rolled his eyes saying “Don’t randomly recognize mothers,” while pressing Shen Yanjin’s shoulder, pushing him into a seat.
Having not seen each other for a few years, the relationship between the five hadn’t become distant at all. At first, Shen Yanjin felt a bit guilty because of the total lack of news all these years. Plus, having not met for so long, most of the time it was just the other four roasting each other while he cheered on the side.
Later, when slightly tipsy, he completely let go, digging out all kinds of ancient embarrassing stories.
Shen Yanjin was tight-lipped back then and looked obedient. Being in the small group, he had very good relationships with everyone. So no matter who encountered what, they always loved to discuss it with him first.
The result was that five years later, Shen Yanjin became the person holding the most leverage among them.
The other four were dizzy from being exposed by him and hurriedly used alcohol to stop his mouth.
Halfway through drinking, Lu Hui’s phone rang.
He looked down at the screen, his dizzy head suddenly sobering up by half. Like a thief, he stole a glance at Shen Yanjin. Seeing the person still drinking and talking nonsense, he quickly retracted his gaze, stood up and said: “I’m going out to take a call.”
Old Hai lifted his eyelids half-drunkenly: “What’s up? Wife checking in?”
Lu Hui mumbled a few vague responses.
Walking out of the private room, he stood in the corridor and answered the phone: “Hello, Auntie Shen…”
On the other side was Shen Yanjin’s mother.
Ever since learning that Shen Yanjin returned to the city, Mother Shen frequently contacted Lu Hui secretly, asking about Shen Yanjin’s recent situation in roundabout ways.
Lu Hui couldn’t figure out what this family was doing. They’d rather ask him, an outsider, than have a good face-to-face talk.
He guessed it should be related to Shen Yanjin being kicked out of the house five years ago. Subconsciously feeling he shouldn’t probe too deep, and not daring to provoke either side, he had to suffer being caught in the middle.
The Shen parents were both academics, and the family atmosphere was relatively serious, yet they raised such an unreliable Shen Yanjin. Lu Hui still found it a bit incredible.
Mother Shen coughed lightly twice: “Xiao Hui, are you outside? Sorry to disturb you.”
Lu Hui forced himself to be energetic: “It’s fine… I’m drinking with Little Gold right now.”
Mother Shen paused: “Is Yanjin okay?”
Lu Hui had answered this question thousands of times in the past few days. He rubbed his brow: “He looks pretty good.”
Mother Shen was silent for a while, then said: “Did he… say anything about his future plans after coming back now? Is he planning to find a job or?”
Lu Hui smiled helplessly: “Auntie Shen, I really don’t know about this. Little Gold never mentioned it… I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
Mother Shen sighed: “Sorry to trouble you.”
The phone hung up. Lu Hui wiped his face and drilled back into the private room.
Old friends gathered, everyone drank to their heart’s content. Shen Yanjin was rarely drunk. He lay dazed on the table, muttering something.
Lu Hui was also dizzy, but because he kept Mother Shen’s question in mind, he still retained a trace of clarity at this moment.
He put his arm around Shen Yanjin’s shoulder, slurring his words to fish for information: “Jinzi… tell me the truth, what exactly are your plans coming back now?”
Shen Yanjin didn’t want to pay attention to him at first. Later, getting annoyed by the questions, he waved his hand angrily: “Don’t know!”
Lu Hui didn’t believe it: “Tr-treating me as an outsider, huh?”
Shen Yanjin shook his head: “No… no… I’m also waiting…”
Lu Hui didn’t understand: “Waiting? Waiting for what?”
Shen Yanjin was completely confused. He struggled to say: “Waiting… for my moon to guide my direction!”
Leaving this sentence with unclear meaning, he gave a silly smile and fell completely drunk.
Lu Hui was completely baffled.
Moon? What moon?
Why does it sound so literary?
The next day, Shen Yanjin woke up in his own home.
Supporting his head which was aching from the hangover, he looked around the familiar furnishings, but couldn’t recall how he got home last night for a long time.
Checking the time, it was already 10 AM.
After a simple wash up, Shen Yanjin sat at the dining table, hurriedly stuffing some bread into himself as breakfast.
There were no new messages on his phone, only an extra chat group out of nowhere. Shen Yanjin vaguely remembered it was created by Lu Hui last night, pulling the five of them in.
The group was very quiet; seemed the others hadn’t woken up yet.
He casually sent a 70s style “Good Morning” emoji pack, then turned to reply to Yue Fengling.
The chat history still paused at where Yue Fengling advised him to “give it a try.” Shen Yanjin was very confused yesterday and didn’t know how to reply for a moment, so he put it aside for the time being.
Now his thoughts were much clearer. Organizing his language, he typed.
[Sliver: What if I want to go to your team?]
Yue Fengling was probably looking at his phone, replying instantly.
[WOF-Mountain: Not impossible, but you need to fight our starting support plus two substitute supports.]
The WOF team seemed born with a magnetic field attracting supports. They didn’t have much of anything else, but they had especially many support players. However, all three were inconsistent players, their performance depending heavily on their state that day, fluctuating wildly. Rotating the starting lineup was a common occurrence.
This season the situation improved; one support finally began to stabilize, and WOF’s momentum grew stronger with it.
Shen Yanjin just said it casually. Hearing this, he laughed: Ho, it’s an elimination system?
Yue Fengling couldn’t be bothered to talk nonsense with him, replying casually with a period.
Shen Yanjin smiled: However, my requirement remains unchanged. Unless RedMoon personally begs me to go to KW, I won’t go back.
Yue Fengling raised an eyebrow. Saying this once was fine, could be taken as a joke. Saying it twice felt a bit off.
[WOF-Mountain: You serious?]
[Sliver: En.]
[WOF-Mountain: …To be honest, a bit challenging.]
[Sliver: I will work hard.]
Yue Fengling was a smart person. Hearing this, he quickly connected the recent events in the esports circle with this remark.
[WOF-Mountain: So that’s why you used a smurf to create so many trending topics with RedMoon? …That Moon Steed is RedMoon?]
[WOF-Mountain: You’re taking a rather unconventional path.]
[Sliver: OwO What are you saying? Why can’t I understand a single word~]
[WOF-Mountain: …]
[WOF-Mountain: Say straight what you need me to do.]
Yue Fengling didn’t believe for a second that Shen Yanjin would reveal his hand to him for no reason. This guy definitely had something to ask him to do.
Speaking with smart people was easy.
Shen Yanjin hooked the corner of his mouth.
[Sliver: Not a big deal. If we meet in ranked later, just cooperate with me to act out some scenes—of course! It definitely won’t be some melodramatic drama. Just be a witness, cooperate with me to shape the character, proving UOOW is a real person.]
[WOF-Mountain: To reduce RedMoon’s suspicion and make him recruit you into the team?]
[Sliver: Bingo~]
[WOF-Mountain: Then I’d really feel sorry for RedMoon.]
[Sliver: Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. You definitely won’t take the blame. Just say if you’ll help or not.]
Yue Fengling looked at the chat box, holding his forehead.
He and Shen Yanjin were half contemporaries. Although they couldn’t be considered close enough to talk about everything, they had a tacit understanding without words.
Yue Fengling more or less knew a bit about Shen Yanjin’s messy thoughts regarding KW and RedMoon.
Shen Yanjin speaking openly to him now meant he was certain Yue Fengling wouldn’t blabber around, nor would he refuse.
Yue Fengling sighed.
[WOF-Mountain: You’re playing for real now.]
[Sliver: En.]
[WOF-Mountain: I got it.]
Shen Yanjin smiled with satisfaction. He exited the chat box and dialed Dr. Li instead.
The call connected quickly: “Hello?”
Shen Yanjin said: “Dr. Li, this is Shen Yanjin.”
Dr. Li was a bit surprised: “It’s only been a few days, you’ve already decided? This isn’t a small matter!”
Shen Yanjin lowered his eyes, looking at the blue veins on his wrist: “No… I wanted to ask, can my wrist undergo delaying treatment for now? Like physical therapy or something.”
Dr. Li understood: “You want to drag it out further? Actually, it’s not impossible, but I must remind you, this isn’t a long-term solution. Your wrist condition is really serious. Dragging it too long, the consequences might be worse than surgery failure.”
Shen Yanjin breathed a sigh of relief: “I understand. I just need a buffer time.”
Dr. Li asked keenly: “Mr. Shen, you aren’t still training, are you?”
Shen Yanjin paused, then smiled bitterly: “I already retired…”
Dr. Li was noncommittal: “Your wrist must rest more, preferably not moving at all. Physical therapy can only temporarily improve your condition…” Speaking of this, he paused. Having been the attending physician for quite a few esports players, he knew clearly he couldn’t persuade Shen Yanjin. He sighed and said: “I’ll help you book a physical therapist. The earliest is this afternoon, is that okay?”
Shen Yanjin hurriedly said: “That couldn’t be better.”
Hanging up the phone, a big stone in his heart landed. He let out a long breath.
Duo-queueing with Duan Mingyue yesterday, reuniting after a long time, his emotions were truly too agitated. Sensibility far exceeded rationality; many things couldn’t be thought through carefully.
Thinking about it now, that sentence from Duan Mingyue that made him feel lost for a long time was actually more like a hint.
Think about it, didn’t he enter the professional circle and join HG Team back then just to prove his ability to Duan Mingyue, and make Duan Mingyue look at him with new eyes?
And now, the best opportunity was right in front of him. Since he had the chance to duo queue with Duan Mingyue, the stage for his performance was as big as he wanted.
It was just that Shen Yanjin had duo-queued with Duan Mingyue for half a month before, and was a former pro player. A bunch of operation videos could be easily found online. He wasn’t sure if Duan Mingyue would recognize him. To be safe, Shen Yanjin asked Yue Fengling to play a double act with him.
Everything was ready, only the east wind was lacking.
At this moment, the message notification sounded ding-dong. Someone in the five-person chat group woke up.
[Lu Hui: Morning.]
[Lu Hui: How did I get back last night… forgot everything.]
[Lu Hui: Just remember blabbering with Little Gold when leaving… Little Gold even said something about waiting for his moon to point out the direction?]
[Lu Hui: What does this mean? @Sliver]
Shen Yanjin’s ears turned red.
Drinking like that yesterday, how could he remember what exactly he said.
But truth comes out after drinking; these words were indeed Shen Yanjin’s true feelings.
The twenty percent surgery success rate made him daunting, afraid to move forward.
But if Duan Mingyue personally told him that he needed him.
Then, even if there were mountains of blades and seas of fire ahead, Shen Yanjin would go forward without hesitation.
📖 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
