After Lin Wangye and Shi Yuan came down the mountain, they didn’t leave right away. Instead, they sat on a bench at the bottom of the steps, waiting. The moment Lin Wangye saw that it was Lu Chengxuan who had carried Lin Shen down on his back, his eyes went wide. He even rubbed them just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, then hurried over.
“What happened here?!”
Lin Shen already felt super embarrassed, so he quickly straightened up and tried to put some distance between himself and Lu Chengxuan, hoping to make it look like they had nothing to do with each other.
But now that someone was asking, he couldn’t think of any other excuse. So he awkwardly coughed twice and just told the truth.
“I twisted my ankle.”
“Huh?” Lin Wangye instinctively looked down, then glanced around before raising a hand and pointing somewhere. “I remember there’s a clinic that way. Let’s go check it out.”
A sprained ankle could be minor or serious.
If it wasn’t too bad, it would heal with some rest. But if the bone was hurt, then things could get tricky.
The town was part of one of the scenic areas around Mount Yingtian, so there wasn’t a big hospital—just a small clinic. It was fine for treating common injuries like bumps and bruises, but anything more complicated would need a trip down the mountain to a city hospital.
Thankfully, after checking him out, the doctor said it wasn’t serious. Just needed to apply some medicated patches and rest, avoid walking around too much.
But honestly, this trip was already turning into a mess. They’d barely gotten started, and now the whole plan was out the window. They could definitely forget about visiting Yingfu Temple.
On top of feeling annoyed, Lin Shen also felt kind of guilty.
Back at the hotel, he sat on the bed watching Lin Wangye bustle around, piling fruit and snacks within arm’s reach. Shi Yuan sat quietly to the side, reading the instructions on the medicine. Lin Shen couldn’t help but speak up: “You guys should just go out and have fun. I’ll stay in the hotel by myself.”
“No way,” Lin Wangye shot that down right away. “You can’t even walk properly—how could we leave you alone? What if something happens?”
“It’s broad daylight, what could possibly happen? You think someone’s gonna break in and rob the place?” Lin Shen tried to reason with him.
But Lin Wangye kept shaking his head, clearly not budging.
“Nope. You’re not exactly known for sitting still. Don’t tell me you weren’t planning to sneak out while I was gone just to buy a pack of smokes?”
Lin Shen was completely stumped by that. After two seconds of silence, he finally snapped, “What kind of person do you think I am?!”
Lin Wangye turned his head away, silently saying, ‘Exactly that kind of person.’
With his personality, Lin Shen just couldn’t handle the idea of ruining everyone’s trip because of him. Seeing that Lin Wangye couldn’t be persuaded—neither by sweet talk nor reasoning—he had no choice but to turn to someone else.
“Xu Suinian, you take him out. I’m really fine.”
Shi Yuan lifted his eyes, glancing between the two of them. The moment Lin Wangye caught his gaze, he immediately started making faces, clearly signaling him to take his side.
Honestly, even without all the winking and eyebrow-waggling, Shi Yuan already knew exactly what kind of stance he was supposed to take.
He folded up the instruction leaflet and put it back into the box of medicated patches, then said, “Honestly, I’m not too comfortable leaving you alone in the hotel either.”
The moment he finished, Lin Wangye immediately jumped in like it was rehearsed.
“See? You’re hurt—how are we supposed to have fun with that hanging over our heads?”
Up until this point in life, Lin Shen’s mouth had been used mostly for eating, cussing people out, and running his mouth—not for anything resembling proper communication. When it came to talking things out normally, he was completely useless.
He struggled for a long while and still couldn’t manage to make sense to these two who were clearly on the same page, so in the end, he had no choice but to yell for backup.
“Lu Chengxuan! Where are you? Brother Lu! Emperor Qin!”
Mid-shout, Lu Chengxuan—who had vanished ever since carrying Lin Shen back to the room and laying him on the bed—walked over from the living room, still holding his phone. He’d just finished a call and finally looked up.
“What’s going on?”
Lin Shen waved a banana around, rambling in frustration. “We came all the way to Mount Yingtian—if we don’t hike up to Yingfu Temple, what was the point? Tell those two to just go out and have fun already! Stop hovering over me! I’m injured, not in jail. But in Lin Wangye’s eyes, I look like I’m about to hop up the mountain on one foot to steal holy relics.”
Lu Chengxuan quickly picked up on what he was getting at. He turned to Lin Wangye and said, “You two go have fun. I’ll stay at the hotel and keep an eye on him.”
Lin Shen’s eyes widened, and then he practically exploded. “So someone has to watch me, huh?!”
Lu Chengxuan looked back at him calmly, not the least bit fazed.
“Either it’s just me, or it’s all three of us. You pick.”
Lin Shen peeled the banana, shoved it in his mouth, and fell silent.
Noticing Lin Wangye beginning to waver, Lu Chengxuan turned to Shi Yuan. “Take him out. No point in all of us sitting around bored in the hotel.”
Shi Yuan thought this sounded reasonable and turned his head to look at Lin Wangye.
Lin Wangye caught that look and immediately understood where he stood. But even then, he still wasn’t completely at ease and turned to glance back at Lin Shen.
Lin Shen just waved him off with the back of his hand. “Go on already. Quit looking at me like I’m about to pull off a heist.”
“Then behave yourself. Don’t cause trouble for Brother Lu,” Lin Wangye reminded him as he turned to leave.
“Yeah yeah, I got it. You nag more than my mom and I’m younger than you!”
Ever since meeting Lin Wangye, sure, Lin Shen had someone to play games with and goof around with—but he also got stuck with someone who micromanaged everything. No smoking, no drinking too much, had to eat three meals a day at the right time, couldn’t binge on junk food… He was always being watched like a hawk.
Lin Shen, who was used to doing whatever he wanted, felt absolutely miserable now.
Obeying the rules made him feel like he’d lost all freedom—like someone had randomly assigned him a new dad who kept him in line.
But disobeying? That just made Lin Wangye unhappy.
Not that Lin Shen was scared of him throwing a tantrum or anything. What he really couldn’t handle… was when he cried. So in the end, if he had to listen, he’d just suck it up and listen.
Once Lin Wangye had packed up his bag and left with Shi Yuan, Lin Shen slumped against the bed and let out a long, dramatic sigh. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lu Chengxuan, sitting quietly nearby like a living statue of some handsome idol, and for the first time, the guy actually looked kind of attractive.
“Sometimes I really don’t know if being quiet is your strength or your weakness.”
Muttering that, Lin Shen grabbed the remote from the nightstand and turned on the TV.
He flipped through a bunch of mindless variety shows and soap operas. It didn’t take long before the boring lineup reminded him of his tragic days stuck in the hospital after falling into that ditch. He chucked the remote aside with a groan and let out a curse.
Lu Chengxuan said nothing. He just leaned against the headboard with his eyes closed, resting quietly.
After a while, the doorbell to the suite suddenly rang. Lu Chengxuan got up and went to answer it.
Not long after, Lin Shen heard all sorts of knocking and thudding sounds—like something heavy being moved. Curious, he stretched his neck to look out and saw a few hotel staff wheeling in a table and placing it right next to his bed.
Then came a full-blown computer setup—tower, monitor, everything.
He sat there in stunned silence as the staff arranged the keyboard, mouse, speakers, and other accessories in order, then started plugging in all the cables. Completely dumbfounded, Lin Shen couldn’t help but blurt out:
“What the hell…”
The hotel staff worked fast. In no time, the whole setup was done and they left. Lin Shen scooted over to the desk, opened the settings, and saw that this machine wasn’t just some average PC—it had a seriously solid build.
More than enough to run any online game out there.
Lin Shen was floored.
“What kind of hotel has a gaming rig like this?”
“It’s rented locally, not part of the hotel,” Lu Chengxuan replied calmly.
That made Lin Shen even more shocked.
This little town tucked in Mount Yingtian only came into being after the scenic area was developed. There were no locals—just employees and shop owners working the tourist scene. Finding a high-end gaming setup like this in a place like that? Almost impossible.
The computer didn’t have ‘Heroes of Glory’ installed, so Lin Shen opened the official site to download it. He didn’t poke around in any other files. The hotel’s internet was surprisingly fast, and the game client would be done downloading in under an hour.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed while waiting for the download, Lin Shen couldn’t help sighing, “If Xiao Lin finds out I’m gaming, he’s definitely gonna regret leaving…”
Halfway through the sentence, he suddenly froze like something had just hit him. He turned to stare at Lu Chengxuan.
“When he finally drags himself back from Yingfu Temple half-dead and sees me gaming in bed, he’s gonna think we planned this together just to get him out of the way!”
Lu Chengxuan replied calmly, analyzing it like a logic puzzle: “I don’t think so. He’ll probably be too busy enjoying the hike with Xu Suinian.”
“Good point.”
Lin Shen rubbed his chin and instantly relaxed. He stacked some blankets behind his back to lean against, faced the monitor, and kept shaking his leg while chomping on a banana. Casually, he added:
“I think hotels should stop just doing business rooms and all that romantic crap. They should lean into the entertainment side more. Like, every room should come with a gaming PC. Play all night, crash in bed right after, wake up and keep playing. You can even brush your teeth and shower in between rounds—way better than staying at a net cafe.”
Lu Chengxuan mentally replayed everything he’d just heard. Then he suddenly remembered something: the proposal Lin Wangye had given him was about investing in this exact type of hotel.
A place that focused entirely on esports.
Right now, the market didn’t have anything like that yet. No one could really say how well the idea would work.
The fact that no one had tried it just meant no one had taken the risk.
Most investors preferred safer bets—stuff with a known history, clear growth patterns, and predictable returns.
Trying something brand new could get you ahead of the curve and make a killing. Or it could flop hard and bleed money.
Still, Lu Chengxuan actually thought the esports hotel idea had potential.
But since Lin Wangye was still studying and didn’t really know how to write a proper proposal, the draft he submitted was kind of all over the place. It was just a rough idea—most of the key parts were still being figured out.
There were plenty of young people out there who loved gaming just like Lin Shen.
And with the gaming industry booming more than ever, it had already become a legit spending category for the younger crowd.
After hearing Lin Shen’s offhand rant, Lu Chengxuan was even more convinced that Lin Wangye’s idea might actually work.
“Hey, can we get another computer up here?” Lin Shen suddenly asked. “I’m still kinda scared that when Xiao Lin comes back after climbing all day and sees me playing games, he’s gonna kill me. But if we have a second PC, we can just duo queue.”
Just as Lu Chengxuan was pulling out his phone to send a message, Lin Shen kept going:
“Also, tonight I’m bunking with Xiao Lin. You guys can switch rooms.”
Lu Chengxuan’s hand paused mid-text. Then he simply replied with a soft, “Okay.”
Originally, the only issue was finding another PC with the same specs.
But after that comment… the whole day passed, and Lu Chengxuan still didn’t manage to get another computer.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
