40

After their group stage victory over Team VI, a small celebration was held at the base. Fatty and Hulu sat on the sofa, snacks in hand, playing games. Ji Feng and Chen Chenchen sat nearby, watching the live stream. Qu Shengsheng was dragged into a team by Little Y, and cheers could be heard from time to time.

Chen Qingyu looked at the lively scene, but felt a little empty in her heart - Yu Wang's eyes at the press conference during the day and the "V" he secretly made after the game were replaying in her mind over and over again. She took a glass of juice and quietly walked to the balcony. When the evening breeze blew, the heat in her heart dissipated a little.

"Why are you here alone in the wind?" A familiar voice came from behind. Shen Qingyu turned around and saw Yu Wang coming over with a thin coat. He casually put it on her shoulders and said, "It's cold at night. Don't catch a cold."

"Thank you." Chen Qingyu straightened her coat, which still carried his faint scent of cedar, causing her heart to skip a beat. The two stood side by side at the balcony railing, looking at the lights in the distance. They were silent for a long time before Yu Wang spoke first: "During the press conference this day, you were watching me from the audience, right?"

Shen Qingyu's cheeks flushed instantly, and she quietly defended herself: "I was just...watching the game."

Yu Wang smiled, turned to look at her, and said seriously, "Can we talk about this? About what happened three years ago."

Shen Qingyu's body stiffened for a moment, her fingers tightly gripping the cup, her fingertips turning white. She had always wanted to know the truth, but was afraid of hearing an answer she didn't want to hear. She nodded, her voice a little hoarse: "Go ahead."

"Three years ago on the rooftop, you saw me and Cai Yulin together, right?" Yu Wang's tone was calm, but it accurately hit the nail on the head for Shen Qingyu.

Shen Qingyu looked up: "You were clearly hugging her and said...that you liked her. I thought you two had reconciled, so I broke up with you."

"I don't like her, and I've never been with her." Yu Wang sighed, "I went to her that day because I found evidence that she had forged the ACM competition and wanted her to delete it, but she refused. She even hugged me and pestered me, saying, 'It's because you like Chen Qingyu that you don't look at me.' When I pushed her away, you happened to see it, right?"

Shen Qingyu was stunned. She had only heard Cai Yulin cry and say, "You obviously like me." She couldn't hear the rest of the words clearly because they were too far away. Then, she saw the two of them hugging, which led to her misunderstanding. It turned out that he had gone to seek justice for her that day, not to reconcile with Cai Yulin.

"I was so angry at the time that I didn't notice you were downstairs," Yu Wang's voice softened, his eyes apologetic. "Then you broke up and said you were just 'playing with me'. I thought you really didn't like me anymore, so I didn't dare explain. I was afraid that if I told you, you would hate me even more."

"I don't hate you!" Shen Qingyu's tears suddenly fell, her voice filled with tears. "I just... I just saw you hugging each other, and it was so sad. I thought you lied to me, that you and Cai Yulin had been together for a long time, so I said those hurtful words."

Seeing her cry, Yu Wang panicked. He reached out to wipe her tears, but fearing she would resist, he froze in mid-air. After a long moment, he spoke cautiously, "I'm sorry. I didn't explain clearly, and you've been wronged for so long. Actually, I haven't forgotten you in these three years. I'm working hard in the competition, hoping to become even better. Maybe one day I'll meet you again and explain things to you."

Shen Qingyu sniffed, looking at his flustered expression, and suddenly smiled. This "ADC God," who was so calm and decisive on the court, was still as nervous and helpless in front of her as he was in college. She reached out and gently grasped his hand, which was suspended in mid-air. His hand was warm and slightly sweaty.

"Yu Wang, I haven't forgotten you either." Shen Qingyu's voice was soft but firm. "Seeing you become a professional player and win so many championships, I'm actually very happy for you. But every time I think about what happened on the rooftop, I feel sad. I'm afraid we can never go back."

Yu Wangfan held her hand, his fingers tightly clasped with hers, his eyes full of seriousness: "From now on, I will never let you suffer any grievances again, and I will never let you misunderstand me again. I will use my actions to prove that I only like you."

The balcony light shone a warm yellow, reflecting on the two of them. The evening breeze, carrying the fragrance of flowers, blew away three years of misunderstandings and estrangements. Shen Qingyu leaned on Yu Wang's shoulder, listening to his strong heartbeat, and the emptiness in her heart was finally filled - it turned out that those missed times were not the end, but a better reunion.

"Oh right," Shen Qingyu suddenly remembered something and looked up at him with a sly look in her eyes. "Three years ago, you were in the hotel and clearly had a chance... why did you leave?"

Yu Wang's cheeks instantly flushed, and the tips of his ears also turned red. He turned his face away and whispered, "You were drunk at the time, and I didn't want to take advantage of you. I wanted you to choose me willingly when you sober up."

Shen Qingyu looked at his shy look and couldn't help laughing. She stretched out her hand and pinched his cheek: "Yu Wang, why are you still so innocent?"

Yu Wang turned his head, his eyes filled with helplessness yet doting: "I'm only like this to you."

-

The clamor of the celebration still lingered in the living room. Qu Shengsheng stood up, phone in hand, and, under the pretext of getting some fresh air, walked to the terrace—where she could see the distant neon lights and escape the bustle of the house. As she leaned against the railing, she heard footsteps behind her. Turning back, she saw Chen Chenchen approaching with two bottles of mineral water, thinly condensed on the bottles.

"It's too noisy in there, come out and hide." He handed over a bottle of water, his tone as natural as an old friend, but Qu Shengsheng's fingertips paused as he took the water - they were finally no longer "netizens" separated by a screen, nor were they "strangers" who had only been seen in the news.

The two stood side by side, silence like mist in the evening breeze, slowly enveloping each other. Qu Shengsheng looked at the lights in the distance and thought of that summer.

That's just the kind of person she is: passionate in love, yet decisive in breaking up. The night she returned to Beijing, she deleted all of Chen Chenchen's contact information, blocked him on WeChat, and even unlinked him from her gaming friends—she was afraid she wouldn't be able to resist looking back, afraid that her unspoken love would become a self-deceiving joke.

"Did you come to Shanghai on my birthday that year?" Chen Chenchen's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence. Qu Shengsheng turned her head sharply, meeting his apologetic gaze. The old scar in her heart felt like it had been gently touched, a little painful, but no longer sharp.

"How do you know?" Her voice was a little hoarse, and her hand holding the mineral water bottle tightened.

"My roommate said there was a girl squatting downstairs that day, holding a cake in her arms, and then she walked off in the rain." Chen Chenchen's Adam's apple moved, his tone full of regret. "I had just returned to the dormitory after training, and when I heard my roommate say that, I thought he had misread it. It wasn't until later, when I saw you had deleted my contact information, that I realized—that girl was you."

Qu Shengsheng was stunned. He knew. She opened her mouth, wanting to ask who that girl was, but swallowed the words back. It had been so long, it didn't seem that important anymore.

"That girl is my biological sister," Chen Chenchen took the initiative to speak, as if untying a knot that had been there for years. "She came to Shanghai to see me that day and gave me a birthday present. I had just been selected by the team at that time and was busy training every day. I didn't tell you that my sister was coming, nor did I tell you that I actually received your birthday wishes. When I saw the message after training, you had already deleted me."

He paused, his voice lowered. "I tried to add you on WeChat, but I was blocked. I checked your game account and found it was also unlinked. That's when I realized you really didn't want to contact me anymore."

The evening breeze blew past, picking up the scattered hair around her ears as she listened to the music. She looked at the sincerity in Chen Chenchen's eyes, and the doubts and grievances that had been weighing on her heart suddenly faded away like mist blown away by the wind. She smiled, her tone tinged with self-mockery, "Back then, I thought you didn't reply to my messages because you had a new love."

"No," Chen Chenchen explained hurriedly, his eyes full of seriousness. "I was too dumb back then. I didn't know how to explain it to you, and I was afraid you'd think I was making excuses. Later, I joined the team, and every time I played, I'd think of you—I remembered you saying, 'I only feel safe following the jungler,' and you saying you wanted to make a movie about esports someday."

Qu Shengsheng's heart trembled slightly. She pulled out her phone and pulled out an old photo—one she'd taken at the Shanghai airport that day. It was drizzling outside, and water droplets condensed on the glass. She handed it over and said, "I ended up giving the cake from that day to the owner of the B&B. She said it was delicious."

Chen Chenchen looked at the photo and couldn't help but smile slightly, but there was a little pain in his eyes: "I'm sorry, I made you come here in vain and suffered so much injustice."

"It's all in the past." Qu Shengsheng put his phone away, his tone more relaxed. "Thinking about it now, I was pretty stupid back then. I cut off contact without even asking."

"It's my fault for not giving you the chance to ask." Chen Chenchen looked at her, his eyes more gentle. "But now, do we still have a chance? For example... Start by being friends and slowly make up for what we didn't say."

Qu Shengsheng was stunned for a moment, then smiled, his eyes sparkling. "Okay. But let's make a deal first. Next time you have a home game, I'll come and cheer you on. Mainly for little brother Y—his mechanics are much better than you were back then."

Chen Chenchen also smiled, the regret in his eyes gradually dissipating, leaving only a relieved tenderness: "Okay, I'll save the best seat for you, and by the way... I'll treat you to the cake you didn't get to eat that year."

The lights on the terrace were warm yellow, illuminating the figures of the two people.