Chapter 44 – Bamboo Horse
“You… You turned your face away, and I…”
Seeing the boss covering the camera with a handkerchief, Gu Xincha gritted his teeth and squeezed out these words.
His breathing was unstable, and a captivating blush appeared on his face.
Wang Yining stared at him without any reservation. “No need, I haven’t seen you in any state before.”
He said it contemptuously, as if he and the person standing on the street selling smiles were of the same kind.
Yes, that’s right…
Gu Xincha, as if self-loathing, took off the thin, almost translucent white shirt he was wearing outside, neatly folded the clothes and placed them on the sofa. Unconsciously, he thought of Liang Feng again.
Liang Feng had just helped him straighten his clothes, but it was futile… Cleanliness and tidiness were temporary. If the problem couldn’t be solved from the root, what awaited him would always be another stain.
He himself was a despicable person who sold smiles, and Wang Yining was the beast that splurged money. That’s what Gu Xincha thought.
Poor Liang Feng, the faithful one.
…
The two of them had been together since childhood, from elementary school to middle school, high school, and university… Gu Xincha had liked him since he was little, but Liang Feng, the fool who was stubborn and straightforward, never caught on.
Liang Feng was a typical straight guy, handsome in appearance but clueless about flirting or interacting with girls.
Due to Gu Xincha’s outstanding appearance and high emotional intelligence, he had many girls liking him since childhood. However, Liang Feng always used the excuse of “he’s not interested in early relationships” to reject them on his behalf.
“How do you know I’m not interested in early relationships?”
Gu Xincha had asked him this in high school.
At that time, Liang Feng had said, “I won’t let you have an early relationship, so you won’t have one, right?”
Gu Xincha: “…”
I really want to snatch Lin Xingling’s lines…
(“Interrupting” Lin Xingling: Ah, right, right, right.)
In college, Liang Feng found a girl he liked, and coincidentally, the girl was interested in him too.
Mutual affection, one of the most beautiful things in the world.
“No early relationships,” Gu Xincha said.
“Not early anymore,” Liang Feng replied.
On the day when Liang Feng successfully confessed to his girlfriend, before he could share the good news with Gu Xincha in the evening, they inexplicably started arguing… and then it turned into a brawl in their dormitory, with neither of them giving in to the other.
Gu Xincha was physically weak and had a timid personality. He was easily subdued by Liang Feng and pinned to the ground, where he was beaten up.
It was painful, but stubborn as he was, he didn’t beg for mercy.
Liang Feng lost control of his anger, and his attacks were neither light nor heavy. By the time he realized it, Gu Xincha’s face had turned pale as if he were dead, and he was on the verge of passing out, almost spitting out blood.
The fight landed both of them in the hospital… Gu Xincha suffered bone and muscle injuries for a hundred days. In order to take care of him, Liang Feng gave up his newly acquired girlfriend.
The ex-girlfriend posted about the incident on her social media, and the news of Liang Feng’s misconduct spread throughout the school. No girls wanted anything to do with him.
For a while, Liang Feng’s unfortunate incident made Gu Xincha the most popular person on the campus confession wall, with countless confessions directed at him every day.
Liang Feng: “Your name is Xincha, they got the characters wrong.”
Gu Xincha: “Yeah, call me Xincha.”
Liang Feng: “No, it’s Xunxun, it sounds nice.”
…Until they were twenty-five or twenty-six years old, the romantic history of the two good brothers was a blank page.
After working for a few years after graduation, the two of them, who shared a passion for e-sports, found an opportunity in the business of King’s Glory and invested as coaches. Gu Xincha joined the TG team, while Liang Feng went to the SYG team.
At that time, KPL was just starting out. With their unique understanding of the game and keen intuition, they led their respective teams to claim the championship and, together with the rising star DW, formed the top three in KPL.
Their careers flourished, and their lives gradually stabilized.
A year after joining the industry, in the summer championship finals of 2017… SYG won 4:0 against TG, avenging their loss in the spring season when TG let them catch up from behind.
On that night, Liang Feng had drunk too much. Unable to sleep at 3:30 in the morning, he wanted to call Gu Xincha.
Someone answered the call.
On the other end of the phone was a suppressed sobbing sound.
He wouldn’t say anything no matter what she asked; he just kept instructing himself hoarsely: “You must have prospects, I beg you, save me.”
“Gu Xun?”
“Xun Xun, come here, let me take a look.”
The current Wang Yining seemed somewhat gentle compared to that night.
Gu Xincha obediently walked over to him and sat on his lap without waiting for him to urge him.
Liang Feng chose to resign and join the national championship-winning team in the King’s Glory professional league, with a smooth transition from the second-tier league to the professional league (KPL). He would definitely have a promising future.
However, Gu Xincha might not be able to see that day…
Thinking like this, Gu Xincha’s nose tingled, and tears welled up in his eyes.
With teardrops shining, he was pitiable in one’s sight.
Like a night-blooming cereus, one can’t help but be moved by the sight.
Wang Yining liked him in this state, very beautiful, like an ancient noble lady.
“Mhmm, your waist isn’t hurt, and there’s nothing on your back… That’s good, let me kiss it.”
His skin was delicate and tender, and kissing him was sweet and enjoyable.
He was a natural beauty.
…
[“Damn it, what’s wrong with this Liu Chan!”]
For the third time, Wang Zhaojun’s[mfn]
[/mfn] deceleration allowed Liu Chan to dodge, and Cheng Che’s eyebrows twisted into knots. He was so angry that he was about to throw his phone.
In the late game, the team relied on the marksman’s output. How could they win without the damage?!
“Come back, come back, clear the soldiers!”
【Wang Zhaojun kills Zhen Ji[mfn]
[/mfn]】
Before Lin Xingling could finish speaking, the only mid-laner in the team with rapid wave clear was killed by the enemy mid-laner.
Liu Ying: “That’s mine.”
Wu You sighed, “We lost this match.”
Indeed, from the beginning, DCT was under pressure in the third game, and their economy fell behind by 4,000 in the mid-game. They struggled to stall for time and prepare for a comeback with their full build, but the marksman was repeatedly targeted and killed three times in a row.
In the previous two instances, they could still defend, but this time, they didn’t have a high ground tower in the mid lane, and they didn’t have a mage or marksman on their side. They were truly in a tough spot.
“Defeat!“
“It’s over,” Cheng Che said dejectedly.
This match was truly frustrating… In his previous life, when he followed Coach T, they always had the advantage in draft picks (BP), but he never expected that their draft in this life would be dominated by the opposing team’s Coach T.
Lin Xingling gently patted his back to comfort him, “Let’s go, let’s go back first.”
The two of them left first, with Liu Yan obediently following behind, and Phantom following Wu You.
They all had low spirits.
[“One short leg and four long legs”]
[“Brother, stop rolling your eyes. Wu You and Liu Ying aren’t tall either”]
[“A tiger crouching behind a pagoda, Wu You isn’t taller than a dog”]
[“Wu You: Can I report someone for having the physique of a rooster?”]
[“Wu You is 1.74 meters, Liu Ying is 1.72 meters, Cheng Che seems to be… 1.7 meters, case closed, Cheng is the shortest”]
[“The Three Traitors of the Long Legs Club”]
…Because they still had a match point, DCT’s fans remained calm.
They even leisurely flooded the live chat with comments about their team’s three shorties.
In the rest area of DCT’s team backstage, the coach stood solemnly by the window, lost in thought, while the five team members wore puzzled expressions.
Last year, when TG won the championship despite being the weakest among the three top teams, it was all thanks to Tea’s draft strategy.
Liang Feng knew he wasn’t as skilled as others, but he was unwilling to be outdone.
Coach T knew this, so he grasped the opponent coach’s mindset, conceding advantages in the first round of draft picks to regain the advantage in the second round by selecting heroes that countered their opponents’ lineup.
…
Lin Xingling helped organize everyone’s analysis of the previous game, and when discussing the next game’s draft strategy, there was a noticeable reaction from Liang Feng.
“Alright, the mistake in the draft belongs to the last game. Don’t think too much about it. Just come over and…” Lin Xingling was interrupted halfway through his sentence when Cheng Che tugged at his waistband.
“What’s wrong? Hmm?”
Cheng Che shook his head and said, “Coach T, his draft… is really confusing. It’s not the coach’s fault.”
Wu You and Liu Ying didn’t say anything.
It was Phantom, who usually didn’t speak much, who expressed his opinion, “Let the draft be more flexible, focusing on our own lineup.”
“Brother Feng?… Old Liang? What do you think?” Lin Xingling tapped the table.
Ever since Stars started playing professionally, Liang Feng had always been his coach.
There were fans who previously said that Lin Xingling and Liang Feng were like a father-son duo, and their relationship was very close. It was normal for Lin Xingling to call him “Old Liang.”
Liang Feng nodded and replied, “We should prioritize our own side, but… we can’t use the same strategy for the second time.”
Lin Xingling thought for a moment and added, “Be careful, our mentality is easily manipulated.”
“Mhmm.”
…
During the draft phase, Liang Feng’s and their concerns were not unfounded.
TG’s strongest aspects were the rhythm set by their mid-laner Lian Rong and Coach T’s draft strategy.
In the fourth game, DCT was on the blue side, while TG was on the red side. Blue side had the first ban and pick.
It was still 2018, and there was no global ban-pick yet. It was a one-game ban-pick format, and if a hero was used in one game but not banned, it could still be picked in the following game.
In this situation, having a good draft had an extremely important impact on the game.
DCT banned Pei Qinhu, the strong jungler of the season.
TG banned Xi Shi, causing a psychological impact.
DCT banned Dun Shan, and TG banned Yao (瑶).
Lin Xingling’s Yao was also formidable, especially because his marksman was terrifying.
When it came to hero selection, DCT followed Cheng Che’s request and directly picked Sun Shangxiang[mfn]
[/mfn], while TG unsurprisingly picked Da Qiao[mfn]
[/mfn] and Old Master [mfn]
[/mfn].
Lin Xingling was somewhat worried.
“It’s fine,” Cheng Che reassured him. “Let’s show them our first-hand strategy, and then turn the tables later. Trust me.”
Following the usual procedure, Coach Liang Feng picked Guan Yu[mfn]
[/mfn] for Phantom and Ying Zheng[mfn]
[/mfn] for Liu Ying.
“If you have spare gold later, remember to buy the Radiance,” Liang Feng instructed.
Liu Ying replied, “Understood.”
On the other side, the opponent’s Lian Rong picked Shangguan Wan’er with a smile.
Wuhu! Take off~
The draft for this match was quite enjoyable.
Both sides were countering each other, and in the end, neither gained much advantage.
But for DCT, it was already good enough.
“This lineup is fine. We’ll stall for development for a bit,” Liang Feng briefed them on the general strategy, and they went to the center of the stage to follow the procedure.
…
After the coaches shook hands and left the stage, the spotlight shifted to the players.
“…”
Gu Xincha tightly held onto Liang Feng’s warmth on his fingertips and slowly descended the stairs.