Xue Lan tried to pull his wrist away from Duan Wenzheng's hand several times but failed. He just raised his head and looked at Duan Wenzheng.
"I'm sorry, I can't go back with you."
Xue Lan has always been bad at rejecting people. He is easily influenced by others and always seems to be happy with his friends.
His voice was as gentle as usual. In the past, at times like this, Duan Wenzheng would always wait for him to soften his heart as long as he coaxed him a few more times. But at this moment, Duan Wenzheng didn't know why, he understood more clearly than ever that Xue Lan was really rejecting him.
"Why?" Duan Wenzheng's voice was a little hoarse: "Is it because of what I did that day, or just now..."
"No." Xue Lan said apologetically and sincerely: "I just don't want to lie to Uncle Duan again. I lied to him with you before, although it was because... But I feel guilty intuitively."
The reason why Xue Lan agreed to let Duan Wenzheng help him cheat Uncle Duan was, firstly, because of the incident in the original plot where Uncle Duan was injured after Duan Wenzheng did not return home, and secondly, because he felt that even if he helped Duan Wenzheng to cheat, he would not have any contact with Uncle Duan afterwards, and Uncle Duan would slowly forget about this "girlfriend" who once followed Duan Wenzheng home.
He admitted that it was wrong to feel this way, but at that time he was just feeling guilty.
But now that he found out that he liked Duan Wenzheng... he could no longer allow himself to deceive Duan Wenzheng's father.
"I'm sorry." Xue Lan lowered her head, not daring to look into Duan Wenzheng's eyes, fearing that she would be soft-hearted again: "I will find a time to explain everything to Uncle Duan."
Xue Lan left quickly after speaking, not daring to stay any longer.
Zhou Kanqing's ranking in the solo queue dropped. After everyone went to sleep these days, he was the only one ranking in the training room.
Just when I finished playing a game and was about to continue, Duan Wenzheng, who had already left, came back.
"Why are you back?" Zhou Kanqing looked at Duan Wenzheng in confusion as he walked to his seat and pulled open the chair: "Did you leave something behind?"
Duan Wenzheng sat down in his seat and silently restarted his computer.
"What's going on?" Zhou Kanqing looked at the time and couldn't believe it, "Why are you crazy?"
Duan Wenzheng casually logged into the game and watched it enter the loading mode. He suddenly asked, "Am I not good to exist at all?"
"No way... you actually have a change of heart one day?" Zhou Kanqing looked at Duan Wenzheng in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe that these words came out of his mouth.
Zhou Kanqing habitually wanted to mock him, but he opened his mouth, his eyes fell on Duan Wenzhen, and he closed his mouth awkwardly.
"Actually, you're pretty good to Lanlan. You don't have any other major problems except that you're a bit of a dog. You just lie to Lanlan all day long and talk nonsense, which makes people feel insecure. And..."
"Stop." Duan Wenzheng couldn't bear to listen any longer: "You call this no big deal?"
"What's wrong again? Didn't you just think of a way to find Lanlan? What's your idea?" Zhou Kanqing saw that he was finally a little more normal, and then he replied: "You are not going to do something to Lanlan while you are drunk? Hiss... You are not allowed to drink during the club's game!"
"That's why I wanted to ask him to come over..."
"kindness??"
"It's okay." Duan Wenzheng collected his thoughts: "The first game is about to start, let's wait until the first game is over before doing anything else."
Zhou Kanqing was speechless: "So you came back to practice?"
"No." Duan Wenzheng turned on the survival mode skillfully: "I still owe him a chip."
…
In the team's first game, they were drawn against a new team, which was a good opponent for them as their teamwork had just gotten on track and still needed some running-in.
Zhou Kanqing, who drew lots on behalf of the team, also received unanimous recognition and praise from everyone.
The match went very smoothly and took almost no time. After only two games in the best-of-three format, LGW won the preliminary round with an overwhelming advantage.
This allowed the team fans, who had been doubting that LGW was on the verge of extinction and had been frustrated for several months, to finally feel proud.
After a few days of gloomy atmosphere, Zhou Kanqing finally regained a bit of his former joy and kept saying on the way:
"Look, our team is full of mafia members, and they only have me as their little red hand. From now on, all the lottery and box opening will be left to me!"
"Ayan, I will say that as long as you are here, LGW will always be the same LGW."
Wen Yan's eyes fell on the three people beside him: "Everyone's performance today is good, but don't let your guard down just because you won the previous game. Today, this team lacks on-the-spot experience. Next time..."
"Next time, no matter who it is, we will fight them back just the same!"
Wen Yan sighed slightly, but seeing that Zhou Kanqing was still in high spirits, he didn't say anything else.
"Look, the rumors online that LGW is doomed have been slapped in the face, right?" Zhou Kanqing was browsing Weibo while excitedly handing his phone to Xue Lan next to him: "Look at this line: 'LGW's game was the shortest in the league in recent years. After the major change, they are even more powerful and are aiming for the finals..."
Lu You sighed: "It's not a good thing for the audience to have too high expectations."
"What's wrong?"
"Look at those e-sports players who have been deified. Except for the captain, few of them received good reviews in the end. Having high expectations is not a good thing at the moment. They hope that you will always be number one, never lose, and always be indestructible."
"Then wouldn't it be nice if we were always number one, never lose, and always indestructible?"
Lu You smiled and said nothing more.
"I understand you. Don't worry. Don't be arrogant when you win and don't be discouraged when you lose. I will train hard when I get back and will always stay in peak condition! I have a feeling that we can definitely win the championship again in this year's finals!" Zhou Kanqing smiled and patted Xue Lan's shoulder: "Isn't that right, Lanlan!"
Xue Lan, whose name was called, nodded quickly.
The few of them had just returned to the club, and Xue Lan was about to go back to his room when he was suddenly notified that someone was waiting for him in the lounge.
Xue Lan thought about it and realized that all his friends here were professional players. Even if they came to find him for something, they would not wait in a place like the reception room. He came to the meeting room puzzled, and was wondering who would come to find him at this time, but he suddenly stopped and looked at the people in the lounge.
The person waiting on the sofa in the lounge also happened to raise his head and his eyes fell on him.
He seemed not to recognize him at first sight, and looked at him again and again before saying, "Lanlan, you're here!"
"Uncle Duan, Uncle Duan."
Xue Lan stood there awkwardly: "Are you here to look for Duan Wenzheng? I'll go call him..."
"No, I came to see you." Duan Ke waved his hand and asked Xue Lan to come to his side. Then he said, "I have been wanting to come and see you these past few days, but that brat has been preventing me from coming. He is afraid that I will delay your training!"
"No, Uncle Duan."
"That day, that bastard asked me to support you. I didn't know the rules of the live broadcast platform, so I just registered an account with WeChat. I didn't expect that my name would also..." Duan Ke sighed solemnly, "This incident has also had a very bad impact on you. I originally wanted to explain that you are my daughter-in-law, but that bastard stopped me, and I..."
"It's okay." Xue Lan said sincerely: "I don't care about this matter, and you helped to deal with it."
"On the Internet, no matter how clearly you explain things, people will always believe what they want to see." Duan Ke sighed, "So I said, why don't you just announce it directly? Why do you have to hide it like celebrities? Even if it's true, I will tell you..."
"Uncle Duan."
Xue Lan interrupted Duan Ke and took a deep breath. He had originally planned to wait for some time before explaining to Duan's father, but he didn't expect that he would come to the club in person.
Then he... should also make that belated apology.
Xue Lan didn't say anything, and Duan Ke also waited patiently beside him quietly.
He seemed to be finally ready, and said with a guilty look: "Uncle Duan, I'm sorry, I have lied to you all along. In fact, I am..."
"Why are you here?!"
Duan Wenzheng's voice suddenly interrupted Xue Lan's speech. The kindness on Duan's father's face, which had been gently looking at Xue Lan, instantly faded, and his unfriendly look turned to Duan Wenzheng.
"Why don't I come!" Father Duan snorted coldly, "You'll catch up with me by yourself. I guess even if I die, I won't be able to see my grandson! I miss my daughter-in-law, why don't you come and see her!"
Although Duan Wenzheng always said that his father missed him, Xue Lan didn't really take it to heart, because in his opinion, Duan Wenzheng did that just to make himself go home with him.
But now that Mr. Duan really said this, Xue Lan couldn't believe his ears.
His parents had always been very kind to him, and even though his health had always required constant treatment, they had never given up on him. Xue Lan felt grateful but also guilty, as he knew that he had always been a burden to his parents.
The pain of illness once in a while will make those who love you cherish your existence even more, but the pain and torture after years will gradually wear away the light in the eyes of your loved ones.
From heartache to numbness, all it takes is time.
After losing something after having it, Xue Lan realized that all the care and kindness should be cherished.
But the more this happened, the more guilty he felt.
Duan Wenzhen's face didn't look good. He walked in and pulled Duan Ke, wanting to take him away from the lounge.
"Uncle Duan, I'm sorry, I lied to you."
Xue Lan stood beside him, lowering his head and clenching his sleeves. After an inner struggle, he finally mustered up the courage—
"I'm not a girl, I'm a boy, and I'm not the person Duan Wenzheng likes. I'm really sorry for lying to you for so long."