Edited by: Mel
There were only less than two days before the weekend that the finals of the Rookies’ competition took place.
On the day of shooting for the rookie teams, he played a few matches with Qiao Yi. After that, Li Zhongchen intuitively felt that he had fallen ill. The steel armor that he had spent two years remodeling became an empty shell that shattered.
Because of how he had gone around asking to borrow a thermometer despite possessing a physique that would not fall sick even after ten thousands of years, it attracted an exasperated Yao Tong over. “Stop overthinking things because you have nothing better to do. If you’re that bored, you can go downstairs and water the flowers. Ever since we’ve motherf*cking met, you’ve never caught a cold or cough, alright?”
In spite of all that, Li Zhongchen did not disclose that coincidental experience of teaming up with Qiao Yi that was comparable to a one night stand
Even after a long time had passed, he was still in a daze and suspected that he had only dreamt of that day, only to wake up to his and Qiao Yi’s relationship being the same as it had been in the past two years – like strangers.
During that period of time, Lao Wang sought him out several times. He had mentioned to him to consider the official day of his comeback, but Li Zhongchen would evade every time. “We’ll talk about it after the rookies’ competition is over.”
Old Wang wanted to say something but stopped. “Zhongchen, Yao Tong and the rest have already led the rookies away for demonic training, and there is no need for you to train Zheng Xiaokui. There is nothing much for you to do regarding the finals.”
Li Zhongchen had hard candy in his mouth, his speech unclear. “Then I don’t have to go to the stadium on the day of the finals?”
“…That, if you don’t show up, would the organizers not come after me?!”
Li Zhongchen was impatient. “Then that’s it.”
“Ai.” Having invited ridicule for himself, Lao Wang did not bother him again.
Today, he was practicing with the brother from the second team who he had borrowed the cigarette from. It was likely that they had matched up with a professional anchor whose team advanced together to score points and caused a fierce battle to start quietly.
His teammates died tragically one after another. Bloodhound had no idea how many times he had brought his teammates’ banner to the respawn point that his expression turned ugly.
But the phone that could not read the situation started to ring and vibrate.
“Tsk.”
Just then, his resurrected teammate descended from the sky again. The box spirit finally learned independence and started to search the supply box near them.
Li Zhongchen was finally able to take a breather. His phone continued to buzz, and he glanced sideways to the corner of the table. When he was frustrated to the extreme, he would become unusually calm. He thought about hanging up quickly.
However, when he noticed who the caller was, his anger dissipated. Even his focus on the game was diminished by a fair amount.
— The caller ID flashed on the screen’s display: Cub Xun.
Li Zhongchen hurriedly took off his headset, placed the phone on his shoulder and clamped down on it. As he picked up the call, he moved towards the next ring along with his teammates while he listened to Xiao Xun’s refreshing voice. “Brother! Are you busy?”
Xiao Xun was his younger brother. He was a junior at Wuhan University this year, and was a straight-A student.
This younger brother lived next door from his house, the two of them grew up together wearing open crotch pants. Although they were not related by blood, in his heart, Xiao Xun occupied a place that was even more important than his own biological brother.
“Your brother is not busy,” Li Zhongchen was so enthusiastic that it was as though he became a completely different person. The severity of the situation in-game caused his brows to furrow, but his tone remained the same. “Why did you suddenly call me, don’t you have class at this time?”
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.
Who knew that Xiao Xun would be so direct. “Xiao Qiao Ge is back, right?”
“…” Ol Itbcumtfc ofia ubbrfyewqr glrf bc tlr cfmx jcv tf vlv cba wjxf j rbecv. Lf tfjgv atf batfg mbcalcef. “Glv sbe uesr gfmbcmlif? Ljnf sbe jigfjvs wfa eq? P vlvc’a fnfc tfjg sbe wfcalbc la ab wf sfa.”
“Lf’r yjmx.” Pa kjr bynlber atja tf ijmxfv mbcnlmalbc.
“Then have you two met up?”
Li Zhongchen lied. “We haven’t met yet.”
He was certain that what he said was impeccable. There was no emotional fluctuation, yet he was so ruthlessly exposed by his younger brother. “Brother, you’re lying! Even if you didn’t go look for sister-in-law, you two have definitely played a game together. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have this kind of a reaction.”
Li Zhongchen was multitasking and was headshotted twice by the enemy. The shield that was attached to the helmet was about to break, but he could not even tell the location of his enemies.
The Bloodhound could only hide behind random rocks, replenishing his health with syringes. The situation on both ends was difficult to navigate, and it was as though he was holding two hot potatoes at the same time.
At that moment, the air became heavy. He compromised as he spoke, the tone of his voice carrying a hint of persuasion for his younger brother not to stir up trouble. “We played a couple of games a few days ago like normal online friends. After that, we did not keep in contact. Why are you asking things like that, it doesn’t really concern you. By the way, how are things recently with my sister-in-law?
Xiao Xun interrupted him. “Why didn’t you look for Brother Xiao Qiao when he came back? It’s impossible for him to forget you at all; otherwise why would he choose to come back?”
As soon as he said those words, Li Zhongchen felt as though he had been brutally punched, and his chest felt suffocating and irritable.
At the same time in Apex, having been caught off guard, Bloodhound was snipped in the head and fell to the ground. The cries of surprise from his teammates leaked clearly from the headset.
“Don’t save me!” Li Zhongchen covered the mouthpiece of the phone and called out to the second team that was in a distance to continue the final ring by themselves. Then, he stood up and walked out of the training room. “Cub Xun, which one of us is really your brother?”
His words were dull and Xiao Xun was also dumbfounded when he heard it. “Are you angry at me?”
“How is that possible, what are we doing, talking about things like these?” Li Zhong Chen sighed, helpless in every way. “I know you like your Xiao Qiao Ge, he was kind to you. How long have we been separated, yet he still dotes on you like you’re his own little brother. Whenever a holiday was coming up, he would send…”
Xiao Xun interrupted him again and asked imploringly. “Brother, is it really impossible for you two to get back together?”
There were no cigarettes right now, and it made Li Zhongchen feel so helpless that he did not even know where to begin.
In that moment as he stood in the empty corridor, his silhouette from a distance looked extremely lonely and miserable. He even squeezed out a self-deprecating smile. “It’s impossible.”
“I don’t believe you! It’s fine even if you lied to me in the past, but it’s been more than a year. Could I not know that Xiao Qiao Ge’s engagement partner was just someone that was acting along? Are you going to always treat me like a gullible child that would believe in sweet talk?”
Li Zhongchen raised his voice. “So? What else do you know? Did you know that he cried about missing me every day when he’s in America, that he couldn’t even sleep well or continue playing in competitions?”
“I wasn’t fooling around with him. Xiao Xun, you’re also an adult now. Read the room and stop meddling in my affairs.”
“Then bring me home a new sister-in-law!”
“…” Li Zhongchen was speechless for a moment.
In fact, now that it had come to this, the two of them became a little awkward. After all, they had never really quarreled with each other in their entire lives.
Ever since he was a child, Li Zhongchen loved this younger brother of his that lived next door. First of all, it was because the other relied on him. He was clever, sensible, and obedient. Secondly, Li Zhongchen’s mother died early. When he was younger, his father got into an accident while driving the delivery truck. To him of that time, the medical expenses were astronomical.
And Xiao Xun’s grandparents had helped him more than once, be it financially or spiritually. They had given too much out of generosity.
Li Zhongchen was a person of gratitude. Seeing as he made Xiao Xun feel bad, he started to blame himself. “…I’m sorry, I was too hard on you earlier. But this is a private matter between him and myself, so don’t keep asking about it. Regardless of external factors, it is difficult for us to reconcile. Do you understand?”
“Brother…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. But Xiao Qiao Ge doesn’t like that female celebrity. The two of you…”
Li Zhongchen begged him. “Cub Xun, really. Drop it.”
Xiao Xun, who was on the other end of the phone, fell silent for a while. After a long time, he finally spoke. “I understand. Then, I’ll let you go back to what you were busy with.”
“The moment we raise our glasses in a toast / We exchange glances and smile / Relishing the flavors on the plate / Perhaps there are some things in life / That were not meant to come early…”
He had no idea who was playing Eason’s 《Bitter Gourd》. There was even someone singing it in a low voice. The training base that had been filled with murderous energy was now grounds for endorsement of KTV full of bitterness.
After he returned to his computer, Li Zhongchen could not stand it anymore. He turned the volume of the game to the maximum, put on his headphones, and wished he would just become deaf.
But practicing only made things insipid. It was almost twelve, and Yao Tong led the young ones from the rookie team to the nearby night market for kebabs. In the past, he would be eager to call him to tag along, but he did not take the initiative to invite him today.
At the same time, he had not had much of an appetite recently. He would practice a little after having dinner before returning to the dormitory.
Li Zhongchen was certainly angered by his younger brother. Whenever he thought about Qiao Yi’s fiancée, who was a model-turned-popular actress that won the best support character award in the Golden Sparrow Awards. After getting engaged with Qiao Yi, she went to America to develop her career, occasionally returning to China for variety shows or movies. It could be said that she was the envy of others.
While he was feeling bitter and lonely, he did not expect that despite his younger brother’s earlier promises, once he had hung up on the call, he actually went to look for his “Xiao Qiao Ge”.
.
At the same time, Qiao Yi had just woken up naturally.
He was dressed in loungewear and wore a pair of round, thin-framed glasses that hid the swelling of his face. His presentation was clean and clear, and all this was for the sake of going downstairs to get his take out.
Xiao Xun: Xiao Qiao Ge, you’re back, right?
Xiao Xun: My brother said he missed you very much. Can you give him another chance? He can’t like anyone else except for you.
Xiao Xun: Xiao Qiao ge, why is it every time I mention my brother, you’ll stop responding to my texts T T
“…” Qiao Yi retrieved his take out and read those few messages repeatedly while he was in the elevator. He knew that no matter what, Li Zhongchen would never say such things to his younger brother. It must have been fabricated by Xiao Xun.
So he pursed his thin lips, heart filled with mixed feelings, yet he could only pretend not to see them.
He opened the door. Out of habit, Qiao Yi said softly. “I’m back.”
Li Zhongchen, I’m back. In the past, when we finally managed to catch each other on the rare days the both of us had a day off, you would always walk over and embrace me, telling me my baby is home.
But now, I am the only one in this house with no one answering me.
Qiao Yi’s eyes misted over. He placed the food on a plate, and after he sat down, he began to swipe through Weibo slowly and methodically.
The slender fingers of his right hand clung to the handle of the spoon and mixed the bibimbap absentmindedly, seemingly lacking in appetite.
Qiao Yi eventually frowned slightly, the half-cooked egg yolk of the steamed egg was punctured, dribbling down the corners of the plate. It reflected how he felt on the inside – calm, but at the same time silently surging with feelings.
Fans would send him personal messages. Many believed that he would not read them, but every so often, he would read some selected content, treating it like one would watch dramas while having their meals—
[Baby cub, no matter which team you choose to go to next, Mummy will stay with you QAQ]
[Baby, you have to eat and sleep well every day. Let me share some things for good rest. Take care of yourself.]
[Qiao Qiao, it’s too disgusting. What kind of gangsters are SVG? The upper beam is not straight, and the lower beam is crooked. I’m really vomiting]
[Xiao Qiao Gege, your disciple was beaten up by Echo’s disciple! We plan on buying a hot search to expose this kind of viciousness!]
“…” The content began to deviate more and more. Qiao Yi’s hands paused, and his appetite worsened.
He interacted with the fan group and clarified the situation. It turned out that on the day of the rookie team photoshoot, MW and SVG had made reservations at the same studio. Xiao Su and Li Zhognchen’s disciple had a squabble, and even got physical.
Qiao Yi was puzzled. Su Ruiqi was the cousin of his fiancée in name. He was a promising, motivated, and obedient child.
After his return, it was true that he had some unpleasant experiences with MW. But he had voluntarily agreed to train Su Ruiqi. No one forced him, but after learning about what happened, he began to regret his original decision.
Perhaps it was because they were still young and were prone to unstable emotions. It was normal to have conflicts, just like how he had been nit picky and demanding of Li Zhongchen at the beginning.
But things have turned out the way they did. Many things remained the same, but the people involved had changed.
Qiao Yi unintentionally caused some discord between his and Li Zhongchen’s fans once again. He tried every means to make the little sisters who knew about this matter to keep their mouths shut and not make things difficult for Echo. He would negotiate with the other in private.
Fortunately, the fans listened to him and did not want to upset him.
After resolving these problems, Qiao Yi thought it over for a moment and eventually scrolled to Li Zhongchen’s number in his contact list.
Perhaps he had finally braced himself after having found an excuse for an opportunity to contact the other. He could not control himself and typed a sentence before sending it: My dear, your disciple bit my disciple’s hand. Care to explain?
It didn’t matter. Anyway, Li Zhongchen would only think that the reason why he had typed “My Dear” was because of him being sarcastic and mocking him.
Noa Notes:
The tension builds and we finally get a sneak peek of how QY feels about their relationship! Thank you everyone for your patience this week. We will be back to normal posting schedule next week c:
Omg so much angst!! Is Qiao Yi going to breakup with the fiancé?
sheesh. even I am getting all angsty over these two.
thanks for the chapter <3
Thank you for the chapter 💛
Ah why are they so confident they both can’t get back together ? Such dog blood!
Ikr. it’s killing me how they both r so forcefully clueless
Thanks for the chapter ❤️❤️