| Marry Me, I'm Super Well-Behaved [Esports] (MARRY ME) |
Xiao Qiao, who had gotten sleepy during the meeting, rubbed his eyes - it was the first time he'd seen such a subtle expression on their captain's face.
When Ning Nanzhou received the "No need" from the young Jungler, he couldn't help but doubt the other's status as a fellow fan.
He had been in fan groups before - no matter how heated the arguments got, whenever someone offered to give away Chi Yu merchandise, everyone would unanimously say "I'm a student, give it to me."
How could a fan not want signed merchandise?
Ning Nanzhou pretended not to care and tested the waters.
【South】Forget it if you don't want it. There's a set of S7 limited edition signed posters from when FKW returned to the World Championship after two years, and Chi Shen got the most MVPs in the League that year
The first part of his statement was true - the struggling FKW had made it to Worlds under Chi Yu's leadership. But the latter part belonged to someone else.
He thought the young Jungler would fall for his trap, but the other confidently corrected him.
【Snake】Su Zhe got the most that year
Ning Nanzhou had always considered himself a devoted fan—he had watched every one of Chi Yu's matches and knew every honor Chi Yu had earned.
If Chi Yu wore a brilliant crown, then he was merely one of the countless rays of light reflected by that crown.
Even so, he only knew Chi Yu was second place, unaware that the first was Su Zhe. Remembering such details so clearly, he realized he wasn't as attentive as the other person—and yet he had doubted their identity?
He pushed the matter aside and officially accepted the other as a fellow fan.
Ning Nanzhou turned off his phone and continued streaming.
Truthfully, he didn't need to play ranked matches anymore, but he simply enjoyed watching Qin Yong's fans lose their minds.
"What's this? National Server Rank One. And this? National Server Rank One. And this? National Server Rank One." He raised his beautiful eyebrows mockingly. "Where are all my sons? Have you gone mute or died young?"
[I can't take this anymore!]
[Whoever made that bet should come out and call him daddy already. Sacrifice yourself for the greater good!]
[Looks like he deleted his account—what a disgrace to our community!]
Ning Nanzhou clicked his tongue in disappointment. He'd actually wanted to hear that person call him daddy.
In the afternoon, he had lab class. After the teacher reiterated the experimental rules, he put on his white coat and entered the laboratory.
Today's experiment involved large-scale extraction and transformation of plasmid DNA. The resulting high-concentration, high-quality plasmid DNA could be used in experiments like enzyme mapping, sequence determination, and probe preparation.
Even when treated with RNase, DNA extracted via the alkaline method would still contain trace amounts of RNA. While other students were still working on their experiments, he used Sephrose4B for further purification.
Beside him, Xu Ye was having trouble with his solution preparation, still stuck at the mixing stage. "Xiao Zhou, how are you so fast? Don't you play games all day?"
Ning Nanzhou raised an eyebrow. "Isn't this something anyone with hands can do?"
Xu Ye looked at the innocent-faced young man. "Know when to stop, or I won't save seats for you anymore."
Ning Nanzhou stopped provoking Xu Ye. While waiting for the solution to centrifuge, his phone on the table rang.
[Chen Dongdong] Your 19th birthday is next month! Congrats to our Ning-ge on growing another year older! How do you plan to celebrate?
Just as the centrifugation was finishing, he vacuum-dried the liquid precipitate and redissolved it in sterile water.
Ning Nanzhou removed his gloves to reply.
[Have You Studied Today] What's there to celebrate? It's the same every year.
[Chen Dongdong] It's different!!! This is your first birthday as an adult! You can do whatever you want! Too bad our university break doesn't start until after Christmas, otherwise I could celebrate with you.
[Chen Dongdong] But I've prepared the best birthday gift for you! Trust me, you'll love it!
Ning Nanzhou didn't have high expectations for Chen Dongdong's gifts—as long as it wasn't women's clothing.
Staring at the words "first birthday as an adult," he suddenly wondered if Chi Yu would be free next month.
Casually, he swiped to his pinned contacts and quickly opened the chat window.
His fingers flew across the keyboard, soon producing two hundred words—and then, as expected, he deleted all of them.
How exactly do you ask someone out?!
Although he and Chi Yu got along quite well now, he rarely initiated conversations, and Chi Yu wasn't much of a chatter either. Their last conversation had been about the wedding.
He took a deep breath to comfort himself. There was nothing wrong with thinking things through carefully.
Not sure if it was his bad luck, but before he could agonize for even two minutes, the other person sent a message instead.
[Chi Yu] What’s wrong?
He must have noticed me typing non-stop!
Ning Nanzhou lowered his head deeply, only lifting it again after a while. Whatever, it wasn’t the first time anyway.
He already didn’t know how to bring it up, and now he was even more at a loss. He stiffly sent over a message.
[Have You Studied Today] Thank you for the snacks you gave me. The cranberry cookies were delicious, and thank you for letting me work at the club.
He knew Chi Yu was a polite and considerate person, and would only say "it’s nothing" in response to his thanks. However, the other suddenly typed out his name.
[Chi Yu] Ning Ning
Typing a name and calling it out in person were different. Even if it was a nickname, there was an indescribable sense of gravity to it. Before he could ask what was wrong, the other sent another message.
[Chi Yu] Friends are the ones who need to be so polite. Marriage doesn’t require it.
Seeing this message, his heart pounded wildly. He wanted to reply but had no idea what to say.
When Xu Ye turned his head, he saw the silver-haired boy holding his phone while his ears slightly red. Dressed in a white lab coat, his slender frame made the blush at the tips of his ears even more striking.
After the lab class ended, he caught up with the boy who had just left the lab building. "Xiao Zhou, be honest—are you dating someone?"
Ning Nanzhou didn’t know how Xu Ye had figured it out, but he knew he couldn’t hide it from this old fox. He kept walking and gave a quiet "Mm."
Xu Ye’s expression turned somewhat strange. "A guy?"
Remembering Chi Yu’s face, he pursed his lips and nodded.
"You always said you were straight before," Xu Ye pressed urgently. "Back then, if I so much as touched you, you’d say you weren’t used to physical contact. How is it that in such a short time, you’re dating someone else?"
Ning Nanzhou had felt that Xu Ye had been acting a bit odd these past couple of days. Ignoring him, he continued walking.
Unexpectedly, Xu Ye cornered him at the stairwell, pressing close. "How far have you two gone? Has he kissed you? Has he sucked your nipples? Has he touched your legs?"
An uncomfortable aura washed over him. He grabbed Xu Ye by the collar and threw him straight to the ground. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
There were some wooden planks piled on the floor. Xu Ye’s hand scraped against them, the rough edges drawing blood. His urgent expression cooled. "Sorry, Xiao Zhou, I didn’t mean to say those things. I just couldn’t help it."
Ning Nanzhou stared at him expressionlessly.
A bitter smile touched Xu Ye’s face. "Xiao Zhou, haven’t you realized? I like you."
He came from a well-off family. For him, college was less about gaining knowledge and more about building connections. He didn’t need to wake up early for classes every day—he did it to see Ning Nanzhou.
He wasn’t interested in esports either, but to spend time with the boy, he pretended to be interested, watching match after match.
He knew Ning Nanzhou was straight and had never intended to try and change that. He was content to be a close friend by the boy’s side. But hearing that Ning Nanzhou had a boyfriend made him lose control.
He couldn’t imagine Ning Nanzhou, who usually shied away from physical contact, dating a guy. Would that person caress the boy’s face? Kiss those full lips? Would he crave the boy the way he himself had fantasized?
At first, Ning Nanzhou thought Xu Ye had taken the joke too far—after all, he used to say things like "you’d look good in a dress." But hearing his confession left him stunned.
Xu Ye liked him?
He had always considered Xu Ye a buddy, never once imagining anything more between them.
Xu Ye did not miss the confusion in the youth's eyes—it seemed he was completely unaware.
He propped himself up from the ground, his hand bleeding: "I've kept this bottled up for too long. Speaking it out feels liberating. You don't need to feel any psychological burden. If you find it disgusting, just pretend you don't know me from now on."
Ning Nanzhou pursed his lips and walked away.
Xu Ye kept watching the young man's retreating figure, wondering what kind of person could gradually draw the boy into their territory.
―
At the FKW club, Song Mingjie noticed Chi Yu picking up his phone to type something, only putting it down after a while.
Burning with curiosity, Song Mingjie casually asked, "How are things between you and Xiao Zhou going?"
"When would I have time for relationships right now?" Chi Yu calmly retorted, "Have you found suitable candidates for top and bottom lanes?"
Song Mingjie was neatly shut down: "We did find some, but Captain Chi, you weren't satisfied with them."
He had been interested in Old Cat, the Top Laner from Cat, and Pei Ye, the AD Carry from VE. The former had participated in the World Championship four times and won the League's Best Top Laner award twice, while the latter had been hailed as a genius AD Carry since his debut, with laning skills second only to Oliver.
"Age?" Chi Yu asked only one question.
"One's 23, the other's 22."
Song Mingjie immediately understood. The average age of FKW wasn't young, and their youngest member Xiao Qiao couldn't shoulder responsibilities. When the veteran players retired, who would carry the team forward?
What they needed weren't consistently performing veterans, but newcomers who could inherit the team's legacy.
After class, Ning Nanzhou didn't return to the dormitory. Instead, he opened a rental app to check nearby housing listings.
It wasn't that he particularly disliked Xu Ye, but sharing a room had become too awkward.
Even though Xu Ye rarely returned to the dorm and had said they could pretend not to know each other, Ning Nanzhou still couldn't continue living in the dorm as usual. Changing dorms without a valid reason wasn't feasible.
Shanghai's housing prices were notoriously high, and their school was located in a commercial district. The cheapest apartment cost three thousand per month, requiring a deposit plus three months' rent upfront—nine thousand yuan in total.
Starry Sky TV wouldn't pay him until next month, so he couldn't possibly come up with that much money.
Ning Nanzhou clicked on Chen Dongdong's profile picture, considering borrowing money from him. But even with his closest friend Chen Dongdong, he couldn't bring himself to ask for a loan.
After much deliberation, he decided to stay at the inn across from the school for a while.
The inn was called Happiness Inn, having been in business for ten years. Its outdated neon sign flickered intermittently, thick dust accumulated in unseen corners, and the wooden stairs creaked with every step.
Such a hotel normally wouldn't attract many guests, but it was the cheapest accommodation in the area at only one hundred yuan per night. Many parents visiting their children stayed here.
A middle-aged woman with permed hair sat at the front desk, not even looking up as she asked, "How many people?"
"Just one." He handed over his ID card.
While playing online poker, the woman completed his check-in procedures and handed him a worn key card: "Second room on the left upstairs. The room comes with electrical appliances—damage requires compensation."
When Ning Nanzhou entered the room, all he found was an old-fashioned air conditioner. He didn't even see a hair dryer.
The room's cleanliness left much to be desired. The edges of the bedsheet bore unidentified stains, and the air carried a musty smell. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be spending his nineteenth birthday here.
Fortunately, he wasn't a picky person. After finishing his livestream, he wrapped himself in his clothes and slept, though his heart ached at the cost of the room.
The next day was Xiao Qiao’s birthday, and he invited everyone for a meal. Ning Nanzhou bought a gift and went over.
“Saozi actually bought me a gift!” Xiao Qiao glanced at the others. “Aren’t you ashamed?”
“That’s because Saozi is a good person. What’s worth celebrating about turning twenty-one? In esports, twenty-five is already grandpa age,” Yu Jin’an teased mercilessly. “Are we celebrating you getting one step closer to being a grandpa?”
“Yu, the great Mid Laner, you’re already twenty-four. The forums ask every day when you’re retiring,” Xiao Qiao complained to Chi Yu. “Captain, don’t you think he’s just jealous of me and doesn’t want me to celebrate my birthday?”
Hearing the words “celebrate my birthday,” Ning Nanzhou looked at Chi Yu.
The man with long black hair wore a slightly thin shirt, his dark pupils softened under the light, as if tinged with a hint of snow.
“Whether he’s jealous or not, I don’t know,” Chi Yu said, his knuckles resting on the glass as he poured a cup of milk for the boy. “But it’s quite a waste of time.”
“Is competition all you care about?” Xiao Qiao was utterly disappointed with these people and turned to Ning Nanzhou for comfort. “Saozi, aren’t they being too much? If they think it’s a waste of time, they don’t have to come. By the way, when is your birthday?”
Ning Nanzhou’s mind echoed the words “waste of time,” and he replied vaguely, “It’s still a long way off.”
Chi Yu tilted his head and looked thoughtfully at the boy.
The group ate until past nine in the evening. Ning Nanzhou hadn’t streamed that day, so he stood up from his chair. “I’m heading back to school now.”
Chi Yu stood up as well. “I’ll walk you.”
Ning Nanzhou awkwardly said “okay” and pretended nothing had happened as they walked to the dormitory building.
However, after Chi Yu turned to leave, he changed direction and headed toward the guesthouse.
The guesthouse was right across from the north gate. He skillfully climbed the creaky wooden stairs.
He swiped his card to open the door, but before he could enter the room, a familiar voice sounded behind him.
“You live here?”
Ning Nanzhou froze at the sound of Chi Yu’s voice. Standing in front of the cramped room, he felt embarrassed and, out of pride, fabricated an excuse: “The dormitory has been too noisy lately because of construction, so I’m staying here for a couple of days.”
In truth, his excuse was flimsy, but he knew Chi Yu was a gentle and polite person who wouldn’t expose his lie.
He never expected the man in the dark gray cashmere coat to bend down, staring unblinkingly into his eyes as he asked, “Then—”
“Why not live with your husband?”
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