Sister, Choose Me, I'm Super Sweet [Esports] - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: See You Next Time, Sister

Tong Yi looked at Song Jinyuan’s flustered and defensive demeanor and blinked lightly, her guard dropping a little.

“Thank you, but no need. You should keep it,” Tong Yi said to her.

Rejected again by Tong Yi, Song Jinyuan’s mood instantly soured, and her expression looked a little sad.

“But you seem like you’re not in a good mood…” Song Jinyuan said softly, lowering her head.

Tong Yi couldn’t help but think, what does my mood have to do with you? But seeing her crestfallen expression, Tong Yi hesitated.

“Fine, give it to me,” Tong Yi sighed, finally taking the drink from Song Jinyuan’s hand.

Song Jinyuan thought Tong Yi wasn’t going to take it, so when she suddenly did, she was stunned for a moment before quickly breaking into a smile.

Tong Yi took the drink but didn’t open it. She just put it in her jacket pocket, then glanced at Song Jinyuan, who was still standing there. She couldn’t help but feel a little confused.

“…Is there something else?” Tong Yi had to ask.

Song Jinyuan hesitated for a moment, tugged on her backpack strap, and looked down at the ground. She said shyly, “I saw you smoking a lot just now… Smoking is bad for your health. Maybe you should quit…”

Tong Yi was surprised that Song Jinyuan would suddenly say this to her. She was stunned for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh.

“Little one, are you just naturally a busybody?” Tong Yi asked.

She really felt that this person loved to meddle. First, she acted as a judge for the two people arguing over a game, and now she was inexplicably trying to get her to quit smoking.

“What do you mean… Well, yeah, a lot of people have told me I like to meddle, but…” Song Jinyuan raised a hand and awkwardly scratched her face.

Before she could finish, Tong Yi interrupted her.

“Still, thank you. I won’t smoke anymore,” Tong Yi said. “Actually, I quit smoking a long time ago. I only smoked a little today because I was in a bad mood.”

It was strange that this little girl had also noticed her bad mood today.

“And you can’t say I’m meddling. I’m… huh? What did you say?” Song Jinyuan was still making all sorts of excuses for herself when she suddenly heard what Tong Yi said and froze.

Tong Yi looked at Song Jinyuan’s dazed expression and let out a soft laugh.

Song Jinyuan was even more captivated, and the hand on her cheek unconsciously fell to her side.

Tong Yi’s appearance leaned toward the “older sister” type, with a cool and distant vibe that gave off an unapproachable aura. A small black mole below her right eye accentuated this feeling. But when she smiled, she looked very gentle.

Song Jinyuan stared at Tong Yi’s face, completely entranced, unable to speak.

“I said, thank you for the reminder,” Tong Yi said with a faint smile, sincerely thanking Song Jinyuan.

Song Jinyuan became a little embarrassed. She couldn’t help but raise a hand to touch her nose, her eyes darting everywhere, and her lips fighting to curl into a smile.

Just then, the car Tong Yi had called arrived. She took a step toward the side of the road, turned to look at Song Jinyuan, and said, “I’m leaving now. Study hard, and don’t borrow other people’s ID cards to use the internet anymore.”

“Okay,” Song Jinyuan agreed quickly, but her expression didn’t show any sign of wrongdoing. Then she added, “See you next time, Sister.”

“…See you next time?” Tong Yi was stunned for a moment.

Song Jinyuan nodded seriously. “Mhm, see you next time.”

Tong Yi looked at her, opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, said nothing. She just quietly opened the car door and got in.

She just felt that this person was strange, always saying odd things, but she was very pretty. Still, Tong Yi was sure they would never see each other again.

The car quickly started and headed toward the New Fire team’s base.

New Fire was a team that was once very prominent. Tong Yi had been with New Fire for five years. When she first joined, she was only 16 years old. After sitting on the bench for a year, she got the chance to be the starting mid-laner in her second year. At the time, she was the youngest player on the team, and the other starters were veterans with several years of major tournament experience.

At that time, New Fire was considered lukewarm, with average results and a stable ranking in the league—neither outstanding nor at the bottom. In the S6 season, when Tong Yi was a starting player, they made it all the way to the World Championship, stopping only at the finals and taking home the runner-up title.

This was enough for many people to recognize her. Everyone thought she would be a rising star in the professional scene, and that they had just not had enough time to practice together that year and would surely win the championship next year.

However, to everyone’s disappointment, in the S7 season, New Fire was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Their momentum was clearly not as strong as the previous year, and many fans began to leave. It was also during this year that the jungler and marksman players on New Fire’s team started to adjust their positions due to a decline in their performance. The jungler eventually switched to the top lane, and the marksman retired.

After that, the team was constantly looking for new and suitable jungler and marksman players. Tong Yi often had to get used to new teammates, but they could never form a proper team. The entire team’s performance plummeted, and they suffered humiliating losses for two consecutive years.

In last year’s S8 season, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and were a hot topic on social media. This year was even worse. They were eliminated in the regular season and didn’t even make it to the playoffs. If they were at the bottom of the standings in this year’s summer tournament, they might lose their qualification to play in the league next year.

With the team’s support player getting more and more injuries and nearing retirement, it seemed New Fire might not last much longer.

Tong Yi leaned back in her seat, looking at the scenery outside the window, her thoughts returning to the match that day.

At 3 PM, the New Fire team had their last regular season match against the RG team. The spring season had 16 teams. The regular season format was a single round-robin without groups, which meant they had to play a best-of-three (three games, two wins) match against every team. Finally, all the teams would be ranked by points. The top ten teams would advance to the playoffs, and the last six teams would be eliminated and could go home and rest, preparing for the upcoming summer tournament.

In the 14 matches before this one, New Fire had lost 10 and won only 4. They were always at the bottom of the rankings, so whether they won or lost this match wouldn’t change the fact that they were going to be eliminated.

Because of this, the players waiting in the lounge were all very unmotivated. There was no communication between teammates. They were all sprawled out on the sofas in various positions. The top laner, Xia Yun, was sitting in the corner, scrolling through social media on her phone.

Even though the coach had told them it was best not to look at online comments during the season, she couldn’t help herself. Sure enough, the team’s official social media page was full of negative comments. No one was defending them.

I thought New Fire would at least make it to the first round of the playoffs this year, but they were eliminated in the regular season. They’re on a losing streak.

I don’t know what to say. This season, the team is being carried by Captain Tong. The entire team is relying on her.

The jungler is a complete waste. The mid-laner gave her so much of their resources, and she just goes and throws the game. Heh heh.

The bigger the hope I had for you, the bigger my disappointment is now!

Just disband already. You embarrass yourselves every year. I’m embarrassed for you!

Xia Yun was frowning as she read these negative comments when the lounge door suddenly opened, and Tong Yi and Coach Zhou Shiqing walked in.

Zhou Shiqing immediately saw the social media page on Xia Yun’s phone and quickly walked over to take it from her.

“Didn’t I tell you to uninstall social media during this time? Why are you still looking at it?” Zhou Shiqing asked, a little angry. She had watched the team members uninstall their social media accounts, so she was surprised that Xia Yun had secretly re-downloaded it.

“So what if I’m looking? I couldn’t help it~” Xia Yun said with a mischievous grin. She accepted the criticism but didn’t admit she was wrong.

“I’m afraid it will affect your mindset,” Zhou Shiqing said helplessly.

As Xia Yun was about to speak, the jungler, Qu Feng, spoke up first. “We’re not going to the playoffs anyway. What difference does it make?”

When she said that, both Xia Yun and Zhou Shiqing fell silent, unable to speak for a moment.

“Just because you’re not going to the playoffs, you’re not going to try to win today? Do you think this will be your last match?” Tong Yi, who had been silent, finally spoke.

Qu Feng was stunned for a moment, then quickly explained, “That’s not what I meant, Captain.”

Tong Yi turned to look at the marksman and support players. The marksman, Xu Yue, was a rookie who had just become a starter this year. Seeing Tong Yi get angry, she was already terrified. As soon as she made eye contact with Tong Yi, her body tensed up.

“Cap- Captain…” Xu Yue greeted Tong Yi cautiously.

In reality, Tong Yi was always a very gentle person and took good care of her new teammates, but she could be serious at times. Xu Yue was especially afraid of Tong Yi’s serious look, especially when she was angry.

“Does anyone else have that mindset?” Tong Yi asked expressionlessly.

Xu Yue quickly shook her head. “No, no. I’ll definitely play my best in every game.”

Qu Feng, sitting on the sofa, looked at Tong Yi defiantly, feeling a little resentful. Although Tong Yi was addressing everyone, she was the first one to be scolded. Her skill level was clearly the best on the team, and she had just casually complained. Why did she have to make such a big deal out of it?

At this point, Zhou Shiqing quickly interjected, “Alright, alright. Let’s discuss our strategy for the game. Even though we’re not going to the playoffs, we still have to play every game seriously. That’s what esports is about, right?”

Xia Yun also jumped up from the sofa and went to Tong Yi’s side, wrapping her arm around her neck and pulling her close.

“Why so serious? Look, you’ve scared our little Feng,” Xia Yun said with a laugh.

Tong Yi looked at Qu Feng again. Sure enough, Qu Feng was pouting, sitting sullenly. If you looked closely, you could see her eyes were a little moist, as if she was trying to hold back tears of frustration.

“I’m sorry, little Feng. My tone was too harsh just now. I know you just want to win the championship too much,” Tong Yi quickly said to Qu Feng.

Qu Feng had joined the New Fire team during its peak. She was bought after being the runner-up in a rookie competition. It just so happened that the team was undergoing a roster change—the marksman had retired, and Xia Yun, who was a jungler, had switched to the top lane. So Qu Feng was placed directly in the starting lineup without spending much time on the bench.

But it was also from this year that New Fire’s performance plummeted, and the fans cursed them out. Qu Feng’s social media account was constantly filled with hate comments. It was normal for her to feel unbalanced. Tong Yi could understand this.

“It’s my fault. I won’t say those things again, I’m sorry, Captain,” Qu Feng said, feeling a little guilty since she hadn’t expected Tong Yi to comfort her. She quickly admitted her mistake.