ATIBEC Chapter 11

The receptionist kindly packed the redeemed prizes into a shiny holographic tote bag and handed it to Shen Er.

Shen Er took the bag and nodded at her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!!” The receptionist flashed a beautiful smile. “You really have great luck.”

Shen Er, unsure how to respond, said, “Thank you.”

“No need to thank—”

“Are you two caught in some sort of polite loop at the front desk?” Yan Sheng’s voice came through the phone, sounding a bit exasperated. “Stop it and come back to the room.”

“Got it, got it, I’m going back.” Shen Er pointed at his phone to the receptionist and turned to leave with the tote bag. “By the way, Yan, I also won two VIP tickets for the regular season. Do you want them?”

“Why, are you inviting me to watch the game with you?” Yan Sheng adjusted his position and switched the phone to his other hand as he heard the beeping sound of the door’s passcode being entered from the other end of the line.

Shen Er froze. He actually had no intention of meeting the boss in person. The job of a gaming companion was purely an online affair. Meeting in person would be… weird, right?

He walked into the room and closed the door, falling silent for a while.

“Game voice chat, talking on the phone is a bit inconvenient.” Before Shen Er could figure out how to respond, Yan Sheng threw out this line and then hung up the WeChat call.

Listening to the call being disconnected, Shen Er blinked, put down his phone, and put on his headphones. “Yan?”

“Yes, I’m here.”

“About what you said earlier, inviting you to watch the match… Actually, I didn’t mean that,” Shen Er licked his lips and spoke softly.

Yan Sheng suddenly understood. “Oh, so you don’t actually want to watch the match with me.”

Shen Er: “…That’s not it either. It’s just that, after all, our relationship is purely a business transaction online. Offline, we’re just strangers, and meeting might make you feel awkward.”

What a strange conversation.
Every word seemed to hint at an improper relationship between the two.

Listening to his careful yet clumsy explanation, Yan Sheng’s mischievous side surfaced again. “A business transaction, awkward meeting—”
“Why does that sound like an online romance meet-up gone wrong? Are you not good-looking?”

Shen Er closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and sighed deeply. “I…” He couldn’t help it and sighed again. “What I mean is, if you want to watch the game in VIP seats, I can mail both tickets to you.”

Seeing that Shen Er was getting flustered, Yan Sheng decided to ease up and said with a smile, “Alright, let’s stop making trouble. I can get tickets myself. You should take your friend to the match.”

Shen Er: …
Who exactly is the one causing trouble here, young master!?

“Log in. Let’s rank up your account over the next few days so you won’t need to rent one to queue with me.”

·

Shen Er had left empty-handed, but when he returned home, he was carrying a sizeable paper bag.

Wang Chenyu’s gaze landed on the bag, which clearly didn’t come from any store in their old neighborhood and didn’t match Shen Er’s usual style. After a couple of glances, he shifted his attention to Shen Er’s face.

“What’s this? The bag looks really nice.” Wang Chenyu got up and walked over to Shen Er, peering into the bag, “Figures? Did someone give them to you?”

Before Shen Er could explain the events of the day, Wang Chenyu let out a dramatic “Oh.”

“You’ve been dating behind my back, haven’t you?” Wang Chenyu gave Shen Er a knowing look. “Figurines as gifts, and they’re League of Legends figurines at that. Someone knows how to cater to your interests.”

“No, it’s not like that.” Shen Er quickly interrupted, giving a brief rundown of the events involving the young master Yan. “So, to complete his request, I went to an expensive internet café, and they were holding a pentakill raffle. These are the prizes I won.”

When Wang Chenyu heard the price of the internet café booth, his mouth dropped open in amazement. “40 per hour for a net café? I don’t even make 40 an hour at work.”

“Oh, I also won two movie tickets and LPL VIP tickets. When we both have a day off, let’s go watch them together?” Shen Er said. “We’ve been in Qingzhou for so long, and we haven’t seen a movie yet.”

“Sure, sure, we’ll go during the New Year’s release after we get back from the holiday.” Wang Chenyu nodded vigorously, then patted Shen Er’s shoulder earnestly. “Shen’er ah, you need to keep this golden goose.”¹In Chinese culture, the term “golden goose” or “金龟婿” (jīn guī xù) refers to a son-in-law who is considered highly desirable or advantageous because he brings wealth, status, or other benefits to the family. This term is often used to describe a son-in-law who is financially successful, well-educated, or from a prestigious family background. The idea is that having such a son-in-law is like owning a golden goose, which brings prosperity and good fortune to the family.

“But you’ve always been good-natured, so you probably won’t upset the golden goose.”

Shen Er’s lips moved, but it took a while before he said, “A golden goose usually refers to a son-in-law. Using it here doesn’t seem quite right.”

“You know what I mean.” Wang Chenyu waved dismissively. “We can call him a gold master instead. Gold Master!”

Shen Er: …
Say whatever you want.
Too lazy to correct him.
Who knows what other outrageous things Wang Chenyu might say next.

“Just remembered something,” Shen Er said as he looked at Wang Chenyu, who was beaming with excitement. He put down the shopping bag and picked up his phone, opening the chat with Wang Chenyu to transfer money. “I just sent you the money for the medical expenses you covered for me.”

Knowing that Shen Er was probably in a better financial situation than he was, Wang Chenyu didn’t decline. He opened WeChat and accepted the transfer.

“I’m going for a walk downstairs. Wanna join?” Wang Chenyu stretched and asked.

Shen Er shook his head. “You go ahead. I’m going to take a shower and then sleep. I’m a bit tired.”

Wang Chenyu agreed, grabbed his keys, and left, the door creaking as it opened.

Shen Er took the shopping bag into his bedroom, squatting by the bed to take out its contents one by one.

He put the movie tickets and the unselected LPL event tickets in a drawer.

Spreading out the large mouse pad, he saw it was a simple black design with the League of Legends and LPL logos, and a golden splendor signature in the bottom left corner. It was bold and striking, yet surprisingly beautiful.

He glanced at it, gently touched the signature, then rolled the mouse pad back up and placed it back in its tube, setting it beside the bed.

The only things left in the bag were the splendor figurine and the dust cover the receptionist had kindly provided.

He took out the figurine and unboxed it.

The light gray base featured Kindred, the jungler hero from League of Legends. Between the black wolf and the white lamb was a chibi splendor wearing a red and black team uniform with a confident expression.

“It’s quite lifelike,” Shen Er murmured. His slender fingers brushed against splendor’s cheek, landing on the upturned corner of the figure’s lips, which reminded him of the only match he had watched in the hospital, where splendor had raised an eyebrow at the camera.

Bold and free-spirited, yet endearingly cute.

Shen Er placed the figurine on his bedside table and covered it with the dust cover.

It felt peculiar. Despite knowing very little about the LPL players in this world, he felt an invisible thread connecting him to splendor.

Whether it was the first match he watched after returning to the real world, the signed mousepad, or this splendor figurine.

Even though he didn’t know splendor well, he seemed like a devoted fan, collecting so many of his items.

Perhaps this was fate.

Shen Er opened his phone, brought up the search engine, and typed “splendor” into the search bar. He clicked on an interview featuring splendor.

“The star of today’s interview is BTF’s jungler, splendor, Yan Sheng. Say hello to everyone,” the hostess’s voice was sweet without being cloying.

Yan Sheng, splendor, also had the surname Yan.

Given the young master’s personality, it was likely that his fondness for splendor was partly due to their shared surname…

“Hello everyone, I’m Yan Sheng, also known as splendor, the jungler for BTF.”

Yan Sheng was very handsome. Shen Er had realized this from the first time he watched splendor play.

Yan Sheng was handsome. Shen Er had realized this the first time he watched splendor play. Someone who could look that good under the harsh lighting of an arena would look even more striking under normal lighting. His voice was low, but not artificially deepened—it was genuinely pleasant to listen to. There was also a… faint sense of familiarity.

The young master’s voice was quite similar to his.

“Everyone knows BTF is your team. Could you tell us how the team name came about?”

“BTF stands for ‘Born to Fight.’ I really like this name, and it also embodies the spirit of the LPL region.”

…

The interview was only five minutes long. After watching it, Shen Er’s gaze fell on the figurine on his bedside table.

On a whim, he took a picture of it and opened WeChat.

Yan Sheng was sprawled on the sofa playing with Fu Gui when his phone, lying beside him, buzzed.

With one arm around Fu Gui, he reached for his phone and opened the message.

It was a photo from Shen Er, showing the official League of Legends figurine of splendor.

He set the dog down, went upstairs to his room, and took a picture of his own collection in a glass display case, then sent it back.

[Y: Cool, huh? I have it too.]

Shen Er opened the image and saw the figurine in the display case, noticing other things through the glass’s reflection.

In the freezing winter, the young master was wearing just a white short-sleeved T-shirt. The arm holding the phone was well-defined, and his hand, while bony, was not excessively thin—a very attractive hand.

It was a pity the phone covered his face, so he couldn’t see what he looked like.

Shen Er chuckled softly. He had a gut feeling that his young master boss must be very handsome.

[Owl: The figurine is really cool. I watched an interview with splendor, and he’s quite handsome in person too.]
[Owl: But aren’t you cold wearing just a short-sleeved shirt?]

Yan Sheng accepted the praise without hesitation.

Yan Sheng took the compliment without hesitation.

[Yan: Not cold at all, the heating at home is strong.]
[Yan: So, do you think I’m more handsome or is splendor? Who has better gameplay, me or him?]

Shen Er was at a loss.

Should he remind the young master that he had never seen his photo?
Forget it, better to keep the young master happy.

[Owl: You are more handsome, and your gameplay is better.]

[Yan: Flattering me? You haven’t seen my photo.]

Shen Er: …
[Owl: I’m guessing. The photo you sent had your reflection. Even though I couldn’t see your face, you have a great physique, so you must be very handsome.]

Yan Sheng raised an eyebrow, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
[Yan: Alright, I’ll reluctantly accept that explanation.]
[Yan: Oh, by the way, I won’t be online during the New Year. Play on your own and climb the ranks.]

[Owl: Well… I might not be able to #crying]
[Owl: I have to take a train back home for New Year’s after work on the 29th. I’ll be with my mom, so I probably won’t play.]
[Owl: I’ll be back around the third or fourth.]

[Yan: Enjoy your New Year. I’ll be busy too.]
[Yan: I might forget on the day, so Happy New Year in advance.]

Shen Er turned his head, looking at the bright moon outside the window. He smiled and pressed the voice message button.
“You too, Happy New Year in advance, Yan.”

Author’s Message:

Shen Er, realizing in the middle of the night that the young master is actually Yan Sheng, couldn’t sleep and sat up: No way, is he insane? (not really)

Thank you for reading! 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day 🍀

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  In Chinese culture, the term “golden goose” or “金龟婿” (jīn guī xù) refers to a son-in-law who is considered highly desirable or advantageous because he brings wealth, status, or other benefits to the family. This term is often used to describe a son-in-law who is financially successful, well-educated, or from a prestigious family background. The idea is that having such a son-in-law is like owning a golden goose, which brings prosperity and good fortune to the family.