C2 Part1

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Chapter 2: The Social Flower of Esports (Part 1)

Qiu Ying never received a response from Ji Xiangkong.

She unwillingly checked her inbox every few minutes, but the messages she sent out were like rocks thrown into the sea. Eventually, she was also annoyed to discover that his phone number was a local number from the United States, and probably wasn’t his usual phone. She even went to the hotel where the team had stayed to see if she could get lucky, but she was told that they had already left earlier.

The brief Seattle trip came to an end. Qiu Ying’s head touched the airplane window and thought that it was like a dream.

She closed her eyes, countless images overlapping within her mind. Sometimes it was the lights of the main stage, shining, like stars coming together, the drums of war beating; sometimes it was two formations within a huge display, light and shadow against the swords; sometimes it was an unyielding battle cry, sometimes it was their fight to the death that ended in doom; sometimes it was the scream to make a complete comeback; sometimes it was the unwilling tears within the heart… She blinked again, and beside the stage, in a dark corner, that unbothered, handsome, face.

The plane landed in Shanghai. Qiu Ying came to a decision.

**

It was already evening when she arrived at the Legend building. Qiu Ying told her intentions to the front desk, but the other person rejected her with a polite smile. “I’m sorry, but unless you have an appointment, the club won’t receive any strangers.”

Qiu Ying was forced to pull out her acting to prove that she wasn’t a fan, and that she was looking for Ji Xiangkong because they truly had some business.

The appearance of two misty eyes made it difficult to be heartless. The lady at the front desk finally couldn’t bear the repeated pleading of a pretty girl, sighed, and dialed the phone.

A little while later, the sound of dragging slippers came from next to Qiu Ying. “Girls, do you understand restraint? Our Ji Xiangkong already said that he wouldn’t receive any fans, you shouldn’t try to stalk him.”

Lin Yixuan stuck a toothpick in his mouth, his brows drawn together in a frown. Just half an hour ago, they had sent away a group of Ji Xiangkong’s female fans, so why had they come again? He really had a headache. He saw a beautiful back, wearing suspenders, a short skirt, and a brown shawl, and high heels, with a slim waist and long white, straight legs.

Lin Yixuan abruptly stopped and swallowed. “Since… since you’re so sincere, I’ll try to replace him.”

Qiu Ying looked back, and the two of them were both startled at the same time.

“Ah, it’s you.”

Lin Yixuan pointed at her with a trembling finger and his face kept on changing. “Are you looking for Ji Xiangkong?”

Qiu Ying nodded.

Lin Yixuan said “oh” a few times in different tones, like he was having an intense psychological struggle. After a while, he waved sneakily at her. “Come, come, come. This brother will bring you in.”

They passed through the hall and turned left; he swiped a card to let them into a gym. Qiu Ying followed Lin Yixuan through the equipment area, which was under continuous observation, to finally stop in front of a glass door.

There was loud EDM coming from inside the room, with around a dozen youths following their coach to do High Intensity Interval Training (nonstop high intensity exercise for 1 minute for at least 6 cycles, leading to 100% physical exhaustion within 20 minutes).

Qiu Ying tried not to look too surprised. “You still need to do physical training?”

Lin Yixuan shrugged. “Of course. Professional players need to do high-intensity competitions and we can’t get up for a long time, so our bodies can’t be too weak.”

Qiu Ying looked back at the room and saw Ji Xiangkong wearing a tank top and shorts. He had wide shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs, so he was very conspicuous. When the training ended, there were beads of sweat dripping from his face and he was panting slightly, looking heroic and handsome.

He got up and walked toward the door, casually lifting the hem of his shirt and wiping away the sweat from his face. Qiu Ying turned red and did not look away. Ji Xiangkong’s muscles were strong and defined, his mermaid line faintly discernible underneath an eight-pack. She suddenly thought of those shopping bags from Abercrombie & Fitch that exuded male hormones.

When he met her eyes, she pretended to be unaffected and pretentiously calm, like she’d seen it all before.

Ji Xiangkong glanced at Qiu Ying and then looked at Lin Yixuan. “Why did you bring her here?”

He didn’t ask Qiu Ying, “Why are you here?” but rather asked Lin Yixuan “Why did you bring her here?” It was as if he thought that it was pointless for her to come find him.

Lin Yixuan looked at Qiu Ying, and then looked at Ji Xiangkong. After several rounds of this, he smiled flatteringly. “I brought a beauty.”

Ji Xiangkong didn’t say anything. He took a bottle of water from the rest area, unscrewed the cap to take a drink, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. He had previously used up all his energy, so he drank quick and hard. A drop of water flowed from the corner of his mouth and slid down his neck, sparkling under the lights of the gym.

Seeing Qui Ying staring fixedly at this sultry scene, Lin Yixuan quickly disappeared, his purpose achieved.

Ji Xiangkong threw away the empty bottle, wiped his hair with a towel, and turned his head to smile at Qiu Ying. “Wait a bit, I’ll take a shower first.”

Qiu Ying nodded quickly.

**

As they walked in the club’s park, Qiu Ying finally put herself in a good mood to talk about why she came. She tilted her head to look at him and asked knowingly, “Did I forget my lipstick with you?”

Ji Xiangkong shook his head. “When I texted you I still had it, but now I can’t find it.”

When he spoke, his peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of his mouth curved up, and his entire body held a lazy demeanor.

Qiu Ying lowered her eyes, which seemed to be sad and red. “Oh… I’m sorry, originally I wasn’t going to come find you, but that lipstick has a special meaning to me.”

Her head drooped lower, like she was about to cry.

Ji Xiangkong said softly, “I’m sorry, I’ll compensate you.”

Qiu Ying wet her lips and said cautiously, “You don’t need to. But can I ask you to help me with something?”

Ji Xiangkong smiled and raised his eyebrows. “We’ve only known each other for a few days, you already want to make a request?”

Qiu Ying shrunk back and aimlessly picked at the hem of her clothes. “Ah… I…”

With this atmosphere, “One Plum Blossom”1 nearly started melodiously playing as background music. Ji Xiangkong’s mood was inscrutable, used to playing others over and over again and naturally evoking interest.

“I didn’t finish talking.” He put his mouth next to his ear, his voice low. “Whatever request you ask me, I’ll satisfy you.”

The heat of his breath made Qiu Ying’s mind suddenly go blank, but the murmur near her ear amplified into a harsh siren sound. Ji Xiangkong’s sports jacket was only half zipped, and inside he wore a tight black tank top. When he leaned close, she could clearly see his smooth shoulder lines.

Her heart pounded.

He had just taken a shower and his body smelled strongly of mint. Qiu Ying tried to calm down her own drumming heartbeat, pretended to be calm, and gave him the look she used whenever she livestreamed. “Whatever I request, you’ll satisfy it… why?”

With the sun setting in the west, a golden glow cast over their shoulders, spreading slowly across the ground. A handsome man and a beautiful woman; a situation filled with tender affection and sincerity.

Ji Xiangkong raised his eyebrows, looked straight at her, and the smile in his eyes deepened.

“Why do you think?”

**

On her way home, Qiu Ying hummed a little song and lifted her head. The clear blue sky seemed infinite; white flowers constantly fell like feathers on her face. She covered her face with her hands. In the dazzling light seeping through her fingers, the flowers seemed to gently disappear as they slipped out of her palms, tickling her.

She closed her eyes in comfort and thought that she may have stood in the sun for too long. A dreamlike feeling slowly enveloped her body.

She had thought that it would be a long war, but she didn’t expect Ji Xiangkong would become hooked so quickly.

**

Qiu Ying didn’t have her own place, but rented a one-bedroom apartment near her university. She converted the living room into a streaming room; delicately and warmly furnished, pale blue wallpaper, light yellow lights, cute dolls scattered on a linen sofa, a wall of photos hanging between two paintings, with a brilliant and dazzling smile captured in various photographs.

Qiu Ying sat down in front of her computer monitor to draft a new Weibo post, “There will be a special guest in this weekend’s stream~” with a pretty selfie of herself at the entrance of the Legend club. Posted.

Elbows propped on the table and face in her hands, she blinked and laughed sillily, slowly savoring the aftertaste of memory, every moment of getting along with Ji Xiangkong. The way he lifted the corner of his mouth when he smiled, his eyes like crescent moons, his low and pleasing voice, the heat from his skin, as well as that sentence…

“Why do you think?”

Qiu Ying blushed, face and ears hot. Her heart seemed like it was being tickled by feathers, an unstoppable itch.

It took her a long time for her to calm down, patting her face hard. Ji Xiangkong promised to team up with her, so she couldn’t be casual about it. She quickly began to do her homework.

She double-clicked on Conquer’s client to enter practice mode.

In Conquer, two teams of five people fought against each other; while defending their own ancient ruins, they attacked to destroy their opponents’ base. Each player operated a hero, starting from Level 1, to lead their troops to fight the opponent.

The game was split into top, middle, and bottom lanes, with a large nest of neutral wild monsters called the “wild zone” near each basecamp. The hero could gain experience and gold through different methods, which they used to learn new skills and buy even more powerful equipment.

Qiu Ying started a game against a computer-generated team and then opened a colorful notebook placed next to the computer, where she’d noted down a lot of the information she’d heard while in Seattle.

If China’s three giants could be summed up in one word—

Legend: “smart.” Flexible tactics and a constantly-changing style.

Dragon: “stable.” Made mistakes very rarely and a rock-solid defense.

VPG: “fierce.” Fierce playing and an oppressive nature.

Among them, VPG’s competition was generally the one that caused people to be the most excited— they didn’t say much, just killed! Small-scale sneak attacks and assassinations bloomed all across the map. After their advantage snowballed greater and greater, they promptly launched a group attack without allowing their opponents any opportunity to breathe. In just a short bit of time, the awesome fights caused everyone’s blood to boil, the killing destroyed their opponents’ morale, and in the end, they fell under the aggressive offense.

Among them, VPG’s competition was generally the one that caused people to be the most excited— they didn’t say much, just killed! Small-scale sneak attacks and assassinations bloomed all across the map. After their advantage snowballed greater and greater, they promptly launched a group attack without allowing their opponents any opportunity to breathe. In just a short bit of time, the awesome fights caused everyone’s blood to boil, the killing destroyed their opponents’ morale, and in the end, they fell under the aggressive offense.

Upon seeing this, she remembered that the fan who had given her this piece of knowledge had said with sparkling eyes, “VPG’s sword is their mid, Summit! In their last game, he made up 50% of their damage, 15 kills and 0 deaths!”

“… What’s a mid?”

“A mid is the single person in the middle lane. Very strong in the early stage and not bad in the late stage, either.”

The other person started to go into an eloquent explanation, using too many words that Qiu Ying completely didn’t understand. She could only figure out that just like football had forwards, centers, defenders, and goalkeepers, professional Conquer teams also had five positions, each with their own unique roles.

“At the end of that game, he was awesome even with all of his teammates dead! He destroyed the other team! The American commentators were all pounding on their tables and couldn’t do anything but shout ‘Summit!’”

“What’s his real name?”

“Pei Xi, China’s number one mid of the new generation!”

previous chapter | contents page | next chapter

Footnotes:

1 一剪梅, the name of both a Taiwanese TV drama and its theme song that aired in the 80s.

Like this:Like Loading...

Related