Chapter 64 – Stealing
The content of the contract is very simple, actually not much different from the previous one… Cheng Che quickly skimmed through the pages and asked Lin Xingling, “Isn’t this… unchanged?”
Lin Xingling replied, “It’s different. This one is my marriage certificate.”
My wife should sign it.
Five million, a piece of contract.
In romantic terms, it’s a promise to buy the commitment of the person you like with almost all your savings. In less flattering words, it’s like buying a worthless piece of paper and wasting effort.
Lin Xingling preferred the more pleasant way of putting it.
…After signing the contract, Cheng Che took out the bank card his mother left for him from his pocket and handed it to Lin Xingling. “This… This is my… my marriage certificate. Keep it for me.”
Exchanging marriage certificates.
If there are still people who don’t understand the meaning behind Cheng Che’s actions, then they are fools… Lin Xingling knew, but he chose to play dumb.
Because he wasn’t sure whether it was an indication for the person he likes or a trust in the elder. Ignoring it would be the best way to handle it.
There is another way, and that is:
[Sleeping together when facing problems]
“It’s getting late, let’s go to sleep.”
…
The sound of Lin Xingling’s breathing gradually became calm, indicating that he had slowly entered dreamland.
Cheng Che tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and a single thought filled his mind: Am I falling in love with Lin Xingling?
He had noticed a long time ago that he was slowly getting used to having Lin Xingling in his life… his laughter, his chatter, his helpless expression, and the tenderness in his eyes.
And now, he couldn’t live without him.
Lin Xingling would occasionally take a day off and spend the night at home.
—And on those nights, Cheng Che often found himself unable to sleep.
Lin Xingling would occasionally cook, and except for the first time when he made a mess with the scrambled eggs and ham, everything else he cooked was delicious.
—He could always eat a lot of the meals Lin Xingling prepared.
Lin Xingling never let himself drink Sprite.
—Originally, he thought Sprite was just an ordinary drink, but now it became his favorite.
Lin Xingling liked well-behaved children.
—He wanted to be a well-behaved child and be liked by him.
Lin Xingling…
Lin Xingling had influenced his life too much, or in other words, he had become a part of his life.
It was only now that Cheng Che realized it.
I’m afraid I might… have fallen in love with Lin Xingling…
Cheng Che had a vague answer in his heart.
But would Lin Xingling have the same feelings for him as he did for Lin Xingling?
Having him like a man… that sounded unlikely.
Just like how a hamster ball doesn’t know, a little kitty would also have big worries in its heart.
Anonymous question:
[What should I do if I fall in love with someone of the same gender?]
Cheng Che typed these words on the dazzling phone screen, turned it off, and closed his dry and sour eyes with a heavy heart.
In a state of half-dream and half-awake, he heard some movement. It was probably the person next to him getting up and muttering something…
Lin Xingling had thought about many things and finally gathered the courage to sit up from the bed. At this moment, Cheng Che had already fallen asleep, but his face wore a worried expression.
The breathing of the little brat was shallow, sounding soothing.
Yesterday was his own birthday, everyone knew… Lin Xingling knelt in front of Cheng Che and looked at him tenderly, whispering, “Little brat, you didn’t prepare a gift for me.”
The other person grumbled twice.
Lin Xingling reached out and pinched his chin. Just before his heart pounded so intensely that it almost stopped, he leaned down and lightly kissed Cheng Che’s soft lips.
As gentle as a dragonfly touching the water, very light.
It was the result of nearly two hours of consideration:
Since there was no gift prepared, can I ask for a kiss… isn’t that too much?
A stolen kiss had no taste, firstly because the time was too short to savor it, and secondly, your mind could only focus on maintaining your breath and heartbeat, unable to think of anything else.
After the kiss, Lin Xingling felt so happy that he was almost suffocating.
In the previous life, Cheng Che regarded him as an idol, a target and motivation to move forward. But he had developed selfish feelings and gradually fell in love with this child who was shy and cute only in front of him.
He liked his aggressive appearance in public, liked his calm and composed command on the field, liked him in various ways… especially when he mentioned his ID, there was a gleam in his eyes.
“I am Clear, my idol is Stars.”
…
His face was burning, and the area around his eyes felt hot… Lin Xingling turned over and got out of bed, heading to the bathroom. He felt as if he was floating lightly as he walked.
He washed his face very seriously, went out, and then stepped out of the bedroom door.
…And then out of the team’s main door.
The hamster ball, filled with excitement, walked in the corridor wearing oversized pajamas and loose pants, just like normal clothes.
He descended a few steps, although he couldn’t see clearly due to night blindness and not wearing glasses, but he didn’t care at all due to his excited mood. He descended a few more steps in a blurred manner.
Accidentally stepping on a glass marble left by some child, his foot slipped. If he hadn’t held onto the railing next to him, he would have fallen down.
He sprained his waist…
Lin Xingling clenched the railing, cold sweat forming on his forehead.
Turning around, he was startled to see Cheng Che standing at the stairwell, not daring to move.
The moonlight of late autumn spilled into the corridor, casting a soft and hazy veil over Cheng Che’s body.
Cheng Che’s azure eyes were bright, gazing at him.
“Captain, be good… go back to sleep.”
There was a hint of anxiety in his voice, mirroring Cheng Che’s emotions.
When he opened his eyes and didn’t see Lin Xingling, Cheng Che searched everywhere before realizing he had left.
Cheng Che thought he was sleepwalking.
Lin Xingling said, “Okay.”
“Are you awake?” Cheng Che descended the stairs slowly and approached him.
“I am.”
As smart as Lin Xingling was, he naturally understood what Cheng Che was thinking.
To go along with his assumption that he was sleepwalking, it wouldn’t make sense to be in the corridor wearing pajamas and pants in the early morning. It would be too strange to explain.
“It’s too dangerous. Come, come back with me and go to sleep.”
Cheng Che held onto Lin Xingling’s arm, being carried by him like a koala.
Although he despised his own behavior of acting cute and spoiled, it didn’t stop him from acting cute and spoiled towards Lin Xingling.
Because he liked him, seeing him made him happy.
Lin Xingling should be the same, right?
“Hey, Captain, have you… still not found the gift I gave you?” (Che)
“Huh? I haven’t…” (Xing)
Returning to the room and climbing onto the bed, Cheng Che took out a small box from under Lin Xingling’s pillow. “I’m sorry, I thought you would… find it on your own.”
Opening the box, inside were a pair of diamond earrings.
“They’re really beautiful,” Lin Xingling sighed. “How did you think of giving these?”
Cheng Che scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
Being able to give a gift that makes someone happy proves that the person receiving the gift is in your heart, and you know what they like.
He knew, Lin Xingling was in his heart.
There is another possibility: When the person receiving the gift likes you, they will like whatever you give them.
This point hadn’t occurred to Cheng Che for the time being.
…
After having a slight idea in his mind, Cheng Che was too preoccupied to pay attention to it because the third round of the regular season of the Autumn Tournament was about to begin. The first match was against KV, and the second match was against their archenemy HT.
HT was nicknamed the “archenemy” by the fans, and they also had a lifelong rival, TG.
In the first match against KV, they won with a score of 3:2, which wasn’t easy.
Because KV’s mid-laner was truly sinister, and their jungler and support had a habit of camping in bushes and waiting for the ADC. It seemed like they were cut from the same cloth.
As long as Lin Xingling left to roam, the opponents would camp him.
Cheng Che had suffered a lot.
Being scared by KV’s jungler and support, who were willing to give up their lives to camp him, Cheng Che had developed a bit of PTSD. During the peak tournament, every bush he encountered had to be checked… he had to use his skills to check, otherwise, he wouldn’t dare to pass through.
—Even if his teammates had already checked.
After the first week of the third round, DCT ranked fourth in Group S. The first place was SYG in Cheng du, the second was TG in Shanghai, and the third was DW, which currently didn’t have a home stadium.
They needed to maintain their position in the top four and strive to climb higher.
Teams like FG in Group A didn’t have this worry; they had already secured a spot in the loser’s bracket of the regular season.
The pressure was on HT, who was in fifth place in Group S.
HT’s ADC, Qiu Mo… how to put it, he led a struggling B-group team to the S-group as soon as he entered the tournament. He was talented.
However, compared to Cheng Che and his team, who had fought their way from the K-League to the KPL-S group, they seemed more inspirational… and with the presence of the great god Stars, their popularity wouldn’t be lacking.
The most important point is that Cheng Che is a genius.
…Or rather, a genius who has been reborn, with double the buff.
Born as Yu, why should Liang be left behind?
In autumn, both Qiu Mo and Clear are marksmen, opposing each other.
Qiu Mo hates Clear, hates that he took away everything that belonged to him.
When he was in SYG’s youth training, he already knew that DCT, the K-League team led by Coach Sharp, lacked a marksman and would probably sign him… But he was preempted by Clear from TG.
He also detested Liu Ying, the weak chicken team captain who humiliated their own team, and Wu You, who only helped the top laner die while farming… He hated this and hated that, hated the DCT team and anyone close to them.
Even on Stars’ birthday, the captain of DCT, Qiu Mo posted a picture of a falling meteor on Weibo.
It carried a hint of malicious curse.
Although this behavior was despicable, Lin Xingling thought he was just young and ignorant, not worth his time… and he instructed his fans not to cause trouble.
The fans were obedient.
But Clear didn’t listen.
Cheng Che had always belonged to the type that retaliates against flaws.
The next day, he posted on Weibo with a thumbs-up emoji, accompanied by a picture of a physical book of poetry written by the literary master Wang Qian.
The book was titled: “Autumn Has Died.”
Waiting…
The targeting wouldn’t stop.
In the first match of the third round, HT was shut out by SYG, and Qiu Mo posted on Weibo saying: [Everyone has their low point.]
Cheng Che quickly followed with a Weibo post saying: [As long as you keep going downhill, you will never be at the lowest point.]
Cheng Che had a sharp tongue.
Although it wasn’t easy to make money in his previous life, even after gaining fame and earning a top salary of 140,000 yuan per month, he still ended up paying fines of tens of thousands of yuan to the league for arguing with trolls or confronting idiots.
He was affectionately called the philanthropist of esports by his fans.
And it remained the same in this life.
“Qiu Mo, let’s do a 50-50 with me having the upper hand. If he can’t handle it, isn’t his positioning just scaring the crabs away? Maybe he should consider switching to being an AI opponent.”
DCT won 3-0, completely shutting out HT, and in the subsequent interview, Cheng Che coined the phrase “50-50.”
This greatly angered Qiu Mo.
Author’s note:
[Mini Theater] – Sneaking a Kiss with the Hamster Ball
Meow Cheche: Being kissed without consent is really embarrassing, let me sneak a kiss in the mini theater.
Hamster Xingling (sleeping soundly): Zzzz…
Meow opens its mouth: Smooch –
Hamster opens its eyes: …Who turned off the lights?
One kiss, one hamster ball, oh yeah.