Yu Wanqiu had always been in the habit of keeping a dim bedside lamp on while she slept, along with a humidifier on her nightstand. She didn’t like the scent of essential oils, so she never added any sleep-inducing aromatherapy blends to it.
Yu Wanqiu’s sleep quality had always been excellent. While she didn’t fall asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, she would usually feel drowsy within a few minutes. But tonight, she wasn’t sleepy at all.
In fact, she was tempted to pick up her phone and rewatch the replay of her recent game. Yu Wanqiu rolled over, suppressing the urge. Overindulging in games would only harm her physical and mental health. She should cut her losses and uninstall the game tomorrow.
Yu Wanqiu changed her position and closed her eyes.
More than ten minutes later, she opened them again.
If only her three teammates had held their ground, she and Jiang Lan could have snuck into the enemy base and won!
Unable to sleep, Yu Wanqiu decided not to force herself. Habits were just habits, after all. Back when she was filming, she had often worked irregular hours, staying up late and sleeping during the day. She thought to herself, *If I just win one game, I’ll be able to fall asleep.*
After all, she had played the last game with the mindset of winning. Although Yu Wanqiu only had a vague understanding of the game’s rules, she knew Jiang Lan was very skilled. But what if she played alone?
Yu Wanqiu was a naturally competitive person. Even in games, she refused to fall too far behind. She could have gone to find Jiang Lan for a match—Jiang Lan was definitely still awake. But driven by her stubbornness, Yu Wanqiu decided to start a game by herself.
The first and second-floor teammates chose jungle and mid-lane roles, respectively. Yu Wanqiu, on the third floor, quickly locked in the support hero, Yao. Then, the fifth-floor teammate picked another support hero, Zhuang Zhou. While Zhuang Zhou could also play in the top lane, the fourth-floor teammate chose the warrior hero, Arthur.
Even though Yu Wanqiu was new to the game, she knew that warriors and tanks were meant for the top lane, marksmen for the bottom lane, and supports were supposed to stick with the mid-laner in the early game. In the late game… unless it was a teamfight-oriented support, they should follow whoever was performing the best.
But their team didn’t even have a marksman. How were they supposed to play?
As expected, their bottom lane was pushed to the high ground in less than six minutes. By the twelve-minute mark, the game was over.
Yu Wanqiu decisively put down her phone and went to find Jiang Lan.
The living room lights were off, and Jiang Lan’s door was open, but the room was eerily quiet. Yu Wanqiu glanced downstairs and noticed the lights were still on. Voices occasionally drifted up from below.
Where was Jiang Lan?
The villa across the way was brightly lit. The director and the post-production team were burning the midnight oil. Zhang Tian, who had been pulling all-nighters for two days and had heavy dark circles under his eyes, poured himself another cup of coffee. He asked, “Where did Jiang Lan go?”
There were two production assistants in the room—originally three, but one had just stepped out to pick up a food delivery. She had run into Jiang Lan at the entrance and was now raving about how stunning Jiang Lan looked up close in their group chat.
The assistant’s voice carried a hint of confusion. “I think… she went to get food?”
Jiang Lan’s cameraman had already clocked out for the night. At this hour, everyone on the fourth floor was asleep. So, Jiang Lan had gone to get food…
Didn’t Yu Wanqiu forbid her from eating late-night snacks?
Zhang Tian glanced at the TV wall and couldn’t help but twitch his lips. The cameras in the rooms could be turned off at night, but Yu Wanqiu had never turned hers off.
Her routine was as regular as clockwork—she went to bed at 10 PM sharp and woke up around 6 AM. Her biological clock was as precise as an alarm, but tonight was an exception.
Zhang Tian had never played games, so he couldn’t understand how losing a match could make someone so upset. When he lost at mahjong, he just shrugged it off. He thought, *Surely, no one should lose sleep over a game.*
But the younger members of the team empathized deeply. “My college roommate once cried after a losing streak!”
Zhang Tian: “……”
He thought, *Is it really that serious?*
But right now, the focus should be on Jiang Lan. Did she know that Yu Wanqiu was still awake, sitting on the couch and waiting for her?
Of course, Jiang Lan had no idea. She had just picked up her food delivery, promised the delivery guy a five-star review, and was happily making her way back. She had ordered five skewers each of beef, lamb, and pork belly, two grilled chicken wings, a box of spicy crayfish, two skewers of grilled green beans, a portion of foil-wrapped eggplant, and two cans of ice-cold beer. The aroma was irresistible, and sneaking out to get the delivery gave her an inexplicable thrill.
It felt like she was having a secret affair!
Jiang Lan quietly took the elevator upstairs. As the doors opened, the crystal chandelier in the living room cast a dazzling light. Yu Wanqiu looked over and asked, “You’re back. Where did you go?”
Jiang Lan instinctively hid the food behind her back. It wasn’t that she was afraid of Yu Wanqiu—she just found her nagging as relentless as the monk Tang Sanzang scolding Sun Wukong.
Jiang Lan considered leaving the food in the elevator, but the smell of the barbecue was too overpowering.
Yu Wanqiu had already caught a whiff. “You ordered food again?”
Jiang Lan: “I’m hungry. I’m still growing, so I need to eat more.”
Yu Wanqiu: “I think it’s because of food like this that you’re not growing taller.”
Jiang Lan: “……”
Did she have to be so brutally honest?
Jiang Lan wanted to tell Yu Wanqiu to stop nagging her about ordering food. After all, even if Yu Wanqiu scolded her, she would still do it anyway, which proved that the scolding was pointless.
“Ms. Yu, it’s already 10:30. Why aren’t you asleep?” Jiang Lan placed the food on the coffee table, hoping Yu Wanqiu would leave so she could enjoy her barbecue.
Yu Wanqiu remembered why she was up in the first place. She said nonchalantly, “We were so close to winning that last game.”
Jiang Lan: “Huh?”
Yu Wanqiu: “We should finish what we started. Let’s play one more game. If we win, I’ll go to sleep.”
For new players of *Honor of Kings*, there was a common trait: they were bad at the game but loved playing it.
Jiang Lan understood, but Ms. Yu’s obsession was on another level.
“Fine, one game. If we win, you go to sleep,” Jiang Lan said as she opened the game and unwrapped the food. The beer cans were cold and fizzy, and the barbecue was still warm. The skewers were perfectly charred, with the meat glistening and sprinkled with seasoning. The bamboo sticks were blackened from the long grilling time.
The restaurant had provided two pairs of chopsticks for the foil-wrapped eggplant. The crayfish were bright red, topped with chili flakes and minced garlic.
While waiting for the game to load, Jiang Lan peeled a crayfish. The meat was firm, fresh, and full of flavor. Her lips tingled after eating it. “Ms. Yu, do you want some?”
Jiang Lan felt a little guilty eating alone, especially with Yu Wanqiu staring at her.
Yu Wanqiu wanted to say no, but the smell was irresistible.
That morning, she had eaten a sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, and shrimp. For lunch and dinner, she had vegetable salads with boiled chicken breast and shrimp. The shrimp were large, imported Arctic sweet shrimp that cost over a thousand yuan per pound. They were sweet and delicious.
But they didn’t smell as good as the crayfish.
She wasn’t a nun, after all.
Yu Wanqiu’s heart was in turmoil. The food looked so unhealthy, drenched in oil.
Jiang Lan pushed the barbecue toward Yu Wanqiu. “Try it. It’s really good.”
She wiped her hands and invited Yu Wanqiu to join the game. “Playing Yao is the best for snacking!”
Yu Wanqiu couldn’t resist and picked up a lamb skewer. She took a bite, and the mild gaminess blended with the rich spices. The fat burst in her mouth, and the tender, well-seasoned meat had a slight spiciness that instantly awakened her appetite.
To be honest, Yu Wanqiu had never eaten barbecue before. She had tried grilled meat a couple of times, but the taste was long forgotten.
Ever since she started acting in her twenties, she had stayed away from high-calorie foods like this.
Yu Wanqiu glanced at Jiang Lan, who was busy selecting a hero in the game. Regardless of anything else, spending time with Jiang Lan was... undeniably fun.
If Lu Yicheng were with Jiang Lan like this, Yu Wanqiu was beginning to understand why her son liked Jiang Lan so much.
“Yu Laoshi, pick a hero, hurry up and pick!” Jiang Lan locked in Han Xin, quickly put down her phone, grabbed a skewer of lamb, and cracked open a can of beer. It would still take a few minutes to get into the game.
Yu Wanqiu frowned. “It’s late at night, and you’re a young woman. Drinking something so cold can’t be good for your health.”
“...Yu Laoshi, we’re already eating this stuff. Does it even matter if it’s healthy or not? Do you want some?”
Yu Wanqiu was indeed a little thirsty.
The game ended in fifteen minutes, and Yu Wanqiu finally reached Bronze I. Jiang Lan was right—playing as Yao made it easy to snack. She had eaten two skewers of lamb, two skewers of beef, one skewer of pork belly, and two small lobsters. Jiang Lan, on the other hand, hadn’t eaten much.
By the time they finished, it was only 10:45 PM. Yu Wanqiu thought, since she was already at Bronze I, “Might as well push to Silver. If it’s inconvenient for you to eat, I’ll feed you.”
Three more games, and she’d reach Silver.
With Jiang Lan around, they won quickly. The first two matches were complete stomps. In the third match, Jiang Lan picked Bai Li Xuance, and their team’s marksman was Hou Yi.
At the start, Yu Wanqiu helped clear the mid lane and then immediately stuck with Jiang Lan. The enemy support reached level four and paired up with their marksman, leaving Hou Yi at a disadvantage. He died first.
In *Honor of Kings*, it’s not uncommon for the support to not stick with the marksman, especially if there’s a duo queue of lovers on the team.
Jiang Lan preferred to support whichever side had the advantage, as it would help secure a bigger lead. If the support didn’t stick with the marksman, the marksman could just play safe, farm under the tower, and wait for the jungler to gank. It wasn’t particularly hard.
But this marksman was aggressive. He kept pushing out of the tower to farm. Hou Yi doesn’t have any mobility skills, so every time he stepped out of the tower, he died. Within ten minutes, he had died six times, accounting for all of the team’s deaths.
Of course, Hou Yi didn’t think it was his fault. Whose fault was it, then? The support’s fault. If the support hadn’t been sticking with the jungler the whole time, he wouldn’t have had to 1v2. If he hadn’t been 1v2, he wouldn’t have died six times.
[Heavenly Demon Chaos: Support, are you **** only good at following the jungler? You *******]
[Demon Chaos: **** woman, can you only play support? ******]
The *Honor of Kings* system automatically censored curse words, but Yu Wanqiu didn’t know that. This was the first time she’d seen someone talk like this in the game. “What’s he saying?”
Jiang Lan glanced at the bottom-left corner, then pressed the voice-to-text microphone.
[lyczdc: Next game, I’ll carry you, but only if you play support.]
Yu Wanqiu pursed her lips. After winning this game, she’d go to bed. It wasn’t her place to tell Jiang Lan who to play with.
A moment later, a line of text appeared in the bottom-left corner.
[Celestial Demon Chaos: Really?]
Jiang Lan didn’t reply. After that, Hou Yi started following Jiang Lan around the entire game. Thirteen minutes later, the game ended.
“Victory!”
Yu Wanqiu climbed to Silver III with one star. Watching Jiang Lan exit the game, she said calmly, “I’m going to bed... You’re not going to play with him?”
Jiang Lan: “Why would I play with him? If you’re not playing, I’m going to sleep too.”
Yu Wanqiu: “Oh.”
She had eaten barbecue and played games tonight. It was fun, but the fun was fleeting. She was already starting to regret it. She’d have to do yoga in the morning. Turning to Jiang Lan, she said, “We’re getting up at 7 AM tomorrow. After breakfast, you’re doing yoga with me.”
Jiang Lan looked dazed. “Huh?”
Yu Wanqiu: “What do you mean ‘huh’? Look at you—you don’t move at all all day, just eating and sleeping. You’re going to make yourself sick sooner or later.”
