"Brother Ran, step forward a little!"
"Hold your head high!
Mongoose, don't shrink your shoulders. Look at the camera! "
"Jack, you better turn your head... your head is too big!"
The studio burst into laughter.
"Be serious!" The director was getting impatient. "You guys don't want to work overtime, right?"
"We're on leave at eight tonight. We don't even know if we're going to work overtime or not..." Jack's face had turned red from the director's words. He seized the opportunity to fight back. "I think you're the one who doesn't want to work overtime."
"Working overtime is a blessing from a previous life," Jin Gong suddenly said. No one knew who taught him that.
The YM players in their new uniforms were laughing and joking, but they still followed the instructions and adjusted their positions. They kept a straight face and pretended to be cool as they took the group photo.
The director looked at the camera and let out a long sigh of relief. "Okay, okay, let's go!"
Today, he was riding on YM's coattails. This team was definitely the fastest in the entire Alliance at taking photos.
The main reason was that they were too experienced.
Since their inception, they had taken countless photos for major competitions. Their professional skills were quite strong. They could basically finish all the work in half an afternoon.
The team members scattered and ran back to the changing room to change into their own uniforms.
"Brother Ran, aren't you coming back to the base with us?" Jack asked casually.
"Yeah, I'll go home for dinner first." Lin Yan followed them to the parking lot. "I can't help it. Who told me to have a girlfriend?"
His tone was full of bragging.
Phyllostachys Pubescens clicked his tongue and could only watch as his mid laner got into the car and drove away.
It took more than half an hour for Lin Yan to get home. As soon as he entered the building, he found that the elevator was broken and was being repaired. It couldn't be fixed in a short time, so he had to climb the stairs with the other residents.
The building wasn't particularly high, but even so, Lin Yan was sweating by the time he reached the door. The hot weather caused his sweat to stick to his clothes. It was unbearable.
He took out his key and opened the door. The warm yellow light and the cold air of the air conditioner hit him in the face.
He felt so good that he could fly.
Lin Yan hurriedly closed the door and changed his shoes. As he walked to the living room, he complained, "This elevator broke down at the right time. It's rush hour in the middle of summer and it's like this …"
He stopped talking.
He just stared at the kitchen on the other side.
Su Cheng hummed a song as she worked in front of the stove …
Although this was scary, it was not the main point.
Lin Yan shifted his gaze to the dining table.
It was the signature dish of Shandong Cuisine, stir-fried kidney. It was obviously bought from a restaurant outside. The extremely ridiculous cross-shaped knife could make people with misogyny shut up on the spot. It was impossible for ordinary people to make it. Green and red chili peppers were embellished on it. At a glance, the appearance was excellent.
There were also two bowls of … wolfberry peanut porridge?
He looked at the dishes and vaguely felt that something was wrong.
When Su Cheng heard Lin Yan's words, she turned her head and looked at her boyfriend. "It's mainly because the weather is too hot. Otherwise, it would be good to exercise more."
"Que …" Lin Yan walked into the kitchen and saw the steaming steamer in front of Su Cheng. He was shocked. "What's in this?!"
"Didn't you see it?" Su Cheng rolled her eyes at him. "Oysters with garlic."
"Aiyo, hurry up and take a shower. You're sweating all over!" She waved her boyfriend to the bathroom.
Lin Yan's heart kept sinking. Even his footsteps became heavier.
He regretted rushing back. If he had known, he would have followed his teammates back to the YM base in the suburbs.
He stayed in the bathroom for a long time. After a full 20 minutes, Su Cheng knocked on the door.
"You're not done yet?"
"Right away, right away!" Lin Yan quickly turned off the nozzle.
As soon as he opened the door, the air conditioner surrounded him again.
However, he didn't feel good this time. He only felt a chill in his heart. The chill spread from the top of his head all the way to his heels.
"What?" Su Cheng pushed his waist. "Hurry up and change into a short-sleeved shirt. Aren't you afraid of catching a cold with your bare arms exposed?"
The shirt that he had just changed into in the studio was now covered in sweat. It was obvious that he couldn't wear it. He could only throw it into the washing machine and find another one.
With the clothes wrapped around his body and the water droplets on the surface of his skin gradually drying, Lin Yan finally felt less cold.
"Come and eat!" Su Cheng sat at the dining table and called out to him.
He dragged his heavy feet and moved to his seat.
"I made the oysters with garlic according to the recipe. The taste shouldn't be too bad …" Su Cheng poured a large glass of orange juice for her boyfriend.
She watched as Lin Yan took an oyster and poured it into his mouth. She asked expectantly, "How is it?"
"Hmm … The garlic is a little burnt, but the rest is fine." Lin Yan shook off the other thoughts in his mind and commented objectively.
"Really?"
Su Cheng also tasted an oyster and frowned slightly. "The recipe says' stir-fry the garlic on a small fire until it's slightly golden. 'Who knows how small the fire is and what the color is when it's slightly golden."
She was quite repulsed by such ambiguous words. Su Cheng thought that this was the culprit behind her failure when cooking. Of course, she felt that it wasn't her fault that she had only learned how to cut cucumbers after three days. It was because the thickness of a cucumber was not uniform from the beginning to the end, so it was difficult to cut it with a kitchen knife.
"Yes, yes, yes." Lin Yan held back his laughter. "It's all the fault of the recipe."
Su Cheng naturally heard the ridicule in his words. She glared at Lin Yan and pushed the wolfberry peanut porridge in front of him.
Lin Ran immediately agreed. He picked up the spoon and took a sip.
"What time did you get off work tonight?"
Su Cheng picked up the remote control and turned on the TV in the living room. She found the live broadcast of the shark fighting competition. It was broadcasting the draw ceremony for this year's summer competition.
"Eight …" Lin Yan quickly corrected himself. He almost bit his tongue. "Seven o 'clock."
Su Cheng glanced at him and frowned slightly.
On the TV, Ren Dong was still explaining the rules of the draw to the audience.
The summer competition still followed the home-and-away system in the Eastern and Western Regions. In addition to LGD, Snake, OMG, and WE, there was another team with a home field — RNG.
"They're building a home field in Beijing. They're really rich." Lin Yan quickly changed the topic.
Su Cheng looked back at the time on the wall clock in the living room. She lowered her eyes and murmured in agreement. She continued to pick at the kidney on her plate.
The summer competition's draw was still a cross-draw. The teams ranked second before the spring competition were assigned to pool number one. Since RNG was the home team in Beijing, they were assigned to the Eastern Division in advance. Their manager would pick the first opponent for YM in the Western Division from the teams ranked third to sixth in the spring competition.
The RNG manager stretched out his hand and swiped twice in the second pool, grabbing a black ball from it.
The black ball opened and revealed EDG's club logo.
Su Cheng was still in bullet screen mode. When she saw the first draw, the live broadcast was noisy.
[Good draw! Good draw!]
[Why do you say it's a good draw?]
[Everyone knows what EDG's strength is now. I've been a fan of YM for ten years.]
【？
What's wrong with my DingBao?
Are you looking down on us? YM didn't even exist when our ancestors were glorious. Now that they've gained a little power, they're riding on their seniors' faces. How disgusting.]
[EDG can jump too?
Can't they break through to the top eight first?]
Lin Yan felt that his meal was delicious just by looking at the bullet screen.
Guo Hao, who didn't appear in the studio this afternoon, stepped onto the stage in a suit and also picked a black ball from pool number two.
When he opened it, Guo Hao was already stunned. His joy could be seen through the screen in front of Lin Yan.
"The second team in the Eastern Division …" Ren Dong waved his arm. "Invictus Gaming!"
IG's classic Tai Chi symbol appeared behind RNG!
"Good draw, Hao!" Lin Yan wanted to applaud his manager.
RNG's manager, Quan Zhonghe, pursed his lips and didn't say a word. He looked very depressed.
He knew very well what level IG was at now.
Although RNG defeated them in the spring playoffs under the leadership of Ouze, the invincible talent displayed by this group of people was enough to make people tremble in fear.
From the beginning of the competition, IG wanted to ride on their opponents' faces. If you dared to look at them, they would kill you. Only the survivors had the right to continue developing.
They were able to win the spring season because the overall tempo was in the bottom half, and Ouze was in an extremely hot state at that time.
However, the tables were turned. Who could guarantee that IG's summer season wouldn't encounter a suitable version and take off again?
Quan Zhonghe glanced at Guo Hao and was extremely unhappy.
I gave you such a good draw for EDG, and you're biting the hand that feeds you?
Then, IG's manager, Su Xiaoluo, went on stage and picked TOP.
Tao Bo's team logo appeared behind YM and EDG.
This time, the bullet screen exploded.
[Brothers, isn't YM's luck too good?]
[YM, EDG, and TOP are guaranteed to be first in the group?]
[Fist Games, strictly investigate the underhanded methods!]
[This is a f * cking underhanded method. Why didn't you bark when you were in the same group as WE, Snakes, and IG in '17?]
Lin Yan was relieved when he saw the groups.
Since they were in the western division, Chongqing's home team, Snakes, Chengdu's home team, OMG, and Xi 'an's home team, WE, would also be assigned to them.
All in all, the competition in the western division was really not that high.
Guo Hao, who was below the stage, laughed.
"This summer's regular season isn't that difficult." Lin Yan wanted to say that he was comfortable. "We can prepare for the Intercontinental Cup and the Asian Games."
Su Cheng still had her head down. She stuffed a mouthful of rice into her mouth and picked up a piece of green pepper. She did not answer him.
In the end, the teams were drawn and the dust settled.
Eastern Division: RNG, IG, RW, LGD, JDG, SN, FPX
Western Division: YM, EDG, TOP, WE, Snakes, OMG, BLG
Lin Yan's phone on the dining table buzzed. He turned his head and saw that Guo Hao was asking for credit in the group chat.
Hao Akashi: [How is it? Am I awesome?
Hmm?]
Lin Weixiang Is My Big Son: [Awesome, awesome, awesome. This IG draw is awesome.]
Jack and Jin Gong also started to praise him. Mongoose, on the other hand, was still making sarcastic comments.
- | -: [Hao always has bad luck. This win was mainly saved by the cross-draw. If he had drawn himself, he would have given us an IG.]
Lin Yan laughed and typed a reply.
Coca Cola Savory Spicy Tofu Pudding, Sweet Rice Dumplings, and Mooncakes: [Mongoose is right.]
Hao Akashi: [If this was a QQ group, I would definitely ban you little jerk.]
Across the table, Su Cheng finished the orange juice in her cup and ate the rice in her bowl without saying a word. She curled up in her chair and watched TV.
Lin Yan finally realized that his girlfriend was not in the right mood.
He quickly put down his phone. "Where did you buy this stir-fried kidney today?
It's crispy and tender. It's pretty good. "
"It's from the restaurant in Zhengda Square."
Su Cheng did not even look at him. She only answered the question briefly. Her voice was stiff, and it was obvious that she was a little angry.
"You should eat more porridge." Lin Yan continued to persuade her.
"I can't eat anymore. I don't have an appetite." Su Cheng replied stiffly.
Lin Yan glanced at his phone. It was almost six in the evening. He did not have much time left.
"Hmm … To be honest, I took my leave at eight." He could roughly guess why Su Cheng was angry, so he quickly admitted his mistake.
"Why did you lie to me?" Su Cheng sighed.
Lin Yan did not know how to explain it.
He could not say that he was afraid, right?
"I went to Zhengda Square and bought this stir-fried kidney for an hour. Then I went to the market to buy oysters, goji berries, and peanuts. When I came back, I looked through the recipes for a long time before I dared to cook …"
Su Cheng's voice was as calm as water. "I'm not saying this to ask for a reward. I just want to say that I care about you a lot."
"I know, I know." Lin Yan reached across the table and held his girlfriend's hand. "I can't help it."
"Oh, then tell me." Su Cheng pulled her hand away. She crossed her arms and leaned against the back of the chair in a defensive posture.
"I …" Lin Yan gritted his teeth and simply told her everything.
Su Cheng turned her head. She put her right hand on the middle of the table and covered her mouth. After a while, her shoulder started to twitch.
"Don't cry." Lin Yan was really panicking now. He took a tissue and leaned forward. "It's not a big deal. You don't have to …"
Tears fell, but she was not crying.
Su Cheng tried hard to hold back her laughter. After all, she had not received strict training. When she saw Lin Yan leaning over to look at her, she finally stopped.
"Hahahaha, Lin Yan, why are you so narcissistic?"
After the tears came out of her eyes, the corners of her eyes were a little red. It was particularly conspicuous on her delicate white skin.
Su Cheng held her stomach and laughed out loud. "I can't take it anymore. I can't take it anymore."
Lin Yan's head was in a daze. He was at a loss and felt like he was drowning in water.
"… Oysters, kidney, wolfberry peanut porridge. What do you think I want to do?" She pointed at the dishes on the table and asked.
"Nourish the kidneys." Lin Yan answered matter-of-factly.
"Yes, but why do you think nourishing the kidneys means doing …" Su Cheng snorted and blurted out the word. "I saw that you were exhausted last week, so I wanted to nourish you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to withstand the high-intensity training at the base."
"I don't mean anything else. Please don't misunderstand. You're making it sound like I'm not satisfied." Her appetite was back. She held the big bowl and took two mouthfuls of thick porridge.
Lin Yan was silent.
He was really tired last week. Su Cheng had no intention of letting him go during the two days of the safe period. In addition, he went to the youth training camp twice and was full of anger. It was inevitable that his body was a little weak.
"Ahem."
He coughed softly to ease the awkward atmosphere in the room. At the same time, he sped up the chopsticks. Gradually, he picked up ten dishes per second and stuffed the kidney and the remaining oysters into his mouth.
Lin Yan washed the dishes and cleared the misunderstanding. He was not in a hurry to leave. He leaned on the sofa with his girlfriend and planned to watch a TV series with Su Cheng.
"What's this?" Lin Yan saw the Korean language floating on the TV. "A Korean TV series?"
"Why Secretary Kim Is Like That." Su Cheng had never watched it before. She heard it from her roommate. "It just aired two episodes. I heard it has a good reputation."
Lin Yan did not have any requirements for the nationality of the TV series and movies. As long as it was good, he would not refuse it.
"Hey, the female lead is pretty." Su Cheng's eyes lit up.
Lin Yan glanced at her. "You like to look at beautiful women?"
"Of course." She leaned forward. "Who doesn't like handsome men and beautiful women?
Didn't you look at yourself in the mirror every day? "
Lin Yan heard this and quickly said, "I don't think the male lead is as good-looking as me."
Su Cheng did not even make a comparison. "Indeed, you're simply reducing the dimension."
"The female secretary is well dressed." Lin Yan peeled a peanut. "Cheng Zi, when are you going to wear a suit?"
He felt that he was a little obsessed with uniforms.
Su Cheng glanced at her boyfriend. "I have a suit in my closet. I can change into it now. Are you sure you want to see it?"
"… No, no."
Lin Yan immediately admitted defeat. If his girlfriend really changed into such a suit, he was afraid that he would not be able to leave the room today.
"Ha, men." Su Cheng disdained.
…
Lin Yan arrived at YM Training Base in the suburbs at 7: 50 pm unscathed. He punched in and entered the training room. Everyone from the competition department was already there.
"Brother Ran, I ordered a cup of milk tea for you!" Mongoose saw him enter and quickly greeted him. "It's Jack's treat today."
"Put it in the fridge first. I just ate."
Lin Yan put the succulent grapes in the small fridge in the training room. It was usually used to store things like drinks and ice cream. Whoever wanted to eat it could just take it out.
Red Rice took a sip of the grape, put down the milk tea, and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"This holiday is a little long," he said. "It's mainly because everyone just finished the mid-season competition and didn't have much rest in the first half of the year, so it's a long holiday."
The team members were well aware of this. Compared to last year's MSI, the holiday this time was extended by a whole week. Guo Hao even specially requested Teng Jing to arrange for the final makeup photo to be taken at the end of all the teams so that the team members could have a good rest.
"This Friday's opening match will be against TOP. The version used is 8.11. I'll tell you the general changes today. Tomorrow, we'll start the regular training match."
Gou Ba on the side distributed the information to the six team members.
"I'm sure everyone has seen the mid-season version update. The Doran Ring's attributes have been adjusted, the Canyon Vanguard has been changed, the dual EZ has been abolished, and even Baron Nash's HP and ATK have been changed …"
Whenever Redmi talked about her work, she would speak very quickly. Jiang Chenglu had to concentrate to barely keep up with her.
"In Version 8.10, Fist has also changed the Swift River Crab."
Lin Yan lowered his head to look at the information in his hands.
The Swift River Crab's respawn time was now two minutes earlier. Moreover, the experience points had been greatly increased, from 10 points to 115 to 230 points.
"What's the concept of experience points?" Red Rice put up a picture. "The experience points of double buffs are nothing more than this."
"In other words, the River Crab is now equivalent to a wild camp!"
Xiao Tian was stunned. "Is Fist crazy?"
Everyone present knew what this change meant!
All the junglers would rush to the river when the Swift River Crab respawned in two minutes. They would compete for this wild monster that was extremely valuable in terms of experience points!
In a zero-sum game in the wild, eating one more group of wild monsters would widen the gap in the early stages!
In other words, the designer forced everyone to fight in the river for resources in two minutes.
If you didn't fight, you would have to watch the other side farm two more groups of wild monsters!
"This change has directly abolished herbivorous junglers like Piggy." Red Rice said helplessly. "Heroes who are at a disadvantage in the wild don't deserve to eat the River Crab in the early stages unless their teammates create space for them or they plan their routes well."
Xiao Tian added, "In this way, a Level 2 jungler will have an advantage, right?"
After all, the River Crab respawned in two minutes. No jungler could reach Level 3.
"That's right." Red Rice nodded. "A Level 2 jungler will have the initiative to snatch the River Crab. The Qing Gang Ying jungler that we used in the mid-season finals will probably become a regular jungler in the summer games."
Camille's Level 2 ability was one of the best among the junglers. She could directly hit the opponent's face with strong attacks and rely on adaptive shields to win against most junglers.
"Then, can we really swing between the top and bottom junglers in Qing Gang Ying?"
Phyllostachys Pubescens was excited. "Can Jack and Master Tear learn a thing or two? The five of us can squeeze Camille dry!"
What kind of weird vocabulary was that?
Before Lin Yan could complain, Red Rice continued.
"And they also changed the yellow accessory. The guard duration has increased from 60-120 seconds to 90-180 seconds. The charging countdown has increased from 180-90 seconds to 240-120 seconds.
"Now, in the first four minutes of the game, everyone only has one accessory eye."
"Coupled with the previous changes to the River Crab, this is simply a carnivorous jungler's paradise," Red Rice explained. "Now it's much easier to catch people in the junglers than before."
All the players were whispering. The Fist's version of the mid-season game had undergone major changes. It looked crazy. In order to increase the bloody level, they would do anything to push the Korean operation, which had been developed in the early stage, into the abyss.
"There's another point." Red Rice knocked on the whiteboard and pulled their attention back. "The bounty mechanism has also changed."
"Originally, killing an enemy hero with a bounty would give everyone in the team a reward of gold coins equally. But now, the killer will enjoy all the extra bounty alone."
He spoke with assurance. "This is also to encourage the underdog to continue to collide with each other. Because the bounty for a single kill is too high, it's easy to raise a big brother. Once the underdog wins a wave of team battles, the key hero will eat the full bounty, and it's very likely that he will control the overall situation."
"In general, the goal of the recent version update of the Fist is very clear, which is to continue to accelerate the pace of the entire game," Red Rice concluded. "The middle lane is now the world of heroes like Little Beauty, Zooey, and Swordsister."
Phyllostachys Pubescens interrupted. "This is simply great news for Brother Ran!"
Jack and the others also agreed with Xiao Tian's statement.
Lin Yan's individual ability was superior to the others. If such a fierce lane matchup was dominated by heroes who focused on small-scale team battles in the early stage, YM's pace would be much more comfortable.
"That's true for now." Red Rice nodded. "But we can't just rely on the middle lane. The rest of you have to coordinate well."
"Tonight, let's talk about the River Crab first. This is not only the jungler's business. Everyone in the game must actively cooperate and rush to the battlefield as soon as possible … Remember, as long as the jungler is comfortable, the lane won't suffer."
"If you let the jungler fall into a disadvantage, he may lose his rhythm for the whole game. When that time comes, he won't be able to protect the lane, and you won't have a good time playing."
Red Rice cleared his throat and imparted the tactical concepts he had prepared. All the members of YM memorized the knowledge.
They took a very late leave, so they had to work harder to catch up with the missing part of the time.