Chapter 83
Mother Qiao stood up suddenly, her face darkening: "Are you crazy? You leave the job I arranged for you and go play games? What future can you have?!"
Qiao Ruiyi took a deep breath, as if he had expected the other party to have such a reaction: "Mom, e-sports is not just playing games, it is a formal professional competition with a complete system and high-level competition. You can even represent the country in the competition."
"So what?" Qiao's mother sneered, "After all, isn't it just a bunch of young people who are addicted to games and are looking for excuses for themselves?"
She shouldn't let him think about his future path, but should directly help him make a decision and let Ruiyi follow the route she has planned!
After all, the child is still young and doesn't understand many things, so she, as a mother, should worry about him.
"That's not an excuse!" Qiao Ruiyi raised his voice a few notches, "I've already negotiated. I will officially sign the contract and become a professional player."
Mother Qiao was so angry that her fingers were shaking and her chest was heaving violently: "Do you know how much effort I have put into you? Now you tell me you want to play games? Are you worthy of me?!"
Qiao Ruiyi was silent for a moment, and whispered, "Mom, I know you want me to take a safer path, but this is what I want to do."
"What do you want to do?" Qiao's mother laughed sarcastically, "How old are you? Do you know what real life choices are? You should just listen to mom and go to work in mom's company honestly!"
She was doing this for the good of her son! Why couldn't the other party understand her good intentions? !
Qiao Ruiyi clenched his fists, but his voice was calm: "Mom, sometimes I really miss the past, when my brother was still here. Our home was so warm..."
But his current home only makes him feel endlessly suffocated.
"Don't mention it!"
Qiao's mother's face turned pale instantly. Her fingers tightly grasped the armrest of the sofa, and her knuckles turned white. Her voice suddenly became sharp: "Don't mention your brother!"
The air in the living room seemed to freeze.
Qiao Ruiyi looked at his mother's violently shaking shoulders and realized that he had stepped on the deepest minefield.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"I won't let you play any games. Just come to work and I will arrange everything for you!"
Mother Qiao's voice suddenly lowered, with a chilling chill, "I already have Rui En, I can't lose you again."
Qiao Ruiyi took a deep breath. He had to explain everything to the other party at once: "Mom, do you remember that my brother left home to meet a friend..."
Qiao Ruiyi told his mother that Qiao Ruien encouraged and sponsored You En to play professionally, and that the day Qiao Ruien sneaked out was actually the day You En debuted, and he went to watch her first game; and the player sponsored by Qiao Ruien has now become a star player worth tens of millions, and after becoming famous, the player never forgot his former benefactor until not long ago, when the truth came to light.
Qiao's mother didn't believe it at first, until she saw Qiao Ruien's social ID before his death and the screenshots of the chat between Qiao Ruien and You En, her eyes instantly turned red.
Mother Qiao gently stroked the screen of her mobile phone with trembling fingers. The thing inside was like a key, suddenly unlocking her memories that had been sealed for many years.
Tears slid down silently, wetting the screen.
"Rui En...has been supporting others without telling us?" Qiao's mother's voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible.
Joe nodded resolutely.
Mother Qiao suddenly covered her mouth and burst into tears, each tear carrying her deep longing for her dead son.
It turned out that her son had been paving the way for other people's dreams. He had sown seeds of kindness, which had now blossomed into beautiful flowers.
But why was God so cruel to him?
Qiao Ruiyi sat down gently next to his mother. After hesitating for a moment, he put his arm around her trembling shoulders.
"Mom..." Qiao Ruiyi's voice was a little choked.
The wall clock in the living room ticked, and Qiao's mother cried for a long time. Finally, she forced herself to stare at the family portrait hanging on the wall with her hazy eyes - it was taken when Rui'en was still alive. The boy in the photo had a warm smile, but a hint of melancholy was faintly revealed.
For all these years, she had no idea that her eldest son had such tenderness in his heart.
"So you are now..." Qiao's mother's voice was hoarse.
"I want to play e-sports. If my brother were still alive, he would definitely support my choice, right?"
——If you want to shake your mother’s extremism, you must start from the root.
Qiao Ruiyi took out his phone and played a competition video. "Mom, look, this is the stage I want to stand on."
On the screen, the contestants under the spotlight were focused and dazzling, and the audience below was cheering.
Qiao's mother stared blankly, and suddenly noticed that the commentator was excitedly calling out a name: "You En! It's You En again! He created a miracle again!"
The young man holding the trophy high in front of the camera was full of vigor and vitality, and the golden rain falling from the sky seemed to be celebrating the coronation of the new king.
Mother Qiao was shocked. Is this the child sponsored by Rui En?
"Being a professional player...it must be very hard, right?" she suddenly asked.
Qiao Ruiyi was stunned for a moment: "It's very hard, training for more than ten hours a day, the competition is fierce, and the career is also very short."
"Then you still..."
"But it's worth it!" Qiao Ruiyi gently held his mother's hand: "Mom, can you let me try?"
Mother Qiao looked at her youngest son's face and vaguely saw the outline of another young boy - Qiao Ruien raised his eyes and smiled, "Mom!"
Qiao's mother nodded slowly as if she was bewitched: "You can go play professionally, but if you haven't won the championship in a year, you have to obey my arrangements and go to work in the company."
"I'll only give you one year," Qiao's mother wiped away her tears, "I want to see your training plan, club qualifications, and...your determination."
Qiao Ruiyi couldn't believe his ears: "Really? Mom, you agree?"
"I don't agree," Qiao's mother took a deep breath, "I just... want to learn to understand my son."
She looked at the family portrait on the wall and added softly, "Both sons."
Qiao Ruiyi also looked up and looked at the photos on the wall.
The boy in the photo is forever frozen at the age of eighteen, with a bright smile.
He whispered, "Thank you, brother."
Outside the window, the early summer evening breeze gently lifted the curtains, as if a gentle response.
…
Before returning to the base, You En specially packed some cream cakes that Suan Suan liked to eat, as well as the milk tea that the other party had been clamoring to drink.
As soon as he stepped into the base, he heard a familiar voice coming from not far away.
"By team?"
You En looked up and found Suan Suan leaning against the wall with his arms folded, as if waiting for him.
The other person's face lost its usual friendly smile and instead looked more solemn.
You En pursed his lips, guessing that the other party already knew everything that happened in the team.
You En smiled bitterly. That’s right. Apart from the first month when they knew each other, when had he ever heard the other party call him Captain You?
Suan Suan strode forward, and it seemed that he wanted to die together with the other party, "Why do you want to retire?!"
There was suppressed anger in Suan Suan's voice, and his eyes were slightly red, as if he was suppressing some emotion.
You En clenched the bags of milk tea and cake in her hands, and her fingertips felt slightly cold.
He opened his mouth, but didn't know how to explain.
"Say something!" Suan Suan grabbed him by the collar and almost growled, "Didn't we agree to win the championship together this year?"
Why choose to retire?!
You En lowered her eyelashes, avoiding his burning gaze, and said softly: "... Sorry, I don't want to play games anymore."
Suan Suan was startled for a moment, and the strength in his hand loosened a little, but soon he tightened it again and said through gritted teeth: "Who are you kidding?"
You En sighed helplessly, "Ever since I learned that Rui En had passed away in a car accident, I no longer had any reason to keep playing, and I have lost interest in the game."
His faith in Taoism may have been shattered the night he learned the truth.
Suan Suan stared at him intently, his chest rising and falling violently, and after a long while he managed to say, "...Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"
You En's voice was calm, as if she was talking about something insignificant, "I don't want to affect you."
Suan Suan fell silent, his fingers loosened his collar little by little, and finally let it fall dejectedly at his side.
You En handed over the milk tea and cake, and said in a more relaxed tone: "Here, your favorite."
Suan Suan didn't answer, but lowered his head and said in a muffled voice: "...Do you think you can get away with it like this?"
You En looked at his red eyes, her heart softened, and she reached out to ruffle his hair: "Don't look like that, I'm not dead, I'm just retired."
Suan Suan raised his head suddenly, his eyes became even redder: "Shut up!"
Suansuan still remembers that when he first came to the Ambition team, the person he was most afraid of was this famous team captain.
He had seen a lot of video footage of the other person and felt that this person seemed incompatible with the people around him and was difficult to get along with.
——Most people would find it difficult to suppress their excitement after winning the championship, and would laugh happily or shed tears of excitement. Except for him, he had a smile on his face, but the smile did not reach his eyes, but only stayed on the surface, as if winning the championship was not his ultimate goal.
As a new team member, Suan Suan was not familiar with the terrain of the new base. He stood in the corridor a little confused. He happened to see You En passing by, so he plucked up the courage to call out to him.
"By the team!"
You En stopped, turned around, and glanced at him calmly: "Hmm?"
Suan Suan was a little nervous after being looked at by him, and her voice unconsciously lowered a few notes: "Um...how do I get to the training room?"
You En didn't say anything, but just raised his chin, motioning him to follow.
Suan Suan hurriedly followed him, and the two of them walked in silence all the way.
It wasn't until they reached the door of the training room that You En spoke: "We're here."
"Thank you, Captain You!" Suan Suan hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
You En nodded and turned to leave.
Suansuan looked at his cold back and felt a little lost.
He thought the captain would at least say a few more words, but he didn't expect that the other party seemed to not want to communicate with him at all.
However, just as he was about to push the door open to enter the training room, You En suddenly turned around and asked, "Is your ID Suansuan?"
Suansuan was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Yes."
You En said “hmm” and said calmly: “The operation is good, but the awareness is a little lacking. If you train it more, you should be able to achieve greater results.”
Calculate: “……?”
Before he could react, Youen had already walked away.
——This was their first conversation.
Later, Suan Suan gradually discovered that You En was not as cold as he seemed.
He would quietly order midnight snacks for everyone after the training match. When Suan Suan blamed himself for a mistake, he would casually say "pay more attention next time". He would also give Suan Suan a limited edition peripheral on his birthday, saying that he "bought it for fun".
Suan Suan once asked him: "Captain You, why do you play professionally?"
You En was debugging the equipment at the time. Hearing this, his fingers paused slightly, and then he continued to operate as if nothing had happened: "Because of a friend of mine."
"friend?"
"Well, I'm going to win more championships for him."
"Captain You is so nice to your friends." Suan Suan sighed sincerely.
The expression on Youen's face became very gentle, "I hope he knows this, too."
Suansuan thought this sentence was a bit strange, but he didn't ask any more questions.
He just silently became curious about the friend that Youen mentioned until he knew everything about Youen's friend.
The truth is out.
"I'm the only one left in the team now..." Suan Suan's voice was a little choked, "I don't know why I should continue fighting..."
You En was stunned for a moment, then patted him on the back and whispered, "If you don't know why you won the championship, please carry on with my will."
Suan Suan raised his head suddenly, tears welling up in his eyes: "With your will? Why can you say that so easily?"
His voice trembled.
You En was silent for a moment, his eyes falling in the direction of the training room.
It used to be the place he was most familiar with, with the typing of keyboards, the communication with teammates, the cheers upon victory... but now, everything has become so far away.
Thousands of words were condensed into one sentence at this moment: "I'm sorry."
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