Because Liang Ling was going to participate in a competition the following week, he moved back from the river-view residential compound to temporarily stay at the malatang restaurant. Aside from seeing him absent-mindedly tending to the plants early in the morning, Wen Ming basically couldn’t cross paths with him the rest of the time, let alone share meals or drink tea as before. Whenever he looked at the training photos Liang Ling sent him, showing him close and cozy with Lu Ming, a surge of irritation would flare up.
Wasn’t this brat supposed to be taking his college entrance exams? Why was he still playing games all day and neglecting his proper duties?
Irritated, Wen Ming would delete these photos, only to sullenly and quietly recover them from the trash bin a moment later, cropping Lu Ming out and leaving only Liang Ling’s beaming smile.
The company employees watched their CEO fussing over his phone and photo editing all day, acting like a complete goofball one moment sighing and the next grinning eerily, completely too afraid to speak.
The boss is acting weird. Is his brain fried or something?
Finally, after enduring a week of torment, Wen Ming received the competition details sent by Liang Ling, notifying him to meet at the front of School S at five o’clock.
The long-neglected President Wen felt a hint of excitement, to the point that his voice sounded remarkably passionate during the afternoon meeting.
As soon as the meeting ended, the secretary rushed in with the contract to be negotiated that evening. Seeing that he was already packing up his things and acting like someone trying to slip away before battle, she was utterly shocked: “President Wen, did you forget you have a dinner appointment with Boss He tonight?”
Hearing this, Wen Ming frowned, raised his head, and looked at her expressionlessly. “Didn’t I say I have something to attend to today? When was this scheduled?”
“Ah, that was an oversight on my part.” The secretary nervously pushed up her glasses and hurriedly apologized. “It was originally scheduled for next Monday, but the time was changed temporarily this afternoon. I just didn’t have time to tell you.”
Wen Ming let out a disgruntled sound, feeling somewhat angry, and said coldly, “Don’t let such a mistake happen next time. You’ve been working here for so long, can’t you even handle this little detail?”
“Yes, yes, my fault, I’m sorry President Wen.” The secretary stood awkwardly in place, looking on the verge of tears.
Wen Ming checked the time. If he went now, he would inevitably be a bit late, and he wondered if Liang Ling would wait for him.
“Let’s go, time is pressing.” Wen Ming sighed, set his packed items aside, and took his secretary to the appointment.
On the other side, the area in front of Night Internet Cafe was bustling with people. Snack vendors and ticket scalpers had crowded the entrance early on. High school and university students, eager to catch a glimpse of God Ye’s demeanor, scrambled inside to grab seats, packing the already narrow space so tightly that it was impenetrable.
Liang Ling stood by the second-floor window, his gaze darting around restlessly, refusing to miss a single person entering the internet cafe. Unfortunately, his eyes were getting sore from looking, yet he still couldn’t spot that anticipated figure.
Why isn’t he here yet?
Liang Ling felt a slight pang of disappointment. Suddenly, a weight settled on his shoulder as Lu Ming sidled over with a grin, taking a sip of his cola. “What are you thinking about, Wild King big brother? Don’t look so down, the match hasn’t even started yet.”
Liang Ling looked at the chibi fan-art of God Ye on Lu Ming’s outfit and couldn’t help smiling. Lu Ming figured that since he had a rare chance to see his idol, he had to catch his attention, which was why he had designed the team uniforms this way.
“I’m waiting for President Wen. He isn’t here yet, and his phone won’t go through either. The match is about to start; what if he can’t get in later?”
Lu Ming blinked, looking puzzled. “Which President Wen? That super picky guy who came to eat last time? Meh, he doesn’t look like someone interested in e-sports at all. He was definitely just blowing smoke to humor you; in reality, he probably went off to do his own thing ages ago.”
Hearing this, Liang Ling’s mood plummeted to rock bottom, and he said dejectedly, “Oh, alright then.”
The competition began shortly after. There were many university teams participating in the Phantom Elite Cup, with road-runners and trick-specialists emerging endlessly. Even though it was an offline tournament, the level of excitement was by no means inferior to a professional exhibition match, prompting wave after wave of thunderous applause from the audience.
Ye Wanqing stood at the entrance wearing a black face mask and a duck-bill cap, quietly listening to the cheers inside and offering a faint, bitter smile.
Phantom being loved by so many people, where everyone could gain joy and exchange techniques through it, perhaps this was the true charm of e-sports. Rather than someone like him who, for the sake of fame and fortune, willingly became a money-making tool for the league.
Calculating that the time was about right, Ye Wanqing checked his phone. According to the schedule, after all matches concluded and the champions were decided, he would join the runner-up team to play an exhibition match against the champion team as a fan benefit. This otherwise mediocre offline minor tournament gained such high popularity precisely because of this segment.
He lowered the brim of his cap, preparing to step inside, when his peripheral vision suddenly caught a familiar figure, causing him to freeze in place.
In the distance, a man carrying a small cake was hurrying over, his face flushed red, looking exactly like someone who had just finished wining and dining at a business banquet.
“Wen Ming?” Unable to help himself, Ye Wanqing called out softly.
Wen Ming paused his steps, turning his head over with a look of confusion. Although he was wrapped up so thoroughly that only his eyes were visible, Wen Ming instantly recognized him and froze in place. “Wanqing?”
Ye Wanqing was immensely surprised by his appearance here. After all, having known Wen Ming for so long, the other man had never shown any interest in this field; even when Ye Wanqing invited him to world championship venues several times, he had politely declined.
To think he would actually come to watch such a small offline tournament this time.
No, Ye Wanqing shook his head inwardly. Wen Ming couldn’t have had a change of heart in such a short time. He must have come to see someone.
Could he have found a new boyfriend? Ye Wanqing thought to himself silently, tightening his fists slightly.
Seeing that Wen Ming remained silent for a long time, Ye Wanqing understood the situation, politely nodded at him, and scanned his ticket to enter.
Ye Wanqing stood frozen in place, watching his retreating figure as he failed to recover his senses for a long time.
Because the venue was small and crowded with people, Wen Ming pushed his way with difficulty through the aisle littered with garbage and sticky spilled soda. Managing with great effort to squeeze into the front row, he looked left and right without finding a trace of Liang Ling, prompting him to ask a frantically applauding young man next to him, “Excuse me, when does player Liang Ling go on stage?”
The young man was momentarily startled. “Player Liang Ling? The godly jungler from the Amazing team?”
Hearing him praise Liang Ling, Wen Ming couldn’t help nodding and smiling. “Yes.”
“Ah,” the young man waved his hand in regret, his eyes full of excitement. “You’re too late! All the matches are over now, and the Amazing team got second place. But they didn’t lose out either. Even though they didn’t get the prize money, they get to team up with God Ye! Oh my god, I am so jealous.”
“Ah.” Hearing this, Wen Ming sighed with a mix of regret and self-reproach. Sure enough, he had arrived too late. He hadn’t been there to accompany Liang Ling through his matches; Liang Ling must be feeling so disappointed.
Noticing his poor mood, the young man asked, “You seem to care a lot about player Liang Ling. Are you two friends?”
Wen Ming blinked a few times, gave a slight nod, and said blandly, “Yeah. It’s his first time participating in a competition, so I came to cheer him on.”
The young man looked Wen Ming over closely. Seeing that this man possessed an extraordinary bearing and articulate speech, he instantly felt a wave of favorable impression and consoled him, “Ah, it’s fine. Half an hour from now, they have to play an exhibition match against the champion team anyway, so you’ll get to see him again.”
Realizing he hadn’t completely missed the little fellow’s competition, Wen Ming lit up with joy once more and said thank you to the young man.
Little did he know, up on the staircase in the dim corner of the arena, his smiling eyes overflowing with deep affection had been captured entirely by Ye Wanqing.