Lin Wangye had never spent Chinese New Year in a hospital before.
In Chinese tradition, New Year’s Eve and the first day of the new year are all about saying goodbye to the past and starting fresh. When the clock strikes midnight, everything bad from the past year is supposed to be left behind.
On the first day of the new year, people say good-luck phrases, and in some places, you’re not even allowed to sweep the floor, spill water, or take out the trash—superstitions that are really just about chasing good vibes for the year ahead.
But hospitals? They never give off a good vibe.
People who are sick enough to be hospitalized aren’t magically going to get better just because it’s New Year’s Day. So for those stuck in bed and their families, there’s no choice but to spend the holiday in the hospital.
Lin Wangye only realized this after living through it himself: hospitals are actually pretty lively on New Year’s Eve.
As long as the patient is awake, their family will do their best to bring the holiday spirit into the room. They’ll bring sunflower seeds and candies, even carry over a full-on feast from home. Everyone in the same ward kind of celebrates together. People laugh, chat, and try to make the best of it.
Deep down, maybe everyone shares the same simple hope.
To leave the bad behind and welcome the good. That next year will be better.
That everyone will stay healthy and not have to deal with illness again.
When the Spring Festival Gala got too boring, Lin Wangye would just pull out his phone, lean against Shi Yuan’s shoulder, and hop into the group chat to rant.
Seventh High F4
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: I’m so done with these family-skit-dumpling shows. So lame! So boring! Boring boring boring!]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: When are they ever gonna make something new?!]
[185 Innocent Boy: [photo]]
[185 Innocent Boy: My dad’s lecturing me on finance on New Year’s Day. I’m so freaking done.]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: How’d you know I’m watching TV in my boyfriend’s arms]
[185 Innocent Boy: @Lu Chengxuan kick him out]
[185 Innocent Boy: Don’t play dead, I know you’re online]
[Lu Chengxuan: I’m not the group admin]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: Hehehe I am the group admin]
[185 Innocent Boy: Fuck]
[185 Innocent Boy: I’m leaving the group]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: Countdown! It’s countdown time!!]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: 3!]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: 2!]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: 1!]
[Lu Chengxuan: Happy New Year]
[185 Innocent Boy: Washing my underwear!]
[A: Happy New Year]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: Happy New Year!]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: ?]
[Lu Chengxuan: …]
[185 Innocent Boy: Damn, I messed up the typing trying to be the first one]
[185 Innocent Boy: How were you faster than me?!]
Watching the Spring Festival Gala, counting down to midnight—
Spending New Year’s Eve with someone you like—quiet, simple, but warm enough to hold close to your heart.
The hospital room was tiny. There were no special sleeping arrangements for family members staying overnight, so they had to bring their own folding beds—about the size of a bunk on a train, and even then, two was the max.
Normally, Grandma and Suihe would share the hospital bed.
Xu Suinian and Grandpa slept on the fold-out cots.
Adding Lin Wangye into the mix? There just wasn’t enough space.
Back when they switched hospitals, Lu Chengxuan had gone out of his way to pull some strings and get Suihe a better double room. It was comfier than the standard three-person one and came with a sofa for visiting guests and family.
Lin Wangye, of course, didn’t listen to anyone. He insisted on crashing on the sofa for the night.
But the young master clearly wasn’t cut out for that kind of suffering.
By the second half of the night, he was so tired he couldn’t even keep his eyes open, dozing off in the corner but never fully falling asleep. In the end, Shi Yuan gave in and decided to send him back to Lu Chengxuan’s place.
There were no buses running at 3 or 4 a.m., let alone on New Year’s Eve.
Luckily, hospitals were one of the few places where you could still spot a taxi at that hour. After standing in the freezing wind for what felt like forever, the two of them finally caught one and ducked into the warm car.
The moment they were wrapped in that cozy heat, Lin Wangye’s eyelids started fighting each other. He nodded off in seconds, leaning on Shi Yuan’s shoulder, and only woke up when they reached their stop.
Since Shi Yuan had to take the same cab back to the hospital, he couldn’t walk Lin Wangye to the door.
Right before getting out, Lin Wangye, still half-asleep, fished out fifty bucks from his pocket, shoved it into the driver’s hand, and told him to run the meter and give the change to Shi Yuan—then bolted without looking back before Shi Yuan could even react.
It wasn’t until he reached the front gate that Lin Wangye realized… big problem.
The 24-hour rotating security team had taken the night off. For now, the gate was being watched over by Housekeeper Liu. But the thing was, Lin Wangye didn’t have Housekeeper Liu’s number. The intercom didn’t help either—it just rang to the empty guard office.
He stared at his phone, thinking hard about whether he should just bite the bullet and call Lu Chengxuan… and right then, a message popped up on his screen.
[Yang Qingsen: Is Xiao Lin asleep yet]
[Yang Qingsen: If not, log on]
Lin Wangye was shook.
Turns out the only creatures still awake this late at night—besides bats—are pro gamers.
Squatting by the roadside right outside the Lu family gate, Lin Wangye didn’t even think twice—he called Yang Qingsen, and the guy picked up instantly.
“Didn’t think you’d actually be up. Get online!”
“It’s so late, and you’re still grinding, brother?” Lin Wangye looked around the empty street and tightened his scarf. “You do know it’s New Year’s Eve, right?”
Yang Qingsen chuckled over the phone. “Spring tour’s starting soon. Forget New Year’s—if someone dies, I’d still have to summon their ghost back for practice. We were in the middle of ranked games, but our jungler lost connection. Totally messed things up. Think you can fill in?”
That cold breeze blowing at the front gate suddenly cleared the last bit of sleep from Lin Wangye’s head.
He glanced back at the huge iron gate of the Lu estate and said, “Actually, I’m kind of stuck right now. Security’s off-duty, and there’s no one to let me in. I’m literally sitting outside the house. I was just about to call Lu Chengxuan when I saw your message.”
Yang Qingsen sounded surprised. “Wait—you’re still outside at this hour?”
Lin Wangye pulled a face. “Yep.”
“No worries,” Yang Qingsen replied, and on the phone, Lin Wangye could hear the sound of a door opening and closing. “Send me the address. I’ll come pick you up.”
“Sure, that works.”
They sorted it all out in a couple of lines, then Lin Wangye hung up and crossed the street to sit at a bus stop bench while he waited. He also messaged Shi Yuan to let him know what was going on.
About ten minutes later, a white car pulled up right in front of him.
As soon as Lin Wangye got into the passenger seat and buckled up, Yang Qingsen hit the gas and sped off.
“What were you doing outside this late?” Yang Qingsen asked right away.
“I was spending New Year’s Eve with my boyfriend at the hospital,” Lin Wangye said, stretching lazily and resting his arms behind his head. “They didn’t have space for me to stay, so he sent me back. I didn’t tell anyone in advance, and with no one on duty, I ended up locked out.”
Ever since Yang Qingsen officially formed his team, he’d gotten super busy. But since the Phantom Wail team’s temporary base was right above the internet cafe, the two of them still saw each other pretty often and had gotten close.
Connections really do matter sometimes.
Lin Wangye’s plan for the esports-themed hotel had come together so quickly largely thanks to Yang Qingsen’s help. Since the whole thing revolved around gaming, you couldn’t just wing it—things like internet speed and hardware specs had to meet serious standards.
If people came to play and got stuck with laggy internet or bad gear, they’d leave pissed—and that would trash the hotel’s reputation.
But Yang Qingsen had access to channels for buying hardware at cheaper prices and knew pros who could fine-tune the network setup.
With resources like that at your fingertips, everything just moved faster and smoother.
Yang Qingsen had gone straight into esports after the college entrance exams. He was only two years older than Lin Wangye, and when Lin Wangye mentioned his boyfriend, Yang Qingsen couldn’t help but smirk and tease, “Spending New Year’s together like that—damn, look at you two all lovey-dovey.”
Lin Wangye grinned, clearly enjoying the attention. “Obviously.”
“At first I thought you were Lin Shen’s new little boyfriend,” Yang Qingsen chuckled. “Guess he’s not that heartless yet, wrecking good boys like that.”
Then he added, “How’s he doing these days? Did he fight with his dad after going home?”
“Nope.” Lin Wangye shook his head. “His dad’s still got a terrible attitude, but he has just got out of the hospital, still recovering. With his sister stepping in to calm things down, Lin Shen’s been gritting his teeth and holding back. Doesn’t wanna fight.”
Yang Qingsen nodded. “That’s probably for the best.”
Lin Wangye shot him a look. He couldn’t hold back his curiosity after that last comment, so he blurted, “Bro… you and him…”
Yang Qingsen glanced at him through the rearview mirror and immediately laughed, waving it off. “We just mess around and talk shit, nothing serious. Maybe I was a little one-sided about it at first, I admit it. But it’s obvious where his heart’s at—he’s all about Lu Chengxuan. After we talked it out, I backed off.”
Lin Wangye blinked. “Wait—you knew there was something going on between them?”
“Every time we’re in front of Lu Chengxuan, his vibe with me changes,” Yang Qingsen said, raising a brow. “After a while, it’s not hard to see. I was just playing along to help him put on a show.”
Lin Wangye found it both funny and a bit ridiculous.
“So the two of you were just messing with Brother Lu on purpose?”
Yang Qingsen, on the other hand, looked completely serious as he shot back, “Don’t you think someone like Lu Chengxuan needs to be pushed a little? The biggest difference between people and machines is that people have emotions.”
Yang Qingsen might act like a smooth-talking slacker most of the time, but every now and then, what he said actually made sense.
No wonder he’d pulled off such achievements in the esports world in his last life.
It was just a shame he hadn’t hit the industry at the right time.
The Heroes of Glory Pro League was about to kick off, and this year was Yang Qingsen’s first year leading Team Phantom Wail on the pro circuit.
Lin Wangye didn’t know if things would turn out differently this time around.
Because now, the confirmed roster for Phantom Wail had already changed compared to what he remembered. The jungler and mid-laner weren’t the same guys from before.
That alone could be a game-changer. And if it was possible, Lin Wangye hoped Yang Qingsen could win a championship before he retired—not just fade out with regrets, watching his dream slip through his fingers, only to finally lift a trophy ten years later after stepping into the background.
“Brother, you got this.” Lin Wangye turned to him with a serious face. “You will make it happen.”
The topic shift was kind of sudden. It took Yang Qingsen a second to catch up, but once he did, his eyes sharpened, filled with quiet determination. He took a deep breath and said, “I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”
Lin Wangye clenched his fists, full of energy. “After winning the city league, Phantom Wail’s already made a name for itself in Ningchang! You have to crush it in the Spring Season!”
In a way, Yang Qingsen owed Lin Wangye a lot.
When their original jungler couldn’t play because of family stuff, Lin Wangye stepped up and filled in without hesitation. He trained hard—really hard. He only played one match, but that short window bought Yang Qingsen the time he needed to find the right replacement and form the team they had now.
For a while, Yang Qingsen actually thought Lin Wangye had the talent to go pro. It was kind of a shame he didn’t.
But if someone doesn’t want it for themselves, there’s no point forcing it. That kind of thing never ends well.
Hearing Lin Wangye’s encouragement, the New Year’s Day fatigue Yang Qingsen had been carrying from nonstop team training seemed to vanish. It was like someone plugged him into a power source. Recharged, he laughed and said, “I’ll take that blessing! If we really make it big, I’ll give your esports hotel all the promo it needs—free of charge!”
Lin Wangye’s eyes lit up like stars. He nodded like a man possessed.
“Deal! And when you compete, I’ll totally be there to cheer you on—with my boyfriend!”
Yang Qingsen burst out laughing. “Okay, okay, I get it—you have a boyfriend. You single people turned couples are so annoying.”
“Hahaha!”
The internet cafe was nearby, so it made sense Yang Qingsen didn’t live too far either. He turned a corner, and the car rolled smoothly into the underground garage of a mid-to-high-end apartment complex.
To run such a decent-sized internet cafe, you could tell Yang Qingsen’s family wasn’t doing too badly.
Boss Yang Qingsen had his own apartment and didn’t live with his parents. His folks were mostly involved in export trade, and since they were spending the New Year abroad, they hadn’t come back home.
As soon as they walked in, Lin Wangye saw the Phantom Wail’s mid-laner was also there.
The two of them were around the same age and had met plenty of times before—heck, they’d even been teammates once—so they got along well. They greeted each other with cheerful smiles the moment they met.
It was clear that Yang Qingsen’s place doubled as a training spot for the team sometimes. He’d even set up a full-on gaming room with five neatly lined-up PCs. Lin Wangye casually picked one, logged into the account Yang Qingsen had given him, and jumped into a five-man ranked game.
Since this was pro team training, they were all playing in high-rank lobbies.
Lin Wangye was more used to silver and gold games with Lin Shen, so this kind of high-pressure, fast-paced match left him struggling to keep up. But Yang Qingsen knew the deal and didn’t blame him—instead, he just had the rest of the team focus on practicing lane pressure.
By the time they got to the second game, Lin Wangye couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.
Luckily, right after that match, the team’s actual jungler got his internet connection back. Lin Wangye quickly logged off, gave up his spot, washed up, and collapsed onto the bed in the guest room—out cold the second he shut his eyes.
Somewhere in the middle of his half-asleep haze, Lin Wangye had a weird dream.
In it, Lin Shen kept washing his underwear. No matter who tried to stop him, he wouldn’t listen.
The next day, Lin Wangye woke up to someone shaking him.
He cracked his eyes open, still groggy, and sat up rubbing his hair. Yang Qingsen was standing there holding out his phone. “Damn, you really can sleep. Lu Chengxuan’s been calling you like crazy. Pick up.”
The second Lin Wangye heard the name ‘Lu Chengxuan,’ he snapped awake halfway and grabbed the phone, holding it to his ear.
“Hello, Brother Lu?”
On the other end, Lu Chengxuan finally let out a long breath, like he’d been tense this whole time. “Tell me where you are. I’ll send someone to pick you up.”
Lin Wangye turned his head, glanced at the phone, and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Holy crap—it was already past 5 p.m.!
“I—I’m coming right now!”
That moment pretty much cured Lin Wangye’s habit of sleeping in forever. He jumped out of bed, threw on clothes in seconds, grabbed his phone, and sprinted to the bathroom while explaining himself.
“I came back super late and couldn’t get in, so I crashed at Yang Qingsen’s place, Brother Lu!”
“You could’ve just called me directly,” Lu Chengxuan said.
To people outside, Yang Qingsen’s public ‘identity’ was just one of Lin Shen’s many side pieces.
It was easy to imagine that Lu Chengxuan probably didn’t have a great impression of him right now.
Realizing how serious things were, and knowing how to read the room, Lin Wangye quickly tried to explain. “I wanted to call you! But I thought maybe you were already asleep, and I didn’t wanna bother you!”
Lu Chengxuan’s tone was calm, but his next question came out of nowhere.
“You mean Lin Shen didn’t tell you to go there?”
“No, not at all!” Lin Wangye jumped in. “Lin Shen doesn’t even know about this. I was literally squatting at your front gate, wondering whether to wake you up with a call, when Yang Qingsen suddenly messaged me to play a game. So I just went over.”
After sensing Lin Wangye wasn’t lying, Lu Chengxuan spoke again.
“Next time something like this happens, just come to me directly.”
“Got it!” Lin Wangye replied like a total suck-up. “No problem, Brother Lu!”
“Address.”
Lin Wangye scratched his head while brushing his teeth. “It’s pretty close… Something-something Xiang Garden… It was too dark last night when I passed the gate, I didn’t get a good look. I’ll ask someone and text you, Brother Lu!”
Lu Chengxuan replied almost immediately after he finished speaking, “Qixiang Garden?”
“Oh yeah, that’s the one! That’s it!” Lin Wangye nodded like crazy, then asked curiously, “Wait—how’d you know, Brother Lu?”
“That’s my residential complex.”
There was a short pause on Lu Chengxuan’s end before he added, “The car’s already on the way. Finish getting ready and come downstairs. We’ll head back and clean up a bit.”
“Okay okay okay!”
As soon as the call ended, Lin Wangye flew through brushing and washing up. He waved goodbye to Yang Qingsen and dashed off. He figured he’d have to wait at the gate, but the moment the elevator doors opened downstairs, the license plate he was looking for was already right in front of him.
The driver clearly knew who he was picking up, and the second Lin Wangye stepped out, he got out of the car and opened the back door for him, very proper and professional.
The moment Lin Wangye buckled his seatbelt, he started fidgeting like crazy.
He thought about it over and over, and finally pulled out his phone.
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: Brother Lu, you’re not mad that I stayed over at Yang Qingsen’s place, right?]
[Xiao Lin Offers Himself: QAQ]
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)
