Chapter Forty-Seven: Where Is My Diao Chan?

Yuan Chong smiled, saying nothing, hoping the topic would drop, but clearly Li Jiufeng hadn’t caught on.

He went on, “Listening to you talk in the game, it always feels like…like you’re always snapping back at people, very direct, kind of has that northern vibe…”

“Hey, don’t start with the north-south bias,” Yuan Chong interrupted.

“No, no, I don’t mean anything bad, just…just surprised, that’s all.”

“You’re surprised? The camera mostly shows my face, didn’t expect I’d actually be so tall,” Yuan Chong said.

Cong Wenbin chimed in, “His profile mentions his height.”

Yuan Chong rolled his eyes silently, thinking, I don’t even want to talk—if you’re so capable, you chat with him.

Li Jiufeng smiled again and asked Yuan Chong, “When did you start gaming?”

Cong Wenbin answered, “Shouldn’t be more than a few years.” Otherwise, you’d know him.

This guy actually jumped in, but he wasn’t wrong. Yuan Chong nodded, “I started in the last semester of my senior year, so just about half a year, really.”

“You’re pretty talented, then,” Li Jiufeng said.

Cong Wenbin looked at Yuan Chong with envy.

Yuan Chong guessed what was on his mind.

“Stingy Ghost is a real liability in games, lousy at controls and awareness, I don’t like teaming with him,” Li Jiufeng said. “So when he said he had an awesome mentor, I didn’t believe it.”

“He’s got a good attitude in the game, and I happened to run into him. Players so devoted to peace are rare—gotta treasure them,” Yuan Chong smiled. “He’s probably got a good temper.”

Li Jiufeng choked.

“What’s wrong?” Yuan Chong asked, puzzled.

“Nothing, you’ll know when you meet him someday.”

Yuan Chong shook his head. “Forget it, I don’t need to meet. Gaming online is enough—after all, he’s just an online friend.”

“Then why did you want to meet me?” Li Jiufeng was curious.

Yuan Chong glanced at Cong Wenbin, who looked down, silent.

Since he didn’t object, Yuan Chong decided to tell the truth. “He’s your fan, a real fan—it was his idea to invite you.”

“Oh.” Li Jiufeng understood, turned to Cong Wenbin, “Pleasure to meet you. What’s your ID?”

“Battered Keyboard.”

Li Jiufeng thought for a moment. “I think I remember—you asked me about sending something, but I didn’t accept.”

Cong Wenbin nodded.

“But you still sent it, didn’t you? How’d you get my address?” Li Jiufeng’s tone grew serious.

Cong Wenbin blushed and lowered his head, nervous.

Remembering what Cong Wenbin had said earlier, Yuan Chong started to realize something. “Wait, is this place near your home?”

Li Jiufeng nodded.

“I—I meant no harm, just thought that thing might help you,” Cong Wenbin looked at Li Jiufeng’s hand.

“You shouldn’t have done that, it’s a bit creepy,” Yuan Chong said, then explained to Li Jiufeng, “His real job is our company’s IT engineer, pretty broad technical skillset.”

Li Jiufeng understood, “You’re something else!”

Cong Wenbin quickly pulled out an ID card from his pocket and handed it to Li Jiufeng.

“What’s this?”

“My personal information, for you. I honestly mean no harm—just hope your hand gets better,” Cong Wenbin said.

Yuan Chong sighed; he’d always felt Cong Wenbin was up to something, and it turned out to be true.

“He’s told me many times you’re his idol. The act was wrong, but his intentions aren’t bad.”

Cong Wenbin’s eyes reddened. “That remedy, I searched for ages.”

Li Jiufeng picked up Cong Wenbin’s ID and looked it over. “Well, guess today counts as a proper introduction.”

Cong Wenbin nodded. “Thank you.”

“I should thank you—how much did that medicine cost?” Li Jiufeng asked.

“About half a year’s salary,” Cong Wenbin replied.

Li Jiufeng looked at him. He didn’t know how much half a year’s wages amounted to, but the phrase itself was startling. He asked, “How old are you?”

“Twenty-five.”

“You’re not young anymore. Don’t get scammed again.”

---

Cong Wenbin’s expression soured. “So it didn’t work?” He glanced again at Li Jiufeng’s hand.

“My hand has a tendon problem; that medicine was useless. I’ve tried everything possible, thanks, but no need,” Li Jiufeng said.

He looked a little regretful and didn’t want to elaborate.

Health is a private matter, and at a first meeting, Yuan Chong didn’t want to pry.

Cong Wenbin’s hopes were dashed, and he grew withdrawn.

The three fell quiet again.

They’d nearly finished eating. The last half cup of milk avocado juice Cong Wenbin poured into Li Jiufeng’s glass.

When it came time to pay, Yuan Chong felt awkward. Cong Wenbin insisted on paying, Li Jiufeng insisted as well. With neither giving way, Yuan Chong took out his QR code and settled the bill himself.

“All right, that was a good meal today,” Yuan Chong put away his phone.

“Miss, let me transfer you the money, we agreed on it,” Li Jiufeng frowned.

“No need—consider it my thanks. And thanks to you, Unreliable, gaming with you is fun and helps me relax,” Yuan Chong smiled.

Cong Wenbin said, “Call me anytime if you need anything at the office.”

“Deal!” Yuan Chong stood up and headed out. When getting in the car, he saw Cong Wenbin had no intention of leaving with them, so he said goodbye to Li Jiufeng.

“Hey, you really don’t want to meet Stingy Ghost?” Li Jiufeng leaned against the car window.

“No need. Don’t tell him we met. I was just helping him meet you today. Let’s keep collaborating in-game.”

“You two are quite alike in that way. All right, see you,” Li Jiufeng stood up.

Yuan Chong’s car slowly pulled away. In the rearview mirror, he saw Li Jiufeng and Cong Wenbin walking in the same direction.

He thought, thank goodness aside from stealing an address, nothing else happened. Luckily Li Jiufeng is a guy, and Cong Wenbin doesn’t seem like a bad person—otherwise, I’d have to worry more.

Mission accomplished, Yuan Chong felt cheerful, eager to go home and get some beauty sleep.

After disappearing for two days, Wang Shanshan finally returned to work. Yuan Chong treaded carefully, hoping not to offend, but quietly observed that Wang Shanshan was too busy to notice anything else—someone had landed her in quite a bit of trouble.

Yuan Chong kept her head down, quietly continuing as the office invisible.

That evening, entering Unreliable’s livestream, she found Cong Wenbin was there too.

Unreliable said, “Quick, let’s queue as a trio.”

Cong Wenbin: “Sure.”

Yuan Chong: “Not a good idea.” She had to keep track of her own disciple.

Unreliable: “Stingy Ghost might not be free, he’s…well, probably pretty busy lately.”

“He told you he can’t make it?” Yuan Chong checked.

“No, not exactly,” Unreliable said. “I think he needs to focus on work.”

Yuan Chong “heh”-ed: “You think? Who are you anyway!”

Unreliable: “……” He paused. “All right, guess that fits your in-game persona.”

Cong Wenbin said, “Still short one for a five-stack.”

Yuan Chong: “Plenty of fans in the stream, let’s pick one.”

Unreliable: “Great idea.”

Soon, Qi Leyu logged in. “Master!”

Unreliable exclaimed, “Oh wow.”

Yuan Chong decisively cut him off. “Ready up, ready up!”

Unreliable picked marksman, Cong Wenbin instantly chose support, Yuan Chong took jungle, Qi Leyu went mage, and the fan grabbed a tank role.

At the start, the support didn’t help mid or jungle, just followed the marksman down the farm lane.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s not exactly a high-level match, but your support’s a bit unconventional,” Yuan Chong said.

Cong Wenbin: “I’m returning to my roots.”

Qi Leyu asked, “Master, who’s this?”

Yuan Chong replied, “Another Unreliable fan. A loyal one, very devoted.”

After clearing one jungle camp, Yuan Chong headed mid for a gank. The enemy jungler had the same idea, but brought a support, making it a two-on-three in mid.

If Unreliable teamed up, Yuan Chong felt confident, but Stingy Ghost’s mechanics definitely weren’t up to par.

Yuan Chong decided to trade combos and retreat, whittling down enemy health. She told Stingy Ghost, “After using your skills, retreat under the tower.”

The enemy mage was low; Qi Leyu couldn’t resist and stepped forward for another attack, but got killed instead.

---

Unreliable: “What’s going on with you two in mid, master and disciple?”

“Nothing, just a mistake,” Yuan Chong said.

Qi Leyu stayed quiet, happy to have Miss there.

After clearing half the jungle, Yuan Chong rotated to the farm lane, and in a three-on-three, successfully took out the enemy marksman and support.

“Watch out for their jungler,” Unreliable said. “He’s got some good gold.”

Cong Wenbin: “Let’s catch him.”

Yuan Chong knew he meant her, but the enemy jungler was quite the character: cautious, always reacting, yet still managed to escape with a sliver of health after kills.

On the confrontation lane, the same drama played out with different characters.

Yuan Chong couldn’t help but admire, sending a message to the enemy: Jungler, you’re impressive—always full of surprises.

Enemy jungler: Thanks.

Then the two junglers started playing cat-and-mouse—Yuan Chong was the hawk. Wherever they went, kills followed, but neither died.

Unreliable said, “What’s up with you two, trading favors?”

He’d died twice.

Cong Wenbin: “You stay out of it.”

Yuan Chong found it amusing and joked with the enemy: My own teammates are tired of me, say I’m death incarnate. How about you?

Enemy jungler: Doing fine.

Yuan Chong: Which bush are you in? I’ll come find you.

Enemy jungler: No need.

Unreliable laughed, “This jungler’s got personality.”

Cong Wenbin: “Switch targets for ganks.”

Yuan Chong said “Good suggestion,” but nothing changed, so she explained, “This time it wasn’t me, he came after me.”

Unreliable said, “He knows how to play. Your champion’s power spike is over, so he has to go on the offensive.”

“Looks like your gold’s decent. Let’s teamfight.” Yuan Chong began to play stealthily.

Two rounds of teamfights went well. Unreliable’s marksman damage showed up, Yuan Chong finished off targets as jungler, only acting when the enemy jungler did.

Then the enemy jungler called out: Duel me.

Yuan Chong replied: Sure, waiting by Dark Tyrant.

She turned to Unreliable, “Come on, let’s brawl.”

The enemy jungler really came alone, and was instantly crushed: You broke your word.

Yuan Chong: Wrong, all’s fair in war.

Enemy jungler: Once more, solo.

Yuan Chong: All right, you pick the spot.

Enemy jungler: Meet by my red buff.

Unreliable: “Is your red buff supposed to witness something?”

Yuan Chong replied, “Witness nothing, hurry up and take the dragon.”

“Wow, you’re playing dirty now,” Unreliable said.

“As if you don’t want to win,” Yuan Chong retorted.

The enemy jungler didn’t wait, switched to the dragon, and invited again: Challenge to a duel.

“All right, this time I’m really coming,” Yuan Chong said as if she’d made up her mind, then continued chasing the enemy marksman with Stingy Ghost.

Unreliable couldn’t take it and messaged the enemy: Don’t wait anymore, our jungler’s a bit slippery.

The enemy jungler was stubborn, repeatedly asking for a solo.

Yuan Chong was puzzled: I’m not using Diao Chan, you’re not using Lu Bu, is it really necessary? The enemy kept searching for her: Where’s my Diao Chan?

Their teammates had had enough: What’s with these two junglers?

Yuan Chong corrected: Wrong, I’m fine—you should ask your jungler.

Cong Wenbin had had enough too: “Push fast!”

When the game ended, Yuan Chong received a friend request from the enemy: Did I just meet a maniac?