YPHC Chapter 15

The poor viewers in Yan Jie’s livestream had just joined only to hear this heavenly voice, and in their shock, they flooded the chat with question marks.

 

-?

 

-Did I enter the wrong stream? Is this Burning Eternity or Singer King Battle?

 

-That’s giving him too much credit. This is a rooster crowing contest.

 

-Can you give us some decent content? Damn, I woke up early to watch your stream because I don’t want our esports scene to lose to the entertainment industry, but you greet your daddy with this howling???

 

-Husband sings so beautifully! My neighbor knocked on my door asking me not to play with a squeaky toy so early in the morning. I grabbed him and made him listen to my husband sing. After listening, he apologized repeatedly and finally bit his tongue to commit suicide in tears. Did I do the right thing, everyone?

 

-You didn’t spare him either.

 

-I’m out of here, folks. There’s an idiot here. Going next door to watch inBlue!

 

-Goodbye S-Attribute Outburst. My beautiful day ended the moment I saw you.

 

It wasn’t just the stream viewers who were startled, but also Class A coach Chenghua[mfn]Orange flower[/mfn] who had just entered the training room:

 

“Spring dog, what disease are you suffering from so early in the morning? They say men are boys until they die, but you’re a neurotic until death.”

 

Hearing this, Jiang Nan’an couldn’t help but curl his lips while biting into a cookie.

 

He quickly finished the cookie in his hand, carefully folded the wrapper and put it in his pocket, then sat up straight, looking like a good student waiting for class to begin.

 

Yan Jie sat next to him with his legs crossed, looking like a big shot:

 

“What’s the matter, you’re not satisfied?”

 

Chenghua walked over, smiling, and tapped Yan Jie’s shoulder with the folder in his hand, standing between him and Jiang Nan’an while leaning on his chair:

 

“Is that how you talk to your coach, Little Spring?”

 

Jiang Nan’an turned his head to look at Yan Jie, then at Chenghua.

 

When he took on that esports drama role, he had done a lot of research to get close to the character, not only practicing the game but also learning about many esports players, including Chenghua.

 

Chenghua was the mid laner for SG team back then, and had a good relationship with Spring. After Spring left the competitive scene, he stayed with the team to continue his esports dream. After retiring, he didn’t leave the industry. Once known as the strongest mid laner in the canyon, he was now the youngest championship coach in the circle, surrounded by glory.

 

“Nobody told me you’d be the coach before I came,” Yan Jie fist-bumped Chenghua, then pointed at Jiang Nan’an beside him:

 

“Did you see our little Teacher Jiang’s mid lane skills yesterday? Impressive, right?”

 

“?” Jiang Nan’an looked at Yan Jie as if he’d seen a ghost.

 

“I watched it, you played really well! Your awareness was on point too.” Chenghua was generous with his praise.

 

Hearing this, Yan Jie rapped his knuckles on the table, his posture like an overbearing CEO from a Mary Sue novel, gesturing grandly as if commanding the world:

 

“Then teach him well. Little Jiang, you should learn properly from our Canyon’s strongest mid laner, so that after this you can become…”

 

Yan Jie paused, quickly glancing at the program logo sticker beside the computer:

 

“The strongest mid laner of… Burning Eternity!”

 

-Where’s the production team’s phone number? This guy can’t even remember the show’s name, kick him out.

 

-Sponsor, look at him!

 

Yan Jie glanced at the comments and smilingly made a shushing gesture.

 

–

 

The gaming skills of the ten people in Class A were among the upper-middle or even top tier of all Blazing Holy Grail players. The strongest included Spring and Cai Zheng as top-tier junglers, while the relatively weaker ones were still Master-level players like Jiang Nan’an and Suave Bro. Therefore, teaching Class A was much easier than the other classes-the coach didn’t need to start from the basics. They only spent the first day systematically covering canyon environment information and basic values, while the rest of the time was basically an endless cycle of practice and review.

 

But honestly, when it comes to gaming, playing casually for fun is one thing, but treating it like a task and battling in the canyon all day long takes all the fun out of it.

 

Fortunately, Jiang Nan’an treated this entirely as a job, and he was a dedicated worker. Every morning at nine o’clock, he would start work on time, solo queuing or duo queuing for class matches under the watchful eyes of livestream viewers, listening to the coach’s lessons and reviews… When work ended in the evening, he would turn off the stream and leave, returning to his room to rest, shower, read books, and enjoy his leisure time.

 

“Beep-”

 

As night fell again, someone swiped their card at the door. Jiang Nan’an didn’t even need to look up to know it was Sheng Yujia returning.

 

After all, Sheng Yujia in Class B wasn’t as leisurely as him and had to practice extra after dinner every day.

 

“You’re back?” Jiang Nan’an casually greeted.

 

Both he and Sheng Yujia were not talkative people. They usually didn’t interact much in the dorm, mostly doing their own things, coexisting harmoniously.

 

“Yeah.” Sheng Yujia sighed heavily, taking off his orange Class B jacket as he walked in, then collapsed on the bed like a corpse.

 

“Training that exhausting?” Seeing his state, Jiang Nan’an couldn’t help asking.

 

“Exhausting.” Sheng Yujia’s voice was muffled. He turned to look at Jiang Nan’an and noticed he wasn’t wearing pajamas but workout clothes:

 

“Going for a night run?”

 

“Mm. Want to join?”

 

“No thanks, I’ve done enough running in the canyon.”

 

“That bad?”

 

“Yeah, the coach is very strict.” Sheng Yujia sprawled out for a moment, then slowly got up from the bed:

 

“How’s Class A?”

 

“Not bad. Still have energy to go running.”

 

Hearing this, Sheng Yujia laughed a couple of times, waved at him, meaning “see you later.”

 

Jiang Nan’an put his key card in his pocket and left the room, planning to go for his usual night run around the compound.

 

It was quite late, and most of the staff had gone to rest. The contestants were either in their dorms or training rooms, so the hallway was empty and quiet, with only the ceiling lights shining overhead.

 

Jiang Nan’an walked down the stairs and vaguely heard footsteps passing by the stairwell behind him. He didn’t pay much attention until those footsteps moved away and then came back, followed by a somewhat surprised:

 

“Mr. Hang?”

 

Jiang Nan’an looked back and saw Yan Jie shuffling over in his slippers, leaning on the stair railing and looking down at him:

 

“Where are you going so late?”

 

“Running.”

 

“Running? You actually run?” Yan Jie seemed genuinely surprised.

 

“?” Jiang Nan’an raised an eyebrow:

 

“I can also fight. Want to see?”

 

“No, no, no.” Yan Jie laughed.

 

In his mind, Jiang Nan’an was like a delicate prince made of crystal, so fragile that he needed special care-the type who needed someone to open car doors for him, lay out carpets, scatter flower petals, and bow respectfully saying “Young Master, please.” After all, he had fair skin and looked thin, as if he might faint from a bit too much sun. Yan Jie truly hadn’t expected him to have an exercise habit.

 

He looked Jiang Nan’an up and down, noticing his hair tied back and his crisp white workout clothes, which made him look quite neat:

 

“Everyone else does morning runs. Why are you running at night?”

 

“Can’t get up early.” Jiang Nan’an answered honestly.

 

Yan Jie laughed again.

 

He nodded: “Can you wait five minutes? I’ll go change.”

 

“For what?” Jiang Nan’an eyed him suspiciously.

 

“Want to run with Mr. Hang.” Yan Jie smiled, showing his canine tooth, looking carefree:

 

“Please, this is little Spring’s only wish in life. Teacher, wait for little Spring, don’t let little Spring die with regrets.”

 

Jiang Nan’an’s expression remained blank as he hesitated for a moment, then held up three fingers: “Three minutes.”

 

Yan Jie straightened up immediately: “Got it!”

 

He dashed off and returned exactly three minutes later in workout clothes: “Shall we go, teacher?”

 

The two left the main building and jogged along the landscaped paths of the compound. The area was quite large, with plants lining both sides of the path and street lamps illuminating the way. In the cool early autumn night, insects buzzed around the lights, occasionally making soft sounds as they bumped against the bulbs. A gentle breeze passed by, carrying the fresh scent of plants and soil.

 

Yan Jie jogged alongside Jiang Nan’an, and after a while, he glanced at him under the warm glow of the street lamps and suddenly asked:

 

“Hey, Mr. Hang, why did you come to this show?”

 

There were no cameras or microphones on them now-no recording devices capturing their conversation. This was truly private time, belonging only to freedom and authenticity.

 

Jiang Nan’an looked up at the stars in the sky and answered:

 

“My agent made me come. I got into trouble earlier, so I’m here doing a reality show to make amends.”

 

“Oh? You mean that incident? Was it that serious?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Your entertainment circle has too many rules,” Yan Jie sighed, then asked:

 

“So what exactly happened that day? How did you end up using your main account?”

 

Jiang Nan’an still found the whole thing ridiculous when he thought about it:

 

“…I was drinking that day, wasn’t thinking clearly, and didn’t notice your link was for another app. I clicked it and it jumped right over.”

 

“And then? You were logged into your main account there and didn’t realize after posting the comment?”

 

“Right. I don’t usually open that app, only go there to post things when work requires it, so my main account was always logged in the background. That day… I hadn’t planned to join your contest, but the texts in your comment section were so ordinary. I thought since you invited me, I’d show you what I could do. I was too tired, hit send and went to sleep. When I woke up the next day, I was already trending on the hot search.”

 

Yan Jie clasped his hands in apology: “My fault! Next time when I share a link, I’ll definitely mark it for you: ‘External link, red alert, be careful which account you’re using.'”

 

“There’s going to be a next time?” Jiang Nan’an glanced at him irritably, paused, then asked:

 

“What about you?”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes, why did you come to this show?”

 

At this question, Yan Jie curved his eyes and smiled at him:

 

“For you.”

 

Jiang Nan’an scoffed dismissively, clearly not believing him.

 

“Don’t be so skeptical, Mr. Hang, I’m your movie fan,” Yan Jie said, half-jokingly, half-seriously:

 

“Originally I wouldn’t have come even when the production team invited me, but then I heard you were one of the contestants. I thought, that won’t do-our Mr. Hang looked so good in the movies, and fans say he looks even better in person. Since I had this opportunity, I had to come see for myself, right? So I came rushing over.”

 

“Have you seen enough now?”

 

“Yes, indeed I wasn’t misled. You really do look better than in the movies.”

 

Jiang Nan’an nodded and retorted: “And you’re even more shameless than on your livestream.”

 

“Oh? So you watch my livestream? Are you perhaps my ten-year loyal fan or something?”

 

Yan Jie deliberately bumped his shoulder:

 

“Don’t be shy, just say it out loud if you love me! There’s no need to feel inferior for liking me!”

 

“…” Jiang Nan’an rolled his eyes and sped up, running ahead.

 

The street lights seemed to be broken along the next stretch of road, leaving the path pitch black. Yan Jie caught up, but didn’t continue with his glib talk. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked in a low, mysterious voice:

 

“Hey, Mr. Hang, did you hear about the legend of this place before you came?”

 

“What?”

 

“This place is haunted, didn’t you know?”

 

“I’m a firm atheist,” Jiang Nan’an stated with certainty.

 

“Really? I heard it from the staff. Let me tell you, this section of road right in front of us-why are there no lights? Because every time they install lights, they break, and they never stay on. Once, a staff member from another show was walking this road late at night after working overtime. As he walked, it felt increasingly eerie. He was already getting creeped out when guess what happened? He suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder! He was confused-wait, wasn’t he alone on this road? Then, mustering his courage, he turned around and saw…”

 

“…” Although Jiang Nan’an didn’t believe in ghosts, listening to this kind of story in such an atmosphere still gave him goosebumps. He just wanted to hear the ending quickly.

 

But Yan Jie was too good at building suspense. He stopped halfway through the story and went silent. Jiang Nan’an waited for a while and finally couldn’t help but ask:

 

“And th-”

 

He had barely uttered one syllable when suddenly he felt someone gently tap his left shoulder!

 

But Yan Jie had clearly been running on his right side the whole time.

 

Jiang Nan’an, thinking of the story just told, immediately felt his hair stand on end. He instinctively turned to look to his left, but saw only darkness behind him. There was nothing there…

 

“Hahahahaha!!!”

 

Hearty laughter came from his right. Jiang Nan’an blanked for a few seconds, realizing he’d been tricked.

 

He turned back angrily to see Yan Jie already running ahead, not forgetting to look back and taunt him:

 

“Mr. Hang! With legs that long, run faster!! Move it!! Come and hit me, come on!!!”

 

“Yan Jie!”

 

Jiang Nan’an wanted to take off his shoe and throw it at his head, but was afraid he’d run off with the shoe:

 

“Are you insane?!!”

 

—

 

 

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(advanced chapters available on kofi)