Xiao Shengjing did regret it indeed.
Because after saying that sentence, Lin Lan never took the initiative to speak to him again. He would walk around him, even avoiding him when going to the restroom. During training, he would deliberately steer clear.
It seemed like every time he wanted to make a move, Lin Lan would step back.
Xiao Shengjing thought somewhat desolately; he must have been rejected.
But he still couldn’t understand, was he really being too clingy? Was it because of those few keycaps?
So, the next morning, he got up early to buy new keycaps for Lin Lan. Taking advantage of everyone still being asleep, he quickly replaced the keycaps for him.
When Lu Shi saw it, he shouted to Lin Lan again, “Lin Lan, look! Captain bought you new keycaps! He even replaced them for you!”
Lin Lan, who was drinking water, choked. He looked at Xiao Shengjing with eyes full of surprise, struggling to find words.
Xiao Shengjing: “…” Sometimes, I really want to tear apart Lu Shi’s mouth.
But after Lu Shi caused such a commotion, it seemed like everyone understood. The captain indeed treats Lin Lan a bit differently. However, everyone kept it unspoken, seeing through it but not exposing it.
When Xiao Shengjing was not around, Lu Shi secretly asked Lin Lan, “Why have you been avoiding the captain these past few days? Did he confess to you?”
Lin Lan choked on water again. Although Lu Shi’s gaming skills weren’t great, his words were truly sharp.
Lu Shi realized he hit the mark and became excited, “Did he really confess? Hey, how did he confess? Did he buy you flowers? Give you gifts? How did he tell you? Did you agree?”
Afraid of being overheard, Lin Lan quickly covered Lu Shi’s mouth, “Nonsense, no confession. Be careful; if the captain hears this, he’ll beat you up.”
“Tch, the captain won’t beat anyone,” Lu Shi confidently analyzed, “I figured it out when the captain bought you a mouse last time. With the keyboard this time, I’m even more certain. He must be interested in you. Think about how cold and distant he used to be to you. He wouldn’t even bother talking, but now he’s willing to handle trivial matters for you. It’s definitely because he’s interested. These past few days, you’ve been avoiding him, and you didn’t see how uncomfortable the captain looks. It’s clear he confessed and got rejected by you.”
Lin Lan wanted to say that he didn’t reject anyone and that the captain didn’t confess either.
Damn it, how did he get caught up in Lu Shi’s rhythm again?
Lin Lan didn’t want to discuss this topic anymore, but Lu Shi continued endlessly, “Lin Lan, our captain is great, tall, handsome, and wealthy. Isn’t he a perfect catch? Of course, those aren’t the main points. The main point is that our captain is attentive, patient, skilled in gaming, and good to you, right? Being with him gives you a sense of security. Isn’t he a hundred times better than that Xie guy? Listen to my advice and think more about our captain; he’s a high-quality stock… Ah, my coffee is ready.”
Lu Shi hurried to get his coffee.
Lin Lan was stunned for a moment, a bit slow to react.
What was Lu Shi saying about someone named Xie?
He walked towards Lu Shi, feeling that something was off. Suddenly, he grabbed Lu Shi’s hand holding the coffee, “Lu Shi, who did you say was surnamed Xie?”
Lin Lan’s gaze was sharp as if piercing through the heart.
Lu Shi’s expression subtly changed, showing some discomfort. He hesitated to meet Lin Lan’s gaze directly. “Did I say that?”
“Yes.” Lin Lan stared directly at him. In his mind, for some reason, he suddenly thought of the scene when Lu Shi, drunk, kept apologizing to him. “Which Xie did you mention?”
Lu Shi’s hand holding the coffee shook a bit. He forced a calm smile, “I was talking about the one who sent you roses and a ring last time. Wasn’t that from someone surnamed Xie?”
Lin Lan was also confused. He couldn’t recall whether Xie Zilu had signed his name at that time. Lu Shi helped him catch the flowers, and knowing the sender’s surname seemed plausible.
“Why are you so jumpy? You scared me.” Lu Shi, holding the coffee, returned to his seat. “Don’t change the subject. First, talk about you and the captain.”
Lin Lan temporarily set aside his suspicions and sat back in his seat.
Suddenly, Lu Shi’s phone rang. Lin Lan subconsciously glanced at it, but Lu Shi seemed nervous about his phone. He quickly put it in his pocket and excused himself to go to the restroom.
Whether it was a psychological effect or not, Lin Lan felt that Lu Shi was acting strangely. Not caring about the awkwardness, Lin Lan stood up and walked toward Xiao Shengjing, whispering in his ear, “Captain, do you have a moment?”
Seeing Lin Lan being so cautious, Xiao Shengjing also realized something. He grabbed his arm and surveyed the surroundings, “Let’s go to the tea room.”
The two of them sat down in the tea room. Xiao Shengjing closed the door and listened as Lin Lan shared his concerns.
“Do you think there’s something off about Lu Shi?”
“Yeah. Do you remember the time when Xiao Hai left, and we drank on the rooftop? Lu Shi kept apologizing to me, even calling my name. I’m sure his apology was directed at me. I found it strange at that time, but he brushed it off later, and I forgot about it.”
Lin Lan furrowed his brows. He genuinely didn’t want Lu Shi to have a problem, but his intuition told him things weren’t that simple. “And that day, right after you helped me request sick leave in the team chat, Xie Zilu knew about my illness. It can’t be a coincidence.”
Moreover, that leave request was in the main team’s chat, with just over twenty people, including Lu Shi. When he thought about it, it did seem suspicious.
Lin Lan also asked about something that had always puzzled him, “I’ve been meaning to ask, but Lu Shi’s skill level shouldn’t match up to DT’s, right?”
His skill level didn’t seem professional, and he never showed any readiness to play. With Wu Tianqi already on the team, Lu Shi was essentially no different from a placeholder. Considering his age, even if they were looking for a substitute, it should be someone with a promising career ahead, not a 20-year-old substitute without any meaningful impact.
Xiao Shengjing was aware of this situation. “Because Brother Mu said the sponsor wanted Lu Shi to stay, so Brother Mu signed a two-year contract with him shortly after you joined the team.”
He paused, furrowing his brows. “But, Lin Lan, you seemed to know him back then. Your relationship was quite good, and he would help you when you needed it. Did you forget everything about him?”
In the original host’s memories, there were only small fragments involving Lu Shi, and the rest were blank. According to the law of selective memory in the original host’s recollections, the things he chose to forget were likely related to someone who had harmed him or treated him poorly. Therefore, the part selectively forgotten about Lu Shi might be connected to someone who had hurt the original host.
Lin Lan understood this and suddenly realized, “I see.”
Xiao Shengjing didn’t catch on. “What do you know?”
“Lu Shi was left by Xie Zilu to monitor me,” Lin Lan concluded, starting to recall evidence. “I remember waking up, and Lu Shi was by my side. He was the first to notice that I had taken pills, indicating that he paid a lot of attention to me. Later, when I thanked him, he said something strange. He told me not to thank him, as our relationship was transactional. At that time, I found him very peculiar.”
Lin Lan had finally figured it out. “From the beginning, he and I knew each other’s identities. He wasn’t dealing with me; it was with Xie Zilu. Because it was related to Xie Zilu, I forgot all the memories related to this part. Now everything makes sense.”
Lu Shi was indeed the monitor placed by Xie Zilu to watch over him, observing everything. No wonder he was so certain about his memory loss; it was because of Lu Shi.
After realizing that Lu Shi indeed had issues, Lin Lan’s mood suddenly turned less beautiful. He felt like the friendship built during this time had all gone down the drain.
Sensing Lin Lan’s discomfort, Xiao Shengjing remained silent for a while before suggesting, “Let’s find a time to talk to him. I feel like he’s not a bad person; there might be some undisclosed reasons.”
Lin Lan nodded, agreeing.
“What about Jiang Xi? Have you contacted her?”
Lin Lan shook his head. Although Xie Zilu provided a contact method, the calls went unanswered and messages received no response. He even doubted the validity of the number Xie Zilu gave.
“Well, take it slow,” Xiao Shengjing gently rubbed his head. After doing so, he felt that it was somewhat inappropriate, abruptly retracting his hand like a spring. “I’ll go for practice.”
“Oh?” Lin Lan also stood up, feeling that the atmosphere had suddenly become strange. Puzzled, he scratched his head, “Uh, then, I’ll go for practice too.”
Lin Lan returned to the training room and saw Lu Shi practicing. He intentionally stood behind him to observe.
Lu Shi started playing well, but suddenly, his phone lit up. His attention instantly shifted, repeatedly checking the phone.
Lin Lan noticed that the person sending him messages had the uppercase letter “X” as a note, probably Xie Zilu.
When Lu Shi replied, he was quite cautious, using his hand to shield the screen. After sending the message, he leaned back on the table, a gesture that seemed habitual.
“Lu Shi,” Lin Lan suddenly called out, startling him.
“Oh my goodness, why are you behind me?”
Lin Lan teased him, “Do you have a guilty conscience, getting scared like this?”
Lu Shi seemed a bit uneasy, “Don’t stand behind me; you’re affecting my training.”
“I haven’t touched you. How am I affecting your training?”
“You, you’re blocking my light.”
“What light? I think you’re the one with a guilty conscience.”
“I uphold a righteous spirit; where would ghosts come from?”
Jiang Jin looked at them with a puzzled expression, watching their back-and-forth banter as if they were arguing like elementary school kids. “What are you two doing? It’s like a cockfight between elementary schoolers.”
Both Lin Lan and Lu Shi fell silent simultaneously. It seemed like both of them knew something, but neither was willing to expose it.
Lu Shi remained silent, playing the game terribly. As the nexus in his own base slowly exploded, Lin Lan behind him finally spoke up, “Lu Shi, let’s talk.”
Lu Shi uttered a simple “Hmm,” turned off his computer, and followed Lin Lan.
Left behind, Jiang Jin couldn’t make sense of it. He asked Xu Shengwei, who was deeply engrossed in gaming, “Do Lin Lan and Lu Shi seem like they’re hiding something?”
Xu Shengwei, fully absorbed in his game, had no idea. Sporting the face of an addicted gamer, he responded, “Huh?”
Well, asking him was as good as asking nobody.
Jiang Jin sighed. He missed the times when he and Lin Lan used to play the bottom lane together, but now he had left that behind and gone to the top lane.
‘But it’s okay; I can go to the top lane and find him myself.’
Jiang Jin immersed himself in diligent research once again: How does a support roam to the top lane? How can a support assist the top lane? What are the optimal timings for roaming to the top lane…
Lu Shi followed Lin Lan downstairs. “Where are we going?”
“The old base, the rooftop.”
The contract there hadn’t expired yet, and it stored some equipment, serving as another base. Everyone often went back there to retrieve things.
Lu Shi brought out his electric scooter and handed Lin Lan a helmet.
Seated on the scooter, just like their first encounter, Lu Shi carried Lin Lan back to the old base.
Mysteriously, the world seemed to be drawn as a circle. Regardless of where it started, it would end up in the same place.
The wind blowing was liberating yet biting.
Lin Lan suddenly thought of a saying: Is it possible that all the connections he formed with this world would eventually return to their initial state?
It felt like the first time he vividly realized that he wasn’t truly a part of this world.
They quickly arrived at the old base. Lin Lan took off his helmet, Lu Shi locked the scooter, and together they went upstairs. It seemed like nothing had changed between them.
Lin Lan led him up to the rooftop. The air quality wasn’t great today, with mist everywhere, reminiscent of a human calamity.
Lin Lan sighed, sitting on the steps. In the chilly wind, he felt increasingly desolate.
He had never doubted Lu Shi from start to finish because Lu Shi felt so genuine. The moment he discovered the truth was bearable, but as time passed, it became more and more unbearable.
A good friend turned out to be fake?
Lu Shi seemed to know why Lin Lan had brought him here. He sat on the steps, wrapped in his not-so-thick coat, looking somewhat pitiful. “Lin Lan, don’t hit me when I tell you the truth.”
“If you don’t tell me, I really will hit you.”
Lu Shi tightened his clothes and began to confess what he had done. “Initially, I was arranged by Xie Zilu to be by your side. He had me observe and record your situation, then send every detail to a doctor named Wu Ming. I would regularly take you to the hospital, and bring you back after the treatment. He paid me twenty thousand each month, for two years. We even signed a contract, but all the contracts are with him, and the money came in monthly installments.”
No wonder, even though everyone’s salary was around 3,000 yuan, Lu Shi could lend thousands to the original host. It turned out he had an additional income.
Lin Lan didn’t interrupt him, letting him speak.
“At first, I thought it was some easy money, and I signed without much thought,” Lu Shi confessed, sounding guilty. “But then I realized you seemed unwilling. I didn’t know what kind of experiments they were conducting on you, making you take all sorts of random medications. Every time, they pushed you to the brink of a breakdown. I was worried something might happen, so I proposed to terminate the collaboration. But Xie Zilu said we had signed the contract, and if I backed out, I’d have to pay ten times the penalty.”
“I had no choice; I had to continue. Later, later, you tried to overdose…” Lu Shi became visibly nervous at this point, his hands tightly clasped. He was genuinely scared that day, “I was supposed to take you to the hospital for treatment that day. But no matter how hard I knocked, the door wouldn’t open. I thought you wanted to avoid treatment, so I used the spare key to open your door. I didn’t expect you wouldn’t wake up no matter how much I called…”
Although Lin Lan had guessed all these things, he had no evidence. Now, Lu Shi was the best eyewitness and evidence. “What happened next?”
Lu Shi hadn’t forgotten the fear he felt that day. He was so scared that he couldn’t even make a phone call. Carrying Lin Lan on his back, he rushed to the hospital. Later, out of guilt, he voluntarily applied to the team to take care of Lin Lan. When he covered Lin Lan’s medical expenses, he bore the majority of the cost, only reporting a small portion.
“Because it nearly cost a life, I couldn’t continue. So, I firmly insisted on terminating the contract. I thought I would have to pay a significant sum, but unexpectedly, Xie Zilu agreed.” Lu Shi found it unbelievable when recalling this part. Perhaps he himself hadn’t figured out why Xie Zilu did all these things. “Upon hearing about your suicide attempt, he just said you weren’t the person he was looking for. Then, he terminated the contract with me. Later, I even asked Dr. Wu Ming about it, and he said the treatment had failed.”
Indeed, it was exactly as Lin Lan had suspected.
He still didn’t understand what kind of person Xie Zilu was looking for.
However, Xie Zilu’s thought process was clearly not that of a normal person; with regular thinking, one could never guess it.
“I thought this matter had ended there. But unexpectedly, Xie Zilu suddenly approached me again, telling me that the treatment had actually succeeded. He proposed to continue our collaboration and asked me to inform him of your condition. At that moment, I really didn’t know what to do. I refused him, but he said there would be consequences after the treatment and urged me to inform him if anything happened.”
Lu Shi anxiously clasped his hands together, looking miserable as he sat on the steps, staring at Lin Lan. “Then, weren’t you feeling unwell during that period? I thought it was those consequences. I was so anxious and asked him what to do. Then he said, he said he wanted to take you for a full-body examination. He told me to find a way to get you to the hospital. But before I could come up with a plan, you went on your own.”
“That’s the whole story. If you want to hit me, go ahead.”
Lu Shi closed his eyes tightly, his features scrunching together, looking even more pitiful.
After a long time without any movement from Lin Lan, Lu Shi opened his eyes, seeing Lin Lan’s unsurprised expression. “Aren’t you going to hit me?”
“What’s the point of hitting you? Will it change anything?” Lin Lan was concerned about something else. “Does Xie Zilu usually contact you?”
“Contact has been particularly frequent lately. He asks about everything, but I usually don’t tell him much, just saying I don’t know.”
“What has he been asking recently?”
“He’s asking about your health,” Lu Shi opened his phone and handed it to Lin Lan to show transparency. “I really haven’t told him anything else. I only reply when it’s about your health issues.”
Lin Lan glanced through it roughly, and it matched Lu Shi’s statement. Surprisingly, Xie Zilu’s most concerning question was about his physical health. How scared was he of Lin Lan dying?
After checking, Lin Lan returned the phone to Lu Shi, deciding not to pursue this matter further. “During the time you took me to the hospital, did you leave any evidence?”
Lu Shi nodded firmly. “Yes, although they were cautious, I also took precautions. I tried to record videos every time you went to the hospital. There are quite a few, and I’ll send them to you now.”
With videos and eyewitness accounts, Lin Lan had evidence. However, the crucial question of whether Xie Zilu was the culprit or not left him perplexed.
While Lu Shi was sending the videos, Lin Lan took the opportunity to ask another question, “How did you meet Xie Zilu?”
Talking to this point, Lu Shi seemed a bit reluctant to speak. He looked at Lin Lan with a hint of caution. “Don’t you know? We knew each other before.”
Lin Lan suddenly remembered that Lu Shi didn’t know about his amnesia and hurriedly explained, “Didn’t I mention that I don’t remember many things after taking the medicine? Especially those harmful people and things, I basically can’t recall. It might be related to the treatment Xie Zilu did. If you know anything, please tell me.”
Lu Shi thought it was a result of Lin Lan’s aftereffects and cooperated actively. “I also attended Shengyuan High School. Originally, I was two grades above you, but due to offending someone, I was demoted by two grades and ended up in your class. Don’t you remember? Although I only stayed in your class for half a year, you must remember me.”
“What?” Lin Lan didn’t expect this at all. “You were in the same class as me? Why weren’t you in the graduation photo?”
Lu Shi sighed, “I was demoted again that year. Later, Xie Zilu found me and asked me to take on a task. He pulled some strings to help me graduate. This was also one of the reasons I agreed to help him initially. I met Xie Zilu because I was doing well in games at that time and teamed up with him. Later, in the team promotion match, didn’t you defeat us? You used Akali in that match. Don’t you remember? After the match, you even slapped Xie Zilu’s face fiercely, like a completely different person. It scared us all…”
Long-buried memories were suddenly unearthed, revealing many details that had gone unnoticed before.
Akali, Lin Lan remembered. At that time, wasn’t their top lane playing Sion? That was Lu Shi’s signature champion.
Lin Lan suddenly grabbed Lu Shi’s hand. He felt that Lu Shi had become a treasure trove of information, knowing many things he didn’t. For a moment, he didn’t know where to start asking. “Jiang Xi, do you remember Jiang Xi?”
“I know. Jiang Xi, a very beautiful girl. Didn’t she like you? She wrote love letters to you, confessed openly, and even warned people in the class not to bully you. Later, something happened, and she suddenly transferred. The few girls who were close to her also disappeared, and there were rumors in the class…”
Lu Shi hesitated as he continued, “Rumors said that she offended Xie Zilu, and their family business got exposed.”
“So, Xie Zilu did it, right?” Lin Lan was very concerned about this issue. “Think back; did you have any evidence at that time?”
“No evidence, just hearsay. But to make so many people transfer at the same time without leaking the news, probably only Xie Zilu in the school could do it. After all, his father is the biggest director in the school.”
It was Xie Zilu; everything was done by Xie Zilu. However, he claimed not to be the culprit.
In a flash, Lin Lan suddenly thought of a possibility, and the hairs on his arm stood up. “Does Xie Zilu have a split personality?”
His phone suddenly lit up with a message from Jiang Xi: Can we chat on VX?
The sky suddenly darkened, and the surrounding dusty mist became gloomy.
