Sorry for the 1 week hiatus, my work has been beating me lately…
Jiang Lele looked at the two, seemingly having reached some tacit understanding, and stayed silent for a moment before his expression turned strange. “Is there a possibility that we could queue as a trio?”
How come they were leaving him out like this!
Eventually, the sweet duo queue became a trio with Jiang Lele as the super bright light bulb.
With their headsets on, the three opened team voice chat.
Listening to Jiang Shi’s voice through the mic, Jiang Lele commented as he selected his champion, “Time, with your voice like that, I almost miss your old electric noise mic.”
Jiang Shi’s voice was quite different because of a cold, it was even huskier and muffled over the microphone.
He took a sip of water to soothe his throat, “For a starship skin, I’d reactivate that almost-broken mic just for you.”
“You’re dreaming,” Jiang Lele picked Nuka for his first pick. “Who’d pay to hear that broken voice of yours?”
After he spoke, he noticed Xie Xu on the fifth pick wasn’t selecting a champion for a long time, and then auto-locked The Cat. He burst out laughing, “See? Even the captain was turned off by how bad your voice sounds.”
Jiang Shi’s face remained expressionless, “After level four, don’t expect to be able to solo farm on your lane.”
“Fuck, you’re being shady!” But Jiang Lele only muttered, “Ge, I’m sorry. Please don’t touch my minions.”
Xie Xu listened to their back-and-forth conversation, or more specifically, Jiang Shi’s voice through his headset, and surprisingly got a little lost in thought.
Jiang Lele was right. After Jiang Shi caught a cold, his voice sounded somewhat like the one he used to have during streams, but now it was even closer to his natural tone. It gradually overlapped with someone in his memory.
He used to visit Time’s streaming channel frequently, partly to determine whether he was Jiang Shi, and partly because of that similar voice.
Xie Xu spaced out until Jiang Shi called his name several times, finally pulling him back to the present. “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Shi sounded frustrated, “You just took two of my minions.”
Jiang Lele butted in, “Captain, lucky for you it’s you who took them. If it were me, this Little White Hair would have blasted me already.”
“But it’s fine if he says something now, his nasal voice is so bad I can hardly understand him sometimes.”
[Team Chat] TLG-Time: Little Winter Melon.
Jiang Shi taxed Jiang Lele’s minion wave just before he returned to base, leaving quickly after.
Jiang Lele: “…”
To avoid losing more farm, Jiang Lele decided to just follow Jiang Shi and Xie Xu around, and the three of them swaggered across the map. But one time, they went too deep into the enemy jungle and got surrounded by all five enemies.
Jiang Lele then showed off his Nuka skills — by perfectly landing a control ability on an enemy support during their invincibility buff. The enemy’s shield didn’t even break.
Jiang Shi’s face darkened as he said without hesitation, “Retreat.”
But just as he said it, Jiang Lele suddenly used his Flash and ult, slowing down the enemy AD. Jiang Shi’s muscle memory kicked in, and he followed up without thinking.
And then—
Three for one.
The three of them died, taking only the enemy AD with them, and the opponents immediately pushed their base, destroying their crystal.
Jiang Shi was livid, turning to Jiang Lele, “Didn’t I say retreat?”
Jiang Lele looked more confused than him, “I was charging in! You said it so decisively that I flashed in to sacrifice myself! And now you’re blaming me?”
His tone was aggrieved and frustrated.
Jiang Shi gritted his teeth, “I said retreat! Retreat!”
“Huh?” Jiang Lele frowned, “Why does your ‘retreat’ sound just like ‘charge’…”
“I never noticed your Mandarin was this bad. Don’t mess it up like this in the Spring Split.”
Jiang Shi: “.”
He uttered a classic curse word in frustration, “Jiang Lele, your uncle–”
After that, they played several more games, but the communication between Jiang Shi and Jiang Lele seemed to hit a wall, constantly causing misunderstandings.
And with Jiang Shi still being under the weather, his head felt heavy, and his reaction speed was slower than usual. Sometimes, his plays weren’t much better than Jiang Lele’s.
With a double whammy of disadvantages, their three-person queue suffered repeated losses.
In the last game, Jiang Lele didn’t use his trusty Nuka. Instead, he picked a mid-lane champion that was purely a utility champion—one that could control enemy positioning upon skill hit, making it a very strong engage champion.
“Jiang Lele, stop sending the enemy jungler my way!” Jiang Shi watched his screen turn black, struggling to resist the urge to strangle Jiang Lele, “Three times! You’ve cost me my life three times now!”
Jiang Lele rubbed his nose sheepishly, “I forgot you’re using a squishy late-game ADC, not Senna.”
If he had been Senna, he could definitely burst down the enemy jungler in one combo, but Jiang Shi was playing a basic ADC, and sending a fed jungler to his way was a one-way ticket to meet Lord Yan1China’s King of Hell.
[Defeat]
The English words were reflected in Jiang Shi’s slightly reddened eyes.
He was furious.
This time, before Jiang Shi could kick him out, Jiang Lele slipped away, “Not the day to rank up as a trio, I’m off to solo queue~”
Jiang Shi let out a cold chuckle, “I’ll send the replays of these games to Yang-ge later. Prepare for extra training.”
Jiang Lele widened his eyes, “Fuck, you’re ruthless! You weren’t any better!”
“I’m sick, so underperforming is expected,” Jiang Shi said without changing his expression.
Jiang Lele: “You’re so shameless!”
He snorted, “Just watch, I’ll play solo and stomp everyone. Yang-ge will see my skills for himself.”
Jiang Shi: “Oh.”
After some more bickering, Jiang Shi’s mouth felt dry, and he picked up his thermos to drink some water.
After Jiang Lele left the party, Xie Xu was still in the room, clearly waiting for Jiang Shi to duo.
Jiang Shi pursed his lips, “Captain, I’m not in great shape today. I’d rather not drag you down.”
Maybe the medicine was kicking in, but his head was feeling foggy, and his reaction time was sluggish.
Jiang Lele, still nearby, grumbled sarcastically, “Hypocrite Little White Hair!”
He had just criticized Jiang Lele for holding them back, and now he was playing cute and admitting fault to Xie Xu.
Xie Xu didn’t say anything. He reached out and touched Jiang Shi’s forehead.
His fever had gone down.
But Jiang Shi still looked clearly fatigued.
“Are you tired?”
Jiang Shi quickly shook his head, “No, I can still play.”
He definitely wasn’t going to bed.
“Plus, I want to win back the points we just lost.”
Otherwise, it would feel too much like a setback — playing ranked with Jiang Lele was like enduring a trial every time.
This time, Xie Xu didn’t force Jiang Shi to rest like before. “I know you want to practice late-game ADCs, but it’s not worth it in this condition.”
Jiang Shi knew Xie Xu was right but mumbled, “I just don’t want to sleep.”
“If I really can’t make it work, I can go support later.”
He could at least learn from how other ADCs played.
Xie Xu nodded at that. “Alright, you queue us up.”
Jiang Shi looked up in confusion. “? Two supports duo queuing?”
Jiang Lele, who had been eavesdropping, eagerly explained, “Little White Hair, you don’t know, right? The captain is an all-around player, he’s played every role to the national level. Just follow him as support and you’ll be fine.”
But when Xie Xu played with them, he never played other lanes unless filling in.
They had privately speculated that Xie Xu avoided other roles to not hurt their pride and to give them some face.
Jiang Lele looked at Jiang Shi with a gloating expression — would this Little White Hair feel embarrassed enough to want to dig a hole and hide?
Jiang Shi had no idea what Jiang Lele was thinking. He looked coolly at Xie Xu. “Captain, is it true?”
He had never seen Xie Xu play any other role!
Seeing Jiang Shi suddenly perk up, Xie Xu said, “Yeah, I’ll help you win it back.”
As it turned out, just like Xie Xu said, the two of them went on a winning streak in duo queue.
Whether it was a flexible ADC or a late-game ADC, Xie Xu was very strong. Jiang Shi only needed to play The Cat and attach himself to Xie Xu.
Xie Xu not only helped him rank up but also taught him game awareness and mechanics.
“The enemy lineup is all about strong offense. If we lose vision in the mid lane and the enemy is aggressively pushing forward, we can’t stay under the first tower if our teammates aren’t coming to help.”
Xie Xu stayed in the bush between the first and second towers, and if the enemy didn’t reveal themselves, he wouldn’t even defend if minions were attacking the tower. He would just use long-range abilities to last-hit some of the minions.
Jiang Shi was confused. “But I’m here, right?”
Xie Xu explained, “At least three enemies will come. Even if we manage to trade one kill, it’s still a loss for a late-game ADC.”
“Losing the bottom lane’s first tower early isn’t a big deal. As long as our teammates gain an advantage elsewhere and I don’t die, it’s not a loss.”
Just as Xie Xu finished speaking, four enemies came to push down the bottom lane’s first tower. But because they had been ambushing for too long, they couldn’t retreat in time, and the enemy’s mid-lane tower was also taken down.
The mid tower was worth far more than the bottom tower.
Jiang Shi seemed to understand but wasn’t fully sure.
He had always been too greedy for minion waves. Previously, when playing a ADC with multiple displacement skills, he could escape, but when playing a late-game ADC, he’d get killed if caught.
Jiang Shi perked up to listen to the lesson. If it weren’t for needing his hands on the keyboard, he would’ve loved to take out his notebook and write down all of Xie Xu’s tips.
Another game ended in victory, and Jiang Shi got as many assists as Xie Xu got kills.
Now, they not only won back their lost games but also gained several stars.
Jiang Shi was starting to get a bit cocky.
In the next match, he picked Yuumi again but hesitated over his summoner spell.
“Captain, can I take Ignite?”
Ignite is true damage that ignores shields, a must-have for stealing kills in the game.
This question essentially meant: [Can I steal your kills?]
But Xie Xu never cared about these things. He massaged his sore wrist and said, “Do as you like.”
Jiang Shi happily adjusted his summoner spell and even secretly changed his runes to crit damage.
As a result, the entire game was filled with Jiang Shi’s excited, slightly hoarse voice.
“Captain, wait, leave some health for me!”
“Charge in, my Ignite is ready!”
Jiang Shi not only stole kills but also used his support to boldly harass the enemy, only to get surrounded by three enemies.
“Captain, they’re chasing me!”
Then Xie Xu came to his rescue, pulling off a perfect counter-kill.
Once Jiang Shi got into the flow, he began reverting to his old ways, showering Xie Xu with exaggerated praise.
“Captain, you’re amazing!”
“I’ve never seen a support play ADC so well!”
“Captain, you’re the best!”
With The Cat attached to Xie Xu’s marksman, Jiang Shi was full of pride and energy. There was no sign of the previous losing streak’s dejection. He was so fired up that his keypresses were forceful, and even the chair beneath him creaked, reflecting the intensity of the game.
At one point, Jiang Shi even suggested that in competitions, Xie Xu should play ADC while he’d stick with The Cat to boost his rank — an utterly ridiculous idea.
Jiang Lele, who had been waiting for Jiang Shi to be ashamed and embarrassed: “?!”
He still underestimated the extent of Jiang Shi’s shamelessness.
After another team fight, Jiang Shi, fed by Xie Xu, used The Cat to secure a triple kill beautifully.
It felt so good that, at the end of the game, Jiang Shi even overshadowed Xie Xu, becoming the MVP of the match.
Licking his lips, Jiang Shi said, still wanting more, “Captain, one more game.”
But amidst the excitement, Jiang Shi felt a sense of familiarity.
It seemed like he had done something like this before…
Compared to Jiang Shi’s excitement, Xie Xu remained much calmer. He started another game, his peripheral vision catching Jiang Shi secretly changing all his runes to ability power, and his eyes flickered.
It was really similar.
After picking their champions, Xie Xu moved his mouse, seemingly asking casually, “Have you ever played The Cat in duo queue like this before?”
Jiang Shi, busy analyzing the enemy team’s kill order, reflexively recalled a scene—
It was also him, playing The Cat, riding on someone’s head, bossing around on the Rift.
“Gege, you’re amazing! Not only are you great at playing support, but you’re also so good with ADCs!”
“Gege, you’re the best ADC I’ve seen besides myself!”
“Gege, you’re the best!”
Jiang Shi finally realized why it felt familiar.
He used to do the same thing with his ex-boyfriend from his online relationship! Even the compliments were nearly identical…
For some reason, Jiang Shi suddenly felt a bit guilty. He glanced at Xie Xu out of the corner of his eye, only to be caught in the act.
Xie Xu asked, “So you have?”
Jiang Shi denied it without thinking, “Of course not!”
“How could I possibly support anyone else?”
He blinked, seeming a bit shy, lowered his head, and quickly mumbled, “Only the captain can make me willingly play support.”
