*Footnote for chapter title: ‘Five-stack’ means playing in a full team of five
Just when he was stuck in a bind, a call from his brother saved him. Yan Linjian went to his brother’s office to fetch something for him, witnessed his brother getting into a relationship, and then shamelessly tagged along to his brother’s workplace.
Since he had no classes for the next few days and didn’t want to see Qi Jingzhi, Yan Linjian stayed over at his brother’s place, eating dog food[mfn]吃狗粮 (eat dog food) – Meaning: Third wheeling[/mfn] while thinking about how to deal with the matter.
Qi Jingzhi sent him a few messages. Yan Linjian replied that he was at his brother’s, and the other party didn’t ask further.
Instead, using his God Yuè alt account, he sneakily asked Yan Linjian whether he was in a bad mood and whether he had quarrelled with his roommate.
【Nope, we’re doing great. Why would you ask that?】
Dog Moon[mfn]狗月亮 – Dog Moon: ‘Dog’ means shameless/despicable/scumbag/scoundrel[/mfn]: 【You just didn’t seem to be in a good mood today.】
【Really? Not at all. (Confused Leopard.jpg)】
Dog Moon: 【Maybe I was just overthinking it.】
Dog Moon: 【Ranked?】
【Log on.】
Yan Linjian let out a cold sneer and thought to himself: “Let me see how well you’ve trained this deception skill of yours.”
This time, Yan Linjian had the first pick. He locked in a solo-lane role first, then their teammates all picked their own roles, leaving Qi Jingzhi with no choice but to play jungler.
Yan Linjian watched him hesitate for a long time before, in the last two seconds, selecting a hero he didn’t usually use. With a cold snort, Yan Linjian turned on the microphone and said: “Can you even jungle? How about we switch?”
Qi Jingzhi was startled when he suddenly turned on his mic. After a moment, he typed back: 【I can】
“Alright, you do it then.” Yan Linjian idly fiddled with his brother’s pen holder, mentally plotting how he was going to mess with Qi Jingzhi later.
“Typing’s too slow. I’ll use voice, you don’t mind, right?”
【I don’t mind】
“Isn’t it inconvenient for you to type?”
【Mm】
Yan Linjian gave a light laugh: “Then do you think my voice sounds nice?”
【……】
【It does】
Their teammates could see Qi Jingzhi’s messages. Since Yan Linjian was speaking on the mic while Qi Jingzhi was typing, it looked to the others as if he were talking to himself. The mid-laner sent a 【?】, but Qi Jingzhi just kept diligently ganking without responding to him.
Suppressing his laughter, Yan Linjian pressed on: “If it sounds nice, then it sounds nice. What’s with the ellipses? Did I make you feel awkward?”
【No】
【Just a little surprised】
“Surprised about what?”
【Your voice is really nice】
Mid-laner: 【Ew! What’s wrong with you, jungler! That’s so cheesy!】
Qi Jingzhi: 【Sorry, just chatting with a friend】
“Friend? Am I just your friend?” Yan Linjian’s tone suddenly turned serious.
Qi Jingzhi: 【Boyfriend】
Mid-laner: 【Tsk. I hate couples the most.】
As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Jingzhi took a triple kill in the enemy jungle and secured the dragon. The mid-laner instantly changed his tune: 【Happy New Year, big bro and sis-in-law, you two keep chatting】
Mid-laner: 【Daddy Kai[mfn]铠爹 – Direct translation: Kai-dad. “Kai” is the name of the hero Qi Jingzhi is using. “Dad” is like a slang to show respect/admiration. Kai:
[/mfn], can I get a blue buff?】
Qi Jingzhi: 【Go ahead】
Mid-laner: 【Thanks, Daddy Kai】
Yan Linjian was farming peacefully against the enemy side-laner, clearing minions while keeping an eye on Qi Jingzhi’s movements. His tone was casual: “You’re pretty good at jungling too. Why did you always play side lane before?”
【Because you said your roommate could jungle】
“I see…” Yan Linjian’s lips curled. “Then I’ll call him over for the next game. He probably doesn’t have much to do today.”
Qi Jingzhi paused for a moment while taking the dragon, only replying after he finished: 【Okay】
Yan Linjian stared at that 【Okay】 for a long time, so annoyed that he started laughing: Fine then, I’ll call Shen Yang and Miao Xin too. Let’s see how Qi Jingzhi manages to play two roles at once.
Once the five of them were in a team, Shen Yang and the others turned on their mics.
“Yan Linjian, is this the guy you’ve been dating online? Why won’t he turn on his mic?”
“He can’t use voice right now. You guys watch what you say, don’t mess around.”
【It’s fine, you can talk freely】
Yan Linjian pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and couldn’t help frowning: “Qi Jingzhi, is it inconvenient for you to switch on your mic too?”
Miao Xin: “Isn’t Qi-shen right here? What’s inconvenient about it?”
“It’s on.”
Qi Jingzhi’s voice came through, and when Yan Linjian saw the little microphone icon light up in the corner, his smile slowly turned wicked.
“Then shall we start?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Alright.”
【Mm】
Miao Xin: “Linjian, why didn’t you return to the dorms?”
“I was helping my brother deliver some things, so I’m staying with him for a couple of days.”
Miao Xin: “Ohhh, I thought you and Qi-shen had a fight.”
“Fight? Nothing like that.” It was just him being upset on his own.
Qi Jingzhi’s mild voice came through: “I thought you were mad at me too.”
Yan Linjian feigned surprise: “What, did you do something to let me down?”
“…No. But you didn’t seem quite right last night.”
Qi Jingzhi seemed to sigh softly, but it wasn’t clear through the headphones, and the faint sound sent a tingling jolt straight through Yan Linjian’s mind.
“No, I was just thinking about some things.”
Shen Yang laughed heartily: “You have no idea. When you suddenly left last night, Qi-shen was so scared that he couldn’t sleep all night. He’d glance at the door every few minutes, and even made us message you to ask when you were coming back…”
Qi Jingzhi: “Cough.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Linjian’s boyfriend’s right here,” Miao Xin had muted himself, but his voice was still picked up by Shen Yang’s phone and went out to everyone.
Yan Linjian glanced at his “boyfriend,” who had been silent this whole time, and said, “It’s fine. He doesn’t mind.”
【We’re all friends.】
Right, all friends. Yan Linjian swiftly locked in support, planning to stick to the jungler the whole match and see exactly how Qi Jingzhi handled playing two roles at once.
Qi Jingzhi: “You’re playing support?”
“Want to try out my new skin. Miao Xin can handle marksman.”
Miao Xin: “I can, but are you two planning to be glued together the whole game?”
Yan Linjian said: “I’ll help you.”
Miao Xin: “No need, no need, I’ll just sit quietly in tower jail[mfn]When a player enters the opposing team’s tower’s attack range before their minions, the tower will cause large damage to the player. To stay in ‘tower jail’ here means Miao Xin will just stay under the protection of their tower to avoided being killed by enemy players.
The following image shows a tower attacking a player that has entered its attack range:
[/mfn]. Qi-shen can carry the whole game. But, uh…”
He glanced at Yan Linjian’s online boyfriend and didn’t dare say the second half: But will your boyfriend really not mind?
Before, since they assumed both of them were straight, no one thought much of it. Now that they knew Yan Linjian was dating a guy online, Qi Jingzhi had reined himself in somewhat, but in daily life he still took meticulous care of him.
When Miao Xin discovered that Qi Jingzhi even did Yan Linjian’s laundry, he had been stunned. Yan Linjian, scatterbrained as he was, never realized it was Qi Jingzhi washing his clothes, he probably hadn’t even noticed the pile in the hamper getting smaller.
And when Qi Jingzhi was hanging up and folding the laundry, wearing that silly, helpless smile, even a straight guy like Miao Xin could see just how hopelessly in love he was.
Knowing full well that Yan Linjian already had a boyfriend yet still giving so selflessly, the more Miao Xin watched, the more pitiful Qi Jingzhi seemed.
But now Yan Linjian actually planned to stick to Qi Jingzhi like glue right in front of his boyfriend. Did he really not understand Qi Jingzhi’s feelings… or did he simply just want to try out a new skin?
Miao Xin glanced at Qi Jingzhi’s tightly shut curtains, then at Shen Yang lounging lazily with one leg dangling off the bed. He shook his head helplessly: It feels like we’ve been dragged into something serious here.
“Little Moon, do you mind if I play stuck together with my roommate?”
Yan Linjian’s tone rose, carrying a faint trace of teasing.
【I don’t mind】
Miao Xin nearly fell off his bed: Was that a public display of affection? And ‘Little Moon’? That’s way too corny.
Then, looking at Qi Jingzhi, who hadn’t said a word since the beginning, Miao Xin couldn’t help but build a gravestone for him in his heart: Bro, there are plenty of fish in the sea.
In the short span of a hero selection phase, Miao Xin was already sweating buckets, and he grew increasingly curious about Qi Jingzhi’s situation behind the bed curtains. Meanwhile, Qi Jingzhi was sweating even more, with one hand on his phone and the other on his tablet, the screens were nearly sparking from friction. On top of that, he still had to summon every ounce of focus to listen intently to Yan Linjian’s every word so he wouldn’t reply from the wrong account.
Qi Jingzhi’s mental processor was running on overdrive, his hands moving faster than during competitions.
“Qi Jingzhi!” Yan Linjian suddenly called out.
“What is it?” Qi Jingzhi’s voice carried a hint of weakness.
Yan Linjian: “Nothing. I just thought I heard the announcement of Little Moon getting a double kill coming from your side.”
Qi Jingzhi was startled and hurried to turn down the tablet’s volume. “Did you? Maybe the mic isn’t picking up right.”
“Maybe I misheard.” Yan Linjian took down a kill, then jumped off[mfn]t/n: I’ve never played Honor of Kings, so I’m not familiar with its characters and skills, but it may be Yaria (?) as it seems the hero Yan Linjian is playing is a support that can hop onto ally heroes. I found a gameplay video of Yaria hopping onto an ally hero (at 2:49): https://youtu.be/1YV8NS93hI0?si=XR13f9nxMw5awihu&t=169[/mfn] and headed for the side lane.
“Watch out for the bushes, their mid is coming over.”
【It’s fine, I can handle it on my own】
His reply came much slower than before, maybe because he couldn’t use voice input and had to type instead.
“Miao Xin, are you all in the dorm?”
“Yeah, we don’t have class today. Is the noise over here too much? I’ll put on headphones.”
Yan Linjian: “No need, I was just asking.”
He had called in Shen Yang and Miao Xin because he was worried Qi Jingzhi might have them help out. But looking at it now, Qi Jingzhi really was playing on two devices by himself. Yan Linjian glanced at the scoreboard. Under these conditions, Qi Jingzhi’s jungler and side-lane both still had top-three economy. Was that even humanly possible?
He ground his teeth, the more he thought about it, the more upset he got. He pitched his voice sweetly: “Little Moon, be careful, they’re coming for you. Jingzhi, go help him out.”
Miao Xin shuddered, then looked up at Yan Linjian’s hero that was above him. He’s doing it on purpose, right? He has to be doing it on purpose. How badly that must’ve hurt Qi-shen!
“Okay.”
Qi Jingzhi answered and rushed over to help himself.
He pushed his side-lane hero forward to tank damage, and once that hero fell, his hands were freed and effortlessly scored a pentakill. Letting out a long breath, his voice carried a hint of a smile: “That’s game[mfn]一波了 – Direct translation: One wave. Meaning they’ve won a decisive fight and can push straight to the enemy crystal to win the game without giving the enemy team a chance to recover.[/mfn].”
“Launch attack.”
The four surviving teammates pushed the minion wave all the way to the crystal. Victory was secured before Qi Jingzhi’s side-laner had even respawned. Qi Jingzhi collapsed onto his bed in relief, his wrists completely numb.
“Little Moon, your score’s really low.”
Hearing Yan Linjian’s voice, Qi Jingzhi quickly sat up and typed: 【Too many deaths in the late game.】
Miao Xin let out an “ah”: “Qi-shen, even if you don’t like Yan Linjian’s boyfriend, you don’t have to roast him like that, do you?”
Qi Jingzhi glanced at the phone in his hand, and his vision went dark. Dizzy from juggling both devices, he had sent the message from the wrong account.
Yan Linjian’s tone was slightly unhappy: “He was tanking in team fights, of course he’d rack up more deaths, and 6-5 is still positive.”
【It’s fine, my fault. I didn’t initiate the late-game team fights properly.】
I forgive myself XD.
Author’s Note:
Qi-shen’s multitasking skills are so good he could be flipping pancakes on one side, grilling cold noodles on the other, and still have time to tell customers about his heroic deeds.
Side job unlocked ✓
