### Chapter 28: 028 (Three in One)

After finally sorting out her thoughts, Su Heng suddenly felt much more relaxed.

When she looked at the man again, her expression was calm.

Since she had decided on what she wanted, there was no need to continue to hesitate.

This was her usual style.

When Su Heng and Zhou Lingxing arrived, the others had already ordered their dishes.

Old Yu sat at the table with an expectant look, but when he saw the two entering, his expression dimmed.

“You’re not the waiter…”

Zhou Lingxing shot him a glance, coldly walked to an empty seat, and casually pulled out the bench next to him.

The girl sat down softly, following the man’s gesture, picked up the teapot, poured herself a cup of water, thought for a moment, and then poured a cup for the man as well.

Xiao Ban stared at their interaction in disbelief, “When did you two get together? Why didn’t you bring me?”

Xiao Ban’s sudden comment made everyone look up, all eyes focusing on the two who had just sat down.

What’s going on? Have these two gotten together? When did that happen?

Zhou Lingxing shot a cold glance at Xiao Ban, directly ignoring the first half of his sentence, “If you weren’t brought along, would you be here now?”

Xiao Ban flinched and closed his mouth.

He almost forgot that this guy was the team’s tyrant—too scary to provoke.

Sun He, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow.

Others might not have noticed, but as someone who had the most contact with Su Heng, that careless action she just did…

It was indeed a bit off.

Thinking about it, the two really did look good together.

One was cold and sarcastic, the other was reserved and quiet; one was handsome, the other elegant.

However, Zhou Lingxing seemed completely oblivious to the girl’s change, only thanking her quietly before returning to his phone.

On this side, Old Yu reacted and handed Su Heng the menu, “Sister, take a look at what you want to add. I didn’t order the pot base because I wasn’t sure about your taste.”

Before Su Heng could respond, the man beside her suddenly spoke without raising his head, “Add a spicy pot for her.”

The girl smiled faintly and nodded at Old Yu.

It seemed he remembered her adding nearly a whole pot of chili when they had ramen last time.

Sun He couldn’t help but chuckle, a bit curious about how these two had gotten together.

Su Heng didn’t eat much, and her impression of this meal mostly revolved around the scene where Xiao Ban and Old Yu almost fought over meat.

During the meal, taking advantage of Zhou Lingxing’s absence while he went out to settle the bill, Su Heng suddenly leaned closer to Sun He and whispered, “It seems like every time we go out to eat, it’s Zhou Lingxing paying the bill?”

Sun He looked at her with a teasing expression, “Are you purely curious about his income, or do you want to know about his past?”

The girl was taken aback, clearly not expecting Sun He to expose her thoughts, “Is it that obvious?”

Sun He smiled lightly, “A little.”

After waiting for a long time without a follow-up, Sun He continued to smile, appearing indifferent to the matter.

He of course knew what the girl wanted to know, but some things were better left for Zhou Lingxing to reveal himself.

The girl seemed to understand Sun He’s meaning and stopped pursuing the topic.

She could only sigh internally, realizing that this roundabout approach wouldn’t work.

On the way back, Su Heng still rode with Zhou Lingxing.

Sitting in the car, the girl took the initiative to start a conversation, casually asking him, “Why did you become a professional player?”

The man raised an eyebrow, “Want to know?”

“Is it something you can’t talk about?”

“There’s nothing I can’t talk about; it’s just that the story is too long and complicated.”

The girl pursed her lips, “I’m patient enough to listen.”

Zhou Lingxing glanced at the girl, who had a slightly expectant look on her face, and scoffed, “I don’t have the patience to tell it.”

In the end, he added, “If you’re bored, think about how to play in the match the day after tomorrow; the next opponent is NB, which is different from the previous rookies.”

The girl felt deflated and leaned back against the car seat.

Her mind was still guessing various possibilities when her eyelids began to droop uncontrollably.

By the time Zhou Lingxing parked the car and saw that the girl had already fallen asleep, he felt a twitch in his temple.

If he had known, he would have told her a story.

After a long while, Zhou Lingxing silently turned on the heater, reclined the seat, and began to play with his phone.

Although he wanted to just leave Su Heng there, it was clearly not a realistic option.

After scrolling through a few Weibo posts, a hint of a smile suddenly crossed the man’s face.

He saw the post the girl had made before leaving; it already had thousands of comments.

【Actually, I have great faith in my teammate, even if he doesn’t get any kills throughout the whole game.】

It sounded very much like something she would say.
The man looked at the sleeping girl.

The girl’s skin was truly pale, the kind that is sickly white from years of not seeing sunlight.
It involuntarily reminded him of one of his father’s patients.

That person also had such pale skin and suffered from narcolepsy, but unlike Su Heng, he wasn’t so lucky to be able to do what he liked and live a life almost identical to that of a normal person.
He even remembered what that person looked like when he left, as if he had just succumbed to his illness and fallen asleep again, never to wake up.

This was also why he had discouraged Sun He when he first heard about Su Heng’s illness.
Although he grew up in an environment surrounded by patients and had seen many scenes of life and death, the image of that person leaving still lingered in his heart for a long time.

That person left too calmly; it felt unsettling, inexplicably making one anxious.
Because you never know which will come first: tomorrow or an accident.

He was willing to accept Su Heng’s involvement because of that night’s conversation with his father.
“Lingxing, not all narcoleptic patients are like Xu Lian. He has congenital narcolepsy, and his condition has persisted for too long. When he sought treatment, his sleep duration had already reached 20 hours a day; even a divine doctor couldn’t save him. But the teammate you just mentioned can guarantee at least 10 hours of wakefulness each day, which is already rare among narcoleptic patients. If I’m not mistaken, I think her condition is mostly due to psychological factors acquired later.”

Until the call ended, his father was still advising Zhou Lingxing to take Su Heng to see him, saying, “Bring her over when you have time; it might be curable.”
In the end, Zhou Lingxing seemed to hear his father’s faint sigh.

After looking at the girl for a while, Zhou Lingxing slowly averted his gaze.
He was never one to meddle in others’ affairs, especially since his father had speculated that she had this illness due to psychological issues.

When it involved privacy, he was even less willing to interfere.
Who would want to bring out their painful memories for someone else to analyze and endure the secondary trauma?

However… the man looked at the Weibo post the girl had sent.
Perhaps it was time to put this matter on the agenda.

She believed in her teammates, and so did he.
The more he interacted with her, the more he felt sorry for her. Such a beautiful youth should be living recklessly and laughing freely, not trapped in a small world every day, being cautious and afraid of falling ill at any moment.

Suddenly, the girl beside him let out a soft hum. Zhou Lingxing turned to look.
The car space was cramped after all, and the girl was even wearing a seatbelt.

Clearly, she wasn’t sleeping very soundly.
He saw her frowning, her lips moving as if she was murmuring something, her body rising and falling as she seemed to want to free herself from her restraints.

Zhou Lingxing watched with interest for a while, then turned to unbuckle the seatbelt for her. He leaned down to find the button on the side of the seat to recline her backrest.

However, after searching on the side for a long time, he still couldn’t find the button.
He had to stand up, curling his legs to kneel on the seat, leaning his whole body to the right, one hand supporting the girl’s backrest while the other reached toward the side of the seat.

After quite a while, he finally found the raised position to lower the backrest.
Just as he raised his head to turn back, the girl’s face suddenly appeared close in front of him.

At this moment, the distance between them was only a few centimeters. The man stared at the sleeping girl, her furrowed brows finally relaxing, and he was momentarily lost in thought.

The girl’s features, so close, her slightly curled eyelashes, her cheeks tinged with a rosy hue from the heater, and her delicate lips appeared magnified more than tenfold, yet there were no visible flaws.

After a long time, Zhou Lingxing suddenly threw himself back into the driver’s seat, a bit of anxiety unconsciously showing on his face.
It really was a bit overwhelming.

He cracked the car window slightly, letting in a breeze that helped alleviate his suddenly quickening pulse.
Unexpectedly, the girl, who had been sleeping peacefully, shivered at the cool air and slowly opened her eyes.

Su Heng glanced around, her eyes still hazy, her voice hoarse, “Have we arrived?”
The man silently nodded, turned off the engine, pulled out the key, and opened the door to get out, his movements flowing smoothly as if he wanted to quickly escape the crime scene.

The girl was momentarily taken aback, then got out of the car right after him, struggling to jog a few steps to catch up with him.
The dim streetlights shone on them, and their shadows moved slowly.

Zhou Lingxing looked at the two slanted shadows, one high and one low, and unexpectedly felt a bit better.
He thought he might be getting sick.

The two returned to the base, and Sun He looked at them with an ambiguous expression for a moment before leisurely passing by with a water cup.
Wave and Old Fish were currently in a double queue, completely oblivious to what was happening around them.

Only Xiao Ban bounced over and asked, “Why are you two back now? Are you really feeling better?”

Sun He couldn’t stop laughing quietly behind the teenager, feeling the essence of the term “brat.”

Zhou Lingxing didn’t even want to give him a glance this time. He simply sat down at his computer, ready to queue for ranked matches.

Su Heng also had a blank expression and waved her hand lightly before heading upstairs.

Xiao Ban stood in shock, feeling like he had discovered something extraordinary.

Is this confirmed? Are these two really together?

No, he had to post on Weibo.

Suddenly, Shen Jianian’s face flashed through his mind. No, he should hurry to report this to Shen Jianian instead.

After a flurry of typing, Zhou Lingxing’s cold gaze reappeared in his mind.

Xiao Ban silently put his phone away.

Forget it, he’d better hold back.

At that moment, Zhou Lingxing saw the girl go upstairs, quietly exited the game, took out his phone, opened his contacts, and selected “Zhou Linghui” to edit a message.

[Why do teammates suddenly get happy when they see their shadow with someone else?]

He received a reply two minutes later.

[Which teammate? Sun He? Wave?]

Zhou Lingxing looked up at Xiao Ban: [You don’t know him; he’s the new substitute.]

Zhou Linghui: [Okay, as long as it’s a girl. Why are you so unambitious? If you like her, just admit it. Why are you acting silly over their shadow?]

Zhou Lingxing: [??????]

Like? The man frowned.

No, it couldn’t be.

He tossed his phone aside and queued for ranked matches again.

After thinking for a moment, he picked up his phone once more.

[It’s my teammate, not me.]

*

The night before the match against NB, Shen Jianian announced in the group that they would be taking promotional photos and choosing new team uniforms after the match.

The usually active Lao Yu seemed particularly quiet.

Su Heng noticed the oddity and began to type.

[What’s wrong with Lao Yu?]

Sun He: [Don’t mind him; he always acts like this when it’s time for promotional photos.]

Su Heng: [?]

Wave: [Does the fatty really like taking photos and trying on clothes?]

Xiao Ban: [Hahahaha, life is hard.]

Su Heng wracked her brain to find something comforting to say, but halfway through, she saw Zhou Lingxing’s message.

Zhou Lingxing: [I have something to do tomorrow afternoon; I’ll come later.]

Su Heng licked her lips, a bit curious about what he was up to.

Fortunately, someone quickly asked on her behalf.

Sun He: [What’s up?]

Zhou Lingxing: [Just going home for a bit.]

Shen Jianian: [Try to come earlier.]

[By the way, who will play tomorrow, Su Heng or Xiao Ban?]

Su Heng: [I will.]

Xiao Ban: [The big sister will play!!]

Shen Jianian: [Alright, Xiao Ban will play.]

Xiao Ban: [??????]

Shen Jianian: [To deal with emergencies, starting from tomorrow’s match, the two of you will take turns playing.]

Seeing Shen Jianian’s message, Su Heng felt a bit disappointed, even though she didn’t show it on the surface.

During this time, she had mastered quite a few new heroes and was eager to participate in tomorrow’s match, but she didn’t expect to receive this kind of outcome.

Compared to her, Xiao Ban was even more despondent.

He thought that tomorrow would be his chance to play, so he had been playing support with Wave for several days now.

Now, suddenly having to play himself, he was truly desperate!!

Shen Jianian also had his considerations.

After Su Heng joined, GI’s overall strength had improved significantly, making them competitive against NB.

However, their previous performance this season had been too poor, making the chances of entering the playoffs and advancing to the global finals almost zero.

Although Su Heng’s skills and game sense had become evident, they had not yet drawn widespread attention.

Furthermore, her troublesome illness posed too much of an uncertain factor.

In that case, it would be better to conserve their strength, simply give up this season, and allow both of them more practice opportunities.

This way, even if Su Heng had issues and couldn’t play, the risk wouldn’t be too great.

The results of the match the following day confirmed the correctness of Shen Jianian’s decision.

Without Su Heng, GI felt like a scattered group.

In their first match against a top domestic team, Xiao Ban ultimately felt overwhelmed and struggled significantly.

They were locked into defeat by NB within 25 minutes.

Su Heng silently watched the match from the sidelines, her head lowered, lost in thought.

Zhou Lingxing came off the stage and immediately saw the gloomy girl, walking over to pat her on the head.

“Let’s go, the coach said there’s a meeting.”

Su Heng touched her head, her expression somewhat confused.

Why was he hitting her? It wasn’t her match that they lost, right?

The atmosphere in the backstage lounge was exceptionally gloomy.
Xiao Ban looked like a withered eggplant, completely wilted.
Shen Jianian looked at the others calmly, “Don’t be discouraged; losing a match is normal.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ban immediately lifted his head, thinking Shen Jianian was going to offer him some comfort, with tears welling in his eyes.
But Shen Jianian continued, “After all, we have a jungler who’s only played support for three days; you can’t expect too much.”

Xiao Ban blinked, feeling like he could die.
Old Yu ungraciously covered his mouth and laughed.
Shen Jianian shot him a sideways glance, “Who are you laughing at for missing your ult in the first team fight?”

After saying this, he ignored Old Yu and turned to Wave, “Why did you engage someone when their items were so strong that they could dive the tower and kill you?”

Wave pouted, “I could’ve turned it around.”
Shen Jianian scoffed, “Stop holding onto the idea that you can always turn it around. Have you been playing too many low-ranked matches lately?”

At this, Wave stole a glance at the trembling Xiao Ban beside him. Wasn’t it just that they’d been playing too many low-ranked matches?
Xiao Ban automatically blocked Wave’s gaze and mumbled softly, “So why don’t we let the sister play instead…”

Shen Jianian adjusted his glasses, “If you have no value, why should I sign you? You’ll still be playing next time; Su Heng won’t see any matches until you win at least one.”

Xiao Ban was completely stunned and unconsciously looked at the girl beside him.
Su Heng clearly didn’t expect the situation to turn out this way, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.

Shen Jianian looked at her, “You should practice a few of the current strong heroes during this time, and it’d be best if you could also encourage Xiao Ban, after all, the decision of when you go on stage is in his hands.”

Xiao Ban looked at Su Heng with a dejected face, hoping she could put up a fight.
Su Heng clearly didn’t pick up on the boy’s signal; she simply stood up and lightly patted Xiao Ban, “Don’t keep me waiting too long.”

She was indeed a bit unhappy about not being able to go on stage, but upon careful reflection, she could understand Shen Jianian’s good intentions.
After all, the problem lay with her physical condition; strictly speaking, she didn’t have a say.

The boy was in despair. This was not what he meant when he said “in the future”!!!
He was really just a substitute!!!

*

Zhou Lingxing indeed left right after the meeting.
The already demoralized girl was feeling even less motivated as she sat gloomily in the corner of the makeup room, waiting for her turn.

Suddenly, a staff member passing by rushed up to her, handing over a small notebook.
“Miss, I’m your fan! I heard GI is taking promotional photos today, so I adjusted my schedule to come here! Can I get your autograph?”

The girl was slightly taken aback for two seconds.
Looking up, she saw a young boy in front of her, his face filled with excitement.

She slowly took the booklet, “I’m not very good at signing; how about I draw something for you?”
The boy was so thrilled that his face turned bright red, “Yes, yes!”

Su Heng took out a pen and began to sketch for a moment, drawing a chibi girl wearing a mask, which came out vividly.
Throughout this, the boy didn’t stop talking.

“Miss, I watch your streams every day. I don’t know if you remember me; my ID is ‘Can I Edge OB?’”
“I ran into you in the game when you were called the Silver Killer. At that time, I thought your skills were amazing.”

“Later, I heard you joined GI, and you’re a girl, so we players who encountered you spontaneously formed a group to talk about how we got owned by you, haha.”
“After watching a few of your matches, our group went wild, saying you’re no less than other professional players.”

“By the way, Miss, why didn’t you go on stage today?”
Listening to the boy’s endless chatter, Su Heng continued her work without stopping her hands, “I’m just following the coach’s arrangements.”

After saying this, she carefully wrote “Sleeping” on the paper and handed it to the boy with a faint smile.
“Thank you for your support. Although I don’t have any impression of your game ID, I will remember you from today on.”

Su Heng took off her mask, revealing a smile on her face, “Now go back to work.”

The boy’s eyes widened, his face full of disbelief. He nodded vigorously and dashed out of the dressing room in excitement.

Once the boy was far away, Su Heng put her mask back on, feeling that the gloom of the past half-day had vanished. Although she usually appeared indifferent to everything, hearing that there were people who had liked her since she was a stranger moved her deeply. Their affection was simple and straightforward; it wasn’t based on who she was but rather on their pure enjoyment of her gaming skills.

How fortunate that this group could appreciate someone with so many flaws. How grateful she was for her decision to come to this brand-new world.

Su Heng turned to look at everyone. The makeup artist was applying foundation to Old Fish, who cautiously glanced around and lowered his voice, “Can you help me with some shading? The kind that makes me look slimmer on camera.”

The makeup artist, holding back a laugh, nodded while shaking her hand. Wave and Xiao Ban were intensely playing a two-player game on a tablet.

“Don’t go!”
“I can turn it around!”
“You can’t! Don’t go!”
“Trust me.”
“Please, come back!!”

Sun was casually lounging, chatting with someone, a look of spring in his eyes. The girl’s eyebrows curled with a smile. She thought she had really encountered a group of interesting people.

Some in this group were gentle, some spirited, some funny, some sharp-tongued, and some mysterious. All youth resembled a flourishing bird, turning over carefree years, surpassing growth, and then hopelessly sinking into the abyss of dreams. But the girl believed that this abyss would eventually become a thoroughfare.

Only after running fiercely, feeling the heart race and breathing heavily, could one clearly sense the essence of being alive.

“Miss, it’s your turn!” Old Fish finally stepped down from the makeup station, waving to Su Heng to come over.

Su Heng, interrupted in her thoughts, chuckled lightly, “Coming.”

The female makeup artist removed the girl’s mask and gently stroked her cheek, “Your skin is too fair; let me give you a light makeup and add some blush.”

The girl nodded, allowing her to proceed.

Twenty minutes later, Su Heng began to feel something was off. How come Old Fish and the others finished their makeup in less than ten minutes, while hers had turned into a big project?

Another half an hour later, when Su Heng looked at her heavily made-up reflection in the mirror, she found the answer.

Indeed, a group of men could not satisfy a makeup artist’s creative desires. Her usually sleepy eyes were now highlighted with deep brown eyeliner, and light purple eyeshadow added a touch of allure, making her appear much more mature.

Her originally pale skin now looked flat, but after the addition of shading, her face gained some definition, and her features became more three-dimensional. The blush on her cheeks complemented her fair skin, enhancing her rosy complexion, which harmonized beautifully with the light pink lip gloss on her lips.

Xiao Ban, taking a break from the game, lifted his head to glance at the girl, unable to pull his gaze away. “Miss, you look amazing!!!”

Hearing this, Wave also turned around, startled enough that he nearly dropped his tablet.

Su Heng touched her nose and said, “I thought it was just a light makeup.”

Old Fish immediately leaned in, “Miss, let’s take a picture together; I want to show it off in my relatives’ group!”

Sun scoffed from the side, “You think anyone will believe you if you use her photo? Let’s go, take a picture.”

The girl felt a bit flustered; she was just about to ask the makeup artist to remove it and redo a lighter makeup when the door of the dressing room was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Unprepared, Su Heng found herself standing right in front of Zhou Lingxing.

Zhou Lingxing stood at the doorway, quietly gazing at the girl, who looked as delicate as a peach blossom, his eyes deep as the ocean.

Su Heng froze for two seconds, forcing herself to act calm and said, “Just in time; it’s your turn for makeup.”

A hint of a smile gradually appeared in the man’s eyes.

Old Fish picked up his phone again and waved it in front of Su Heng, “Ling Ge never wears makeup for photos; hurry and take a picture with me!”

The girl glanced at the man, wanting to quickly escape his gaze, and decided to oblige Old Fish’s request.

At that moment she turned, she missed the amazement in Zhou Lingxing’s eyes.

Promotional photos for esports players aren’t as complicated as those for stars; they usually wrap up in less than two hours. This time, with Su Heng added, it only extended the makeup time by half an hour.

The five of them first took individual photos. Because Su Heng was unwilling to show her face and taking a photo with a mask didn’t seem appropriate, the photographer could only settle for capturing a hazy profile of the girl.

When taking the group photo, Sun abruptly pulled the girl over and placed her right in the center.

The photographer looked at their positions and impatiently waved his hand, “Don’t you all know each other? Get closer!”

“The tall guy on the left, can you please stop looking so stiff?”

“The chubby guy on the right, stop smiling; we can barely see your glasses.”

“The girl in the middle doesn’t want to show her face, so just turn your back.”

…

After wrapping up, Wave rubbed his shoulders, complaining, “This photo shoot is probably going to age me ten years.”

Old Fish glanced at him and chose to remain silent, still immersed in the photographer’s words about the “fat guy,” unable to pull himself away.

Su Heng came down from the studio and immediately went to the restroom.

After removing her makeup, she saw Zhou Lingxing waiting outside the door for a long time.

Su Heng paused briefly in surprise before slowly walking towards the man. “Did you need something?”

The man nodded, “Let’s have dinner together tonight.”

The girl lowered her gaze, gradually relaxing, and walked toward the lounge. “You pick the place; I’m fine with anything.”

Zhou Lingxing took a couple of steps to walk beside her, not looking at her, but keeping his gaze straight ahead. “It’s just the two of us. I want to discuss something with you.”

Her heart jumped suddenly, and Su Heng stopped in her tracks, slowly looking at the man, unsure of his intentions.

After a moment, the girl spoke, “Is 8 o’clock okay? Wait for me to finish my live stream.”

The man nodded, receiving the answer without looking at her again, and walked away.

Zhou Lingxing’s invitation left Su Heng feeling restless all night. It was manageable when no one was paying attention to her, but once she started the live stream, it became particularly noticeable.

Fans quickly noticed Su Heng’s distraction and began asking what was wrong.

“[Sleeping is talking less today than before. What kind of idol have I followed…]”

“[Is the sister unhappy because she couldn’t compete today?]”

“[Oh right, why wasn’t Sleeping on stage today? If she had, we might not have lost this match…]”

“[Thinking about it, that little yellow-haired guy who was talking next to the sister last time was also a competitor, hahaha.]”

No matter how lively the comments were, the girl remained silent.

At this moment, she felt unusually flustered.

Zhou Lingxing wanting to discuss something with her seemed harmless at first glance, but upon further reflection, aside from frequently duo-queueing with him lately, they had little interaction normally.

She wasn’t naïve enough to harbor any romantic thoughts about tonight’s invitation, but she still couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to meet him.

At 8 o’clock, after finishing her live stream, the man knocked on the girl’s computer desk right on time. “Waiting for you in the parking lot.”

She put on her coat and headed out.

Su Heng went upstairs to wash her face and glanced at the unchanged white T-shirts in her wardrobe, ultimately giving up, grabbing her bag, and rushing downstairs.

As she passed a few people’s seats, a gust of wind followed her.

The most sensitive boy among them immediately turned to her and called out, “Where are you going, sister?”

Su Heng waved her hand without looking back, causing the boy to show a puzzled expression.

Sun He pressed down on the boy’s head, turning him back. “I’ll tell you when you win a match.”

When she arrived at the parking lot, Zhou Lingxing was leaning against the car door smoking. Upon seeing the girl’s figure, he quickly extinguished his cigarette, gestured for her to get in the car, and showed no sign of impatience.

Su Heng sighed with relief; for some reason, the moment she saw the man, her heart felt at ease.

On the way, Zhou Lingxing broke the silence first, “What do you want to eat?”

Su Heng absentmindedly wiped away a smudge on her fingertips. “Let’s eat Sichuan cuisine.”

The man raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that she wanted Sichuan food, but nodded in agreement nonetheless.

“Spicy?”

Su Heng shrugged nonchalantly. “Sure.”

Although she felt puzzled, the girl managed to hold back her questions, even as they sat down at the dining table without speaking, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense.

Zhou Lingxing rubbed his nose, mentally organizing his words, unsure how to start.

Noticing the man’s hesitation, the girl said, “After thinking for so long, I guess what you want to say isn’t anything good.”

The man was momentarily taken aback but quickly replied, “At least it’s not bad.”

Su Heng raised her cup and took a sip of water. “Go ahead, what’s it about?”

“Have you thought about getting your illness treated?” Now that he had decided to speak, Zhou Lingxing no longer hesitated.

Su Heng seemed to recall something, her expression gradually cooling. “Do you want to take me to see a doctor?”

The man straightened his expression and said in a deep voice, “My dad is a doctor. This afternoon, I went home to see him and talked to him about your condition.”

The girl’s expression turned even worse, and she struggled to suppress the impulse to interrupt him, waiting for him to continue.

Zhou Lingxing’s voice rang out again, “He told me that your illness is mostly due to…” The man glanced at her, “psychological issues.”

“My dad said your age is the best time for treatment, and he has experience treating patients with similar conditions…”

“Why?” Su Heng interrupted him, looking at him coolly. “So far, I haven’t affected the matches, and I haven’t had any episodes recently. Why do you suddenly want me to see a doctor?”

Zhou Lingxing wasn’t upset at being interrupted. After a moment of silence, he said, “We still have a long way to go, and I just want you to go further.”

Su Heng could hear the seriousness and sincerity in his words, but she still couldn’t make a decision.

Did she not wish for her illness to be cured? She just didn’t want to face that person from her memories again.

Seeing that she seemed to be considering, Zhou Lingxing added fuel to the fire, “Shen Jiannian has made it very clear: to give up this season to preserve strength for next year’s full effort. Fortunately, the upcoming matches will be played by Xiao Ban, so you can train while receiving treatment.”

After a long pause, she finally found her voice and said hesitantly, “I’ll think about it.”

She also wanted to go further down this path, especially after experiencing this world firsthand, but she couldn’t face the past calmly yet.

Just wait a bit longer; let her get a little closer to them, let her hold on to her hopes, and fear nothing.

The man stared intently at the girl as if he were trying to see through her.

Just when Su Heng wanted to escape the scene, Zhou Lingxing suddenly picked up the teapot and poured her some water. “Thank you for believing in me.”

Believing him? Su Heng thought she had misheard and looked at him in confusion.

He set down the pot, his tone softening, “I thought you would leave halfway through this conversation, but now not only have you listened to the end, you’ve also seriously given me a response that you will consider.” The man looked up, his eyes holding a hint of a smile. “I’m very happy.”

The girl stared at him in a daze, unable to regain her senses.

Her mind was filled with the man’s smiling face and that phrase that lingered, “I’m very happy.”

She thought that if Zhou Lingxing smiled at her for another two seconds, she would agree to see a doctor.

At that moment, a waiter approached with a tray of dishes, interrupting her thoughts.

Su Heng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, beauty can lead one astray.

*

After being battered by numerous professional teams, Xiao Ban gained experience and grew stronger, finally achieving his first victory since being promoted to the first team after half a month.

In addition to the joy, Xiao Ban also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

For the past half month, he had been in a difficult situation, facing doubts from fans who questioned why he was sent to lose matches, while also having a sister teach him and drag him into double matches whenever he was awake.

Now that they had finally won, even though it was just against a mid-level domestic team, the young man still felt a strong sense of accomplishment.

After half a month, in the last match of the spring regular season, Su Heng finally got to play.

This match was between GI and FHL.

The night before the match, Zhou Lingxing held the battle information of all the teams and smiled lightly at the proud Xiao Ban beside him. “So confident? Why don’t you go on tomorrow?”

Xiao Ban glanced at the girl next to him, who was focused on the game, and replied without changing his expression, “Even though I really want to play, I’m not afraid of Jiang Yuan or anyone else. But since the sister hasn’t been on the field for half a month, I think this opportunity should go to her.”

While the young man was pleased with his witty remarks, Su Heng suddenly spoke up, “It’s fine, I can sit out; if you want to play, then go ahead.”

Old Yu burst into laughter, and Wave looked at Xiao Ban with a teasing expression, eager to see how he would handle the situation.

Xiao Ban felt a headache coming on; he hadn’t expected the usually aloof sister to get involved. Zhou Lingxing’s smile deepened, “So this match is entrusted to you then?”

The young man’s face stiffened, his smile looking more like a grimace as he struggled, “That’s not so good, the coach said I could only let the sister play if I won a match.”

At that moment, Su Heng finished a game and turned to look at the dejected Xiao Ban. “I’ve agreed, so the coach has no reason to disagree. Otherwise, should I talk to him for you?”

Her tone was so casual, and her expression so flawless, that it seemed quite natural.

Xiao Ban fell silent for a few seconds and conceded, “No, no, sister, I was wrong. Consider this me begging you, please don’t say anything to the coach!!”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Even Su Heng couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in amusement.

Sun He clapped his hands, smiling at everyone. “Alright, let’s all go to bed early today. Tomorrow is the final ranking match. Although winning won’t bring us any benefits, it will directly determine whether FHL or NB will be first in this year’s overall ranking.”

After saying that, he looked at Zhou Lingxing again. “Good luck tomorrow.”

Zhou Lingxing nodded with a smile.

Tomorrow would be Su Heng’s first match against FHL since joining the team, and he was also looking forward to how it would turn out.