Yan Linjian looked completely natural, what he said didn’t sound like a lie.
Qi Jingzhi took a deep breath, suppressing the unease in his heart: “Pick a weekend to meet, when you don’t have class. As for the rest, decide after you’ve met. If you think everything through now, what if you find out that he’s not your type after meeting?”
“What do you mean?”
“There are tons of cases where online relationships fall apart once you meet in person. What if he’s not good-looking? What if he has terrible fashion sense? What if he’s unhygienic, smacks his lips when he eats, shakes his legs, picks his feet…”
“Stop![mfn]t/n: this was already in English[/mfn]” Yan Linjian made a hand gesture to signal a halt. “First of all, I’m not all about looks. Besides, I’m already handsome enough, I don’t need my partner to boost my looks. Bad fashion sense can be fixed. As for bad habits…”
Yan Linjian thought seriously for a moment, then couldn’t help but shiver. “He shouldn’t be that kind of person, right?”
‘I really don’t have any of those bad habits’, Qi Jingzhi thought to himself, but the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. If he could lower Yan Linjian’s expectations now, there’d be a smaller chance of Yan Linjian cutting ties with him after they’ve met.
Yan Linjian had a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and cared a lot about saving face. He had said so many things to him that he wouldn’t dare say to God Yuè. If he knew he was actually God Yuè, he would definitely feel embarrassed and then keep his distance.
Sigh.
Qi Jingzhi couldn’t help but sigh. He’d chosen the wrong approach from the very beginning.
“Why are you sighing? Are you really that unhappy that I’m about to get into a relationship?”
Qi Jingzhi let out the sigh without realizing it, he quickly said, “No, I’m just worried about you.”
Yan Linjian’s eyes curved in a smile: “Worried about what? Worried he’ll lose interest once we meet in person? Just look at this face, do you think that’s even possible?”
He pointed to his own face and leaned in, closing the distance between them in an instant, so close that if Qi Jingzhi moved forward just a little, he could kiss his cheek.
“No, no, you’re the most handsome man in the world, all right?”
Qi Jingzhi quickly leaned back, putting distance between them, afraid that the sound of his racing heartbeat would give him away.
“So don’t worry so much. Every couple needs to adjust to each other. I’ve only talked to Yuè-shen online, so it’s impossible to know everything about him.”
Yan Linjian put his hands behind his head and stretched lazily: “But I really like him.”
“Ahem…” Qi Jingzhi turned away, hiding his reddened ears, “Then I wish you success.”
“I’ll accept your blessing. Don’t worry, even after I’m in a relationship, I’ll still keep you in mind, I’ll help you find someone!” Yan Linjian said shamelessly, patting him on the shoulder.
Qi Jingzhi brushed his hand away and lowered his eyes: “You should focus on your own situation first.”
*
After discussing it with God Yuè, Yan Linjian set their meeting for next weekend, at a café in the university district.
He had never dared tell God Yuè that he was from Jingdu University, nor had he asked which school the other attended, afraid it would make him feel pressured. God Yuè was very skilled at games, but gaming could affect studies, so Yan Linjian had always assumed his grades were average.
Now that he’d learned God Yuè was also studying at a school in the university district, Yan Linjian’s impression of him went up another notch. Playing games while getting into a top university, truly worthy of being called God Yuè.
Today was only Thursday, still nine days to go, yet Yan Linjian was already so excited he could hardly sit still. He cleaned the dorm inside and out, did the laundry, and even finished his homework, only to find that just an hour and a half had passed.
Nine days. That was way too long.
Qi Jingzhi wasn’t in the dorm, so Yan Linjian called Miao Xin, who was also free, to play games. As soon as Yan Linjian logged in, he saw that God Yuè was online and had already been in a ranked match for 13 minutes.
Playing ranked behind his back?
Ever since that time Yan Linjian had asked him to play together, and he’d said he was Platinum, God Yuè had often queued solo. Yan Linjian had even gotten a Diamond[mfn]Tier Rankings:
Bronze: 3 minor tiers, 3 stars in each tier
Silver: 3 minor tiers, 3 stars in each tier
Gold: 4 minor tiers, 4 stars in each tier
Platinum: 4 minor tiers, 4 stars in each tier
Diamond: 5 minor tiers, 5 stars in each tier
Star Glory: 5 minor tiers, 5 stars in each tier
Ultimate King: 0–24 stars
Peerless King: 25–49 stars
Glorious King: 50–99 stars
Legendary King: 100+ stars (including 100)
Source: https://www.sohu.com/a/618026613_121311606[/mfn] smurf account just to team up with him, but they had terrible luck, constantly matched with teammates who threw the game. After several days, they were still stuck in Diamond.
For someone who, on his main account, was a King-ranked national top marksman, to be “imprisoned” in lowly Diamond matches was absurd. Yan Linjian carried hard every game, but God Yuè’s solo lane performance was a bit lacking.
Yan Linjian figured that someone used to playing PC games would naturally find mobile games awkward at first, so he just quietly cheered him on, telling him not to rush.
Seeing God Yuè playing ranked on his own now, Yan Linjian clicked “Spectate” to check if he’d improved.
What he saw left him stunned: God Yuè wasn’t playing solo lane at all this time. He was jungling. A jungler with a score of 12–0[mfn]12 kills, 0 deaths[/mfn], and with the team’s mage and marksman at 0–3 and 1–4, he was single-handedly pushing the lane and had already taken down the enemy’s high ground tower.
Yan Linjian fell silent.
He was all too familiar with this scene. Sometimes when he was playing marksman and got hunted down so badly by the enemy that he couldn’t farm, he’d spend the late game clearing minions and taking jungle creeps to scale up, while Qi Jingzhi would charge in 1v5 and take down the tower. Sometimes, before he even had a chance to scale up, the game would already be won.
Yan Linjian could play jungler too, but Qi Jingzhi was on a completely different level, god-tier with sharp game sense, a steady mindset, and flawless mechanics. Once, a clip of his gameplay had even been recorded and posted online, where it gained some traction and drew quite a few people eager to learn from him.
Now, not only was God Yuè using one of Qi Jingzhi’s usual heroes, even his playstyle was almost identical… If God Yuè hadn’t learned it from watching that video, then the only explanation was that he and Qi Jingzhi were somehow perfectly in sync.
“Yan Linjian, are you still gonna play?” Miao Xin asked him.
“No, I’ve got something to do.”
“Alright, I’ll queue up then.”
Yan Linjian exited the spectator mode and switched to invisible status. God Yuè finished the match with an MVP and quickly queued for another game.
This time, the jungler he’d used in the last match was banned, so he picked another one—also one of Qi Jingzhi’s go-to heroes.
Yan Linjian drew in a sharp breath: This is too ridiculous, even twins wouldn’t be this alike, right?
Watching God Yuè perform one familiar move after another, Yan Linjian was gulping in so much cold air that his throat felt chilled. He switched to WeChat and sent Qi Jingzhi a message:【When are you coming back to the dorm?】
Then he sent one to God Yuè:【What are you having for dinner?】
A few minutes later, the match ended, Yan Linjian received God Yuè’s reply:【Just something simple, I’m not very hungry.】
He had barely finished reading it when Qi Jingzhi’s reply came in too:【On my way. Want me to bring you food?】
“…”
Yan Linjian closed his phone and calmed down for a few seconds before replying to Qi Jingzhi: 【My computer is broken. I want to send a file to my brother. Can I use yours?】
Qi Jingzhi: 【It’s on the desk, help yourself. The password is my student ID number.】
【Thanks.】
The surroundings seemed to fall silent. Yan Linjian sat down at Qi Jingzhi’s desk, opened the computer and browser, searched up Endless Moon, and entered Qi Jingzhi’s phone number… The saved login password automatically popped up on the computer screen. Yan Linjian’s hand trembled, and he even forgot to breathe.
【Welcome back, Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè】
As soon as the interface appeared, those words exploded in Yan Linjian’s mind. He quickly closed the interface, cleared the search history, and shut the computer.
Yan Linjian’s mind went blank, and all his strength seemed drained away. He slumped onto the chair, completely at a loss.
No wonder he always felt the two were so alike, almost making him think he was a player;
No wonder neither of them wanted to play games together, always finding excuses to avoid it;
No wonder Qi Jingzhi reacted so strongly to the matter with Hao Chengxuan and Jiang Mei…
All these little clues, if only he had considered this from the start, none of it would have held up to scrutiny. But he’d foolishly thought they just happened to be similar, and even proposed meeting with God Yuè sooner to avoid mistaking one for the other.
Damn it!
He’d been completely toyed with by Qi Jingzhi!
This was way too embarrassing!
“I’m going to meet Little Moon in real life, and later we’re going to get married.”
“Coming out is a big deal. I have to think about how to get my dad to accept Little Moon.”
“If my dad doesn’t agree, I’ll run away with Little Moon.”
“……”
Thinking back on the things he’d said, and then recalling the subtle, half-smiling expression Qi Jingzhi had worn at the time, Yan Linjian covered his face, the heat spreading from his palms to the backs of his hands.
What… on… earth… had… he… been… saying?!
Right now, he desperately needed a bottle of amnesia spray[mfn]Originates from a meme that goes: “Huh, what’s this? An amnesia spray? Let me spray some. (sprays on themselves) Huh, what’s this? An amnesia spray? Let me spray some. (sprays on themselves) Huh, what’s this? An amnesia spray? Let me spray some. (sprays on themselves)” and just keeps repeating. Source: https://m.te5.com/yxrb/1085971.html[/mfn], whether to forget the things he’d said, or to forget that Qi Jingzhi was God Yuè. Either way, he really needed that spray.
“Linjian, have you had dinner yet? I bought wontons.”
The voice he least wanted to hear rang out. Yan Linjian covered his face and scrambled back onto his bed.
“Not gonna eat, not hungry.”
“What’s wrong? Your voice sounds a little off.” Qi Jingzhi walked over to his bed and handed him the wontons. “You didn’t eat much at lunch, so you must be hungry now.”
What the heck, why do you know my eating habits so well?
Now that he knew the truth, Yan Linjian couldn’t help recalling Qi Jingzhi’s past behaviour, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Qi Jingzhi had ulterior motives.
The rich aroma of the wontons wafted up as Yan Linjian took the bowl. He noticed there was chilli oil floating on top, but no cilantro and no dried shrimp.
“It’s not good to eat too much spice at night, so I put in less chilli oil.”
“…”
Normally he would have said, “Great minds think alike, bro.” But right now, all he wanted was a bottle of amnesia spray.
When there was no reply for a long time, Qi Jingzhi pulled open the bed curtain. “Linjian?”
“Alright, thank you. I’ll transfer you the money later.”
Yan Linjian opened WeChat. God Yuè had just sent a message asking if he had eaten.
【Yeah】
Yan Linjian snapped a picture of the wontons and sent it over.
【Mm. Eat well.】
He seemed to hear Qi Jingzhi letting out a breath of relief. Paired with the message God Yuè had just sent, Yan Linjian’s heart grew all the more tangled.
The whole situation was too much of a mess right now. He didn’t want to see Qi Jingzhi at all and just wanted to go somewhere else to cool his head.
