CH 33

In this round, due to Jiang Min’s driving mistake, they ended up in the water. When they climbed back onshore without cover, they were ambushed by enemies. Even Luhuai couldn’t salvage the situation.

JW’s first five-person Fortune journey came to an end.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Jiang Min acknowledged that he had made a big mistake this round.

He had never used vehicles in Fortune before because he knew he had problems with his driving skills in the game. Today, it was rare for everyone to trust him, so he decided to give it a try. The result was a car crash.

Well, he decided never to touch vehicles in Fortune again; it was toxic for him.

“It’s okay, Sugar,” Yu Hao reassured him.

Qianyi also expressed indifference, “It’s no big deal. It’s still early; let’s continue! With Luhuai here, we can definitely get a chicken dinner!”

Luhuai, who was highly anticipated, still had the same calm expression.

This man seemed to have always worn this serious expression.

Jiang Min’s aloofness was just a facade because he wasn’t good at talking to strangers, which made him appear aloof.

But once he got familiar, he could be quite chatty.

However, Luhuai was different.

His aloofness was genuine. No matter how close you were, Luhuai always maintained a certain distance.

Even someone as outgoing as Yu Hao, after so long in JW, had only managed to establish a barely friendly conversation with Luhuai.

Ji Xiuyan had hardly spoken a word since they started playing games at the internet cafe. Ultimately, the impact of Luhuai not recognizing his ID was too significant for him.

Ji Xiuyan, being the timid CEO, felt awkward about initiating a conversation. What if Luhuai had genuinely forgotten? Bringing up the issue himself would be even more awkward.

As the boss of JW, Ji Xiuyan couldn’t lower himself like that.

Yu Hao watched on, feeling frustrated.

This “useless” cousin of his was really testing his patience.

If Ji Xiuyan had even half of his boldness and assertiveness, he wouldn’t have hesitated to make a move by now.

Qianyi didn’t seem to notice the strange atmosphere in the room, either because of his youth and lack of life experience or his genuinely carefree personality. He cheerfully said, “Come on, come on, the next round, let’s go!”

He casually clicked on the matchmaking for the second round.

In the second game, they continued with the same strategy as the previous round.

The five of them jumped to a single location together and then split up to gather equipment.

As usual, Luhuai took Ji Xiuyan with him, Yu Hao followed Jiang Min, and Qianyi went off on his own.

Qianyi pouted, “Tch, it’s fine if you don’t take me! I can loot plenty by myself!”

Yu Hao and Jiang Min entered a large building and found lots of equipment in a room on the second floor, including several grenades. They were lucky to get decent gear at the beginning.

Looking at the partly open door in the game and the wall in the corridor outside, Yu Hao suddenly had an idea, saying, “Sugar, let me show you something. I’ll stand here and toss a grenade through that half-open door to blow up the wall on the other side!”

The distance between their characters’ positions and the wall outside the door was still somewhat significant, but Yu Hao was thinking that by blowing up that wall, they wouldn’t have to take the long way to find the entrance to the room behind it.

“Sure,” Jiang Min awaited Yu Hao’s performance.

Yu Hao’s character took out a grenade and tossed it. The grenade drew a beautiful upward curve in the air. However, just as it was about to pass through the half-open door, something unexpected happened.

“Sugar, Captain, I’m coming to find you!” Qianyi had finished looting his building and followed the map markers to find his teammates. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open with great force.

As a result, when he opened the door, it happened to bounce the grenade back.

“Ah! You darn mouse!” Yu Hao’s exclamation had just begun when the grenade exploded, knocking down his and Jiang Min’s characters.

Jiang Min: “…”

With great embarrassment, Qianyi used the first-aid supplies he had just looted to revive the two of them. The three of them then drove to meet Luhuai and Ji Xiuyan.

Of course, it wasn’t Jiang Min who was driving; it was Yu Hao.

“Captain, I really didn’t mean it!” Qianyi trembled. Even though Jiang Min was between them, he could still feel the suppressed anger from Yu Hao.

Yu Hao was helpless. With Jiang Min present, he certainly wouldn’t lay a hand on Qianyi. Still, it was embarrassing to lose face in front of Sugar, and even more so to drag him down.

Fortunately, they hadn’t started a live broadcast; otherwise, this incident would’ve undoubtedly made it into the highlights reel.

On Luhuai’s side, he led Ji Xiuyan through the game with ease, encountering no obstacles on their way to a safe zone.

“Stay here and don’t move; I’ll go check the situation,” Luhuai instructed Ji Xiuyan to wait in a small hut.

“Okay,” Ji Xiuyan obediently complied.

Unexpectedly, right after Luhuai left, someone attacked Ji Xiuyan. Ji Xiuyan, a former high-ranking player, naturally fought back. However, his mood wasn’t great today, and his performance faltered. He missed several shots in a row and was shot in the head, leading to his elimination.

“Oops…” he sighed.

When Luhuai turned around, he saw Ji Xiuyan had been taken out. He frowned but said nothing.

“Sorry, I’m not very skilled,” Ji Xiuyan chuckled. “Getting the chicken dinner is all up to you.”

Luhuai remained silent.

Ji Xiuyan found it a bit strange. While Luhuai usually had an icy demeanor, he would at least nod and greet Ji Xiuyan when they met. Today, Luhuai was unusually silent.

On the other side, the WOC team of three had another mishap and were attacked again. Only Jiang Min survived.

So, with Yu Hao, Qianyi, and Ji Xiuyan watching, Jiang Min and Luhuai cooperated seamlessly, reaching the final circle without any obstacles.

In the end, with Jiang Min’s precise grenade throws and Luhuai’s headshot sniping, they successfully led the squad to a chicken dinner.

Yu Hao was disgruntled. He had initially wanted to show off in front of Sugar and lead him to victory, but instead, Sugar led him to a win.

Qianyi remained carefree, saying, “Well done! Sugar, I didn’t know you were so good at Fortune!”

“Uh, it’s not bad,” Jiang Min replied, taking a sip of his drink.

The five of them played a few more rounds together and enjoyed another chicken dinner.

“How about it, want to keep going?” Qianyi checked the time; it was close to midnight. They had come out late, and even though they were used to staying up late, they felt it wasn’t quite suitable while traveling.

“Maybe not; let’s head back,” Luhuai rarely spoke up.

“Alright, then let’s get off and go,” Qianyi had no objections. “Thanks, Captain Luhuai, for leading us to victory today! Carry the game!”

He gave Luhuai a thumbs-up.

Luhuai nodded slightly and stood up.

Ji Xiuyan had just exited the game, slid his gaming chair back and was about to stand up to stretch when he realized Luhuai was staring at him.

He felt somewhat uneasy under Luhuai’s intense gaze.

“Mr. Ji, could you come out with me? I’d like to talk to you about something,” Luhuai said.

Ji Xiuyan’s heart skipped a beat.

What could Luhuai possibly want to discuss under the pretext of having “something to talk about”?

So, under the watchful eyes of the three WOC team members, Ji Xiuyan followed Luhuai out.

“Hmm? Why did Luhuai suddenly want to talk to Yan-ge? What’s going on?” Curious baby Qianyi logged in.

Yu Hao tapped his head and said, “You’re just a little kid; don’t be curious about grown-up matters.”

Unexpectedly, it was Luhuai who took the initiative to approach Ji Xiuyan. While Yu Hao didn’t know what Luhuai wanted to discuss with Ji Xiuyan, he was secretly pleased that his cousin finally had a chance to be alone with Luhuai.

“I’m not a kid anymore; I’m an adult!” Qianyi protested.

“Let’s go,” Yu Hao naturally slung his arm around Jiang Min’s shoulder, walked to the door, and turned to say to Qianyi, “Kid, stick close. You don’t know your way around, especially late at night. I won’t be responsible if you get lost and can’t find your way back to the hotel.”

Qianyi bristled. “I’m not directionally challenged, okay? I can find my way!”

In reality, he was just trying to show off.

After all, Qianyi was well-known in the WPL community as being directionally challenged. The classic story was during a match, when he went to the restroom during halftime but couldn’t find his way back to the team’s resting area, causing a delayed match start. Everyone was left dumbfounded by his ability to get lost within a hundred meters of the restroom and the team’s resting area in the same venue.

From that day on, Qianyi established himself as the “directionally challenged” guy.

Luhuai walked ahead, and Ji Xiuyan followed.

The two of them left the internet cafe and stopped outside a shop that had already closed.

Ji Xiuyan watched Luhuai’s back, and for some reason, he felt nervous. He was accustomed to Luhuai’s domineering exterior, but at this moment, he felt like a little girl with an anxious heart.

“Uh, Luhuai, what do you want?” Ji Xiuyan spoke first, trying to sound things out.

“I never expected that ‘QwQyan’ from back then would turn out to be you,” Luhuai continued, his voice low.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me,” Ji Xiuyan didn’t know how to respond, so he just acknowledged it.

“Why have you rarely been online since you started your professional career?”

Ji Xiuyan broke out in a cold sweat. It was because he had to study hard to graduate, and he returned to China to start a business and buy a gaming team. It wasn’t because he wanted to reduce his gaming time, as Luhuai had said!

But, the stubborn him didn’t want Luhuai to know that he was once a game-addicted teenager who nearly dropped out of school.

“Oh, it’s just that, I, uh, have some real-life matters to attend to,” he said nonchalantly.

Luhuai fell silent.

Ji Xiuyan didn’t know what he should say at this moment.

The atmosphere between the two was quite awkward.

After a long while, Luhuai slowly said, “Now that you’re here, don’t disappear again.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s play games together from now on, just like we used to.” With that, Luhuai turned and walked away.

Ji Xiuyan stood there in a daze.

That’s it?

Just like that!?

He had thought that once Luhuai found out his gaming ID, he would be really excited, and they would talk about so much. However, all Luhuai said was, “Let’s play games together from now on.”

Ji Xiuyan felt a sense of disappointment and began to question life.

Is this the cabbage he couldn’t “arch” (get closer to)?

The author has something to say: So, is Boss Ji not able to “arch” the cabbage after all? Hehehe.

1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ️”