Rise

“Why? I don’t know. Probably to mooch off my cooking just like you,” Su Xue shrugged and answered playfully.

“Oh, ok.” Lin Feng nodded while staring regretfully at the assortment of scraps of dishes left on the table. It looked like a tornado had swept through. If Zuo You hadn’t come, the job of going through all this delicious food would’ve been his! Never did he expect that this petite redhead could devour food like a competitive speed eater. He shot Zuo You another glance and sighed. You really couldn’t judge a book by its cover...

Zuo You noticed Lin Feng’s gaze and reached out to ruffle up his hair. “What? You don’t like me coming over?”

While Lin Feng fixed up his hair in a fluster, Zuo You happily picked up the last morsel of red braised pork and ate it. “Mhm, that was good!” She rubbed her stomach in satisfaction. “Xue Xue, your cooking is getting better and better. You could open up a restaurant!”

“Would need the money for that first,” Su Xue huffed in annoyance.

Zuo You curled her lips. “So you do know you need to make money! Then why are you still dawling around with this whole streaming thing? You won’t get rich from that… Hey, wait…” Her expression turned hard. “...That thing from yesterday, you know, what you just told me about, it’s settled, right?”

Su Xue laughed. “Mhm, it’s settled. They gave her a warning and me compensation. I’ll get a couple of slots on the front page! Everyone will see my stream! See? I can make money streaming!”

Zuo You cast a side glance at Lin Feng. “Hey kid, you helped Xue Xue get revenge, right? Not bad, not bad…”

“Yeah! I did really good!” Lin Feng pumped his fist in the air.

“Mhm! He was a huge help yesterday. You didn’t see it, but he hard-carried with his jungle Rengar! He camped her so much she wasn’t worth more than a cannon minion at the end!” Su Xue chimed in with praise and a happy laugh.

“Oh? He was that good?” Zuo You looked at Lin Feng in a new light. She recalled Lin Feng carrying with his Lee Sin the last time she was over. “So, you’re a jungle main?”

Lin Feng shook his head. “No, I’m a mid main.”

“What!? You’re saying your mid is better than your jungle!?” Zuo You gasped.

“Last night we played some inhouse matches. He was toying with my Diamond 1 viewer in mid the whole time,” Su Xue butted in.

“A Diamond 1? Wow.”

“Of course! I’m a Challenger!” Lin Feng exclaimed confidently.

Zuo You was about to start making fun of Lin Feng, like she usually did when he spouted arrogant nonsense. However, she held her tongue for a moment as her lips curved into an evil smile. “Challenger, huh? Then if I have you 1v1 a Master player, you’ll kick his ass, right?”

“Of course!” Lin Feng pounded his chest.

“Just the words I wanted to hear!” Zuo You smacked her thigh. Then she scooched over to Lin Feng and said, “Hey kid. Help out your big sis here, won’t you?”

Zuo You worked in the marketing department of a foreign enterprise in China. With her figure, every male employee was chasing after her, and a few had recently got wind of her playing League of Legends. Now, they were constantly hounding her to play with them.

“Most of them are Gold or low Platinum scrubs. None of them can beat me!” Zuo You frowned. “But there’s this one guy who’s a Master in the Ionia server. He’s a pretty good mid main.”

“So, what do you want Lin Feng to do? Beat that Master guy for you?” Su Xue asked, confused.

Zuo You nodded. “Yep! That’s exactly it!”

“Is he harassing you or something? What’s so bad about having a Master player carry you a bit?” Su Xue remarked.

Zuo You shook her head. “No no no, you don’t understand. Sure, he’s good at the game. But he’s also an arrogant prick. He goes on and on about how good he is, like being Master suddenly makes him hot. And the one time I did play with him, he was on my ass for everything I did! Like damn, let me play my game! If the idiot wants to date me, he shouldn’t backseat me in my game! Uch, and he’s such a show-off. Man, just thinking about him makes me want to vomit…”

Su Xue quietly listened to Zuo You go on a several-minute long rant before managing to butt in. “Ah, I see. Yeah, those kinds of antics get old really fast.”

“So…” Zuo You chuckled evilly. “The little kid is a mid main, right? If he’s really that good, then how about you let me borrow him to teach that show-off a lesson!”

“What do you mean, ‘let you borrow him?’” Su Xue said unhappily. “Why are you asking me anyway? He’s right here… Just ask him yourself if you want his help.”

Zuo You turned to Lin Feng. “So how about it, kid? Wanna help me out?”

“Oh, uh… I don’t know. Let me think.” Lin Feng scratched his head. He rubbed his chin for a bit, then said, “Alright, but on one condition. You have to pay a commission fee.”

“The hell! You’re charging me money!?” Zuo You blurted.

“A Challenger doesn’t play for others for free. That’s the dignity of an expert!” Lin Feng said in a tone full of zeal.

“Dignity my ass.” Zuo You rolled her eyes. “I’ll treat you to some KFC. Offer non-negotiable.”

Lin Feng’s eyes lit up. “Deal!”

Zuo You reached out her hand and ruffled Lin Feng’s hair again. “You little punk. So young, and you’re already hustling. I can’t imagine what you’ll end up like in a few years!”

Lin Feng dodged away from Zuo You. “If you keep doing that, I’ll have to charge you two buckets!”

Zuo You wasn’t the least bit deterred. “Alright, two buckets it is. Now, bring your head over like a good kid! I’m going to get my money’s worth!”

✹

Afternoon, the next day. Lin Feng followed the directions Zuo You gave him yesterday and arrived at the Glacier Internet Cafe. He immediately noticed her waiting for him outside. She wore a charming, violet one-piece dress which perfectly accentuated her alluring figure. Her already tall build was raised even higher by her high heels, putting her a couple of cm above Lin Feng. She looked breathtaking, from her long, slender legs to her fiery red hair.

Zuo You’s eyes lit up when she noticed Lin Feng. She strode toward him on her high heels. “You’re finally here! I’ve been waiting forever!”

“Sorry, there was a lot of traffic.” Lin Feng scratched his head. He stared at Zuo You and exclaimed in admiration, “You sure are dressed flashy today, huh?”

“What about it? Have you fallen for me?” Zuo You teased.

“No, I was just wondering if you’d look strange walking into an internet cafe like that.” Lin Feng shook his head.

“Pfft, what do you know!” Zuo You curled her lips. “That place is full of losers. It’s the perfect place to wear this kind of dress. I’ll have them drooling the moment I step inside! They’ll all be looking at me!”

Lin Feng wore a puzzled expression. He didn’t understand her at all. However, before he could say anything else, Zuo You grabbed him by the arm and dragged him inside. “Stop getting distracted. That guy just sent me a message. He’s already waiting inside.” She turned to Lin Feng while pushing the door open. “One more thing. Don’t hold back. I want you to absolutely crush him!”

The moment the two stepped inside—or to be more precise, Zuo You stepped inside while dragging Lin Feng behind her—many of the patrons couldn’t help but cast their gazes over. As soon as their eyes fell on her body, they were glued there. My god, she’s hot!

Zuo You had a smug look as she basked in the attention of all these men. At the same time, she didn’t forget to brag to Lin Feng. “See, what did I tell you? I’m hot enough to have them all go crazy! This is what you call a showstopper!”

“Hey, I think that guy over there is waving at us,” Lin Feng ignored her and pointed out.