When the delicate victory was announced, Kang Shengzhe was not the only one who was surprised; You Liangxing did not expect to win in such a relaxed manner either. It was not because there were mistakes in Ah Sheng's performance, but more so the fact that You Liangxing discovered the systemic steps he would have taken to restrain【KK】could be used on him.
Not only could it be used, it was completely applicable!
Initially, he did not hold much hopes in the methods he had researched and he only intended to focus his attention on playing a round with Ah Sheng, but he did not expect that after confronting him for the second time, the feeling of familiarity he perceived from Ah Sheng's positioning only kept increasing. Thus, he tried those methods out, half-skeptic and half-believing, and took him down in an unexpected hitch.
The coincidence was too thought-provoking.
While You Liangxing was still surprised, Ah Sheng sent a message from his end.
— Come, solo.
— Gong Sunli.
To call out a hero by the name imitated You Liangxing's previous actions. It was obvious that the other party was like him; unwilling to call an end to it because of a mere defeat. Quickly, they opened another match.
Throughout the night, You Liangxing played Gong Sunli endlessly. The both of them were in an impasse where he would go forward or the other would come knocking, and their wins and losses were stuck at fifty-fifty. The skirmishes they got into started dragging longer and longer, to the point where their last solo match required twenty minutes to complete.
It was about to be one o' clock in the morning, and You Liangxing finally noticed the time. He typed: — You should sleep.
[don't want to move]: — I should sleep but I don't want to sleep.
The longer they were acquainted, the more casual their communication became. You Liangxing's lips hooked up, and he directly replied with a goodnight before he used a finger to tap out of King's Glory.
In less than two seconds, his WeChat sounded with a notification, and it was a message from Ah Sheng.
[Ah Sheng]: — You went offline so quickly? 〖Callous, Unfeeling, Deliberately Provoking〗
You Liangxing could not even reply before the next message came right after.
[Ah Sheng]: — Right, call me when you wake up tomorrow.
After seeing that message from [Ah Sheng], You Liangxing could not help but be curious, considering how the other party did not have the habit of getting up before noon. He asked: — Do you have something on?
[Ah Sheng]: — I'm running with you in the morning.
For people who liked to sleep in till noon to say that they wanted to wake up earlier was a strange matter. You Liangxing was fine with it because it was a habit he had instilled in himself since he was young, but he had witnessed the habits of a lazy person from Bai Yao and she was like a skin trying to hold itself up when she woke up early. Therefore, why did Ah Sheng propose to get up early for no apparent reason?
You Liangxing: — Why?
[Ah Sheng]: — Hm..... I'm afraid I can't grow tall. 〖Burst into Insane Laughter〗
The chain of frenzied laughing expressions were all outside the scope of You Liangxing's comprehension. Even after reading it the second time, You Liangxing could not understand what was so hilarious about that sentence. Thus, he fell back to his default reply when he could not get to the bottom of something: — Oh.
They exchanged simple farewells and You Liangxing placed down his phone, and his sleepiness gradually surfaced. He remained shut-eyed for a while before he abruptly picked up his phone again to download the application for MengMao TV.
This was the first time You Liangxing downloaded an app that had something to do with live broadcasting, and after it finished installing, he logged in with the account he had registered in the afternoon. He searched for the game anchor【KK】and proceeded to click follow.
Since his account was a series of numbers assigned by the system, You Liangxing changed it to his WeChat name of [Righteous]. Once completed, he turned off his phone and closed his eyes.
Drifting between sleep and consciousness, You Liangxing blurrily recalled Liao Su's proud appearance as he was promoting the game anchor.
"Brother Liang, what I'm saying is true, ever since I started watching KK's live broadcast, I feel like my skill level has really risen! KK is the guiding lamp in my gaming life, he's my mentor! My intimate friend! There are considerable gains to be had from his live broadcast! Ah... perhaps this is the magical workings of a Great God?"
Remembering that, You Liangxing felt like half of what Liao Su said was random bullshit but the other half... there was some logic to them.
* * *
Next morning, You Liangxing woke up punctually. His work-and-rest routine contained a will of steel, and his biological clock was more accurate than an alarm. He opened his eyes at that very instant and he held no attachment to his bed as he got out of it to wash up.
Just as he was washing his face, he remember what happened last night. He entered the chat that he shared with [Ah Sheng] and paused slightly before he typed: — Get up.
Although he had called him, he did not harbour much hopes when it came to the other party actually replying. He turned back and continued to brush his teeth. After he was done with everything, he picked up his phone again, and there was news from [Ah Sheng].
[Ah Sheng]: –〖Hand Raised High〗
He actually woke up.
You Liangxing: — ... You really woke up.
[Ah Sheng]: — That's because, I set ten alarms.
Even though he could not see the other party, he could feel a deep sense of pride oozing from his tone. You Liangxing: — Which alarm did you wake up to?
[Ah Sheng]: — Eleventh.
You Liangxing: .....
[Ah Sheng]: — The last alarm was my mom.
You Liangxing could hardly suppress a smile: — Change into a pair of running shoes.
[Ah Sheng] replied: — Changed, so sleepy.
Was he that sleepy? You Liangxing did not get it. He pushed the door open and headed out. The summer sun came out early; the sun might be bright but the temperature was refreshingly cool, and with the cool breeze blowing on face, it felt extremely comfortable.
You Liangxing wore the headphones made for sports even though there were no songs playing on it, which was something he did regularly to reduce the probability of someone talking to him while he was running. His daily habits were as such, but today was a little different because he could hear his WeChat notifications sounding as he ran.
The next message from [Ah Sheng] came in a panic: — What is this? What is this thing? Why is it so bright, ah, it even gives off light, I'm a little flustered.
You Liangxing was at a loss, and he could not help but reply: — What happened? What did you see?
A short while later, [Ah Sheng] sent him a photo. In the middle of the faint blue skies hung a dazzling signifier for tomorrow, and the white clouds were scattered around it. At a glance, it only seemed empty and solitary.
Nothing seemed awry with the photo, which caused You Liangxing to become more puzzled.
— What is in the photo?
[Ah Sheng]: — It's the thing in the middle, the round and bright one. Wah, I'm terrified, what is that?
You Liangxing: .....
What is that....
That's a sun.
He left it at that for a while, unsure if the other party was making an intentional joke. He stewed and stewing, not typing a word. Compared to inputting letters into a dialog box, he wanted to deck someone.
[Ah Sheng] sent over another message from his end: — The rays that are hitting me are pretty warm, I'm not being slowly poisoned, right?
You Liangxing: .... I don't think you will.
After a pause, You Liangxing lifted his phone and raised his head to take the exact same photo. The sky above the Imperial Capital was whiter and it could not be considered as blue, and the sun was extremely bright.
The photo was then passed over, and [Ah Sheng] pretended to be surprised: — Yi, why do you have one there too? It looks similar to mine, could it be the same one?
You Liangxing: .....
[Ah Sheng] arrived with his own conclusion: — The world is truly small; you and I happen to see the same bright circle.
The same bright circle... You Liangxing stood rooted to the ground. At that moment, he decided to close his phone and no longer bother with him.
However, as he continued running like he usually would, he did not know why but he constantly felt that the sensation of the sun beating down on his body was more distinct, to the extent where it could not be ignored.
He jogged for an estimate of twenty minutes before he came to stop. He was not consciously bothered about it, but his heart could not help but be concerned: For someone who did not exercise on the regular to suddenly run for twenty minutes, how was he feeling now?
He tapped on his WeChat and took the initiative to ask after him: — How are you?
Ah Sheng immediately replied: — Sleepy.
You Liangxing: .....
No one asked you that.
You Liangxing: — I'm asking about how you feel.
[Ah Sheng]: — I feel... sleepier.
You Liangxing: .....
You Liangxing was starting to realize that after adding his WeChat, every private conversation was like opening a new world for him as Ah Sheng challenged his nerves with ease. Inexplicably, he had the propensity of riling up his emotions and it gave him the urge to practice boxing.
As if his thoughts were along the same lines as You Liangxing, or that his intuition told him he was in danger, the other party was suddenly honest: — I'm very tired, I keep panting.
You Liangxing paused slightly and he was going to tell the other party to rest when the Ah Sheng abruptly said: — Do you want to hear it?
You Liangxing: ......
You Liangxing had never been at the receiving end of such insinuations, and it took him a full second to react and become aware of what he was supposed to be hearing when Ah Sheng asked him that question. Scowling, he was about to reply when Ah Sheng sent him another text.
[Ah Sheng]: — Look.
[Ah Sheng]: –【Picture】
With the interruption, You Liangxing missed the opportunities to rail him. He tapped the attachment and registered that it was a picture of a yellow bench.
[Ah Sheng]: — I'm taking a short break.
Lightly, You Liangxing replied: — That's good.
While Ah Sheng needed to rest, You Liangxing was not the same. He quickly adjusted his speed and broke into a run again. After running for a while, Ah Sheng sent another message.
[Ah Sheng]: — It's good, really comfortable.
[Ah Sheng]: — Luckily, there's no one around. I can lie down for a while and look at the bright circle.
Since You Liangxing was busy running, he did not think too much about it at first. However, after five minutes, he lurched to a standstill. He rapped on his phone in a hurry: — Hey.
— Hey!
— Ah Sheng!
You Liangxing: — Don't you dare close your eyes!
In spite of the fact that the message was sent out, his only reply was a long silence. There was no feedback from WeChat, nor was there any trace of input. You Liangxing could not help but think: ... Was this person be sleeping on the bench?
He grew increasingly worried as he continued to think about it. But they were separated into two ends by the internet and there was nothing he could do. You Liangxing continued to run but as the minutes dragged on, he was utterly distracted.
On the road, You Liangxing was constantly paying attention to the sounds that might come out of his earphones but there was none. Even after he finished his run and ate his breakfast, which took about an hour, Ah Sheng had yet to reply.
Generally speaking, when online friends did not reply, there were a lot of reasons as to why they could not reply, and it might be because they were busy with something. You Liangxing knew he should not care too much, but he had been ruminating about it for far too long and his heart was still not at ease no matter how hard he tried to placate it.
Gathering his resolution, You Liangxing tapped on video call function in WeChat. Video calls were obnoxiously loud; if Ah Sheng really fell asleep, he should be rudely awoken.
The dials of the video call filtered into his ears, and You Liangxing, someone who was usually not shaken by thunder and a person with an unyielding psychological quality, felt an uncharacteristic nervousness.
What should he do if Ah Sheng really picked up the video call... suddenly meet? Are they that familiar?
Maybe he should just hang up; he was probably disturbing the other party after giving him a sudden video call...
You Liangxing felt remorseful in an instant, and he was ready to hang up. Just as his finger was about to fall, the video call was abruptly cut short by the other side first.
In a blink of an eye, [Ah Sheng]'s rhythmic and sonorous reply arrived.
— 〖Shocked〗Scared me to death.
[Ah Sheng]: — I can't video call you!
A sentence that had an accompanying expression and exclamation. You Liangxing felt the extremely pronounced rejection. Although he did not have the intention to meet the other party to begin with, his mood still unconsciously fell.
But in the next second, the justification that [Ah Sheng] sent had him halting in his steps.
[Ah Sheng]: — No, no way, I didn't wash my hair when I went out today!