Let Me Sleep a Little Longer [Esports] - Chapter 18
Zhou Lingxing looked up and met Su Heng’s gaze but did not answer her question. “I’m hungry, let’s go eat.”
After speaking, he got up and got out of the car.
Su Heng was stunned for two seconds, then obediently followed behind the man.
It was strange; she clearly had a lot of questions to ask, but now, looking at the man’s silent, tall figure blending into the night, she couldn’t utter a single word.
The two walked quietly; the spacious sidewalk was empty, and the silence was profound.
A breeze blew by, and the spring wind still carried a hint of chill, causing her to shiver involuntarily.
The man ahead paused slightly, naturally took off his coat, and with a flick of his large hand, the garment was in her hands.
Su Heng felt a moment of daze as Zhou Lingxing’s voice came to her ears.
“Want some noodles? There’s not much to eat around here at this hour.”
Su Heng looked at the clothes in her arms that still carried a trace of warmth, silently put them on herself, and quickly hurried after the man.
…
…
Although her expression remained unchanged, a hint of a smile flickering in her eyes revealed her good mood at this moment.
This man is really quietly passionate.
The two of them found a ramen shop to sit down in; there were not many customers, only two or three scattered tables occupied.
Zhou Lingxing took the menu and handed it directly to Su Heng.
The owner smiled and leaned over: “You’re here, same as usual?”
The man smiled and nodded.
Su Heng looked at Zhou Lingxing’s smile and found it somewhat strange.
She quickly closed the menu and handed it to the owner: “The same as his.”
The owner showed a sly smile on his face and gave Zhou Lingxing a knowing look.
Only then did he leisurely take the order book and leave.
Knowing that Su Heng saw the boss’s gaze, the man showed no embarrassment at all. He took out his phone to unlock it, poking at the screen repeatedly, seemingly doing something.
Su Heng studied him for a moment, then asked softly, “Do you like eating noodles?”
Zhou Lingxing kept his hands moving, glanced sideways at Su Heng, then returned his gaze to the phone. “Why do you ask?”
She wasn’t annoyed by his lack of seriousness and spoke calmly, “Don’t you come here often? You seem pretty familiar with the boss.”
Zhou Lingxing’s eyes never left his phone, answering quickly, “Convenient.”
Su Heng nodded, thought for a moment, and finally asked, “What are you doing?”
The man’s voice was lazy: “Checking how many people are trash-talking you.”
Her expression remained unchanged: “How many?”
Zhou Lingxing, slightly surprised, raised his eyelids, looked at the girl’s calm expression, and smiled with pursed lips: “Quite a few.”
Su Heng nodded without a word.
Zhou Lingxing became interested: “You don’t mind?”
She shrugged and retorted, “What does it have to do with me?”
“The person they are talking about is you,” the man raised his eyebrows.
Su Heng said seriously, “These people online don’t know what I look like, don’t know my background, and can’t even say my name. What they say has nothing to do with me.”
Zhou Lingxing sneered, “Is that why you wear a mask on stage?”
Su Heng shook her head, finding it a bit amusing: “I wear a mask simply because I don’t want a certain person to see me.”
Zhou Lingxing swallowed the question that was about to slip out of his mouth. He instinctively knew that even if he asked, she wouldn’t answer.
So he continued from where he left off: “Since you’ve entered this industry, you have to be mentally prepared for everyone to know about you. Don’t underestimate people’s curiosity; the more you try to hide something, the more others want to find out.”
Su Heng also raised her eyebrows like the man: “Are you curious?”
Her fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, producing a series of muffled sounds.
Zhou Lingxing was silent for a long time; he understood her underlying meaning.
He was of course curious, because to him, she was no longer a stranger, but a teammate fighting side by side.
Su Heng remained motionless, staring straight at him, as if she had to get his answer at this moment.
Suddenly, a pair of hands holding a bowl appeared out of nowhere, blocking the line of sight between the two.
The boss, after delivering the noodles, was still unwilling to leave and winked at the girl: “Here’s a small dish for you, enjoy your meal.” Only then did he leave.
Zhou Lingxing secretly relaxed, slightly parted his lips, and said, “Let’s eat noodles.”
Su Heng understood clearly, smiling faintly as she picked up a pair of chopsticks and pushed aside the noodles.
*
When the two returned to the base, Shen Jianian had already been waiting in the training room for half an hour. Old Yu saw Su Heng suddenly rush over and looked as if he had found a savior.
After giving Su Heng a bear hug, he whispered sneakily in her ear, “Big sister, you finally came back. The coach has been waiting for you for a long time. With him here, I don’t even dare slack off and play on my phone.”
His round, chubby face paired with a tearful expression made Su Heng unable to hold back a smile.
Shen Jianian didn’t even bother to spare an extra glance at Lao Yu and walked straight over to Su Heng: “Let’s go. Once we sign the contract, you can go back and rest.”
She was stunned for two seconds. All her energy had been focused on the competition these past few days, and she had completely forgotten about this matter.
Shen Jianian led Su Heng to the office, gestured for her to sit down, and quickly took out the contract he had prepared in advance from the drawer.
“Take a look first, I’ll give you a brief explanation. Professional players have very strict age requirements, so contracts usually don’t exceed three years. Since you weren’t recruited through the regular channels, I’ll set your salary according to what Zhou Lingxing initially said—800,000 per year. This annual salary is unmatched among rookies.”
In theory, once you sign the contract, you are required to participate in all the training sessions and match schedules we arrange. However, due to your physical condition, this is not a strict requirement. Of course, I hope you can justify this salary.
As long as your physical condition permits, you must comply with all club-arranged performances, media activities, product endorsements, personal commercial development, branding, and all other related esports activities.
Additionally, I have arranged a streaming platform for you, with 20 hours per month and 600,000 per year. This is the minimum requirement I could negotiate for you. If there is anything you don’t understand or are dissatisfied with, you can tell me now. Once the contract takes effect, there will be no room for you to object.
Su Heng quietly listened, and seeing that Shen Jianian had no intention of speaking again, she hastily flipped through the contract and signed her name on the last page before handing it back.
Shen Jianian couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight: “So soon? Aren’t you afraid I’ll mess you up?”
Su Heng shook her head: “You won’t.” Her voice was unusually confident.
Shen Jianian’s expression became intriguing: “Oh?”
Su Heng stood up and looked him in the eye: “You not only won’t mess me up, but you’ll also help me.”
After hearing this, Shen Jianian’s eyes darkened gradually. He slowly took out a cigarette, his voice becoming somewhat low: “How can you be so sure?”
She kept walking towards the door without looking back: “Intuition.”
After Su Heng left, Shen Jianian picked up the contract on the table.
After a long while, she chuckled softly, “Hah, a woman’s sixth sense, huh.”
*
Under Lao Yu’s enthusiasm, Su Heng finally set up WeChat and Weibo. The first thing she did was add everyone’s friends and join the GI discussion group.
Wave complained disdainfully from the side, “Are you a modern person or what? You don’t even have WeChat or Weibo.”
After saying that, he still gloomily added the girl’s friend request. Lao Yu was laughing secretly on the other side, pretending to scold but actually sincere.
Su Heng calmly retorted, “If you don’t have anyone to contact, what’s the point of these social apps?”
After a few days of interaction, she realized that whether she responded to Wave or not, the young man never looked kindly on her. Since that was the case, there was no reason not to push back.
Sure enough, Wave rolled his eyes, “You don’t have any friends?”
Su Heng paused, lowered her eyelids, and remained silent.
Wave, having received no answer for a long time, opened his mouth in surprise: “No way? Did I guess it right?”
Zhou Lingxing realized something was wrong and said in a deep voice, “Li Weiyi, come duo queue.”
As soon as Wave heard Zhou Lingxing wanted to duo queue with him, he had no time to care about anything else and ran over excitedly.
Sun He paced over to Su Heng’s side and smiled, saying, “You can just listen and forget what he says. After spending some time together, you’ll find his personality isn’t bad; he just speaks without a filter and has no gatekeeper on his mouth.”
Su Heng nodded slightly, pursing her lips: “I need to go back to the internet cafe tomorrow to get some things. When is the next match?”
Sun He, however, seemed a bit hesitant, unsure how to answer the girl’s question.
Although today’s match was won, the two heroes Su Heng is good at have already been discovered by others.
If in the next match people target her and ban both of her heroes, it would be quite troublesome.
Before her hero pool deepens, the second team’s Xiaoban will probably have to hold the position for a while.
In the end, he decided to be honest: “In the next match, the second team’s Xiaoban will fill in first. Use this time to practice more heroes. The nightly scrims remain unchanged, with you and Xiaoban taking turns participating.”
Su Heng’s expression didn’t change, and she nodded: “Okay.”
Sun He observed Su Heng for a moment, then said, “I had the official Weibo @ you. You’ll start streaming in the next couple of days, so remember to update your Weibo frequently.”
Su Heng continued to nod: “Got it.”
Saying that, she opened the software and started typing.
Ten minutes later, an account certified as the jungler for the LOL professional team GI, Sleeping, posted the first Weibo:
[The live broadcast will start tomorrow, the address is as follows: http://dsnbcm.com//room_312498.]
Before long, the number of comments under the Weibo post exceeded 1000, and Su Heng’s backend notification count was still soaring.
Su Heng refreshed the Weibo post once, and sure enough, many new comments appeared. She read them one by one, occasionally replying with a few words.
The first wave of viewers are all die-hard GI fans, and the content is relatively calm.
【Sleeping, keep it up! Hope to see GI at this year’s finals!】
【Offering a big reward for real-life photos of LING!!!】
【I watched today’s match, played pretty well.】
Sleeping: 【Thanks, I will keep working hard. PS: My phone doesn’t have a hidden camera function】
The second wave of people were those who came rushing after hearing the hype about a woman going pro and the momentum Miya brought today.
【Never thought I’d see this, women can go pro now】
【Why doesn’t the young lady just stay home and look beautiful, instead of coming out to compete with men for a living?】
【Just want to ask, will there be a camera on during the live stream?】
【Will you still wear a mask in the next match?】
【How ugly do you have to be to be so afraid to show your face?】
Sleeping: 【If you disagree with the solo, leave your name under this comment to queue up.】
By the third wave, those who truly know Sleeping start to appear.
【I didn’t expect the Silver Killer to still be pretty normal in the official match, haha 233333】
【What is the person above talking about? Sleeping was clearly stealing the enemy’s jungle the whole game, hahaha】
【Today’s flash stun to secure first blood 6666666】
Sleeping: 【I’m not the Silver Killer. (Screenshot of Ionia Sleeping’s Platinum rank)】