Chapter Four
Zhou Qiao unilaterally started a cold war with Yan Yu, her reason being, "You never told me you were Ye Shen's sister!"
Bad Girl Xiao Yezi: What are you unhappy about?
Xiao Qiao wants to become stronger: Hmph, you scumbag, what do you want from me again?
Scumbag Girl Xiao Yezi: I'll beat you up.
"Scumbag Girl Xiaoyezi: Is it because Tiny Herb lost to Blue Rain last week?"
Xiao Qiao wants to become stronger: Hey, I've been retired for almost two years now, okay?
Xiao Qiao needs to work hard to become stronger: and how can 4:6 be considered a loss!
Xiao Qiao needs to work harder to become stronger: 4:6, we can't call it a loss.
Scumbag Girl Xiaoyezi: Hehe.
"Bad Girl Xiao Yezi: When are you coming back?"
Xiao Qiao wants to become stronger: Shouldn't I be asking you that? You've been in H City for over a month now. Don't you top universities have final exams?
"Bad Girl Xiao Yezi: ...I don't have any major courses this semester."
Xiao Qiao wants to work hard to become stronger: Aren't you going to take the postgraduate entrance exam?
"Bad Girl Xiao Yezi: Hehe, I got accepted into a graduate program."
Xiao Qiao wants to become stronger: You get out of here!
"Bad Girl Xiao Yezi: I'll buy you a plane ticket."
Xiao Qiao wants to become stronger: Are you plotting something?
Little Leaf (the "bad girl"): I'm begging for your forgiveness, baby.
Zhou Qiao was struck by Yan Yu's sudden sweet words.
Xiao Qiao wants to work harder to become stronger: Then let me ask you.
Xiao Qiao wants to become stronger: If Huang Shaotian and I fell into the water at the same time, who would you save first?
Scumbag Girl Xiao Yezi: ...
"Bad Girl Xiao Yezi: At least I wouldn't put electricity in water."
Xiao Qiao is determined to become stronger: Those scumbag girls, die!!!
Yan Yu bought Zhou Qiao a plane ticket for the early morning flight on the 28th of the lunar year. Zhou Qiao got up at four o'clock and took a taxi to the airport. In the cold wind of B City, she once again clearly realized Yan Yu's ruthlessness.
Seeing the car Yan Yu had borrowed from somewhere outside the airport arrival hall, Zhou Qiao went over and knocked on the window. After Yan Yu unlocked it, Zhou Qiao naturally opened the back door and got in.
Yan Yu glanced at Zhou Qiao in the rearview mirror: "Am I your driver?"
“I never sit in the passenger seat,” Zhou Qiao said matter-of-factly.
Yan Yu nodded: "That's true, after all, there's no front passenger seat on the subway or bus."
Zhou Qiao: "Do you want to fight...? Why aren't you driving yet?"
Yan Yu smiled: "Because there's still one person."
When Zhou Qiao saw the well-dressed "Ye Qiu" walking over, she rubbed her eyes.
After Ye Qiu got into the passenger seat, Yan Yu casually introduced them: "Second brother, this is my roommate Zhou Qiao; Xiao Xiao, this is my second brother Ye Qiu."
Zhou Qiao felt like she'd stumbled upon a huge juicy tidbit: "Huh? Second Brother is Ye Qiu, then what about Ye Shen?"
When Yan Yu started driving back, Zhou Qiao remembered something she had temporarily forgotten because she was shocked by the fact that "Ye Shen is actually a twin and his name is Ye Xiu, not Ye Qiu": "So I just bought a seat next to your brother on the way back! Why didn't you just buy me a seat next to your brother?"
“That won’t do, he’s in first class.”
"???"
"Just kidding, baby, he's just a side effect." Taking advantage of the red light, Yan Yu turned around and winked at Zhou Qiao, "After all, I'm already being taken care of by you."
Ye Qiu was shocked: "Little Yezi?!"
Compared to Ye Qiu's arrival, Zhou Qiao's appearance surprised Ye Xiu even more—because of the lighting, even with Ye Xiu's keen observation, he didn't notice that Zhou Qiao had dyed her hair dark green. She had cut her hair into a wolf tail and highlighted the ends with a more vibrant green.
Upon discovering that the energetic girl with twin ponytails from her memories had transformed into the non-mainstream girl before her, Chen Guo's eyes went dead: "Is this really Xiao Xiao?"
"I told you, no one but Tiny Herb can appreciate your dedication to greenery," Yan Yu complained.
Zhou Qiao pushed up her glasses: "I just want to make a living."
Ye Xiu offered a perfunctory consolation to Chen Guo: "Girls change a lot as they grow up."
Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu started arguing about whether to go home for the Spring Festival. Finally, Ye Qiu stood up, grabbed Ye Xiu by the collar, and asked, "Did you think of me when you ran away from your wedding?"
"Hey, do you have any legal common sense?! I was only fifteen years old then, what kind of engagement could I have?"
"Heh," Ye Qiu sneered, releasing Ye Xiu and straightening the wrinkles on his shirt cuffs from the exertion. "Go tell that to the Liu family."
Zhou Qiao leaned close to Yan Yu's ear and whispered, "Is this what daily life is like in your wealthy family? Getting engaged at such a young age?"
Yan Yu whispered even more softly, "The person he almost got engaged to was CEO Liu."
"Huh?" Zhou Qiao was shocked.
"No wonder he's working so hard, even at his age he's thinking of bringing a grassroots team back to the League of Legends from an internet cafe. Turns out it's because if he doesn't play games properly he'll have to go back, pfft." The rest of the words were drowned out by laughter.
"I can hear you."
"Mmm, I know you have sharp ears, Ye Shen."
Seeing his brother get the short end of the stick, Ye Qiu laughed without any restraint.
Yan Yu and Ye Qiu flew back to City B the next day, while Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng stayed at Happy Internet Cafe to spend New Year's Eve.
Su Mucheng asked Zhou Qiao, "Xiaoxiao, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine with anything, it doesn't matter."
"Where is your mother?" Even after several years, Ye Xiu still felt lingering fear towards Ms. Zhou.
Zhou Qiao was taken aback for a moment before answering, "She passed away in the middle of the year."
"……Feel sorry."
"fine."
Su Mucheng reached out and took Zhou Qiao's hand, her eyes filled with tenderness.
Chen Guo initially felt a sense of distance from Zhou Qiao due to awe, but upon hearing that Zhou Qiao's mother had passed away, she couldn't help but think of herself. When she looked at Zhou Qiao again, her gaze was no longer reserved as she would towards a professional gaming legend, but filled with heartache.
Zhou Qiao burst out laughing: "Boss lady, don't look at me like that, it's so embarrassing."
"May I call you Xiaoxiao?"
Zhou Qiao nodded: "Of course you can. I'll call you Guoguo, just like Mu Mu does, hehe."
Chen Guo booked a private room at the restaurant for the New Year's Eve dinner. Zhou Qiao was well aware of her alcohol tolerance and didn't touch any of the drinks on the table. Su Mucheng and Chen Guo were a little drunk and walked hand in hand down the street, swaying from side to side. Zhou Qiao and Ye Xiu followed closely behind them.
As people set off fireworks along the way, Zhou Qiao looked up at the fireworks when her phone started vibrating wildly.
She stopped to answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"Xiaoxiao! Happy New Year in advance!" It was Xiao Yifei's voice.
"...Are you crazy? Don't you know international calls are free?"
"Haha, Xiaoxiao is shy!"
"What's there to be shy about? Don't be a pervert, thank you."
Xiao Yifei's voice became slightly more serious: "I saw you enter the realm of gods."
"Seriously? You're browsing Chinese forums while you're in the US?!"
"Xiaoxiao, do what you want to do. Your brother will always be there for you."
"..." Zhou Qiao fell silent.
"You might not be happy to hear this, but smile, and you'll have more courage. Just like you did four years ago."
"Thank you." Zhou Qiao's voice was soft, hidden in the fireworks, but Xiao Yifei caught it. "Between brother and sister, why say thank you?"
I waited on the road for a while before a ride-hailing car accepted my order. By the time I arrived at the internet cafe, it was almost midnight.
Chen Guo and Su Mucheng were excited to set off fireworks, and Ye Xiu offered them cigarettes one by one. When he offered the third cigarette to Zhou Qiao, she refused.
Standing under the light, Ye Xiu noticed that the girl's eyes were a little red. He frowned and stubbed out his cigarette: "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Zhou Qiao tried to push up her glasses, but when she raised her hand, she realized she didn't know where they were. She was a little speechless. She crossed her arms and jumped up and down. "It's so cold outside, I'm going inside first. You keep an eye on Mu Mu and Guo Guo."
"Know."
When the time changed from 11:59 to 0:00, Zhou Qiao received a new message from her linked QQ account.
She switched to her alternate account, and the pinned message was from Wang Jiexi.
Wang Bu Liu Xing: Smile, Happy New Year.
The content is exactly the same as the previous message, but a year has passed.
Zhou Qiao twitched her index finger.
I could be a little braver.
Zhou Qiao silently recited the number, pressed the 11-digit number, and dialed.
"Hello?"
"Captain Wang, this is Xiao Xiao."
After saying this, the two of them fell silent.
Wang Jiexi spoke first: "Xiaoxiao, Happy New Year."
Happy New Year, Captain Wang! Good luck defending your title in the playoffs!
"Thanks."
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Qiao changed the nickname, profile picture, and signature of her alternate account.
Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng planned to stay up all night to run a dungeon. Chen Guo said she wanted to stick with her idol. Zhou Qiao didn't want to stay up all night and planned to take a nap on the sofa, but Ye Xiu pushed her to his small storage room.
Zhou Qiao asked, "Aren't you going to sleep?"
Ye Xiu: "Do the event tasks."
Zhou Qiao was speechless: "What's wrong with you? Staying up all night playing Glory during the Chinese New Year?"
Ye Xiu: "Reach level 50 as soon as possible so I can start the God's Domain Challenge sooner."
Ye Xiu sighed as he spoke.
Zhou Qiao: "Don't tell me you're sighing because of the God's Challenge."
Ye Xiu sighed again.
Zhou Qiao: "?? Really? No way, Ye Shen, this can stump you? You can't be that bad, can you? You're really that bad? Then why are you going to team up and go back to the league? Go home and get married already."
Ye Xiu flicked Zhou Qiao on the head: "Don't believe everything you hear."
Zhou Qiao rubbed her forehead: "What happened?"
Ye Xiu then told Zhou Qiao about his worries about not being able to fulfill the God's Challenge Arena missions as the top-ranked player in the tenth server, and was met with a strange look from Zhou Qiao.
Ye Xiu's hands started itching again: "What's wrong?"
Zhou Qiao was even more speechless when she realized that Ye Xiu was completely unaware of the problem: "Don't you know that the arena allows cross-server play?"
"..."
"You really don't know? Something's not right with you, really. I need to seriously consider whether or not I should team up with you."
Ye Xiu vigorously ruffled Zhou Qiao's hair and pushed her into the room: "I know! Go to sleep now and lock the door."
"I'm not growing taller because of you guys!" Zhou Qiao complained.
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