Jiang Nan’an practiced Plum Blossom Scholar’s skills in a custom room until he felt familiar enough, then logged into his alternate account and started a ranked match.
Yan Jie sat beside him, watching dramas while keeping an eye on his game, occasionally telling him what his current and next thought process should be.
The room grew darker, until only the blue glow from two monitors remained.
“Yeah, right, hide in that grass. Someone will definitely pass by, whether it’s the jungler or mid laner, just go for it. Q first, then E followed by auto-attack, then directly WR, yes, just like that… Wow, Mr. Hang, so amazing, so skilled, truly the most talented jungler I’ve ever seen!”
“…Shut up.”
“Click-”
Before Jiang Nan’an’s slightly disdainful words could fade, the lights suddenly brightened overhead. Having been in the dark for so long, he squinted slightly in discomfort and turned toward the training room door to see the orange-haired, spiky-headed youth still maintaining his light-switching posture, staring at him with wide eyes.
Two seconds later, Jiang Nan’an looked away, saying nothing, only returning his gaze to the monitor in front of him.
Yan Jie glanced at Jiang Nan’an, then at Fire, and greeted him as usual: “Oh, you’re here?”
Fire responded, then shuffled over to stand beside Jiang Nan’an, lowering his head to say softly:
“Hello, Captain…”
“Mm.”
“I came to train.”
“If I’m not mistaken, today isn’t a training day, and it’s not training time now.”
“I’m practicing extra on my own.”
“Mm.”
Jiang Nan’an’s tone was cool and distant, without much expression. While responding to Fire, he continued with his operations, his fingertips making “click-clack” sounds on the keyboard that were particularly noticeable in the quiet room.
Fire seemed awkward, not knowing what else to say, and looked toward Yan Jie for help.
In a flash, Yan Jie suddenly remembered his “mother” mission in their “family of six.” He immediately pulled out the chair to his left:
“Come, come, little Fire, sit here. Extra practice is good, very good! With this desire to improve, you’ll succeed at whatever you do!”
Fire obediently went over and sat down, opened the game client and started a custom room, quietly beginning to practice last-hitting minions.
Yan Jie sat between the two, looking at the left one moment and the right the next, worrying about one then the other, too busy even to watch his drama, like a busy little bee.
“Coach Spring.”
“What is it?” The bee turned around affectionately.
“What other heroes do you think I could practice?”
“Which ones can you practice? Let me think… Bubble Dragon, Arrow Poison Flower, and Team Five’s ADC’s Kafka. Simple and straightforward, and easy to pick up. You can try them when you have time.”
“Good, then I’ll practice Arrow Poison Flower first.”
“Yes, that’s it. Practice more heroes, and next time on the battlefield, surprise those people who are thinking of banning you! Use your skills to tell them, ‘Don’t look down on a poor young man!'”
“Okay! Brother Spring, Brother Spring, I’ll definitely study hard! Brother, when are you usually free each day? Where should I find you if I have questions?”
“Just come here. Unless something unexpected happens, we’re both here after dinner every day. After all, your captain secretly practices extra every night, he’s so hardworking. As his teaching assistant, of course I have to be here with him every day.”
“…Tsk.” Perhaps annoyed at Yan Jie’s talkativeness, Jiang Nan’an glanced at him, his eyes seemingly filled with ice shards.
Yan Jie immediately raised his hands in surrender:
“Look, look, he doesn’t like me talking about it. He’s shy.”
“Yan Jie.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop talking, focus on pushing the tower! You’re about to win, Teacher! Wow, Teacher is so amazing-the crystal exploded as soon as you approached. It must have been so intimidated by your aura that it committed suicide. As expected of my Mr. Hang!!”
“…Shut up.”
Fire listened to their banter and, after hesitating, leaned forward slightly past Yan Jie to look at Jiang Nan’an:
“Brother, is your game finished? Want to duo queue?”
Yan Jie consciously leaned back, giving them more space for their interaction.
But Jiang Nan’an didn’t meet Fire’s gaze. He only said:
“No thanks, practice by yourself. I’ll solo queue.”
“Oh… okay, Brother.”
Fire acknowledged Jiang Nan’an’s words, then looked at Yan Jie and stealthily opened the TXT editor on his computer, typing a message for him to see-“Is Brother still angry with me?”
Yan Jie shrugged and spread his hands, indicating he wasn’t sure either.
Fire nodded, looking somewhat dejected.
Seeing the child like this, Yan Jie stretched lazily, sat up a bit straighter, and decided to play the “good mother” role again. He moved his mouse to open the Blazing Holy Grail client, logged into his alt account, and sent Jiang Nan’an a private message.
[Online] Spring Spring Soft Candy: Mr. Hang?
Jiang Nan’an gave Yan Jie a strange look from beside him. Why use private game chat when they were sitting right next to each other? Being so secretive, he was probably up to no good again.
But he still cooperated and sent back a question mark.
[Online] Spring Spring Soft Candy: Still angry at Fire?
[Online] Sunny Doll Machine No.1: ?
[Online] Spring Spring Soft Candy: Then why are you being so harsh to him? The kid is so scared he’s secretly asking me if you’re still angry.
[Online] Sunny Doll Machine No.1: Weren’t we supposed to solve the problem?
[Online] Spring Spring Soft Candy: Oh?
[Online] Sunny Doll Machine No.1: Don’t interfere.
[Online] Spring Spring Soft Candy: Yes sir! This servant shall withdraw.
Jiang Nan’an said he had his own pace, so Yan Jie truly let him handle it freely. But while the teaching assistant could remain calm, Qi Hong the agent was anxious enough to jump up and down.
On Wednesday afternoon, Qi Hong visited the training room and was horrified to discover that the relationships in Jiang Nan’an’s team hadn’t improved but had become even colder and more tense. At least during the half hour she spent in the training room, there were no warm or affectionate interactions.
Qi Hong looked at the cameras all over the room and momentarily felt dazed, as if they had transformed into guns aimed at Jiang Nan’an. But since it was training time, she couldn’t pull Jiang Nan’an aside for a private meeting, so she had to take Yan Jie outside to question him:
“It’s been two days, how have you resolved this issue?”
How had they resolved it? Yan Jie didn’t know either.
These past two days, Jiang Nan’an had been cool toward everyone. Training continued as usual, and his communication showed no obvious emotions, but that coolness and distance remained constant. But it was understandable-after all, he wasn’t wearing his glasses anymore. The gentle and amiable Gu Qingze was gone, and sitting there now was only the naturally aloof Jiang Nan’an.
If Gu Qingze were handling this, he would probably have taken action the next day-having heart-to-heart talks where needed, offering persuasion where appropriate, getting everything back on track. But with Jiang Nan’an… honestly, Yan Jie was very curious about what he was up to and what method he would ultimately use to solve the current problem. This person was too unpredictable; Yan Jie didn’t understand him well enough to guess his convoluted thoughts and ideas.
But Yan Jie certainly couldn’t tell Qi Hong all this. Seeing that she was about to stamp her high heels again, he could only repeatedly reassure her to trust Jiang Nan’an, trust the United Nations, trust the entire universe, saying everything was under his and Teacher Xiao Shan’s control. After much persuasion, he finally managed to send her away appeased.
“I say, Mr. Hang, you’ve been giving little Fire the cold shoulder for a week now. Tomorrow is another match day-aren’t you planning to ease the tension with him? I’m not worried, you’re not worried, but I think your agent sister is quite anxious. I can see she’s almost ready to put on your skin herself and perform love and peace in front of the cameras.”
On Saturday night, Yan Jie was night running with Jiang Nan’an. Under the streetlights, he looked at Jiang Nan’an bathed in warm yellow light and asked casually:
“It’s fine,” Jiang Nan’an replied lightly, with a hint of relaxation in his tone:
“She flew away this afternoon.”
“Oh my, oh my my my-”
Yan Jie noticed the faint smile at the corner of his lips:
“The emperor is far away and can’t control you now? Smirking, are you? You’re not planning something mischievous after she left, are you? Don’t hide it, with such a beautiful smile, give me a smile, come on, smile happier, come on-”
Yan Jie loved to tease Jiang Nan’an, always getting close to provoke him.
Jiang Nan’an pushed against his shoulder to move him away: “Get away from me!”
“I won’t leave. Come on, give me a smile.”
“…Get lost!”
Yan Jie was pushing and shoving with Jiang Nan’an under the streetlight, laughing and playing around, when he suddenly looked up and noticed something. He stopped and said curiously:
“Hey, Mr. Hang, look up?”
Jiang Nan’an wasn’t falling for it:
“If you make me look up at Ultraman from the M78 Nebula again, I’ll stomp you into a paramecium.”
“This time it’s not Ultraman, really.”
“Then what is it, Egg Superman?”
“No, neither of those!”
After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Nan’an, with his last shred of trust in Yan Jie, looked up.
But the sky was pitch black, with nothing but a few sparse stars.
“What is it?”
“Look carefully! Look again!”
“There’s nothing there.” Jiang Nan’an’s patience was running out when Yan Jie finally revealed the answer:
“Look! The light in our training room is on!”
“…”
Jiang Nan’an immediately shifted his gaze from the sky.
No words could describe his silence at that moment.
Jiang Nan’an’s original plan after the night run was to go straight back to the dormitory to shower and rest, but Yan Jie insisted on investigating the unsolved mystery of the training room light being on late at night. He threw a tantrum, insisting on taking him to the second floor for another round.
Jiang Nan’an couldn’t resist him and reluctantly followed alongside, accompanying him for several hundred extra steps.
“That’s strange, I remember we turned off the lights when we left. How did they come on again? Is this the extinction of humanity or the collapse of morality? Could it be that this building is haunted by a light-turning-on ghost who likes to sneak into the training room in the dead of night to turn on the lights?”
“Yes, legend has it that the light-turning-on ghost was once a very curious 29-year-old young man who, one deep night, discovered the lights on in the room and went to investigate. As a result, he was trapped there forever, never to enter reincarnation,” Jiang Nan’an made up a story with a straight face.
“Really? That’s terrifying!” Yan Jie dramatically covered his mouth with both hands:
“Then it seems I’m a bit luckier than this ghost. When I’m trapped, I have the beautiful and kind-hearted Mr. Hang as company. From now on, the second-generation light-turning-on ghost and the first-generation beautiful ghost will guard this training room forever. My goodness, what an epic love story!”
“…What terrible sin did I commit to deserve such punishment… What are you doing?”
“Shh-”
Before Jiang Nan’an could finish his sentence, Yan Jie suddenly pulled him by the sleeve against the wall.
Yan Jie made a gesture for him to be quiet, then pointed his finger at the inside of the training room, indicating that he should take a look.
Jiang Nan’an frowned and looked in the direction he was pointing. The next second, through the glass on the training room door, he saw the little orange-haired boy diligently practicing in front of the computer screen.
Jiang Nan’an usually practiced after dinner, continuing until nine or almost ten o’clock before going night running with Yan Jie, then directly returning to the dormitory to shower and sleep. Tonight during their extra practice, other Team Four members had also come, but they all only practiced for an hour or two before leaving, Fire included. Jiang Nan’an hadn’t expected him to return, and certainly hadn’t thought that even at eleven o’clock, he would still be here alone, appearing from a distance to be practicing last-hitting minions.
Jiang Nan’an was somewhat surprised. He looked at Yan Jie and asked in a low voice: “Has he been practicing this late the past few days?”
Yan Jie spread his hands: “I don’t know.”
After saying this, he smiled at Jiang Nan’an:
“What do you say, Captain? Fire is working so hard, are you going to go in and praise him a bit? Tomorrow is another match day, give your rebellious teammate a buff.”
“…” Jiang Nan’an looked once more at Fire’s hardworking silhouette and shook his head: “No.”
“Really no?” Yan Jie raised his eyebrows.
“Mm. If you want to go, go yourself.”
“That won’t do. This job still requires the father.”
There he goes again with Spring’s super six-person family father-mother theory.
“Get lost, don’t call me that.” Jiang Nan’an raised his hand and pointed at Yan Jie’s nose in a threatening manner.
Yan Jie immediately raised both hands in surrender, then smiled and nodded at him, straightening his tone and saying softly:
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. You go back first, I’ll go in and practice with the kid for a while.”
Hearing this, Jiang Nan’an raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Yan Jie crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, looking at him with curved eyes:
“You do call me Coach Spring after all. I can’t neglect my duties. What about you? Are you moved by Coach Spring’s professional spirit? Want to join me in a show of loving companionship? I’ll teach you how to play Ars.”
“No.”
“So cold?”
“Yes, is this your first day knowing me?”
“Alright then, go ahead.”
“Goodbye.”
Jiang Nan’an turned and left without the slightest hesitation, but after walking just a few steps, he suddenly heard Yan Jie call out to him from behind:
“Mr. Hang?”
Jiang Nan’an instinctively looked back to see Yan Jie still standing in the same position, looking at him with smiling eyes, saying:
“Good night.”
Jiang Nan’an was slightly taken aback.
Then, he looked away and hastily responded:
“…Mm.”
—
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
![President Huo Wants Me to Restore His Reputation [Entertainment Circle]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/03-cd6f642.jpg "President Huo Wants Me to Restore His Reputation [Entertainment Circle]")
