The room was filled with the aroma of meat. The pressure cooker's upper pressure valve was jumping restlessly, accompanied by bursts of white steam. It added some warmth to the cold winter in Shanghai.
It was the beginning of 2018. In the evening, through the half-open window, they could hear the sound of children playing downstairs. A few middle-aged couples from Tongji University had left work and were discussing how to mark the final exam papers so that their students would not fail.
Su Cheng and Lin Yan sat on the sofa and stared at the big screen. In the official live broadcast room, Ren Dong was standing in front of four glass bowls filled with opaque black balls.
The 2018 LPL Spring Competition's draw ceremony was about to begin.
Su Cheng was staring at the TV, watching the introduction of the rules for the Spring Competition. She waved her hand, and there was a chestnut rice stick between her thumb and index finger. Lin Ran obediently stuck his head over and put the chestnut rice stick into his mouth, then conveniently pressed it against his girlfriend's face.
The girl used her clean hand to stroke Lin Yan's hair as if she was comforting a Shiba Inu.
Lin Yan felt that Su Cheng was being perfunctory. He tilted his body and rested his head on her thigh.
"How heavy are you?" Lin Yan felt that his girlfriend's legs were too thin and even a little weak.
"Almost 100, I'm not too sure." Su Cheng stuffed another chestnut rice stick into her mouth and wiped the residue off her fingers. "It was exam week a few days ago, so I probably lost weight again."
Lin Yan was also puzzled. In his opinion, Su Cheng ate a lot, so why didn't she gain weight?
He thought of Jack and Lin Weixiang, who were gaining weight. He could not help but sigh. People could not be lumped together.
"Is there something wrong with your stomach?" Lin Yan pinched Su Cheng's slender fingers.
Su Cheng looked down at him. "No, I've checked. It's a problem with the basic metabolic rate."
Lin Ran raised his head. Even from this angle of death, he still felt that his girlfriend was very beautiful. Through the thin nightgown, he could smell the fresh fragrance of the shower gel on Su Cheng's body. Together with the warmth of her body, it made him forget to leave.
He muttered, "You have to gain some weight, or I'll …"
His voice was so soft that Su Cheng had to lean in to hear it.
She was about to rub Lin Yan's handsome face. She did not expect him to say something like that. She thought about it for two seconds before she understood what he meant. Her face turned red, and she pinched his ear...
"Then tonight's pork ribs are all mine. Don't eat them." She pushed Lin Ran away angrily.
Lin Ran glanced at the time and ran to the kitchen to fiddle with his pressure cooker.
Hangzhou, LGD, OMG....................... of Chongqing's Snake of OMG of Chengdu...
. "Ren Dong's voice was sonorous.
One of the most important aspects of LGD's development was to build a home ground. In addition to the cancellation of the promotion and relegation matches and the opening of the youth training camp, it was obvious that they wanted to emulate the NBA.
Su Cheng rubbed her thighs that were numb from the pillow and asked loudly, "Are you guys not planning to build a home ground this year?"
"Not yet …" Lin Yan scooped out the pork ribs from the pressure cooker. The aroma filled the room.
"Hao said to wait. Shanghai is good." He urged Su Cheng to scoop out the rice from the rice cooker. "If we want to build a home ground, we have to go to Beijing. BMW can help us get a piece of land there."
That being said, he still did not want to move out. If YM only had one LOL team, it would be fine. But now, YM had PUBG. If they moved the base to Beijing, it would affect too many employees.
Should the other teams move?
If they moved, YM would have to fly over from Beijing when PUBG had competitions. If they did not move, YM would have to build two bases in Beijing and Shanghai. Not only would the cost be too high, but it would also be inconvenient to manage.
"That's good too." Su Cheng was very satisfied as she filled her bowl with rice. "If you go to Beijing, we'll really be in a long-distance relationship."
Now that the two of them were inseparable, it was much better than before. Whenever they were free, they would want to stick to each other. If they were in a long-distance relationship, they might not be able to see each other more than a few times throughout the year.
In addition to the pork ribs, they also ordered takeout from the vegetarian restaurant, Date Tree.
"There are two trees in the yard. One is a Date Tree, and the other is also a Date Tree …" Su Cheng ran out to get the takeout as soon as she received the call. Five minutes later, she came back with the takeout box.
At this time, the drawing ceremony on TV had not started yet. It could only be said that LGD was indeed LGD.
Lin Yan took out a few vegetarian dishes and the two of them squeezed around the coffee table in the living room to enjoy dinner.
The vegetarian restaurant's salt-and-pepper crackers had a unique taste, and the dry-roasted Poseidon Rolls had no shortcomings other than being a little spicy. Together with the pork ribs, it was quite a sumptuous meal.
At the same time, the drawing ceremony for the Spring Season continued on TV.
Other than the original Group A and Group B being split into Eastern and Western Teams, LGD, OMG, and Snake, the three home teams, there were no other changes.
Last year, the top two teams in the Summer Season were placed in the first seed pool. The third to sixth place teams were placed in the second seed pool, and the seventh to tenth place teams were placed in the third seed pool. The remaining two teams, along with the rookies RW and FPX, were placed in the fourth seed pool.
The rules were simple. The Eastern and Western Teams each had a first seed pool, two second seed pools, two third seed pools, and two fourth seed pools.
This way, the teams in the Eastern and Western Teams were evenly matched. However, this was only the best they could do. Last year, YM had been in Group A, where all the strong teams had gathered. In the end, Snakes had been relegated to the Promotion and Relegation Matches. It was known as the Group of Death.
YM's manager, Guo Hao, and RNG's manager, Quan Jong-ho, went up on stage to draw teams from the first seed pool.
Guo Hao couldn't hold back his smile. He opened the black ball and showed the ribbon inside to the camera.
I'll draw myself.
"Okay. With this, Team YM will be in the Eastern Division, and RNG will be in the Western Division..."
Su Cheng glanced at the TV screen and picked up a piece of rib. The rib had been cooked in a pressure cooker until it was soft and delicious.
"How much did you buy this rib for?" Lin Yan asked casually.
Last night, he had just returned to Shanghai. Before going to bed, he had described the taste of Tsingtao rib rice to Su Cheng. He hadn't expected that this afternoon, Chengzi would go to the farmer's market and buy three catties of rib. She had called him and asked him to come downstairs to cook the rib.
"Twenty-three. That's the price for rib now." Su Cheng used her index finger to pick up a strand of hair that had fallen down.
However, the sofa and coffee table in the living room were not as tall as the dining table. Su Cheng had to bend her body slightly forward, and then her hair fell down again.
"Quick, quick, quick. Help me get a hair clip."
Su Cheng sat on the inside of the sofa, so it wasn't convenient for her to go out. She decisively patted Lin Yan's shoulder and asked the toolman to help.
"There's an open blue box on the bookshelf in my bedroom. There are hair clips inside. You can just pick one!" Su Cheng didn't forget to remind him.
Lin Yan pushed open the door and entered the bedroom. The quilt on the bed was neatly folded, and the desk took up half of the space. However, there weren't many books on it. He also knew that Su Cheng had a habit of going to the study when she was studying. There were only some bedtime books and all kinds of small toys in the bedroom.
He successfully found the open blue box next to a book called "Peninsula Metal Box." It was filled with all kinds of hair clips.
Although Su Cheng had said to pick one at random, Lin Yan still chose for a while. In the end, he chose an orange style.
"Quick, quick," Su Cheng hurriedly whispered when she saw him. "My hair is about to fall down."
Lin Yan used the hair clip to pin up a strand of his girlfriend's black hair. As he leaned closer, the refreshing citrus smell of the conditioner even suppressed the fragrance of the ribs in the room.
"Tighten it. It's too loose. I have to tidy it up later." Su Cheng urged. She wanted to do it herself, but her boyfriend didn't let her.
He was a little hesitant. "It's not good to tighten it too much."
"It's okay." Su Cheng saw that her boyfriend didn't move. She moved her head forward. "It's more comfortable if it's tighter."
Lin Yan heard this and coughed twice unnaturally.
Under the warm yellow light in the living room, the girl's hair was black and soft, and it made the skin on her neck and cheeks look even fairer.
Lin Yan couldn't help but feel restless. However, he still controlled himself and obediently fixed the hair clip.
When he sat down to eat the ribs, the groupings had already begun.
In the east, YM was in the same group as EDG, WE, TOP, and JDG. RNG was in the same group as IG, OMG, BLG (IM's new name), and SN. The remaining four teams were seeded in the fourth pool.
"The groupings are much better than last year." Su Cheng picked up a piece of lotus root cake and couldn't help but sigh. "It was really difficult back then."
On the screen, the manager from JDG drew a team from the fourth pool. When he opened it, he saw that it was the new team FPX.
As a result, even though there were still three teams that hadn't been drawn, the results were already set — LGD would definitely go to the east to fill the last spot.
The groupings were as follows.
East: YM, EDG, WE, TOP, JDG, LGD, FPX
West: RNG, IG, OMG, BLG, SN, Snake, RW
When Lin Yan saw the results of the draw, he was satisfied and picked up a piece of rib.
"Isn't this the first place in the guaranteed group?"
He was very proud. The remaining opponents in the group weren't strong. RNG and IG were placed in the same group to fight amongst themselves. There was no better result than this.
Su Cheng also felt that there was no problem. The five players of YM plus the coaching team of Red Rice and Gouba were all strong players and coaches in the LPL in recent years. The worst of them were in the top echelon, and the strong ones like Lin Yan were at the top of the game.
This kind of team composition was extremely ridiculous, and the overall tactical combination was also relatively reasonable. These few people didn't have to be the type that "the world is focused on you". Lin Yan, the two-time MVP winner, also couldn't say "YM is my carry" to mess with his teammates' mentality.
The team atmosphere was harmonious, and with the growth of mentality brought about by consecutive championships, Su Cheng couldn't find any loopholes in YM's team.
She wasn't the only one. After the draw ceremony, in Teng Jing's new commentary program this year, Zeyuan directly said some harsh words —
YM was the number one team in the world of League of Legends, and Lin Yan was the number one mid laner in the world!
"How are we going to lose?"
He spread his hands and leaned back. "Look at this lineup. I don't understand how YM is going to lose."
Jin Gong, Mongoose, Lin Yan, Jack, and Liu Qingsong. The five players of YM appeared on the big screen behind him.
The director even gave the winning rate of the five players when they played at the same time — 93.83%!
This data, coupled with S7's 15-game winning streak in the global finals, was the only one in the world. It was much more terrifying than SKT in 2015.
Mille smiled and interrupted, "There's still IG and RNG. Old Thief went to IG and together with the mid laner, they're very strong too, okay?
Besides, RNG is also a strong contender for the championship every year. After all, they have Ouze. Everyone knows that, okay? "
"Don't underestimate EDG," Doll said with a black face. "Old Ancestor Sai Wen is still there. Next year, WE will also have the original Centaur and White Crescent as the champion coach. They're definitely strong!"
Zeyuan was extremely excited. If he had to choose a team to support from LCK, it would undoubtedly be Samsung. If he had to choose from LPL, it would definitely be YM.
Even though Lin Yan's team defeated his home team Samsung in an hour in the Bird's Nest, it didn't make Zeyuan hate YM. Instead, it made him praise YM even more.
After all, if he belittled YM, then what about Samsung, who had been beaten to a pulp?
Trash among trash?
Zeyuan naturally wanted to praise YM to the heavens and earth. All kinds of exaggerated adjectives came out of his mouth.
Only in this way could Samsung, the loser, be praised. After all, there was no shame in losing to the world's strongest team.
Lin Yan listened to Zeyuan's praises and couldn't help but feel a little awkward. This awkwardness instantly dampened his originally bloated appetite.
Su Cheng finished the ribs in her bowl and felt a little full.
Previously, she had claimed that she could finish all the ribs, but it was purely a boast. However, before she could get up to clean up the dishes, Lin Yan picked up another rib.
"Hurry up and eat," he reminded her in a very considerate manner.
Su Cheng looked at her boyfriend's face. Coincidentally, Lin Yan was smiling brightly. She was fascinated by his beauty and couldn't help but eat another piece.
Then she saw Lin Yan's chopsticks move again. She quickly calmed herself down and waved her hand to refuse. "I'm full."
"But what if I'm not full?" Lin Yan asked her seriously.
"Aren't there still ribs?" Su Cheng blinked. "There are also two lotus cakes."
"I don't eat that." Lin Yan pondered for a moment. "I want to eat fruit."
Su Cheng suddenly felt a sense of crisis. Her legs were a little weak. She stood up shakily. "There's dragon fruit in the fridge. I'll cut it for you …"
"Do you have Chengzi?" Lin Yan's voice sounded like a demon's whisper to Su Cheng.
"Yes, yes, yes."
Su Cheng felt that her vocal cords were trembling. She opened the fridge and took out a Chengzi fruit. Then she went to get a fruit knife.
Lin Yan looked at the peeled Chengzi fruit and stuffed it into his mouth.
It was cold and the juice inside was firmly locked in the pulp by the low temperature. It tasted juicy and rich.
Su Cheng stood aside and looked at her boyfriend's perfect side profile. She complained in her heart that there was such a handsome man. Even eating a Chengzi fruit seemed to be seductive.
She suppressed her thoughts and thought for a long time. Then she reminded him vaguely, "Normally, you can only eat fruit half an hour after a meal …"
"I know." Lin Yan nodded. "It's rare for me to be so presumptuous. My stomach is locked."
Su Cheng's legs were even weaker when she heard this. Her mind was full of the inappropriate scene on Christmas Eve.
What did he mean by "rare for me to be presumptuous"?
She stammered, "You know that you can't do strenuous exercise after a meal, right?"
The last sentence had been spoken in Suzhou dialect by Su Cheng in a moment of desperation. Her tone sounded soft and gentle.
"I know." Lin Yan was confused. "But I ran this morning."
"Ah." Su Cheng's brain stopped working.
She didn't know what to say. It seemed like she was overthinking.
Lin Yan went over his girlfriend's previous two sentences in his mind twice and roughly understood what she meant.
Chengzi was a little too sweet. He cleared his throat and said, "You want to exercise?"
"No, I don't. Don't talk nonsense!" Su Cheng denied it three times.
Lin Yan lowered his eyes. His moderately long eyelashes buried all the emotions in his eyes. "Sigh, I have to go back to the base tomorrow night. I probably won't have a holiday until the New Year."
"But it's okay. I train every day. The days will pass quickly …"
Su Cheng's heart trembled when she heard his pitiful words. She looked at Lin Yan's face and couldn't bear to see him like this.
"Then you go wash the dishes first."
Lin Yan looked up. His expression changed rapidly. "Okay!"
…
Su Cheng's body was sore and weak. Her cheeks were flushed and her forehead was covered in sweat. She curled up in Lin Yan's arms.
"Do you have water?" Her voice was a little hoarse.
"Yes, yes."
It wasn't the first time. Lin Yan had already prepared everything. He swiped his finger across the orange hairpin on the bedside table and grabbed a glass of water.
Su Cheng took a sip to moisten her throat. She looked out the window. It was already ten o 'clock at night. A full moon hung outside the window. The moonlight shone through the gaps in the thick curtains.
"How was your final exam?" Lin Yan helped to put the glass of water down. He curled up under the blanket and hugged his girlfriend.
"It was okay," Su Cheng curled up her legs under the blanket and said, "It's about the same as last year. My GPA is close to 3.7?"
Fudan University's GPA was already very low. Most of the majors' median scores were between 3.3 and 3.4, especially in the mathematics department, which was famous in the country. 3.7 was the highest level, and 3.8 was the pride of Fudan University. They could do whatever they wanted in Guanghua Building.
"That high?" Lin Yan was a little surprised.
"I prepared for the courses last summer," Su Cheng said with a sigh. "During the military training, people were playing. I still had to study …"
"I still have to work hard this year. It's a bit difficult to get into the CIT with a 3.7 GPA." Su Cheng was a little sleepy. She yawned and wanted to sleep.
"Go take a shower. Otherwise, you'll feel uncomfortable sleeping." Lin Yan patted her body.
"Then I'll go first." Su Cheng put on her pajamas, got out of bed, found a change of clothes, and slowly walked into the bathroom.
Lin Yan used this time to tidy up the bed. He turned on the bedside lamp and found the tablet to open the S8 talent rune information that Gou Ba had compiled.
The girl took a shower and washed her undergarments. When she opened the bathroom door, more than half an hour had passed.
"Lin Yan …" she called softly. The boy was trying to get close to the tablet.
"That's strange. Why can't I see clearly?" Lin Yan frowned.
Su Cheng sat on the chair and turned on the hairdryer. The noise wasn't loud. It lingered in the room and didn't seem noisy.
"Are you nearsighted?" She turned her back to Lin Yan and gently rubbed her long hair.
"I'll go to the hospital tomorrow."
Lin Yan shook his head and closed the tablet. He stared at the computer for a long time every day. It was inevitable that he would be nearsighted. Fortunately, it was mild and didn't affect his normal life.
He took the hairdryer from his girlfriend and gently shook it to dry the wetness on his shoulder-length hair.
The noise made by the hairdryer spread out under the cover of the night. It was peaceful and soothing.
…
"200 degrees. It's considered mild nearsightedness. Put some eye drops on and take care to relieve eye strain …" the doctor looked at the results and said to Lin Yan, who was sitting across from him.
"Do you need to wear glasses?" Su Cheng, who was wearing a beige coat, put her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.
"It's okay if you don't wear glasses. It won't affect you much."
Doctors were very busy. Lin Yan and Su Cheng didn't want to waste other people's time. After asking clearly, they ran out.
"It's better to get a pair of glasses." Lin Yan thought about it and felt uneasy. "It'll be bad if you can't see clearly during a game."
Su Cheng agreed. If there was a problem, it was impossible to get a pair on the spot. It was better to prepare early.
"I think," Su Cheng held her boyfriend's arm. "Do you want to wear glasses that look like the ones that are sold out?"
"Vegeta?"
Lin Yan frowned. His mind was full of the funny face of the sold out. If he wore the same anti-radiation glasses as Firefox, he would be like Vegeta in Dragon Ball who could see his fighting strength with glasses.
"Forget it." He immediately rejected the suggestion. "I want glasses like Planck's."
"A young limited edition or a middle-aged afro?" Su Cheng's eyes curved like a crescent moon.
The two talked and laughed all the way into the eyewear shop. Lin Yan didn't take two steps before he saw a pair of thin gold-rimmed eyewear frames. He took the sample from the shop assistant and put it on.
"What do you think?" Lin Yan was still a little uncomfortable with the sudden addition of something on the bridge of his nose.
Su Cheng saw the delicate eyebrows behind the boy's glasses. The bright light from the ceiling shone down and flashed with a golden light.
The gold-rimmed glasses added a gentle feeling to Lin Yan, and the metal gave a tearing feeling. When the two merged together, it didn't feel out of place. The atmosphere of abstinence hit her in the face.
"Not bad, not bad." Su Cheng praised sincerely. "You look like a refined scum when you wear it."
"You really know how to talk." Lin Yan smiled helplessly and went to choose another lens.
In the evening, Lin Yan said goodbye to his girlfriend and returned to the YM base in the suburbs. After half a month, the place looked completely new.
As soon as he entered, a large blue and white BMW logo was hanging above the reception desk.
As he walked upstairs, Lin Yan noticed that many small details had been changed.
Small decorations with BMW characteristics were placed on the walls on both sides of the corridor. Even the flower pot at the corner was changed to BMW's signature blue and white color.
When he reached the third floor, Lin Ran saw Hongmi hiding outside the training room. She was wolfing down a bowl of Korean rice.
On top of the rice was a layer of barbecued pork belly and a hot spring egg. The grease glistened and whetted one's appetite.
"Why don't you go in?" Lin Yan asked subconsciously. He looked into Hong Mi's eyes and asked again in English.
Hong Mi chewed on the pork belly and tapped on the notice on the door of the lounge.
"Eating and making noise in the lounge is strictly prohibited."
"Ah …" At first, Lin Yan thought it was directed at the Shiba Inu, but on second thought, the Shiba people were also restricted.
He pushed the door open and entered. Several team members were sitting in their respective positions playing ranking practice. They did not notice Lin Yan's arrival.
At the edge of the lounge, a small door was opened next to Liu Qingsong's seat.
A small sign was hanging on the door. Lin Yan flipped it over. On the back of the sign, it said, "Clean up as soon as possible."
"Jin Gong is broadcasting inside." Liu Qingsong looked up and reminded him. "He'll be out in a moment."
Lin Yan flipped the sign back to its original position and found that he could only vaguely hear the sound of Jin Gong slamming the table through the door.
If he wore headphones, it was equivalent to no noise.
Manager Guo's efficiency was really high.
Lin Yan walked around the training room. His eyes stopped on the analyst Gouba's desk.
The black notebook was densely packed with traditional Chinese characters. One monitor was playing the video of the German Cup final, while the other was analyzing the data of the model under construction.
The video was played because the specific tactical implementation could not be shown through the cold data. It was necessary to check the specific game.
Gouba was doing both tactical analysis and data analysis.
His efficiency of multitasking was terrifying.
Lin Weixiang's salary was really a treasure.
Gouba's fingers were nimble. He copied all the data into Excel and printed out seven copies.
Lin Yan took one copy and his eyes stopped on it.
He had to admit that some of the data was beyond his imagination. Lin Yan raised his eyebrows in surprise.