You Boys Play Games Very Well

Chapter 60

“I told you I didn’t disguise myself,” Shan Zhu rubbed Ling Meng’s head, “Not everyone’s English is good, I’m not blame for this.”

“I wasn’t disguised either; if you had asked me, I would have said it.”

“Liar! I clearly asked you!”

“When?”

“The first time we played!”

Xiang Jiao thought back seriously, “Can’t remember.”

Ling Meng: ….I knew it!

Ling Meng grabbed Xiang Jiao’s book and pen, what should he write? Just signing his name seemed too simple. Thinking about how today was Xiang Jiao’s birthday, Ling Meng wrote “I wish Guava…” and then thought it was inappropriate.

“Then, which ID should I write now, Guava, Banana….”

“Whatever you want.”

So Ling Meng went on writing:

“I wish Guava a happy 18th birthday. Congratulations on stepping into the adult world. —Lemon”

“Will this be too simple as a birthday gift?” Ling Meng scratched his head, “Do you have any other birthday wishes?”

Xiang Jiao looked down at Ling Meng’s birthday message with an expressionless face and closed the book; there was no way to tell if he was happy or sad. “May I say it?”

“Well, if it’s something I can do.”

Xiang Jiao once again thought slowly: “Less live pigeons in the future.”

“…I’ll work on it.”

“MengMeng is living in the dormitory, streaming is not convenient at all,” Shan Zhu suddenly cut in, “Wait until next semester when he moves in with me, alright?”

Ling Meng:???

When did I agree?

For the first time, Xiang Jiao turned his attention to Shan Zhu: “Do you want to go pro?”

Shan Zhu: ……

Ling Meng: …..

“Is that all you have to say to me?”

“If you become a teammate, we can also discuss tactics.”

Shan Zhu smiled: “I’m sorry, I don’t want to.”

“What about being mascot?” Xiang Jiao asked Ling Meng.

Ling Meng: “Are you serious??”

Xiang Jiao nodded.

The mascot of the FRUIT team….Ling Meng thought, he actually thinks it’s not bad!

Shan Zhu scuffed his hair even more messily: “Really embarrassing, ah, MengMeng has to study and stream, I’m afraid he can’t promise this.”

Xiang Jiao’s eyes fell on the top of Ling Meng’s rubbed head, gaze communicating that the hand was a little in the way.

He sighed out an “ah”: “You’re taking advantage of university.”

Ling Meng couldn’t keep up with these two’s thought process, but thought that Xiang Jiao was regretting that he didn’t go to university.

“Guava wants to go to university? I’ve heard that some schools now have a major in e-sports, you can try!”

“Don’t want to. I don’t like studying.” Xiang Jiao refused very simply.

“Oh…..”

“Lemon Daddy!” A loud shout successfully drew everyone’s attention to his position.

“Lemon Daddy, I’m your powder!” He jumped up and down happily and then ran over, followed by several of FRUIT’s main players.

“I know, Pineapple-chan, I’ve been familiar with you for a long time.” The Ling Meng who had two fans of his own in the FRUIT team still didn’t believe it was real yet.

“Haha, our current evening entertainment is to watch you live, even the coach watches with us. You can’t stand us up, ah, if you pigeon, the captain is going to grab us and vent out his anger.”

Ling Meng: …..What is this feeling of losing face at such a high level?

“Are you waiting to watch our match? If you watch the match, perhaps the captain will throw his weight around, completely dominating over VEGETABLE.”

Ling Meng and Shan Zhu had originally planned to stay to watch the game. Before he could say yes, Bo Luo changed the subject: “Come to the barbecue to celebrate the captain’s birthday after the match, he’ll be very happy if you come!”

Ling Meng: o_o

“…..where can you see happiness?”

Bo Luo also looked at Xiang Jiao.

“Isn’t this very happy!”

Chapter 61

Ling Meng and Shan Zhu appearing in the audience’s VIP area triggered a small wave of commotion in the back row.

Ling Meng waved his hand at the back row and the support group waved the Lemon Daddy light boards with great excitement, regretting that they didn’t buy seats in the front.

Photos of the two people sitting next to each other were posted on Weibo along with the competition tag, and every now and then, the two people were caught whispering or laughing and the MangNing Group shouted for insulin.

— What should I do about the cavities from my CP being meng every day?

The odds for the FRUIT and VEGETABLE match on the official quiz were at 1.35:2.15. It was clear everyone had more confidence in the defending champions.

The quiz entry was free to receive. Ling Meng put it all into FRUIT, Shan Zhu threw a portion of both and the majority went to VEGETABLE.

“What did I just see, are you Vegetable powder?” Ling Meng was surprised.

“I also think they don’t have a chance to win, but I have to give familial love support.” Shan Zhu replied, not despising VEGETABLE, who in the pro league was not a weak team, but acknowledging that FRUIT had always been VEGETABLE’s nemesis – the past record of the matches of the two teams was 3:0.

Ling Meng had only heard of friendship support: “What is familial love support? Do you have a relative on the Vegetable team?”

As he was asking, the main players of VEGETABLE entered in succession. The tall boy walking at the front of the line resembled Shan Zhu to some degree.

Ling Meng was also too familiar with Shan Zhu, his thoughts pointing to the front of the team: “Ah, it’s not him, is it?”

Shan Zhu nodded: “VEGETABLE’s YAM. The real name is Shan Yao, my younger cousin (tangdi). He isn’t a local, he just stayed at my house for a time when he first entered the training camp. The reason I insist on not going pro is because I’ve seen him train too hard.”

Ling Meng focused on the wrong part as always: “Isn’t it because of your hand?”

“…..My hand is certainly one of the reasons.”

Ling Meng looked at him in awe: “I can’t believe you have a pro relative. Guava always wants to dig you out to go pro. It seems that your family’s talent for gaming is very good.”

Unexpectedly, Shan Zhu furrowed his brow: “It’s not necessarily a good thing. My little brother (didi) is under Xiao Yao’s influence and is always wanting to enter the pro circle.”

“You have a brother also? How many people are there in your family?”

“Are you in a hurry to check the genealogy before you marry in?”

Ling Meng’s face shuttered: “Brake.”

“Is this racing too? I haven’t stepped on the gas yet.” Shan Zhu felt wronged.

“Is it not good to enter the pro circle?”

“It’s not bad, so to speak. My little brother is just too young. He hasn’t finished junior high, to decide now would be too hasty.”

“So young?” Ling Meng was startled, he thought that since Shan Zhu was about to graduate, Shan-didi would at least be old enough to go to college.

“I’m eight years older than him, the generation gap is so big that it’s hard to communicate.” Shan Zhu shook his head in rare distress, “He has a good relationship with Xiao Yao.”

On one side is his own fan, on the other side is Shan Zhu’s cousin; Ling Meng’s position had become complicated. The two sides began, FRUIT as the Empire, VEGETABLE as the Federation. The big screen showed the players solemn and serious expressions, completely unlike the cheeriness they had shown against them that morning.

Ling Meng clung to his phone since the start.

@Lemon: The league opening match, FRUIT VS VEGETABLE. [Live Photo.jpg]

— @FanA: Wasn’t the league opener FRUIT vs you?

— @FanB: Who do you like best, MengMeng?

— @FanC: Which side does Lemon Daddy think has a higher chance of winning?

Ling Meng only picked out those who referred to Lemon Daddy to reply back to, deliberately ignoring those calling him MengMeng.

—- @Lemon: FRUIT has a higher chance, but perhaps VEGETABLE has developed a new tactic for FRUIT, it’s hard to say.

— @FanD: My Xiang God is undefeated. [Xiang Jiao Photo.jpg]

—- @Lemon: Banana is really good.

—- @FanE: Did you come to that conclusion because he let out the water for you this morning?

—- @Lemon: Winning by getting water let out, is it not good?

—- @FanE: Awesome, awesome. [Daddy Is Afraid of You.gif]

— @FanF: In terms of face value, my VEGE captain doesn’t lose either. [Shan Yao photo.jpg]

—- @Lemon: Ah, ah, really a little handsome.

—- @FanG: MengMeng, be reserved, you are Mang God’s man!

Ling Meng was speechless, I just said that for Shan Zhu’s sake. After all, it’s a person related to my household’s Mang God, how could he be ugly?

Shan Zhu also brushed Weibo beside him.

—- @Mangosteen: My MengMeng is right.

Ling Meng: …..

Praising yourself covertly, shameless!

—- @FanH: He praises other men for being handsome and you stand up for him. Where is the dignity of being a man?

—- @Lemon: Face value has nothing to do with playing pro, otherwise @Mangosteen would have won the league championship!

—- @FanI: Your good friend strength of Mang Blowing has appeared.

—- @Lemon: I didn’t blow! I’m analyzing the facts objectively!

Shan Zhu saw Ling Meng blowing himself triumphantly and couldn’t help but reach out and pinch his face. The game had not yet entered the white-hot tension stage, so the idle producer had the camera cut to the VIP area. Due to the camera angle, it looked like Mang God was touching Lemon Dad’s face.

Ling Meng looked up in the midst of the clamor and his silly expression was caught by the cameraman.

The live commentator quipped: “Certain unscrupulous viewers who don’t believe in evil deeds are trying to provoke the anger of a million Galaxy single dogs.”

Ling Meng realized the commentary was about himself and hurried to straighten up his body that was almost leaning on the shoulder of Shan Zhu, opening the gap between them as a cover-up.

“There are so many cameras on the scene, you pay attention!” Ling Meng whispered to him as a warning.

Shan Zhu quietly stretched out his hand, hooking Ling Meng’s little finger, and then wrapped his whole hand in his palm. Ling Meng’s first reaction was to shake him off, but he realized the camera’s lowest angle was only at chest-level. No one could see Shan Zhu’s private display, so he motionlessly let him hold it, feeling a sort of provocative braveness from carrying on a love affair in public.

Even though the commentator thought there was a hidden smile on Lemon Dad’s face, he couldn’t dig deeply to figure it out, so he could only poke fun with a few words and put the attention back on the game.

FRUIT showed their true capability. Their coach was a middle-aged man who looked good, standing behind Xiang Jiao and Ying Tao, giving instructions from time to time. On the contrary, VEGETABLE’s coach held a folder and kept pacing around behind the players.

Ling Meng at first could also chat with the water friends on Weibo on the side, but as the game became more and more exciting, he had no time to look at his phone, staring at the live screens.

“Your cousin is actually very good.” Whether it was his hand speed, reaction time, or technique, it could be ranked at the top of the national listings.

“He entered the national training camp was he was 19 and soon after rose from the position of substitute to one of the main team. After the team restructured, he became the captain.”

“It’s a pity he ran into Guava.” Ling Meng felt genuinely sorry for him, not just because he was Shan Zhu’s cousin. Xiang Jiao was a genius born for e-sports and Ling Meng couldn’t find any of his weak points. He didn’t know if it was because of the reason Pineapple-chan said, but Xiang Jiao seemed to be playing better than usual. Ling Meng felt like VEGETABLE was playing against a plug-in. Every time the camera showed a close up of Xiang Jiao’s left hand, there was an uproar in the crowd.

“If I were single for 30 years, I couldn’t practice enough to get this kind of hand speed,” Ling Meng sighed.

“I’m afraid you won’t have a chance to practice.”

Ling Meng squinted at him: “Are the brake pads broken again?”

“And the handbrake.”

VEGETABLE was destroyed by FRUIT, which was rare in the pro league, and Ling Meng felt that the entire mentality of the V team had collapsed.

Successive loses of bases led up to the VEGETABLE collapse, and before the space station fell, Captain Yam threw out a GG. In addition to FRUIT’s captain, the other four people got up to clap in celebration. The close-up lingered for a long time on the MVP Xiang Jiao and the commentator excitedly talked about his performance today, that he “proved to the audience that there was further room for the invincible Banana to grow.”

On the VEGETABLE side, the whole team was drooping. The gloomy atmosphere was dismal. Captain Shan Tao buried his head in his arms and Ling Meng could feel his sadness across the thick glass. As a result of Shan Zhu’s relationship, Ling Meng felt sympathy for him.

Both sides of the match, whether happy or sad, lined up for the handshake line to say goodbye.

Shan Zhu got up and patted Ling Meng on the shoulder: “I’ll go see him.”

“Okay.”

Ling Meng stayed on the scene to continue watching Li Zhi’s interview. Originally for him, Guava winning was a happy thing, but having his mind linger on Shan Yao’s depressed face diluted that happiness a lot.

Only when Bo Lao found him to go to the barbecue did Ling Meng realize Shan Zhu had not returned for a long time.

“I’ll find him, wait for me.”

Ling Meng used his guest card to access the VEGETABLE backstage lounge. The lounge was empty of everyone except the two Shan brothers.

Shan Yao sat with his back to him, reaching out and holding Shan Zhu’s waist, head buried very low. He was very big, but at the moment seemed particularly helpless. Shan Zhu put his hand on his back and comforted him as gently as one of their elders would.

Seeing such a Shan Yao made Ling Meng feel indescribably sad. Maybe because he and Shan Zhu had a blood relationship, but also maybe because he and Shan Zhu grew up to look resemble each other – this made Ling Meng see him as a surrogate. He subconsciously took a step back and Shan Zhu saw Ling Meng outside the door and gave him a look as a signal.

Ling Meng waited outside the door for a while until Shan Zhu came out.

“How is he?”

Shan Zhu shook his head: “He’s in a bad place mentally and says he wants to retire.”

Ling Meng didn’t expect a mere match would strike Shan Yao so strongly.

“After all, it was the fourth time he lost to FRUIT. I can understand him and the feeling of hopelessness.”

“Why don’t you stay with him?”

“No, he needs quiet and solitude.”

Shan Zhu looked fine but Ling Meng was a little sullen. Walking to the corner of the stairs where there was no one around, Ling Meng suddenly hugged Shan Zhu from behind, as if he was the one who needed comfort.

“What’s wrong with you?” Shan Zhu asked, puzzled.

“Luckily you don’t play pro,” Ling Meng answered, somewhat depressed. “If you won, if you lost, I couldn’t bear to see you like him.”

Shan Zhu was amused. He also thought, when he won a match, Ling Meng was so excited that he kissed the monitor; if the person who lost today was him, Ling Meng also might burst into tears in the arena.

Such an adorable Ling Meng made Shan Zhu love him so much he couldn’t bear to part with him. He looked around and saw no one, then turned to press Ling Meng to the wall and kiss him gently, until the air in his lungs was gone.

“In order to not let you down, I’ll work hard,” Shan Zhu whispered in his ear. “If you want to practice your hand speed, I can borrow your hand brake too.”

Ling Meng smiled for a moment and punched Shan Zhu who was hugging him, “I told you you’re racing, you’re racing.”

“Lemon…..” Xiang Jiao’s crisp voice came from the stairwell, scaring Ling Meng so that he nearly blew a tire.

“Gua-Guava, when did you get here?”

Xiang Jiao’s gaze ran over the ambiguous posture of the two and he only said slowly, “Barbecue, let’s go?”

Ling Meng shot a miserable glare at Shan Zhu, “Leave.”

“Let’s go, everyone’s waiting for you.”

“I’m sorry,” Ling Meng naturally pulled Shan Zhu to follow Xiang Jiao. Xiang Jiao took two steps and suddenly turned back.

“What’s your relationship with VG’s Yam?”

Shan Zhu froze for a moment. He didn’t know how he found out, but he also didn’t want to hide it.

“He’s my cousin.”

“Is that why you won’t join FRUIT?”

“….It has nothing to do with that.”

Xiang Jiao nodded seriously, “That’s fine.”

Ling Meng faintly sensed a feeling that Shan Zhu being bullied by the tyrant captain: you can’t join my team, so you also can’t join other people’s teams.

“You can rest assured that I won’t join FRUIT and won’t join VEGE. I have signed a contact with the platform and after graduation, will be a full-time game anchor.” Shan Zhu was probably also helpless after being asked again by Xiang Jiao, explaining so much in one breath.

“After you graduate?” Xiang Jiao’s focus was not quite right either.

“Yes.”

Xiang Jiao looked thoughtfully at Ling Meng: “Oh…..”

Ling Meng:???

Who am I? What role am I playing in the middle of this digging battle?

—

Footnotes:

1. completely dominating over (吊打): literally to hang up and beat someone, internet slang for completely dominating over an opponent

2. support group (应援): internet slang loan term from Japan/Korea, meaning those who support and help their idol

3. quiz (競猜): quiz competition with prizes

4. dig someone out: to poach/headhunt someone

5. marry in (进门): to join your husband’s household after marriage, literally enter through the door

6. face value (颜值): slang for someone’s facial appearance/level of attractiveness, rated as a score

7.good friend strength (好友实力): a play on the term boyfriend strength (男友力), meaning ability to be an ideal boyfriend 𝗳𝘳𝒆𝘦𝑤𝐞𝚋𝗻𝚘𝘷𝘦𝙡.𝑐𝐨𝘮

8. about to appear (上线): literally, to go online; internet slang for a character that will show up in the next shot (like ‘highlights ahead’)

—

Shan Yao (单耀) – Yam (山药)