Chapter 6: Shall We Start a Game? If So, Let's Begin!

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What is even more daunting to Qingmei than an unexpected rival? It is an unexpected rival who already shares an emotional foundation.

Jiang Qianqian had always looked down on the saying, "Since ancient times, childhood sweethearts cannot compete with sudden arrivals." She believed it was simply because those childhood sweethearts were too weak or lacked intimacy.

The weak always blame their failure on the environment.

Childhood sweethearts have always been like that. If you can’t win, reflect on yourself. Have you truly been striving all these years?

Men’s initial fascination with a sudden arrival always fades over time. After all, marriage ultimately returns to the mundane routines of daily life. In this realm, Jiang Qianqian was confident she was not afraid of any cheating cat.

But a sudden arrival who is a beautiful girl with an emotional foundation is a completely different matter.

Moreover, the emotional foundation between Ye Sheng and Li Xingming was subtle, a territory Jiang Qianqian was not good at...

And she was a tall, cool beauty, likely around 1.73 meters, with long legs! A style entirely different from petite and cute Jiang Qianqian.

“After dinner, I’ll crush you,” Ye Sheng said somewhat absentmindedly, still immersed in replaying their simulated battle earlier, mechanically chewing her rice.

“Don’t just eat, try Qianqian’s cooking. She’s really good,” Li Xingming said, placing a plate of stir-fried water bamboo shoots with pork in front of Ye Sheng, who readily took a bite. Her eyes immediately sparkled with delight.

Ye Sheng looked at Jiang Qianqian: “Did you awaken a magic spirit related to culinary skills?”

“No, haha, just random home cooking,” Jiang Qianqian replied.

“Then maybe after awakening, you automatically gained some advantages in cooking… Impressive. No wonder Li Xingming is so close to you.”

“Hey, please don’t look at our childhood sweetheart relationship with such a utilitarian perspective,” Li Xingming said helplessly. “Even if Qianqian had an F-level aptitude and couldn’t become an extraordinary individual, it wouldn’t affect our close friendship.”

In truth, Jiang Qianqian’s aptitude was quite good. But even if it weren’t, Li Xingming would still consider her a lifelong close friend. Childhood companionship was precious. During the ancient Sixth Era, most children had no childhood due to the chaos of war.

According to Li Xingming’s observations, most children in today’s peaceful era also lack a true childhood, buried instead in endless tutoring classes.

Receiving Ye Sheng’s praise, Jiang Qianqian straightened her back involuntarily. If she had a cat’s tail, it would have swayed back and forth.

The atmosphere at the dinner table became harmonious, and someone’s jealousy eased considerably.

Well, what could she do? Both of them spoke so beautifully; Jiang Qianqian was an easily satisfied girl.

So she gently probed Ye Sheng in a soft, casual manner: “Shengsheng, did you often play games with Amin before?”

“Yeah,” Ye Sheng said, staring at the water bamboo shoots. “For three years. He’s the only opponent who’s so strong it feels like no matter how hard I try, I can’t defeat him.”

“So, you started before high school…” Jiang Qianqian silently calculated the timeline.

Got it.

That day, Jiang Qianqian and Li Xingming went to the aquarium, won a whale plush toy from a claw machine, and had tomato beef brisket for dinner... Later, Li Xingming played simulated battles for quite a while, saying he’d met a very tough opponent.

That must have been Ye Sheng.

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“Since then, we’ve often battled, sometimes teaming up for dungeons,” Li Xingming added.

“I see. So you probably chat too?” Jiang Qianqian asked.

“No. We only interact in the game and never added each other on social media... Today was the first time I added him on WeChat.”

After saying this, Ye Sheng stared at Li Xingming with a hint of grievance, as if still complaining about why he didn’t accept her friend request during the assembly.

Li Xingming awkwardly chuckled twice, took out his phone, opened WeChat, and accepted the request. Only then did Ye Sheng stop her complaints and continue eating.

This garlic sweet potato leaf dish was also good, and surprisingly, it slightly accelerated the spirit power recovery in her mental sea...

“If my spirit power had recovered a bit faster in that last round, you would have died,” Ye Sheng said stubbornly.

“What are you thinking? That was all within my calculations. I took the risk to output during the moment you didn’t have enough spirit power to use skills. Timing matters, you know?”

“But…”

Jiang Qianqian’s mouth twitched.

Why are they talking about simulated battles again? So annoying. Jiang Qianqian wasn’t good at this and couldn’t join the conversation.

Li Xingming was famously high-ranked in the first-tier character battle leaderboard, and Ye Sheng seemed formidable too, probably at least a master level.

So the question was, what rank was Jiang Qianqian?

She was silver.

“Ahaha, don’t try so hard while eating. You’ve known each other online forever and can start a game anytime. It’s not like it has to be now,” Jiang Qianqian teased.

“Qianqian’s right. You star mages are all overachievers and have spoiled the university vibe,” Li Xingming complained, grabbing the remote. “Let’s watch some TV.”

Ye Sheng had no objections, and Jiang Qianqian was happy to agree. Watching TV while eating was much better than talking about topics she didn’t understand, which made her feel like the men were being outshone by a cold genius beauty.

The TV turned on, and an advertisement appeared fittingly.

A young couple finished their date and were about to part ways at the station.

“Is this it? Or…”

The neon sign of the eSports hotel lit up.

The girl smiled softly and said to the boy:

“Wanna start a match?”

“Sure!”

Hand in hand, they ran toward the hotel.

[Full protection from Dudu throughout the match, rush forward for love!]

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Li Xingming: …

Jiang Qianqian: …

Hey, wait a minute.

Why does even the TV target me?

Jiang Qianqian now regretted her careless words about them “starting a match anytime.”

Now look, the ambiguous atmosphere needed for their relationship’s progress had arrived.

And she, Jiang Qianqian, had created it herself!

What a clown, a pure and utter clown.

Ye Sheng watched the commercial expressionlessly and sharply commented, “Those two definitely don’t really want to play the game.”

“Huh?” x2

“The equipment at eSports hotels is outdated and prone to bugs. You have to adjust the settings to your preferences, which is a hassle. If they really wanted to play, why not just bring their own consoles to one of their homes?” Ye Sheng took a bite of rice. “Is there something on my face?”

Ye Sheng put down her chopsticks and rubbed her face—there was no grain of rice on it. Strange.

Jiang Qianqian withdrew her surprised gaze and exhaled deeply.

Case closed.

Ye Sheng wasn’t deliberately trying to hit on Amin.

More likely, her academic excellence, standing out like a crane among chickens, came at the cost of emotional intelligence...

Pure to a fault!

Honestly, Jiang Qianqian had suspected Ye Sheng might be faking innocence, but some details simply couldn’t be fabricated.

A minute of insincerity takes a lifetime of skill.

If Ye Sheng were truly a schemer, she wouldn’t be in the history department but would have been admitted to the performing arts department instead.

Based on the public information Jiang Qianqian had sneakily searched on major domestic forums about Ye Sheng...

Ye Sheng had lacked emotional intelligence since childhood.

So, at least from Ye Sheng’s side, there was no need to worry about ulterior motives.

Jealousy radar: powered down~