Before Lin Yan left, he looked back at the IG players' seats. Broiler had his head down and was packing up the keyboard peripherals.
"IG's record has dropped to 2-6 after losing this BO3. Their chances of advancing to the playoffs are very slim. I hope they can adjust their condition as soon as possible."
Lin Yan heard the two commentators still summarizing the game, while Broiler walked back to the lounge with his keyboard and mouse in a daze.
Lin Ran was looking forward to the next fight with the rookies. Lin Ran believed that under normal circumstances, he would be at a slight disadvantage when fighting against the rookies. Tribulation's solo kill was completely because he used a rare skill mechanism that was currently unknown.
Broiler was quite good at controlling the distance and handling the details of his skills. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the strongest mid laner Lin Yan had encountered so far.
It was a pity that his teammates were too weak and could not pose a great threat to Lin Yan for the time being.
As the winner of the battle for the top mid laner in LPL, Lin Yan accepted the host's interview.
The female host held the card with a smile and asked Lin Yan about his two most eye-catching moves — the solo kill of the rookie and the thousand-yard hack.
Lin Yan explained, but the female host obviously did not know much about the game. After listening to Lin Yan's explanation, her bright smile became stiff.
However, Lin Yan did not pay attention to the well-dressed female host. He sensed the gaze of Su Cheng in the front row of the audience and involuntarily moved away from the female host.
The questions that the female host asked next were awkward and boring. Most of them had nothing to do with the game. However, the stadium's lights were still shining on Lin Yan, making him feel exceptionally hot.
After answering the female host's last question about facial maintenance, Lin Yan was finally free.
He went back to the lounge to drink two mouthfuls of water. After dealing with the team's post-match interview, Lin Yan asked for leave from Hao and left the stadium.
Su Cheng was waiting for him outside the stadium. She had probably waited for quite some time. When Lin Yan left the stadium, Su Cheng was stretching her slender legs to relieve her fatigue. Her head was lowered as she scrolled through Tieba on her phone. There was even a small suitcase by her feet.
"What are you looking at?" Lin Yan quietly appeared behind her.
Su Cheng was startled. Her fair and slender neck, which was exposed by her black T-shirt, trembled violently. She almost dropped her phone to the ground.
She put the phone into the pocket of her sweatpants. Lin Yan didn't know if it was because the downtown lights in Shanghai were too bright at night, but at that moment, he felt that Su Cheng's white jade-like cheeks were slightly flushed.
"Nothing," Su Cheng interrupted. "You haven't had dinner, have you?
I found a local restaurant in the past two days, and the food there is quite good. "
Even though Su Cheng put away her phone quickly, the bright light of the phone in the night was too eye-catching. Lin Yan still saw the title of the post. "Is it time to reevaluate the strength of YM's midlaner now?"
"Is there enough time? Don't you have to catch the high-speed train?" Lin Yan carried his backpack with one shoulder.
"Thanks to you, the game ended so quickly. It's only 8: 15. I'm on the high-speed train at 10: 13." Su Cheng grabbed his backpack. "I told you not to carry a single-shoulder backpack. It's easy to have high shoulders. Why didn't you listen?"
"Ouch …" Lin Yan's face was full of helplessness. He watched as Su Cheng pulled out the strap of his backpack and forced it over his other shoulder. "This way, I look like that NBA star called Durant. Who carries a backpack like this?"
"If you don't pay attention now, you'll suffer when you're older." Su Cheng nagged, playing the role of an earnest sister.
"Think about it yourself. You have to be middle-aged and mature. You're originally a charming uncle, but when you go out and others see that you're actually a high-shouldered man …"
Lin Yan imagined the scene. He couldn't bear to look at it directly. He obediently carried his backpack and squatted down to pick up Su Cheng's suitcase.
The two of them took a taxi and went straight to the local restaurant that Su Cheng had mentioned before.
This local restaurant was indeed delicious, especially the shrimp and sea cucumber. From the ingredients, it was very similar to the shrimp and sea cucumber that Lin Yan often ate in his hometown in Suzhou, but the cooking method was completely different.
The sea cucumber was shiny and soft. The marinade was fresh and fragrant with scallion oil. The dried shrimp was rich and fresh. The taste was really enticing.
After eating and drinking, Su Cheng's mind began to wander. Unknowingly, her thoughts flew away.
She raised her eyes and secretly glanced at Lin Yan, who was concentrating on the sea cucumber. She sighed softly. Her mood was instantly melancholy.
The two of them left the restaurant a little after nine and took a taxi to the high-speed rail station.
The two of them sat in the back. Su Cheng turned her phone upside down and rested her hands on her knees. She didn't say a word.
At first, Lin Yan didn't feel that anything was wrong. He leaned against the car window and scrolled through his phone.
In the YM group chat, Xiao Ming took a short video. Jin Gong was wearing an apron and cooking egg fried rice for a few teammates in the base's kitchen.
His posture was quite practiced. Jin Gong didn't look as irritable as he did when his ranking wasn't going well. After watching it carefully twice, he actually felt that there was some damned virtuousness. What was going on?
Lin Yan typed a reply with a smile on his face.
Even though Su Cheng's face was facing forward, she was constantly paying attention to Lin Yan. She could sense that Lin Yan was a little happy.
When Lin Yan was happy, she was instantly even more unhappy.
She curled her lips and turned to look out the window. The flickering lights outside the window reflected on her face. The light and the night made her expression even more uncertain.
The car came to a red light. The middle-aged driver in front of her stopped the car. He reached out and grabbed a handful of raisins from the side. As he stuffed them into his mouth, he squinted his eyes and turned on the car radio. He looked happy and content.
Lin Yan was awakened by the radio broadcast. After putting down his phone, he finally noticed that the atmosphere in the car wasn't right. To be precise, it was the atmosphere between him and Su Cheng that wasn't right.
He hesitated for a moment. His mind was in turmoil. In the end, he didn't say anything.
Lin Yan was sensitive. Naturally, he knew that Su Cheng's attitude had changed during this period. However, he wasn't sure if it was because Su Cheng was letting go of herself after the college entrance exam or if she really had other feelings for him.
He was afraid that if he broke the ice, they would feel awkward even when they met in the future.
The sound of the phone ringing saved the awkwardness between him and Su Cheng. Su Cheng flipped open her phone and swiped the screen.
"Mm … I know. I'll be home later. You and my mom go to bed first. Don't worry about me …" Su Cheng answered. It sounded like her parents were calling.
Lin Yan tilted his head and played with his phone. His phone vibrated twice. Xiao Tian sent two messages.
They were two questions: "Why do some guys not dare to confess when they clearly like a girl?" and "What's the psychological state of a girl when she has a crush on a guy?"
[You're a relationship coach now?]
[No way, no way, right?
Someone who's never been in a relationship can be a relationship coach?]
Lin Yan's soul interrogation made Xiao Tian, who was in YM's base, so he started typing.
[You don't think you're brave, do you?
Last week, you went to a hotel room with a girl to play games all day?
You're really something, Brother Ran. Hehehe ^ ^]
Phyllostachys Pubescens lived up to his reputation as a Yin-Yang Master. He was always good at messing with people's minds. He almost broke Lin Yan's defense.
He didn't reply. Su Cheng was still on the phone. He flipped through the two relationship questions that Xiao Tian had forwarded to him.
Lin Yan's finger kept scrolling down. Then, it stopped at one of the answers.
I like to lift the veil that covers the ignorant mind and put it in front of you and me. This doesn't mean that I have great courage. It means that I know that when the problem is laid bare, what I gain is luck. What I lose is the lock in my heart.
They passed by a traffic light. The taxi sped by and stopped outside the high-speed rail station.
Lin Yan paid the fare and got out of the car to get Su Cheng's suitcase from the trunk.
Su Cheng took the suitcase from Lin Yan's hands. Then, she took out her ID from her wallet and planned to enter the station. "I'll be back around the end of August. Let's meet then?"
Lin Yan watched Su Cheng's tall and slender figure turn around to leave. He finally spoke.
"Su Cheng?" he asked softly.
"Yes?"
Su Cheng stopped and turned around. The hot summer night breeze gently blew at the ends of her hair. A few strands of black hair blew against her face, tickling her a little.
The train station was crowded with people. There were also a few couples entering the station in twos and threes. The sound of laughter drifted into their ears.
"I like you." Lin Yan thought of that answer and mustered up the courage to look into her eyes. At most... at most, he would take it as a way to get rid of one of his worries. "I like you in the truest sense."
Su Cheng gently touched the hair on her cheeks. Perhaps it was because the night breeze was too hot. Her cheeks were slightly hot. She could still hear her accelerated heartbeat in the lively environment.
"I'm serious. Do you want to consider..."
She interrupted Lin Yan and smiled. "I like you too, Lin Yan."