Lu Boyuan finally randomly chose a champion when the champion selection countdown was about to end. His voice was the same as usual. "Should be the case."
"…" Jian Rong was still covering his face, but he cracked open his fingers a bit so that he could see out.
The barrage was full of "hahaha," to the point that he couldn't even recognize the word anymore.
Normally, Jian Rong would never even call anyone "ge," let alone "gege." During those few seconds when Lu Boyuan went silent, Jian Rong had wished fervently that he could crawl into the crack on the corner of the tile underneath Xiao Bai's desk.
Jian Rong gloomily knocked back half a cup of cold water before he focused back on the game.
When Jian Rong saw Lu Boyuan's champion, he was startled. "You're playing Amumu?"
Amumu was the forgotten of the forgotten. Never mind how he hadn't ever been used competitively before, very few people chose to play him even during normal ranked.
This treatment was fairly consistent with Amumu's image. He was a champion that was crying even while using his skills, and his signature dialogue was "I thought you'd never pick me."
Lu Boyuan couldn't say that it was because he had picked randomly when time was almost up. Without batting an eyelash, he finished adjusting Amumu's runes. "Mn, I'm practicing the new strategy that we discussed earlier."
Jian Rong: "?"
All the TTC players and coaches who were currently watching the stream: "??"
What new strategy with Amumu? What kind of freaking strategy could Amumu even have?
A few moments later, Lu Boyuan spoke again. "…forgot that you were streaming. Forget it, it doesn't matter."
He acted too well, to the point that Jian Rong thought he had actually missed something before.
[Grandpa did you hear that? Amumu is going to enter the competitive arena!!!]
[Grandpa lifted his index finger with difficulty, shook it, and said: Don't believe or spread rumors.]
[Dumbass, can you not fish in troubled waters and just say something while acting spoiled? At the very least you should keep it up until today's stream is over, right?]
[Ai, really, I created Weibo accounts with all of my family's phone numbers to vote in that poll, just so that it could beat the dance option. In the end… that's it? Very disappointed, the streamer I'm a fan of is actually this kind of person.]
[This kind of half-hearted act… boring.]
[What's going on with the barrage… why is it suddenly so zqsg??]
[This dumbass is open to coaxing but not coercion, so it makes sense that he's pretending.]
[I've been idling in your livestream room waiting for you to resume streaming for a whole week, and what did I get for waiting? Ai, the water knows if a fish cries, but who will know if I cry?]
"Why didn't you just say that you've been waiting in my livestream room since Pangu created the universe?" Jian Rong smiled fakely. "Stop making trouble for no reason, okay? How do you even act spoiled during this kind of normal dialogue?"
The water friends were long since prepared. Right after he said that, countless 'acting spoiled' vocabulary instantly filled the screen.
Jian Rong gave a cursory glance over them, and then… picked out a few of the water friends who sent those more unpleasant phrases and blocked them.
He squeezed his rabbit ears before he randomly chose Azir.
After they entered the loading screen, Jian Rong instantly snatched up his phone to send a WeChat message.
[R-ong: If you feel uncomfortable listening to it, I'll talk a little less.]
[R: Uncomfortable.]
The corners of Jian Rong's mouth went rigid, before they slowly collapsed downwards.
What kind of bullshit was he even asking… who would feel comfortable hearing a grown man act spoiled??
After quite a while, Jian Rong had only typed out an "okay." Before he could hit send, his phone vibrated again.
[R: Your voice is too low, can't hear it, speak louder.]
The sound of them entering the game dragged Jian Rong back from his daze, and he hurriedly put his phone down on the table.
Sure enough, they had crashed cars with people they knew. Fighting Tiger's mid laner and jungler were on the opposing team.
As soon as they entered the game, the other side spoke.
[[All] Fighting Tiger Da Niu: Don't worry, we don't do things like screen peeping.]
[[All] TTC ་ Road: 1]
"If you can't fight him, then just wait for me." Lu Boyuan walked over to the blue buff. "I'll come gank after level 6."
This game, Da Niu was playing Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void. This champion was ranged and especially good at restraining Jian Rong's Azir.
"Okay." Jian Rong paused. "Ne, gege."
Lu Boyuan was finally able to hear that "gege" clearly.
It wasn't coy, and Jian Rong sounded very unnatural saying it, but for some reason it was still pleasing to hear.
After clearing the wolf camp, Lu Boyuan proceeded towards the upper half of the jungle. Simultaneously, he reached up and dragged the volume switch on his headphones up a bit.
[A little more coy! Squeeze your legs together for laozi and shout!!]
[Holy shit dumbass your ears are on fire!!]
"How about I squeeze your head together and shout?" In early game, Jian Rong's champion's only purpose was to farm. After he finished waveclearing, he took the opportunity to move his "ponytail" forward, blocking his ears. "Stop wanting a mile after getting an inch."
Jian Rong had laned against Da Niu a few times before in practice matches. Da Niu was experienced and had a honed playing style, so he was very hard to take advantage of.
Of course, the other side wouldn't allow Jian Rong to farm so smoothly, and Da Niu relied on his champion's long attack range to pressure Jian Rong very fiercely. Jian Rong suffered a loss because of his champion, and he could only eat the minions that entered his tower in order to precariously survive.
At level 6, Lu Boyuan approached the mid lane. "I'm here."
Jian Rong was irritated from being suppressed, and he had just forced himself to fight out a wave with Da Niu. Currently, both of them only had half their health remaining.
Jian Rong immediately said, "He has his flash, it won't be easy to gank him. I can force his flash out first…"
Lu Boyuan directed, "Flash to the left to knock him back."
Jian Rong did as instructed and swiftly tossed out his flash and ult. When Da Niu was knocked over to the right side of the brush, he knew the other side's jungler had arrived. The second he saw Lu Boyuan, he used his flash and fled without the slightest bit of hesitation.
Two flash sound effects happened at the same time—Lu Boyuan had used his own flash almost at the exact same moment. After that, his predicted Q accurately hit Da Niu, followed closely by his binding ult, forcing Da Niu to stay trapped in that one spot.
Lu Boyuan's prediction of Da Niu's movement in this wave was too awesome, and after he got the kill, Jian Rong blurted out, "Beautiful!"
A few seconds later, under the urging of the barrage, Jian Rong clenched his teeth and added, "Gege is so great."
Jian Rong's tone of voice was very stiff, and it sounded like he was reading from a textbook; there wasn't any hint of acting spoiled whatsoever.
The water friends didn't think he sounded coy. They only thought it was hilarious, especially his each and every frightening lilt at the end of his syllables. Just speaking once was enough to make them laugh for quite some time.
Lu Boyuan: "You used your flash, so their jungler will definitely come over in a bit, be careful. If we want to win this round, we can only play late game."
Lu Boyuan was like a prophet. Right after Jian Rong left his base, Fighting Tiger's mid laner and jungler tower dove and forcefully killed him.
It was very hard to drag it out to late game. Both the top and bot lanes were letdowns, and after a few small team fights, their teammates had nearly all died on the battlefield. Oftentimes, only Lu Boyuan and Jian Rong were able to escape unscathed.
The same thing happened this wave. Their teammate was apparently bored and had nothing to do, so they entered the enemy's jungle and ended up getting ganked. By the time Jian Rong made it over, their teammate just happened to topple over.
He cooperated with Lu Boyuan to kill the enemy with difficulty before they both rapidly withdrew from the enemy's jungle.
When passing by the enemy's blue buff, Jian Rong's walking speed distinctly slowed down.
The third time he stopped walking, Lu Boyuan spoke. "What's the matter."
Jian Rong pressed down on his mouse and circled once around Amumu before he said honestly, "I want their blue buff."
There was still seventeen seconds remaining before the enemy's blue buff refreshed. Their side didn't have the advantage, and the enemy could come over at any time.
Before Lu Boyuan could say anything, Jian Rong mumbled quietly, "…they've already stolen two of my blue buffs from me."
There was a begrudging tone to his voice, which sounded pretty much the same as normal.
But for some reason, those words just inexplicably seemed…
[Damn! And you said that you didn't know how to act spoiled???]
[Mommy can't help you take that blue buff, Mommy can only smash money on you, it's Mommy's fault for being useless wuwuwu]
[You're so coquettish ahhhh—]
Jian Rong was stunned. "How did I act spoiled?"
[If you want the blue buff, can't you just camp out and get it yourself? When you played before didn't you always treat your teammates like decoration? Are you not acting spoiled to Road so that he'll stay behind and help you get the buff?]
Jian Rong: "…"
The sound of a ping came from his headphones, and Jian Rong snapped out of it to see that Lu Boyuan had already walked over to the enemy's blue buff.
"Come here." Lu Boyuan's voice was warm and deep, and his tone was natural. "You're eighteen today, you can have whatever you want."
At first, Jian Rong was going to refute the water friends a bit, but when he heard that… he pressed his lips together and didn't say anything else before he turned around and silently went to steal the blue buff.
[??]
[I seem to have accidentally… discovered something?]
[How come laozi has this weird feeling, like I'm watching Bye and Pine stream.]
[Little dumbass, your unrequited love is over??]
Jian Rong ignored the barrage. After they won the game, he put a speaking ban on all the people who said that he had an unrequited love.
They queued all the way until evening. During that period, Lu Boyuan didn't play a weak champion again, nor was Jian Rong's blue buff stolen by someone else again.
Yet another game finished, and Jian Rong's phone suddenly buzzed with a message from the group chat.
[Ding-ge: @R You've gone over the set time, stop playing, rest a bit.]
Jian Rong read over that sentence twice and furrowed his eyebrows.
[R-ong: What set time?]
[R: I know, last game.]
[Ding-ge: Don't assume I'm unaware that you two just finished a match.]
[Ding-ge: Really, stop playing, I happen to have something I need to discuss with you.]
In the middle of his puzzlement, Jian Rong heard Lu Boyuan's voice travel through his headphones. "Ding-ge's looking for me, play by yourself for a while?"
Jian Rong said okay.
When Lu Boyuan stood up and walked past him, Jian Rong couldn't help but turn his head around, wanting to ask him something. Abruptly, someone gently gripped the rabbit ears that he was wearing.
This was Lu Boyuan's first time touching something like this. He pinched it a few times between his fingers. "Still half an hour until the stream ends?"
Jian Rong glanced at the time. "…more or less."
Lu Boyuan nodded before he released the rabbit ears, turned around, and left the practice room.
All the way up until he entered a new game, Jian Rong's mind was still full of that "set time" phrase.
Professional players didn't have a concept like "set time." Typically, they practiced however long they needed to, and coaches very rarely took the initiative to tell the players to stop practicing, unless they felt like that player couldn't hang in there much longer.
After Jian Rong finally made it to the end of his stream, he let out a huge sigh of relief.
Amidst numerous comments urging him to stay, he closed the streaming platform and went downstairs. Only then did he discover that everyone else had already returned to the base, and they were currently in the living room distributing regional specialties from their hometowns.
Yuan Qian noticed him first, and he smiled. "Xiao Rong, happy birthday."
Pine was in the middle of a mobile game, and he glanced up at Jian Rong when he heard Yuan Qian speak. "Happy birthday."
Jian Rong surveyed his surroundings and didn't see Lu Boyuan or Ding-ge. He walked down the last of the steps and said, a little awkwardly, "Thank you."
They were all fairly unsentimental esports youths, so the money that they sent earlier that day in Jian Rong's stream could just be considered his birthday gifts.
Right when Jian Rong walked over to the couch, Xiao Bai dragged him down onto it.
"Fuck, your shirt is also a crop top!!" Xiao Bai exclaimed.
"It's not." Jian Rong casually tugged at his clothes. "It's too short, but it only shows when I'm standing straight."
"Isn't that what a crop top is…" Xiao Bai jerked his chin up towards Jian Rong. "Oh right, hurry up and show me your foot hair."
Jian Rong thought that he misheard him. "What??"
"Your foot hair ah!" Xiao Bai's face was full of curiosity. "I heard P-baby say that foot hair grows on the back of the foot. I don't have any, and P-baby won't show me his, so quick, let me broaden my horizons a bit."
Jian Rong's "are you crazy" was already in his mouth.
"But you don't even seem to have much leg hair." Xiao Bai stared at Jian Rong's legs and frowned suspiciously. "Those look like a girl's legs. Do you really have foot hair?"
When Lu Boyuan came downstairs, he was greeted by the sight of Jian Rong with one leg hiked up on the edge of the coffee table, his foot bare. The white stocking had been tossed to the side on the carpet, and Jian Rong was doing his best to search for something on the back of his foot.
"Here, you see it?" Jian Rong said, pointing at something on his foot.
"Where?" Xiao Bai frowned and had to strain himself in order to see it clearly. "Ah? It's just… one freaking hair??"
Jian Rong, who had just become eighteen years of age and was now an adult, scoffed coldly. "So what if it's just one hair? You don't even have any."