Chapter 7: UOOW
After finishing his daydream, Shen Yanjin didn’t look at the reply. He tossed the phone aside, closed the laptop, stood up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
When decorating back then, he had intentionally left ample space for the kitchen and installed a huge floor-to-ceiling glass window inside. Standing high up, one could look down on the scenery of the entire city. It was currently afternoon, and the hazy, warm sunlight spilled down, a golden expanse, exceptionally soft. A rare sunny day in winter, dissipating much of the chill.
Outside the window were high-rise buildings, bustling streets, and winding little alleys in the old city district. Everything was so strange yet familiar, carrying an indescribable nostalgia.
Bincheng had changed a lot over the years, yet seemed not to have changed at all.
Suddenly, a ringtone rang out, shattering this moment of tranquility. Shen Yanjin came back to his senses, put down the cup, and returned to the living room.
The call was from Lu Hui.
“Hello? Little Gold, are you up?” His voice sounded thick with the exhaustion of a hangover, his speech slurring as if his tongue couldn’t straighten. “Hiss, why does my head hurt so much…”
Shen Yanjin said, “Why else? You drank too little.”
“Kao.” Lu Hui was amused. “It’s weird though. You drank even a bit more than me yesterday, why are you so energetic while I’m so weak? Is this the power of youth?”
Shen Yanjin heard him joking around and laughed. “Alright, spill it if you have something to say.”
Lu Hui paused on the other end. Knowing his childhood friend didn’t like beating around the bush, he cut straight to the chase. “Little Gold, your parents know you’re back.”
Hearing the words “parents,” the muscles in Shen Yanjin’s back suddenly tensed, then slowly relaxed.
His fingers holding the phone unconsciously clenched tight, knuckles protruding and turning slightly white from the force, but his voice remained as usual: “Okay, I know.”
“Little Gold…”
Lu Hui stopped, hesitating.
He and Shen Yanjin had grown up wearing the same pair of pants; he knew the messy business of Shen Yanjin’s family inside out.
Five years ago, Bincheng was still a fairly closed-off small town. Shen Yanjin dropping out of school to play esports was considered pure rebellion against heaven. The commotion caused back then was so huge that Lu Hui remembered it to this day. Father Shen and Mother Shen opposed it with all their might, beating and scolding him, but Shen Yanjin had planned and prepared well, submitting his withdrawal application early on.
This act of “act first, report later” exceeded everyone’s expectations. Father Shen and Mother Shen had no choice but to lock Shen Yanjin at home, forbidding him from taking a single step out the door.
Later, no one knew what happened to make Father Shen and Mother Shen change their minds and kick this unfilial son out of the house. Shen Yanjin was tough too; carrying injuries all over his body, he dragged a suitcase and ran to the train station.
When he left, Lu Hui and a few friends had even gone to send him off.
Inside the train station late at night, the lights were dim yellow. The thin teenager had bruises at the corner of his mouth and walked with a limp. Seeing them arrive, he waved enthusiastically, acting as if nothing was wrong.
Lu Hui asked him what exactly happened, but Shen Yanjin avoided answering, only smiling and shaking his head.
After a simple farewell to his friends, seventeen-year-old Shen Yanjin went to Cloud City, thousands of miles away from home, without looking back, gone for five years.
In these five years, Shen Yanjin hadn’t returned once, and had cut off contact with friends like them. And as far as Lu Hui knew, he hadn’t even contacted Father Shen and Mother Shen once.
He seemed to have long thrown this small town to the back of his mind, forgetting it completely.
Sometimes Lu Hui also wondered—five or six years of deep friendship and biological parents, cut off just like that. Was Shen Yanjin really such a cold-blooded animal who could easily discard all feelings?
But he felt that wasn’t the case.
“Don’t worry,” Shen Yanjin’s tone sounded light as ever. “By the way, since I’m rarely back, find a time to call Old Hai and the others. Let’s all have a meal together.”
“Sure, that’s a given.”
An outsider shouldn’t say too much about other people’s family matters. Seeing Shen Yanjin change the subject, Lu Hui stopped there, laughed, and agreed readily.
Hanging up the phone, Shen Yanjin ruffled his hair in annoyance. They say when a person is unlucky, cold water gets stuck in their teeth. Sure enough, bad things always appeared in groups.
He sat back in front of the computer. His mouse hovered over the queue button on the WL client, not clicking it for a long time. Shen Yanjin still had some self-awareness; he felt his current mentality couldn’t withstand the critical hit of idiot teammates. After hesitating for a bit, he gave up queuing.
Instead, he picked up his phone and skillfully drilled into RedMoon’s Super Topic.
Learning from his mistake this time, he first cautiously checked that he hadn’t logged into the wrong account, then peacefully began admiring the beautiful pictures of Duan Mingyue in the Super Topic.
When he scrolled to the latest hot post, his finger paused, and his brow furrowed.
The OP of this hot post was a long-time fan who frequently posted photos and fan art of Moon God, as well as interesting anecdotes from Moon God’s streams. Shen Yanjin had chatted with her a few times in the fan group, so they were fairly familiar.
This time, what she posted were pictures from Moon God’s stream today, with a video below, captioned: “Moon God broke his vow and typed to defend someone! So jealous! I really envy this passerby Missy!”
Duan Mingyue was straightforward and had a cheerful personality. He often talked smack when streaming or duo-queueing, but he always adhered to one iron rule—during the game, no matter what the opponents or teammates said, he would not reply, at most sending an emoji.
From rumors Shen Yanjin heard in the pro circle, this habit seemed to stem from when Duan Mingyue first started playing professionally. He was maliciously messed with for typing in ranked, resulting in a four-game suspension that directly buried the entire team’s hope of entering the playoffs.
That was the only season the KW team didn’t make the playoffs. Since then, Duan Mingyue almost never interacted with anyone during the game. Only during the preparation phase would he reply to teammates depending on his mood.
Yet now, Duan Mingyue actually typed in public chat to defend a passerby? And a Missy at that!
Shen Yanjin instantly ground his teeth in jealousy, as if he had eaten a hundred lemons, the sourness surging up uncontrollably.
He had known for a long time that he was gay and liked the same sex. So his feelings as a fan of Duan Mingyue were half admiration and half romantic love, commonly known as a “boyfriend fan.”
Shen Yanjin also felt he was quite obsessed. Before, when he was also a pro player in the same circle, it was okay. Now that he had retired, he was evidently no different from other fans, making this thought even more unrealistic and fragile.
Fortunately, Duan Mingyue lived up to his name. Tall, handsome, good family background, yet never attached to anyone. Even with women on the team, no unsavory rumors had ever spread. Like the moon, untouchable by anyone.
A situation like this had never happened before.
Shen Yanjin held back from watching the video and clicked into the comments section first to scout the situation.
Top comment 1:
[Why do I feel Moon God and the Missy are kinda sweet? #Doge #Doge]
Top comment 2:
[Too sweet, too sweet, really so shippable, tearing up. Moon God, such a cool and aloof man, even rejected Lucida’s duo invite, yet publicly expressed he wanted to duo with the Missy. They are real!]
Top comment 3:
[Hahahaha the Missy is really so cute, and her mechanics are so sharp, even helping Moon God flame people. The most crucial thing is Moon God actually spoke up for the Missy too! Too sweet!]
Kao.
Reading one after another, Shen Yanjin’s heart grew colder the more he read.
Although he was a boyfriend fan, he was definitely not a brain-dead fan. On the contrary, he was very rational.
If one day Duan Mingyue got a girlfriend, Shen Yanjin would only offer blessings.
But…
No matter how sober and open-minded he was, some heartache was unavoidable.
He took a deep breath and clicked on the video. He wanted to see exactly which “wild boar” had rooted up this “Chinese cabbage” that was Duan Mingyue.
Ten minutes later.
Shen Yanjin’s face was flushed red. He buried his face in his arms, truly having no face to continue watching.
And in the headphones, Duan Mingyue laughed lightly: “Hearing you guys say that, the synergy does seem a bit good. How about I ask Shadow Missy after this game?”
BOOM!
Shen Yanjin felt like his head was about to explode, all the blood in his body rushing upwards at once.
The AD with sharp mechanics just now turned out to be Duan Mingyue!
H-he-he even questioned Duan Mingyue’s skill, asking if his aim was true?
And called Duan Mingyue “Brother”??
Duan Mingyue even replied to him???
The wild boar who rooted the cabbage without knowing it turned out to be myself!
Suddenly changing from a sour passerby to the sweet protagonist, Shen Yanjin couldn’t quite handle the drop for a moment. He listened numbly to the crisp sound of the keyboard as Duan Mingyue typed, then abruptly stood up and went to the kitchen to pour another glass of water.
Thinking thankfully as he drank: Luckily I used a smurf account no one knows. Although Sliver’s reputation is already very bad, this matter would be an explosion on another level. People need face like trees need bark; if this really got out, Shen Yanjin could move to another planet.
The mood that had been depressed by Lu Hui’s call suddenly cleared up. Shen Yanjin hummed a little tune, liked the video, and retweeted it.
[@MoonGodsSweetSupport: o(////▽////)q So sweet! Shipping it! // @MoonlightCoolLikeWater: Moon God broke his vow and typed to defend someone! So jealous! I really envy this support Missy! [Video] [Screenshot]]
After retweeting, he drilled into the fan group. Sure enough, the group was already fully blossoming, discussing who exactly this passerby sister was. Someone even made various analyses based on playstyle and item build habits, bringing up several names from the esports and streaming circles, with Sliver listed among them.
Fortunately, Shen Yanjin had long had his edges worn smooth by pig teammates, plus he was too lazy to roam and kept following the AD, which cleared him of the biggest suspicion.
Shen Yanjin watched the little sisters in the group twittering with jealousy or envy, and an unprecedented sense of superiority welled up in his heart—
The special person who made Duan Mingyue make an exception was himself.
Even though this was just a trivial matter, and Duan Mingyue would probably forget it the moment he turned his head, it didn’t stop Shen Yanjin from treasuring it in his heart.
Again, he was a man, and Duan Mingyue was straight. And in five years of professional play, the two hadn’t even been friends. Developing any relationship was basically a fantasy, an impossible matter.
Shen Yanjin would fantasize, but wouldn’t be delusional. Being able to unintentionally possess a secret memory like this, he was already very satisfied.
The WeChat notification sound ding-donged. Shen Yanjin came back to his senses and found a new friend request.
Who would look for him at this time?
Shen Yanjin clicked in, then froze.
The nickname of the person adding him was clear at a glance, and the remark was concise and comprehensive.
[Catball Streaming – Xu Hao: Hello, I am the person in charge at Catball Streaming. I would like to ask Sliver, do you have any plans to sign with a streaming platform?]
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