Following the match, Jian Rong was absent-minded the entire night. After acting as a charity donor in the Summoner’s Rift for an evening, he decided to just simply power off his computer and go downstairs to wait for Lu Boyuan to return.

Then he turned on the match recording as an accompaniment and fervently argued with people on Tieba for three hours straight. However, the commentators’ voices coming from the TV were too sleep-inducing, and all the people trading insults with him on Tieba were also fairly useless, always throwing out the same two or three phrases, unable to come up with anything new. As he threw out insult after insult, he eventually fell asleep.

After the weight on his mind was lifted, Jian Rong came out of the shower and let out an extremely long sigh.

Even though he was also very unhappy about the fine, at least it wasn’t a competition ban.

He casually rubbed his hair a few times before he spotted from the corner of his eye the jacket that he had taken off earlier, and he remembered how Lu Boyuan had just tugged on his zipper…

Jian Rong rubbed his face with the towel before he carefully hung the jacket back up in the closet.

The packages that he had received a few days ago were strewn over the floor. The boxes were filled with all sorts of massagers that Jian Rong had opened and used already.

Jian Rong definitely wouldn’t randomly let Lu Boyuan use these things, so he had tried a few out on himself beforehand. He felt like they all weren’t very effective, and if the last few massagers still weren’t any good, he was going to find the shop owner and have a nice heart-to-heart chat with them.

The next afternoon, Ding-ge came back to the base with some news.

He closed the door to the practice room. “The investigation results are out. That dumbass recently went bankrupt…”

“Serves him right.” Yuan Qian cut in. “But what does him going bankrupt have to do with Jian Rong? It’s not like Jian Rong made him go bankrupt.”

Ding-ge lifted an eyebrow. “He actually did.”

The others were silent for a moment, before they each turned to look at Jian Rong.

Yuan Qian sighed. “Is this the legendary ‘the days have grown cold, let the Wang corporation go bankrupt’¹? I’ve experienced it now.”

“Jian Rong, if I’ve ever offended you in the past, it’s all my fault.” Xiao Bai scooted closer. “Last night when we were playing ranked, I didn’t really think you were trash, it’s all because our other teammates and I just couldn’t keep up with your rhythm…”

Jian Rong was in the middle of reading the patch notes for the next game update, and he didn’t bother looking over when he heard that. “If I had that kind of ability, I wouldn’t come and work here.”

“Enough, let’s get back to business.” Now that things were mostly resolved, Ding-ge’s expression also grew much more relaxed, and he finished what he was saying earlier. “That person is a small-scale gambling banker who ran a gambling house.”

Once he said that, everyone understood.

Because of what happened with Kan, TTC’s members were all sensitive to the word ‘gambling.’ Xiao Bai rolled his eyes so hard they almost flew into the sky.

After all the chaos last night, Lu Boyuan woke up the latest today. He sat in front of his computer, head lowered as he played a match three game on his phone. He held a piece of toast in his other hand, but he wasn’t very focused on eating it.

“Small-scale gambling banker?” Noticing Ding-ge’s phrasing, Pine asked, “They’re all gambling bankers, what’s the difference.”

“Of course there’s a difference.” Ding-ge laughed mockingly. “The one who sought out Kan before was a large-scale banker. They’ll take on any bet and accept any stakes, whereas small bankers only take on one bet. Using yesterday’s match as an example, he would only start a bet with ‘TTC wins’ or ‘the match time exceeds thirty minutes’ as the sole wager, and he won’t accept anything else. Actually, it’s the equivalent of putting himself on the betting table as well. This sort of small-scale banker earns money quickly, but they also lose faster too.”

Yuan Qian caught on. “So you mean that he opened a gambling house based on our team, lost his money, and then blamed it on Jian Rong?”

Ding-ge nodded. “Correct. Apparently, after Jian Rong joined the team, he lost every bet that he started. Probably because Jian Rong is a newcomer, at first he only accepted bets in which the other party wagered that we would win², all the way until the match against Fighting Tiger, when he finally yielded and bet on us winning. Unexpectedly, a big client came during that first game… Jian Rong played averagely during that match’s first round, so he thought that Jian Rong was matchfixing and manipulating the betting tables.”

“Dumbass.” Jian Rong clicked his mouse loudly. “Gambling dogs will undoubtedly die.”

Xiao Bai nodded in agreement. “Will undoubtedly die!”

Lu Boyuan rapidly eliminated cubes in his game and asked without looking up, “Did they find the people who participated in the gamble?”

“They found a few, the police work very fast.” Ding-ge heaved a sigh. “I heard that the big client put down over two million yuan on just one game, what are people even thinking nowadays? If you have that much money, why don’t you go do something else… in any case, that person’s in big trouble now. The consequence for opening a gambling house alone is enough to make him suffer.”

Lu Boyuan gave an “en.” “It’ll be troubling you a bit, but keep an eye on this incident.”

“Got it.” Ding-ge cleared his throat and looked at Jian Rong. “Also, about the LPL… I talked it over with them last night. What you two did yesterday at the backstage entrance was captured on camera by the fans and spread over the internet. Even though we’re in the right concerning this matter, it still isn’t a good influence, so the outcome of the negotiations was that you and Xiao Lu would each hand over a ten thousand penalty.”

Worried that Jian Rong wouldn’t accept it, Ding-ge said hastily, “Of course, you guys definitely didn’t do anything wrong. So I discussed it with the boss, and we decided that the club would reimburse the fines for you two.”

“Damn, they’re even going to be penalized for this?” Xiao Bai couldn’t help but say, “But Jian Rong was nearly stabbed yesterday! It isn’t too much for him to curse a bit, right?”

“It’s not.” Ding-ge exhaled. “But the LPL also has their own rules. What Xiao Lu did yesterday is called using violence to fight violence, so the LPL definitely has to punish him a bit for obligatory reasons. As for Xiao Rong, that was indeed… how about this, I’ll go negotiate with them again and see if I can exempt Jian Rong’s.”

“No need.” Jian Rong refused. “If there has to be a punishment, we’ll be punished together.”

Everyone else went silent for a few seconds.

Xiao Bai crinkled his face and asked, “How come you’re treating this as if you’re at school, and that your disciplinary record will be automatically reset next semester? If you get too many penalties, you’ll probably end up being directly banned from competing the next time you do something wrong again.”

“Then isn’t it fine as long as I don’t do something wrong?” Jian Rong persevered. “You don’t need to negotiate with them. I’ll take the penalty with Captain, I can also pay the ten thousand out of my own pocket as well.”

Ding-ge was speechless. What was wrong with all these people?

“Fine, I don’t want to see the LPL’s people again for a while either.” Ding-ge rubbed his forehead. “Consider this as me begging you all, can you please just let me peacefully finish this year?”

After explaining everything, Ding-ge was about to leave the practice room, but then he saw Jian Rong minimize the game client and open the streaming platform.

“You’re… still going to stream?” Ding-ge said hesitantly, “Maybe you shouldn’t stream for the next few days, and don’t look at all that stuff on Weibo or Tieba either. Right now, there are a lot of moronic antis who are stirring things up about you online.”

“I’m just going to casually cheat out some gifts.” Jian Rong skillfully adjusted his peripherals. “Also, why does someone else have to stir things up about me? I can do it myself.”

Ding-ge still wanted to stop him, but Jian Rong had already pressed down on the “start stream” button.

What the eyes don’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over. Ding-ge covered his eyes and walked away.

Nobody expected Jian Rong to stream at a time like this. At the beginning, the barrage was filled with question marks, causing the comments containing actual words to stand out much more.

“Why stream?” Jian Rong minimized the stream window, only leaving behind the barrage helper. “Why else? To pass the time and trick out some gifts.”

After Ding-ge left, he immediately contacted StarTV’s employees, which was why the room mods arrived extremely promptly this time. Those who were trying to stir up drama were all banned right after sending a single comment.

[If you’re going to trick us, then just trick us, do you have to always put it so bluntly? Every time laozi sends you a gift, it makes me loathe myself a lot!]

[My darling husband must have been so shocked~ sending a little star to you, use this gift money to buy a copy of ‘The Art of Speaking,’ try your best not to be threatened at knifepoint again in the future.]

[What in the world was the grudge or grievance? You stole their boyfriend?]

“Don’t call me husband.” Jian Rong blurted out, “I didn’t, I’m not interested… no, why is it a boyfriend? You’re dead.”

[Dumbass, you weren’t injured, right?]

“You’re the dumbass.” Jian Rong sneered coldly. “I wasn’t injured. With that tiny physique, he wouldn’t be able to hurt me even if I gave him ten knives. If someone hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve shown that grandson…”

[Stop! Please watch your wording! It’s not that someone stopped you, it’s that someone carried you away.]

[Thanks for the invite. I was there at the scene, and I witnessed with my own eyes Road picking up the little dumbass like he was lifting a chick.]

[If I hadn’t seen the video before, Dad would’ve almost believed what this dumbass was saying.]

[A full-grown man, effortlessly carried away by someone else. If I were you, I would be too embarrassed to bring this up again…]

[Excuse me, if I get a knife and stab myself, will God Lu carry me??]

[Who said God Lu was going to retire this year again? There’s no way God Lu would’ve been able to kick like that without some basic training, his body must be in a better state than who knows how many other pro players.]

[Why don’t you take a look at your own physique first, how do you have the nerve to say someone else has a tiny physique??]

[Heard some internal news, you and God Lu are going to be penalized???]

[No way no way, you’re even gonna be punished for this? Then what did you want my son to do in that original situation? Stand up straight and proper, and after getting stabbed, thank that person?]

What kind of strange people were the water friends in his livestream room? They even had access to that sort of internal news?

“What about my physique?” Jian Rong was wearing a loose shirt with half-length sleeves today. Right after he said that, he tugged up his sleeve and crooked his arm, flexing his muscles for the camera. “If this fist of mine lands, you all can just find me later today in Shanghai’s police reports.”

[…………………]

[Stop flexing stop flexing you’re so embarrassing]

[WTF, his arm is even thinner than my wrist, laoniang³isn’t eating dinner tonight]

Jian Rong had enough streaming experience to easily change the topic of conversation.

LoL’s icon on the taskbar was flashing the entire time; someone was messaging him in the game.

[Fighting Tiger Da Niu: Duo Q?]

[Just Watch My Gameplay: No sorry, going to practice in sandbox mode]

[Kongkong: Bro, you good? Duo Q?]

[Just Watch My Gameplay: Good, no to Q, you’re a mid laner can you not always ask me to duo Q? Get a life.]

[I’m Qiuqiu⁴ You QAQ: Soft, want to play together?]

When the barrage saw that message, it exploded.

[Shit shit shit, how do you have Qiuqiu added as a friend?!]

[My goddess?! My fucking worlds are colliding.]

[Qiuqiu is like nobility, dumbass you’re not deserving.]

[Who’s Qiuqiu?]

[Female celebrity Ji Qiushi ah. At last year’s anniversary celebration, she led a team as the celebrity representative and played with a bunch of retired pro players. She also used Miss Fortune to get a legendary kill.]

[She’s a true goddess. She only ever filmed one movie, and after becoming a film empress, she went back to school. And she’s a bona fide LoL player, she’s been in Diamond for a few consecutive seasons now.]

[Many LoL pro players all follow her Weibo, and a few of them have even admitted that she’s their goddess. Last time when Fighting Tiger’s Da Niu ran into Qiuqiu in ranked, he begged to be added as a friend, but he wasn’t successful. Yet here she is asking Soft to duo Q…]

[Son, Dad has acknowledged this daughter-in-law.]

[Ah… but in my eyes, my son is already taken ah…]

Jian Rong only remembered who this person was once he glanced at the barrage.

He typed—

[R-ong: No sorry, going to practice in sandbox mode]

[I’m Qiuqiu You QAQ: Okay.]

“I don’t know her, we haven’t talked before. Shiliu was the one who told me to add her as a friend.” Jian Rong looked at the questions on the screen and frowned. “Also, didn’t I already write it in my stream title? I’m practicing last hitting today, if you think it’s boring, you’re welcome to go watch another stream.”

After Jian Rong said that, he opened sandbox mode and was about to enter it.

Buzz—

[TTC ་ Road: Duo Q a bit?]

Closed sandbox mode, created a party lobby, invited friend TTC ་ Road.

Jian Rong accomplished that series of actions in less than five seconds.

As soon as Lu Boyuan entered the lobby, Jian Rong warned him in advance, “I’m streaming.”

“I know, it’s fine.” Lu Boyuan selected his roles.

Jian Rong was startled. “You’re playing support?”

Lu Boyuan: “Mn. I’m a little sleepy, just going to muddle through a game first.”

Jian Rong let out an “oh.” The moment before they entered the queue, he secretly switched his second choice from the “top laner” role to “ADC.”

[???]

[“Practicing last hitting today”???]

[Damn, you didn’t go when Qiuqiu asked you, yet Road just has to crook his finger and you even create a lobby? Are you still a man??]

[Didn’t you fucking say that playing ADC in this meta is the same as being someone else’s son??]

[Thank you thank you I’m shipping it.]

[Like hell you straight guys would understand!!!]

[I don’t care! I’ll even concede if the dumbass bans me from speaking! I’m going to shout it out loud today no matter what! Soft definitely likes Road!!!]

Yan: Road ain’t about to let some female celebrity snatch his man :eyes: also as a heads up, Friday’s chapter might end up being Saturday’s chapter instead haha, work has been getting pretty busy lately and I’ve run out of stocked up chapters. Can’t wait for my winter break so I can potato again ><