---

Chapter 36 – Official Joining Announcement

---

Because Qi Qiao had ended his livestream so quickly the night before, and because the audio from Pei Ming’s phone had been picked up through the stream microphone and wasn’t very clear, the incident didn’t cause a huge uproar. As planned, both Faith and Monster released their official announcements at noon.

[Faith Official Club: Welcome Ghost to Team Faith! Let’s fight side by side in the Arcana S8 season! @Ghost]

At exactly 12:00 p.m., Qi Qiao posted the official announcement Rong Qing had prepared for him.

[Ghost: I’m delighted to be joining Faith for the journey ahead. I’ll be competing as Faith’s starting mid laner in the Arcana S8 season. Thank you for having me. @Faith Official Club]

After posting it, Qi Qiao promptly followed Rong Qing’s instructions and changed his in-game ID.

The once simple “Ghost” now had Faith— in front of it.

Qi Qiao stared at Faith-Ghost for a long time.

It wasn’t until Jiang Jiang sat down beside him that he snapped out of it.

“Xiao Qiao, I tagged you in my welcome post! Come interact with me!”

Only then did Qi Qiao come back to his senses.

“Okay.”

For some reason, he felt a quiet sense of emotion welling up inside him.

It was just like when he had first met Pei Ming at the age of twelve.

Back then, he had thought he would have to face everything alone for the rest of his life.

He had never expected to find a home.

And now it was the same.

His ID had gained the prefix of a team, and there were people welcoming him.

It felt as though he had found somewhere he truly belonged.

Qi Qiao opened his notifications and, with a hint of excitement, tapped on the post where Jiang Jiang had tagged him.

[Faith-Jiang Jiang: Hehehe! I’m finally not the youngest on the team anymore! Starting today, I’m Ghost’s gege! @Faith—Ghost]

The hottest reply underneath read:

[(Reply) Ghost’s Sugar Daddy from Zhejiang: Jiang-baby, are you sure you want to replace the little brat as my precious son?]

[(Reply) Faith—Jiang Jiang: Yes, yes! Dad, send me a Brilliant Galaxy! (starry eyes) (starry eyes)]

Qi Qiao: “…”

“So… you’re going to be my brother?”

The corner of Qi Qiao’s mouth twitched.

He took several deep breaths, trying hard to keep his expression unchanged.

Jiang Jiang was still enthusiastically replying to comments on Weibo. Hearing the question, he finally looked up at Qi Qiao.

“I’m older than you…?”

“So?”

Qi Qiao asked.

“…Can’t I be your brother?”

Qi Qiao took a deep breath, just about to answer—

when a voice suddenly came from behind him.

“No.”

Jiang Jiang turned around in surprise.

Pei Ming was standing behind them, holding a cup of water. No one knew when he had walked over.

Jiang Jiang opened his mouth.

Seeing that Pei Ming was looking only at him with an unreadable expression, all the words that had reached his lips were swallowed back down.

In the end, he could only stammer, “W-Why not?”

Pei Ming took a sip of water before replying calmly,

“Mhm. No particular reason.”

After saying that, Pei Ming didn’t add another word. Carrying his glass of water, he simply walked back to his seat.

Jiang Jiang stared after him with wide eyes, spread his hands helplessly, then shook his head before lowering his voice and saying to Qi Qiao, “The captain’s like that sometimes. Totally out of nowhere.”

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Jiang folded his arms and clicked his tongue.

“I bet it was because I called myself your brother. Must’ve struck a nerve. His little brother running away from home has nothing to do with us, right, Xiao Qiao?”

Qi Qiao: “…”

Jiang Jiang had been about to complain a little more when he suddenly watched Qi Qiao stand up, drag his gaming chair over, and position it more than a meter away from him.

Jiang Jiang’s jaw dropped.

“…?”

Only after Jiang Jiang finally gave up trying to talk to him did Qi Qiao relax.

He went through Jiang Jiang’s, Ink’s, A-Kai’s, and Faith Club’s welcome posts one by one, liking, commenting, and reposting each of them.

Only then did he let out a breath and open Pei Ming’s Weibo page.

The very first post at the top read: [Welcome. Looking forward to working with you. Keep it up. @Faith-Ghost]

Although it was shorter than everyone else’s welcome message, Qi Qiao still felt as though something had gently struck his heart, filling his chest with warmth.

He gave the post a like.

Then, as before, he reposted it.

Only this time, his movements were noticeably slower.

Pei Ming rarely posted on Weibo.

But whenever he did, the posts would attract countless likes and comments.

This one was no exception.

Seeing the enormous number of replies beneath the post, Qi Qiao hesitated for a moment before tapping into the comments.

The comment sections under everyone else’s welcome posts hadn’t been anything special.

While browsing them earlier, he’d seen a fair number of hateful comments, but he hadn’t paid them much mind.

After all, he had plenty of haters himself.

But this time was different.

This was Pei Ming’s post.

Qi Qiao cared a great deal about what Pei Ming’s fans thought of him.

He opened the comment section, feeling slightly nervous.

Fortunately, the top comments were all congratulating him and welcoming him to the team.

But as he scrolled farther down, it became a battlefield.

Fans from all sides were arguing with each other.

The longest reply thread started with this comment:

[(Reply) YX Likes Green Tea: Wuwuwu, D-God, you’re so pitiful. You and Ghost clearly don’t get along, yet Faith still signed him. I honestly don’t know what they’re thinking. D-God, why don’t you consider transferring next season instead?]

[(Reply) Ghost’s Precious Son: Sis, are you okay? Since when have Ghost and D-God had a bad relationship? (speechless)]

[(Reply) YX Likes Green Tea: Of course Ghost’s fans would try to spin it that way. Ghost literally said those things about D-God on stream—there’s video proof, okay? Boo hoo… I just want D-God to have a better future. How have I offended you people?]

[(Reply) Blind as a Bat: Uh… I thought everything Ghost said on stream was pretty normal. Besides, he’s never made any videos targeting Devil. Personally, I think their relationship is at least… perfectly normal.]

[(Reply) Act Like: If you’re blind, then stop talking. If they don’t get along, they don’t get along. Isn’t that obvious? Seriously.]

[(Reply) Ghost’s Rich Mom from Guangdong: They don’t get along? Then why did Devil spend several Brilliant Galaxies on our little brat? And even if they don’t get along, so what? Our little brat can still win on skill alone!]

[(Reply) YX Likes Green Tea: Ah… but I don’t really see where that “skill” is.]

Seeing so many comments insisting that they “didn’t get along,” Qi Qiao frowned slightly.

He was just about to switch to his alternate account and argue back when another new comment popped up.

[(Reply) Devil Is My Life: Exactly. It’s not like we haven’t all seen Ghost’s ridiculous antics. Every single time, he’s just riding D-God’s popularity, okay? Like that giveaway before—why did he have to butt in? D-God invited him to duo queue, and he wouldn’t even join. Isn’t that just stringing him along?]

Qi Qiao’s finger paused just as he was about to switch accounts.

Unconsciously, he bit his lower lip.

That…

He really didn’t know how to respond to that one.

Qi Qiao remembered how conflicted he’d been back then.

In fact, he was still conflicted now.

Not unless he got to the bottom of what had happened a year ago.

He remembered every single word Pei Ming had said to him yesterday.

But actually standing in front of Pei Ming and asking him everything…

Putting aside the fact that his own identity made things complicated, just considering the state of their relationship now…

Qi Qiao let out a silent sigh.

Forget it.

He’d take it one step at a time.

At the very least, he’d wait until the Spring Split.

Once he was ready…

Then he’d ask.

The comment section was getting more and more irritating to read.

Qi Qiao decided to close it.

But just as he was about to tap the X, he suddenly noticed that the latest post on Pei Ming’s Weibo had changed.

[Faith-Devil: Ghost is an excellent player. I was the one who recommended him to Faith. If you question him, then you’re questioning my judgment as well. As for riding someone’s popularity—you can just assume I’m the one riding his.]

Qi Qiao stared at the post for a long time, unable to react.

Only after a while did he rub his face.

Suddenly…

he felt confident enough to log onto his alternate account and argue with those haters again.

…

At two o’clock that afternoon.

Rong Qing had already gone over the plan the day before.

Since it was Qi Qiao’s official debut as a Faith player, it would be best if all five members streamed a five-stack together.

No one had any objections.

Well…

Except for Pei Ming, who thought streaming was too much trouble and refused to go live.

The other four all started their streams.

Worried that trolls or paid anti-fans might stir up trouble, Rong Qing contacted Azure TV in advance and arranged for extra moderators in all four Faith members’ streams—especially Qi Qiao’s.

Only then did he feel at ease enough to let them go live.

Although Qi Qiao’s stream reservation page had only gone up at noon that day, by the time the stream was about to begin, more than 500,000 people had already reserved it—

a number he had never reached before.

The moment he went live, viewers flooded into the stream.

In less than a minute, the viewer count had already surpassed 600,000.

[“Little brat, care to explain?”]

[“Son, what have you been doing behind our backs? You just joined Faith like that?!】

[“Yo, [Faith-Ghost]! You’ve already got the team tag on your ID!”]

[“Weren’t you a Monster player before??? I was offline for half a day, and suddenly you’re with Faith? Am I still dreaming?”]

[“Pfft hahaha! Did you guys check Weibo? It’s been trending at No. 10 since noon. It’s probably still there.”]

[“It does feel surreal, but we’d already guessed it a few days ago. With the little brat’s personality, if he could be on the same team as Jiang Jiang—the guy he used to flame—and everyone gets along so well… then something would’ve been seriously fishy. (doge)”]

Jiang Jiang had just finished joking around with his own viewers before switching over to Qi Qiao’s stream to enjoy the chaos.

Instead, he was caught off guard by that comment.

Annoyed, he turned on team voice chat.

“Hey! You there in chat, what are you talking about? Just because Ghost flamed me before doesn’t mean we can’t be teammates! I even call him Xiao Qiao now. Can… you… guys… do… that?”

Professional players’ real names had to be registered with the league, which used a real-name registration system. Every season, the official roster announcements listed each player’s real name alongside their in-game ID. Besides, Qi Qiao had mentioned his real name before, so it wasn’t exactly a secret.

[“Holy crap, Xiao Qiao?! Son, you’re actually letting someone call you that now?!”]

[“Tsk, tsk. Looks like Noble Consort Jiang is finally replacing Empress Win!”]

Before Qi Qiao even had a chance to speak, Jiang Jiang had already dragged him into the joke.

Now that there was no longer any need to hide the fact that he was with Faith, Qi Qiao simply pushed off with one foot, rolled his gaming chair over to Jiang Jiang, and smacked him lightly on the head with his knuckles.

Caught completely off guard, Jiang Jiang yelped.

“Ow!”

The chat instantly exploded with laughter.

[“Alright, looks like the little brat is restoring Empress Win’s rightful status. Sigh… Noble Consort Jiang will never be anything more than a noble consort.”]

Qi Qiao: “…”

Expressionless, Qi Qiao rolled his chair back to his own desk.

He was just about to warn the chat that anyone who mentioned “Noble Consort” or “Empress” again would receive a complimentary 30-day timeout—

when the screen suddenly exploded with gift effects.

[Faith-Devil has sent you ×1 Brilliant Galaxy]

[Faith-Devil has sent you ×1 Brilliant Galaxy]

[Faith-Devil has sent you ×1 Brilliant Galaxy]

…

Qi Qiao stared blankly as the Brilliant Galaxy animation continued—

until the tenth one finally finished.

Even the livestream chat fell silent for a moment.

Only after a long pause did new comments begin to appear.

[“Holy crap! Devil’s so generous!”]

[“Good grief… He just casually dropped 200,000 yuan?!”]

[“Honest question: Do all new Faith players get this kind of treatment? Two hundred thousand yuan???”]

[“Pfft. Only Ghost does, okay? Jiang Jiang only got one Brilliant Galaxy when he joined. Hahaha.”]

…

Qi Qiao watched the chat fly by for quite a while before remembering he was supposed to thank the sender.

“Thank you, De—”

Just as the word “Devil” was about to leave his mouth, Jiang Jiang suddenly kicked the leg of his gaming chair.

Qi Qiao turned his head and saw Jiang Jiang silently mouthing two words: “Captain.”

Qi Qiao hesitated for a second before changing what he was about to say.

“Thank you… Captain, for the ten Brilliant Galaxies.”

“Mhm. You’re welcome.”

Pei Ming’s voice suddenly came through Qi Qiao’s headset.

[“Whoa! Hearing D-God on voice chat outside of a match—this is a first!”]

[“D-God’s voice hits all my buttons as always. Please talk more! I need material for tonight’s dreams”]

Qi Qiao looked at the increasingly unhinged comments flooding his chat.

He wanted to warn them to behave—

but then he heard Pei Ming casually chatting with the viewers in his stream through voice chat.

“You want me to talk more? Sure.”

“Why don’t I stream? Because streaming is a bit of a hassle. You can see me just fine in Ghost’s stream.”

Qi Qiao pretended not to be listening.

Then, out of nowhere, he heard Pei Ming say—

“Did he get his scarf back?”

His tone seemed to lift ever so slightly.

“He did.”

“And you’re asking where he got it back?”

Qi Qiao’s ears perked up instinctively.

His heartbeat suddenly sped up.

“My room.”

Pei Ming seemed to let out a soft chuckle.

After a brief pause, he added,

“Late at night.”

---

Author’s Note:

Jiang Jiang: Huh? Your room? Late at night? Care to elaborate???

---

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Chapter 34 – “Your Brother isn’t a very patient man.”

---

Qi Qiao froze instinctively. Originally, he had thought that when Specter said that yesterday, he might not actually go through with it—but unexpectedly…

[Team Chat] Jiang Jiang: Ghost, you couldn’t find anyone either? Wuwuwu?

As Jiang Jiang typed out that message, his face had already scrunched up like a bitter melon.

If Qi Qiao also hadn’t found anyone on his side, then that meant either he or Wink really would have to leave.

He and Qi Qiao had been playing together for so long. If one of them absolutely had to leave later, and it ended up being Wink, he’d honestly feel bad about it…

Qi Qiao stared at the screen as Specter sent another request asking to join the team.

His palm grew slightly damp with sweat, and the scene from last night on the way back to the base flashed through his mind.

–Flashback-

The streetlights glowed with a dim yellow hue, reflecting against the cold, delicate snow drifting through the air, spreading layer upon layer of soft halos.

Qi Qiao had both hands tucked into his pockets as he followed Pei Ming forward.

Ever since Pei Ming had said, “Don’t forget to wear it whenever you go out from now on,” and Qi Qiao had nodded in response, neither of them had spoken again.

The atmosphere felt as cold as the snow falling around them.

Qi Qiao actually had a lot he wanted to say, but when he thought about how they were probably still in the middle of a silent standoff, he ultimately kept quiet.

It wasn’t until they were almost at the entrance of the residential complex that Pei Ming finally spoke.

“Is there anything you want to ask me?”

Pei Ming’s voice was calm as usual, but to Qi Qiao, it sounded exceptionally clear.

In an instant, countless questions rushed from his mind to his throat, nearly slipping out.

But the moment he thought about what he had seen at the hospital more than ten months ago, he backed down again.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to ask.

Qi Qiao was simply afraid of hearing an answer he didn’t want to hear.

Because everything Pei Ming had ever told him… had always been the truth.

“…No.”

Qi Qiao’s voice came out dry and hoarse.

Pei Ming didn’t continue that topic. Instead, he said, “If you ask, I think I can give you an answer that satisfies you.”

Qi Qiao thought he heard him let out a quiet breath.

“But you won’t ask.”

Without realizing it, Qi Qiao’s small canine tooth bit hard enough to break the skin on his lower lip.

Slightly dazed, he looked up, just in time to meet Pei Ming’s dark, ink-black eyes.

But after only the briefest moment, Pei Ming looked away again.

“Then I have a few questions for you.”

Qi Qiao’s heart skipped violently.

“The ‘Specter’ from Team Temple… is that Xie Haocheng?”

Pei Ming’s calm voice drifted over.

As expected.

Pei Ming had still asked about it.

Originally, agreeing to add Specter on WeChat today had been Qi Qiao’s gamble—he had been betting that Pei Ming would care.

But Qi Qiao hadn’t expected him to ask so directly, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to answer.

In the end, Qi Qiao still nodded.

Pei Ming stayed silent for a long time.

Qi Qiao’s thoughts were in complete disarray as he followed him all the way to the entrance of the base.

Just when Qi Qiao thought he wouldn’t speak again accompanied by the click of the password lock opening, Qi Qiao heard him say “Don’t have any unnecessary contact with him.”

Pei Ming’s voice remained calm, but Qi Qiao could hear a trace of coldness hidden underneath.

“I’m not a very patient person.”

— End of Flashback —

“Hey, little gg, is there really nobody left?”

Wink’s voice came through the team voice chat, pulling Qi Qiao’s thoughts back to reality.

At the same time, Qi Qiao saw a message from Specter pop up on his screen—

Temple-Specter: [I’m watching your stream. Looks like you’re short one player?]

The moment he saw the word “stream,” Qi Qiao unconsciously tightened his grip on the mouse.

Since Xie Haocheng had already seen his livestream, if he tried brushing him off now, would that…

[“Holy crap? Isn’t that Specter? The little brat actually knows Specter?”]

[“Emmm, anyone saying that clearly isn’t an old fan. These two go way beyond just knowing each other. Remember that livestream before? (snicker) (snicker)”]

[“What livestream? I’ve practically rewatched all my son’s streams to death. How come I don’t know about this?”]

[“Ah, then you don’t know — that stream got deleted by the platform.”]

[“Deleted? Ah… what was the reason?”]

[“Hard to explain, but I think it’s because during that stream, Specter sent the little brat several Brilliant Galaxies, then said some stuff about friend slots (not really lol). The platform officially forbids buying and selling friend slots, remember?”]

[“Alright, hmm… but why is the version I heard completely different? (doge)”]

[“So little brat, you’ve kept the guy waiting this long — aren’t you going to invite him already? (I’m about to start shipping this CP!)”]

Jiang Jiang had apparently seen it too while watching Qi Qiao’s stream from next door. Carefully, he asked over team voice chat,

“Uh, Ghost… do you want to invite him in?”

If this had been before yesterday, Jiang Jiang definitely wouldn’t have dared bring this up.

But after finishing that practice match, Qi Qiao didn’t seem especially resistant toward Specter anymore. He had even agreed to add him on WeChat.

And judging from what the two had said yesterday, Specter and Qi Qiao had probably known each other for a long time already…

Seeing that Qi Qiao didn’t respond, Jiang Jiang asked again, “Ghost, you there?”

Qi Qiao looked once more at Specter’s Request to Join Team notification on the screen, took a deep breath, and clicked Accept.

They were short one player. If they didn’t bring someone in, they couldn’t start the match.

Besides, playing with Specter now would also let them test his actual skill…

Today probably didn’t count as unnecessary contact, right?

Feeling a little guilty, Qi Qiao glanced over at Pei Ming.

He noticed that Pei Ming wasn’t typing on his keyboard right now. Instead, he was leaning back against his chair, apparently looking at something.

He couldn’t be watching my stream… could he?

Almost instinctively, Qi Qiao opened the viewer list for his livestream and took a quick look.

At the top were Jiang Jiang, Wink…and Specter.

Pei Ming wasn’t there.

Qi Qiao quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Looks like he didn’t come in after all.

By the time Qi Qiao switched back to the game screen, Jiang Jiang, Wink, and Specter were already chatting.

[Team Chat] Wink: Oh, so you and Ghost went to the same school too?

[Team Chat] Temple-Specter: Not exactly. I was a grade above him.

[Team Chat] Peerless Invincible Little Cutie: I know this one — seniooor~

Qi Qiao: “……”

To stop things from escalating any further, Qi Qiao quickly typed a single word at lightning speed—

[Team Chat] Ghost: Start.

Sensing the low-pressure atmosphere radiating around him, Jiang Jiang cautiously glanced over at Qi Qiao, then hurriedly queued them into ranked.

After Specter joined the team, they played several matches.

Qi Qiao realized that Specter was actually a pretty skilled jungler. In fact, he was good enough to rival the current junglers from some of the so-called veteran teams. Aside from occasionally playing a little too aggressively, he was very steady in every other aspect—especially when coordinating with Qi Qiao.

But compared to Pei Ming…

there was still no comparison.

During every break between matches, Qi Qiao would glance over at Pei Ming.

Pei Ming was still leaning back against his chair, seemingly not training at all. Occasionally, he would pick up his water cup and take a sip. His narrow eyes remained slightly lowered, making it impossible to read any emotion from his expression.

The more Qi Qiao looked at him, the guiltier he felt.

The way Pei Ming was acting…

was he really not watching the stream?

Because Specter was paying special attention to mid lane, every time he finished clearing jungle, the very first lane he came to gank was always mid.

Qi Qiao had already pinged Don’t come at him several times, but it did absolutely nothing.

And because of that, Qi Qiao’s fans had started noticing the subtle atmosphere between the two, and their comments were becoming increasingly bold.

After another match ended, Qi Qiao opened the bullet comment assistant.

[“Tsk tsk tsk. Wait, isn’t this little brat’s first time playing with Specter? Their coordination is actually pretty good.”]

[“Of course. I mean, Specter clearly treats our son a little… differently.”]

[“Enough already. Our son is straight as an iron rod, don’t even go there. (angry) (angry)”]

[“Come on, what’s wrong with joking around a little? Besides, maybe he looks straight, but who knows—he could actually be gayer than a curly telephone cord.”]

The more Qi Qiao read, the darker his expression became.

He knew the viewers in his livestream were always unruly, but he hadn’t expected that after leaving them alone for just a while, things would escalate to this extent.

Just as he was about to hit the mute all button to make his stance clear—

his phone suddenly rang.

Without thinking much about it, Qi Qiao picked it up and answered, while his other hand searched for the mute all button.

A calm male voice came from the other end.

“You left your scarf in my room last night.”

“Come to my room tonight.”

It was Pei Ming’s voice.

Qi Qiao froze abruptly.

He had just been about to say okay when he suddenly realized something was wrong.

He had only been holding the phone on his lap just now.

He hadn’t put it against his ear.

But he could hear the voice clearly—

way too clearly…

A flash of realization exploded in Qi Qiao’s mind.

He immediately looked down at his phone—

His index finger was resting directly on the speakerphone button.

That’s right.

Speakerphone.

Still clinging to a shred of hope, Qi Qiao immediately looked toward the livestream chat, praying that his microphone quality wasn’t good enough to pick up what had just been said.

[“?”]

[“?”]

[“Scarf. Last night. Left in my room???”]

[“Those are all normal words individually, so why do I suddenly not understand them when put together???”]

[“What do you mean, “Come to my room tonight”???”]

[“Wait, am I the only one who thinks the voice on the phone sounded exactly like D-God’s?!”]

[“D-God? Now that you mention it, it really does! That’s 100% his voice!!!”]

[“So… were we all wrong? The person our son has been hopelessly hung up on lately isn’t Imperial Consort Jiang—it’s D-God?!”]

Qi Qiao shut off the stream, utterly devastated..

…

Faith Base – General Manager’s Office

“Are you two trying to give me a heart attack or what?!” Rong Qing took a huge gulp of water, his pained expression making it look like the word death was practically written across his face. “Pei Ming, couldn’t you have picked a better time to call? Did you have to call while Qi Qiao was livestreaming?”

Wearing his team jacket, Pei Ming stood in the office with his narrow eyes half-lowered.

“Yeah. My mistake.”

Rong Qing was so exasperated he nearly exploded. He pointed at Qi Qiao, who was standing beside him as quiet as a mouse.

“And you, Qi Qiao. I always thought you were a careful kid. Answering your phone during a livestream is one thing, but how the hell did you manage to put it on speaker?!”

Qi Qiao lowered his head.

“…My fault.”

“I’m telling you, after tomorrow’s official announcement, you can interact however you want—I won’t interfere. But could you at least keep it under control today?” Rong Qing lectured, pointing at the two of them. “You know what this means? Now I have to get in touch with the people over at Monster and figure out how we’re going to handle this…”

As he spoke, Rong Qing replied to several urgent PR messages on his phone.

Everything had already been arranged for tomorrow’s official announcement. Who could have imagined that Pei Ming and Qi Qiao would suddenly pull something like this at the last minute?

Fortunately, the phone call had only lasted for two sentences. On top of that, the audio had been picked up through the livestream microphone, so the sound quality was poor. At this point, everyone could only speculate about who had made the call—there was no concrete proof.

Besides, Qi Qiao had already collaborated on livestreams with Jiang Jiang several times before, and Rong Qing had deliberately released information in advance about exchanges involving youth trainees. Now, all of this simply served as additional evidence supporting Qi Qiao’s transfer to Faith.

After all, if the caller really had been Devil, and the two of them weren’t living at the same team base, then a line like “You left your scarf in my room last night” would have been far stranger.

After scolding the two of them for a while longer, Rong Qing received a call from Monster.

Qi Qiao watched him cautiously. It wasn’t until Rong Qing’s expression gradually softened that he finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, alright. Then we’ll stick with the original plan and post it tomorrow.”

After finishing the call with Monster’s manager, Rong Qing looked back at the two of them.

“Okay. Luckily we laid enough groundwork beforehand, so this hasn’t caused too much of an uproar online. The two of you are not to post anything on Weibo tonight.”

Qi Qiao hurriedly nodded and stole a glance at Pei Ming beside him.

Pei Ming said nothing.

He didn’t seem to think the incident was much of a big deal.

Rong Qing checked the time on his phone, calmed himself down a little, and gave the two of them a few more words of advice before waving them off.

“Don’t ever pull something like today’s stunt again. That’s enough. Don’t go saying anything online, and now go eat.”

Only then did Qi Qiao finally breathe a sigh of relief. He followed Pei Ming out of the office.

Earlier, when Rong Qing had stormed upstairs to drag them into his office, he had looked so furious that even Jiang Jiang had been startled. Now, there wasn’t a single person outside daring to eavesdrop through the crack in the door.

When Qi Qiao followed Pei Ming into the hallway, it was completely deserted.

Pei Ming walked ahead without looking back, seemingly having no intention of waiting for him.

Qi Qiao unconsciously bit his lower lip.

There were too many suspicious things about what had happened today.

Putting aside why Pei Ming had chosen that exact moment to call him, even what he had said over the phone didn’t make sense.

He had definitely taken that cashmere scarf home with him last night.

After thinking it over, Qi Qiao quickened his pace and caught up.

“Um… about the phone call you made today…” Qi Qiao said awkwardly.

Pei Ming stopped in front of him.

Since they were already walking so close together, Qi Qiao nearly bumped into his back.

“What about it?”

Pei Ming’s voice was cool. Though it was a question, there wasn’t the slightest hint of curiosity in his tone.

Feeling guilty, Qi Qiao lowered his voice.

“The scarf… I took it home yesterday.”

Only then did Pei Ming turn around to look at him.

Qi Qiao didn’t move.

“Mhm. You did.”

Pei Ming neither confirmed nor denied anything. Then, without warning, he took a step closer.

They had already been standing close to each other. Now that Pei Ming had shortened the distance even further, Qi Qiao could almost hear his own heartbeat.

Pei Ming lowered his gaze to look at him.

“But do you really think I called you because of the scarf?”

Qi Qiao’s breathing became uneven.

He turned his head slightly, trying to hide the half of his face that had grown warm.

Pei Ming simply looked at him, saying nothing for a long while.

Only after what felt like an eternity did Qi Qiao feel a cool fingertip brush lightly across his earlobe.

“I told you before.”

Startled, Qi Qiao looked up, his eyes colliding with Pei Ming’s calm, ink-dark gaze.

Then he heard him murmur softly by his ear—

“Your Brother isn’t a very patient man.”

---

Author’s Note:

Captain Pei: Guess why I called you.

---

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Chapter 33 – “You’ve never even watched Empresses in the Palace?”

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The next day, around noon.

Jiang Jiang grabbed a can of Wangzai Milk from the kitchen, along with a few packets of probiotic mini cakes, then sleepily wandered into the training room.

“Morning, Qi Qiao.” With a click, Jiang Jiang popped open the can and yawned. “It’s barely past eleven. How long have you been playing?”

Qi Qiao had just finished a ranked match.

“Six hours.”

Jiang Jiang had just taken a sip of milk when he heard that and nearly choked.

“Cough… cough, how long did you say?”

Qi Qiao’s expression didn’t change.

“Six hours.”

“Six… hours…” Jiang Jiang repeated quietly. “So that means you got up at five?”

When he got back last night, it was already past midnight. After messing around for a while and lying in bed scrolling through videos, it had already been two in the morning.

The soundproofing in the team house wasn’t great to begin with, and judging by the noise, Captain and Qi Qiao had come back at least forty minutes later than he did.

Which basically meant…

Qi Qiao hadn’t slept at all, had he?

Jiang Jiang carefully studied him for a few moments. Although Qi Qiao looked fairly normal on the surface, the dark circles under his eyes and the faint bloodshot streaks in them were impossible to miss.

“So… Xiao Qiao…” Jiang Jiang asked cautiously while logging into his account, “when you and Captain came back last night… nothing happened between you two, right?”

Hearing that, Qi Qiao’s fingers paused slightly on the keyboard.

His mind—already running at full speed like he’d been injected with adrenaline—once again replayed fragments of what happened on the ride back to the base.

“Is there anything you want to ask me?”

“…No.”

“Fine. Then I have a few things to say.”

…

“Nothing happened.” Qi Qiao lightly bit down on his teeth, though his face remained expressionless. “Hurry up and log in. Start the stream.”

The corner of Jiang Jiang’s mouth twitched.

Nothing happened? If nothing happened, why does your face look that terrible? Yeah right.

But he didn’t dare say anything.

Didn’t dare ask anything either.

So he obediently went to set up the streaming equipment.

“Um… are you duo streaming with me again today?” Jiang Jiang asked while chewing on a probiotic mini cake. “Wink’s fans all came into my stream asking about it.”

Qi Qiao said, “Brother Rong said the league approval already came through. The official announcement will be posted tomorrow.”

Then he paused, confused.

“Why were Wink’s fans asking in your stream?”

Jiang Jiang replied, “Nothing much. They were asking if you’d fallen for someone else, then saying I’m just a substitute stand-in, while Wink is the official empress and stuff like that.”

Qi Qiao: “……”

“What kind of nonsense is that? Just don’t reply to them.”

Jiang Jiang looked unconvinced and muttered under his breath.

“How is that nonsense? Haven’t you ever watched Empresses in the Palace?”

Qi Qiao: “……”

[“You little brat, can you stream at a time normal humans are actually awake for once?”]

[“Alright, I see the duo queue now. Looks like our Noble Consort Jiang got picked again today.”]

[“Sigh~ Poor Empress Win. It hasn’t even been that long since he was last summoned, and now he’s already fallen out of favor. When’s he making a comeback? This dowager is feeling very anxious.”]

[“Forget it. My son has always been this heartless and unfaithful. Tomorrow I’m sending a few Radiant Galaxy donations to comfort Empress Win.”]

The moment Qi Qiao opened his stream, he was greeted by a screen flooded with “Consort” and “Empress.”

Qi Qiao lazily raised an eyelid.

“I’ve only been gone for two days. What ridiculous new thing have you all come up with now?”

[“What ridiculous new thing? It’s because you stopped summoning Wink. Wink was crying on stream.”]

[“Seriously. It was such a tragic cry that I couldn’t bear watching, so I sent him a Radiant Galaxy donation too. Sob sob sob.”]

Qi Qiao: “……”

Looks like after ending stream today, he needed to schedule a proper meal with Wink and have a serious talk.

[“Faith-Jiang Jiang: You guys can’t say that, it’ll hurt his feelings. In love, there’s no such thing as first come, first served. Sob sob sob.”]

Qi Qiao: “?”

Looks like after stream today, he’d have to meet with two people.

Qi Qiao muted several viewers in chat—the ones shouting [“This dowager…”] the loudest—then expressionlessly queued for ranked.

Since Jiang Jiang was connected into Qi Qiao’s stream, he could clearly see his expression. At that moment, he didn’t dare say anything careless.

After all, today happened to be the start of the new season.

If Qi Qiao got annoyed and decided not to carry him for ranked anymore, then he’d be stuck struggling alongside Ink again.

Although today marked the start of Arcana Realm Season 8, compared to last season, the balance changes weren’t particularly significant.

As usual, the ADC lane was still suffering.

And with an extra section added to the jungle, junglers’ clear speed would slow down even further. That meant slower rotations for support later on, which translated into even more suffering time for bot lane.

At a time like this, mid-lane support became especially important.

So if Jiang Jiang had to summarize this season’s meta, in his personal opinion, it should be called:

“The Mid Lane Rise Patch” and “Top and Bot Beat Each Other Up Patch.”

Sure enough, Jiang Jiang’s prediction wasn’t wrong.

During the early game, he stayed with the ADC to stabilize bot lane and make sure it didn’t collapse. Once mid-game started, he followed Qi Qiao around the map, rotating lanes and picking off enemies.

After several matches, they were consistently securing victories right around the thirteen-minute mark.

“Ahh… getting carried like this feels amazing.”

After yet another win, Jiang Jiang happily slumped back into his gaming chair.

January 24th marked the opening of Arcana Realm’s S8 Spring Split, and this season, the Chinese regional league had issued a new participation requirement:

All players had to maintain a rank of at least Oracle II on the Chinese server.

Compared to last season, the requirement had been raised by an entire tier.

But with the speed he and Qi Qiao were climbing while duo queueing like this…

They’d probably hit Oracle II easily within another week.

But as for Ink and A-Kai…

Well…

Before, he’d had to cling tightly to Ink just to rank up.

Now, not only could he reach Oracle II ahead of them and relax he could also start launching mockery attacks.

Just thinking about it made Jiang Jiang feel incredibly satisfied.

“Next game,” Qi Qiao said over voice chat.

Jiang Jiang replied, “Okay, let’s go, go, go!”

Since Jiang Jiang always liked chatting with viewers for a bit after every match, Qi Qiao found it troublesome and had simply handed over party leader to him earlier.

At that moment, Jiang Jiang had just finished interacting with chat and was about to queue for the next game when a new message suddenly appeared in the stream—

[“Wink: [Sobbing][Sobbing]”]

Jiang Jiang’s fingers froze for a second, his heart skipping a beat.

Thinking about all the messages from Wink’s fans earlier, crying in his chat and complaining, Jiang Jiang suddenly felt a little guilty.

“Oh? Isn’t that Brother Wink? What brings you to my stream today?”

[“Whoa, looks like we’ve got a good show today—battle between the official empress and the noble consort!”]

[“I’m going all in betting on Jiang Jiang winning!”]

[“I’ll split my bet fifty-fifty hahaha, fifty rotten eggs on each side. (Quietly muttering: I don’t think my son is worth that much [dog holding rose emoji])”]

[“Alright then, let’s see who manages to steal whose man first hahaha.”]

The moment Jiang Jiang saw [“steal whose man,”] he started panicking a little.

Even though Qi Qiao was duo queueing with him right now, to be blunt, it was only because they were building hype for tomorrow’s official announcement. It was basically task-driven.

But things were different with Wink.

The two of them had been regular duo partners long before this.

If Wink really succeeded in [“stealing him away,”] and Qi Qiao went back to duo queue with Wink instead…

Then his grand ambition of reaching Oracle II within the week would be completely ruined.

Thinking this, Jiang Jiang quickly arrived at what he considered the optimal solution.

“No, no, no—we’re all brothers here, right? Between brothers, how could there be any talk of stealing someone away?” Jiang Jiang said while hurriedly moving his fingers to invite Wink into the lobby. “We can just queue together!”

The moment Wink received the invite, he joined at lightning speed.

So fast that Jiang Jiang seriously suspected the guy had been waiting in ambush the whole time.

Since Jiang Jiang had been taking forever to start the next match, Qi Qiao had gotten up and gone to the kitchen to grab some mini cakes to fill his stomach.

Now when he returned, he saw there was suddenly an extra person on the team.

Qi Qiao sat back down in his gaming chair, tore open the snack wrapper, then slowly lifted one finger and typed: [?]

Wink’s voice immediately came through team chat.

“Little GG, sob sob… you’re finally willing to pay attention to me again!”

Qi Qiao opened his stream chat overlay.

[“PFFT hahaha, I’m dying. Little brat, now this is what you call a love triangle battlefield!”]

[“Son, what have I always taught you? I told you not to flirt around everywhere, but no—you kept attracting butterflies and bees. See where that got you? Sweating now, aren’t you? (shrugs)~”]

[“I honestly feel bad for Empress Win, sob sob… He was clearly here first, but somehow got banished to the cold palace out of nowhere. In the end, all his devotion was wasted.”]

[“Hey, the “out of nowhere” part isn’t right. It was obviously because Wink accidentally let it slip on stream that day and exposed the whole “older brother photo” incident. That triggered His Majesty’s wrath. [snickering emoji][snickering emoji]”]

The moment Qi Qiao saw the words [“older brother photos,”] he decisively closed the chat overlay, quickly finished off the mini cakes in two bites, then asked expressionlessly,

“So now you want to queue with us?”

The moment Wink saw [“older brother photos,”] his whole body had stiffened too. But seeing that Qi Qiao was still willing to talk to him, he immediately nodded frantically.

“Yes, yes, yes!”

Qi Qiao let out a quiet breath.

“Fine. Whatever. But your rank doesn’t match ours, so we need one more person.”

Since last season, Wink had only climbed to Oracle I. With the new season rank reset, he had naturally started nearly a full division lower than Qi Qiao and the others.

On top of that, Qi Qiao and Jiang Jiang had already won several matches and had just ranked up again, so the point gap between them had widened immediately.

And according to Arcana Realm matchmaking rules, players from different rank brackets couldn’t queue together if the rating gap became too large.

If they insisted on matching together, they would need to add a fourth player—and that player’s rank also had to be close to the lower-ranked person.

Hearing this, Wink and Jiang Jiang hurriedly opened their friend lists and started looking for someone.

But at this time of day, everyone was already training.

Either they were running custom practice matches, or they were already in ranked queue.

After scrolling through their entire friend lists, not a single person was available.

Qi Qiao waited for a while.

The only thing he got were two team chat messages.

[Team] Peerless Invincible Little Cutie: I don’t have anyone either, waah waah waah.

[Team] Wink: Same here, sob sob sob.

Qi Qiao: “……”

So now, not only did he have to carry them he was also responsible for finding teammates?

Left with no choice, Qi Qiao opened his own friend list.

But he barely had many people added to begin with.

A large portion of them were only there because they had exchanged WeChat contacts.

His mouse cursor drifted across the list of names…

Then stopped for half a second on the letter “D.”

Pei Ming was currently in a custom match.

For a brief moment, Qi Qiao suddenly had the urge to drag him into the lobby.

But the thought lasted less than half a second before he dismissed it.

Leaving aside whether Pei Ming would even agree to join even if he did come, they still wouldn’t be able to queue together.

Pei Ming’s rank was even higher than his.

Qi Qiao unconsciously bit down lightly on his lower lip.

Just as random thoughts were running wild in his head, a notification suddenly popped up on the screen—

[Your friend [Temple – Specter] is requesting a team invitation ——]

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Author’s Note:

Next chapter, big brother is going to get jealous. Hehe~

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Chapter 32 – Off-White Cashmere Scarf

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“Huh?” Jiang Jiang looked momentarily dazed. “Captain, what did you say?”

Pei Ming glanced at him. “I said… he is a little disobedient.”

Jiang Jiang: “?”

Jiang Jiang had only been thinking that having more people on his side would strengthen his argument. He never expected his own captain to switch sides—especially considering how much attention Pei Ming paid to his younger brother. It was practically comparable to pining after a long-time unattainable crush.

So hearing Pei Ming say that completely caught him off guard.

Normally, Pei Ming would never bother responding to him, but with Qi Qiao here today, something definitely felt off.

Jiang Jiang looked at Qi Qiao, who was quietly eating tangyuan, sucked in a breath, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

“Hey, Captain… don’t tell me you’re treating Qi Qiao so favorably everywhere just because he looks like your little brother?”

The moment those words came out, not only did Qi Qiao freeze, even Pei Ming unexpectedly stopped what he was doing and looked up at him.

Seeing this reaction, Jiang Jiang became even more convinced of his theory. Smacking his lips, he turned to Qi Qiao.

“Xiao Qiao, let me tell you something. That day after we came out of the All-Star tournament and got in the car, I showed Captain your livestream. I asked him whether he thought you were good-looking, and Captain actually said, ‘Yeah, pretty good-looking.’”

“Later, when I went back and thought about it, I realized something wasn’t right. Since when has Captain ever complimented anyone on their looks? All those pretty girl streamers I showed him before—he’d just wave me away immediately.”

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue.

“So when you think about it… other than his little brother, you’re the first one.”

As Qi Qiao listened, his mind drifted back to that night of the All-Star tournament.

It seemed like that was when he had said a few things about Pei Ming during his stream, and afterward everything spiraled completely out of control.

Everything that happened later had started from that night.

Jiang Jiang continued, “Right! And later when Brother Rong showed Captain the candidates for mid-laner, Captain picked you without even hesitating. It has to be because Xiao Qiao here looks like Captain’s younger brother.”

Qi Qiao: “……”

Honestly, he had no idea how he was supposed to respond to that.

Pei Ming, however, spoke first.

“Mm. A little similar.”

Qi Qiao only paused for a second before continuing to eat his tangyuan.

Fine. As long as these things weren’t directed at him too directly, it was manageable.

Jiang Jiang ordered himself another bowl of tangyuan and clapped his hands.

“See? What did I tell you? Love me, love my dog!”

Qi Qiao thought to himself, This really is the literal definition of ‘love me, love my dog.’

After chatting about that topic for a while, Jiang Jiang once again entered his endless cycle of pestering Pei Ming to show him “photos of his beautiful little brother.” After failing yet again, he could only change the subject.

Jiang Jiang said, “Alright, fine, we won’t talk about your brother anymore. So how about we talk about Cup? Brother Rong isn’t here today anyway.”

Qi Qiao quietly ate while listening. It wasn’t until he heard Cup’s ID that he looked up at the two of them.

He had heard a little about Cup signing directly with a European team after the season ended.

There were definitely a lot of suspicious details surrounding the whole thing, but everyone at Faith had kept their mouths tightly shut and hadn’t revealed much.

Pei Ming seemed a little distracted.

“What about Cup?”

Jiang Jiang said, “Come on, Captain. After last season ended, Cup transferred to Europe without saying a word. Brother Rong and the others never gave any explanation either. Weren’t you and Cup the closest? Don’t tell me you don’t know anything either?”

Pei Ming and Cup had the best relationship?

Qi Qiao looked up at Pei Ming in confusion.

Before this, he had only heard Pei Ming mention some of his teammates, but he had never heard him say he was particularly close to anyone.

Although…

Qi Qiao lowered his head, staring at the peanut soup in his bowl.

He had seen some videos before. While gossip channels weren’t exactly trustworthy, Jiang Jiang was saying the same thing now…

Pei Ming said, “Cup and I only have a normal relationship.”

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue.

“Maybe you don’t think much of it, Captain, but Cup always liked sticking to you.”

Cup always liked sticking to you.

Qi Qiao suddenly felt like the sesame-filled tangyuan no longer tasted quite as sweet.

Pei Ming’s gaze drifted toward Qi Qiao as if intentionally, yet casually. Seeing that Qi Qiao had his head lowered over his bowl, half-hidden behind the mist rising from the hot soup, it was impossible to make out his expression clearly.

“That doesn’t mean we were close,” Pei Ming said in an even tone, impossible to read emotionally. “We were just ordinary teammates.”

Qi Qiao’s chewing slowed for a moment. His eyes lowered slightly as he looked toward Pei Ming.

Pei Ming happened to be looking at him too, the two of them separated by two steaming bowls of tangyuan.

Was he… explaining himself to him?

Jiang Jiang cautiously probed, “So what you’re saying is… your relationship with Cup wasn’t even as close as yours with me?”

Pei Ming neither confirmed nor denied it.

Jiang Jiang sighed.

“Fine, I guess that’s obvious enough. Captain, you always seem pretty indifferent toward everyone.”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang added another sentence.

“Except for our newly arrived Xiao Qiao.”

Qi Qiao got unexpectedly dragged into the conversation again, but by now he had already developed nerves of steel. He calmly continued eating his tangyuan as steady as a mountain.

Pei Ming said, “You said it yourself—he’s new. Looking out for him a little more isn’t a big deal.”

Jiang Jiang smacked his lips.

“Oh, please. Back when we first joined, I definitely don’t remember you treating us like this. Anyway, back to Cup. Why exactly did he leave the team?”

After finishing his tangyuan, Pei Ming reached over and pulled out two tissues.

“There wasn’t any particular reason. You could say it was because of personal circumstances.”

Jiang Jiang was just about to complain again with What do you mean so many ‘personal circumstances’? when suddenly his stomach betrayed him with a loud gurgle.

But this time, it wasn’t because he was hungry.

“Ow, ow, ow…”

Just as Jiang Jiang was about to speak, his face suddenly turned pale, his expression twisting in pain.

Even Qi Qiao, who had been focused entirely on eating his tangyuan, was startled by the sudden commotion.

Pei Ming raised an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong?”

Jiang Jiang sucked in a sharp breath.

“Hiss… stomachache.”

Pei Ming looked at the two large bowls of tangyuan on the table that had been completely wiped clean, and immediately understood the cause.

“Know your limits. Who told you to eat so much this late at night?”

Jiang Jiang’s face instantly fell, and he shook his head miserably.

“Well, it’s been ages since I’ve had any. And coming out in this freezing winter isn’t exactly easy, so I just ate a little more…”

Foods like tangyuan, being rich in starch, were already hard to digest to begin with.

Not to mention Jiang Jiang already had a weak stomach.

Pei Ming had arrived late earlier and hadn’t paid much attention, but now he could only pull out his phone, preparing to make a call.

Pei Ming didn’t seem to have any intention of dwelling on that topic with him. After a moment, he spoke again.

“This year, Mom and Dad will probably come back for Spring Festival. Will you be coming home then?”

Qi Qiao’s movements froze.

If their parents were coming back, then if he didn’t go home, they would definitely ask questions.

And if they asked… how was he supposed to answer?

The truth was, even after thinking about it for so long, he still couldn’t come up with a clear explanation for everything that had happened.

Qi Qiao forced himself to finish the last tangyuan despite the stiffness in his body. Only then did he nod as if nothing was wrong.

“If Mom and Dad come back, then I’ll go home for the New Year.”

After speaking, he pulled out a tissue and wiped his mouth.

Pei Ming glanced at him but said nothing. He stood up and went to pay the bill.

Qi Qiao walked over to the shop entrance.

Outside, fine snow had begun drifting down.

His heart sank.

When he had come out with Jiang Jiang earlier, the weather had looked perfectly clear. He hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella, which meant all his winter gear had been left back at the base.

Just then, Pei Ming finished paying and walked over beside him.

He was holding an umbrella in one hand and carrying a paper bag in the other.

Qi Qiao looked at him in confusion.

He clearly remembered that when Pei Ming had arrived earlier, he hadn’t been carrying an umbrella.

As if noticing his gaze, Pei Ming lightly shook the umbrella in his hand.

“Borrowed it from the shop owner.”

Only then did Qi Qiao nod.

He was just about to step outside when suddenly a hand pressed against his shoulder.

“Wait. Put this on.”

Qi Qiao froze.

The next second, he saw Pei Ming hand him the paper bag he had been carrying earlier.

It was a paper bag, and inside was a scarf.

A hand-knitted cashmere scarf in soft cream-white.

It was the birthday gift Pei Ming had given him two years ago.

“Do you want me to put it on for you?”

Seeing that he wasn’t responding, Pei Ming suddenly asked in a calm voice.

Qi Qiao’s mind was still blank with surprise. He had just been about to wave his hand and say no—

when something soft and warm was suddenly draped around his neck.

Instinctively, Qi Qiao tried to pull away.

But Pei Ming lightly caught the back of his neck.

His fingers brushed slowly against Qi Qiao’s skin, instantly sending a shiver through his body.

“Don’t move.”

With practiced ease, Pei Ming wrapped the cream-white cashmere scarf around Qi Qiao’s neck and tied it into a neat, beautiful knot.

Even after Pei Ming stepped back, Qi Qiao remained frozen in place.

Pei Ming’s expression softened slightly.

Then his finger lightly brushed against Qi Qiao’s earlobe.

Qi Qiao heard him murmur quietly—

“From now on, don’t forget to wear it when you go out.”

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Author’s Note:

I’m here~ Sending kisses to all my babies~

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Chapter 31 – “Let’s go have some tangyuan.

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“Alright, alright, sounds good then. Next time we’re both free, let’s grab a meal together.”

After exchanging a few final pleasantries, Rong Qing gave Temple Team’s manager a pat on the shoulder.

To be honest, Rong Qing and Temple Team’s manager weren’t exactly close friends.

They had simply been managing teams long enough that they had become familiar with each other.

The main reason both sides had come today was to test the newcomers’ abilities.

Now that the objective had been achieved, there wasn’t much point in staying any longer.

More importantly—

when it came to Specter…

Rong Qing didn’t want Qi Qiao interacting with him too much.

Temple Team’s manager waved a hand and glanced at his watch.

“Alright then, it’s getting late. We’ll schedule another one next time.”

Rong Qing quietly let out a breath of relief.

Just as he was about to call his own team over so they could leave Temple Team’s manager suddenly spoke again.

“Oh, wait. I just remembered something. Before coming here, that kid Specter told me he wanted to get acquainted with some of your team members.”

Rong Qing stiffened. His heart immediately shot back up into his throat. All he could do was laugh awkwardly.

“Get acquainted? Ah, come on, if everyone keeps playing against each other, you’ll naturally get familiar eventually. There’s no need to make a special effort to meet, right?”

Temple Team’s manager folded his arms with a troubled expression and nodded.

“Well, that’s true… but that kid has a stubborn streak. He doesn’t necessarily listen when people tell him otherwise.”

“I’ll be honest with you—when he said he wanted to meet someone from Faith, what he really meant was that he wanted to talk to Ghost for a bit.”

He shook his head as he spoke.

“You think that’s strange or what? Doesn’t want to talk to Devil, wants to talk to Ghost instead? Could it be some kind of rookie attraction?”

Then he clicked his tongue and pointed ahead.

“See? What did I tell you? He’s already gone over there.”

Rong Qing’s heart sank.

He followed the direction of the manager’s finger and saw Specter, carrying his gear bag over one shoulder, somehow already standing in front of Qi Qiao.

“So, after practice tonight, do you guys think we should go grab some late-night food or what? After playing like that, my stomach’s already growling—”

Jiang Jiang walked out carrying his own peripherals, halfway through making several exaggerated whining noises—

when someone wearing Temple Team’s uniform suddenly stepped directly into his path.

He looked up.

It was Specter.

But Jiang Jiang quickly realized Specter wasn’t looking at him at all.

His gaze passed straight through him landing directly on Qi Qiao behind him.

“Long time no see, Qi Qiao.”

Specter awkwardly cleared his throat before speaking.

Qi Qiao had been standing there holding his peripherals, head lowered slightly, his cheeks still faintly flushed.

Hearing the voice, he looked up in surprise.

Seeing that familiar young man standing in front of him looking at him with complete focus—

Qi Qiao’s very first instinct…

was to run.

Seeing that Qi Qiao hadn’t responded, Specter extended a hand and smiled.

“Can I shake your hand?”

By now, everyone else had gone silent.

All eyes were on the two of them.

The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.

Qi Qiao couldn’t exactly refuse.

So he quietly said, “Long time no see.”

Then he reached out and shook Specter’s hand.

Almost unconsciously Qi Qiao glanced toward Pei Ming.

Pei Ming raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze resting on their clasped hands.

As if sensing Qi Qiao looking at him, Pei Ming lifted his eyes and looked back at him calmly.

Nothing had actually happened yet Qi Qiao felt as though he had been burned.

He quickly pulled his hand back.

Still smiling, Specter continued, “You might’ve misunderstood what happened in your livestream last time. Back then, I sent you a Brilliant Galaxy because I wanted a friend slot. Didn’t you say you were short on money?”

Specter’s voice suddenly felt strangely distant in Qi Qiao’s ears.

He quickly forced himself to focus again.

Looking at Specter, he said nothing.

“I was immature back when we were in school. I don’t think that way anymore now.”

Specter had already taken out his phone from his pocket and waved it lightly toward him.

“How about we just be friends from now on?”

He smiled.

“Want to add each other on WeChat?”

Qi Qiao’s first instinct was to wave him off and refuse.

But in that instant, countless thoughts collided in his mind and suddenly, a path forward appeared.

Some strange thought surfaced in his head and once it appeared, it rapidly grew stronger and stronger.

Qi Qiao stared at the WeChat QR code on Specter’s phone.

In the end he made his decision.

“Alright.”

Qi Qiao answered.

Then, with clean and decisive movements, he took out his own phone and added him on WeChat.

Standing nearby, Jiang Jiang was completely dumbfounded.

After successfully adding him, Specter seemed to let out a huge breath of relief.

His smile widened even further.

“So… if there’s an open friend slot in the future, can I join?”

Qi Qiao’s expression didn’t change.

“We’ll see.”

At that moment, Rong Qing came rushing over while practically dragging Temple Team’s manager along with him.

They happened to catch only the last few lines of the conversation, leaving Rong Qing momentarily unable to make sense of the situation.

But after Rong Qing quickly explained everything, Temple Team’s manager looked visibly shaken.

His face flushed with alternating shades of red and pale white.

Still forcing himself to act normal, he said, “Well, everyone’s familiar with each other now, right? It’s getting late anyway. I guess we’ll see each other again next time—on stage, in scrims, wherever.”

As he spoke, he shot a meaningful glance toward the Temple Team players.

The players immediately caught on and obediently lined up behind him.

Temple Team’s manager leaned closer and whispered a few more words to Rong Qing.

Then he hurriedly led his team out.

The moment Qi Qiao saw them leave his tightly clenched fist, hidden inside his sleeve, finally relaxed slightly.

His palm was already coated with a thin layer of sweat.

“Hey, why’d you add him on WeChat? It was obvious that day he wasn’t asking for some friend slot or whatever.”

Jiang Jiang bumped Qi Qiao lightly on the shoulder.

Qi Qiao didn’t answer.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

After saying that, he walked straight out under Jiang Jiang’s confused stare.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Pei Ming had taken out his phone and was looking down at the screen.

For some reason Qi Qiao’s heart suddenly sank.

Could it be…that he had gambled wrong?

Inside the restroom, Qi Qiao thoroughly scrubbed his hands several times.

By the time he returned, everyone had already gone back to the training room and resumed practice.

Qi Qiao quietly returned to his own seat as if nothing had happened.

Aside from Jiang Jiang occasionally shooting him a strange mixture of worried, questioning, and gossip-filled glances—

the training room looked completely normal.

Just like any ordinary day.

…

At 11:30 p.m., everyone wrapped up for the night right on schedule.

Jiang Jiang stretched dramatically before collapsing back against his chair.

“Whew… I really haven’t trained properly in forever. Practicing like this today seriously felt amazing.”

Ah Kai walked past holding an empty coffee cup with only residue left at the bottom and let out a yawn.

“Alright, I’m heading to bed early. I’m getting old—I can’t handle staying up late anymore.”

Qi Qiao’s thoughts had already been a complete mess all evening.

At this point, he was ready to stand up too, head back to his room, and collapse straight onto the bed.

But the moment he stood someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Qi Qiao turned around and met Pei Ming’s eyes.

The exhaustion that had finally started loosening his nerves instantly disappeared.

His entire body tensed again.

“Let’s go eat tangyuan.”

Pei Ming spoke casually.

“You coming?”

A thousand thoughts immediately flashed through Qi Qiao’s mind.

Before he could answer Jiang Jiang suddenly sprang to life beside him.

“Yes yes yes! The shop near our apartment complex, right? I’ve been craving their salted peanut tangyuan forever!”

Ink had been rubbing the back of his neck.

Hearing that, he glanced at Jiang Jiang and teased, “Captain invited Qi Qiao, not you.”

“And besides, if you keep eating like this, your two-pack is gonna turn into a one-pack.”

Jiang Jiang immediately shouted, “What the hell!”

He jabbed Ink lightly in the shoulder with his elbow.

“First of all, Captain never said he was only inviting Qi Qiao.”

“Second of all, I have a three-pack, not a two-pack!!!”

“Right, Xiao Qiao?”

Still indignant, Jiang Jiang turned toward Qi Qiao for support.

Looking at Jiang Jiang’s utterly shameless confidence, Qi Qiao suddenly felt a complicated mix of emotions.

He was so distracted that he didn’t even register the completely random Xiao Qiao nickname.

After a long pause, he nodded.

That immediately made Jiang Jiang happy again.

He turned smugly toward Ink.

“See? Xiao Qiao already nodded. How could I not be allowed to come?”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang stood up from his gaming chair, stretched his back, and casually threw an arm around Qi Qiao’s shoulders.

“Come on then, let’s go eat something good.”

Ink: “……”

Ink looked at Qi Qiao, whose back had noticeably stiffened.

Then he glanced at the silent Pei Ming beside them.

Shaking his head, he leaned back against his chair again and said to Jiang Jiang,

“Go ahead.”

“Just don’t regret it later.”

Jiang Jiang had already taken half a step out of the training room with his arm around Qi Qiao when he heard that.

He stepped back and looked at Ink suspiciously.

What do you mean don’t regret it later?

Why does that sound so weird?

Jiang Jiang originally wanted to think about it more but the thought of free tangyuan waiting for him quickly occupied most of his brain.

The moment they left the team house, he had already forgotten Ink’s words completely.

Pei Ming had just answered a phone call.

Apparently something had come up, so he told Jiang Jiang to take Qi Qiao to the tangyuan shop first.

In his usual calm tone, he said he would come over in a bit.

As a result Jiang Jiang ended up sitting in the tangyuan shop with Qi Qiao, whose face had turned red from the cold, for more than ten minutes and there was still no sign of Pei Ming.

Jiang Jiang was starving and couldn’t wait any longer.

So he went ahead and ordered tangyuan for all three of them.

After telling the owner that Pei Ming would pay when he arrived he happily started eating.

Qi Qiao had rushed out too quickly and hadn’t brought a scarf or gloves.

He normally wasn’t afraid of the cold, but whenever he got chilled, places like his hands and face would turn red.

That was exactly why Pei Ming had always insisted that he wear a scarf whenever he went outside.

Even though he had run away from home afterward that habit had stayed with him.

“Eat already. You’re freezing like this and you’re still not eating?”

Jiang Jiang had been happily immersed in his bowl of tangyuan for a while, but noticing Qi Qiao hadn’t moved, he quickly urged him.

Qi Qiao held his spoon.

“Don’t we need to wait… for Captain?”

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue twice.

“Ah, it’s fine. We can eat first. It’s not like this is some team dinner or anything.”

“Besides, Captain does this all the time. He says he’s treating us to late-night snacks, then sends us money instead and ends up not coming himself.”

Qi Qiao thought Jiang Jiang had a point.

So he finally relaxed and scooped up a tangyuan.

Pretending to ask casually, he said, “If he often doesn’t come… why?”

Jiang Jiang took a sip of soup and answered vaguely, “Mmm… why, you ask? What else? It’s because of his little brother.”

Qi Qiao’s hand froze around the spoon.

Then he looked up.

“Little brother?”

Jiang Jiang nodded.

“Yeah. His younger brother. Not biological, though. Different from you.”

“I won’t go into everything else, but seriously, Captain treats that brother ridiculously well. He picks him up after school every day, and at night he won’t stay at the team house because he wants to spend time with him.”

Qi Qiao quietly took a sip of soup.

“You probably don’t know this, but over ten months ago, Captain used to go home every single night.”

“No matter how late it was, he’d go home. Never stayed at the team house.”

“It was only after his little brother ran away from home that he started living at the base.”

Jiang Jiang finished his tangyuan and wiped his mouth.

“Even after his brother ran away, Captain still spends all day staring at photos of him on his phone.”

“Yeah—the same one you’ve got.”

Qi Qiao nodded.

“I understand.”

Jiang Jiang kept going.

“And before his brother left, Captain would still look at those photos after practice too.”

“It’s like he literally can’t function without him.”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang shook his head.

“I seriously don’t get it.”

“Captain’s little brother pulled the whole running away from home stunt, and he still keeps staring at his pictures all day.”

“If that were my little brother, I’d have beaten him up a long time ago.”

Qi Qiao: “……”

Seeing Qi Qiao silently staring into his bowl without replying, Jiang Jiang asked, “Don’t you think that’s being disobedient?”

For the briefest moment, the corner of Qi Qiao’s mouth twitched slightly.

But meeting Jiang Jiang’s eager, excited, expectant expression he could only nod with a complicated look.

“Yeah… Disobedient.”

“Who’s disobedient?”

A calm voice suddenly came from behind them.

Qi Qiao’s entire back instantly stiffened.

Jiang Jiang turned around.

“Captain! I already finished eating before you even got here!”

Qi Qiao watched as the chair beside him was pulled out.

A tall figure sat down.

It was Pei Ming.

“What were you talking about just now?”

Naturally, Pei Ming picked up a spoon and asked casually.

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue.

“What else would we be talking about? Your little brother, obviously.”

“But we all unanimously agree your little brother is disobedient!”

As he said that, Jiang Jiang pointed meaningfully toward Qi Qiao.

“Right, Xiao Qiao?”

Qi Qiao’s hands were still stiff.

He had been deliberately keeping his head lowered, staring at his bowl of tangyuan, desperately hoping Jiang Jiang wouldn’t drag him into this.

But reality proved he had thought too much.

You should never place hope in a support player whose brain clearly hadn’t fully developed.

When Qi Qiao didn’t answer, Jiang Jiang called out again.

“Xiao Qiao, you’re on my side here, okay?”

“You said he was disobedient too.”

Qi Qiao had no choice.

Suppressing the overwhelming urge to bolt straight out the door he gave a stiff nod.

Jiang Jiang looked delighted.

“See, Captain? It’s not just me. Qi Qiao thinks so too.”

The more Qi Qiao listened, the more he felt his soul leaving his body.

Yet despite himself he still glanced sideways at Pei Ming.

Pei Ming’s expression remained calm.

But at the corner of his thin lips there was the faintest trace of a smile.

After a long pause they finally heard him say—

“Mm… He is a little disobedient.”

---

Author’s Note:

Qi Qiao: At this exact moment, my desire to disappear from existence has reached its absolute peak.

---

---

Chapter 30 – “So, what do you think, little mid laner?”

---

Qi Qiao looked toward the hero selection screen.

The hero Pei Ming had chosen for this match was Njord, God of the Sea.

This hero’s defining trait was that while inside the jungle, he could remain invisible for a certain period of time.

As long as he wasn’t hit by an enemy skill, the invisibility wouldn’t break. Because of that, targeted abilities were much less threatening to him, especially around the river.

However, as the match went on, Njord’s invisibility duration in the jungle gradually decreased.

So this was a textbook early-to-mid game jungler.

His ganking potential was extremely strong.

But if the match dragged into late game, it became difficult for him to provide meaningful teamfight impact.

Qi Qiao pressed his lips together.

He remembered that Faith’s usual playstyle had always focused on mid-to-late game scaling.

Could it be because he had opened the draft by picking Frigga?

The match officially began, and the randomly selected map was Lost Atlantis.

“Move toward blue side. Check their position.”

Pei Ming’s voice came through the team comms.

This match, Jiang Jiang had picked Griffin, a tank support built for initiation.

After hearing the call, he moved together with Ink, who had picked Tyr, God of War, toward the jungle.

Pei Ming was playing an early-to-mid game jungler.

So if the enemy team wanted to drag the game into late game—or secure an early victory—

they would need to limit Pei Ming’s growth.

And the best way to do that…

was invading his jungle.

Normally, Njord should start at red buff.

But to prevent the enemy team from invading together at level one and stealing camps, Pei Ming chose to start blue instead.

Jiang Jiang moved into position at the river entrance outside blue side and placed vision.

That was when he noticed Qi Qiao had already been waiting in the bush at the front-right side of the Blue Blood Mermaid camp.

Sure enough, the red side had planned a jungle invade from the very start.

Specter, their mid laner Seven, and support player Ao Ao were all approaching blue side together.

Jiang Jiang was playing Griffin, a support that had decent base damage early on, plus naturally high health.

Originally, he had intended to jump in first and chip away at Specter’s HP.

But unexpectedly—

Qi Qiao moved first.

From the brush near blue side, he instantly cast his W ability.

The skill landed with perfect accuracy on Specter, who had been just about to enter the jungle.

Specter was stunned by Karmic Red Lotus.

Seven and Ao Ao reacted immediately, both instantly throwing their abilities toward Qi Qiao.

The moment the fireball connected, Qi Qiao immediately repositioned backward.

He barely grazed past the other two incoming abilities—

but still lost nearly two-thirds of his HP.

Although they managed to trade some damage onto Specter in that exchange—

Qi Qiao’s condition had become terrible.

Once he returned to lane, if he wanted to survive the laning phase safely, he would have no choice but to use a healing pack.

“Ah… that trade wasn’t worth it.”

Jiang Jiang spoke helplessly.

“Qi Qiao, you should’ve waited for me to jump in and poke first before using Karmic Red Lotus. And honestly, leveling Q first would’ve dealt more damage too.”

Frigga was a high-damage hero.

Her W ability, Karmic Red Lotus, was primarily a crowd-control skill.

Meanwhile, her Q ability, Fireball, was her standard damage skill—

so it would definitely have been better for trading damage.

Qi Qiao didn’t say anything.

Hearing only silence over voice comms, Jiang Jiang assumed his words might have made Qi Qiao uncomfortable.

He awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Ahem… Qi Qiao, I didn’t mean it like that. You just joined the team anyway, so misclicking or not coordinating with us yet—”

Jiang Jiang was just about to say, “Your coordination isn’t there yet,” when several sharp piercing sound effects suddenly rang in his ears, followed immediately by the explosive sound of Karmic Red Lotus detonating.

Startled, he quickly looked back at the screen.

At some point, Pei Ming had already circled around to Specter’s flank, positioning himself perfectly.

Just one second before Qi Qiao’s fireball combo ended, he cast his W ability, Sea Spike, landing a precise hit on Specter.

At that exact moment, Qi Qiao’s cooldown refreshed, and he immediately followed up with the remaining damage.

Ao Ao instantly threw out a heal from the other side—

but it was already too late.

As Karmic Red Lotus burned out completely—

[First Blood——]

The announcement echoed through the match.

Qi Qiao secured first blood.

Jiang Jiang was dumbfounded.

For Pei Ming to have arrived that quickly during that exchange—

it meant he hadn’t even started attacking the Blue Blood Mermaid camp at all.

And if Pei Ming had intended to clear jungle efficiently, he should have started with his Q skill first, since that would stack his passive much faster.

But setting all that aside—

Pei Ming’s W damage skill, combined with Qi Qiao’s W crowd-control skill—

created the absolute perfect combo.

Which meant—

Qi Qiao and Pei Ming had somehow displayed an astonishing level of synchronization.

Even the two people inside the referee room were momentarily stunned.

After a pause, Temple Team’s manager finally nudged Rong Qing on the shoulder.

“Oh? Your new mid laner works this well with Devil? Didn’t you guys just sign him?”

Rong Qing was still in a state of confusion himself, but outwardly he laughed it off.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect it either. Maybe the two of them are naturally compatible?”

Temple Team’s manager clicked his tongue.

“Damn… they didn’t even discuss it beforehand and still had that kind of coordination? That was obviously aimed straight at taking Specter’s head. How long have they been practicing together?”

“Uh… maybe they’ve been doing extra practice privately.”

Rong Qing forced out a laugh.

There was no way he could tell him they had never practiced together at all.

But honestly—

he found it strange too.

How were they this synchronized?

Even back when Cup played with Pei Ming, their coordination had never reached this level.

Arms folded, Rong Qing watched the screen as Qi Qiao, after securing the kill, immediately rotated back behind tower toward mid lane.

After quickly clearing a wave, he recalled to base to buy items—

clean and decisive, without wasting a second.

[All Chat] Specter: Nice play.

[All Chat] Ao Ao: Waaaah, D-God, how can you guys play so dirty?!

Earlier, when Ao Ao and Seven had retreated, they had placed a ward in the river.

So now, in order to protect Pei Ming’s upcoming jungle route, Jiang Jiang and Ink both rotated over first to clear vision instead of immediately returning to lane.

By the time they got back—

the minion wave was already about to crash into tower.

[All Chat] Jiang Jiang: You’re the dirty ones! If our captain hadn’t seen through your evil scheme, you’d probably have stolen everything clean—including our underwear!

[All Chat] Seven: Alright, alright, invading blue was our fault. But your new mid laner and D-God definitely had coordination there!

Jiang Jiang instinctively glanced at Qi Qiao before rapidly typing out a response.

[All Chat] Jiang Jiang: Of course. Our Ghost is naturally gifted—him and Captain are a match made in heaven!

[All Chat] Ghost: ?

Qi Qiao had been focused on last-hitting minions when he saw the message.

His hand suddenly twitched.

He missed a cannon minion.

[All Chat] Seven: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ghost is such a kind soul. Worried our gold gap would get too big, so he accidentally missed a cannon minion for us! I’m! So! Touched!

Qi Qiao: “……”

He knew this Seven.

Last season’s semifinals—

the genius who had played Sif, completely whiffed his ultimate, and then flashed forward just to feed.

[All Chat] Jiang Jiang: Wait WHAT? Our little mid laner missed a cannon minion?!

[All Chat] Jiang Jiang: Is this the collapse of morality, or the distortion of human nature?! Ghost, are you seriously donating cannon minions to Seven?!

Qi Qiao landed an entire combo perfectly, blasting Seven down to a sliver of HP and forcing him to retreat.

Then he stared at the screen and took a deep breath.

He couldn’t take it anymore—

Just as he opened chat and was about to start typing into All Chat—

a calm voice suddenly came through his headset.

“Focus on the game.”

Qi Qiao’s fingers froze above the keyboard.

[All Chat] Jiang Jiang: Captain has spoken. I must mute myself now, sob sob sob!

Then another voice came through the headset.

“Ghost.”

Qi Qiao silently closed the chat window before responding.

“Here.”

“Come with me.”

Because of their early advantage, Pei Ming helped him fix the minion wave first.

The two of them secured the river crab and headed straight toward bottom lane for a gank.

On the enemy side, Ao Ao and their AD carry had been playing aggressively, pushing the wave all the way under Ink and Jiang Jiang’s tower.

At that moment, Seven sent a warning ping to bot lane, and the two enemies began retreating.

But Pei Ming had never intended to take the normal route from the start.

Instead, he directly circled around and hid in the brush beside the enemy’s second tower.

Jiang Jiang sucked in a breath.

“Brother… are you two seriously going for a tower dive? The turret protection mechanic is still active right now.”

Pei Ming simply responded—

“Mm.”

Jiang Jiang was just about to say he’d come over to tank tower shots—

when suddenly—

A flash.

Qi Qiao had already blinked forward into tower range and instantly unleashed a full W-Q-E combo, diving straight onto their faces.

Ao Ao and the enemy AD were caught completely off guard.

They immediately tried to throw out their ultimates in response—

but behind them, Pei Ming activated his own ultimate within 0.1 seconds of landing, instantly bursting down Ao Ao.

As a result, Ao Ao’s crowd-control ability never had a chance to connect.

The turret protection mechanic was still active.

By now, Qi Qiao had already tanked two tower shots, and his HP bar was nearly empty.

But Pei Ming moved with astonishing speed.

After killing Ao Ao, he immediately followed up and secured the enemy AD’s kill as well.

Qi Qiao figured dying here wouldn’t be too bad a trade.

So just as he was about to think about what items he should buy after respawning—

a shield suddenly wrapped securely around him.

Healing immediately restored some of his HP—

just enough to block the tower’s fatal final shot.

Startled, Qi Qiao looked up.

Only then did he realize Jiang Jiang’s Griffin had somehow flashed into tower range at some point.

With a clean sequence of moves, he shoved Qi Qiao out of danger while he was hanging on by a thread of HP.

[All Chat] Ao Ao: Jiang Jiang, you can’t play like that! You didn’t leave us even a single kill!

[All Chat] Jiang Jiang: Well, that depends whose kill it is. If it’s Ink’s, you can take it however you want. But our little mid laner? Absolutely not.

[All Chat] Ink: .

Qi Qiao recalled in the brush and saw the messages on the screen.

For a moment, he felt a little awkward.

Still, he cleared his throat and said to Jiang Jiang,

“You played Griffin pretty well.”

Jiang Jiang immediately replied, “That’s fine, then can you delete that video of you roasting me afterward, little mid laner?”

Hearing that, something about it immediately felt wrong to Qi Qiao.

And then he realized the source of the problem—

Little mid laner.

“You can have the video deleted, but drop the little mid laner part.”

Qi Qiao had already returned to his usual cold tone.

Jiang Jiang practically broke out in goosebumps from how icy that sounded.

He was absolutely certain that if he didn’t correct himself today, tomorrow it wouldn’t just be a deleted video—

there would probably be several new roast videos about him instead.

“Got it, got it. Just remember to delete the video, okay?”

Jiang Jiang sounded pitiful.

Because of the advantage they had built up early game, the rest of the match went exceptionally smoothly.

Specter was smart too.

Whenever possible, he avoided direct fights against Pei Ming and Qi Qiao, focusing instead on repeatedly ganking Ah Kai in top lane.

He was probably trying to drag the game into late game.

But this match, Pei Ming’s playstyle was exceptionally ruthless.

When Specter’s team grouped up to start Baron, Pei Ming instantly dove in and eliminated Seven before the fight could properly begin.

That immediately forced Temple Team, already behind in gold, into a full retreat—

allowing Faith to steal Baron.

By the twentieth minute, Temple Team’s AD carry had finally scaled up.

But during the final teamfight, while coordinating with Specter to take down Jiang Jiang, Ink, and Ah Kai—

he was caught and killed by Qi Qiao.

In the end, Pei Ming pushed mid lane and destroyed the Central World Tree, ending the game.

The main purpose of this scrim had been to help everyone regain match rhythm.

So Rong Qing had only arranged a single game with Temple Team—

one match to decide the result.

Jiang Jiang pulled off his headset and let out a long breath.

“That felt amazing. Winning a fast-paced early-to-mid game match like that feels so damn good!”

“Hey, brother, I just realized—you’re insanely good at this early-game fast-tempo jungle style. How about we start playing like this from now on?”

The more Jiang Jiang talked, the more excited he became as he turned toward Pei Ming.

Pei Ming glanced at him and replied calmly,

“That depends on Ghost’s performance.”

Qi Qiao had only taken one side of his headset off when he heard that.

He froze and turned toward Pei Ming.

Pei Ming lowered his long eyes slightly and casually rotated his wrist, looking somewhat tired, almost lazy.

Noticing Qi Qiao looking at him—

Pei Ming smiled.

“So, what do you think, little midlaner?”

Almost instinctively, Qi Qiao bit his lower lip lightly and looked away.

After a long pause—

he finally let out a quiet, “…Mm.”

Jiang Jiang: “???”

Wasn’t it supposed to be—

Drop the little midlaner part?

---

Author’s Note:

Jiang Jiang: Double standards, you shameless hypocrite!!!!!

---

---

Chapter 29 – Scrim

---

“No, but you’ve never coordinated with us before, so how are you supposed to play on stage?” Jiang Jiang asked, looking completely confused.

Qi Qiao started a ranked match. “That’s exactly because I’ve never coordinated with the team before, which is why Brother Rong called me to his office.”

Jiang Jiang nodded. “Oh, so he was giving you a confidence boost, huh?”

Qi Qiao neither confirmed nor denied it.

“Hm… Temple, though—it’s not exactly that hard to beat. They didn’t even make it out during last season’s China regional finals,” Jiang Jiang said. “But I heard their jungler’s hand injury got worse this season. Seems like they recently recruited a substitute, and he’s pretty strong.”

Jiang Jiang turned on his computer and searched for some information. “Tsk, this ID is Specter . It actually suits yours pretty well.”

Qi Qiao’s hand paused slightly while locking in his champion.

Jiang Jiang looked over Temple Team’s player profile for “Specter” again, then suddenly let out a sound of realization.

“Hey… wait a second. Why does this ID feel so familiar?”

He searched his memory for a moment, then suddenly realized something.

“Qi Qiao, when you were streaming before, didn’t this guy come into your livestream and send you a Brilliant Galaxy gift?”

Qi Qiao only responded with an “Mm,” before adding, “I refunded everything.”

Jiang Jiang let out a low whistle. “So it really was him.”

“Then tonight, are you still going to compe—”

Jiang Jiang continued speaking, but Qi Qiao suddenly pressed down on his hand. Looking up, he met Qi Qiao silently mouthing: Shut up.

Jiang Jiang was still wondering what was going on when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.

He had taken off his headset earlier so he could hear Qi Qiao better, so at this moment, the sound of those footsteps was especially clear.

Jiang Jiang turned around and saw Pei Ming walking in through the training room entrance, holding a cup of water.

Instead of returning to his own seat, Pei Ming walked straight toward Qi Qiao.

“Don’t be nervous tonight.”

As he spoke, he placed the cup in front of Qi Qiao.

“Drink some water.”

Jiang Jiang: “???”

Qi Qiao hadn’t expected Pei Ming to come over and say those things. Just moments ago, he had thought Pei Ming was simply passing by.

Qi Qiao accepted the water, lowered his eyes, and quietly said, “Thank you,” before taking a sip.

Fortunately, he had stopped Jiang Jiang from continuing.

There were some things he didn’t want Pei Ming to know.

Pei Ming didn’t say anything else. After doing that, he simply returned to his own seat.

Leaving behind a completely stunned Jiang Jiang.

“Qi Qiao… don’t you think the captain cares a little too much about you?” Jiang Jiang asked cautiously, glancing at the paper cup of water on the desk.

Qi Qiao had originally been about to put his headset back on, but after hearing that, he lowered it again and turned to look at him.

“You think so too?”

Jiang Jiang nodded frantically.

“Yeah, absolutely. You joining the team was recommended by the captain, he helped negotiate a higher base salary for you, the snacks I’ve been eating were sent by him for you, and the cake too…”

Qi Qiao lowered his gaze and habitually bit his lower lip lightly.

After a long pause, he finally said, “I guess… it does seem a little like that.”

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue.

“But honestly, forget the captain—you’re pretty much the same, aren’t you?”

Qi Qiao glanced at him.

“Pretty much the same?”

Jiang Jiang said, “Look, putting everything else aside, just what happened earlier—why didn’t you let me say it?”

Qi Qiao lowered his eyes and let out a quiet “Oh,” before replying, “Because there was no need.”

It really wasn’t something worth bringing up.

Actually, it was probably a pretty normal thing.

He just couldn’t accept it.

And because of that, he didn’t want his brother to hear about it either.

After afternoon practice ended, the group finished eating the meal prepared by the auntie at the team house. After resting for a while, Temple Team’s car arrived downstairs.

Normally, scrims could be played online, but to prevent data leaks between both sides, the league had recently started favoring offline practice instead.

This way, by going directly to one team’s training facility, the conditions could better replicate an actual tournament environment.

Temple Team was considered one of the veteran teams in ACR’s China region, having debuted around the same time as Faith.

Their results used to rank among the very best in the region. At their peak, they had even placed in the top three at Worlds, though their performance had declined quite a bit recently.

One of the biggest reasons for that was their jungler’s hand injury, which had grown increasingly severe over the past two years.

The reason Rong Qing had agreed to schedule a scrim with Temple this early was because there was a strong possibility the team would field a new jungler next season—

namely, their current substitute jungler.

And based on the match footage and available data online, the substitute jungler Specter seemed to be highly skilled.

Testing his strength in advance, analyzing the opponent’s weaknesses afterward, and only then deciding whether to prepare counter-strategies—

that was a very important part of the process.

But Rong Qing had another consideration as well—

Qi Qiao.

The opposing substitute jungler, Temple, seemed to share quite a significant connection with their new mid laner.

With the Spring Split approaching, everyone’s training schedule had become even tighter.

After going downstairs to open the door, Rong Qing exchanged a few pleasantries with the opposing team’s manager before leading them straight to the simulated competition room.

But after bringing them there, Rong Qing immediately noticed something was off.

Turning toward Temple Team’s manager, he lowered his voice and asked,

“Hey, where’s Qing?”

Qing had been Temple Team’s starting jungler for the past three years.

He was also the player who had recently been heavily criticized due to his worsening hand injury.

When Temple had called the night before to arrange the scrim, they had mentioned they would bring substitute jungler Specter along—

but they had never said Qing wouldn’t be coming.

At the mention of Qing’s ID, Temple Team’s manager shook his head and sighed.

“He refused to come himself. Said he wanted to give the opportunity to the newcomer. We tried persuading him, but it was no use.”

Hearing that, Rong Qing more or less understood what was going on.

He patted the manager on the shoulder and didn’t press any further.

Temple Team had always been known within the industry as an organization that valued loyalty and relationships.

Even when a veteran jungler could no longer perform well and needed to be replaced by a rookie, they wouldn’t make it look too harsh on the surface.

But Qing’s condition really had declined quite severely over the past two years.

And judging from today’s situation, even if he appeared next season—

he would probably only be sitting on the substitute bench.

Rong Qing shifted his gaze toward Specter, who had already taken his seat on the other side and was adjusting his equipment.

A tall, slender young man sat on the other side. His features were fairly handsome, and there was a faint sharpness in his brows.

Yet now that he had entered the match room, he showed no signs of nervousness. Instead, he looked completely indifferent, as if nothing around him particularly mattered.

“Ao Ao! I missed you so much!”

Rong Qing was still observing Specter when Jiang Jiang’s excited voice suddenly came from the doorway.

He turned just in time to see Jiang Jiang rush inside and head straight toward Ao Ao on the opposite side.

Ao Ao was Temple Team’s support player. He and Jiang Jiang had hit it off the moment they both started their pro careers, and they had long since become close brothers.

But with a sheet of glass separating the two teams now, they could only communicate through exaggerated mouth movements.

Rong Qing noticed Specter raise his head and sweep his gaze over the few members of Faith who had just entered.

But when his previously lazy, unfocused gaze landed on Qi Qiao—

it suddenly seemed to brighten.

Rong Qing’s heart sank.

It looked like that rumor he had heard before was probably true after all.

Qi Qiao was the last one to enter the room.

He was actually feeling a little nervous.

Not because he had never fully coordinated with the rest of Faith before—

but because…

The moment Qi Qiao stepped inside, he realized the person across from him had already fixed his gaze on him.

It was an openly intense stare, completely undisguised—

just like back when they were still in school.

Qi Qiao sat down while holding his peripherals.

Two knocks suddenly sounded against the glass window opposite him.

He looked up and saw Specter smiling as he silently mouthed the words—Long time no see.

Qi Qiao hesitated for a moment, but still nodded.

Jiang Jiang happened to be sitting right beside him.

He shot Qi Qiao a questioning look, as if silently asking whether he was okay.

Qi Qiao gave a slight shake of his head and steadied himself.

But from the corner of his eye, he glanced toward Pei Ming, who was sitting two seats away.

Pei Ming wasn’t looking at him.

Instead, his gaze seemed fixed on Specter across the room, his expression calm and unreadable.

For a moment, Qi Qiao felt even more nervous.

He had always been careful to keep everything about what happened back in school hidden.

His brother shouldn’t know anything.

And as for that incident in his livestream a few months ago—

he had deleted every replay.

There shouldn’t be any problems.

Although everyone’s training schedule was tight, they still went over the scrim rules first out of consideration for the two newcomers participating for the first time.

Overall, it wasn’t much different from the scrim Qi Qiao had played with the academy team before.

The only difference was—

this time, he couldn’t act recklessly the way he had in that previous match.

As they entered the ban-and-pick phase, Jiang Jiang began explaining.

“As for Temple Team, in the past we usually reserved our ban slots for their mid laner and their jungler, Qing. Their mid specializes in team-control mages, and if their support rotations are good, they can make things really hard for us.”

As he spoke, he immediately banned Frost Giant, the mage Temple Team’s mid laner was best known for.

“But since Qing isn’t here this time, and we want to test their jungler’s actual strength, we’ll probably save our bans for their AD carry first.”

The other side seemed to share the same unspoken understanding.

They banned several hero spirits that Ink and Pei Ming specialized in but deliberately left Odin open.

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue.

“They left Odin open? So they’re sure the captain isn’t going to play it?”

Previously, whenever they scheduled scrims, the opposing team’s very first ban had almost always been Odin.

But later, after realizing that Pei Ming rarely used that hero spirit during practice matches, they had gradually relaxed about banning it—

though they would still ban it when necessary.

Jiang Jiang thought it over for a moment.

From what he remembered, whenever they had scrimmed against Temple Team before, they would still ban Odin.

So for them to act this abnormally today…

Could it be because—

A sudden sense of foreboding washed over him.

The ban-and-pick phase ended, and it was quickly time for hero selection.

Originally, they had planned to save the counter-pick position for Qi Qiao today.

But since the other side hadn’t banned any of the hero spirits Qi Qiao specialized in, and considering that Qi Qiao was still far more effective when playing a high-burst mage, they ultimately gave the counter-pick slot to Ink instead.

They were on blue side this game, which meant they had first pick.

So during the priority pick phase, Qi Qiao immediately locked in Frigg.

Since they were going to play, there was no point hiding anything.

By picking Frigga—

his signature hero—

Qi Qiao was also sending a message to the other side.

If they were serious about this match, then they should show some sincerity too.

Sure enough, Temple Team instantly locked in Specter’s hero the very next second.

Only…

this hero…

Qi Qiao stared at the Odin displayed on the screen opposite him.

For a moment, he froze.

Specter tilted his head slightly and smiled at him.

“What a coincidence.”

Qi Qiao withdrew his gaze without responding.

But almost instinctively, he glanced toward Pei Ming.

And he realized—

Pei Ming was looking at him too.

His expression was calm.

Unreadable.

---

Author’s Note:

Qi Qiao: I’m already sweating bullets.

---

---

Chapter 28 – “Custom-made version, member price: 13,145.2.”

---

It was around noon.

Jiang Jiang yawned as he pushed the door open, dark circles clearly visible under his eyes.

Normally, drinking a little beer was no big deal for him, but last night they had gotten way too carried away at the hotpot restaurant. After coming back, he and Ink A-Kai had secretly continued drinking heavily in their room behind Rong Qing’s back, so by the end, he had been completely drunk and dazed.

At first, Jiang Jiang had even gone to knock on Pei Ming’s door, but no one answered. In the end, it turned into “a crime committed by three people.”

But when Jiang Jiang walked downstairs, he immediately noticed that something felt off. The training room was still completely empty at this hour.

Strange. Obviously, only the three of them had stayed up late yesterday, yet Pei Ming and Qi Qiao were somehow still not awake either.

Jiang Jiang didn’t think much of it, simply assuming everyone had silently agreed not to wake up early. After glancing around, he headed straight for the refrigerator in the dining area.

Knowing they would all wake up late today, Rong Qing had told the housekeeper not to cook. If anyone got up early and felt hungry, they could just order takeout instead. Jiang Jiang had just finished placing an order on his phone and was about to grab some of his personal stash of snacks from the fridge to fill his stomach in the meantime.

Still groggy, Jiang Jiang made his way to the dining area when he suddenly heard footsteps coming down the stairs behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Qi Qiao.

Qi Qiao looked like he had casually thrown on a jacket. His hair was messy, and he had come downstairs wearing slippers. His pale little face was completely devoid of color, making him look especially drained.

“Hey, Qi Qiao, didn’t sleep well last night either?” Jiang Jiang asked with another yawn.

Qi Qiao glanced at him but said nothing.

After what had happened last night, how could he possibly have slept well?

Still clueless, Jiang Jiang continued, “Sheesh… don’t tell me it’s because I talked too much yesterday about Captain and his younger brother, and it reminded you of your own brother? My bad, my bad.”

As he said this, he pressed his palms together and made an ‘Amitabha’ prayer gesture.

Qi Qiao: “……”

“I wasn’t thinking about anything. I’m just sleepy, that’s all,” Qi Qiao said speechlessly. “So are you actually going to grab something from the fridge or not?”

Although Jiang Jiang didn’t really believe him, seeing that Qi Qiao clearly had no intention of discussing anything related to ‘brothers’ any further, he quickly reached for the refrigerator door.

“Alright, alright, I’ll go first. I’ll share some of my snacks with you!”

The refrigerator door swung open. Jiang Jiang turned his head and reached toward the large bag of snacks he treasured so much, but the moment he saw what was inside the fridge, he froze on the spot.

Qi Qiao rubbed his eyes and stood behind him, watching.

For some reason, he had a feeling something was off about Jiang Jiang.

Sure enough, less than a second later, a deafening shout exploded from the other side.

“Holy shit!”

Jiang Jiang’s incredulous voice rang out like thunder from a clear sky, blasting right beside Qi Qiao’s ear.

Startled by the sudden yell, Qi Qiao frowned and looked at him.

“What happened?”

“Wait, I-I-I-I…” Jiang Jiang sucked in a sharp breath and pointed at the fridge. “Did someone break into the base last night or something?! Why the hell is there suddenly a cake in here?!”

Qi Qiao: “……”

Would a thief break into the base just to leave you a cake?

Before Qi Qiao could say anything, Jiang Jiang had already pulled out the cake he had placed in the fridge the night before, plastic bag and all, and held it up in front of his face for closer inspection.

The words “Genesis Custom Order” were prominently printed on the label.

Jiang Jiang let out another “Holy shit,” then muttered under his breath, “If this was a thief, they’re way too generous.”

Qi Qiao couldn’t stand listening anymore. He had only come down to grab something to eat himself, so he said, “Have you ever seen a thief break into someone’s house just to deliver cake?”

Jiang Jiang shook his head. “No.”

“Exactly.” After saying that, Qi Qiao walked over and took the cake from his hands.

Jiang Jiang stood there blankly as he watched Qi Qiao walk over to the dining table, sit down, open the box, and casually start cutting the cake.

“Th-This… this cake is yours?”

Qi Qiao cut himself a small slice and ate it in small spoonfuls. Hearing the question, he simply hummed in response.

Seeing Jiang Jiang still standing there staring blankly, Qi Qiao frowned and asked, “Do you want some?”

Jiang Jiang: “?”

Qi Qiao had already taken out another plate to cut Jiang Jiang a slice when he suddenly heard Jiang Jiang speak again, his voice trembling at the end.

“Brother… don’t you eat instant noodles every day?”

Qi Qiao: “?”

Jiang Jiang slowly walked over, looking utterly dazed.

“Brother… weren’t you so broke you couldn’t even afford tomatoes for tomato-and-egg stir fry?”

Qi Qiao had no idea why Jiang Jiang had suddenly started bringing up all this random nonsense. Frowning, he replied, “Oh, I was just messing with the viewers in my livestream. You actually believed that?”

Jiang Jiang lowered his head to stare at the cake on the table, then slowly looked back up at Qi Qiao. His entire face radiated heartbreak.

“Fine, whether or not you were lying to your viewers, why the hell would you casually buy a cake that costs 13,145.2?!”

Qi Qiao scooped up another spoonful of cake.

“Oh, I bought it, so I bought it—”

“!”

The spoon that had already been lifted to his lips froze instantly. Qi Qiao slowly raised his head.

“How much did you say?”

Jiang Jiang let out a long breath.

“Custom-made version. Member price. 13,145.2.”

Qi Qiao: “???”

What the hell had he just eaten?

Seeing Qi Qiao’s spoon frozen midair, Jiang Jiang suddenly looked like he had reached enlightenment.

“Ohhh, I get it now. Someone else gave you this cake, didn’t they?” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Your girlfriend?”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang looked the cake up and down again.

“Damn… this incredibly realistic Ultraman design. I’ve gotta say, your girlfriend really put a lot of thought into this.”

Qi Qiao: “……”

The hell do you mean girlfriend?

Qi Qiao’s face darkened. He was just about to put the cake down and explain when suddenly, a voice came from behind—

“Whose girlfriend?”

Qi Qiao’s movements paused slightly.

The moment Jiang Jiang saw Pei Ming walking over, he immediately lit up with excitement.

“Brother! Come here, quick! Look at this custom Genesis cake Qi Qiao’s girlfriend sent him!”

Qi Qiao: “……”

He had assumed Pei Ming would clear up the misunderstanding, but instead, Pei Ming simply walked over, glanced at the cake in front of him, and asked, “You have a girlfriend?”

Qi Qiao hadn’t expected him to ask that. He froze for a second, then shook his head.

Jiang Jiang raised an eyebrow. “Huh? If it’s not your girlfr—”

“Then who sent it?”

Jiang Jiang glanced at Pei Ming, surprised he had suddenly interrupted, but still chimed in.

“Yeah, exactly! Who’s generous enough to do that? Wink?”

Jiang Jiang suddenly noticed that Qi Qiao wasn’t even looking at him. His gaze was fixed entirely on their captain.

For a moment, Jiang Jiang had the strange feeling that while talking to these two… he had somehow been completely shut out.

After a long pause, Qi Qiao finally spoke a single word.

“You.”

Jiang Jiang was just about to ask ‘You what?’ when he saw Qi Qiao staring directly at Pei Ming, without blinking.

And in that instant, he understood.

Damn it… so when talking to these two, I really am being completely excluded!

Qi Qiao himself didn’t know what had gotten into him. When Pei Ming asked, he had simply answered without thinking, not even caring whether someone else beside them might hear.

But hearing that… shouldn’t really matter, right?

“Does it taste good?” Pei Ming suddenly asked.

Qi Qiao froze slightly, then nodded.

Pei Ming let out a quiet “Mm.” Casually, he pulled a napkin from the table and handed it over, while pointing at the corner of his own lips with his other hand.

“You’ve got something there.”

Qi Qiao reached out to take it.

“Okay.”

For some reason, he suddenly felt his heartbeat speeding up.

…

“Who even knows? I seriously couldn’t get a single word in while those two were talking. Damn it, why did it feel like Qi Qiao was the one who’d been fighting alongside Captain for years instead of me?!” Jiang Jiang said rapidly while casting a shield on Ink, recounting what had happened at lunch.

Ink had just finished controlling his character and killing the enemy AD carry. He nodded.

“And then?”

Jiang Jiang said, “And then? Then Captain asked him if it tasted good. I swear, I got goosebumps just listening to it!”

“Oh, right, right, and afterward Captain even handed Qi Qiao a napkin because he had cream on his mouth. Unreal.”

Ink laughed.

“Captain was just looking out for the new teammate.”

Jiang Jiang rolled his eyes.

“The hell do you mean new teammate? I know Genesis really well. Before, when it was the birthday of the goddess I had a crush on, I wanted to buy her a Genesis birthday cake too… but after checking the price, I realized I couldn’t afford it at all.”

Ink gave a small nod.

“Wait… you have a goddess?”

Jiang Jiang nodded.

“Yeah. It was back before you transferred here — when we were still first-years.”

Ink said, “No wonder you never managed to win her over.”

Jiang Jiang immediately got annoyed.

“Zou Moxing, what the hell do you mean by that? Believe it or not, if I can’t find a girlfriend in the future, I’ll cling to you for the rest of my life.”

Ink immediately scooted closer toward A-Kai.

“No thanks. In that case, I sincerely wish you success in getting a partner soon.”

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue.

“Whatever, forget about me. Back to Captain and them. When I was looking into Genesis before, they said for custom cakes, it’s best if customers personally go to the store to check things over. That way, if they’re unhappy with any part of the process, changes can be made immediately. Plus, you have to book it several days in advance.”

“I’m telling you, Captain definitely planned this ahead of time. Remember the day Brother Rong and I went to pick up Qi Qiao so he could come sign the contract? Captain wasn’t there that day, right?”

“And also, last night he left early. I’m betting he went to check on the cake too.”

Jiang Jiang kept rambling on before clicking his tongue again.

“I seriously don’t know whether this is just caring for a new teammate or—”

“Or what?”

Qi Qiao’s cold voice came clearly through the headset, every word landing directly in Jiang Jiang’s ears.

Startled, Jiang Jiang panicked and accidentally Flashed straight into the enemy tower with a loud snap.

“Uh… of course it’s just caring for a new teammate!” Jiang Jiang quickly laughed awkwardly. “You’re still so young. It’s totally normal for Captain to look after a new teammate more.”

Qi Qiao only shot him a cold glance before sitting down in front of the computer.

Trying to change the subject, Jiang Jiang asked, “Oh right, what did Brother Rong talk to you about? Why are you back so fast?”

The reason Jiang Jiang had dared talk about what happened at lunch in the training room earlier was because Qi Qiao had been called away by Rong Qing. He’d assumed they would be talking for quite a while, but unexpectedly, Qi Qiao had been let go after barely more than ten minutes.

Qi Qiao opened ACR on the computer, his eyes fixed on the screen.

“We have a scrim tonight.”

The moment Jiang Jiang heard the words scrim match, he looked confused.

“What scrim?”

Qi Qiao replied, “A scrim against the Temple Team.”

…

A Few Minutes Earlier:

“Xiao Qiao, tonight we’re having a scrim against the Temple Team. I wanted to let you know in advance.” Rong Qing pulled out a chair in the office and motioned for him to sit down.

Since the roster for this season had already been submitted to the league, in the esports circle, starting lineups among teams with good relationships were basically no secret to each other. Scheduling practice matches ahead of time to regain their feel for the game was a pretty common occurrence.

Qi Qiao asked, “A scrim? But I don’t think I’ve really practiced coordinating with the team yet.”

Rong Qing poured him a glass of water. “Exactly. It’s because you haven’t had much time to coordinate with everyone that I wanted to tell you beforehand. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Whether you play well or not, treat it as practice — and also as your first time building synergy with the team.”

Qi Qiao accepted the glass and nodded.

Seeing that he had taken a drink and his emotions didn’t seem too affected, Rong Qing finally continued, “Well… this season, Temple Team’s starting jungler has a fairly serious hand injury, so the substitute jungler they promoted from their youth training squad might be playing.”

“Substitute jungler?” Qi Qiao repeated.

Rong Qing nodded. “His ID is Specter. During your livestreams before… didn’t you know him?”

Qi Qiao froze slightly. After a long pause, he finally nodded.

Rong Qing looked at him cautiously. “Did he… ever do anything inappropriate to you?”

Qi Qiao’s movement paused halfway as he drank his water. He looked at Rong Qing but said nothing.

Rong Qing continued, “If that’s the case, then if he’s playing tonight, you don’t have to go on stage.”

Qi Qiao lowered his head and stared at the water in his cup. After more than ten seconds, he finally looked up. “It’s fine. It wasn’t anything too serious. I can play.”

Rong Qing still looked worried, but seeing that Qi Qiao’s expression had returned to normal, he ultimately swallowed back the words he wanted to say.

After giving a few more instructions about tonight’s scrim, Rong Qing felt there wasn’t much else left to say, so he let him leave.

“Alright. But tonight, if Specter ends up playing and you really feel uncomfortable, tell me beforehand.” Before Qi Qiao stepped out the door, Rong Qing added one last sentence.

Qi Qiao nodded and pushed open the door to leave Rong Qing’s office.

He took a deep breath and lowered his eyes.

Specter—

He remembered that ID.

And he also remembered what had happened in the livestream several months ago.

---

Author’s Note:

Here I am~ jumps over and hugs you all!

Thank you all so much for your support. I’ll keep working hard!

---

---

Chapter 27 – “Be good and listen to your brother.”

---

-Flashback-

Two years ago.

A winter night.

Qi Qiao lightly bit his lower lip, staring absentmindedly at the bubbling red chili oil hotpot in front of him. The noisy chatter around him felt strangely distant, as though coming from another world.

His complexion looked awful—so pale that it nearly washed out the faint redness of his lips.

Sharp waves of pain twisted through his stomach.

Tomorrow was Qi Qiao’s birthday. Originally, he had planned to stay home tonight and watch some replay streams of this season’s ACR matches with his brother. But one of his classmates also happened to be celebrating a birthday tonight. Since the entire class had been invited, he had no choice but to attend.

In the end, they came to Xu Ji, a hotpot restaurant that had only recently opened. The restaurant had quickly become well-known for its Sichuan-style hotpot and spicy dry pot dishes.

His classmate had ordered a yin-yang hotpot, mainly to accommodate the girls who couldn’t handle spicy food.

As for the boys’ table, since no one had mentioned being unable to eat spicy food, they had ordered traditional Chuan-Yu hotpot instead.

Caught in the middle, Qi Qiao found himself in an awkward position. It would look bad if he simply sat there drinking beverages the entire time, so he could only eat a little symbolically.

Chuan-Yu hotpot was already extremely spicy to begin with, and since he couldn’t handle spicy food at all, his stomach gradually began feeling uncomfortable.

Who would have thought that the boys in his class would get so carried away that they even ordered beer, saying they had to make a toast to the birthday star?

Eventually, every table took turns making toasts, and Qi Qiao had no choice but to take a sip as well.

And that was how things had ended up like this—

He was having difficulty even walking.

Fortunately, the toasting happened toward the end of the gathering. After everyone played around for a little longer, they finally prepared to leave.

Inside the restaurant, the mix of spicy aromas and the smell of alcohol left Qi Qiao feeling wave after wave of dizziness. It wasn’t until he stepped out of Xu Ji that he finally felt somewhat better.

Fine snow had begun drifting down from the sky.

Qi Qiao adjusted the off-white scarf Pei Ming had bought for him, opened his umbrella properly, and endured the stomach pain as he found a bench on a street corner where there weren’t too many people before sitting down.

He took several deep breaths, making sure his voice wouldn’t sound too shaky, before finally calling Pei Ming.

The phone rang twice and was quickly answered.

“Brother, we’re done. I’ve already sent you my location,” Qi Qiao said, deliberately lowering his voice.

“Then I’ll come pick you up now.”

Qi Qiao softly responded with an “Mm.” Through the phone, he could faintly hear background noise on the other end, something that sounded like “Take care, please come again next time.”

Yet the call still wasn’t disconnected.

Qi Qiao was beginning to feel uncomfortable from holding back.

“Brother… why aren’t you hanging up?”

A low voice came from the other end.

“Today, don’t you need me to keep you company while you wait?”

Qi Qiao bit his lower lip.

Right.

The pain had made him forget. Usually, whenever he found himself in situations where he had to wait for Pei Ming, he would call him and never hang up.

But today was a special case.

He didn’t want Pei Ming to notice that something was wrong with him—especially when this whole situation had been caused by his own choices.

Qi Qiao only muttered one sentence.

“I’m running out of phone credit.”

Then he hung up.

Although after calming down, he realized that excuse was actually pretty stupid, there was nothing he could do now that he had already said it.

About fifteen minutes later, Qi Qiao finally saw a taxi pull over by the roadside.

Pei Ming pushed open the back door and stepped out.

Pei Ming was wearing a fitted trench coat, holding a black umbrella as he walked toward him through the snowy night. Under the dim yellow streetlights, his shadow stretched unusually long behind him.

Qi Qiao originally wanted to walk over to him, but because he had been sitting on that bench for too long, the moment he stood up, a sharp cramp twisted through his stomach, forcing him to sink back down again.

Pei Ming stopped in front of him.

Qi Qiao looked up at him and met a pair of calm eyes, though there was a faint trace of anger hidden within them.

“Brother…”

Qi Qiao called out cautiously.

Pei Ming did not reply. Instead, he reached out a hand toward him.

Qi Qiao hesitated for a moment, but in the end, the stomach pain won out. Using Pei Ming’s hand for support, he slowly stood up.

Pei Ming helped him into the taxi. After closing the door and giving the driver their address, he finally turned and looked at him seriously.

Qi Qiao didn’t dare meet his gaze and quickly looked away.

“What did you eat?”

Pei Ming’s question landed in Qi Qiao’s ears in an even, measured tone.

Through the rearview mirror, Qi Qiao could see his own pale face, drained of nearly all color.

“Hotpot.”

Pei Ming tucked the off-white scarf more securely around his neck.

“Spicy?”

Qi Qiao gave a quiet “Mm.”

“What else?”

Qi Qiao’s heart skipped a beat, and he shook his head.

There was absolutely no way he could let his brother find out about the beer.

After adjusting the scarf, Pei Ming withdrew his hand and looked at him calmly.

“I smelled it.”

Qi Qiao met Pei Ming’s eyes. They remained locked in a silent standoff for quite a while, but in the end, he was defeated by the coolness in his brother’s gaze.

“Beer.”

“I only had one sip.”

Qi Qiao carefully lifted his head to look at Pei Ming.

Pei Ming said nothing, silently staring at him.

Just when Qi Qiao thought his brother was truly going to lose his temper tonight, a warm touch landed gently on top of his head.

Pei Ming ran a hand through his hair, let out a quiet sigh, and then asked,

“Does your stomach hurt?”

Qi Qiao nodded.

“Home, or the hospital?” Pei Ming asked.

Qi Qiao disliked hospitals, and there happened to be stomach medicine stocked at home.

He quickly made his decision.

“Home,” Qi Qiao answered.

The taxi continued along its original route, and after a little over thirty minutes, they arrived at their residential complex.

Pei Ming specifically used his access card so the taxi could drive inside, only stopping once they reached the driveway in front of the villa.

After paying the fare, Pei Ming came over to help him out of the car.

Because he had been sitting for so long earlier, the moment he stood up, the pain in his stomach flared up sharply. Qi Qiao couldn’t hold it back and accidentally let out a muffled groan.

As a result, Pei Ming ended up carrying him upstairs on his back, not even putting him down while they were in the elevator.

Only after Qi Qiao had taken his stomach medicine and recovered enough did his brother finally allow him to take a shower.

Even then, he was only allowed to shower in Pei Ming’s bathroom.

When Qi Qiao came out after bathing, he saw that Pei Ming had already warmed up some milk and was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for him.

“Come here.”

Pei Ming beckoned to him.

Qi Qiao had changed into his off-white long-sleeved pajamas. Obediently, he walked over, accepted the glass of milk from Pei Ming, sat down beside the bed, and quietly held it in both hands as he drank.

Pei Ming’s fingers lightly brushed through his hair a few times.

“Did you dry it properly?”

Qi Qiao nodded.

“Good. Finish your milk and go to bed.”

He was just about to nod again when he suddenly realized something about those words sounded strange.

Qi Qiao looked up.

“Brother… which bed?”

Pei Ming lowered his gaze to look at him. It was unclear what he was thinking about before he finally asked, “Mine?”

Qi Qiao swallowed the last mouthful of milk and gave a quiet “Mm.”

For some reason, he could feel a faint sense of anticipation rising inside him.

The truth was, he had always seen Pei Ming through heavily rose-tinted glasses, ever since the very first time they met at that internet café years ago.

He wanted to get closer to his brother, no matter in what way.

Qi Qiao’s memories after that became somewhat blurry. He only remembered that at first, they seemed to sleep under separate blankets.

But in the middle of the night, his stomach started hurting again, and he felt cold, so he simply slipped into his brother’s blanket.

Pei Ming didn’t refuse.

Lowering his gaze to look at him, he reached out and gently rubbed his stomach for him.

Qi Qiao looked up, quietly studying Pei Ming’s face.

He noticed that his brother’s eyelashes were very long, and the bridge of his nose was sharply defined. Under the light, the fine strands of his lashes cast delicate shadows across his face.

“I originally prepared an Ultraman birthday cake for you,” Pei Ming suddenly said.

“But you won’t be able to eat it tomorrow.”

Qi Qiao was so close to him that he could feel the warmth of his brother’s breath against the side of his ear, making that spot feel slightly hot.

“Why?” Qi Qiao asked, the tips of his ears turning red.

“Isn’t your stomach still hurting?”

Qi Qiao spoke softly.

“It doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”

Pei Ming smiled.

“Even so, you still can’t eat it tomorrow. Wait until the day after.”

Pretending to sulk, Qi Qiao turned his head away and deliberately refused to look at him.

Then, near his ear, he heard that low voice again.

“Be good and listen to your brother.”

— End of Flashback —

“Qi Qiao, pack up your stuff! We’re about to leave!”

Jiang Jiang’s voice rang out beside him, instantly pulling him from his memories back into reality.

The ingredients on the hotpot table in front of him had already been almost completely eaten. Qi Qiao looked up at the clock across from him.

It was already 10:46 PM.

So much time had passed without him even realizing it.

Coming back to himself, Qi Qiao quietly responded with a “Okay,” then stood up and grabbed his scarf.

Jiang Jiang looked Qi Qiao up and down with a strange expression.

He had noticed that ever since Pei Ming finished that round of Truth or Dare, Qi Qiao hadn’t said another word. He had simply been staring absentmindedly at the plate in front of him.

Qi Qiao also noticed Jiang Jiang watching him.

But at that moment, he had no interest in paying attention to Jiang Jiang because he suddenly realized someone was missing.

“Where’s Captain?”

Jiang Jiang had still been wondering what exactly was going on with Qi Qiao when their eyes suddenly met, startling him.

“Ah? The… the captain? He said he had something to do and left earlier.”

Jiang Jiang stammered slightly.

Qi Qiao glanced at the now-empty seat where Pei Ming had been sitting earlier.

“Oh.”

He picked up his scarf and turned to leave.

Jiang Jiang hurried after him.

Originally, he had wanted to ask why Qi Qiao had suddenly stopped eating earlier, but the moment Qi Qiao got into the car, he completely ignored him.

It left Jiang Jiang wondering whether he had somehow offended Qi Qiao again.

Yet Qi Qiao’s expression looked perfectly normal.

Jiang Jiang thought about it carefully for a moment and decided this probably had something to do with the captain mentioning his younger brother earlier.

So he cautiously asked,

“Hey, Qi Qiao… are you upset because Captain brought up his little brother just now, and it made you think about your own brother?”

Hearing the word “brother,” Qi Qiao finally turned and glanced at Jiang Jiang.

Jiang Jiang assumed he had guessed correctly and hurriedly continued.

“Tsk, Captain’s just that kind of person. He’s a total bro-con. So if something he said reminded you of your brother, don’t take it personally.”

Qi Qiao tilted his head slightly, confused.

“Bro-con?”

Jiang Jiang nodded.

“Yeah. You have no idea. Captain doesn’t usually scroll through Weibo or watch short videos, but he has this really weird hobby.”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang nudged Qi Qiao’s shoulder.

“Guess what it is?”

Doesn’t scroll Weibo?

Doesn’t watch videos?

Qi Qiao thought about it for a moment.

He realized that, back then, aside from following tournament updates, Pei Ming really hadn’t used apps like that very often.

Qi Qiao glanced at him.

“What is it?”

Jiang Jiang clapped his hands dramatically and said in a mysterious tone,

“Photos. Of. His. Little. Brother. Looking good! Didn’t expect that, huh?”

The moment he heard the words “photos of his little brother looking good,” Qi Qiao froze.

The lights inside the car were dim, so Jiang Jiang didn’t notice the stunned look on Qi Qiao’s face and continued talking.

“Every time I see him holding his phone, he’s either playing Tetris or looking at photos of his little brother. I seriously don’t know what goes on in his head. It’s not like that’s his wife or anything.”

…

11:00 PM.

After taking a shower, Qi Qiao sat on the edge of the bed, Jiang Jiang’s words from the car still lingering in his mind.

“But honestly, it’s weird. He’s always saying his little brother is good-looking, but he never lets any of us see him.”

“At the end of the day, he’s just a total bro-con. The possessive type, too.”

“Makes me wonder if I’ll ever get the chance in this lifetime to meet his obedient and adorable little brother.”

So… even when he wasn’t around, Pei Ming had still been paying that much attention to him?

But why had he never said anything about it?

And also…

If Pei Ming didn’t use Weibo or watch videos, then that meant he wouldn’t have seen any of Qi Qiao’s livestream clips either.

So was it possible…

Pei Ming hadn’t been unwilling to look for him.

Maybe he simply hadn’t been able to find him.

Qi Qiao’s mind was in complete chaos now.

Suddenly, he felt a strong urge to go find Pei Ming and ask him everything directly.

But when they had returned earlier, Pei Ming had already gone back to his own room.

Just as these messy thoughts were running wild in his head—

There was suddenly a knock at the door.

Qi Qiao quickly composed himself and walked over to open it.

But the moment he pulled the door open, he froze where he stood.

The person standing outside…

was Pei Ming.

“You—”

Qi Qiao started to speak.

Even though he desperately wanted answers, reason still won out in the end.

“…Is something wrong?”

Pei Ming lowered his gaze toward him, his expression calm and unreadable.

The dim yellow hallway light stretched his shadow long across the floor.

Then Qi Qiao noticed the bag in his hand.

“Last year’s birthday cake.”

Pei Ming paused before adding quietly,

“I’m making it up to you.”

The cake was packed inside a transparent plastic container.

And instantly—

the familiar figure of Ultraman came into view.

---

Author’s Note:

Here it comes, here it comes!

---

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Chapter 26 – Truth or Dare

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“Stir-Fried Vegetables, stir-fried vegetables! Oh my god, Captain actually bought Ghost a stir-fried vegetable dish!”

“Wait, forget the fact that Ghost can’t eat spicy food for a second — how does Captain even know that?”

Jiang Jiang had just finished a ranked match with Ink, but immediately started rambling again.

“I’ve been following Ghost for so long, and even I didn’t know that, okay?”

Ink yawned.

“Alright, enough. You should be grateful Captain knew and bought Ghost a vegetable dish. Otherwise, you’d be the one looking ridiculous.”

Jiang Jiang rolled his eyes.

“As if I didn’t embarrass myself enough yesterday already.”

The moment he closed his eyes, he could still vividly remember the awkward scene from last night—

Watching Pei Ming push away the Mala Xiang Guo, then later calling over Rong Qing to help deal with the situation.

And Qi Qiao hadn’t even refused.

He drank the Telunsu milk and quietly ate the vegetable dish.

Though admittedly…

His expression had looked a little unnatural.

Even now, Jiang Jiang still couldn’t forget the utterly confused expression on Rong Qing’s face when he arrived.

“Embarrassing, sure. But at least the food didn’t go to waste,” Ink said.

Jiang Jiang: “……”

“No, seriously, don’t you think it’s weird? Why does Captain know he can’t eat spicy food?”

No matter how much Jiang Jiang thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.

Ink had already started another ranked match.

After banning heroes, he casually replied, “Maybe he found out while doing background research.”

Jiang Jiang stared at him in disbelief.

“That’s the kind of thing you can investigate?”

Ink shrugged.

“Why not?”

Jiang Jiang was just about to argue again when the training room door suddenly opened.

Seeing Rong Qing and Qi Qiao walk in together, Jiang Jiang instantly shut up.

“Ah, it’s been so long since we had a new player join the team that I completely forgot.”

Rong Qing patted Qi Qiao on the shoulder.

“The league approval process will probably take another week, so I guess we can’t make the official announcement on such a good day after all.”

Qi Qiao shook his head.

“It’s okay. I’m not superstitious.”

“Some things are worth believing in.”

A calm voice sounded from behind them.

Qi Qiao turned around—

And met Pei Ming’s eyes just as he walked through the door.

Holding a cup of coffee, Pei Ming passed by him and said casually,

“That applies to people too.”

Qi Qiao stared at him silently, saying nothing.

Standing nearby, Rong Qing laughed.

“Hahaha, Xiao Pei’s right.”

“That’s not superstition — that’s sincerity.”

“Alright, alright. It’s New Year’s Day today. After afternoon training, I’m taking all of you out. We’re going for hot pot.”

Jiang Jiang’s eyes lit up instantly.

“Awesome! Brother Rong, you’re the best! Are we going back to that private hot pot restaurant from last time?”

Rong Qing nodded.

“Yep. The food there’s great, and the private rooms are pretty well done too.”

Jiang Jiang nodded in satisfaction.

Then suddenly remembered something and added,

“Oh right, Brother Rong — don’t forget to order a split hot pot this time. Qi Qiao can’t eat spicy food!”

Qi Qiao had just sat down at his station.

Hearing that, he froze slightly.

Rong Qing laughed.

“Right, Qi Qiao can’t eat spicy food. Good thing Xiao Pei ordered that vegetable dish for you last night.”

“Looks like Xiao Pei really does care a lot about all our team members.”

“As I should.”

Pei Ming replied calmly.

Qi Qiao looked over from three seats away.

Pei Ming had just sat down at his station.

He wasn’t looking at him at all—

As if he had simply been showing ordinary concern for a teammate.

Qi Qiao rubbed his face.

Maybe… he really was just caring for a teammate. Nothing more.

Since there was no official team announcement today, Rong Qing had told him he could spend some extra time queueing with his teammates.

So Qi Qiao teamed up with Jiang Jiang again.

The moment he started the livestream, the first comments flooding the screen were—

[“Huh? Why is it Jiang Jiang again? Are you two actually pretty close off-stream or something?”]

[“LMAO, Little Brat, Jiang Jiang was crying on Weibo yesterday because you didn’t wait for him.”]

[“Come on, good thing he didn’t wait — otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten to see the “accessory” moment, right?”]

Qi Qiao’s gaze lingered on the word “accessory” for a few seconds before shifting away.

“Whatever relationship I have off-stream isn’t something you guys need to worry about.”

“The fact that I’m streaming for you at all is already enough.”

He spoke lazily.

[“666. So as your dad, I’m not even allowed to know about my son’s social life now?”]

[“Alright then, if Jiang Jiang is off-limits, how about telling us about your relationship with Devil?”]

Qi Qiao’s fingers paused.

His gaze lowered slightly.

“We don’t have any relationship.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Jiang Jiang instantly whip his head around toward him.

[“No relationship? Then why would he be your “accessory”???”]

Qi Qiao unconsciously bit his lower lip before replying,

“Maybe Devil just wanted to play support for one game.”

“Don’t overthink it.”

Some things are worth believing in.

That applies to people too.

Suddenly, the two things Pei Ming had said earlier resurfaced in Qi Qiao’s mind.

He found himself spacing out.

Could I really trust him?

…

That afternoon, Qi Qiao and Jiang Jiang didn’t stream for very long.

After playing five or six ranked matches, they ended the stream.

At around five o’clock, Rong Qing came upstairs to pick everyone up.

The group drove together to the hot pot restaurant.

This restaurant wasn’t located on any particularly busy street.

Qi Qiao noticed it was actually very close to the hot pot restaurant he had visited with Wink last time—

Except this one was tucked even farther inside.

But it wasn’t until he got out of the car and stepped inside that he suddenly realized—

The interior design of this restaurant felt strangely familiar.

Qi Qiao stood by the entrance, quietly thinking for a long moment.

“Hello, are you Mr. Rong? The party of six that made a reservation in advance?”

A waitress walked over with a warm smile.

Rong Qing nodded and took out his phone to show her the reservation number.

After checking it, the waitress began leading them toward their private room.

Following behind the others, Jiang Jiang noticed Qi Qiao was still standing frozen at the entrance and called out,

“Hey, Qi Qiao? We’re heading to the private room.”

The others ahead also turned at the sound.

Qi Qiao snapped out of it—

And happened to meet the waitress’s eyes.

The waitress tilted her head in confusion.

“Hm… excuse me, sir… have we met before?”

From beside him, Jiang Jiang chimed in.

“Huh? Qi Qiao, you’ve been here before?”

“This place did a collaboration with Xu Ji Mala Xiang Guo, right? I think they’re owned by the same boss.”

Xu Ji.

So it really is the same owner.

No wonder the interior looked so familiar.

Qi Qiao buried half his face deeper into his Klein blue scarf and gave a slight shake of his head.

From across the room, his eyes met Pei Ming’s for a moment—

And he instinctively looked away.

The waitress studied him for a few more seconds.

Though still looking puzzled, she smiled and said, “Maybe I’m mistaken. The younger boy who came before had a different hair color from yours… But the two of you do look a little alike.”

Jiang Jiang happened to be walking beside Qi Qiao and bumped his shoulder playfully.

“Hey, so there’s actually someone out there who looks like you? What do you think — better-looking than you, or not as good-looking?”

Qi Qiao’s thoughts were still a mess.

He glanced at him and replied flatly, “Either way, better-looking than you.”

Jiang Jiang: “……”

I really asked for that one.

Soon, the waitress led them into their private room.

For convenience, Rong Qing ordered two split hot pots so everyone, whether seated near or far, could easily reach the food.

Before long, the group dug in enthusiastically. Halfway through the meal, Jiang Jiang ordered beer as well.

Rong Qing originally wanted to stop them—

But considering it was New Year’s Day, and everyone was gathered together celebrating, he eventually relaxed and let them enjoy themselves.

Jiang Jiang downed a bottle of beer first.

Then, noticing Qi Qiao still quietly eating the sweet potato noodles in his bowl, he asked,

“Qi Qiao, you’re an adult already, right?”

Qi Qiao had half a strand of noodles between his teeth.

He nodded.

“Well then… How about a beer?”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang picked up a bottle and held it out toward him.

Qi Qiao looked at the beer.

But before he could react—

The bottle was suddenly snatched out of Jiang Jiang’s hand.

Jiang Jiang turned around in surprise. Immediately meeting his captain’s gaze.

Pei Ming placed the beer down on the table in front of himself and said calmly,

“He’s still young. Still growing. Don’t let him drink recklessly.”

Even though Pei Ming hadn’t looked at him while saying it—

Qi Qiao’s ears still turned red.

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue.

“Oh come on, what do you mean young?”

“Captain, back then you weren’t even an adult when you got drunk with us at KTV. Didn’t hear you saying that then.”

Got drunk at KTV?

Qi Qiao paused slightly, his communal chopsticks hovering midair over a slice of tripe.

Then he looked up at Pei Ming.

Pei Ming lowered his eyes and took a sip of alcohol.

He didn’t answer.

As the alcohol started taking effect, the conversation naturally drifted toward old memories.

Qi Qiao quietly sat to the side, sipping coconut juice and listening without drawing attention to himself.

“I seriously don’t get it.”

Jiang Jiang let out a drunken hiccup.

“How come Cup just left without saying a word?”

“It was like he had loan sharks chasing him or something.”

Ink poured him a cup of chrysanthemum tea to settle his stomach while casually replying,

“It was his own choice.”

“If he didn’t want to tell anyone, nobody was going to know.”

A-Kai nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. Back then, Temple Esports’s King did the same thing, didn’t he?”

“One day he just left. No warning at all.”

Jiang Jiang waved dismissively.

“Come on, King’s situation was different.”

“He retired.”

“He didn’t straight-up switch regions.”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang tapped his bowl lightly with his chopsticks.

“Besides, Cup got along pretty well with all of us, didn’t he?”

“Nobody bullied him or anything. And he admired Captain so much… So why’d he suddenly leave?”

The moment Qi Qiao heard the word “admired,” his hand paused midway while drinking his coconut juice.

He turned to look at Pei Ming.

Pei Ming had drunk a little alcohol earlier, and now looked slightly relaxed, almost lazy.

“The fact that he left was his own decision. It wasn’t something anyone else could interfere with. And there was no need to.”

Jiang Jiang immediately complained, “Yeah, yeah, sure. Captain, you really are completely heartless. And here I thought we’d been teammates for so many years.”

Seeing the conversation taking a strange turn, Rong Qing quickly stepped in.

“Hey, hey, alright, enough. Let’s stop this topic here.”

Ever since Cup had suddenly transferred away, the team rarely brought him up anymore.

And with Qi Qiao here tonight, this definitely wasn’t something they should be discussing.

Jiang Jiang also knew he had gone too far after drinking too much.

He quickly shut his mouth.

“Alright, alright, my bad, my bad… We’re dropping the topic.”

As punishment, Jiang Jiang poured himself another drink and finished it.

Then, noticing Qi Qiao sitting quietly at the side, hugging his glass of coconut juice and barely saying a word, Jiang Jiang figured the new guy should join in somehow.

So he pulled out his phone.

“Oh right — recently I found this Truth or Dare app. How about we play a round?”

Rong Qing immediately understood what Jiang Jiang was trying to do.

He nodded with a laugh.

“Playing Truth is fine. But no Dare. I do not want a repeat of what happened last time—”

Instantly, some very unpleasant memory flashed across Jiang Jiang’s face.

He hurriedly cut him off.

“Stop right there! Truth only. We’re playing Truth only!”

Then Jiang Jiang opened the app.

“Everyone’s participating, alright?”

“No one’s backing out.”

A-Kai shrugged.

“Sure, why not.”

“Just sitting here eating is getting boring anyway.”

Qi Qiao glanced at Pei Ming.

He didn’t refuse.

He only gave a slight nod.

The app used a spinning wheel system for Truth or Dare App, randomly selecting both a player and a question.

All they had to do was enter everyone’s names.

After typing them all in, Jiang Jiang leaned against Ink’s arm and hit start.

Three seconds later—

The pointer landed on Rong Qing.

“Ohhh, Brother Rong, starting strong, huh?”

A-Kai leaned over to look.

Sitting across the table, Rong Qing waved his chopsticks.

“Alright, alright. Hit me with it.”

Jiang Jiang tapped the random question generator.

Then, with a mischievous grin, read aloud:

“Oho… When was the last time you passionately kissed a girl?”

Rong Qing burst out laughing.

“Passionately kissed a girl? I’ve devoted my entire youth to Faith Esports Club, okay? I’ve been single since birth.”

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue dramatically.

“Damn, spread the word — Brother Rong has been single since birth. If anyone here has an older sister or younger sister at home, hurry up and introduce them!”

Rong Qing rolled his eyes.

“Enough already. Stop messing with me. Can we move on?”

By now, Ink had already pressed start for the next round on Jiang Jiang’s phone.

This time—

The wheel landed on Qi Qiao.

The moment Jiang Jiang saw it, his eyes lit up.

“Ohhh, nice! Qi Qiao, it landed on you!”

Qi Qiao had been quietly eating fish tofu.

Hearing that, he looked up blankly.

“That fast?”

Jiang Jiang clapped his hands.

“Well of course. Looks like fate likes you. Let me see what your question is.”

As he spoke, he tapped the random question.

“Ohhh…”

“Since turning sixteen, have you ever shared a bed with someone of the opposite sex… or the same sex?”

Qi Qiao froze slightly.

He had never shared a bed with a girl.

But with a guy…

Almost unconsciously, Qi Qiao lifted his head and looked at Pei Ming.

Only to realize—

Pei Ming was looking at him too.

“Hey, Qi Qiao? Why’d you suddenly stop talking?”

Jiang Jiang leaned forward.

“Don’t tell me you actually—”

“No!” Qi Qiao blurted out far too quickly.

But the moment his eyes met the faintly amused look Pei Ming was giving him—

All the urgency drained out of him at once.

“Only with… guys.”

Qi Qiao answered weakly.

Jiang Jiang had been startled by his overly intense reaction just now, but he still cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Uh… well, sharing a bed with another guy is pretty normal. Qi Qiao, you really didn’t need to react that strongly. No one’s laughing at you.”

Qi Qiao: “……”

Jiang Jiang had no idea what nerve he had accidentally struck.

But seeing Qi Qiao’s sour expression, he wisely shut up.

“Ah… okay then.”

“Next round!”

As he spoke, Jiang Jiang reached over and spun the wheel again.

“Captain! It landed on you this time!”

The moment the wheel stopped on Pei Ming, Jiang Jiang immediately perked up.

Pei Ming took a sip of beer and nodded calmly.

“Go ahead.”

Jiang Jiang grinned.

“Hang on, let me hit the random question.”

Although things had gotten awkward a moment ago, Qi Qiao had managed to suppress his urge to grab a knife and chop Jiang Jiang into pieces after drinking a few sips of soup.

Now, hearing that Pei Ming had been selected, he couldn’t help looking up curiously.

He actually wanted to know what question Pei Ming would get.

“No way… Captain, you and Qi Qiao really must be fated or something. How did you two get the exact same question?”

Jiang Jiang clicked his tongue while staring at the screen.

Pei Ming raised an eyebrow slightly.

“The same question?”

Jiang Jiang nodded.

“Yep.”

“It’s asking whether, after turning sixteen, you’ve ever shared a bed with someone of the opposite sex… or the same sex.”

Pei Ming gave a quiet “Mm.”

Then answered casually.

“Yes. With a guy.”

Jiang Jiang’s gossip-loving instincts immediately kicked in.

“Whoa… With a guy? Was it a roommate… or your younger brother?”

“My younger brother.”

The moment Qi Qiao heard those two words—

His swallowing motion paused slightly.

Jiang Jiang stared in disbelief.

“Damn, your younger brother again?”

“You were still sharing a bed after turning sixteen? Captain, how did that make you feel?”

Qi Qiao: “……”

How did it make him feel?

What kind of question even is that…

It was just two brothers with a close relationship sleeping together.

Besides, that night only happened because my stomach was hurting.

Thinking this, Qi Qiao secretly glanced at Pei Ming from the corner of his eye.

“How did it feel?”

He saw Pei Ming gently swirl the beer in his glass.

Then—

A low laugh escaped him.

“Very cute.”

Qi Qiao had been listening carefully.

The moment those words reached him—

His whole back stiffened. He instantly looked up.

Pei Ming was already looking straight at him.

There was a faint smile lingering in those dark eyes.

“And…”

“He was really nice to hold, too.”

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Author’s Note:

Thanks for waiting, everyone!

I originally wrote a much longer chapter, but I felt splitting it up worked better, so sorry for the wait!

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