Chapter 21: Pearls Before Swine

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

From within the room, one could hear constant laughter, interspersed with a young woman frantically saying things like, “Get it off, hurry up and get it off of me!”

When her aunt burst into the room, and found that Yang Qianqian was only playing a video game, she was greatly relieved. However, to hear such suggestive sounds arising from time to time, she couldn’t help but wonder what was really going on between that young couple. She resolved to have that young man over for dinner, one way or another.

As the girl’s aunt, it was imperative that she gauge the man’s character for herself, the better to watch out for her!

***

Of the first three games they played together that morning, they won two, and lost one.

By afternoon, Yu Luocheng had gotten accustomed to using Thresh, as well as working with Yang Qianqian, and their odds of victory skyrocketed. The only time they lost was when someone on their own team disconnected halfway through the game.

Yang Qianqian put her heart and soul into every game. It was easy to see that she was genuinely passionate about League of Legends.

Every girl has a secret darkness concealed somewhere in her heart—in much the same way that every guy has a hidden beast within.

When playing games, this darker side of a girl will be revealed in all its twisted malice. Several times, the enemy’s Bottom lane had been so badly ravaged that even Yu Luocheng felt pity stay his hand—but Yang Qianqian would level her rifle at their opponents without hesitation, and slaughter them all!

That fancy new champion that had cost them 6,300 IP ¹ … you’ve killed them so much that they’re now worth about the same as a lowly cannon minion. Have you no pity at all?

***

After practicing the whole day, Yu Luocheng felt he understood the basics of playing Thresh. Over the next week, he’d sneak on late at night to get in a bit more practice with him. Hopefully, next weekend he’d get to resume playing Ranked with his usual partner.

In terms of skill, Yu Luocheng’s partner was far superior to Yang Qianqian. Whether it concerned farming, tactical sense, control, teamwork… that player had a substantial advantage.

While he did enjoy playing with Yang Qianqian, Yu Luocheng was a man of ambition, who lived to test himself against worthy foes. Fooling around with pretty young things was a fun way to pass the time, but he needed to keep honing his skills further by playing in Ranked games.

“I’m hungry.” Playing for a whole afternoon had tired Yang Qianqian out, and her voice sounded weary, like a starving kitten.

“Go eat something, then,” Yu Luocheng suggested. He was feeling kind of peckish, himself.

“There’s no one home…” Yang Qianqian informed him.

No one home?

Was this meant to be some sort of hint?

Could it be, that in the span of a single day, this angelic beauty had completely fallen for his charms?

Could it be, when she said that she was ‘hungry’, what she really meant was…

Instantly, everything became clear to him!

“I’ll swing by, then,” Yu Luocheng answered. “Heh, heh, heh…”

He would satisfy her cravings with every ounce of his youthful vigor!

“What could you be thinking about, you creep? What I meant was that no one cooked anything for me, here!” Yang Qianqian fumed.

“Uh…” Yu Luocheng paused, and then recovered with superhuman alacrity. “What I meant was that I could come over and cook something for you.”

Hearing what he himself had just said, Yu Luocheng heaved a sigh of relief. He’d nearly been found out for the pervert that he actually was.

“I’ll take care of it myself. Thanks for playing with me today. It’s been a long time since I had so much fun,” Yang Qianqian said politely.

“Hoo, hoo…” Not knowing what else to say, Yu Luocheng just chuckled like a fool. Worried that this might be taken the wrong way, however, he hurried to add, “It was my pleasure to play with a babe like you.”

“I’ve got to do my homework later, so I won’t be playing later tonight. See you tomorrow.”

“See you.”

“I’m going off now.”

Yu Luocheng had wanted to chat with her some more, but she’d already hung up.

***

If even Yang Qianqian had to do her homework, what more Yu Luocheng?

When you were in your third year of high school, in the whole week, you could only have fun on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. The rest of the time was for solemn business.

Endless worksheets ate up the rest of Yu Luocheng’s time, from the moment he finished dinner until the clock struck midnight—six whole hours in all. It was back-breaking hard labor.

Lying in bed, allowing his mind to slowly unwind, Yu Luocheng suddenly found himself looking forward to university life.

He’d heard that in university, you could attend classes at your own leisure, flirt around as much as you pleased, and play to your heart’s content.

If that was true, he’d just sit through a couple of lectures every day, then return to his hostel for a bunch of Ranked games. When he’d had his fill of Ranked, he might follow Yang Qianqian through some Normal games, or perhaps their relationship might develop to the point of being able to go out for meals, movies… and once all those milestones had been reached, Yu Luocheng would probably be quite satisfied with his life.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t wait to speed through these last one hundred days of high school. And then he would know the boundless freedom, the limitless opportunities of university life!

***

The truth was, no matter how pleasant the weather, or how good your mood, waking up to a Monday was a slap across the face.

As always, Yu Luocheng was still half asleep when he wandered into his classroom. Looking around, he noticed that quite a few people were watching him with ardent fascination. This gave him a moment’s pause. Something was amiss.

The moment he set down his schoolbag, he was surrounded.

“I heard you slaughtered those Class 3 guys!” Sun Yang was the first to start things off.

“That’s right.” Yu Luocheng nodded.

“Damn it, I didn’t go that night! I heard it was a complete massacre. You guys actually dove right into their base? That’s extreme!” some black dude sprayed words every which way.

“Yu Luocheng, bro, teach me to play Blitzcrank. How about today? Dinner’s on me!” That was Zheng Tai, who’d just started playing League of Legends.

The whole group continued to gabble away about the match against Class 3.

“Ah, move aside, move aside!” Wang Qin came in swinging, and waved them all away.

All the attention had been making Yu Luocheng uncomfortable, and he offered Wang Qin a look of gratitude.

However, Wang Qin rounded on him with a manic light in his eyes. “That night, you sent Yang Qianqian home, huh?”

“Yup.” Yu Luocheng nodded.

“And then?”

“And then, what?”

“Quit playing dumb with me. Hurry up and tell me her address!” Wang Qin slapped a hand down upon the desktop.

A chill ran down Yu Luocheng’s spine. Was this guy planning to stalk her?

There’s no brush outside her place. If you go lurking around there, you’ll get spotted right away!

Anyway, Yu Luocheng hadn’t made note of the precise address. He gave Wang Qin some rough directions to stave him off for the moment.

He was even in possession of Yang Qianqian’s phone number, but he naturally kept quiet about this, lest that halfwit Wang Qin should use it to pester her.

As for the house he was helping Wang Qin to find? Yang Qianqian had already informed him that it was her aunt’s house. If Wang Qin wanted to go creeping around there, he could go right ahead.

As though Yu Luocheng would actually betray such vital information to the likes of Wang Qin. One did not scatter pearls before swine!