Accompany You Ch 10.1

Chapter 10: Flowers that Bloomed at Seventeen (Part 1)

An inner hall in Sun Zeyi’s internet cafe was set aside for his acquaintances. There was a circle of computers on a large round table, with a refrigerator and a kitchen counter in an open side room. It was a place where both new and old friends could get together in their free time. The clacking of the keyboard resounded through the room, accompanied by endless shouting; without the restrictions of any clubs, it was a slice of paradise.

While Lin Yixuan was fighting, he turned to Qiu Ying, who was washing apples at the sink, and called, “Qiu meimei, can you help me get a glass of soda?”

Ji Xiangkong stretched out his leg and kicked his chair. “Do it yourself, don’t send her.”

He kicked too strongly and Lin Yixuan nearly fell off the chair. After he regained his balance, he knocked Ji Xiangkong on the shoulder. “Hey ouch, you’re so possessive.”

Qiu Ying’s hand slipped. The drink spilled slightly on the ground as she listened to Ji Xiangkong slowly say, “Well, that’s right.”

Her heart missed a beat. She brought coke to them, but hadn’t even set it down before Ji Xiangkong patted Lin Yixuan on the back. “A’xuan, go sit on the other side.”

Lin Yixuan glanced at Qiu Ying. Like he’d been struck by lightning, he pointed a trembling finger straight at Ji Xiangkong. “Alright! I’ll go! You’re heartless! How long have I been with you?!”

Ji Xiangkong laughed and lowered his hand. “Then go.”

Lin Yixuan humphed and unwillingly went. Ji Xiangkong turned to Qiu Ying and knocked on the seat next to him. “Sit down.”

Qiu Ying looked around. The round table was already full, the other men there looking straight at them with gossipy eyes. Ji Xiangkong caught her wrist as she hesitated and dragged her into the chair, casually saying, “Your training time is two hours, don’t freeze. I’m expensive.”

Then Qiu Ying remembered the appointment they made before.

It began from the time Qiu Ying had seen Sun Zeyi sitting by the window, mending clothes. When she got closer, she realized that it was Ji Xiangkong’s shirt. The ancient god was helplessly smiling and shaking his head: “I don’t know what Xiangkong, this kid, does all day. He wears out holes in his clothes no matter what he does.”

As the sun set, Sun Zeyi was cast in the warm and kind light passing through the window. He looked up and and softly said to Qiu Ying, “Xiao Qiu, can you go out back and tell them to get ready for dinner, don’t play too hard?”

Ji Xiangkong once mentioned in an interview that he was a child from a single-parent family and was raised by his mom and grandmother. At times, Qiu Ying wondered if Ji Xiangkong was so close to Sun Zeyi because Sun god’s father-like nature.

That evening, Qiu Ying actively volunteered herself to Ji Xiangkong. “Sun ge is so busy. If your clothes are worn-out, I can help you mend them.” She stopped. “Though you’ll need to pay me.”

The condition being that Ji Xiangkong coach her and teach her how to rank in solo-queue.

Three qualifying rounds later, the two of them watched the North American competition video sitting side-by-side.

“Titan’s lineup isn’t good,” Qiu Ying sipped her milk tea, pointing to the screen. “I’m telling you, Guy completely murks the Shadow Priest.”

Ji Xiangkong copied her tone to whisper, “I’m telling you, he really doesn’t.”

As she heard this, Qiu Ying’s beautiful eyebrows drew together. She said with an extremely serious expression, “He really does!”

Ji Xiangkong tilted his head to look at her, eyes curved in a smile. “Really doesn’t.”

“Really does!”

“Really doesn’t.”

“The Shadow Priest’s 5-second Invincibility is useless when he gets within Guy’s Execute range!” 

“Then just boost the offlaner’s Healing Aura.”

Qiu Ying flushed. “Have you even seen a professional offlaner who’ll equip a Healing Aura? That’s just stupid!”

Ji Xiangkong calmly and leisurely said, “Oh, me.”

Qiu Ying took a deep breath and the words she was about to say choked in her throat. Finally, when she heard everyone around them quietly laughing, she realized that Ji Xiangkong’s arm was casually resting on the back of her chair. Their heads seemed to have come closer together as they argued. She flushed and scooted to the side, her heart both ashamed and happy.

During their break time, Qiu Ying watched the “Battlefield fraudster Void Ji Xiangkong performance highlights” with relish. Within the video, he would either throw a pair of Boots on the ground and wait for the hidden enemy to reveal themselves before picking them back up; or he would hide a Health Potion within the forest, run away into there pretending to have little HP left, and then drink the potion to turn around and kill them back; or he’d suddenly recall his skill just as his hero was raising their hand to release it and make his opponent make an error in judgement with his false movements. What impressed her the most was his classic “hit and run,” where he’d annoy his opponents to death, but they didn’t dare chase him because they were afraid of getting ambushed, but if they didn’t chase they’d get hit again…

Qiu Ying spoke slowly in her commentating voice, “The mighty and legendary Chinese Conquer captain Cris once said, ‘No matter which hero Void Ji Xiangkong operates, he will forever and always have four fixed skills: pretend not to see, pretend to miss, pretend he can’t escape, and pretend there are people behind him.’ In a nutshell, textbook-level annoying.”

After she finished speaking, she collapsed into self-amused laughter.

“Are you asking for trouble?” Ji Xiangkong raised his eyebrows and quickly took up a pen to poke her waist. Ticklish, she dodged to and fro in order to guard her sides, “Stop… stop, oh, stop… I was wrong, I was wrong, aiya, stop it!”

The sounds and scene were very ambiguous from across the table. Blinded by the light, Lin Yixuan said on behalf of all single dogs present, “Hey! Are you livestreaming your love?!”

**

That day, after Lin Yixuan revealed that Ji Xiangkong had once liked someone deeply, Qiu Ying’s heart had been messy upon returning to the internet cafe. She did her best to appear like nothing had happened, but she couldn’t keep herself from being more scared the more she thought about it. Ji Xiangkong had pushed back her windblown hair, leaned down, and looked her straight in the eyes. “Are you okay? Should I send you home?”

His eyes had been glimmering, full of her reflection. Qiu Ying had shaken her head and surrendered in front of his gentleness.

She had taken a deep breath and smiled at him. “I’m fine.” 

This was his past. Everyone had stories that no one else knew of.

**

When they parted in the evening, Ji Xiangkong told Qiu Ying that in recent days, other than playing basketball and going to the gym, he often went to Sun Zeyi’s internet cafe in the afternoons.

He looked down at her for a moment and whispered, “If you want to see me, you can come find me.”

The whole world went silent. Qiu Ying immediately went into his arms and hugged him.

**

Qiu Ying didn’t have class on Wednesday afternoon. After she sent Ji Xiangkong a WeChat with “Coming soon,” she pursed her lips and added to it, “I feel like drinking fruit juice.”

When she got to the internet cafe, neither Ji Xiangkong or Sun Zeyi were there. Qiu Ying was walking to the inner hall when she heard voices coming from the inside.

“Yixuan, I don’t get it. Didn’t Ji god hate that female streamer, Qiu Ying, before? He was always so annoyed when she was streaming her Firework dance, especially when it came to his goddess Miya’s part. How come their relationship is so good now?”

“Right, I remember that before when there were people watching clips of Qiu Ying’s dancing, someone asked Ji god if he thought she danced better than Miya’s original and he got so angry.”

“Well obviously, of course the counterfeit can’t compare to the original.”

“Aiya, in the end, she’s just pretty. Ji god didn’t say she was his girlfriend either. Maybe he’s just spending money on her to get the chance to play around a little.”

“Hey hey, don’t talk nonsense. Xiangkong doesn’t do stuff like that.” Lin Yixuan’s gaze swept around to land on Qiu Ying, who was standing at the door. He instantly froze. Then he hurried forward. “It’s their idle gossip. Don’t worry about it.”

Qiu Ying smiled and nodded. Their words seemed to be sharp needles that stabbed one by one into her back. No matter how much she changed, anyone could search up videos of her singing and dancing during her early streaming days at any time. She whispered and begged for pity, hoping that the audience in front of their screens could give her some attention and send her some gifts… After all, it was a history that truly existed.

Ji Xiangkong hated her in the beginning, she knew it; he was not someone who played with people’s feelings, she knew it. But for now her heart was tumultuous and she didn’t know how to keep sitting with this group of people.

Perhaps in their eyes, her image had never changed.

Qiu Ying hit Ji Xiangkong just as she was going out the door. He opened a shopping bag to show her the different colorful Naked bottles inside, his peach-blossom eyes curved into crescents. “I didn’t know which flavors you liked, so I bought them all.”

A layer of mist suddenly spread across Qiu Ying’s eyes. Her head drooped down like an eggplant that had been overtaken by frost.

Ji Xiangkong raised his eyebrows slightly. “What’s wrong?”

She said nothing.

“Unhappy again?” Ji Xiangkong lowered his head to look at her, his voice like coaxing a moody child. “Seems like I need to show my trump card — I’ll sing for you?”

With his frightening singing echoing in her ears, Qiu Ying nearly burst into laughter. She shook her head and whispered, “I still have to do something at school, I’ll leave first.”

Ji Xiangkong stopped her with his arm and put the full and heavy bag of drinks in her hands.

“Wait a moment, I’ll go get the car keys.” As he passed by, he put his hand on Qiu Ying’s head. “Stay here, I’ll send you back.”

Qiu Ying looked at his retreating figure. The suppressed questions in her heart rose up one after another, stunning even herself. Her blank mind recklessly screamed—

What kind of person did you like?

Do you still like her?

Do you like me?

She didn’t dare ask. Every time she looked in his ink-black eyes, she was never able to guess what he was thinking.

Lin Yixuan said that Ji Xiangkong was someone most people thought of as having terrible operating, and who shouldn’t even be a professional player; so he had to devote countless times more energy than other people. She didn’t want to distract him. Before, she spoke too recklessly and nearly couldn’t even be friends with him. That she could stay by his side like right now, laughing with him, cheering him on — she was already so satisfied with that.

**

After she finished streaming in the evening, Qiu Ying hugged a pillow on the sofa while watching a day drama. Its name quite fit her state of mind: My Heart Belongs To.

The female lead was a pastry chef who was designing a new cake. A whole raspberry was hidden inside the cake, the theme being: feelings that no one else knows.

She said, “The red of the raspberry symbolizes a person’s strongest emotions. For example, dreams that you want to achieve, treasures that you want to protect, the feeling of liking someone. You might not be able to reveal these feelings, but they truly exist.

“Even if you can’t see them on the outside, they’re carefully treasured within our hearts.”

**

“I heard that you sent five cruise ships to Yan Yan next door yesterday. Why are you so stingy when you get to me?”

Across the phone, Lu Yiyi vividly imitated Qiao Xin’s tone during her livestream. There were a few certain people who hoarded the spendy bigshots — the ones who sent gifts to any streamer in turn they liked if they were in the mood — to themselves in every niche of the streaming platform. Most streamers gave a simple word of thanks, but Qiao Xin was the type to demand more with a coquettish voice.

“Last time, a sponsor donated nine cruise ships to Qiao Xin, and she didn’t say thanks, but started acting spoiled in front of the camera, ‘You definitely recharged your account with ten cruise ships to round it up, so why did you only give me nine? Hurry, hand over the last cruise ship.’”

Qiu Ying could vividly imagine this “spoiled” teasing within her head.

Some people who sent gifts on streaming platforms did so to express their love for the streamer. But some did so to satisfy their own vanity; it was announced on the entire platform every time someone sent out pricey yachts and cruise ships, so it was extremely eye-catching.

“She said that and the entire barrage was all laughing, saying stuff like ‘If you won’t donate, she won’t even look at you, hundreds of thousands of people all saw it, right?’ Then that rich master had to keep on donating gifts, but who knows whether behind the screen it’s an elementary schooler with a monthly pocket money of 100,000 yuan? She’s seriously…” Lu Yiyi paused, then gritted her teeth, “a complete b*tch!”

Qiu Ying smiled and raised her head. “Alright, I’m the one she has beef with, so why does it seem like she’s your lifelong enemy?”

“I’m telling you, you’re too straight-laced, now’s the time to make connections. You can’t neglect your popularity.” Lu Yiyi paused. “Didn’t that male commentator Luo Tian invite you to play with him? His popularity is super super high.”

“I’m afraid of getting caught up in Trending.”

Lu Yiyi was impatient to see her hopes met: “It’s the same even in the entertainment industry. All celebrities have to spark some rumors from time to time.”

Qiu Ying didn’t reply that she didn’t want to cause Ji Xiangkong to misunderstand.

Lu Yiyi cried out loudly on the other side of the phone, “Hurry up and raise your status, all of the streaming platforms are competing with each other and seriously throwing money into their investments! You know how much signing fee the game streamer ‘Big Young Lady’ got when she signed with ‘Hupu’ just recently? One hundred million! One hundred million!”

“There’s nothing surprising anymore about famous streamers being at the same status as top stars.”

“Oh, right, Qiao Xin opened up a Taobao shop. Snacks, menswear, peripherals, everything’s there, maybe you should do something similar.”

Qiu Ying smiled wanly. “Where would I find that much energy?”

“You can look for a proxy, a lot of popular streamers do that. From customer service to delivery, they’re basically a one-stop service.”

“Mm, I’ll think about it when I have some time.”

Hearing her offhand tone, Lu Yiyi continued to try persuading her. “Now’s the era of self-promotion and fan-supported economy. To put it bluntly, a streamer’s fame only lasts for a few years and Qiao Xin is actually pretty smart to do so, already using her fame to make more money.”

“Streaming platforms are a field for survival of the fittest. The only people left in the end are the strong. Good streamers who carefully prepare their content can make a program that’ll definitely withstand the test of time.” Qiu Ying’s eyes shone. “I want to concentrate on doing things well.”

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Shadow Priest and Execute are from the Chinese terms in World of Warcraft (but I don’t know what Guy is a reference to)

I especially like how rumors are portrayed as a recurring theme in this book. Sometimes rumors lead to comedic misunderstandings (for example, Pei Xi), but others greatly affect the way we interact with people and how we treat them. Because of rumors, JXK thinks of QY as just a b*tch in the beginning; it’s because of rumors that she flirts with him in the first place. But they aren’t a small obstacle QY and JXK get over quickly, they’re something that they must overcome again again.