Since there were only two of them, they were matched with three random strangers. Qiao Jingjing thought for a moment and chose Sun Bin again.
Sun Bin was slightly more challenging than Cai Wenji, requiring better game sense, especially in positioning and timing the silence ultimate skill. The first half went smoothly—Yu Tu still played Zhuge Liang as the mid-laner, occasionally supporting the top and bottom lanes, giving their team an advantage. But during team fights, Qiao Jingjing struggled to keep up. After the marksman died twice, they started lashing out.
Tianya (Sun Shangxiang): Sun Bin, are you an idiot*?
(The profanity was filtered by the system.)
Qiao Jingjing was stunned and about to retort. Before she could finish typing "You’re the idiot," she saw Yu Tu respond in the chat.
Yutu Daoyao (Zhuge Liang): Keep complaining and we’ll both go AFK.
Tianya (Sun Shangxiang): You’re together? Fine, you cancel each other out.
Qiao Jingjing: …
Is this marksman a bit of a coward?
A while later, the marksman couldn’t resist speaking up again.
Tianya (Sun Shangxiang): Hey, if you’re carrying a girl, why not play marksman and carry her yourself?
Yu Tu ignored him after that.
They still won that round. At the start of the next match, Yu Tu instantly locked in marksman.
Qiao Jingjing stared blankly as Yutu Daoyao instantly selected and locked Sun Shangxiang…
What should she do?
Her heart… actually felt a little sweet?
…Qiao Jingjing gently patted her cheek.
Calm down, calm down. She was a major celebrity with tens of millions of followers on Weibo, someone who had returned gifts worth hundreds of thousands without batting an eye. How could she get so fluttery just because someone picked a marksman to carry her? How unbecoming.
While scolding herself, Qiao Jingjing quickly selected Sun Bin and followed Yu Tu, afraid someone else would take her support role.
They played several more rounds after that. Yu Tu always picked marksman, and no matter how poorly she played, they always won, with Yu Tu as the MVP every time. When she went to bed that night, Qiao Jingjing rubbed her sore fingers and tossed and turned.
Hey, Qiao Jingjing, what’s wrong with you?
You’re almost thirty, and you’re getting so… so admiring just because someone is good at gaming?
He might be bald by now, or so out of shape he’s unrecognizable…
Why are you so excited?
…But he really plays so impressively.
Qiao Jingjing found it hard to fall asleep.
Images of Yutu Daoyao dominating the Canyon flashed in her mind. Qiao Jingjing abruptly sat up in bed, grabbed her phone from under the covers, and started watching the recorded matches.
Muttering to herself that she was doing it for learning purposes, she switched to Yu Tu’s perspective. Then she watched as that figure dashed across the Canyon, dazzling both allies and enemies alike.
When she fell asleep, she was still clutching her lit phone, from which the sound of "" emanated.
In the days that followed, Qiao Jingjing lived quite contentedly. No schedules to rush to, no scenes to film, public opinion was calm. During the day, she played games with A’guo, and at night, she clung to Yu Tu and the others for carries. She only had to shoot an occasional commercial or attend an event here and there.
Of course, she preferred playing with Yu Tu and the others—after all, they won more often ╮(╯▽╰)╭A'guo was now quite motivated. Although his student Qiao Jingjing had average gaming talent, she was brimming with confidence. No matter how many setbacks or failures she faced during the day, after a night's rest, she would always return the next day full of energy and self-assurance to continue playing. This just goes to show that not everyone can become a celebrity—look at that resilience!
However, why was she heading home earlier and earlier these days?
That day, Qiao Jingjing announced she was going home at five o'clock again. Her excuse was that she needed to work on her abdominal definition, but in reality, she had secretly logged into her alternate account and discovered that Yu Tu and Shilaimei Bao were playing games. She planned to go back and join them.
As for why she didn’t tell Ling Jie and the others…
A true master’s sudden rise to skill is what makes it exciting!
But by the time she got home, Yu Tu had already logged off.
Feeling frustrated, Qiao Jingjing sliced up some fruit for dinner and was listlessly eating when Peipei suddenly called.
Her voice carried a hint of excitement.
"Jingjing, someone posted that rumor-spreading thread in our high school class group, and everyone is criticizing the person who started it. And guess what happened next!"
Qiao Jingjing was a bit distracted. "What happened?"
Peipei: "Yu Tu spoke up!"
Qiao Jingjing was taken aback.
Peipei chattered on, "Well, aside from criticizing the rumor-monger, a few people were making sour comments too. But as soon as Yu Tu said something, they were instantly shut down and went quiet."
Qiao Jingjing composed herself. "Screenshot what he said and send it to me."
Soon, Peipei sent over a screenshot.
Yu Tu: I never said anything like that.
Yu Tu: If anyone is still in contact with Qiao Jingjing, please convey my apologies on my behalf. If there’s any need for clarification, I’ll cooperate.
Qiao Jingjing stared at the image for a long time.
Apologize to her? What did he have to apologize for? And offering to cooperate with explanations—how exactly could he cooperate? Was she supposed to issue a public statement? He really didn’t understand the entertainment industry at all.
If he genuinely wanted to apologize, he’d be better off properly coaching her in gaming. What was he doing chatting in the group anyway?
After reading Yu Tu’s two sentences a few more times, Qiao Jingjing quickly finished her fruit, then opened the game and generously gifted Yu Tu two skins.
The city was now completely enveloped in night.
Yu Tu closed the WeChat interface, feeling somewhat irritated. He picked up one of Zhai Liang’s cigarettes from the coffee table and walked out to the balcony.
Amid the faint scent of tobacco, his emotions gradually settled.
"What’s wrong? Did they try to persuade you again?" Zhai Liang walked over with a can of beer.
"No, it’s something from the high school group." Yu Tu didn’t want to elaborate and brushed it off.
"I thought it was your colleagues trying to convince you to go back."
Yu Tu flicked the ash from his cigarette. "Actually, it was a former colleague who resigned that made me decide to leave."
"So what’s holding you back? Choosing between an annual salary of a million and one of a hundred thousand while working yourself to death—is it really that hard?"
"Where would I get a million a year?" Yu Tu chuckled wryly.
"Why not? Back when you graduated with your bachelor’s degree, any of those offers you got would’ve paid several million a year by now. What was the point of foolishly pursuing a master’s in aerospace? Working yourself to the bone for just a hundred or two hundred thousand, solving tough problems for a mere five thousand—don’t you feel like you’re wasting your intelligence? At the very least…"
Zhai Liang took a sip of beer. "At the very least, you and Xia Qing wouldn’t have broken up."
Yu Tu’s expression remained neutral. "Let’s not bring up old history.""I think you'll regret it sooner or later. Where are you going to find such a smart and beautiful wife in the future?"
Yu Tu glanced at him, "Anyway, it'll be easier than for you."
Zhai Liang spat out a "pfft," "You're just relying on your looks."
After a while, Zhai Liang spoke again, "Ideals and sentiments can't put food on the table. Once you've made up your mind, just leave. You're already thirty, and I still have to tell you this—how immature."
"I promised my teacher I'd think about it for a month."
"Even an academician is this cunning? I thought they were all just old tech nerds." Zhai Liang was momentarily shocked.
He shook his beer can, "My mindset and awareness are different from yours. I worked so hard to get where I am—I have to go make the most money and live the best life. In today's society, celebrities earn tens of millions just by acting or singing a song. Even their affairs or pregnancies make headlines. You guys send rockets and satellites into space, but go ask around—who knows your names? Who knows you only earn so little in a year?"
Yu Tu smoked quietly.
"Lately, has this been the most depressed period of your life?" Hiding at home playing games every day. Actually, you could go to Beijing for a visit, meet up with old classmates or something. I heard Xia Qing is still single. If you go now, maybe you can rekindle something." As he spoke, he seemed to have discovered something and grew a bit excited, "Hey, you've been single for so many years—is it because in your heart you still..."
"No," Yu Tu interrupted him flatly.
Zhai Liang let out a "heh," "I don't get you."
He downed his beer in one go, patted Yu Tu on the shoulder, and left him alone.
After finishing his cigarette, Yu Tu returned to the living room, leaned back on the sofa, and closed his eyes. He remembered the shocked and pained look in his teacher's eyes the day he went to resign. In the end, his teacher had said, "You've been working very hard all these years and haven't taken a single day off. Take all your accumulated leave first."
"Take this month or so to think it over carefully. If you still want to leave by then, I'll agree."
But what was there to think about? He had long been clear about the pros and cons—it was just a matter of making a decision, and right now, he didn't want to make it.
He opened his eyes, picked up his phone, and opened the game.
No one was online. Qiao Jingjing, bored, played a one-on-one AI match. Of course, you couldn't pick a Support hero in one-on-one AI. She chose Zhuge Liang, whom Yu Tu often played, and almost got beaten by the computer.
This hero is ridiculously hard to play... How does Yu Tu manage to charge in and out of crowds with him?
After a fierce life-and-death battle with the computer, Qiao Jingjing ended the match and exited. When she checked her friends list, Yu Tu was already online.
He must have seen the gift she sent him, right?
As a reserved and tsundere female celebrity, Qiao Jingjing patiently waited for Yu Tu to invite her to a game. But after a while, there was no response.
Just as Qiao Jingjing began to suspect her investment had gone to waste, a QQ notification popped up at the top of her phone.
Yu Tu: You don't need to send me skins.
Qiao Jingjing was momentarily stunned before opening QQ. She hadn't expected Yu Tu to message her on QQ.
His words stood alone in the upper left corner of the chat box. Staring at them, Qiao Jingjing suddenly felt a little dazed. It seemed like such a long, long time ago, back when she was just a teenager, she had hoped every day for a message like this from him to appear in this chat box—for him to start the conversation.
She never thought she'd fulfill that wish ten years later.
Times had changed, and so had the people. Qiao Jingjing shook her head with a smile at the youthful concerns of her younger self, but for a moment, she didn't know how to reply.She put down her phone and ran on the treadmill for a while. Midway through, she received a call from Ling Jie, who informed her that their family would be having a parent-child activity the next day, so she didn't need to go to the studio for training.
After hanging up, Qiao Jingjing held her phone, and for some reason, a bold idea suddenly popped into her head.
Without much thought, she opened QQ and typed out a line: "Can I ask you to be my coach?"
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