GTRSH Chapter 66

The two kept saying they’d go eat potatoes when they had time, but they never actually managed to find the time to do so.

The weather was gradually getting colder, and the qualifying rounds were already halfway through.

TZ had a relatively easy first half of the season, playing against several teams that viewers considered weak, while most of their stronger opponents were relegated to the second half.

For example, YC where OBSESS plays, VI which also offered three million to buy Yu Xinche during the selection, and the veteran team FGG, all of whom were in the World Championship last year, were closely scheduled on TZ’s recent match calendar.

VI had a great team composition, with all five members being experienced players. PURPLE in the bottom lane was a star player in the HPL, just like He Ci.

When they acquired Yu Xinche, their manager mentioned that PURPLE was good at developing new talent, and this season it seems the manager wasn’t exaggerating. PURPLE’s new partner was BLUE, whom they acquired from another smaller team, and their names seem to fit together perfectly. After a season of practice, their teamwork was becoming increasingly stable.

He Ci and PURPLE have a good relationship; the two teams have played many practice matches together privately.

In Yu Xinche’s memory, BLUE was a support player who focused on protection. He mostly stayed with AD carry PURPLE. PURPLE was also very stable; even if they were at a disadvantage in the early game, he could survive and farm, and then deal decent damage in team fights in the late game.

VI was last year’s league champion, and Yu Xinche was extra serious during his preparations, afraid that he would let his team down.

However, after studying their recent matches, everyone noticed that their mid laner seemed to be in a slump recently, which made the match easier and increased TZ’s chances of winning.

On the day of the match, VI also referenced WING’s playing style, and they learned from WING’s experience and lessons, making their tactical execution more refined.

However, Yu Xinche was learning and improving very quickly. Recently, his handling of the early laning phase has become increasingly refined.

Moreover, it’s possible that the mystical power of the two living together was really at work, as his and He Ci’s on-the-spot reactions were becoming more and more synchronized.

There was a wave where four opponents came down, and their skill combos were perfect. They didn’t waste a single control skill. In the end, Yu Xinche traded one kill for the opponent’s mid, jungle and support, and He Ci got a triple kill.

The comments section was full of praise like “Awesome!” and “Two against four, and three of them got killed. Do they even know how to play?”

PURPLE might have a chance to turn the tide against other marksmen who have secured triple kills, but against He Ci, who rarely makes mistakes and doesn’t give the opponent any openings, the game becomes a foregone conclusion.

He Ci never loses his advantage by acting rashly; instead, he excels at snowballing his lead, and TZ quickly won the game.

In the second game, PURPLE pulled one back thanks to Aurora’s perfect performance. In the third game, both sides focused and fought back and forth. In the end, TZ had a flash of inspiration and won by relying on BURN’s tower steal.

【Awesome】

【TZ lost the team fight but won the points.】

【I’m VI, the commander, and I slap myself twice.】

【VI is really possessed by a ghost lately, when will they get better?】

【To be honest, this was a really good match.】

【Indeed, both team fights were beautiful to watch.】

BURN was awarded the MVP for this match.

Players’ performance fluctuates. At the beginning of the season, BURN’s performance was not ideal. However, since the bottom lane was frequently targeted, his top lane became a key part of the team’s victory.

Whether playing a high-damage assassin or a utility-focused blue-collar top laner, he excels at both, always helping his teammates gain an advantage in team fights.

After this match, TZ’s season record stands at 11-0. To paraphrase Xiao Ou’s jinx, even if they lose all four remaining games, they’ll still likely make it into the top four of the playoffs.

With less pressure and TZ wanting to practice their team compositions, they stopped playing conservatively and focusing on the top lane against YC and FGG. Instead, they moved their teammates to the bottom lane and initiated attacks.

Since you want to target our bot lane, why don’t we strike first?

The intensity of recent matches had been very high, and Yu Xinche could clearly feel that these opponents were different from those before, and were much more refined in all aspects.

However, having learned from his experience against Brother Jiu, Yu Xinche was no longer flustered about losing.

Practice makes perfect. Even with difficult problems, three days of intensive practice on similar types of questions could give you a pretty good grasp of them. Recently, they played three matches in a row, a total of nine high-quality games, and Yu Xinche’s mentality had been tested and strengthened.

His skills have also improved.

At first, when He Ci praised him, Yu Xinche thought He Ci was just flattering him. But when they reviewed the game, even the coach said that his positioning and skills in team fights had improved recently, and he made fewer and fewer mistakes. He was almost impeccable.

Yu Xinche nodded in surprise and said that she would continue to work hard.

After that, TZ still had two more points matches to play, and the opponents were not very strong, so the team was not so nervous anymore.

Moreover, considering that they had played three or four games under intense pressure recently, the coach and Xu Le discussed it and decided to give them a day off.

This day off was of little use to Yu Xinche. He had no plans, so he decided to train as usual and then take some time to read the post related to He Ci.

He’s been too busy lately and hasn’t checked the post in a long time.

Unfortunately, plans don’t always go as expected, and He Ci insisted on dragging him to eat potatoes.

“I don’t want to eat,” Yu Xinche said.

“I know, it’s me who wants to eat it.”

“…That’s not what I meant. I really don’t want to go; I want to train.”

He Ci, wearing only a thin T-shirt, was struggling with what to wear in front of the wardrobe. Hearing this, he turned around and looked at Yu Xinche: “I know what you mean. But I think sometimes a balance between work and rest is more useful for maintaining your condition.”

Yu Xinche retorted, “But you told Xiao Ou last night to make the most of his time and play a few more games today.”

“I’m just… teaching according to aptitude.” He Ci held a jacket in each hand. “Which one?”

Yu Xinche looked at it and saw a short, classic motorcycle-style jacket on the left. It had a black background with a few red and white accents, a bright color scheme rarely seen in He Ci’s clothes.

Without hesitation, he said, “The one on the left.”

“So, are we going to eat?”

“Mmm.” Yu Xinche agreed.

He Ci’s words made sense; he had indeed been too tense lately. If he doesn’t take this opportunity to relax and continues to be so tense until the last two matches, he might really not be able to last.

The two high school students bumped into Yu Xinche near his university, and the potato stall was naturally not far from Yu Xinche’s university.

He then said he wanted to go to school. His scholarship had been approved a couple of days ago, and according to the procedure, he still needed to go to the college in person to sign it.

The confirmation process had a rather long timeframe. He originally planned to finish all the qualifying matches before dealing with it, but since he had time to go today, he might as well get it done all at once.

The stalls usually open in the evening, so they didn’t go too early. In the afternoon, the two played a few ranked games in the training room before heading out. They first went to the school to finish the scholarship procedures, and then they went to buy potatoes.

When signing in the college office, the counselor mentioned that Yu Xinche’s parents had called the school and advised him that there was no need to strain his relationship with his parents.

Yu Xinche wasn’t sure if He Ci could hear them at the door, so he didn’t say much, just gave a few perfunctory words, and left.

As Yu Xinche passed by the cafeteria, someone came out carrying a takeout dinner. He saw that the plastic bag contained a familiar red lunchbox with his favorite teppanyaki rice.

Suddenly feeling a bit hungry, Yu Xinche licked his lips.

“If you want to eat, then eat,” he asked He Ci. “Do you want to eat at the cafeteria? The teppanyaki rice, roast chicken rice, and roast duck rice at this cafeteria are all delicious.”

He Ci glanced in the direction of the cafeteria, and without asking about the potatoes, immediately agreed: “Okay.”

The cafeteria installed a machine that accepts payment software last year, so Yu Xinche could still pay even though his campus card had been suspended.

It was the weekend, and the cafeteria wasn’t crowded. Yu Xinche hesitated for a minute at the window, unsure which flavor to choose, before finally selecting the cumin lamb sizzling rice.

When it was He Ci’s turn, He Ci asked him if he had any other recommendations. Yu Xinche said, “I recommend them all. I think they’re all delicious. There’s always a queue at this window during mealtimes.”

Finally, He Ci ordered roast chicken rice because Yu Xinche said it was his second favorite dish.

The two sat in a corner during the meal, and no other people appeared at the nearby table until they finished eating.

He thought to himself, “This time, I don’t think anyone will take a picture and post it online.”

In November, it gets dark very early. When the two of them left, it was already dark. The sky was a deep blue, like velvet, with a gradient purple border where it met the ground. It was very beautiful.

Yu Xinche was holding a small bag of chestnuts in his hand, which was bought from a small shop near the cafeteria.

Today, the two of them walked out from the college building, which was different from the route they took when they left the dormitory previously.

They passed another playground along the way, next to which was an open-air plaza of the same size, where movies were shown on weekends.

He Ci asked out of curiosity, and Yu Xinche suggested that they go and take a look.

The square was surrounded by trees, and at the front was a stage where small evening parties were usually held.

The seating below consisted of well-maintained, wide, and low steps. They walked a few steps and found a secluded spot on the steps where no one was around to sit down.

Chestnuts were easier to peel when they’re hot. After sitting down, Yu Xinche peeled a few and handed them to He Ci, then peeled some for himself.

Today’s movie was an old one. Yu Xinche seemed to have seen it once during a moral education class meeting in middle school, and he didn’t remember it being very good. He glanced at He Ci, who was clearly not very interested either.

“Do you see that building?” Yu Xinche asked, pointing to a small red building behind the stage, worried that he might be bored.

“En.”

“It’s the building of our music academy. Doesn’t it look like a piano?”

He Ci looked at it carefully for a moment: “It really is.”

After a while, He Ci asked him again, “I still don’t know what your major is.”

“Computer Science,” Yu Xinche replied.

He Ci responded with a sound of agreement, his expression unreadable.

Yu Xinche fed herself another chestnut, chewing as she said, “Because this job is easier to find, my parents insisted that I choose it, even though I don’t really like it.”

“So what do you like?”

“Mathematics, and psychology.” Yu Xinche turned to look at him. “These two majors at our school are pretty good. I was originally planning to list them as my first or second choice.”

“Was it changed later?”

“Hmm.” Yu Xinche paused for a moment, then said, “Not really, I changed it myself in the end.”

“I see.”

He Ci did not ask any further questions.

He had always been a tactful person, and even though they were already so familiar with each other, he would not take the initiative to ask questions that might touch on other people’s sore spots.

But perhaps it was because he was back in a familiar environment, or perhaps it was because He Ci’s quiet listening attitude made him feel at ease, that Yu Xinche felt an unusual urge to say more.

“My parents aren’t the kind of parents who are vicious, so it’s hard for me to hate them. But I also can’t bring myself to like them.”

“So I thought to myself, I’ll listen to them one last time. After submitting my college application, I won’t care about them anymore.”

“Playing professionally is done first and reported later. To be precise, I didn’t report it; they found out on their own and came to me, and that’s when I told them.”

After he finished speaking, there was silence for a few seconds.

Yu Xinche waited for a while, and just as he was wondering why He Ci didn’t react at all, he saw He Ci turn his head and smile.

“So brave.” He Ci said, raising his hand to ruffle his hair.

Yu Xinche was stunned. He had rarely been touched on the head before, and He Ci had only patted him occasionally before, very quickly and lightly, leaving no lasting feeling.

This time, however, something seemed a little different.

When He Ci’s hand touched him, his heart pounded like roasted chestnuts.

He lowered his eyes and belatedly realized that he had talked so much about his family just now, perhaps not simply because of the good atmosphere, but more importantly because it was He Ci listening.

He wanted to tell He Ci and he was looking forward to his response.

Although he couldn’t be exactly sure about He Ci’s response, he knew very clearly at that moment that He Ci patted his head that it was acceptable.

His expectations were met and he was satisfied.

 

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