CH 48

After AFK’s training match, Shu Lou invited Jiang Min and other AFK members to have dinner near the base.

AFK expressed gratitude to Jiang Min once again for temporarily agreeing to play the training match with them.

Jiang Min didn’t mind much. On one hand, Shu Lou was his good buddy, and helping him out was only natural. On the other hand, since AFK paid the leasing fee to JW, him playing a training match with AFK was neither against the rules nor a violation of any principles. Moreover, it was an opportunity to practice with different heroes, which was quite good.

“Ah Min, when it’s vacation, I’ll come to find you. Let’s celebrate the Chinese New Year together at your place!” Shu Lou said to Jiang Min before parting ways.

Shu Lou’s home wasn’t in S City, and traditionally, he should return home for the Chinese New Year. However, his parents were quite carefree, often using the holiday as an opportunity to travel, not placing much emphasis on the traditional festival. So, Shu Lou usually stayed alone even when he went home, and sometimes he just preferred not to go back.

There were one or two Chinese New Year holidays when he spent time with Jiang Min in Jiang Min’s home in S City.

“Sure,” Jiang Min agreed.

The Chinese New Year held no special significance for him. Every year’s holiday was quite ordinary, and this year’s vacation would probably be no different.

After dinner, Jiang Min drove back to the JW base. On the way, he received a call.

On the car’s computer screen connected to his phone, Yuan Hao’s name appeared.

“Hello?” Jiang Min pressed the answer button.

“Sugar God, where were you during the day?” Yu Hao’s voice didn’t reveal joy or anger, but it was apparent that he wasn’t as easy-going as usual.

“I went to AFK base,” Jiang Min honestly confessed.

Yu Hao felt relieved by Jiang Min’s frankness.

At least, he didn’t go to someone else’s base behind his back. It was a relief that he could say it openly without any reservations.

“Why did you go to the AFK base?” This was the crucial question.

With Sugar God having former teammates like Shu Lou, known as the God of the Fish Pond in the league, and Ring, an active member of Sugar God’s Fish Pond, Yu Hao had to be on alert.

The manager of AFK directly contacted JW’s manager Shen Qi. Shen Qi didn’t inform the other team members about Jiang Min going to play the training match, so Yu Hao didn’t know the real situation.

“I helped them with a training match,” Jiang Min truthfully answered.

“What? A training match?” Yu Hao was stunned. “You are a member of JW. Why did you help them play a training match?”

“Well, about that…” Jiang Min explained the events of the day while driving.

“So, that’s how it is,” Yu Hao finally relaxed.

It seemed that the people from AFK didn’t have any ill intentions towards Sugar God.

It was quite an innocent request to bring Sugar God to their base just to play a training match.

Having dinner and sending Sugar God back immediately afterward, there should be nothing to worry about.

However, that guy Shen Qi probably feels quite pleased.

Sugar God playing a training match not only satisfied his curiosity but also earned the club some extra income.

The members of AFK, especially Shu Lou, who originally had a high level of vigilance in Yu Hao’s mind, had now dropped in the ranking and approached a safer line.

“Well… How have you been lately?” Having clarified the situation, Yu Hao was unwilling to hang up the phone.

“Good.”

“Is Yafeng and Yabao accompanying you in duo queue? Is reaching the top of the national server smooth?”

“It’s okay. We’re currently second on the national server,” Jiang Min said.

“Just one step away. Keep it up.”

“Yeah.”

Chatting with Yuan Hao all the way, Jiang Min unconsciously almost returned to the base.

“Oh right, Sugar God, I remember you said you’d stay in S City for the Chinese New Year?”

“Yeah.”

“The base is on vacation, so are you going to stay alone at home?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you afraid of feeling lonely and bored spending the Chinese New Year alone?” Yu Hao was concerned.

“It’s fine. This year, Lou Ge won’t be going home either. He’ll come to my place to celebrate the Chinese New Year together,” Jiang Min said naturally.

“What!?” Yu Hao couldn’t help but exclaim.

His loud shout startled Yuan’s mother, who was cutting vegetables in the kitchen.

“Son, what are you doing? Shouting like that,” Yu’s mother said, holding a knife as she walked out of the kitchen.

The Yu family was a prestigious family in B City, and Yuan Hao had never worried about his livelihood since childhood, leading an affluent life.

The parents in the Yu family were very open-minded in dealing with their children, showing great understanding.

So, Yu Hao could freely pursue his dreams recklessly.

Yu Hao had confessed to his parents a long time ago that he liked a boy. Although Yu’s parents were conflicted for a while, they eventually considered their child’s happiness and let him be.

“Nothing, really,” Yu Hao realized his outburst and smiled apologetically at his mother.

He hadn’t planned to reveal his romantic interest in Jiang Min to his parents until he completely won over Sugar God.

Yu Hao walked out of the Yu family’s villa and into the garden.

“Shu Lou, no, Lou Shen is coming to your house for the New Year? The kind where he stays overnight?” Yu Hao became extremely nervous.

“Of course, how can it be called New Year if we don’t stay up late together?” Jiang Min said nonchalantly.

Yu Hao, in a state of panic, paced around the garden.

Indeed, he shouldn’t have let his guard down with Shu Lou. The guy’s alert level should be maintained at S-rank.

He needed to come up with a plan. Jiang Min spending New Year’s Eve alone while Shu Lou, who was attentive and accompanying, was present—just the thought of it could easily spark a connection!

Maybe Shu Lou didn’t go home for the New Year because of other reasons; he intentionally pretended to have something else to do to have a chance to be alone with Sugar God!

His Sugar God was too innocent, probably easily deceived by Shu Lou’s seemingly gentle appearance.

No, he had to think of a way!

Yu Hao’s mind couldn’t stop racing.

Internally anxious, he had to maintain an appearance of calmness. For now, he couldn’t let Sugar God see any clues.

Based on current observations, Jiang Min’s feelings toward him were still at the level of teammates and friends. Hastily revealing their relationship might scare him away.

So, Yu Hao pretended to be calm, continued chatting with Jiang Min for a while, and then hung up the phone.

As soon as he hung up, he became restless, running his hands through his hair, pacing back and forth. He was deep in thought one moment, covering his face and contemplating the next. His brain was working at lightning speed.

Yu Hao had a younger brother, Yu Ning, who was ten years younger than him.

The little boy, not yet ten, was glued to the French window on the first floor, watching his brother’s confusing behavior in the garden, scratching his head.

Then, the little boy ran to the kitchen, looking up at his mother who was preparing ingredients. “Mom, Mom, I think Brother is a bit abnormal!”

As a typical contemporary elementary school student, Yu Ning also played the popular mobile game WOC on weekends.

Therefore, having a professional WPL league player as a brother, especially a captain like Brother Yu Hao, was quite admirable.

With the support of a brother who was a professional player, the little boy walked with a bit more swagger at school on normal days.

However, today, seeing his brother’s behavior in the garden, completely different from the calm and composed appearance on the competition stage, made Yu Ning reasonably suspect that his brother had a problem with his brain.

“Hmm?” Yu’s mother was somewhat concerned about Yu Ning’s words.

It had been a long time since her younger son had dissed her older son.

Kids, well, they might say things like dissing their siblings due to trivial quarrels. After Yu Hao became a professional player, Yu Ning mostly had admiration for him.

Originally, Yu Hao would return home for a short time every year. As a mother, it was normal to show more care and love for her son who returned home after a long time.

Before Yu Hao went out to become a professional player, Yu Ning, at a very young age, used to frequently make sarcastic remarks about his brother.

Since Yu Hao became a professional player, Yu Ning, with his brother’s fame, felt quite proud. He would occasionally play WOC with his brother and his brother’s friends, feeling especially honored with his brother, a professional player, leading them. So, gradually, he stopped dissing his brother.

However, after such a long time, Yu Ning’s sudden comment that his brother was abnormal caught Yu’s mother’s attention.

“What’s wrong?” Yu’s mother asked as she prepared the vegetables.

“Brother became abnormal in the garden after making a call,” Yu Ning said.

Yu’s mother paused, turned off the stove and range hood, and wiped her hands on her apron.

The house usually had a housekeeper to cook and clean, and she rarely interfered with such matters.

However, her younger son suddenly saying that her older son had a problem drew a bit of her attention.

As Yu’s mother was about to walk to the garden, she saw Yu Hao rushing over.

Yu Hao grabbed his mother’s arm with both hands, his eyes filled with pleading. “Mom! I beg you! I want to go to S City for the New Year!”

Yu’s mother: ???

———-

On the eve of the Chinese New Year, as scheduled, Jiang Min, after completely taking a break from the JW base, returned to his home in the central area of S City.

The house was not large, around a hundred square meters, with three bedrooms and two living rooms. One of the rooms served as a study, while the other two were bedrooms.

In his youth, Jiang Min moved to S City with his father. His father purchased this house as a residence for the father and son in S City.

However, calling it a home was a bit misleading, as the father was hardly ever there.

During his school days, Jiang Min almost daily commuted to and from school alone, carrying his backpack.

Whether it was getting up in the morning or returning home in the evening, he faced an empty house.

Jiang Min’s mother passed away when he was thirteen.

During his mother’s illness, his father had an extramarital affair.

His father thought Jiang Min was unaware, but in reality, Jiang Min had sensed it. He chose not to explicitly mention it, considering his mother’s emotions.

Later, after his mother’s passing, his father proposed providing Jiang Min with a better educational environment and moved from C City to S City.

However, Jiang Min was aware of the real reason for the move.

It was merely his father’s new love interest, a beautiful and young woman from S City.

Because that woman wanted to return to S City, his father decided to move there.

Given his father’s old age, if he had stated the intention to go to S City for opportunities, leaving Jiang Min behind would not have been approved by Jiang Min’s assertive grandparents, who were unaware of their son’s extramarital affair.

In their elderly couple’s mindset, children should not be separated from their parents.

Jiang Min had just lost his mother, and his father couldn’t act so irresponsibly.

Therefore, Jiang Min’s father came up with the idea of moving to S City together with his son.

It could also be said that he spared no effort to be with that woman.

After moving to S City, Jiang Min never saw that woman.

His father had expressed the desire to introduce Jiang Min to her more than once, but Jiang Min refused every time.

Later on, as Jiang Min started his professional gaming career, spending most of the time at the club, the contact with his father gradually became less frequent.

Father and son rarely spent Chinese New Year together.

It was heard that his father and that woman had a daughter who was currently traveling abroad, planning to take an extended vacation overseas.

Regarding this, Jiang Min seemed indifferent.

He didn’t want to sever ties with the man who gave him life.

Living an undisturbed life like this was quite good.

On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, Shu Lou arrived at Jiang Min’s home with a large pile of food.

As the year was coming to an end, after the New Year, the start of a brand new gaming season was not far away.

Author’s Note: Little Fish (terrified face): What??? Sugar God is going to be alone with Lou Shen??? No way!!!

(Bites handkerchief) I haven’t even visited Sugar God’s house yet, wuwuwu.

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 ️”