Chapter 327: Dad

Liang Yan lifted his head, rubbed his neck, glanced outside, saw that it was already dark, then closed his notebook, opened his phone to check WeChat, ignored all friend requests, stood up and stretched, didn't turn on the light, and rummaged through his suitcase.

He was preparing to go out for some activity, took out the mask and baseball cap that Ka Lao Si had given him earlier, put them on in front of the mirror, tidied up a bit, making sure that as long as nobody stared at him continuously he wouldn't be recognized, and then left.

He had no particular destination; he just wanted to walk around and take a stroll.

He also wouldn't meet anyone from any club.

Since talks with VG had already reached this point, before the outcome Liang Yan would temporarily not contact any other teams, setting his phone to reject unknown calls.

He had walked only a few hundred meters when his phone rang.

He pulled it out and saw that it was Lu Wenjun calling.

"Hey, Boss Lu…"

After answering and chatting a few sentences, Liang Yan obtained some information from the call.

Lu Wenjun contacted Sima Laozei, who gave VG a positive reply: if VG were sure they could recruit Liang Yan, he would come for a tryout.

Flandre flatly refused VG's poaching attempt—she wouldn't even meet, wouldn't say a word more, and hung up immediately upon learning VG's intent from the call. Kryst4l, however, wasn't so resolute, saying he'd go only if Flandre agreed to join VG; otherwise he wouldn't either.

However, the two had just finished the NEST finals and were still at Snake Team's base, not having gone home yet; Lu Wenjun was preparing to find an opportunity to go himself and invite them out for a talk.

All that can be said is that the attitudes of those two were no surprise to Liang Yan.

As for Lu Wenjun wanting to arrange a meeting, Liang Yan didn't hold any hope either, since the person simply wouldn't see him.

Fu Lan Duo and Gangzi had debuted together in the same year on the same team, and were the staunchest comrades-in-arms.

In the S4 season, Fu Lan Duo and Gangzi, as founding members of Snake Team, competed together in the City Hero Championship; on their first participation they reached the semifinals, qualifying for the LSPL qualifiers, but failed to advance.

Later, an LPL team offered Gangzi a yearly salary that was considered very high at the time, trying to recruit him, but Gangzi refused, firmly staying with Snake Team and his teammates to continue struggling; after this became known online, Gangzi earned the nickname 'e-sports Yue Fei'.

In the S4 summer, Snake Team fought their way through the City Hero Championship, successfully reaching the TGA finals, and finally obtained a spot in the LSPL.

That same year, Snake Team took second place in the LSPL summer split, earning an LPL slot.

Starting from the S5 spring season, Fu Lan Duo and Gangzi began fighting side by side in the LPL.

Fu Lan Duo, due to her overly aggressive playstyle—hit or miss—could only be said to perform adequately; she lacked fame and popularity.

Gangzi, however, gained enormous popularity thanks to being the first to score a pentakill with Draven and the "one fish, four eats" feat, attracting many fans.

However, starting from the S6 season, as he aged, Gangzi began to experience some hardware issues, unable to sustain high-intensity combat for long periods, so Snake Team had already prepared a substitute for him, occasionally rotating.

Fortunately, in the past few months Liang Yan had returned to the country and given Gangzi some advice in person; over these months Gangzi has truly started paying attention to his physical condition, learned to keep a low profile, his hardware state has improved considerably, and maintaining his current level he should be able to compete for another two or three years without major issues.

In short, at this point Fu Lan Duo and Gangzi are effectively bound together—if one doesn't leave, the other certainly won't either—and both feel strong loyalty to Snake Team, making it extremely difficult to poach both at once.

Liang Yan thought for a moment, sat down on a bench by the road, opened WeChat to exchange a few words with Lu Wenjun, asked several questions, and then posted a message in a certain WeChat group he had organized.

【@Lin Yun'er, the world's cutest, who won't accept a solo vs me, @Kryst4l, as long as your ID isn't illiterate, being handsome is enough, Sons, have you eaten yet?】

Fu Lan Duo was probably scrolling through girl group videos on her phone, and she immediately replied:

【Your dad hasn't eaten yet; when will my champion son order me some takeout?】

Then Gangzi also replied with a sentence:

【Hehe, want to treat us to a meal?】

Liang Yan directly took the opportunity, opened the map to find the address of the Little Western House Hot Pot, sent the location to the group: '【Come on, Dad's treating you to a meal】'

Fu Lan Duo: '【Holy crap, Dad's being generous!】'

Gangzi: '【On my way!】'

Lao Zhang: '【Can I make it back if I take a flight now?】'

……

Liang Yan took a taxi to the spot; as soon as he got out of the car, he saw two figures standing with their necks shrunk and hands in their pockets at the entrance of the Little Western House Hot Pot, like lackeys.

It was nearly December; Shanghai had been experiencing a big drop in temperature lately, and it was night, with the outdoor temperature estimated to be below ten degrees Celsius, yet those two had run out without wearing down jackets—serves them right to freeze.

Liang Yan went up to meet them.

"Why aren't you waiting inside?"

Gangzi chuckled, Fu Lan Duo punched Liang Yan in the chest, glanced at his cap and mask, and teased:

"Not bad, big star, your vigilance is pretty strong."

"That's right."

Liang Yan readily accepted Fu Lan Duo's teasing and took the lead walking inside.

The three entered the restaurant and ordered a private room.

After the door was closed, Liang Yan finally took off his cap and mask.

Then he started ordering dishes.

A young female waiter stood nearby, her eyes darting back and forth as she kept looking at Liang Yan; when he finished ordering and handed her the menu, she couldn't help but ask:

"Hey handsome, are you Jiao Shen?"

Fu Lan Duo and Gangzi laughed, watching the scene.

Liang Yan, however, smiled calmly, nodded, and said: "It's me; what's up?"

The female waiter's eyes lit up instantly: "Um… um, could we take a photo together later? I'm your fan!"

"Do you also play LoL?"

"I, I don't play, but I like watching the matches!"

"You only watch the S series, right?"

"Huh? What's the S series?"

"Oh…"

Liang Yan understood—these were cloud fans, or more specifically, looks-based fans.

He then said: "Sure, want to take a photo now?"

"Can we?!"

"Sure!"

Liang Yan stood up and took a photo with the female server.

After the server left, the two of them simultaneously gave a thumbs up:

"Awesome!"

They genuinely admired him; if it were them, they couldn't stay as calm as Liang Yan, otherwise they wouldn't have preferred to stand at the door and freeze earlier—outside the light wasn't that bright, so they couldn't see people clearly.

"You'll get used to it after seeing it often."

Liang Yan showed off a bit.

Gangzi then said:

"Then we couldn't be as popular as you."

Liang Yan thought about it; later Gangzi's livestream was also quite popular, even reaching the platform's top.

Dishes were served one after another; while eating and chatting, seeing that the two's eating speed had noticeably slowed, Liang Yan finally got to the point, saying to Fu Lan Duo:

"Luxuanjun, do you still remember our bet from before?"