After Gu Ci finished having his dressing changed, they took a car back to the hotel.

Everyone was waiting for them in the hotel lobby; when they saw the two, they immediately swarmed up.

Everyone seemed eager to speak to them, but in the end only asked briefly about the injuries and how the two had fallen—after all, everyone knew they needed rest most of all, so nobody pressed for more details.

Back in the suite, Yan Luqing’s eyes were already too sleepy to stay open, but before entering the room she suddenly remembered something and turned back to call out to Gu Ci.

“Hey, don’t forget what the doctor said — your back must not get wet.”

She knew Gu Ci was someone who liked to keep clean; although he’d never said anything, that day-and-night life in the tree hollow must have been pretty uncomfortable for the princess Ci.

Even though they had teased each other as Doraemon and Astro Boy, Yan Luqing considered herself magnanimous, and what needed to be reminded should be reminded.

Gu Ci glanced at her and turned his body slightly; his look seemed to say something.

But Yan Luqing didn’t wait for him to speak — she shut down every avenue he might use to tease her by cutting him off: “Alright, sleep early. Good night.” Then she slammed her own door.

Afterwards, once Gu Ci left the humanoid shielding device, Makka Pakka popped into Yan Luqing’s mind; she took a quick hot shower while casually saying a few words to it, and then it went into standby.

Yan Luqing finished her shower and practically crashed into the soft, fluffy bed.

She lay there, fishing for her phone, planning to scroll WeChat for a bit before sleep.

The red WeChat icon opened, and the group chat was at the top. Yan Luqing tapped it and found little bubbles popping above everyone’s heads; she skimmed through them — they were mostly celebrating the two of them being rescued.

Gu Ci’s Plaster No.1 Yellow Bubble: Damn, this is so good, I almost thought I’d never see my Brother Ci again.

Gu Ci’s Plaster No.2 Yellow Bubble: Really a relief… but why do I feel like Brother Ci is still not very happy? And Yan Luqing isn’t happy either? It’s obviously the two of them who were saved, but only we are celebrating??

Yan Luqing: “…………”

Yan Luqing scrolled down further.

Xia Xuetian Pink Bubble: fuck fuck fuck the more I think about it the more hyped I get — she fell and he fell with her, isn’t this literally the most beautiful you jump, I jump thing ever?

Xia Yutian Pink Bubble: This is love, damn, I’m saying it here: the CP my sister and I ship has never had a breakup!

“?”

Yan Luqing tasted the posts carefully; the two sisters must be thinking the same thing, that is, extending from her brief recounting into their own fantasies.

“cp” also meant… shipping her and Gu Ci as a CP?

Those two were such instigators — they’d been acting mischievous since the first day Gu Ci helped her pick up a bag, and earlier they alone had been shouting “no kiss, so disappointed.” Now this was not surprising.

Yan Luqing watched for a while and felt increasingly awkward, so she skipped over the two sisters.

Further down was that girl who had hardly said anything — before departure Yan Luqing had observed her bubble and guessed that she had probably been secretly admiring Gu Ci since school days, and even now she probably still was, though she didn’t know when she might confess.

In any case, Gu Ci being rescued should make her happy, right?

Thinking so, Yan Luqing was a little shocked when she saw the color of her bubble.

Why… was it red?

She immediately tapped it open —

Yin Ning’an: “Yan Luqing herself stepped into a hollow and fell; Gu Ci went to pull her and as a result he was pulled down too; in the end she isn’t hurt at all, only Gu Ci is injured?”

Yin Ning’an: “How can she have the nerve to say that out loud? Disgusting.”

“……”

No wonder it was red. It was scolding her.

Perhaps everyone’s outward joy and excitement had made her overlook that some people would feel disgust and a series of negative emotions — after all, in her version, it was she who first “misstepped” and fell.

When Yan Luqing first saw those two messages she was a little stunned; her originally drowsy mind cleared for a moment.

But she quickly retorted inwardly: Damn it, I feel guilty too — I worried about him more than you did!

And her thing with Gu Ci wasn’t as simple as she’d told others; from beginning to end, only the two of them who experienced it could know.

Although she soon turned off her phone, no matter how much she told herself not to care, not to care, Yan Luqing was still affected by those two lines.

—That night she had a whole night of bizarre dreams; her sleep quality was so poor that the next morning the two dark circles under her eyes made Gu Ci look twice.

Seeing her dark circles, he seemed to have found something amusing, and smiled faintly: “You didn’t have dark circles when you slept in the tree hollow, and now you have them after coming back?”

“……”

Isn’t it because of your secret admirer! Your face really is a calamity!!!

Yan Luqing complained inwardly, but outwardly replied expressionlessly: “Mm, I’m used to poor days; without a sleeping bag I couldn’t sleep, is that not allowed?”

“Allowed.” Gu Ci’s eyes deepened. “Then I’ll bring the sleeping bag back for you.”

…

That morning began with this back-and-forth between her and Gu Ci.

After washing up, the two went downstairs to have breakfast with everyone. The boys sat at one table, the girls at another; by coincidence Yin Ning’an happened to be sitting next to Yan Luqing. Yin Ning’an liked to call people by reduplicating the last character of their name, calling her “Qingqing” every time, which made the goosebumps on her skin react layer by layer.

This was probably the downside of the golden finger — knowing the other party’s heart made many things difficult to feign.

For example now, though Yan Luqing knew the other party disliked her, she still had to pretend to get along harmoniously with Yin Ning’an.

Because of the incident with Yan Luqing and Gu Ci, nobody was keen to climb anymore; after thinking for a while a few of the boys suggested indoor activities, proposing they go to someone’s suite to play games. The proposal passed unanimously, defeating Kou Rongyao¹Kou Rongyao: it’s a playful nickname for the mobile game《王者荣耀》(Honor of Kings)..

Twelve people, after discussion, decided on four groups of three.

Plaster No.1 and Plaster No.2 quickly stuck close to Gu Ci’s side: “No one touch this thigh and walk away with it.”

The remaining three boys laughed and teased: “Really pathetic, only know how to hug thighs, don’t you know to bring your female classmates along?”

Plaster No.1: “I have a wife, I won’t bring any chicks.”

Plaster No.2: “I miss Brother Ci, isn’t that allowed?”

“…okay okay okay.” The boys, speechless, then turned to ask the girls, “So will you use—”

“Wait.”

A female voice suddenly cut in; everyone’s gazes immediately gathered on the speaker.

“We don’t need you to bring us, just take Yin Ning’an and the others.” Yan Luqing’s expression looked very relaxed; she raised a hand and pointed to Xia Yutian and Xia Xuetian, saying with confidence, “I’ll take those two.”

A few of the boys were surprised: “…holy crap, badass.”

Xia Yutian and Xia Xuetian, who had been pointed out, were first taken aback.

And then immediately each of them grabbed one of Yan Luqing’s arms and began babbling nonsense like “Ah ah ah you’re so handsome I love sister so much, can I—” and the like.

Yan Luqing was being tugged back and forth when Makka Pakka’s voice suddenly sounded in her ear.

“Wow, Maria, the pink upgraded again!” Shao Yuyin finished broadcasting and sighed, “These two girls were full of little hearts just now, thinking you’re explosively handsome… but why is it always girls who raise your pink level?”

Yan Luqing didn’t care; hearing that it could upgrade made her instantly happy.

Well then, if she carried the two sisters to victory, wouldn’t they idolize her even more and upgrade further?

Yan Luqing’s WeChat account on this phone had never played King of Humiliation. After asking Xia Yutian and Xia Xuetian their ranks, she immediately went and bought an account at the Star Glory rank with a relatively complete set of skins, then bought a rename card, spent money on Taobao to change it to the same 7-character ID she once used, and finally added the Rain–Snow sisters as friends.

The three of them pulled each other into the same team.

Yan Luqing id: 【No way, you died again】

Xia Yutian id: 【Sister, don’t misunderstand】

Xia Xuetian id: 【Brother, don’t be angry】

Good heavens, a yin-yang master with two little green teas — this was very good.

Yan Luqing could play any position; she mostly left the jungler spot to herself.

Xia Yutian and Xia Xuetian were good at marksman and support. Yan Luqing felt the two sisters really had some kind of telepathy — they walked the same path and everything went smoothly. And they listened to orders, coming to team fights obediently when called, hitting targets where directed.

Overall, the two were really low-maintenance; they wouldn’t make one want to curse — very easy to carry.

After being carried several games in a row, Yan Luqing’s pink level was truly boosted by the sisters’ sincere rainbow praise and rose one more level; all three of them were ecstatic.

Xia Yutian’s promotion matches were coming up. Just as the three were about to start, a soft female voice suddenly leaned over.

“Qingqing, my friends don’t want to play anymore; their ranks aren’t the same as mine on the boys’ side. Can you add me?”

In King of Humiliation, four people is an awkward number. But she kept nuzzling there like she was acting cute, and Yan Luqing couldn’t stand it.

“Do you want ranked or casual?” Yan Luqing countered. “Four people can’t do ranked; if you want ranked we’ll find another person.”

Yin Ning’an: “I want ranked.”

They randomly recruited a passerby from the lobby, and not long after six minutes had passed they lost — a very frustrating loss.

The random guy was bad and insisted on stealing the marksman role, and his laning quickly exploded. Yin Ning’an, playing mid, was even worse than the random — a mid who from start to finish only knew how to stay under her own tower clearing waves yet still died six times.

—Go die, teammate, I’ll clear my lanes. So staggeringly bad.

Yan Luqing alone could not reverse the tide; sitting on a 12–2 record, she was full of rage.

【No way, you died again】: Marksman, look at my id.

【No way, you died again】: If you’re trash don’t take carry; should your daddy teach you how to lie down too?

Then the crystal exploded.

After the game, the once-happy trio fell silent; the pink bubbles stopped rising.

Yin Ning’an looked at her fifth-place score screen and, appearing very guilty, said to the three of them, “Sorry, sorry, I’m so bad, I feel like I didn’t play much and we still lost.”

Not only did you barely play, you damn well have never fought anyone.

Yan Luqing was about to explode from her terrible play, while the two lines from last night kept surfacing in her mind.

—But Yin Ning’an apologized far too quickly, and Yan Luqing really couldn’t bring herself to be that harsh to a girl. Especially since they were face to face.

Help — who can come and roast her?

Yan Luqing decided not to recruit anyone; Yin Ning’an was genuinely bad, and if a recruited player’s skill level were mid-to-low, she absolutely couldn’t carry them.

She looked around and found that Gu Ci’s group for some reason had gone on a break; at that moment he was leaning on the sofa, looking at his phone.

Judging by what those two Plaster kids had said, Gu Ci should be pretty impressive, right?

Yan Luqing walked over and sat beside him, and immediately said, “Gu Ci, save me!”

He lazily lifted his brows and looked at her. “Save what?”

“You’re not playing now, right? How about a five-stack?” Yan Luqing lowered her voice. “I really can’t carry that girl; she doesn’t know how. Hurry up and help me.”

“Oh,” Gu Ci said, remaining seated, but still looking at her with such interest, “you mean, have me help you carry a girl?”

…Yan Luqing felt he was referring to her earlier boast and hastily explained for herself, “I can carry my own sisters, but this one — she’s not my sister.”

She’s a girl who has a crush on you.

…

Seeing Gu Ci come back following Yan Luqing, Xia Yutian and Xia Xuetian’s previously dejected faces lit up again.

Yin Ning’an… for Yin Ning’an that wasn’t just lighting up; the sparks in her eyes could set off firecrackers.

But before they started playing, Big Black made a call and brought Wolf over — the pet hospital said it had regained a lot of energy, but during the day it was really unruly and refused to stay there; it seemed like it wanted to see its owner.

Probably because Gu Ci was the first to approach it, Wolf was noticeably more excited to see Gu Ci than it was with Yan Luqing.

Border collies of this breed seemed to charm people everywhere; the boys played with the dog for a while, then began a new round of matches.

Gu Ci joined the five-stack; this was the first time Yan Luqing saw his id —

【So what if you carry me?】

“…” It slid right into the vibe of her and the twin sisters without distinction.

【Not way, you died again】

【What’s wrong with carrying me】

【Sister, don’t misunderstand】

【Brother, don’t be angry】

【It’s Fairy Ning-ya】

—If you were to merge like items, this would be a gimme.

After entering the game, Fairy Ning was first pick and immediately locked the marksman position.

That made the support who protects the marksman very important. If Gu Ci went, it would waste his talent; the twin sisters probably couldn’t support effectively, so in the end Yan Luqing weighed the options and filled the support slot herself — Zhong Kui²Zhong Kui: is a character/hero in the game《王者荣耀》 (Honor of Kings)..

She thought, if she pulled someone in front to lock them down for a few seconds and hand them to her to kill, she would always be able to kill.

But ideals are beautiful; reality ages people.

Walking the same lane with her felt even more suffocating than being screwed by her last round. Yin Ning’an picked Sun Shangxiang; such a high-damage hero she somehow turned into a waste — the meat handed to her on a plate she couldn’t eat, and every time she let people run away. Yan Luqing said, “You don’t need to be afraid; stand behind me and use your skills and auto-attack, that’s enough.”

Afterward she meekly apologized, “Sorry Qingqing, I’ll definitely play properly next time.”

Yan Luqing had Gu Ci on her left and Fairy Ning on her right.

She felt that each time Fairy Ning apologized, her blood pressure rose a notch. It wasn’t until Yan Luqing finally gave up that lane and went to help other lanes that Fairy Ning unsurprisingly got caught and killed.

“Qingqing, isn’t a support supposed to protect me? Why didn’t you come?”

“……”

Yan Luqing couldn’t take it. Fuck it — Yan-face Lord was going to unleash a big rant.

Just as she was brewing, Gu Ci, who had been focused on the game to her left, suddenly spoke before she did—

“You play support pretty well.” Gu Ci’s hands kept moving; his voice was mild. “I just shifted view a moment ago; with this Zhong Kui, even tying a dog on the farm lane could win.”

Then, as if remembering something, he turned to the border collie and patted its head, “Sorry, I didn’t mean you.”

Fuck.

Yan Luqing was ecstatic.

Gu Ci’s move was like “Bamboo-shoot mama opened the door for the bamboo shoot”—the bamboo shoot had arrived home.

Footnotes

• 1
  Kou Rongyao: it’s a playful nickname for the mobile game《王者荣耀》(Honor of Kings).
• 2
  Zhong Kui: is a character/hero in the game《王者荣耀》 (Honor of Kings).