Ran Feng wore a white jersey with the number 9 on it. His clothes fluttered elegantly, and his hair was neatly tied. Amidst the bulky down jackets of the surrounding spectators, he appeared refreshingly cool.
On the court, he didn’t wear elbow pads, only a black headband tied around his forehead, exuding a youthful vibe with stray hair falling across his forehead. After making a three-pointer with a graceful throw, he smiled satisfactorily, his eyes twinkling with delight.
The sudden burst of cheers and applause from the crowd was almost deafening to Ji Xingchen’s ears.
He ignored the discomfort in his ears and joined everyone in applauding and cheering for Ran Feng.
“Brother Feng is amazing!”
Just as he spoke, a gust of cold wind blew, causing Ji Xingchen to sneeze.
After sneezing, he looked up again at Ran Feng, only to meet his gaze.
Their eyes met, and they stared at each other for several seconds across the distance.
Ji Xingchen waved to him first, raising his eyebrows with a smile.
But Ran Feng, amidst the crowd, didn’t seem pleased. He furrowed his brows slightly and immediately suppressed the corners of his lips.
Ji Xingchen could only see from afar as he quickly shifted his gaze away and whispered something to his teammate.
At that moment, the game had just completed two and a half periods, and the players from both teams were taking a fifteen-minute halftime break.
As soon as Ran Feng stepped off the court, someone immediately rushed to bring him water and hand him clothes.
Ignoring the clamoring crowd around him, he took the clothes and headed straight for Ji Xingchen.
He approached the platform where Ji Xingchen stood, extending his right hand towards him.
“Come down.”
His voice was colder than the freezing wind, tinged with some displeasure.
Ji Xingchen also sensed Ran Feng’s mood. After carefully descending with the support of Ran Feng’s right hand, he rubbed his already reddened face and nose, frozen from the cold.
“I came here specifically to watch you.”
Ji Xingchen hastily explained his intention, unsure why Ran Feng seemed unhappy.
However, Ran Feng, upon hearing this, didn’t show any surprise. His gaze swept over Ji Xingchen’s face, then landed on the scar from Ji Xingchen’s surgery.
“It’s getting dark, you should go back now.”
Ji Xingchen glanced at his phone and replied, “It’s still early.”
Ran Feng: “…”
“It’s cold here.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I’m not cold!” Ji Xingchen shook his head and glanced at Ran Feng, who was still only wearing a basketball jersey. “Do you want my down jacket?”
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“I came here specifically to see you play!”
Just as Ji Xingchen finished praising him, he immediately sneezed.
Ran Feng quickly took two steps to the side, using his back to shield Ji Xingchen from the wind. “We’ll watch another time.”
Feeling frustrated that Ran Feng wouldn’t let him watch the game, Ji Xingchen complained, “What’s wrong with me watching you play once in a while? I’m getting moldy staying at home. After we graduate, we won’t be at the same school anymore. Where else can I watch?”
Listening to Ji Xingchen’s complaint, Ran Feng remained silent for a while, just staring at him.
After a moment of silence, when Ji Xingchen was about to break the deadlock, Ran Feng suddenly grabbed the sleeve of his down jacket and pulled him over to where their teammates were.
Putting on his jacket, Ran Feng said to his teammate, “I won’t play in the second half.”
His teammate, who had been immersed in the joy of Ran Feng’s three-pointer just now, was shocked and asked, “What’s wrong, Feng? Are you okay?”
“My foot twisted. I didn’t notice it earlier, but now it hurts a bit.”
Hearing that their Star player was injured, the teammate immediately squatted down, concerned, and asked, “Where did you twist it? Is it serious?”
Ran Feng pushed aside his teammate with one hand and gently pulled up Ji Xingchen’s sleeve with the other, leading him away in full view of everyone.
“It’s okay, Ji Xingchen will accompany me to apply medicine.”
So Ji Xingchen was led away by Ran Feng, feeling dazed.
He listened as Ran Feng explained about his injured foot, showing concern for him along the way. But no matter how he asked, Ran Feng remained silent.
It wasn’t until they left the crowd and reached the nearly deserted main road that Ran Feng, who had been walking ahead, turned around. He suddenly threw the scarf around Ji Xingchen’s neck into his hands.
“Put it on,” he said calmly.
“Hmm?” Ji Xingchen was puzzled.
“Cover your face.” Seeing Ji Xingchen’s confusion, Ran Feng reached out and wrapped the scarf around his neck.
After completely covering Ji Xingchen’s face with the scarf, Ran Feng spoke again, this time his tone less cold.
Ji Xingchen still keeps that scarf to this day.
But he still can’t understand why Ran Feng suddenly got angry and stopped playing basketball, lying to everyone that he was injured. When he heard what Ran Feng did, it felt like he was transported back to that moment.
However, similar words were spoken, but it was him and Ran Feng who switched positions.
Thinking about this, Ji Xingchen shook his head.
Although what Ran Feng did was similar to what they had said, how could he confuse Ran Feng with someone else?
—
The rules of the Honor Points Match are from Wednesday to the following Monday, a total of six days.
During these six days, matches are only available from 12 PM to 2 PM, and within these short two hours, most streamers can only play about five or six matches.
Plus, Tuesday is reserved for settling the weekly points ranking for all streamers. So, in total, streamers can only play around thirty matches a week, if they’re lucky.
Therefore, to increase their points, streamers have to keep playing matches continuously.
Every second during the matches is precious for streamers.
“Hey guys, I’m starting the next match now. If you think the streamer is doing well, remember to hit that follow button.”
After chatting with the audience in the live chat for a while, Ji Xingchen’s body and mind relaxed for a moment.
After adjusting his state, he quickly started another match.
In this match, he encountered two acquaintances: Kuge TV Feng Liu and Mengjing TV Yi Lin.
Feng Liu, who was matched with him as a teammate again, was unusually enthusiastic in the pick phase.
“Hey, Brother Star! What a coincidence that we’re matched together again!!” Feng Liu sounded genuinely delighted. “My timing for a restroom break couldn’t be better. Meeting you again is totally worth it.”
“Brother, are you really playing Mai Shiranui this match? I’m on the first line, I can secure her for you.”
Other teammates couldn’t resist turning on their microphones after hearing Feng Liu’s enthusiastic words.
“Bro, are you trying to crack me up? Too humble, isn’t it?”
“Have you guys been matched before?”
“Yeah, bro, why are you exaggerating so much… Isn’t that too much?” Feng Liu immediately changed to a proud tone and clarified, “Don’t be modest, bro!! Let me tell you, in his first match just now, he flash-kicked four people with Mai Shiranui, wiped out the enemy team, and carried us straight to victory. You tell me if that’s strong or not.”
Others were instantly excited when they heard about such a strong player: “Damn, is he really that awesome?!!! Hurry, hurry, snatch it.”
While Feng Liu was shouting to his teammates to secure Mai Shiranui for Ji Xingchen, the opponents were also discussing about it.
“Let’s ban Mai Shiranui.” It was Kuge TV Yi Lin who spoke. Just the last game, he was playing Marksman and got shut down by Ji Xingchen’s Mai Shiranui.
His teammates hadn’t experienced Ji Xingchen’s gameplay and were a bit disdainful: “Bro, is it necessary to ban Mai Shiranui? Are they playing on the national server or what? Just pick Chang’e to counter it, that’s all.”
Yi Lin clearly had a psychological shadow from the sudden appearance of Mai Shiranui from the grass.
Because he had been beaten up, he understood how strong the opponent was. Seeing his teammates unwilling to ban, he patiently explained the situation.
“It might be a bit difficult to counter. The Star on the other side was my opponent in the last match. His teammates are a bit uncoordinated, especially the Marksman. Initially, we had a big advantage, but then his Mai Shiranui caught us off guard from the grass and turned the tables. His Mai Shiranui is pretty strong, I’m not lying to you.”
“Is that so? I’m also a Mai Shiranui player on the national server, but I haven’t heard of this opponent. How about this, let’s take the initiative to pick Mai Shiranui this match. There’s no need to waste a ban on a hero.” The streamer who spoke also played in the mid lane.
Seeing his teammates boast so much about the opponent’s mid laner, he felt uncomfortable and his competitive spirit was ignited.
Yi Lin obviously didn’t understand his teammate’s sarcasm. Seeing that Mai Shiranui couldn’t be secured for Ji Xingchen, he relaxed a bit and said, “That works too, as long as we don’t give it to him.”
So after the first round of hero bans, the opponents first picked Mai Shiranui.
Seeing the prized hero being taken by the opponent, Feng Liu couldn’t help but lament, “Damn, who is this guy on the other side? Damn coward, if you have the guts, don’t just first pick Mai Shiranui!!”
After angrily venting at the opponent, Feng Liu immediately switched to a subdued tone and quietly asked Ji Xingchen, “Brother Star, since Mai Shiranui’s gone, do you have any other specialty heroes you want to play?”
Feng Liu’s change in attitude caught Ji Xingchen off guard. He replied, “Aren’t you playing mid lane this match?”
This question from Ji Xingchen was purely inquiring, without any other implications.
However, Feng Liu thought Ji Xingchen was upset about the last match where they fought over the mid lane, so he quickly apologized, “I won’t play it, I was just joking with you last match. I can play support or side lanes too, just don’t make me play Lady Sun.”
After finishing his apology, Feng Liu checked the remaining time for hero selection, only fifteen seconds left. He hurriedly asked Ji Xingchen, “Bro, what mage do you want? I’ll grab it for you, time’s running out~”
Ji Xingchen glanced at his teammates’ commonly used heroes and said, “You can pick for them first. I’ll play Shangguan this match, to avoid being targeted early.”
Most of Ji Xingchen’s teammates in this match were smaller streamers, but they seemed more astute. After hearing Feng Liu’s words, they all tacitly agreed that Ji Xingchen was the carry. In the second round of hero bans, they actively banned Chang’e and Liang to protect Ji Xingchen’s Shangguan.
Ji Xingchen’s treatment and status in this match were comparable to top-tier streamers. However, once the game started, Ji Xingchen’s Shangguan didn’t disappoint his teammates. After reaching level four, he started dominating the mid lane, and later on, he was unstoppable.
The strength of Mai Shiranui and Shangguan is actually evenly matched.
In the end, the streamer on the opposing side who secured Mai Shiranui was completely outplayed by Ji Xingchen’s Shangguan, showing ignorance of the situation, life, and direction.
Although both matches featured Mai Shiranui, in the previous one, Ji Xingchen carried alone, while in this one, the opposing team collectively suffered under Ji Xingchen’s onslaught.
The contrast was stark, evident even to laymen, revealing Ji Xingchen’s true strength.
With Shangguan economically dominating and carrying the game, the opposing team couldn’t even afford to get their Sage’s Sanctuary before it ended.
Ji Xingchen’s Shangguan performance was outstanding, earning him another MVP.
He took advantage of his good form and played two more consecutive matches.
By the 2 PM deadline, he had played a total of four ranked matches and won them all, earning MVP each time!
After the four matches, the total points page displayed today’s settlement.
Because of his four consecutive wins and four MVPs, Ji Xingchen earned a base score of 40 points and an additional 32 points.
Later that day, a diligent viewer privately compiled the points of all participating streamers.
In the end, on MeowMeow TV, Ji Xingchen ranked first on the streamer points leaderboard with a total of 72 points and a flawless record for the day!
—
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
🌈 HAPPY PRIDE MONTH 🏳️🌈
the 1st half of this chapter is so sweet? and reading this today is so perfect