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The day before New Year's Eve, Chen Guo was finalizing all the work she needed to do when she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in," she said and spun her chair around.
The door creaked open and Tang Rou peeked in. "Nearly everyone has left already. I'm going to start packing if you don't need help with anything else."
Chen Guo shook her head and waved her off. "No need, everything that needs to be done is done."
Tang Rou nodded, but there was still something else she wanted to say before she left.
"GouGou, would to like to come back home with me this year?" she extended her yearly invitation, wanting her good friend to know that she didn't have to be alone. Her expression was open, neither expecting a rejection or an acceptance, but like in previous years, Chen Guo politely declined with thanks so Tang Rou simply nodded and left.
As the door shut behind her, Chen Guo's lips curved into a touched smile. She understood the reasoning behind Tang Rou's actions, but even though she wasn't opposed to the invitation, how could she intrude upon her family? More so than that, how could she leave her internet cafe?
Even though her parents were no longer here, she still was, and as long as she was still here, this would be her home.
Stretching out the kinks in her back from sitting too long, Chen Guo closed her laptop and headed downstairs. Her expression deadened when she realized what Tang Rou meant when she said that nearly everyone had left.
"You're not going home?" Chen Guo crossed her arms imperiously and stared down at Ye Xiu, the employee.
"You're not going home?" the recently employed Ye Xiu asked back without looking up from the screen, as he completed the Spring Festival quests at a rate that would make the Glory devs cry from awe and despair.
"This is my home."
"Then, I'll stay here." Ye Xiu nodded decisively without even considering Chen Guo's thoughts on the matter.
An eyebrow twitched, but Chen Guo was more curious than annoyed. "You're not going back home?"
A flicker of an emotion flashed through Ye Xiu's eyes before he shook his head. Chen Guo frowned, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say. Even though she was his boss, she was also his friend, but she didn't know enough to confidently comfort him or say anything without accidentally stepping on a land mine. She was filled with endless curiosity, but she didn't have to be very observant to notice that family was one of the few things that shook Ye Xiu's composed nature.
So, she simply welcomed him and said, "Now I'll have someone to welcome the new year with me.
Ye Xiu's fingers slowed down on the keyboard, as his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Xiao Tang's going back home?" he asked, as if he truly didn't expect her to be going home.
Chen Guo eyed Ye Xiu strangely, but still nodded.
Ye Xiu hmmed and actually looked up from the screen. "Where does she live?"
This question, coming from anyone else would have been perfectly normal, but coming from Ye Xiu, it was practically an anomaly. Forget it being the first time that he asked about Tang Rou's personal life, it was one of the very few times that Ye Xiu had asked about anyone's personal life period.
"I don't know." Chen Guo didn't ask about Tang Rou's personal life much since it seemed to be something that Tang Rou also tended to avoid talking about. Just her asking if Chen Guo wanted to come home with her was enough to display her trust in and affection for Chen Guo. Simple gestures like this was more than enough to stay her interest.
"Don't you think that Xiao Tang's background is quite mysterious?" the mysterious Ye Xiu asked.
Shaking her head, Chen Guo simply laughed. "So what if her background is mysterious? It's not like she's a bad person."
She was perplexed by Ye Xiu's questions. He avoided talking about his personal life like the plague and usually it extended to everyone else, so why was he acting so strangely? Was he just making small conversation or did he know something that Chen Guo didn't?
For some reason, her response ended Ye Xiu's strange series of questions and he agreed before casually turning back to the game. Chen Guo wanted to question him more, but she didn't even know what to ask with such lackluster replies, so she simply walked around until Tang Rou appeared at the stairs with her luggage.
"You're not going home?" Tang Rou wondered without much surprise when she saw Ye Xiu, repeating Chen Guo's earlier question.
The three of them bantered back and forth before cheerfully seeing Tang Rou off. Much to Chen Guo's shock, Ye Xiu suggested that they go shopping for decorations right after. The young woman so clearly remembered Ye Xiu saying that he wouldn't even go on a walk even if she killed him during the All-Stars event that she kept side-eyeing him even after they left the internet cafe.
Ye Xiu saw her looks and misunderstood. "This outfit is new except for my jacket and I washed it a few days ago," Ye Xiu explained in a very neutral tone, but his eyes were judgmental and clearly saying, I will also forgive you for your lack of social skills.
No need for forgiveness, come here so I can skewer you! Chen Guo's eyes glared back even as she verbally said, "You're very active today..."
Realizing how vague her statement was, Chen Guo hurried to clarify her statement before Ye Xiu could come up with a ridiculing remark. "You weren't like this for Christmas. Even if it's the Spring Festival, it's strange seeing you in such a celebratory mood."
Mouth open with said ridiculing remark prepared, Ye Xiu silently closed his mouth. As they walked down the streets, browsing the stalls and mouth watering at the aromatic scent of roasted meat and tasty sweets, Chen Guo was prepared to not receive an answer when she heard him say, "Because...it's important to welcome the new year harmoniously with those you care about and to celebrate all we've experienced this past year, both the good and the bad. I have a lot of good memories associated with this time of the year."
His voice was so soft compared to the shouts of the vendors and cheerfully loud conversations that Chen Gou had to strain her ears to hear him. This thoughtful kind of answer wasn't something that Chen Guo expected from Ye Xiu.
"Then...why don't you go back home?" she questioned, thinking of his family as the ones he would care about the most despite the tension between them.
"Didn't I just say its important to welcome the new year harmoniously? If I come home now, I'd only set of the next war."
Set off the next war...wasn't this an exaggeration!?
Chen Guo side-eyed Ye Xiu. "Actually, coming from you that's not much of an exaggeration. You just naturally cause trouble."
Instead of ruffling the other man's feathers like she hoped, Ye Xiu sagely nodded. "Of course it's not an exaggeration. You can't find anyone else with skills like mine. It's a talent that appears only once each generation."
Thus, Ye Xiu displayed his talented aggro-pulling abilities and activated Chen Guo's special skill, Angered Boss, as she browsed several stalls and stuffed all the bagged purchases into Ye Xiu's arms. In this small skirmish, employee Ye Xiu lost.
After each purchase she would bless Ye Xiu to have a prosperous and wonderful year with a pure and warm smile on her face.
Ye Xiu was truly blessed. Blessed with his boss's ire and a heavy load of bags. Eventually, Ye Xiu tired out and quickly found a place to leisurely smoke, spreading all the goods that Chen Guo had bought as if he decided to set up shop himself. Ticked off, Chen Guo stomped over and was about to rebuke him when she saw how much she had bought.
She raised her eyes and felt a bit bad when she saw no hint of annoyance on Ye Xiu's face. There was even a slight smile pulling at the edge of his lips.
"...Is it heavy?" Chen Guo asked.
"Obviously."
That was enough for Chen Guo to nod and decisively pick up a few bags. "Let's head back then!" She studiously ignored the sigh of relief behind her, realizing that it was her own actions that caused them to huff and puff so much on their way back.
As they neared Happy Internet Cafe, the two decided to take a break and shook their arms to relieve the pressure of all the bags. Chen Guo happened to spot Excellent Era's headquarters in the distance.
"...Were you really not prepared to retire?" Chen Guo asked, remembering Ye Xiu's earlier remark.
Ye Xiu blinked, not expecting the question, as he tugged at his sweater, uncomfortably sweaty. He could no longer feel the cold due to all the bags they had to carry.
Then, his eyes slid over to meet Chen Guo's gaze as he said, "If I was prepared to retire, I wouldn't have come to Happy."
Chen Guo was a bit shocked to hear this, but his statement made a lot of sense the more she thought about it. Why would Ye Xiu, the god at the top of Glory, the former captain of one of the Alliance's powerhouse teams, seek a simple manager's position that paid much less than what he should have originally earned? Why didn't he leave after snow storm ended? Why would he retire in the first place?
The picture in her head slowly painted itself and the more Chen Guo speculated, the uglier and more distorted it became. Some of her unhappiness and confusion must have shown because he decisively ended the conversation.
"What's done is done. There's no use worrying about what's already happened." Ye Xiu gave a half-smile and grabbed some bags before continuing on, forcing Chen Guo to pick up the other bags to keep up with him.
With her steadfast integrity and fiery temper, Chen Guo couldn't help but feel bothered and angered by the possibilities she had come up with. Beyond her own perplexed musings, she couldn't imagine Ye Xiu as anyone who was anything less than well-prepared for any situation, in-game or not.
Greatly troubled, Chen Guo didn't think before blurting, "Surely, there was something that could have been done?"
Ye Xiu's pace slowed and he slightly turned his head to the side to regard Chen Guo. She couldn't see his expression when he eventually replied, "Certain events were not in my favor and...for various reasons...I didn't think retirement would end up being my most favorable choice."
A very vague statement removing blame from anyone that could be at fault, but Chen Guo could read between the lines.
That was my mistake hung unspoken in the air. Betrayal was the cold breath of air that exhaled these unspoken words.
"Ah, you're right, what's done is done. Let's not speak of these matters anymore." Chen Guo forced a smile as she sped up to walk besides Ye Xiu, chatting about random topics to ease the heavy air.
In that moment when Chen Guo received Ye Xiu's answer, she had realized how careless and hurtful her question was when it already had an answer. She and many other fans might have felt deep sadness and regret, but compared to the man walking besides her who wasn't even prepared to leave, even all of their tears combined would not fill his ocean of sorrow and disappointment.
Chen Guo slowly blinked at the man before her, making sure that the face she was staring at really wasn't Ye Xiu. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she had briefly considered whether Ye Qiu actually existed, or if Ye Xiu was just making up a conspiracy for her to mull over while the real truth behind Ye Xiu's pseudonym remained hidden.
Who would have thought that just as Chen Guo was contemplating how problematic her fan mentality was, the real Ye Qiu, himself, appeared.
"May I ask if Ye Xiu or Ye Qiu is here?" a poised and stylish young man asked Chen Guo just as she had just dropped off her bags. Ye Xiu had long disappeared by then.
"You are..." Chen Guo was dumbfounded.
Seeing that Chen Guo recognized him, Ye Qiu took this time to introduce himself. "I'm his younger brother."
"Twins?" she numbly asked even though the evidence was right before her.
Unlike Ye Xiu, who might have made a joke at her expense, Ye Qiu merely nodded. "Yes. May I ask who you are?"
"I"m his boss..." It was too surreal seeing this juxtaposition of image and mannerisms.
When Ye Xiu finally appeared and stood across from his brother, Chen Guo could finally distinguish between the two as they bantered. Not merely in terms of appearance, but the way in which the two carried themselves.
Ye Xiu's presence was like thunder and lightning while Ye Qiu's presence was more akin to a fresh spring breeze with a hint of rain.This contrast was telling. In what way, Chen Guo couldn't really tell, but she continued to curiously observe the two as they continued their conversation.
"I'm not going back," Ye Xiu resolutely stated, a tinge of helplessness in his tone. "It'll just be the same. What's the point?"
Ye Qiu frowned. "It won't be the same. Didn't you retire this year? Why are you just drifting around?"
Chen Guo felt her heart clench. Was it possible that it wasn't Excellent Era that forced Ye Xiu to retire, but his family from behind the scenes?
Before she could speculate any further, Ye Xiu had already waved off the question. "Retirement doesn't mean anything," he declared, completely downplaying his situation to the point that it almost seemed inconsequential.
Ye Qiu, very unconvincingly, tried to persuade his brother to drift back home only to have his words turned back on him, becoming a victim to Ye Xiu's shamelessness.
"Come back home with me!" Ye Qiu held onto Ye Xiu's collar, posture clearly saying that if he could bodily carry Ye Xiu back home, he would have. A profound expression of anger and helplessness that Chen Guo was infinitely familiar was clearly displayed on his face. She couldn't help but deeply empathize with Ye Qiu in this moment.
Just as the squabble between Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu was getting more heated with Chen Guo increasingly wondering if she record or intervene, Ye Xiu astonished them into silence in his typical, unorthodox manner.
"Then tell me, when you wanted to leave at that time, what were you planning to do?"
Ye Qiu hesitated, obviously scrambling for words, "My dream at that time...was to leave the family..."
Chen Guo nearly sprayed out her drink, but when Ye Qiu's eyes briefly flickered in her direction, she wondered if what he said was merely a cover to the full story that he did not want to reveal publicly. Stlll, she was very curious as to what kind of family these two brothers had come from that both had wanted to run away at such a young age.
"That's the difference between you and me," Ye Xiu explained, a subtle change in his posture and tone that instantly made him look more reasonable and responsible. "After I stopped hiding, our family could have easily forced me back, but do you know why they didn't?
Chen Guo and Ye Qiu were both stunned. Even after knowing Ye Xiu for these past few months, there were still too many things about him that she didn't know and she had no idea what the reason could be. Because he was stubborn? Because his family no longer cared what he did?
"Why?" Ye Qiu finally asked the question on both of their minds.
There was a beat of silence before Ye Xiu finally stated, "Because my dream has always been the game and nothing more."
Ye Qiu was immensely confused, but as Ye Xiu explained, Chen Guo immediately understood what she was trying to say with her better understanding of eSports.
That was right, Ye Xiu's dream had always been the game and nothing more because there could be nothing more.
No matter how long Ye Xiu wanted to persist, he was no longer a youth with fresh potential and vigorous stamina. His dream had always had a start, middle, and end, unlike Ye Qiu's abstract desire to just run without stopping. Such an unclear goal would never persist and Ye Qiu would have either ended up shamefully crawling back home or never returned.
In reality, Ye Xiu was still in the prime of his youth, but eSports, like physical sports, had the dual quality of the players being both young and old. From the moment their careers started, their lifespan as a professional was already ticking down, like a caterpillar that would bloom into a butterfly only to wither and die soon after.
Later on, when remembering this scene, Chen Guo wouldn't be be able to tell who was more tragic. At 15, regardless of how irresponsible and childish their actions had been, these pair of brothers had obviously put a lot of thought into running away for an unknown reason. Ye Qiu had meticulously prepared while the obviously more responsible older brother had suddenly grabbed his luggage and ran.
There was a contradiction here that Chen Guo wouldn't understand, so all she understood was that Ye Qiu had chosen to run to escape from his family only to end up never being able to achieve the freedom he wanted while Ye Xiu had achieved the freedom that Ye Qiu wanted only to have his wings cut and his dream kicked out of reach.
However, at this moment, Chen Guo was merely stupefied and seriously questioning if Ye Xiu was actually a good brother, or if he was just saying this as an excuse to not return home.
After hearing Ye Xiu's explanation, there was a moment of silence as a myriad of emotions appeared on Ye Qiu's face before he suddenly smiled and declared, "It won't be too late if I return home tomorrow."
This time, it was Ye Xiu's turn to look surprised as Ye Qiu turned to regard Chen Guo who blinked back at him from her spectator's seat. "If it's alright with you, could I stay here for the night?"
Chen Guo readily agreed, but Ye Xiu clearly did not. "Don't go looking for trouble." He pointed at Ye Qiu's face. "Look at how evil his appearance is!"
Ye Qiu and Chen Guo adopted twin looks of exasperation.
Hello? Do you remember your own face?
It was too hard to take Ye Xiu seriously when he alternated between being serious and flippant like this, so they just ignored him. Chen Guo even wondered if Ye Xiu was being serious at all or just messing around.
After decorating the Internet Cafe and handing out red envelopes to Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu, it finally hit Chen Guo that this would be the first time since her father passed away that she wouldn't be spending the New Years alone. There were no words that could describe the warmth and happiness she felt.
“Let me call some restaurants to see if they’re still open! We'll have a feast tonight!” Chen Guo declared as she pulled out her phone, determined to go all out and be extravagant without restraint.
"There's no need to go through all that trouble." Ye Qiu hurriedly reached out to stop her. “What do you two usually have for dinner? Let’s just have the usual.”
“The usual?” Chen Guo looked up from her screen, phone number half-typed on her screen. Seeing Ye Qiu’s expectant look, the confusion faded from her eyes. “You want to experience what our daily lives are like?”
At Ye Qiu’s nod, Ye Xiu gave him an unreadable look, causing Chen Guo to raise her eyebrow before she shook her head. Though she didn't have any siblings herself, it made sense to Chen Guo that the two brothers would share the same wavelength of understanding that others wouldn't be able to resonate with.
Tapping a finger on her chin, Chen Guo looked through the glass windows at the family-run restaurant across the street. She and the owner were good friends, but because today was the day before New Year's eve, he had closed the store to return home to be with his family. Normally brightly lit and welcoming, the restaurant was shuttered and dark along with the rest of the stores down the street.
“It's too bad, but you won’t be able to fully experience what life is like here today. Everyone has gone home for the Spring Festival,” Chen Guo said apologetically, as she turned back to Ye Qiu.
He was quick to reassure her. “That’s fine, just a general feeling is good.”
Pleased that Ye Qiu didn't mind, Chen Guo proceeded to pull out a few hundred yuan bills and shoved them into Ye Xiu's hands. “Go and quickly buy some food before the restaurants close. Some of them should still be open, but if there aren’t any around this area, try a few streets over."
Ye Xiu blankly stared at her, greatly unamused.
“This is a part of life,” Chen Guo explained smugly, pointing at Ye Xiu while Ye Qiu laughed.
“How about you go to get the real experience?” Ye Xiu tried to pass off the errand onto Ye Qiu, but Ye Qiu wasn't stupid.
He immediately waved him off with a disdainful look. “Who needs to experience this? What kind of person doesn’t know how to go out and buy food?"
Seeing that he had no other choice, Ye Xiu leisurely lit a cigarette and headed off, tugging his jacket closer as a gust of chill wind swept by.
With dinner handled, Chen Guo beckoned Ye Qiu over as she pulled out the dining table. “Come help me with this.”
Not one to let others do all the work, Ye Qiu hung his overcoat over a chair and hurried over to help. Chatting amiably, the two set up the table and sat down to wait for Ye Xiu to return with the food.
A blanket of silence eventually fell and Chen Guo resisted the urge to fidget and tried to find words. Without Ye Xiu there to rile him up, Ye Qiu had returned to his polite and courteous demeanor and Chen Guo found it difficult to start a conversation with him.
Speaking with Ye Xiu made her inexplicably irritable and angry at times, but admittedly, Chen Guo felt more comfortable with his direct and confident manner of speaking. Regardless of how he acted, Ye Xiu was naturally just being himself, so it wasn't hard to be natural around him.
Though it was easy to speak to Ye Qiu since his words were very soothing and easy to listen to, there was a reserved and polite air to him that made him feel very distant and somewhat unapproachable. His refined style of dress - a long-sleeved sweater over a white button up, complete with dress slacks - made Chen Guo feel even more out of place.
Still, she was never one to back down or force herself to be demure, so she tried to begin a conversation. "So..."
Noticing the awkward atmosphere, Ye Qiu adeptly remarked, “I’ve heard that you’ve been the boss here for a long time.”
“Ah?” Chen Guo wasn't expecting the statement. Quickly recovering, she replied, “Yeah, I’ve been the boss here for the past nine years.”
"For the past nine years?"
“I took over after my dad passed away, Chen Guo explained with a fond curve of her lips, recalling the hectic time when she had tossed away all her college applications and snatched the internet cafe from her relatives before they could decide to sell it off. "This simple cafe has been my home since I was a child.”
There’s not much that Ye Qiu can say to that. Having come from a background in which he has never had to needed or wanted for anything other than freedom since he was a child, he could only politely reply, “That sounds like a difficult life, but it’s impressive that you’ve managed this entire place by yourself.”
Chen Guo laughed, leaning back in her chair. “It’s not so bad. Maybe at the beginning it was, when I hardly knew anything about managing a business, but I learned through a lot of trial and error."
"That's no simple feat. It looks like things are going very well for you after all your hard work," Ye Qiu said, having taken a good look at the cafe when he walked around earlier. He didn't know much about internet cafes, but he could tell that the electrical appliances were all very high quality. Not to mention the tasteful decor and ambient interior, the cafe was certainly thriving. The fact that it had hundreds of computers and a second floor further cemented the fact that there was a great flow of customers daily.
"It is!" Despite the troubles she had after she stopped supporting Excellent Era, Chen Guo was still very proud of her internet cafe and all the work she put in. "I couldn't have done everything without everyone here to help me though. There’s Xiao Ning, who manages the cashier, Xiao Tian and Lao Wang who are the other network cafe managers, Lao He who’s our go-to IT guy, and lots of others."
Chen Guo paused before her expression brightened. "Ah! I can’t forget RouRou who works the morning shift and has been like a little sister to me all these years, and then there’s...well...there’s Ye Xiu."
Chen Guo's complicated expression made Ye Qiu chuckle slightly. “Yes, my shameless brother tends to cause people to react that way. You must be careful around him, who knows what shady business he’s up to in his free time?”
“No way!” Chen Guo exclaimed in amusement. Sure, Ye Xiu did a lot of things that pissed her off or annoyed her on a daily basis, but after two months, she knew him well enough to understand that he respected everyone’s boundaries and was an upright and moral person, deep, deep, deep, down at heart.
“What about you? What’s it like growing up with Ye Xiu?” Chen Guo asked, a bit curious about what it was like to have a sibling.
Ye Qiu’s expression twitched in annoyance. “You wouldn’t believe the ridiculous things he has done. Don't be fooled by how he normally acts. Beneath that layer of maturity is just a scheming child.”
“Oh? How so?” Chen Guo asked with no small amount of excitement, interlacing her hands beneath her chin. She was not ashamed to admit that she was more than ready to hear about Ye Xiu’s black history, eager to have blackmail on hand for all the suffering he had put her through with his antics.
Ye Qiu recalled a memory as he crossed his arms with a frown. “One time, he accidentally broken our mother's favorite vase and had the great idea to bury the evidence. Of course, Little Dot quickly dug up the evidence and our mother was furious when she found out.”
“What happened after?”
“In true bastard older brother fashion, he somehow placed the blame on me and I had to kneel for so long my legs went numb. I managed to get back at him later... but I still got in trouble for it." The deep sigh that followed this statement was one akin to a long-suffering sailor who had weathered many storms.
Letting out a cough to disguise her laughter, Chen Guo said, “Seems like Ye Xiu has always been good out of getting out of trouble.”
“He is. Sometimes, stupidly so,” Ye Qiu lamented and told her a few stories about other troubles Ye Xiu had dragged him into before he gave a slight smile. “He's also good at getting others out of trouble though."
Chen Guo blinked at him, not expecting this. "Really?"
Ye Qiu nodded. "My grandfather is very strict and believes strongly in instilling discipline and duty at a young age so we were often forced to do various tasks. One time, we were supposed to clean the windows, but I had grabbed the wrong sponge so I ended up leaving a large scratch right down the middle of the glass. While the two of us were staring at the scratch, my grandfather chose that moment to walk in."
Chen Guo winced, already expecting a bad end, but Ye Qiu unexpectedly smiled. "In our studies, Ye Xiu always gave off the impression that he never paid attention to what we learned, but while I was panicking, Ye Xiu calmly took the blame and apologized in the most absurd fashion I've ever seen. Reciting ancient poetry."
“That’s..." Chen Gou was astonished, brows raised high as she tried to imagine what kind of studies involved such intellectually intense readings.
“I could tell he wanted to be angry, but my shameless brother somehow found the exact words to say to calm him down and even make him laugh.” Ye Qiu’s expression was stuck somewhere between awe, fondness, and annoyance. "Afterwards, he even praised Ye Xiu for keeping up with his studies. I think that he even forgot momentarily that I was there."
The black history that Chen Guo es expecting turned out to be very vibrant and funny.
Though the level of shamelessness lived up to her expectations, she was having trouble reconciling the stories with what she currently knew about Ye Xiu. Rather than dying from second-hand anger like she expected, she was more so dying from the cuteness.
“I don’t think I could ever have done that, I wouldn't have the nerve.” Chen Guo shook her head. She glanced out the windows, absent-mindedly noticing that the winds were getting stronger. “When my grandfather was still alive, he’d be the kind of man who’d hit you out of love and discipline. I was always the most obedient when he was around, otherwise I’d get smacked and hear an ‘Ah Guo, how can you do this to your poor grandpa?"
Ye Qiu's expression tightened, recalling unpleasant memories. “Ah...yes, sometimes that was my grandfather as well. I take it you didn’t get up too much trouble as a kid, then?”
“Probably not as much as you two,” Chen Guo teased, eyes glinting with amusement. “I think the most rebellious thing I ever did was bribe a family friend - the same restaurant owner across the street - to pose as my dad because I got a bad grade on one of my reports.”
“Let me guess, your father found out?” Ye Qiu asked, raising an eyebrow, lips curved into a small grin.
“Not just that, I forgot to hide the letter so he actually came to the parent-teacher conference.” Chen Guo bemoaned, covering her face at the memory. “The two were so confused to see each other. My teacher was even more confused so she asked who my friend was and I panicked and ended up saying, ‘This is my other dad’. It was the most awkward conference ever, and my dad tried to be mad at me after, but he couldn’t stop laughing.”
Ye Qiu full-heartedly laughed as he imagined how the event must have happened. “That reminds me of the time when Ye Xiu impersonated me."
“What?” Chen Guo exclaimed. “There was another time he impersonated you?”
There was a hint of a playful smirk on Ye Qiu's face as he said, “Joining the eSports circle isn’t the first time he has used my name, but there was one time he pretended to be me for photo ID day. I was sick so I couldn’t go. Somehow, he managed to convince the photographer to take his picture again for my ID after changing his hairstyle.”
A fearful thought hit her at this moment. Having a twin...Chen Guo suddenly felt a sense of dread when she realized the amount of shenanigans twins could get up to, mind churning with all the dramas she has seen and all the web novels she had read.
“Wait, don’t tell me, the ID that Ye Xiu signed onto Excellent Era with…” Chen Guo didn't dare complete the sentence.
Could it be that Ye Xiu wasn’t actually lying when he said he hadn’t used fake proof? Where was the line drawn? Was that even possible? A bunch of nonsensical thoughts ran through Chen Guo’s mind.
Instead of replying, Ye Qiu merely gave her an unreadable look, eyes glinting with mirth. “What do you think?”
“You…!” Chen Guo began before pausing, feeling that she had misjudged Ye Qiu. “You two are more alike than I had first thought.”
She had put too much stock into her first impression of Ye Qiu and his formal appearance so she ended up being taken aback when he turned out to be more mischievous than she expected. Feeling deja vu, she recalled when she had first met Tang Rou. During those first few months, she had been completely reserved with only a hint of her true personality shining through until Chen Guo had gotten closer to her.
These similarities...the background that Tang Rou and the Ye brothers come from must be remarkable.
While Chen Guo was comparing Tang Rou and the Ye twins, Ye Qiu had jerked back at her response. As if he was seeing Ye Xiu in front of him, he exclaimed indignantly, “No way! I’m nothing like my shameless brother!”
Without prompt, he goes on to list several reasons why he and his brother weren't alike in the slightest. Afterward, as the two continued to trade fun, cute, and memorable stories about their childhoods, Chen Guo began to feel melancholic.
For the first time in a long time, Chen Guo wished that she was closer to her cousins. At the same time, she understood that they had all chosen their own paths in life and that it was no fault of her own that their paths didn’t include each other. It wasn't easy being an internet cafe owner, especially when she was known by her entire family as the foolish child who gave up on a bright future to cling onto the past.
Yet, as much as Chen Guo missed her father, missed certain things about the past, her gaze had always been set towards the future and the joys, sorrows, and hopes it may bring.
Having been taught to be attuned to the moods of those around him, Ye Qiu noticed their conversation beginning to trail off again and the hint of sadness lingering in Chen Guo's eyes.
“Excuse me if this is impolite to ask, but earlier my brother mentioned that he was going to work here overtime.” Ye Qiu hesitated he continued, “Does that mean you also won’t be heading back home to be with your family?”
Blinking out of the slight reverie that she had fallen into, Chen Guo eventually replied, "This is my home."
Anyone who really mattered to her was already here.
She remembered how small this cafe had been before they had expanded, when she would come home after class and be greeted by friendly shouts, study to the sound of frantic clicks and clacks, eat dinner with her father and the regular customers, and fall asleep to the clack, clack, clack of those keys as her father smoked a chimney by her side.
There was a story in her eyes that Ye Qiu didn't ask about, merely inclining his head in acknowledgement. Admittedly, hearing Chen Guo’s reminiscence of the bygone days had also moved Ye Qiu.
Soft and fuzzy memories of days long gone trickled by, days that had been filled with simple desires and joys before he learned the meaning of expectations, competition, and responsibility, before his parents had forsaken their family bond to focus on their lineage, reputation, and status, before both Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu had decided they no longer needed the other to always be by his side.
Even though Chen Guo and Ye Qiu came from different backgrounds, their longing for family and meaningful bonds was just the same. It was a harsh ideal to bear in the worlds that he and Chen Guo belonged to, but neither of them were the type to give up on what they considered important.
At this point, Chen Guo felt comfortable enough to ask Ye Qiu, “By the way, how did you know to come here?”
“As much as it pains my brother to reply to my messages, he has been keeping me mostly up-to-date with what he’s been up to.” Ye Qiu’s dry tone gave the impression that he was internally rolling his eyes. “He mentioned that a really nice lady boss hired him off the streets when he retired and sent me the address.”
Really nice lady boss? Chen Guo was actually touched, even though she had a hard time believing that those exact words came out of Ye Xiu’s mouth. Her hands tightened on the table when she realized that there were things that Ye Qiu might have known.
"DId you know about Ye Xiu's retirement?"
“Yes,” Ye Qiu answered, gaze sharpening when he noticed her cautious tone.
“Then...did your family play a role in his retirement?” Chen Guo plowed forward before she could doubt her question. She wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully otherwise.
Unexpectedly, Ye Qiu didn't give an immediate reply. Instead, he looked at her in a curious, cool manner and asked, “What would you do if I said that we did?”
Chen Guo’s initial instinct was to begin yelling, to demand answers. Then, she paused, thinking that it wasn't her place to interfere. Then, she realized that it didn't matter whether or not it was her place to interfere.
In the end, she didn't do anything rash because she knew the truth.
“I…” A fierce look crinkled her brow and set her lips in a harsh line as she forced herself to loosen her fists, leaning forward slightly. “I would say I don’t believe you."
Both of Ye Qiu's brows raised, but before he could say anything, Chen Guo continued, "I don’t know what your family is like, but I don't think that you or your family would be the type to do anything like that. At least, not from the stories you’ve just told me. But as his boss," she shook her head, "No, as his friend, I would stand up for him even if it may not be my place."
Chen Guo's face burned slightly as she declared this, immensely glad the he wasn't around to hear her words.
For a long moment, the two stared at each other without blinking until Ye Qiu's posture relaxed, his previously distant and cold aura melting away. With the first truly relaxed smile he's given her, Ye Qiu said, "Then, you'd be correct. I don't know what Ye Xiu has told you...but we're still family in the end."
Ye Qiu briefly tapped his fingers against the table as he looked out the window, the glow of the street lamps blanketing the dark streets in ambient light. "Actually, I don't know you that well since we've just met. I can only make judgments based on what I've learned in the past twenty minutes or so, but I'm really glad I got to know you."
He turned back to face Chen Guo, lips curving into a pleased smile. "I was rather worried about what his new boss was like, considering what happened with his last one. I can tell that you're an outstanding and caring boss, who wouldn't be swallowed by the temptations that the Glory Processional Alliance has to offer. Make no mistake, I would not be saying this if this doesn't align with what I truly think."
Blinking in surprise and feeling slightly embarrassed at this compliment, Chen Guo swiftly changed the topic. “You knew about Excellent Era?"
Ye Qiu frowned deeply and said, “Not until after he retired, unfortunately. I didn't even learn about it from Ye Xiu. I found out about what had happened through my own means though I'm loathe to say that I'm not surprised things ended this way.”
“What do you mean?” Chen Guo questioned, trying to keep up with these surprises.
Ye Qiu returned the question with another one. “Did Ye Xiu ever tell you the reason why he never appeared in public?”
"He didn't,” Chen Guo firmly stated. She would have remembered. Out of everyone she has met, Ye Xiu was possibly the most reticent when it came to his personal affairs with Tang Rou coming a close second. The more that Chen Guo learned about Ye Xiu, the more questions she had.
Ye Qiu was not at all surprised to hear this. He resisted the urge to sigh as he explained, “He has several reasons, but most of them involve our family, and one of them was because he didn’t want to inconvenience me.”
“Inconvenience you?” Chen Guo asked blankly. Then, she realized: “Because you both look alike.”
Ye Qiu nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Yes. Truthfully, it isn’t so convenient for him to appear in public because of our background, but I know that he won’t be able to avoid the publicity this time around. Contrary to how he acts...the reason for many of Ye Xiu’s actions are very simple in the end."
“What exactly do you mean?” Chen Guo was sitting on the edge of her seat with anticipation, but before Ye Qiu could respond, their conversation was interrupted.
“I’m back,” Ye Xiu greeted as he entered, carrying two bags of food. He nearly turned to walk right back out at the scathing look Chen Guo sent him, looking like she was one second away from throwing her chair at him. He had no idea what he had done to earn her ire. Did he take that long buying food? It wasn't his fault that the stores he went to didn't have the foods that he was looking for.
Chen Guo internally cried at missing her best opportunity to get an answer for one of her life's mysteries. She didn't even have an answer as to why Ye Qiu wasn't surprised about how things ended between Ye Xiu and and Excellent Era. However, Chen Guo's mood quickly lifted as Ye Qiu took out the food from the bags.
"This is so good! I like all of these dishes!" Ye Qiu couldn't wait to dig into the food while Chen Guo stared at the assortment in astonishment. It wasn't just Ye Qiu's favorite foods, but there were her favorites as well, and there was no celery in any of the dishes.
Contrary to how he acts...the reason for many of Ye Xiu's actions are very simple in the end.
A strange, unknown emotion wrapped itself around her heart. Chen Guo felt like she was finally beginning to understand Ye Xiu though she wasn't yet certain about what she was starting to understand.
Though she had fallen into Glory because she admired Su Mucheng and Dancing Rain, the top god in her mind had always been Ye Qiu, the player behind One Autumn Leaf. Before she had realized that her idol, Ye Qiu, and Ye Xiu were one and the same, Ye Xiu had always been a mysterious oppressing figure. Like most female fans of this great god, she had revered him to be this perfect, handsome, suave kind of character, fit to be the former #1 player in Glory.
Yet, what right did fans have to consider who was or who wasn't fit? Wasn't this...just projecting their own expectations onto their idol without regarding their feelings and goals?
There were a lot of times that Chen Guo was unable to bear with Ye Xiu's actions when she wouldn't care if it was another player, reacted explosively to anything related to Excellent Erea's attitude towards their former captain, precisely because she cared more about the dominating figure that Ye Qiu represented than Ye Xiu himself.
Though her idol turned out to be nothing like she expected, Chen Guo still found Ye Xiu no less deserving of respect. Other than learning about what it meant to be the boss of Team Happy, there was just as much she still needed to learn about the Glory Professional Alliance and why professional players chose to pursue Glory.
Maybe then, she would understand why Ye Xiu made the decisions he did, why he chose to start over from scratch in this simple internet cafe.
The next day, Chen Guo was the only one to see Ye Qiu off while Su Mucheng and Ye Xiu conversed at one of the computers.
“I never got to say this yesterday, but I’m glad I got to meet you too,” Chen Guo said, cheerfully. “I have to admit, I wasn’t sure if Ye Xiu was telling the truth about having an identical twin or not, but even so, I'm glad you aren't another Ye Xiu."
“Believe me, I’m thankful for that as well,” Ye Qiu wholeheartedly agreed, inwardly shuddering. Overcoat in arm, Ye Qiu bowed slightly and thanked her for letting him stay the night. Straightening up, Ye Qiu took a breath before saying, "I know this doesn't need to be said, but thank you, for taking in my brother that day as well. Who knows where he would have gone otherwise."
Chen Guo quickly waved away his thanks, stating that it was no problem at all. Smiling warmly, Chen Guo said, “Be sure to come back whenever you want. I’ll show you what life is usually like here.”
“Of course.” Ye Qiu smiled, then raised his head to call out to Ye Xiu to let him know of his departure. Receiving no response, he was about to say something else when he saw the look of concentration on Ye Xiu’s face as he spoke into the headset, so Ye Qiu ended up parting his lips without saying anything.
At this moment, Chen Guo and Ye Qiu happened to look at each other with identical looks of exasperation and both coughed to hide their laughter. With one last farewell, Ye Qiu waved at Chen Guo and Su Mucheng. "Happy New Years!"
"Happy New Years!" Chen Guo and Su Mucheng waved back before he left.
As she lowered her arm, Chen Guo took a moment to wish someone else a Happy New Year.
Happy New Years, Dad. I don't know if you can see this, but I'm really excited for what the future bring. Whether it be sadness or joy, I hope you will be with us as we start our journey and see us off until the end.