Chapter 6: Starting From Scratch
During dinner, Rong Man came to knock on the door.
“Yang Yang, get up, it’s time for dinner.”
“Why are you sleeping so heavily, you’ve slept the entire afternoon.”
“Yang Yang?”
Not hearing a response, Rong Man called his name again while turning the doorknob and opening the door.
“Where is he?”
“Where did he go?”
Rong Man found a small note neatly placed on the folded bed sheets.
“A classmate invited me to his house to play, so as not to disturb Mom.”
“This child…”
“Why did he leave so suddenly without telling me.”
Rong Man muttered to herself, her expression troubled.
As she turned to leave, she heard faint playful noises coming from the living room, where Xiao Hang and her husband were. The voices were soft but clear.
Suddenly, she understood why Xie Yang had quietly left without a word.
So Xie Yang had heard everything.
Thinking about her husband’s words, Rong Man’s face showed a hint of embarrassment.
She truly felt it had been too long since she had seen Xie Yang and wanted to know how he was doing.
But it was also true that she wanted Xie Yang to come and tutor Xiao Hang.
Xiao Hang had been spoiled by both her and her husband, and now his temper and character needed improvement.
Moreover, Xiao Hang’s lack of seriousness in school had caused him to fall behind in his studies and not keep up with what the teacher was teaching.
Whether it was hiring a private tutor or enrolling him in a cram school, Xiaohang showed strong resistance to both.
“It’s not about who teaches, it’s about teaching. Since you’re considering hiring a university-level tutor, why not consider your son? After all, Xiao Hang likes him.”
Her husband’s casual remark stuck with Rong Man.
So during this National Day holiday, she planned to invite Xie Yang over to see if he could help Xiao Hang with his studies.
But before she could propose it, Xie Yang had already left, taking his clothes with him. There was no trace left in the room that belonged to Xie Yang, almost as if he had never been there.
“Mom, dinner’s ready!”
Upon hearing Xiao Hang’s voice, Rong Man quickly responded and closed the door.
When she saw the bag of fruit on the dining table, Rong Man paused. She opened the bag—it was loquats1.
That was her favorite fruit.
Each loquat was large and plump, obviously carefully selected.
She recalled seeing Xie Yang at noon, wearing a washed-out t-shirt and a pair of running shoes that had been worn for years, which filled Rong Man’s heart with guilt.
Rubbing her brow, Rong Man wanted to send Xie Yang a text message, but when she picked up her phone, she didn’t know what to say.
Over the years, the distance between her and her child had not diminished with time; instead, it had deepened due to accumulated misunderstandings.
Ultimately, it was her fault towards her child, and she didn’t have the face to say anything to him again.
Rong Man put down her phone.
Forget it. There will be another opportunity in the future to make it up to her child.
Xiao Hang: “Mom, hasn’t big brother gotten up yet?”
Rong Man: “Big brother had something to do and went back to school.”
Her husband glanced at her but said nothing.
Xiao Hang was a bit disappointed but quickly became absorbed in the cartoon on TV, and the family of three began to enjoy their dinner.
No one would pay attention to this small matter.
Xie Yang dragged his weary body back to the dormitory.
The dormitory was empty, but this lonely environment gave him a sense of security.
He took a cold shower, and when he came out of the bathroom, his eyes were slightly red.
In the corner where no one cared, he could safely vent any emotions.
Xie Yang took a deep breath and sent a text message to the store manager.
Early the next morning, Xie Yang packed up his mood and returned to his part-time job at the cake shop.
In the end, Rong Man did not send Xie Yang a message or call him.
Xie Yang didn’t expect her to.
They had maintained this tacit understanding for over a decade—neither willing to mention it nor willing to confront the issue.
They treated it as if nothing had happened.
Xie Yang didn’t think it was a big deal anyway.
His existence was inherently contradictory.
In fact, they didn’t need to stay in close contact; everyone had their own lives.
For families like theirs, which couldn’t even be called single-parent families due to divorce, it was best to leave each other alone and live peacefully.
Xie Yang had too much on his mind and often found himself lost in thought.
“Welcome.”
The doorbell rang, and Xie Yang looked up, slightly stunned.
It was Qi Xu.
They met again.
Ripples stirred in his heart.
Seeing Qi Xu, he felt genuinely happy inside.
Xie Yang tried hard to suppress his emotions, not daring to reveal even the slightest hint.
He didn’t want Qi Xu to know about his feelings. If Qi Xu found out, he might dislike him, even to the point of avoiding him and feeling disgusted just by seeing him.
Thinking of this, Xie Yang felt a little down.
He didn’t have the courage to accept everything.
Xie Yang lowered his gaze, unable to meet his eyes, and softly said, “Welcome. May I help you with something?”
Qi Xu casually pointed at a small cake in the display window and said lightly, “Please pack up this cake for me, thank you.”
“That will be eighteen yuan.”
Ding
Eighteen yuan received via WeChat payment.
Xie Yang nodded slightly, “Welcome next time.”
After Qi Xu left, Xie Yang breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed like Qi Xu didn’t recognize him.
So he probably didn’t remember the unpleasantness from the last party either.
Qi Xu never dwelled on such small matters.
That was good. The small misunderstanding between them would fade away with time.
They were like strangers who had never met, and Xie Yang didn’t need to think about how to change Qi Xu’s unfavorable impression of him.
Xie Yang pursed his lips, feeling warmth in his eyes.
The somewhat unpleasant National Day holiday finally came to an end.
Roommates returned to school one after another.
Xie Yang unexpectedly saw Xia Hang from the Medical Department in the dormitory.
Su Huai pushed him out of the dormitory door impatiently, saying, “Just drop him off here.”
Xia Heng: “Can I invite you to dinner tonight?”
Facing Xia Heng’s straightforwardness, Su Huai’s face flushed hotly, and he refused, “No!”
Xia Heng: “How about supper then?”
Su Huai: “I’m on a diet! No eating!”
Xia Heng frowned, not agreeing with his talk of dieting, “You’re all bones when I pick you up. Where could you be fat?”
Su Huai quickly covered his mouth to stop him from speaking further, blushing with embarrassment and a hint of annoyance, “Just go away!”
Xia Heng leaned against the door frame, lowered his eyes to look at Su Huai’s shy face, and whispered softly in his ear, “Then give me a kiss.”
Su Huai looked at him in shock, lightly kicked him, “This is the dormitory, someone might see us! If you have no shame, I still have some!”
Xia Heng glanced inside; Su Huai’s three roommates were pretending to play with their phones with their heads down.
“They’re busy with their own stuff, not paying attention to us.”
Just as Su Huai turned his head to see if his roommates were really ignoring them, Xia Heng pinched his cheek and turned his face back.
Xia Heng kissed him deeply on the lips, and when Su Huai struggled to push him away, he even bit him lightly.
Su Huai blushed like a ripe persimmon, pointing at him, unable to complete a coherent sentence.
Finally, when Su Huai closed the dormitory door, he saw three pairs of eyes staring at him intently, full of gossip.
Song Xingyu: “No wonder it’s you, the first one in our dorm to get out of singlehood!”
Su Huai: “No, I didn’t! I didn’t agree to date him!”
Xi Rui: “Tsk, you kissed him on the mouth and still aren’t dating? You guys sure know how to play.”
Su Huai: “You guys saw that?!”
Xie Yang: “Both eyes saw it!”
Su Huai: “Ahhhhh, I’m going to kill Xia Heng!”
Xie Yang curiously asked him, “I thought Xia Heng was really straight.”
Su Huai: “He is a straight guy through and through, but somehow, well, he’s not gay.”
Xie Yang: “Then what does he feel for you…”
Su Huai showed a complicated expression and sighed, “When I was little, I had a childhood friend who suddenly moved away. We lost contact, and I only found out during this break at home that it was Xia Heng. He left in such a hurry, we didn’t leave any contact information, he even changed his name. After so many years, I barely remembered what he looked like.”
Speaking of this, Su Huai still felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart.
He had been upset about this for a long time when he was a child.
However, his childhood sweetheart suddenly turned, and still couldn’t forget him. He didn’t know how to speak about such matters.
Even now, he didn’t dare to believe this was true.
But Xia Heng’s feelings for him didn’t seem fake.
They were even better than their childhood feelings.
Xie Yang: “That’s great.”
Su Huai muttered irritably, “Great for what?”
Xie Yang smiled and didn’t expose him.
Childhood sweethearts, separated in their youth, with mutual affection, reunited after many years, sparked into flames at the slightest touch.
Really great.
He envied this kind of relationship, which was both friendship and love, and could even develop into family in the future.
Su Huai: “Let’s head to third row quickly.”
To win the heart of his lover, Xia Heng also downloaded the game.
Su Huai started a new account, intending to bring Xia Heng along while also including Xie Yang.
Xia Heng was fine with everything except his poor gaming skills, which were on par with Xie Yang’s.
This gave Su Huai a bit of a headache.
After losing three matches in a row, Su Huai began to question life.
Xie Yang, with a score of 0/8 for three matches, didn’t dare to say a word and quietly hid in a corner to plant mushrooms.
Song Xingyu chuckled, “Aren’t you supposed to be a Silver trash?”
Su Huai helplessly explained, “There were many power-leveling sessions at the beginning of the season. I just encountered three godlike opponents in the last match, and they killed me without mercy. The key player for that match was me. Once they took me down, the game was over. The other four teammates were nothing to fear.”
Song Xingyu asked, “How so?”
Su Huai replied, “Xia Heng, top lane 0/5; Xie Yang, support 0/8. Let’s not talk about the others.”
Song Xingyu looked at Xie Yang sulking in the corner and said with a smile, “You’ve worked hard.”
Su Huai was determined to bring the two of them up.
Every day thereafter, whenever he had time, Su Huai dragged Xie Yang and Xia Heng to play ranked games, finally bringing them up to Emerald tier.
Xie Yang had never reached such a high rank before and was very happy looking at his page of green-colored winning streaks.
In the dormitory, all three roommates liked to play League of Legends mobile games and often discussed game-related topics.
Xie Yang finally managed to barely understand what they were talking about without feeling like there was nothing to talk about between him and his roommates.
Classes ended early today, and Su Huai quickly dragged Xie Yang back to the dormitory to play games.
For Su Huai, who loved playing League of Legends mobile games, ranking up was more important than dating.
Song Xingyu: “Xiao Su, I’m short one person here. Are you coming?”
Xi Rui: “With a big gun like you on the team, it’s practically a free win. No pressure on ranking up.”
Su Huai was tempted, but ultimately declined politely, “No, I have to bring Xia Heng along.”
Xia Heng was super clingy.
They had just started confirming their feelings for each other again after many years of no contact. Both of them were rather affectionate in their relationship.
During a game, it usually took them at least half an hour to reply to a message.
Xia Heng definitely wouldn’t be happy.
If he was left alone for a night, he’d show up at the dormitory in just a few minutes.
Xi Rui: “Then how about Xiao Xie? Can you join us for a couple of games to fill in?”
Song Xingyu: “Xiao Xie seems to be Emerald, just enough to play five-person matches.”
Xie Yang quickly waved his hand to refuse, “I can’t, my actual skill level is Silver.”
Xi Rui: “Just pick what you’re good at and follow along.”
Xie Yang: “But…”
Xi Rui: “No buts, I’ve already invited you, so join the team.”
Unable to refuse, Xie Yang reluctantly joined the team.
“Hey, can you hear me?”
“I can hear you, let’s start.”
“Who hasn’t clicked to enter the game yet? Is it Old Qi? He’s been silent for half a day.”
Xie Yang listened to the voices coming through his headphones, and his heart suddenly trembled.
He looked at the familiar black and white avatar in the room, and even the hand holding his phone was trembling.
Qi Xu’s name kept coming into his ears.
It really was him.
Sheng Fei: “Who’s the support? Haven’t moved for ages, pick a champion?”
Only then did Xie Yang hurriedly come to his senses and hastily picked a support champion.
He only knew how to play a few champions well.
Luckily, he managed to pick Son of Stars in the last second and locked it in.
If he had randomly picked one, he would have been even worse off.
Sheng Fei frowned, sounding somewhat displeased, “Why pick a support?”
Xi Rui: “The support isn’t very good, but this one should be fine. Just play cautiously in bot lane.”
Song Xingyu: “They have a Thresh on the other side with hooks, Xiao Xie, be careful.”
Xie Yang heard Song Xingyu calling him and stammered, “Okay, got it.”
This was Xie Yang’s first time playing a five-person ranked game, and he was so nervous that his face was turning pale.
Everyone in this match was in high elo, and the opponents were also in a five-man group. Playing against another five-man group added to the difficulty of the match.
Especially with Qi Xu present, he felt even more nervous.
His gaming skills weren’t that great. Even his Emerald rank was achieved with Su Huai’s guidance all the way.
He was very worried that he would be the reason for losing the match because his skills were simply not on par with those of the enemy’s five-man team.
“Thresh with Blade of the Ruined King is making their game stronger.”
“The synergy between the enemy’s bot lane duo is very high.”
“It might be tough for your bot lane.”
Xie Yang became even more nervous after hearing this, and his palms began to sweat slightly.
Qi Xu’s calm voice sounded, “It’s okay, I’ll come gank soon.”
Upon hearing Qi Xu’s voice, Xie Yang was still not used to it. In this moment of distraction, Thresh from the other side landed a hook directly on him.
Xie Yang hurriedly used Flash, but it was too late.
First Blood!
Xie Yang gave away the first kill.
The enemy ADC got the kill with Blade of the Ruined King. Just now, during the skirmish, Sheng Fei’s Caitlyn had already been healed. Now, she was low on health, and the enemy pushed the minion wave into the tower. With a large wave of minions, the enemy still had healthy health bars. It wasn’t impossible for them to dive her.
He didn’t dare to greedily farm minions and could only retreat.
“D*mn, that was a loss.”
Xie Yang apologized softly, “I’m sorry.”
This wave was his fault, which gave Thresh on the opposite side an opportunity.
Thresh continued to circle around the minion wave, always ready to land a hook.
Xie Yang could only maintain a certain distance from the opponents, making sure he wouldn’t get hooked.
The opponents seized on this and began to pressure the minion waves more recklessly.
Both AD carries’ economies gradually diverged.
Sheng Fei: “The pressure from the other side is too much, I can’t keep up with my farm.”
Song Xingyu: “I have no priority in mid lane, can’t come down. If I can just keep the enemy mid laner pinned, not ganking would already be a success.”
Sheng Fei: “Qi Xu, come bot lane for a play.”
Qi Xu: “No reliable crowd control skill to secure kills.”
Sheng Fei: “Fine, I’ll farm sneakily for a while, then rotate mid lane later.”
Both of them recalled to heal at base and returned to lane. Just as Xie Yang poked his head out, he was instantly killed by Thresh and Blade of the Ruined King hiding in the brush.
Staring at the black-and-white screen on his phone, Xie Yang was momentarily stunned.
He had just wanted to ward the brush.
He didn’t expect to get hooked and burst down.
Sheng Fei was a bit exasperated, “Hey, you, just stay under tower and don’t come out.”
Xie Yang muttered softly, “Sorry, I got it.”
Xi Rui comforted, “It’s okay, the jungle is coming up strong, Qi Xu got a double kill in the enemy jungle.”
Song Xingyu chuckled, “Is Qi Xu not in a good mood today?”
Xi Rui: “It’s obvious, he picks a Lion Dog and still plays so aggressively. He’s really out for blood.”
Song Xingyu: “Playing aggressively is a good thing, but this game is lost. Qi Xu 2/0, you know what that means, right?”
Xi Rui: “It’s lost.”
Sheng Fei: “Qi Xu, come bot lane and gank!”
Qi Xu glanced at the bot lane economy and clicked his tongue, “Helping the stronger side, haven’t you heard of it?”
Sheng Fei: “D*mn it, we can’t win bot lane, the enemy’s Lucian’s economy is getting bigger than mine.”
Qi Xu: “You can farm sneakily.”
System: Teammate defeated.
The enemy jungler directly pressed under tower and secured a kill.
Sheng Fei: “D*mn it, the enemy jungler’s here. We can’t play bot lane anymore, Lucian on the other side is 4/0, with a lead in gold and items.”
Xie Yang’s eyes were slightly red, his fingertips holding the phone turned pale. All he could do was keep apologizing, “I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional.”
Song Xingyu: “It’s okay, I’m coming online, let’s push mid lane together.”
Xi Rui glanced at Xie Yang, who was looking down, and comforted, “Getting killed by the enemy’s aggression is inevitable as a support. It’s not your fault.”
Xie Yang didn’t say anything else, just stuck close to Caitlyn, constantly healing her from behind.
However, Lucian and Thresh on the opposite side always found opportunities to hook Xie Yang, deliberately targeting this weak link. Even if he was cautious, he still died several times.
The enemy’s four-protect-one system, coupled with hard crowd control, meant that even with Qi Xu’s Lion Dog coming online, they couldn’t break through Lucian on the other side.
This game started with a huge disadvantage. Caitlyn’s morale collapsed, she couldn’t find her rhythm throughout, and her economy almost matched the enemy support’s.
They were overturned by the enemy.
Song Xingyu: “Next game, I’m not dropping any.”
Sheng Fei exploded in frustration, “It’s my promotion series! D*mn! So unlucky, can’t you guys invite someone who knows how to play? This Emerald rank is clearly a free ride, doesn’t even know the basics.”
Xi Rui scolded, “Sheng Fei!”
Qi Xu: “Forget it, you guys play.”
He was already in a bad mood, having missed out on opportunities with the Lion Dog in the last game’s late game, feeling very stifled. Now, his mood was even worse.
Sheng Fei: “Hey, Qi Xu, don’t leave, my friend just logged on, a support from the Chinese server, I’ll invite him.”
“Um, sorry about that.”
System: You have been kicked out of the room.
Xie Yang was already feeling awkward and unsure of what to do. Getting kicked out of the room actually relieved him.
Yeah, he didn’t know how to play anyway, just knew he was dragging his teammates down.
In the last game that they could have won, he fed the enemy ADC too many kills, which led to their loss.
Hearing the ADC named Sheng Fei mention it was his promotion series, Xie Yang felt guilty.
Xi Rui: “Xiao Xie, let me invite you. Xingyu and I will play with you.”
Xie Yang quickly replied, “No need, I don’t know how to play anyway. You guys go ahead, I need to read some papers later.”
Xi Rui: “Xiao Xie, don’t take that last game to heart. In team fights, the enemy always targets the squishy support first. It’s not your fault, that’s just how this champion is meant to be played.”
Song Xingyu: “Yeah, blame Xi Rui for picking a squishy top laner. Can’t even protect the backline, what good are you?”
Xi Rui snorted, “How is that my fault? It’s because Sheng Fei sucks. His tilt after dying twice led to the failure in his promotion series, not mine.”
Xie Yang: “It’s my fault. Sorry for causing you to lose the game.”
Xi Rui: “How can it be your fault? Our AD carry is the one who’s truly bad.”
Song Xingyu: “Tomorrow, I’m going to assassinate Sheng Fei. His mouth has been annoying me for a long time.”
Xi Rui: “Let’s also assassinate Old Qi while we’re at it. Neither of them are good people.”
Song Xingyu: “D*mn, you dare to mess with Old Qi? He could easily turn the tables on you.”
…
Although Song Xingyu and Xi Rui said it wasn’t his fault, Xie Yang still felt a bit upset.
His gaming skills were really too bad.
If he hadn’t fed so many kills, they might not have lost that game.
It’s just a bit regretful that he probably won’t have the chance to play ranked games with Qi Xu again.
Qi Xu said he wouldn’t play anymore just now, probably because of him.
Feeling a bit disheartened, Xie Yang opened the replay of the last game.
He focused the camera on Qi Xu playing Lion Dog, watching him clear jungle camps, gank, and secure kills.
Until the game ended.
Xie Yang exited the replay, saved it, and then opened the match history to take screenshots.
He was too excited earlier and forgot to take screenshots when they were in the lobby.
For him, this was a precious memory.
Xie Yang checked his current game rank. He definitely didn’t dare to solo queue right now.
He should practice his skills seriously first.
If his gaming level improves in the future, maybe there will be a chance to play with their team of five.
By then, if his skills get better, he won’t drag his team down like this anymore.
Such a rare opportunity to play games with Qi Xu was missed.
Xie Yang couldn’t help but blame himself for not doing well.
If only he had practiced his game skills well.
Xie Yang looked at his 0/5 record with some melancholy
Note :
slow burn be damned