Chapter Seven: What Do You Like About Him?

Forget it. As expected, without hope there is no disappointment. It’s impossible to “carry” someone who doesn’t care for misers, and the first blood wasn’t delivered—someone else got the second kill instead.

Don’t Care for Misers: Cracked, sorry.

Yuan Zhong turned on voice chat: It’s alright. Stay under the tower, try not to die. Once I hit level four, I’ll avenge you.

And so she did—Yuan Zhong’s Lan soon hunted down the opposing assassin, Jing Ke. Not long after, Yu Ji was killed again by the enemy marksman, but Lan was quick to respond, slaying the half-health marksman and handing Yu Ji an assist.

Every time Yu Ji died, Lan would follow up with a kill of her own. Back and forth, the teammates started to catch on: Are these two a couple? That’s some serious protection.

Original Thousand Gold: Master and apprentice.

Teammate: Oh, trying to pick up chicks, huh?

Yuan Zhong activated full team voice: Your sister?

Teammate: Whoa, it's a girl. The master’s a girl? Not bad at all.

Don’t Care for Misers: My master is a legend.

In the meantime, Lan claimed two more kills, carrying the whole match.

The opposing team was starting to lose composure: Their Lan is good. If our marksman weren’t such a feeder, they’d have won already.

In the next group fight, Don’t Care for Misers died again, her message—“Master”—dripping with grievance.

Yuan Zhong directed her team, then slipped in deftly and wiped out the enemy—two for five.

Her teammates laughed: Hey, don’t kill Yu Ji. If you kill the apprentice, the master follows, and it’s not worth it.

Opponent: Lan, want to queue together next round?

Teammate: She’s taking her apprentice. Are you okay with a buy-one-get-one-free?

Opponent: Apprentice? Who? As long as it’s not Yu Ji, it’s fine.

Teammate: Hahaha! Guess what, it’s Yu Ji.

Don’t Care for Misers: Master…

Yuan Zhong: It’s fine, I’m here.

They sailed smoothly to three consecutive victories, advancing to Starlight rank.

Yuan Zhong: This promotion series isn’t so hard after all.

Don’t Care for Misers: Master, you’re incredible! A legend!

A skin gift arrived swiftly; Yuan Zhong hurriedly said, “I told you, don’t waste your money.”

Don’t Care for Misers: Hehe, thank you for your hard work, Master.

This girl was so polite. Yuan Zhong said, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get you to King rank. I keep my promises.”

Seeing it was getting late, Yuan Zhong added, “Go to sleep, it’s good for your skin.”

Don’t Care for Misers: Okay, Master. What time tomorrow?

Yuan Zhong checked her schedule—exams were coming up. “I’ll be a bit busy for the next two weeks. Probably not free during the day. Let’s play at 7 p.m. If something comes up, I’ll log in and leave you a message.”

Yuan Zhong considered, but didn’t suggest adding each other on WeChat. This was a young girl, after all. She should have a sense of caution, and as her master, Yuan Zhong ought to set an example.

Yuan Zhong logged off, but Don’t Care for Misers lingered, staring excitedly at the Starlight badge. This was her highest achievement in all her time playing Honor of Kings.

She’d started just to relax, but her rank had always been mocked by her friends, so she got a bit competitive. She’d tried hard for a long time, but her skills were average. She wanted someone to carry her, but several times she’d been ditched, told she was “uncarryable”—a blow to her pride.

The first time she encountered “Original Thousand Gold,” their moves were so slick—she immediately added her as a friend. She’d expected her to play a few games and then get annoyed at her lack of skill, but instead she agreed to take her on as an apprentice, and kept carrying her up to Starlight. What a good person!

Of course, the fact that the other was a girl was surprising. The first time she heard her speak up on her behalf in-game, she was stunned, but with skills like that, respect outweighed surprise. Who says girls can’t play as well as boys? That’s only if you haven’t met her master!

But her master seemed to think she was a girl too… Should she tell her the truth? After thinking it over, she decided to keep quiet. If she told her and the master left, that would be terrible. Besides, she only typed and never spoke—who would know?

She admired the Starlight badge again, smug, and couldn’t help but take a screenshot to send to her mocking friends.

Friend 1: Seriously? Qi Leyu, you’ve improved!

Friend 2: Did you steal that screenshot? What’s the point?

Qi Leyu: Get lost! Genuine, fresh out of the oven.

Friend 3: That’s it? Check out my King rank.

After a round of banter, Qi Leyu sighed—why did she befriend this bunch? Never mind, she’d wait until she reached King rank, then mock them properly.

Just to be sure, she double-checked her player settings in the game—her gender was already changed, and she made sure nothing else would give her away. She’d wait until her master took her to King rank.

She thought, Master, I didn’t mean to deceive you—I just have my reasons!

After her little prayer, she sent “Original Thousand Gold” a Lan skin as thanks for the amazing performance.

Reluctantly logging out, Qi Leyu poured herself a glass of water, stood on the balcony to admire the clear moon and sparse stars, and inspiration suddenly struck. She hurried back to her computer.

Since sophomore year, Qi Leyu had moved out of the dorms for the sake of writing, giving her the freedom to welcome her muse. In recent years, her creativity had flowed like a spring, turning her hobby into a profession.

Recently she’d been struggling with writer’s block, so she started gaming with friends to change things up—a pretty good experience, mostly because she’d met a great master.

She wrote until 3 a.m., rubbed her neck, remembered her master’s advice about beauty sleep, yawned, and went off to dreamland.

Yuan Zhong was preparing for final exams. She had enough credits already, but wanted to keep herself busy.

Zhang Cheng agreed, “Yes, stay in study mode, keep working hard, live a fuller life.”

Feng Duoduo rolled her eyes. “You’ve got too much free time, huh?”

Lin Hui said nothing, but she too started spending less time gaming.

Studying during the day, gaming at night—for two or three weeks Yuan Zhong was so busy she barely thought about her idol. Feng Duoduo was curious, while Lin Hui seemed a little worried.

The day before break, both Zhang Cheng and Feng Duoduo were absent.

Lin Hui asked, “Zhong Zhong, are you still going to game with Zhang Shun?”

“Of course. I’ll keep going till I reach King rank.”

“Starlight is good enough. Why wait until King?” Lin Hui didn’t understand.

Yuan Zhong thought for a moment. “It’ll stand out even more that way. Look, we’ve only met twice in real life, and neither time left much of an impression—he probably doesn’t even remember me. That’s just how I am in real life, I can’t change it. But in the game, there’s still a chance. I want him to notice me.”

Lin Hui watched her, saying nothing.

Of course, there was another reason—she’d promised her little apprentice to take her to King rank and wanted to fulfill that as soon as possible.

After dinner, Yuan Zhong logged in on time and played six matches in a row, bringing Don’t Care for Misers up to Starlight 1.

Qi Leyu was excited: just one step from King. Master is amazing!

Yuan Zhong said, “I’m going home for the New Year during winter break. The signal in the mountains isn’t great, so I might not be able to play. We’ll see.”

Qi Leyu caught on to the “winter break” detail—the other player was a student! Gaming at the same time every night, probably a college student. “Going home”—so not a local.

Don’t Care for Misers: Master, your hometown is in the mountains? It must be beautiful.

Yuan Zhong thought and replied, “It is beautiful, and the air is especially good. A lot of people come on vacation—‘lung cleansing’ is really popular these days.”

Don’t Care for Misers: I’ll have to try it someday.

Yuan Zhong sent a smiley face—she couldn’t exactly invite someone she’d only met online. Though they’d grown closer through gaming, looking back, outside of the game they’d shared little personal information. Her apprentice was cautious indeed.

Don’t Care for Misers: I’m staying put for the New Year—got some work to do. No sense wasting time on the road.

Yuan Zhong grew curious—what did this young lady do for work, being so free? No, she shouldn’t call her a young lady—if she was working, she might even be older than Yuan Zhong.

When it came to personal information, Yuan Zhong felt it was private, especially in the virtual world of gaming, so she didn’t press.

Yuan Zhong: I’m logging off early tonight—have to get up early tomorrow.

Her parents had assigned her some errands—she needed to buy a batch of things.

Qi Leyu did the math: winter break started tomorrow. Her master was probably catching a train home. She quickly replied, “Okay, Master, rest early. Good night.”

Even Lin Hui stopped gaming early, glanced at Yuan Zhong, washed up, and climbed into bed.

In the darkness, Lin Hui spoke. “Zhong Zhong, I’ve never asked—what do you like about him?”

Yuan Zhong’s head was fuzzy with sleep, but Lin Hui’s question woke her up. She thought for a moment. “He’s handsome—a campus heartthrob; smart—also a top student; gentlemanly?” That last one, even she wasn’t sure about.

Lin Hui didn’t reply.

Yuan Zhong grew embarrassed. “I guess I don’t really know him at all. Feelings are hard to explain sometimes.”

After a while, Lin Hui’s voice sounded again. “If—I mean, what if…”

Yuan Zhong waited, but Lin Hui fell silent. “If what?” she prompted.

Lin Hui remembered so many things—Yuan Zhong’s intelligence, her kindness and gentleness, how she got along with all her roommates, no matter their personalities.

She still recalled her first day of college, lugging bags onto the bus. Her brand-new jeans tore and she felt awkward, but Feng Duoduo said, “Those are some trendy pants.”

Yuan Zhong took off her own jacket and offered it. “I’m having trouble carrying everything. You’re tall, just tie it around your waist.”

Zhang Cheng had asked, “Why not tie it yourself? She has way more bags than you!”

Yuan Zhong had gently explained, “I’m short, and it doesn’t look good on me. But it would look cool on her.”

Lin Hui had accepted the gesture. She hadn’t understood Feng Duoduo’s comment about fashion, but she appreciated Yuan Zhong’s thoughtfulness.

It was clear that Feng Duoduo and Yuan Zhong were close. Yuan Zhong often brought her breakfast, brought home-cooked dishes from the weekend, and even picky Feng Duoduo always said the food was delicious, never paid, but often gave Yuan Zhong skincare products in return.

Yuan Zhong was always smiling, choosing gifts openly and considerately, balancing price and taste, thinking of others’ preferences.

Zhang Cheng was strong-willed—Yuan Zhong often helped mediate between her and the other roommates, smoothing things over quietly until everyone felt it.

So, when Yuan Zhong finally liked someone, even someone as reserved as Lin Hui wanted to help, to see her happy.

But had she only made things worse?

“Huihui?” Yuan Zhong called softly. “Are you asleep?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll wait until you reach King.”

“Alright, I’ll do my best.”

After that, Yuan Zhong couldn’t sleep. In the haze, Zhang Shun’s face grew more and more indistinct. She didn’t know when she finally drifted off, and the next morning she dragged herself out of bed, got ready quietly, left Lin Hui a note, and left the dorm.

When Lin Hui woke, she saw the note: “Huihui, take care of yourself. If you need anything, call this local’s number.” It was followed by a cute smiley face.

Lin Hui sighed softly, making up her mind.