“Shen Ye is a top-ten player on the ladder. How could a tier like mine possibly get matched with him?” Liang Ling picked up his cola, took a sip, and smiled. “Come on, enter the room and spectate.”
Lu Ming petted his lips, sprawled dejectedly on the bed, and began to fantasize, “If only I could play a match with Shen Ye. Sigh, too bad my natural talent is useless, and I am still lingering around the ten-thousandth rank on the ladder.”
Liang Ling rubbed his head. “Alright, isn’t it the same if you just watch me play? Quick, what do you want to see?”
Lu Ming immediately sidled over with a cheeky grin. During the hero selection phase, a sidelong glance made him suddenly feel that the fifth pick looked rather familiar.
“A Leaf Knows Autumn… why is this ID so familiar? I feel like I have seen it somewhere.” Lu Ming frowned in thought, then his eyes suddenly lit up. He scrambled off the bed, grabbed the computer, clicked into Ye Wanqing’s livestream, and after comparing multiple times, shouted in absolute disbelief, “Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Brother! It really is Shen Ye! You ran into Shen Ye!”
Liang Ling was also somewhat surprised, leaning over to take a look. Ye Wanqing was indeed analyzing the team composition with his livestream audience, and upon checking, the third-pick ID was precisely his own.
“Awesome, brother! You get to be teammates with Shen Ye. I am so envious…” Lu Ming beat his chest and stamped his feet, then abruptly changed the subject, looking at him with eager eyes, “Brother, can I play this match?”
Liang Ling was not going to fall for his trick, tapping him on the head with mock annoyance. “Aren’t you afraid you will drag your Shen Ye down and cause him to lose?”
Lu Ming touched his chin in thought and agreed wholeheartedly, “True, my trash skills still don’t quite match up to this tier. But brother, can you turn on your mic? I want to say a few words to Shen Ye.”
Liang Ling smiled. “Of course. I will turn it on as soon as we get into the game.”
Once inside the game, Liang Ling kept his promise and turned on his microphone. Lu Ming shouted excitedly into the mic, “Shen Ye! You are my idol!”
He was so excited his voice cracked. At the same time, a burst of laughter came from the livestream broadcast, and Ye Wanqing kindly greeted him back, “Thanks for the support. Play well this round, and we can win.”
“Definitely!” The moment Lu Ming heard Ye Wanqing reply to him, he felt completely lightheaded. “Don’t worry, Shen Ye, with me around this round, the enemy jungler won’t even think about stepping into your jungle!”
Ye Wanqing burst out laughing. “Alright, I am counting on you.”
Watching him boast with a straight face, Liang Ling held back his laughter and began to play seriously. Under the command of Ye Wanqing, who was a top-tier national jungler, this match smoothly steamrolled the opposing team in under ten minutes.
After the match ended, Ye Wanqing gave Liang Ling a thumbs-up and casually followed him back.
Lu Ming was so envious his saliva was practically about to drip out. “Oh, wow, brother, Shen Ye followed you back! Hurry and follow him back so you will have Shen Ye on your friends list! Oh god, I can brag to my desk-mate about this for a lifetime…”
Amused, Liang Ling followed Ye Wanqing back as instructed and poked his forehead. “Alright, you have played for so long already. Hurry up and go do your homework.”
Lu Ming started wailing again, while Liang Ling timely made his escape out of the room, swiftly slamming the door shut behind him to finally enjoy some peace and quiet.
“Ding.”
His phone suddenly chimed with a new message. Liang Ling picked it up to take a look, and it was from Wen Ming.
Wen Ming: [Are you free this afternoon?]
Liang Ling replied: [No free time, I have to watch the shop.]
The very next second, Wen Ming’s phone call came through.
Liang Ling answered, and on the other end, Wen Ming sounded as if he had been drinking; his nasal tone was quite heavy, and his voice was hoarse, “Did you not tell your boss you were resigning?”
Liang Ling explained sheepishly, “Not yet. Let me finish out this month first. He told me if I don’t work the full month, he won’t give me my salary.”
Wen Ming curled his lip with a hint of disdain, “It is only two thousand bucks, just forget about it. The weather is so hot right now, and you spend all day cooped up in that shop. You are going to start smelling just like mala tang.”
Liang Ling chuckled softly, “No way, I take a shower every day.”
Wen Ming paused on the other end, complaining in a low voice, “If you keep dragging your feet and refusing to tell him, when on earth is my little assistant going to report for duty?”
Before meeting Wen Ming, Liang Ling had no idea a CEO could be so clingy, and his cheeks turned slightly pink, “It is only two days, until I come over.”
Wen Ming chuckled lightly on the other end, “Really no free time? Come to my house tonight, there are some job handover materials I need to give you.”
Sensing a trap ahead, Liang Ling grew alert and decisively dodged, “Can’t we just do the handover when I get to the company?”
“Of course not,” Wen Ming said with a firm attitude. “You are my exclusive assistant and responsible for my daily routine. Company matters are only one part of your job.”
Liang Ling fell silent for a moment and reluctantly compromised, “Alright then, when should I go over?”
Seeing that he had agreed, Wen Ming was secretly pleased and glanced at his wristwatch, “I have a business dinner later, around six-thirty, I will come pick you up for dinner.”
“Wait,” Liang Ling spoke up to refuse. Now that he was earning his own money through work, he could no longer afford to take shortcuts and eat people’s food for free. Defending his not-so-wealthy wallet, he said, “Let me treat President Wen this time.”
Wen Ming was slightly startled, then chuckled, “Alright, anyway, I…”
The scene shifted. Sitting inside the mala tang restaurant, staring at the spicy, red, and fragrant mala tang before him, and then looking at the innocent-looking Liang Ling, the words “I am not picky with food” that had been sitting on the tip of Wen Ming’s tongue ultimately could not be spoken.
Liang Ling bit into a fish ball, sucking in a breath because it was burning hot, and looked somewhat puzzled at Wen Ming, who had a dark expression and hadn’t touched a single bite, “President Wen, why aren’t you eating? Does it not suit your taste?”
Wen Ming looked at him expressionlessly, “You said you were treating me to dinner, and you treat me to this?”
“Yeah,” Liang Ling didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. Mala tang was so delicious, and they didn’t even have it back in the Empire. Why did this person have so many picky demands?
With visible disgust, Wen Ming picked up his chopsticks and stirred the food around, three black lines dropping down his forehead, “Street food, it’s all gutter oil, unclean.”
Liang Ling didn’t understand right away, “What is gutter oil?”
Wen Ming rolled his eyes at him, not wanting to waste time explaining things to someone with such low quality of life. He called Lu Ming over from the back kitchen, pointed at the mala tang in front of him, and said, “Change this into a bowl for me, thanks.”
Lu Ming found it rather inexplicable and stared at him in blank bewilderment, “What’s wrong?”
Wen Ming clicked his tongue in impatience, “Change the broth base to a clear vegetable soup, and don’t add any of those processed artificial meatballs. Just boil some greens.”
It was probably the first time Lu Ming had ever heard such a request, and he couldn’t help rolling his eyes, “Clear soup and plain cabbage? Then why did you even come to eat mala tang? Make a left turn and go to a vegetarian restaurant to eat temple food.”
“Hey.” Wen Ming’s eyelashes trembled in anger, and just as he was about to flare up, Liang Ling pressed him down and said with a trace of apology, “I am sorry, President Wen, I didn’t know you don’t eat these things. Let’s go find another place.”
Lu Ming let out a hmph and turned back to his work, though his eyes kept stealing sideways glances at their table.
Finding it genuinely impossible to swallow, Wen Ming left a hundred-bill on the table and pulled Liang Ling up, wanting to leave. Seeing that things were going south, Lu Ming immediately shouted, “Hey! Where are you taking Brother Liang?”
Wen Ming stood in place and looked at him expressionlessly, “Your Brother Liang is jumping ship to our company to be my assistant. His new boss is unsatisfied with this meal and is taking him out to eat somewhere else. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Jumping ship?” Lu Ming froze for a moment, looking at Liang Ling with disbelief, “Brother, is what he said true? Are you really resigning?”
Liang Ling smiled with difficulty, cast a reproachful glance at Wen Ming, and apologized, “Yes, I’m sorry, Xiaoming.”
Lu Ming blinked, scrutinizing the two people in front of him with a furrowed brow, then suddenly seemed to realize something as he asked Liang Ling, “The classmate you went out to play with last time, was it him?”
“Classmate?” Wen Ming paused for a few seconds, then smiled as he asked Liang Ling, “You said we are classmates?”
Liang Ling’s face flushed red, and he lowered his head, not daring to look at him.
The moment Lu Ming thought of that strawberry hickey on Liang Ling’s neck and then looked at the ambiguous atmosphere between the two of them, it all clicked into place. He stood awkwardly in the spot, taking half a day just to squeeze out a single word, “Crap.”
Liang Ling felt so awkward he wanted to escape from Earth to Mars, and he hurriedly pushed Wen Ming along to leave.
As soon as they got into the car, Liang Ling grabbed Wen Ming’s forearm in a huff and scolded irritably, “Why did you have to blurt out right then that I am resigning?”
Wen Ming shrugged unconcernedly, “A little sooner or a little later, what difference does it make?”
Liang Ling was left speechless. The feeling of two thousand bucks vanishing into thin air was truly heartbreaking, so he said ungraciously, “As for paying back President Wen’s money, you will just have to wait a bit longer.”
Wen Ming smiled, started the car engine, and looked completely relaxed, “When did I ever rush you?”
His tone was gentle, almost like he was coaxing a child. Liang Ling was choked up by his words, crossed his arms, and sat back in the passenger seat in a sulk.
“Seatbelt.” Wen Ming reached over to fasten it for him and smiled, “Alright, don’t be mad anymore. I’ll take you somewhere good to eat, consider it compensation.”