45. Your daughter
Zaoc City.
Fearless Arena.
The spotlight cuts through the darkness like a sword, and red beams flow across the circular audience. The screen in the center of the arena quietly displays the CN Division’s logo.
4:50 PM.
There are ten minutes until the match starts.
In the team’s preparation area and lounge, Su Yan has just completed a brief reaction exercise, glancing around as the other team members are still intensely training.
He instinctively reaches into his pocket.
This is the team uniform, so naturally, he can’t pull out a cigarette; even if he could, there’s no time to smoke it, even if there was time to smoke…
If someone captures it on camera, that would be a problem.
“What are you thinking about?”
A protein bar is handed to Su Yan, and Lin Qingyan finishes his training, using his toes to push his eSports chair smoothly beside him.
At this time, the only one who can keep up with Su Yan is him.
“I’m thinking about what to eat at the celebration banquet.”
Su Yan takes the protein bar and puts it in his mouth, using his arm as a pillow, leaning back and confidently speaking.
Lin Qingyan chuckles: “So confident?”
“You have to be confident at a time like this!”
Su Yan suddenly shouts, raising his leg to kick Chang Yue, who is currently battling bots: “Hey, did you hear that, kid? Make sure to give me some good items later!”
In the professional competitive arena, Fearless Covenant is a game with clearly defined roles.
Su Yan is the damage dealer, Lin Qingyan is the commander and information player, Zheng Ming is the sentinel, Lucia is the smoke grenade user, and Chang Yue is the flash art pioneer responsible for item attacks.
As a world-class damage dealer, Su Yan is undoubtedly the star player of the team.
Strong shooting, quick reactions, good habits, and creative strategies, all of these have laid the foundation for his vast fanbase.
Chang Yue’s hand trembles, and the crosshair on the screen shifts half an inch; he turns his head in despair: “Brother Yan, do you believe I’ll tell everyone you’re an 80-level player?”
After saying that, he pouts and shifts his attention back to the game screen, responding impatiently: “Yeah, yeah, I know, I’ll get items for you, geez, I can’t even shoot out!”
“Stop teasing him.”
Lin Qingyan leans closer to Su Yan and says, “Look how nervous he is.”
Not just Chang Yue, it seems everyone except him and Su Yan is especially tense right now… Well, to be honest, he’s a little nervous too…
Why?
Probably because this series match is particularly important, right?
After all, it determines whether they can participate in the championship match in a month and a half; that’s the revered hall every professional player dreams of, a year of hard work for this.
Lin Qingyan really wants to win a championship.
He believes everyone in the team wants to win this championship.
Su Yan… should want it too, right?
With this question arising in his heart, Lin Qingyan feels unexpectedly confused.
Actually, he had also won a championship before.
Back then, it was also he and Su Yan who partnered; it was Su Yan’s extraordinarily abnormal shooting skills that broke multiple records, earning the CN Division its first championship.
Lin Qingyan turns his head to look at the man beside him.
They have been partners for many years, fighting from the training camp all the way to the World Championship. He has seen the burning ambition in Su Yan’s eyes and the ferocity when he scores headshots.
He is quite certain that Su Yan back then was passionate… saying there was a lion hidden in his eyes might be too much, but there was light in them.
And now?
Lin Qingyan is not so sure anymore.
“Really?”
Su Yan snorts and interrupts his thoughts: “But I see you’re pretty nervous too.”
“You’re the one who’s talking crap.”
Lin Qingyan holds back, stands up, and claps his hands with two crisp sounds, drawing everyone’s attention.
“The first match of the third stage,” Lin Qingyan says, “Let’s win this match, then we can all go out for a nice meal tonight, okay?”
Everyone replies in unison: “No problem!”
4:57 PM.
With three minutes remaining until the match starts, the players from both teams officially appear, making final adjustments to their equipment before the match.
Cheers erupt from the audience.
Su Yan plugs in his keyboard and mouse, and just as he’s about to put on his headset, he seems to sense something and suddenly glances out the venue window.
“Brother Yan, what are you looking at?” Lucia, sitting to his left, asks curiously.
Su Yan shakes his head and puts on his headset.
“Nothing.”
——————
7:00 PM.
The night grows darker, the originally blue sky replaced by shadows. The moon rises, the wind whirls a few dry leaves around the sidewalk, making a rustling sound.
A crowd gathers at the entrance of the Fearless Arena.
The match is over, and all the fans are cheering for their favorite teams—after two hours of fast passes, BLB wins beautifully.
“Lin Qingyan is awesome!!!”
“Go for it! Chang Yue, you’re the best!”
“Su Yan! God of L is invincible!”
The fans’ loud cheers and applause echo back and forth, directed toward the nearby player tunnel.
In the crowd.
Jiang Zhi is jostled around, her empty stomach twisting in pain making her vision blur. She tiptoes, looking over the swirling heads, fixed on the player tunnel—
He appeared.
Her future husband, the father of her child, is now draping an arm over his teammate’s shoulder, smiling boldly and recklessly, striding toward the team bus.
“Su…”
Her throat feels clogged, the words stuck between her teeth.
“Su…”
“Su Yan…”
Jiang Zhi chokes up.
She wants to call out that person’s name, but her voice is weak and faint… it’s impossible to catch Su Yan’s attention.
What a maddening situation for a crazy fan.
It’s only at this moment that she can intuitively feel how high the man’s popularity is.
Jiang Zhi inexplicably feels frustrated; what an impressive person he is, and she ended up having a child with such a person… isn’t that something? So damn annoying!
She tries again to speak, but no sound comes out, and Jiang Zhi finds herself pushed out of the crowd.
The forced collision of bodies causes a sharp pain in her shoulder, the mingled scent of sweat and perfume wafts at her nose, making her want to vomit.
Should she leave?
Does she really have to tell him the truth?
Thinking carefully, this decision feels too hasty; how should she tell Su Yan?
Say, actually, you have a daughter from the future, I am your future wife, although I’m a man, but please, don’t mind, true feelings exist between men…
Who would believe that!!!
Even though she had made up her mind in the hospital, at this point, Jiang Zhi still finds herself filled with a hint of hesitation.
So annoying.
So annoying.
So annoying, so annoying, so annoying, so annoying, so annoying…
Jiang Zhi suddenly kicks a tree by the roadside, the toe of her shoe scraping a white mark on the bark.
Her frustration grows wildly, and she curses Su Yan in her mind several hundred times.
Why blame him?
Jiang Zhi herself isn’t sure.
Once faced with anything related to Su Yan, she doesn’t become herself. Anxiety, fear, and unease fill her heart with strange emotions.
Ah, it’s all his fault!
Blame him, blame him, blame him, blame (#`Д´)ﾉ…
“Jiang Zhi?”
“Whoa!”
Jiang Zhi jumps in shock, almost leaping up. Su Yan stands in front of her, his hat pulled low, his mask covering half of his face, revealing only a pair of inquisitive eyes.
“You, you, you…”
She stutters, like a cat caught in a bag: “What are you doing here?!”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Su Yan raises an eyebrow: “Here to watch the match?”
He saw her in the tunnel a moment ago—an irate woman kicking a tree stood out sharply in the frenzied crowd of fans.
He thought maybe she seemed familiar; once he donned his mask and hat and approached, he realized she was indeed someone he knew…
They should be acquaintances, right?
Just look, she even bought me milk tea; it’s hard to say they’re not familiar, right?
However, he didn’t expect this quirky woman to enjoy watching eSports. By the way, is she here alone? He didn’t see her husband, daughter, or that social butterfly shop manager…
“I, I, I…”
Jiang Zhi is speechless.
“It’s just… your… daughter…”
Her voice gets lower and lower, her head drooping, messy black hair falling down; Jiang Zhi tucks a strand behind her ear, nervously fiddling with her fingers.
What to do?
This is clearly a good opportunity…
The person she wants to find is right in front of her; all she needs to do is tell him the truth.
And then what?
Then she can take Su Yan to see Qian Qian; upon seeing her dad, Qian Qian will surely be very happy, that’s what she can envision.
Qian Qian will be happy.
Jiang Zhi’s heart suddenly calms down.
In the moment she saw Qian Qian on the hospital bed, Jiang Zhi understood a principle.
What does it mean to be a mother?
What is a qualified mother?
It is to take care of the child flawlessly, to endure all the grievances for the child, the kind of love she never experienced when she was young.
She hasn’t done any of these.
But she wants to do it.
Jiang Zhi doesn’t have a mom; her impression of her mother is very shallow, and now she is a mother. She feels that if she can become a qualified mother, sacrificing some things isn’t unacceptable.
So she came to see Su Yan.
For Qian Qian.
If it’s for Qian Qian…
Just as Jiang Zhi decides this, Su Yan furrows his brows; he didn’t hear clearly what Jiang Zhi just said, only vaguely catching…
Something about a daughter?
“Your daughter? What about… your daughter?” he asks hesitantly.
Jiang Zhi doesn’t answer, but suddenly takes out her phone, pulls up a photo from her album, and shoves it in front of Su Yan’s eyes.
A photo of a small child.
Su Yan squints at it; it’s a very cute and beautiful little girl, her hair styled in pigtails, wearing a fluffy dress, smiling like a sweet candy.
He smiles.
“Your daughter?”
“No.”
Jiang Zhi shakes her head, articulating clearly, saying each word: “Your daughter.”
