When Xia Yaoyao saw that hero selection in voice chat, she seemed like she wanted to say something, but ultimately held it back and picked a tanky fighter for the solo lane.
The game finished loading, and they entered the Rift.
Controlling her marksman, Wen Chu headed toward the bottom lane while continuing her instructions.
“Xi Liye, stay close to me. Tap this skill—yeah, that’s it. Now you can attach.”
A cute deer-horned girl appeared steadily above Wen Chu’s marksman.
Looking at the little Yao sitting on top of her hero, Wen Chu felt even more strongly that she was carrying the team.
She focused on laning, farming minions, and harassing her opponents.
Her marksman developed well. After killing the enemy mid-laner, she immediately invaded the enemy jungle and spotted the Blue Buff monster glowing with a faint blue light.
“Xi Liye, come over! I’ll get you a Blue Buff!”
Wen Chu called out in voice chat.
Following her instructions, Xi Liye detached from her and stood quietly nearby.
Wen Chu whittled the Blue Buff down to a sliver of health before stopping.
“Quick, last hit it.”
Yao stepped forward and landed a gentle basic attack.
The Blue Buff was secured, and a blue aura immediately surrounded her.
At that moment, a message suddenly appeared in the chat box on the left side of the screen.
It came from their jungler, who had been silently farming all game while maintaining a mediocre record.
【Team】Jungler: ??? Marksman, are you f*cking stupid? Giving Blue Buff to Yao?
Wen Chu froze for a moment before another string of messages appeared.
【Team】Jungler: Is this Yao your girlfriend or something? She’s trash. Besides riding on people’s heads, what else can she do?
【Team】Jungler: This is my promotion match! Meeting clingy couples like you is the worst luck of my life! Can you play properly? If not, go AFK!
His tone was extremely hostile, filled with aggression and insults.
Wen Chu’s anger instantly shot to the top of her head.
He could insult her all he wanted, but Xi Liye was someone she had invited.
Why should he be verbally abused by a jungler who was playing badly and blaming everyone else?
Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
For once, her rage nearly overpowered her social anxiety.
Her rebuttal was ready to send immediately.
【Team】Marksman: Are you the one with a problem? That Blue Buff came from the ENEMY jungle. Your own Blue Buff got stolen ages ago. If you’ve got the guts, go steal one back instead of farming step counts in your jungle.
【Team】Marksman: You’re 0-3-1, can’t protect your jungle, can’t gank anyone, and you’re still blaming teammates? Giving Blue Buff to you would be a waste. What are you even going to do with it?
Every sentence struck directly at his weak points.
The jungler was obviously hit where it hurt.
He immediately exploded in anger and flooded the chat with even more vulgar insults, dragging Wen Chu into them as well.
The language became increasingly obscene and disgusting.
Just as Wen Chu was about to fire back, another message appeared first.
It was from Xi Liye.
【Team】Yao: Yeah, you’re right. I really do only know how to sit on my girlfriend’s head.
【Team】Yao: But at least my girlfriend can carry me while taking towers and kills. What about you? Riding your jungle monsters straight into the enemy team’s mouths?
Wen Chu nearly burst out laughing.
She quickly covered her mouth.
The damage wasn’t massive.
The humiliation was.
The jungler clearly hadn’t expected that “Yao” was actually a guy, let alone one who would openly admit it and immediately stomp him into the dirt.
He froze for several seconds before finally grabbing onto what he thought was a weakness.
【Team】Jungler: F*ck! So you’re a guy playing Yao? That’s pathetic. Aren’t you embarrassed? A grown man playing a hero like that? Living off your girlfriend, huh?
The argument had now escalated into personal attacks and gender-based insults.
Wen Chu’s anger flared up again.
But before she could type anything, Xi Liye responded.
【Team】Yao: Excuse me, what’s your definition of “living off your girlfriend”?
【Team】Yao: Is it accepting a Blue Buff because my girlfriend wanted to give it to me?
【Team】Yao: So… nobody gives you Blue Buffs?
【Team】Yao: Also, why should I feel embarrassed that my girlfriend gives me Blue Buffs?
Wen Chu: “…?!”
She almost choked on her own saliva.
What kind of plot twist was that?
He had somehow transformed the conversation into an entirely different form of personal attack, from an angle so bizarre it was impossible to defend against.
The jungler was clearly stunned by the combo.
After a long pause, he finally managed a weak reply.
【Team】Jungler: Stop talking nonsense! Trash is trash!
He had completely abandoned logic.
Only hollow insults remained.
【Team】Yao: Yeah, I’m trash. It’s my first time playing.
【Team】Yao: You’ve played for a long time, right? So you shouldn’t be trash.
【Team】Yao: Then why are your gold and stats worse than mine?
【Team】Yao: Is it because nobody gives you Blue Buffs, so you’ve lost motivation?
Wen Chu’s eyes widened.
In voice chat, Xia Yaoyao was laughing so hard she nearly passed out.
“Hahahaha—hic! Help! Did your boyfriend major in philosophy or something? His mouth is lethal! He basically called the jungler trash AND single. That guy’s definitely crying into his blanket tonight!”
Wen Chu was struggling to suppress her laughter as well.
The jungler became so speechless that he could only repeat meaningless profanity.
Eventually, he rage-quit and went AFK.
The game officially became a four-versus-five.
Wen Chu cleared her throat.
Her voice still trembled from holding back laughter.
“Ahem… Xi Liye, shall we continue?”
“Mm.”
His voice came through as calm as ever.
As if those sarcastic comments hadn’t come from him.
“Stay with you.”
Without the noisy jungler feeding kills, the match actually became easier.
Wen Chu’s marksman, with Yao sitting on her head, slaughtered enemies across the map.
Xi Liye’s Yao protected her exceptionally well.
His skill timing was so precise that he hardly seemed like a beginner.
After a beautiful triple kill, Wen Chu couldn’t resist showing off a little.
“See? I told you I could carry you!”
Xi Liye chuckled softly.
The sound was brief.
“Mm.”
There was a faint hint of indulgence in his voice.
“You are amazing.”
Wen Chu’s cheeks warmed.
Even her gameplay became steadier.
In the end, thanks to her outstanding performance, they completely turned the game around.
As expected, her marksman earned MVP.
“Yay! We won! ChuChu, you’re awesome!”
Xia Yaoyao cheered through voice chat.
“You carried the whole game! That marksman was a monster!”
“Ahem.”
Wen Chu tried to appear calm, though she couldn’t hide her happiness.
She deliberately tried to attract Xi Liye’s attention.
“We won.”
Only then did Xi Liye slowly raise his eyes.
His gaze shifted from the phone screen to her face.
He nodded.
“Mm. We won.”
“I got MVP.”
Unable to hold back, she finally said it.
Her eyes sparkled.
She pointed at the golden MVP badge and the dazzling statistics panel on her screen.
Her face practically screamed:
Praise me.
Xi Liye looked at her.
Warm yellow light from the living room reflected in his deep eyes.
His expression remained calm.
Then he slowly spoke.
“Our ChuChu is really amazing.”
It was the first time he had called her ChuChu.
And somehow…
It felt completely different from when her roommates or family called her that.
For no reason at all, her heart skipped a beat.
“Ahem… cough cough…”
She awkwardly coughed, trying to cover up her reaction.
Even her voice sounded strange.
“Th-that’s nothing…”
“I-I can carry you through a few more matches.”
“I guarantee MVP every game!”
Xi Liye watched her ears turn bright red.
A nearly delighted smile flashed through his eyes.
“Okay.”
He agreed immediately.
The three of them played several more matches.
During those games, Wen Chu could clearly feel Xi Liye improving at an absurd rate.
As expected of the male lead.
Even without prior experience, he quickly became more and more skilled.
Soon, the sky darkened.
After their final match, they called it a day.
Wen Chu packed away her CET-4 books and slung her backpack over her shoulder.
Xi Liye stood up and gathered his things.
“It’s late.”
“Want me to drive you back?”
“Sure.”
Wen Chu agreed.
The winter streets were far quieter than during the day.
Cold wind howled through the night.
Xi Liye’s car was parked downstairs from the apartment.
The heater inside was running at full blast.
As soon as she got in, Wen Chu removed her coat and tossed it onto the back seat.
The entire drive passed in silence.
Only soft instrumental music played through the speakers.
Leaning against the seat, Wen Chu watched the colorful city lights streak past the window.
Fragments of the game and random English vocabulary words still floated through her mind.
She gradually grew sleepy.
The car eventually came to a smooth stop outside Huada University’s gates.
“We’re here.”
Xi Liye turned off the engine and unfastened his seatbelt.
Wen Chu snapped back to reality.
After thanking him, she reached for her own seatbelt while simultaneously grabbing her coat from the back seat.
The moment her fingers touched the coat—
Someone gently grasped her wrist.
Wen Chu paused and turned around in confusion.
“?”
Xi Liye remained seated in the driver’s seat.
The overhead light was off.
Only the faint glow of the dashboard and streetlights illuminated his face, outlining his sharp features.
His eyes looked unreadable in the dim light.
Looking directly into her confused gaze, he slowly spoke.
His voice was unusually clear in the quiet car.
Carrying a subtle note of reminder.
“Last time…”
“Didn’t you say you’d let me hug you next time?”