After dinner, Xiao Yingyue finally took a shower.
She leaned against the doorframe, sighing theatrically like a tragic heroine.
Even when she was in the tub, she was using her phone. Scrolling through douyin.
She's been in the tub for almost 20 minutes now.
Some soft, melancholic song floated from her phone.
"This feeling is so subtle and delicate"
Her eyes twitched. She mouthed the words like a karaoke star.
"Even stumbling over words is romantic"
"Yeah, yeah, sure," she muttered to herself, dramatic enough to scare a ghost.
"No one truly understands"
"That roses bloom in the dessert"
"The heavy rain and separation will cease"
She hummed along, water dripping from her hair. Then, with a sigh that could have qualified as a full orchestral piece, she whispered:
"Oh my God, I want to fall in love."
She slowly rose from the tub, careful not to splash water everywhere, dragging the towel behind her like a cape.
"I want all the cliché things they do in movies," she muttered, teeth chattering from the sudden chill. "Someone saying, 'Text me when you get home'… and actually waiting. Someone who listens to me ramble like it's the most fascinating story ever. Or calling every night just to ask… 'Did you eat yet?'"
She flopped onto her bed, stretching her arms above her head and letting out a theatrical groan of despair.
Glancing at the clock, she blinked. Nine PM. Perfect.
The night was young, and misery loves company in the form of ranked games.
Everyone in the group chat was busy doing solo games right now, so she decided to play solo first.
She got up and went to her computer and opened King of Glory.
She set up her told as versatile for more thrill, and she's okay with every role.
The first game, she was assigned to roaming. The first game slapped her right into roaming, a role she knew she could dominate if the Marksman didn't feed their brains out.
"Please, please, please, let them not feed," she muttered, fingers hovering over Dun's abilities. The Marksman chose Marco Polo, so Dun it was.
The early game flowed like a well-oiled machine: first blood secured by the clash lane, Tyrant grabbed by the jungle, and the overlord barely alive thanks to the mage assisting the clash lane.
As long as the jungle and mage don't go throwing the game, it's all good.
After demolishing the farm lane's first tower, she crouched by the mid-lane bush.
The enemy mid was Shi, a mage with excellent crowd control but mobility like a sloth on vacation. Perfect.
As long as she gets near the bush, she'll use Dun's 1st skill, which slashes enemy then shake the ground making the enemy unable to use all their skills, just as expected, when clearing the minions, Shi went slightly to the bush not expecting anyone since Kongming, the mage was helping the clash lane. Before using Dun's 1st skill, she activates Dun's second skill, which is a shield.
Then she aimed Dun's 1st skill at Shi, then Dun slammed his sword to the ground and the ground where Shi was standing shook, making her unable to use her Flash to escape. After that she used Basic attack to finish her off.
[YOU HAVE SLAIN AN ENEMY]
"Ohhh, yes," Xiao Yingyue whispered, doing a mini victory dance behind her keyboard. She dashed to help the jungle finish off the overlord.
And with that they already secured their winning ticket.
As expected she was the MVP with her KDA of 3/1/24, and she received 3 stars.
The new season had just started, and her rank had dropped from Grandmaster 78 stars to Master 4.
Only one more star to Master 3. Luck was on her side… she could almost feel it. Maybe, just maybe, she'd hit Grandmaster again tonight.
She probably jinxed her luck today or what with how she lost 4 games in a row. She smiled forcefully as she queued up again.
The next game was a breeze. The one after? Disaster.
Her heart cracked a little with every defeat. "What is it with these people with a hundred stars last season? Why are they trying so hard?" she muttered, already queuing again like a masochist.
And yes, she lost.
She closed her laptop with a soft thump, frustration twisting in her stomach. Weibo became her refuge.
A post about a 2021 drama caught her eye: Falling Into Your Smile, a story about an amateur player rising to the pro scene and romance sparking along the way.
"I started this ages ago… never finished it…" she mumbled. Out came the projector, the lights dimmed, and she plopped back into her fortress of blankets and snacks.
She then closed her computer and turned on the projector that was about her bed and turned off all the lights.
She was too lazy to watch it from the start when she already watched it.
She was already in Episode 11 that time.
Before she knew it, the clock struck six AM.
She paused, shuffled downstairs, and found a toasted chicken sandwich waiting. Simple, no lettuce, no tomato, just onion and shredded carrots.
She then saw her brother yawning, his hair was like a Chicken Coop, and there was still saliva on the corner of his mouth.
She winced in disgust.
"Morning Xiaoyue. Did you just wake up?" He asked.
She smiled awkwardly. More like did she even sleep.
"Yeah." She said before bolting to her room, bringing her chicken sandwich and orange juice.
She then continued watching again.
By the time she finished, it was 1 PM. She leaned back against her pillows, contemplative.
"That was good. Tong Yao, the female lead, develops resilience and grit. I like how she's good at what she does. It's good how the romance doesn't dominate the entire plot." That was her last words before drifting to sleep.
***
When she woke up, it was already 7 in the evening.
When she woke up, it was already seven in the evening. Her stomach growled audibly, and her brother was on his way to call her to eat.
"Were you taking a nap? I heard you skipped lunch," Xiao Yuchen asked, brows furrowed.
"Yeah" she yawned.
"Your class starts next week right? You'll be in your third year. Well I guess you're not that worried since you already got an acceptable letter from tsinghua last year." Xiao Yuchen said as he slightly loosened his tie. "So don't pressure yourself too much."
"Yeah, Xiaoyue, don't pressure yourself," added her twin, Xiao Jiawei, grinning.
Xiao Yuchen narrowed his eyes at him. "But you, Jiawei, should pressure yourself. Volleyball isn't the only thing in life. Is your brain full of spikes and serves only?"
"Brother, why are you being so strict. I'm sure I could get into BSU[1] just fine."
"Words are cheap. Focus, and Mom and Dad won't worry," Yuchen said, fixing his hair with the precision of a soldier prepping for battle.