"What's going on?" Su Cheng hadn't reacted yet. She sat on the chair in a daze.
Lin Yan was so emotional that he kissed her forehead. "Cheng Zi, I love you so much!"
The girl's ears were burning hot from the direct hit, and even her fair cheeks were slightly red.
"Let's go back to the hotel!"
He jumped up and down excitedly. He was completely different from his usual calm and collected appearance.
"We haven't finished eating …" Su Cheng looked at the leftovers on the table.
Lin Yan didn't hesitate. "Let's pack it up and go back."
He was now eager to go home. He wanted to quickly tell his thoughts to the coaching staff and teammates.
Five minutes later, Lin Yan held the lunch box in one hand and his girlfriend's wrist in the other. He hurriedly found Su Cheng's father's BMW.
"So fast?" Su Hongmin was still happily chatting with his wife when the two young people rushed over.
"Lin Yan, you haven't explained it to me yet!" Su Cheng panted. "What exactly are you thinking of?"
"There's no time to explain. Get in the car!" Lin Yan helped open the car door and let his girlfriend get in first.
The car drove away from Huaxi Live. Lin Yan explained his plan to Su Cheng in detail.
"Wow …" After listening, she turned her boyfriend's words over in her mind. She couldn't help but exclaim, "It seems quite feasible!"
Su Cheng was also excited. She shook Lin Yan's arm. "How is it?
Did I make a great contribution to this bowl? "
"Yes, yes, yes. You're the best!"
Lin Yan's praise was sincere.
Su Hongmin listened to the conversation between the two and felt confused.
However, it wasn't convenient for him to interrupt. He could only hide his doubts and drive the car north along the West Fourth Ring Road.
Although Su Hongmin's hometown was in Suzhou, he had been in Beijing for ten years. Midway, he had jumped ship from Audi to BMW. However, his city of work had not changed, so he was very familiar with the place. He easily drove to the hotel Lin Yan was staying at.
It just so happened that it was the evening rush hour in Beijing, and the traffic was very congested. The road that was less than 10 kilometers took them half an hour to drive.
"Goodbye, uncle!"
Lin Yan was burning with anxiety. He hurriedly said goodbye to Su Hongmin, opened the car door, and was about to run away.
"Wait!" Su Cheng hooked her arms around his neck and kissed her boyfriend's lips.
Both of them frowned as soon as they touched each other.
Both of their mouths were filled with the sweet taste of red braised meat, mixed with the aroma of scallion and sea cucumber.
If he took a bite, it would probably taste good. But now, it was just a kiss, and it tasted strange.
After looking at each other, Su Cheng laughed out loud. "Hahaha … Alright, you should go and discuss this with Red Rice and the others."
"See you in Shanghai!"
Lin Yan rubbed his girlfriend's head and kissed her cheek. This time, he calmly met Su Cheng's father's gaze and pretended to nod in acknowledgment. Then, he ran to the hotel lobby with vigorous steps.
"This kid …" Su Hongmin was helpless. Lin Yan probably insisted that the two of them would only meet again in September or October, so he changed his previous cowardly attitude.
Looking at his daughter's happy expression, he sighed in his heart.
But now that their relationship had developed to this point, Su Hongmin could only secretly rejoice. Fortunately, he knew Lin Yan very well, and he was also young and successful in his career.
Immediately, he suppressed his desire to gossip and stopped driving. He turned around and asked his daughter about what had happened.
Su Cheng beamed with joy and told her boyfriend's plan.
Su Hongmin, who knew little about League of Legends, didn't really understand, but he was shocked.
…
"Red Rice, are you there?" Lin Yan came to the seventh floor of the hotel and knocked on his manager's door.
Not long after, the door was pushed open and a face with a chicken wing in his mouth appeared.
It was Jiang Chenglu.
He lived in the same room as Red Rice, so he didn't have to worry about language problems.
"What are you doing?" Jiang Chenglu's voice was unclear. "Didn't you go to eat with Su Cheng?"
"We finished eating …" Lin Yan showed the takeout box in his hand. "Didn't you see my WeChat message?"
"No, we ordered fried chicken. We didn't even have the time to look at WeChat."
Jiang Chenglu turned sideways to let Lin Yan into the room.
Red Rice, who had taken off his suit, was sitting on a chair with a Korean-style fried chicken leg in his hand. There was a lot of sauce on the corner of his mouth.
He was a completely different person from the serious face he had in front of the camera.
"I have a solution," Lin Yan said after taking a deep breath.
Red Rice didn't understand. He didn't understand Chinese, so he turned to the translator.
"… Are you serious?"
Jiang Chenglu's eyes narrowed. He didn't translate Lin Yan's words into Korean right away. Instead, he confirmed with him again.
"Of course, I called the other people from the competition department over. They'll be here soon." Lin Yan nodded vigorously.
…
Fifteen minutes later.
YM's competition department meeting officially started in Red Rice's room.
The room was so crowded that not even a drop of water could trickle through. Everyone had already learned about the main content of this meeting in the WeChat group. At this moment, they were basking in the aroma of fried chicken and looked at Lin Ran with anticipation and longing, wanting to hear his solution.
Lin Yan didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
"Does everyone remember what Hao said when the changes in Version 8.14 appeared?"
Guo Hao was stunned for a moment.
He didn't expect it to have something to do with him.
"You want to say 'Winning the championship is like climbing a mountain. Whoever reaches the top first gets the trophy. We don't have to compare ourselves to YM last year. We just need to climb faster than the other teams'?" Jack had a good memory and summarized the general meaning of Manager Guo's long speech not long ago.
He was still holding a bottle of Coca-Cola in his hand and was pouring it into his mouth. It looked like he was treating it like Erguotou to commemorate his good brother, Draven, who was about to be crippled by Fist.
"That's right." Lin Yan nodded affirmatively. "At the time, Hao compared the Version 8.14 update to a boulder blocking our way. Do you all remember?"
The people in YM's competition department had a deep impression of Guo Hao's chicken soup speech. Now that their memories were evoked, they naturally agreed.
"Then this change to the test server is equivalent to giving us another boulder for free. That's easy to understand …"
Lin Weixiang wanted to laugh when he heard this.
He wanted to complain that Fist gave the update without increasing the price. One boulder after another, as if they were afraid they couldn't crush YM.
But after thinking about it, Big Eyebrows, who had a strange sense of humor, felt that this wasn't right.
When the meeting was so serious and everyone was listening to their opinions, should he laugh?
"I'll continue with Hao's' Winning the championship is like climbing a mountain. '" Lin Yan cleared his throat. "We're almost halfway through the summer tournament. We're halfway up the mountain. There are boulders blocking the way, but after the summer tournament, there won't be any more obstacles."
"Because the international tournament version is fixed. I'm sure everyone knows this."
"Then our goal is very simple. We just have to survive the summer tournament, and even the regular season." He looked around and said loudly, "Ever since that incident with S5, Fist will definitely not make any major changes when it comes to the international tournament."
Everyone in YM's competition department agreed with this point of view.
Back then, Fist went crazy and suddenly changed the game from a version that focused on the bottom lane to a brawl between tanks. Nuo Shou, Crocodile, Captain, Kenji, and other heroes dominated the field. The bottom lane was even dominated by Metal Master Tin Man.
The abnormal gap in strength between heroes made the entire international tournament unskilled and even directly affected the viewing experience of the tournament.
After all, not many people liked to see Master Metal's simple and unadorned attacks shatter Calista's health bar.
In order to allow the players and teams to adapt to the new version as much as possible, and at the same time prevent overly OP heroes from appearing in the arena, Fist had specially given everyone a buffer period.
Starting from the two minor versions before the international tournament, there were only minor changes to some heroes and equipment. There wouldn't be any large-scale changes to the game environment.
Lin Yan was still standing in the middle of the crowd. His voice was smooth and coherent. "It's not that we can't deal with these boulders blocking the way now. It's just that it will take a lot of the team's time and energy. And if it goes well, Riot will fill the road with more boulders. It'll be even more troublesome then."
"That's right." Liu Qingsong's voice was full of disgust. "Fist is really disgusting!"
Jack agreed. "Well said, Young Master Tear!"
The other players' reactions were similar. For a moment, the crowd in the room was excited.
"I understand how everyone feels." Guo Hao quickly calmed the players down. "But as players, we have no ability to resist. We still have to get used to it."
"Let's not talk about Fist first." Lin Yan gestured with his hands to quiet everyone down. "Let me continue."
He was now the absolute core of YM. He was even the soul of the entire club. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that he had hundreds of people responding to his call.
Hearing his words, the room was as quiet as a chicken.
"Now this pile of boulders is blocking YM's way up. But what's interesting is that … no one has fixed our path."
The Xiba players frowned. "What do you mean?"
Big Eyebrows didn't understand and became anxious. "Don't be a riddler. Can you just say it?"
Lin Yan didn't keep them in suspense. From this moment on, his voice became impassioned. "Unlike 'there is only one path from ancient Mount Hua', there are many paths to the top of this mountain.
"IG, RNG, RW … every team has a path to climb up. We don't have to stupidly follow YM's path all the way up!"
"You're saying …" Phyllostachys Pubescens was enlightened. "Follow other people's paths?"
Lin Ran nodded approvingly. "You're right. From now on, we can follow the paths of the other teams and climb upwards. The designers didn't set up too many obstacles on their paths. Once the regular season ends, we'll just have to avoid the stones placed by Fist, and then we can return to YM's own path!"
"This way, we can deceive Fist!
"Do you remember the second game against RNG today?" As he said this, he became excited. "We won the game with four to one!
"This is a perfect example that can be replicated!
"For example, in the next game against BLG, we'll use BLG's style to face the opponent." Lin Yan raised his voice. "Drag it out until the end of the regular season, and we'll succeed!"
At this point, all the members of YM's competition department understood what he meant.
Changing the tactical style, using other teams' playstyles to hide YM's tactical trump card, so Fist's designers couldn't target them anymore!
"Murong Fu, right?" Lin Weixiang became excited and made a vivid analogy. "Giving them a taste of their own medicine?"
Red Mi, who had been listening to Jiang Chenglu's translation, blinked and asked with confusion, "Who's Murong Fu?"
Jiang Chenglu racked his brain and tried his best to translate from the perspective of a Korean. "He's … Kakashi from Naruto, do you know him?"
"Oh oh oh oh!" Red Mi crowed like a rooster. "Copy ninja!"
"There's a problem." The analyst Gou Ba raised his hand. "If we copy the playstyle of other teams, like today's four to one, and then Fist's knife cuts us down, what should we do?"
Lin Yan shrugged. "What does the designers have to do with YM if they weaken Fist's playstyle?
At most, we'll just change our tactics. After all, we're not familiar with other teams' playstyles.
"Besides, I can't wait for Fist's rain and dew to hit teams like IG, RNG, and KT one by one. This way, the other teams' strength will be weakened. Isn't that the same as strengthening YM?"
He concluded. "All in all, our goal for the rest of the regular season is to walk the path of others and leave them with no way out!"
Jack's eyes lit up. "Brother Ran, this move is so despicable … but I like it!"
After understanding the logic, the atmosphere in the room instantly became lively!
"Burning pot." Red Mi gave him a thumbs up and said in awkward Mandarin, "Good job!"
"Let's order takeout. I'm starving." Lin Weixiang jumped up and down. "WDNMD, that change to the test suit ruined my appetite for dinner. I missed out on two big bowls of rice!"
"Let's order hotpot. Let's celebrate today!" Guo Hao made the decision. "The club will reimburse us!"
The group of members of the competition department who hadn't eaten their fill that night cheered!
…
At noon the next day, Lin Yan brought Mongoose, Jack, and Liu Qingsong to Hongbin Restaurant to participate in the RNG team's dinner party.
"Why is it only the four of you?" Mi De Hu looked behind Lin Yan and found that the others weren't there.
"… They ate something bad last night and are still lying in bed." Mongoose mercilessly teased his teammates. "Lin Weixiang looks like he hasn't seen meat in eight lifetimes. He ate almost two pounds of mutton and some other stuff. If he didn't have diarrhea, I'd think his stomach was a black hole."
This time, the entire RNG team was present. This famous restaurant was found by the old Beijing people.
"Saucepan, why aren't you sitting?" Lin Yan put the bowls and chopsticks on the table and looked at the spicy saucepan standing there. He was puzzled.
Liu Shiyu's face flushed red, and he stammered, unable to speak.
"Don't worry about him. Liu Shiyu's butt has a problem." Mi De Hu gave Lin Yan a knowing look. "It's something that nine out of ten men have. He can't sit for long."
"Oh …" Lin Yan dragged his words. He understood the meaning of the cancellation. "Really?
Nine out of ten men have it? "
"Who knows." Ouze waited for the Yandan Explosion Powder to be served and took a bite. "It's said that heavy people tend to grow, but I'm fine."
"Can you do surgery?" Liu Qingsong licked his lips and suggested.
Shi Senming shook his head and said seriously, "I heard that this thing can relapse and can't be cured."
"Then what do we do?" Jack laughed. "Are we going to have to stand in the future?"
"Hahahahaha!"
Everyone stayed in Bengbu and the private room was filled with laughter.
"Ah, let's not talk about this!" Saucepan was a bit annoyed. "Can't we talk about something else?"
Lin Yan picked up a piece of white jumping fish. The fish was soft and tender and tasted fresh. It was definitely the best.
"You guys seem to be in a good mood today."
The cancellation noticed that everyone in YM was smiling. "It's completely different from yesterday's crying faces."
"Go away, when did I cry?" Lin Yan scolded jokingly.
Poise smiled sinisterly. "Do you feel that your punches were too light?
Haven't you had enough? "
"Enough, enough," Lin Yan said hurriedly. "If you weaken it any more, we won't be able to play anymore!"
Xiao Tian, Jack, and Liu Qingsong all looked at him with disdain.
She was already acting?
The next second, the three of them said in unison, "We can't weaken Sparrow anymore. How can they change it like that?
These designers are so shameless! "
The RNG team members didn't suspect anything.
When he saw the changes to the test suit, Li Yuanhao knew that they were targeting YM.
The changes were too excessive.
It was inevitable that the YM team members felt that it was unfair.
"Eat, eat!" He quickly called his friends to clean up the braised oxtail that had just been served.
Lin Yan took a bite of the oxtail and felt that the level of the dish was ridiculously high.
The meat was separated from the bone, but not completely separated. The beef flavor was very prominent. It was soft and tender, mellow, thin, and shiny.
Paired with a bowl of rice, all the professional players in the private room became gluttons.
"Wow …" Xiao Tian sighed. "This dish is amazing!"
"How is it?"
The old Beijing man smiled slyly. "I often came here to eat when I was young. This oxtail is their signature dish."
"Isn't this better than a bungalow?"
Jack also gave a high evaluation. "It's all Hao's fault for not building a home in Beijing. Otherwise, I would come here every day for dinner!"
The quality of the dishes at Hongbin Restaurant was indeed beyond Lin Yan's imagination.
As a Suzhou person who wasn't used to northern cuisine, he felt that it was impeccable.
An hour later.
Everyone looked at the empty plates on the table and patted their bellies, still feeling that they hadn't had enough.
It wasn't just the foodie Jack. Even Xiao Tian, who usually didn't pay much attention to food, felt the same way.
"Can this oxtail be packed up?" Lin Yan asked. "I want to bring a few back to Shanghai."
"Sure, of course, no problem." Shi called the waiter and went to pay the bill.
Lin Yan originally wanted to do it himself.
After all, out of all the players present, his ability to earn money was the strongest. Paying the bill was no big deal.
However, Shi's one sentence stopped him.
"We don't have a reason to let customers treat us."
Lin Yan could only promise to treat RNG when they went to Shanghai.
In the end, he carried two boxes of oxtail and stepped onto the flight back to Shanghai.
In the blink of an eye, it was July 24th.
After resting for a few days, YM would face BLG's challenge today.
This was also the first match after Lin Yan proposed the concept of Murong Fu in esports.
This was related to their specific tactics for the second half of the summer season. It was of great significance!