CH 29

Posting on Weibo for e-sports fans, is a big event that can be compared to the end of the world.

You see, the former captain of team SUS is very cold, and his Weibo posts are either about official events or promoting the team. There is hardly any personal content.

The few photos he has posted were taken by Manager Chen, who had to force him, and the angles of the photos are a mystery.

If it weren’t for the official assurance from SUS that the players control their own accounts, fans would have thought that someone other than praise was running his account.

Since the day of his retirement, Jiang Song had not posted anything until now when he updated his status to say “goodbye”. After that, he disappeared from Weibo as if he had fallen off the face of the earth.

After several months, this new Weibo post was like a bombshell that exploded among his fans, who were all mourning in the comments section.

: Hooray! brother Jiang finally updated his Weibo!

: Grandma, your favorite player posted something!

: Waaah, where has Jiang bro been working these past few months? Is he doing well after retirement? Is he eating well and keeping warm?

: The style of this Weibo post is so strange that if it weren’t for a hundred reposts, I would have thought brother Jiang’s account was hacked!

: Who the heck is this little kid?

: Let me light a candle for a hundred.

: I heard brother Jiang has a little cousin. Is the little kid referring to his cousin?

…

The short video had been edited, only showing the few seconds when Yi Bai was killed. In total, it was only half a minute long. Xie Yao watched it several times on his phone, feeling like his heart was pounding like a drum, and a sense of anticipation slowly rising in his chest.

Although he knew it was probably just wishful thinking, Xie Yao couldn’t help but wonder: “Is this kid they’re talking about, me?”

He tried to convince himself that it wasn’t just his imagination, because Brother Jiang had always called him “kid” from the beginning. That night, he had collided with SUS in a five-person team and had been killed by Yi Bai, causing them to lose the game.

Furthermore, if Brother Jiang could easily give away Praise’s trophies, then his relationship with Praise shouldn’t be simple. With such a coincidental timing and all the necessary conditions in place, and Brother Jiang even reminding him to check Praise’s Weibo, there seemed to be a possibility that this matter was related to him?

Xie Yao pursed his lips, and the gleam in his eyes had not dimmed since he first saw the video. He kept watching the short video over and over again until he finally scrolled down to read the comments from fans. As expected, someone had mentioned that Praise had a younger cousin.

At this, Xie Yao hesitated again.

However, the next second, Weibo’s notification sound rang, reminding him that there was an update on someone he specially followed.

Someone he specially followed – Praise.

Xie Yao blinked and exited to refresh once. After seeing Praise’s latest post, his eyes suddenly widened.

One second ago, from Watermelon12:

@Praise: He’s not my cousin. This guy bullied one of my broadcasting friends at night, and I helped the kid seek revenge. //@JiangBrotherYyds!: I want to ask if this kid is really JiangBrother’s cousin?

: Oh my god, I got a reply!!!

: The ‘Once in a Lifetime’ series, Brother Jiang actually posted two Weibo posts within a few minutes!

: He’s not his cousin???!!

: Oh my god, does Brother Jiang have any broadcasting friends that we don’t know about?

: As a high-level VIP user of SharkTV, I happened to catch a broadcaster who has connections with Yiyi!

: Who is it? Who is it? Quickly tag them!

…

Whether it was fans or Xie Yao, they all went crazy after seeing Praise’s response.

Especially for Xie Yao, anticipating something is one thing, but being responded to is another. His whole person is now dizzy with excitement, and he’s only focused on reading Praise’s latest post with a silly grin on his face.

Finally, after giving the little anchor enough time to react, Jiang Song guessed that Xie Yao should have calmed down a bit by now, and sent him a message.

Jiang Song: So, how do you feel now? You should be feeling better, right?

Receiving this message, Xie Yao finally confirmed that Praise’s sudden post was related to him, and that it was Jiang Song who had made it happen.

He calmed down after the initial excitement, but his eyes still gleamed with anticipation, almost impatiently thanking Jiang Song.

Gad: Thank you, Brother Jiang! I feel great now, it was you who made Praise post this, right!!!

The three exclamation marks alone revealed the little anchor’s excitement, and Jiang Song laughed.

Jiang Song: It’s true that I had something to do with it, but he also really likes your live stream.

Xie Yao: !

“Praise actually watched his livestream and even said he likes it!”

Jiang Song had never lied to Xie Yao before, and upon hearing this, Xie Yao’s hand trembled and his emotions surged, almost causing him to send a string of random characters to Jiang Song.

Before he met Jiang Song, Xie Yao had never imagined that he would have any intersection with Praise in the future, not even reuniting with Manager Chen.

At this moment, he felt warm and bittersweet, and for a while, he couldn’t react to anything except staring at the conversation box.

On the other end, Jiang Song was pinching his little scheme tightly.

“Also, he asked me to ask you, how did you delete his account before?”

Xie Yao was stunned, and those words brought him back to reality.

He has always been very open about his current awkwardness and his grandmother’s illness, and even washing dishes at the front end he feels like it’s not a big deal.

But when the confidant is Praise, even if it’s just relaying a message, he suddenly feels a little uneasy.

There was a long silence from Xie Yao, and Jiang Song didn’t press him when he saw that he didn’t want to answer.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to say it, then I won’t ask,” Jiang Song said.

Xie Yao shook his head. “It’s okay, I can say it.”

Jiang Song felt a little regretful and presumptuous when he guessed that this topic might not be very pleasant, but the words were out and he couldn’t take them back.

“Then take your time to tell me, I’m listening.”

For some reason, Xie Yao was hesitant about telling Praise about his past, but when he saw that Jiang Song seemed even more dejected than he was, he suddenly laughed.

“It’s really nothing. My family had some trouble at the time, and life was a bit difficult, so I sold the account. Before that, to prevent the new owner from causing trouble, I permanently deleted the contact information of my old acquaintances.”

At that time, the Xie family went bankrupt. Xie Yao, who had always lived a privileged life, didn’t know how to do anything. They sold everything they could to pay off debts, but his grandmother’s savings were her only security, and he didn’t want to touch them. In the end, selling his account was the only option.

More than just fearing trouble for his old acquaintances, Xie Yao was also trying to escape from his own problems.

From the moment he fell into the abyss, the term “the pride of heaven” could no longer be used to describe him.

Of course, he didn’t say any of this. Xie Yao casually talked about his gloomy past as if the struggles and resentments didn’t exist.

However, Jiang Song still sensed a trace of difficulty in his words. A feeling of heartache crawled into his heart like vines, tightening his heart so much that even breathing became difficult.

Jiang Song: That’s all in the past. I’ll be here for you from now on, don’t be afraid.

Before he turned 18, Xie Yao had been telling himself “don’t be afraid” all the time, but hearing those words from someone else’s mouth made him realize that he had still been afraid back then. It was just that this “don’t be afraid” came too late.

Xie Yao blinked his eyes, and the moist feeling that had not yet emerged had already disappeared as he restrained it.

Gad: Those are all things from many years ago. It’s okay. I’m really happy today. Thank you, Brother Jiang!

Jiang Song took a deep breath and didn’t bring up the topic from earlier. He replied, “If you really want to thank me, then win the championship in the King of Glory live broadcast competition and tell me in person at the World Championship.”

Xie Yao was surprised. “Are you also going to the competition venue?”

“The organizers invited me, and I agreed,” said Jiang Song.

Xie Yao didn’t refuse his indirect request for a face-to-face meeting. “Then see you at the World Championship.”

But when it came to the World Championship, Xie Yao thought of Praise, so the doubt he had just ignored immediately came back to him.

Gad: Brother Jiang, can I ask what your relationship with Praise is?

Jiang Song was surprised. “What do you want to ask?”

He subconsciously suspected that his anonymous account had been discovered by the small anchor, but he felt that something was strange.

Gad: It’s nothing. It’s just that you and ‘praise’ seem to have the same surname Jiang, and your relationship seems to be good, so I couldn’t help but ask.

So, he suspected that he and ‘praise’ were brothers. Jiang Song breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t conquered this person yet, and if he suddenly lost his anonymity, it would be a huge obstacle.

Fortunately.

Jiang Song continued along with Xie Yao’s guess, but the content was very ambiguous: We do have a good relationship, but it’s not what you think. You’ll find out at the World Championship.

Xie Yao tactfully didn’t ask any more questions, but he silently added winning the live broadcasting championship to his schedule.

Although there were many participating anchors, Xie Yao now had a goal.

As the evening approached 6 o’clock, Xie Yao had just logged on to Shark TV to prepare for his live stream when he received a private message in the backstage.

He originally wasn’t planning to pay attention, but the content that popped up made him feel a sense of importance.

“Are you a genius?”

Since deciding to show his face, Xie Yao had already prepared himself to be sought out by acquaintances, and apparently, the first one had arrived at his door.

He temporarily put aside the button to start his live broadcast and turned to open the private message.

The other side was obviously a newly registered blank account, with no name or information, only a sentence lying in the private message box.

It seemed like someone had specially registered an account to find him.

Xie Yao: Who are you?

The person on the other side replied instantly, but still insisted on the previous question: Are you Genius?

Xie Yao: Do you know Genius?

As soon as Xie Yao said this, the other side seemed to have assumed that he was Genius, and the next message was the person introducing themselves.

“Brother, I’m Xia Hang.”

Xie Yao was stunned for a moment.

Xia Hang used to be a substitute for SUS and is now a jungler for TGS team with the ID “Zhou Xia” (Boat under). During the youth training period, he had the closest relationship with Xie Yao, and although he is three years older than Xie Yao, he has always called him “brother”.

It had been a long time since they had contacted each other, and he never expected Xia Hang to be the first person to come knocking on his door.

The two hadn’t been in contact for a long time, and Xie Yao never expected the first person to come knocking at his door would be Xia Hang.

Xie Yao: “Xia Hang, long time no see.”