[Esports] Pheromones say we're a match made in heaven.

After the match, a photo of Qin Yi wearing a couple's pendant given to her by her boyfriend and holding up the Hawk team flag went viral.

For the first time ever, Ms. Lu gave a thumbs up to a marketing account. She then said to Mr. Qin, who was reading a book next to her and wearing glasses, "You know what, I suddenly feel that Qin Yi is actually quite good at this competition. At least he achieved some results and brought glory to the country."

Qin Yi was indeed smart when he was young, but he was also a real handful. He was inconsistent in his efforts, and this was the first time she had ever seen Qin Yi seriously stick to something for so long.

At the time, she was worried that Qin Yi would become a jerk in relationships when he grew up, only having a short attention span. Now it seems that she was overthinking it.

Old Qin scoffed lightly, not even looking up: "He used to sneak off to the internet cafe every day and play for hours, wasting so much time, and he didn't even take the exam! He should be glad he got good grades, otherwise how could he have the face to come back and see us?"

Ms. Lu sighed.

As teachers, she and Lao Qin have always opposed Qin Yi playing games, even though they discovered his extraordinary gaming talent early on.

But over the years they have also been reflecting on themselves. They know that there is more to life than just studying. Perhaps for Qin Yi, taking the path of e-sports would be easier. So why do they still strongly oppose it?

Is this really for the child's good, or is it just about making the child conform to one's own expectations and follow the life trajectory one has planned in one's mind? Once it is discovered that the child has deviated from the trajectory, there is an instinctive urge to correct it.

"Do you think we were wrong from the very beginning?" Ms. Lu said. "If we hadn't objected and had respected Qin Yi's opinion and supported him in pursuing his dreams, he wouldn't have had such a difficult two years."

When Qin Yi first started playing professionally, his family was so angry that they almost disowned him.

Although Qin Yi was talented and quickly rose to prominence and earned a lot of money, the pressure of the competition was immense. Even the slightest mistake would result in being attacked by haters. The malicious comments online were disheartening for Ms. Lu. If she had the support of her family, she probably wouldn't have felt so much psychological pressure.

"Ultimately, it's because we haven't walked that road before. Who knows what lies ahead?" Old Qin picked up his cup and took a sip of water. "Don't think too much about it. It's fine as it is now."

After saying that, Lao Qin scrolled through his phone hidden behind the book, selected a few good angles, and saved the post-match group photo of Qin Yi and the others.

He never watched these kinds of games or competitions before, but recently he's been paying more attention to Chi Feifan, so he happened to watch Qin Yi's match with Hawk. He didn't expect that the kid was actually pretty good, showing some of his former glory.

Ms. Lu took her phone and went back to her room. She let her hair down, intending to rest early, when a notification popped up on her phone—Hawk's official account was live streaming.

At the same time, Lao Qin's phone also vibrated.

The two clicked on it simultaneously.

Hawk and his team were having a barbecue at a restaurant to celebrate their narrow escape into the finals. The live stream was originally hosted by Chen Yangyang, who wanted to interact with his fans, but he went to the bathroom and his phone ended up in Qin Yi's hands.

Qin Yi swung the small pendant in his hand, fiddling with it every now and then, the little bell on it ringing incessantly.

[Okay, okay, I know it was a gift from your partner.]

I think I'm becoming hypersensitive to the sound of bells.

Stop shaking me, bro. Give the phone to someone else, my ears hurt.

A small section of Chi Feifan's arm was visible next to Qin Yi. Chi Feifan was listening to Wang Kang and the others tell jokes when he glanced at the comments scrolling across the screen: "..."

Chi Feifan gripped the water glass and said coldly, "If you keep doing this... I won't deliver next time."

Qin Yi tilted his head: "There's a next time? When is the next time?"

The screen was flooded with question marks.

Chi Feifan: "...That's not the point."

Qin Yi raised an eyebrow regretfully: "Okay, I originally thought it would be meaningful to wear this on my wrist since you kissed it—"

Chi Feifan quickly covered Qin Yi's mouth, and his face inevitably appeared in the camera's view.

Chi Feifan felt the corners of his mouth turn up slightly under his palm.

"If you don't like it, I won't wear it."

Did I say I didn't like it? I just told you to stop fiddling with it!

Chi Feifan didn't want to see what the comments were saying, so he quickly withdrew his hand, stepped out of the camera's view, and gulped down a cup of lemon tea.

Ms. Lu watched the whole thing on her phone and couldn't help but type something.

Have some shame!

Old Qin frowned the whole time, and when he saw that someone had expressed his own thoughts, he couldn't help but comment.

All you ever do is try to climb the social ladder; your parents would be embarrassed to admit you're their child!

The other comments were all neatly filled with question marks, making these two stand out.

Qin Yi manually scrolled up and scrolled to the top to find the two comments: "Where did this hater come from?"

He clicked on the profile picture directly: "Turn left when you leave, no need to see me off."

After saying that, he ruthlessly silenced both of them.

On the other side, after Wang Kang and the others finished telling jokes, they saw that Shen Shu was sullen and reached out to pat Shen Shu on the shoulder.

Wang Kang: "What's wrong? Are you still upset about today's match?"

Shen Shu didn't say anything, but kept poking at the roasted meat on the plate.

He's being bombarded with criticism online, with many uninformed netizens criticizing his abstract approach.

"Don't pay attention to what people are saying online. They'll shut up automatically once the league's punishment announcement comes out," Wang Kang comforted him.

Old Jiang chimed in, "Yeah, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Remember when Wang Kang first went on stage? He died within minutes. He killed himself by not timing his grenade properly."

Old Jiang dodged Wang Kang's outstretched hand that reached out to pinch him, and couldn't help but laugh when he thought of this embarrassing past: "Compared to him, your little mistake is nothing."

Wang Kang slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "Damn it, shut up! Didn't we agree not to mention this?!"

When Chen Yangyang returned, Qin Yi had already shown off in the live stream and then returned the phone to him with satisfaction.

Hawk and his group ate and drank for two hours. After they were full, Wang Kang asked the shopkeeper for a bunch of dice and clamored to play a dice-shaking game and brag. The loser would drink a cup of liquor.

Chi Feifan wasn't interested in any of that; he leaned back in his chair and scrolled through his phone.

Wang Kang and his friends hadn't originally planned to bring Qin Yi along. Qin Yi was a cunning old fox who always tricked people, and almost no one else had ever won against him. It just so happened that Qin Yi also thought they were no good.

Unexpectedly, just as everything was prepared, Qin Yi suddenly put down his phone and said, "I'll come too."

Wang Kang exclaimed, "Captain, if you come, how are we supposed to survive? We'll all be drunk to a pulp!"

"Stop talking nonsense, it's not that exaggerated." Qin Yi reached for a dice cup. "Who goes first?"

Wang Kang swallowed hard and pushed Lao Jiang forward: "Lao Jiang, go first. Our team has always respected the elderly and cared for the young."

The sound of dice hitting the dice cup could be heard coming from the private room.

Wang Kang thought he would be tortured by Qin Yi again tonight, but as he played, he realized something was wrong.

Qin Yi used to be very accurate in his judgments and was particularly good at psychological tactics, but today he seemed to be giving out points randomly, and started playing casually after only a few rounds.

Chi Feifan's ears twitched, and his gaze shifted from his phone.

Qin Yi lost several rounds in a row, but kept drinking one cup after another.