“What are you all chatting about so happily?” A voice came from the doorway. Jiang Siyang looked over to see Li Qiang entering, holding the same thermos Jiang Siyang had seen in the car that day.
Jiang Siyang’s smile immediately vanished as he stood up. “Hello, Brother Qiang.”
Li Qiang waved him down, and only then did Jiang Siyang sit back. Li Qiang took a seat next to Xiao Zhou.
Xiao Zhou looked at Li Qiang and joked, “We have to watch what we say now. Whatever you do, don't mention anything about age.”
Li Qiang reached behind Xiao Zhou and hooked his arm around the younger man’s neck in a playful chokehold. “Still running that mouth, are you? Still running that mouth?”
“I was wrong, I was wrong! Brother Qiang, I’m sorry...”
“Are you going to keep talking? Are you?!”
“No, no...”
The meeting room grew lively for a moment, though the others had yet to arrive.
Zhang Jin’an glanced at Jiang Siyang, who was smiling as he watched the scene, and asked, “Siyang, do you want to play a game? We can team up.”
Jiang Siyang turned back instantly. “What game?”
Zhang Jin’an opened the app and showed it to Jiang Siyang, who leaned in closer.
While the game was still on the loading screen, Zhang Jin’an explained, “It’s a competitive game called *Despair*.”
Jiang Siyang nodded. “Oh... this one. I have it downloaded.”
This caught Zhang Jin’an by surprise. “You have it? You play this?”
“It’s not me,” Jiang Siyang gave a bright smile. “Everyone in our group plays it except me. Sometimes when their phones run out of battery, they use mine to play.”
Zhang Jin’an: “...”
Jiang Siyang felt a bit apologetic and embarrassed. “I’m pretty bad at these kinds of electronic games. I’ll pass; I don't want to hold you back, Brother Zhang.”
Without a second thought, Zhang Jin’an replied, “It’s fine. I can carry you.”
As soon as he said it, Zhang Jin’an himself paused, while Xiao Zhou let out a surprised “Whoa.”
“Dage, you’re actually willing to carry a newbie? Didn’t you say you’d never take on another apprentice after you finished training Su Zhiyang?”
Zhang Jin’an: “...”
Zhang Jin’an shot a glance at Xiao Zhou before returning his gaze to his phone to log in. “Let’s just pretend that apprentice Su Zhiyang never existed.”
Jiang Siyang asked curiously, “Why?”
“He has no respect for his master,” Zhang Jin’an said as he claimed his daily login rewards. “Siyang, log into your account. I’ll add you.”
“Oh, okay...” Jiang Siyang pulled out his phone. While waiting for the game to load, he asked again, “But what did you mean by that? What happened with Teacher Su Zhiyang?”
Xiao Zhou, the witness to the events, stepped in to clarify. “It’s just that once Su Zhiyang learned how to play, he loved stealing Dage’s kills.”
Jiang Siyang: “...”
Zhang Jin’an shook his head. “A misfortune for my sect... Oh, your Shijie is online.”
Jiang Siyang felt that being able to play a game with Zhang Jin’an was nice enough, so he didn't correct the terminology and simply accepted it. “Who is Shijie?”
Zhang Jin’an replied, “Gu Yirou. We can do a 1v2. You and Teacher Gu can team up against me, or you and I can team up against her.”
Jiang Siyang hesitated. He felt that since Gu Yirou was a woman, it wouldn't be right for two men to bully her. “Then... I’ll team up with Teacher Gu. If she’s a support, I’ll play a tank to protect her.”
The moment Jiang Siyang finished speaking, he noticed Zhang Jin’an’s hand falter. Zhang Jin’an slowly looked up at him. “You... protect her?”
“Don’t supports... have very low health? And the ones with high health are called tanks, right?” Jiang Siyang scratched his head. Had he remembered it wrong? But that was how Jiu Chang had explained it to him.
“Supports do have low health, but... never mind.” Zhang Jin’an stopped himself, then continued after a pause, “You’ll understand once you play a round. I’ll pull Teacher Gu into the room first.” With that, Zhang Jin’an opened his private messages and sent a text to Gu Yirou.
“Siyang,” Xiao Zhou said, leaning on the table with a series of clicks of his tongue. “You’re still too young.”
Jiang Siyang was completely bewildered. “Huh?” He looked over and saw that even Li Qiang was shaking his head with a look of pity. “Poor kid. He has no idea what fate awaits him.”
[Opponent—Gentle Blade: I’m finally free to get online.]
[Opponent—Gentle Blade: ? Why the sudden 1v2? Who’s that?]
[Self—Jin: Jiang Siyang]
[Opponent—Gentle Blade: Ohhh, Xiao Yang! Okay, I added him. So, what’s the plan? Who’s on whose team?]
[Self—Jin: You two team up against me.]
[Opponent—Gentle Blade: Are you sure?]
[Self—Jin: He chose it. Probably thinks he needs to go easy on you because you’re a girl. He even said he’d play a tank to protect you.]
[Opponent—Gentle Blade: Hahahahahahaha oh my god, why is this kid so kind-hearted? Don’t you always say there’s no gender in e-sports? You didn’t tell him that?]
[Self—Jin: No. Teacher Gu, just do what you see fit. Go easy on him since he’s a newbie.]
[Opponent—Gentle Blade: ? Teacher Zhang, you’re way too double-standard. Why didn’t I see you going easy on me when I was a newbie?]
[Self—Jin: There is no gender in e-sports.]
[Opponent—Gentle Blade: ?]
“Alright, I’ve talked to Teacher Gu. Just turn on your mic and follow her instructions,” Zhang Jin’an said. He unplugged his own earphones, plugged them into Jiang Siyang’s phone, and tucked the buds into Jiang Siyang’s ears. “Got it?”
Jiang Siyang locked eyes with him for a few seconds before answering softly, “...Okay.”
Zhang Jin’an’s sudden proximity was unexpected. Jiang Siyang had wanted to say he had his own earphones, but when Zhang Jin’an gently put the earphones on him, he suddenly didn't want to say it anymore.
He had been in the entertainment industry for a few years now and had met many people, but he had never met anyone like Zhang Jin’an—someone with whom there was no barrier, who didn't look at him coldly, and who even pulled him into his own circle.
It really felt like having an older brother.
Jiang Siyang thought to himself that meeting Zhang Jin’an must be the luckiest thing to happen to him this year.
His ears were filled with the game’s audio. Amidst the background music, Jiang Siyang thought he could faintly hear the sound of a heartbeat. He took off one earphone. “Does this game have heartbeat sounds?”
“You’re listening quite closely. That’s an easter egg in the game; you can only hear it with headphones,” Zhang Jin’an said, looking at his phone.
Jiang Siyang put the earphone back on. “Oh...”
The game interface finished loading, and the map slowly appeared. Gu Yirou’s character was jumping around to his left. He had chosen a Swordsman with a longsword, while Gu Yirou had chosen a healer mage in pink clothes.
[Teammate—Gentle Blade: Siyang, let’s work hard and try to get seven kills on Zhang Jin’an!]
[Self—Midnight: Okay]
[Teammate—Gentle Blade: Great, let’s talk over voice chat.]
Just as the message appeared from the other side, a voice came through the earphones. “Hello, hello? Can you hear me, Siyang?”
Jiang Siyang hurriedly replied, “I can hear you.”
Gu Yirou said enthusiastically, “Okay, listen to me. The strategy is simple: you crouch in the grass behind me and provide support, and I’ll go to the front and hack him to pieces!”
Jiang Siyang: “?”
Wait, what??
Jiang Siyang looked up blankly, about to ask Zhang Jin’an if the game rules had been changed, only to see Zhang Jin’an nodding at him.
“I know what you’re going to ask. You didn't remember it wrong. It’s just that Teacher Gu is a...” Zhang Jin’an chuckled. “...melee physical healer.”
