The two-month off-season flew by in an instant. On the day they were heading back to the club, Lu Ning prepared a lot of dishes that both Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang loved.
In the end, he even let Lu Xiangyang take some braised beef to the club to share with the others.
Lu Xiangyang mumbled as he ate, "Got it."
The club was an hour's drive away, so coming back on weekends wasn't a problem. But when Lu Xiangyang got in the car and looked back at Lu Ning standing at the road's edge, his eyes felt a little misty.
He felt a bit down all the way, and Shen Kuangye, sitting beside him, put an arm around his shoulder and leaned close to whisper, "If you miss Mom, we can go visit her more often, okay?"
Lu Xiangyang nodded, sighing softly: "It just feels like Mom's so lonely."
He looked out at the scenery rushing past the window and whispered, "If only Dad were still here…"
With Lu Linchuan around, Lu Ning would definitely be a hundred times happier than now.
Shen Kuangye also fell silent.
By the time they arrived at the club, not everyone had shown up yet. Li Shu was the first to arrive.
He had placed specialty products and various snacks from home on everyone's tables. When Shen Kuangye and the others walked in, Li Shu was chatting with someone he didn't know.
"Alright, alright, got it. But I'll tell you first, I'm only mentioning this in front of him. The rest is up to you."
Hearing the noise at the door, he instinctively said into his phone, "Gotta hang up first."
Lu Xiangyang curiously asked, "When did you get here?"
Li Shu scratched his head: "Just now."
He looked at the two of them and was a little puzzled: "You two live in the same neighborhood?"
Otherwise, how did you come back together?
Shen Kuangye didn't know how to explain, so he just hummed.
Li Shu made a half-understood "oh" sound and said, "Then you two go unpack first. I'll just order a family bucket. We can eat together later."
——
The room was still tidy from before, though a bit of dust had settled on the desk and floor.
Cleaning up didn't take them long; after a quick tidy, the two of them headed downstairs.
Li Shu ordered two family buckets and, upon seeing them come down, eagerly pushed the burgers and snacks toward them, smiling obsequiously.
Shen Kuangye held back, but couldn't completely restrain himself: "What are you trying to say?"
"Ah, that's not what I meant." Li Shu cleared his throat, looking awkward and feigning modesty, "Actually, it's nothing."
Shen Kuangye: "Then don't say anything."
Li Shu: "..."
Finally giving up on pretending, he threw out a question: "Um… you two aren't dating, right?"
The moment the question was asked, the room felt suddenly quiet.
Shen Kuangye was slightly puzzled: How was this discovered again?
Lu Xiangyang was surprised: Could it be that Li Shu saw that Weibo post that day?
Li Shu was ecstatic: Could it be true that they're single, and this question hit a sensitive spot?
Thinking about it, their e-sports team didn't leave them much time for romance. They trained and played games from the moment they woke up. Even when they encountered girls in casual ranked matches, the girls often played even more aggressively than they did. After matches, it was all about discussing strategies, and even the club's mice were male, so not having a partner was normal.
Still, given Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang's appearances, it wasn't surprising they were single. Li Shu secretly felt a bit relieved; being single suddenly seemed reasonable, and it felt comfortable.
Li Shu, believing himself to be very tactful, said, "It's fine, it's fine. I'm single too, I get it."
Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang exchanged confused glances, not understanding what Li Shu actually "got."
Li Shu took out his phone and showed Shen Kuangye a photo of a girl: "This is my cousin. She wants to meet you."
Lu Xiangyang's chewing slowed down abruptly.
Shen Kuangye: "…"
He instinctively glanced at Li Shu. The man's face, shiny from the New Year feast, was full of sincerity.
Li Shu continued on behalf of his cousin: "She's really nice, about your age, really excellent, a student at a 211 university, and she likes you a lot. That's why she wants to meet you."
Shen Kuangye finally understood why the family bucket had been brought—no wonder Li Shu had been so attentive since they walked in.
He put down his hands. "I'll just order takeout."
Li Shu quickly stopped him: "Hey, hey, no, this meal is just me treating you. With all the prize money from the Autumn League, I'm not short of one meal."
He hurriedly explained himself: "I'm just trying to help her out. If you're not interested, I'll tell her later."
Seeing that Shen Kuangye wasn't biting, Li Shu turned his attention to Lu Xiangyang.
Lu Xiangyang suddenly had a bad premonition.
Sure enough.
Li Shu pulled out another photo: "This is my other cousin. She's a year older, also at a 211 university. She wants to meet you too."
Shen Kuangye rubbed his hands on a napkin, the thin paper making audible squeaks.
Li Shu sensed the atmosphere was tense. He even heard Lu Xiangyang say to him: "Actually, I'm not into girls."
Li Shu instinctively responded: "Huh? Not into girls?"
Then… into guys?
He quickly curled his index finger to his lips and whispered, "OMG."
Shen Kuangye thoughtfully turned off his phone screen for him.
The atmosphere was far too serious. He wiped nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead and tried to smooth things over: "It's fine. Liking guys is great too."
Wait… liking guys?
Li Shu suddenly connected some dots.
He looked at Shen Kuangye, then at Lu Xiangyang.
These two came together today—it shouldn't make sense under normal circumstances.
Moreover… he noticed Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang were wearing matching couple locks around their necks.
All the signs from before suddenly made sense to him.
Why Lu Xiangyang always blushed when seeing Shen Kuangye, why Shen Kuangye only acted special toward Lu Xiangyang, why his cleanliness obsession didn't apply to Lu Xiangyang, why their arguments felt like a little couple's cold war, and why Shen Kuangye got so upset that Valentine's Day outing went late into the night…
He finally understood.
So, it turned out that the two youngest, seemingly well-behaved members of the club were secretly dating behind everyone's back?
Li Shu was indeed a surfing expert; he'd always known about Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang as a CP pairing, but he'd just treated it as entertainment—many other fifth-generation players had fans shipping them too, including himself and Jiang Chixin.
So what had he done today?
In front of the couple, he had tried to set them up with other people?
Li Shu felt suffocated, more so than when he'd played five rounds with three losses and one near-death in ranked matches.
Shen Kuangye, observing Li Shu's expression, could guess that he had probably figured it out.
Li Shu awkwardly said: "Uh… maybe you two should temporarily pretend to have amnesia?"
He patted his head and murmured to himself: "I just remembered I didn't turn off my room's AC. I'll go sleep first. You guys eat, don't worry about me."
He finished speaking, dazed, and staggered back to his room.
Lu Xiangyang asked worriedly: "Is he okay? Did we scare him?"
Shen Kuangye wiped his mouth: "He's fine."
You can't hide the truth forever—they'd find out sooner or later.
What surprised him slightly was that Li Shu, the big mouth, actually kept this to himself and didn't mention it to anyone.
By mid-February, the entire club had gathered.
To give the New Year a sense of ceremony, they went out for a meal again.
This time, no one drank alcohol. With three months until the Abyss Grand Finals, alcohol could affect finger dexterity and brain reaction speed.
Yishui also mentioned Lin An's hand injury, sighing: "He told me himself—he's retiring."
The moment he said this, everyone went silent.
Tenosynovitis is one of the deadliest injuries for e-sports players.
Lin An, once the first "Slaughter King" and a feared Overseer, had to retire in just four years due to tenosynovitis. It was disheartening for every member of EAR.
Every player goes through this. Some prefer to retire at their career peak, leaving a legacy. Some, like Lin An, refuse to give up and want to prove themselves, but their playstyle is fully studied. They can at best draw in matches, and some juniors openly show disdain and disrespect in public.
Xing Xing noticed their low spirits and added: "His path has ended, but our path continues. Let's cheer up and prepare well. In three months, let's aim to win our first Abyss championship!"
Others picked up their juice and clinked glasses.
After dinner, they chatted and laughed on their way out. Along the street, they saw couples holding hands, and vendors selling bouquets everywhere.
Jiang Chixin curiously asked: "What day is it today?"
Pei Xunan casually replied: "February 14—Valentine's Day. Not really our business."
After all, everyone in EAR was single.
However, Pei Xunan suddenly felt the atmosphere a bit strange after saying that.
Yishui said: "We two suddenly want to take a walk by the lake. You guys go back first."
Li Shu exclaimed: "I really want to go to the arcade for a bit. Xinxin, come with me."
He grabbed Jiang Chixin and left.
Pei Xunan found it odd, why did one or two suddenly have something to do?
Then Cheng Rang tapped his shoulder: "I want to go to Zone A to buy something. Come with me."
Pei Xunan didn't understand, but after Cheng Rang gave the order, he instinctively nodded.
Before leaving, he reminded Lu Xiangyang and Shen Kuangye: "We're going first. You two head back to the club."
Now it was just the two of them.
Among the couples passing by, Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang didn't dare to hold hands openly. After all, the chance of running into fans in this area was high.
Xing Xing didn't stop them, but Shen Kuangye didn't want to give the club extra media pressure.
The Valentine's Day atmosphere on the street was strong. Shen Kuangye noticed the couples holding fresh flowers.
His gaze lingered for a few seconds, but Lu Xiangyang suddenly ran to a small flower cart.
He shyly said: "Hello, I'd like this bouquet."
The girl selling flowers teased: "Handsome, is this your first time buying flowers for your girlfriend?"
Lu Xiangyang blushed slightly: "Yes."
The girl said, "Do you want to add two white roses? They'll complement it nicely."
Lu Xiangyang nodded: "Sure."
He took the flowers and turned back to see Shen Kuangye quietly standing and watching him.
Lu Xiangyang took a deep breath, tightly clasped the bouquet, and walked step by step toward Shen Kuangye.
His cheeks were flushed as he gently handed the flowers to Shen Kuangye: "I missed last time, but I'll remember from now on."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Brother."