Rise

“WHAAT?” Su Xue cried out.
After welcoming An Xin, Su Xue had rushed back to the kitchen to put the finishing touches to the late night snacks she’d been preparing.
She’d brought them out, allowing Lin Feng to attack the plates of food, and started talking with An Xin.
That was how she learned An Xin and Lin Feng had been friends since elementary school.
She couldn’t wait for An Xin to explain it in any more detail as she started firing off questions, “You knew Little Feng? How was he? Just as stupid as he is now?” She giggled at her own joke, then leaned back in her chair and sighed.
“Wooow.
So you guys go way back.”

“Yeah, we do! We go way back!” Lin Feng interjected.
Then he started grinning and added, “She used to be so chubby, you wouldn’t believe it.
Oh! You know those meat buns? She was fat just like one of those!”

An Xin pointedly ignored Lin Feng and nodded at Su Xue, saying, “Yeah, we do.”

Su Xue looked at An Xin and shook her head in disbelief.
“I can’t believe it,” she mumbled.
“You’re nice and beautiful and way too good for this stupid kid… I don’t know what he did in his past life to deserve a friend like you, but he better count his lucky stars.”

An Xin smiled at the compliment and replied, “You make it sound like you’re not far prettier than me! And you’re pretty amazing yourself too! Lin Feng mentioned that you’re a League streamer, so I’ve been catching some of your streams.
You’re always online and you’re working so hard to make everyone feel welcome! Your viewers love you! You managed to create a place where everyone feels welcome.
That’s really impressive!”

Su Xue started blushing from all the compliments and said, “No, no, you’re exaggerating! It’s not that good.
I’m still working really hard to get to that point… Also, my viewers don’t love me.
Those ungrateful degens are always making my life miserable.
Just yesterday…” She started recounting all the terrible things her viewers had said to her over the last couple of days and how they drove her crazy.

An Xin listened to Su Xue ranting about her viewers, smiling at the passion behind Su Xue’s words.
This wasn’t the I will murder you-smile that she gave Lin Feng all the time, but rather a normal, friendly one.
When Su Xue briefly paused to catch her breath, An Xin said, “I’m really not exaggerating.
You’ve done something really special.
You bonded with your viewers.
They see your community as a family.
That’s not something most people can pull off.
You should be very proud of yourself.
I know I’m impressed.”

Su Xue started smiling and then grinning.
An Xin knew just the right words to say.
That was exactly what Su Xue was trying to do with her stream! To create a community where everyone felt welcome, a community built around having a good time together.
And someone noticed that without her saying it.
That was all the proof Su Xue needed to confirm that the hard work she was putting into her streams was worth it. 

“Yeah! Su Xue is just a little insecure! She doesn’t believe that her viewers are only teasing her! But it’s so obvious! She does put in a lot of effort to make them happy, though,” Lin Feng chimed in.

“Hey, hey! I’m not insecure! I know it’s all in good fun, you stupid punk!” Su Xue shouted back, glaring at Lin Feng.
Then she turned back to look at An Xin and asked, “So you moved here last week from Hangzhou?”

An Xin nodded and said, “Yes.
It’s barely even been a week.”

“So pretty much since Monday, huh?” Su Xue mumbled. That’s right around the time Lin Feng stopped sulking… He should’ve just told me he missed her…
Stupid kid.
Stop making me worry about you for nothing.
I’ll get back at you for this! She glared at Lin Feng, then threw her thoughts of revenge to the back of her mind and focused her attention back on An Xin.
She put on a smile and asked, “Oh, right! You said you watched my stream? Does that mean you also play League?”

“Yeah, she does! She’s really good! Oh! Oh! She’s coaching our team! Didn’t you see? She was standing in the back during Champion Select!” Lin Feng interrupted.
“Also! Also! We made it to the Finals!”

Su Xue laughed and said, “Yes! I caught the last bit of the third stream.
But you little punk should’ve told me something about the livestream! If it wasn’t for my viewers pointing me to it, I would’ve never even found it! Your Olaf was really good though.
Did BunBun tell you to play him? She’s the one who came up with the strategy, right? Isn’t that what a coach does? That’s what I always see in the LPL and at Worlds!”

Lin Feng nodded and said, “Yep! She did! She’s a great coach! If only she was anywhere as good as me at playing the game…”

“Say what?” An Xin asked sternly, looking at Lin Feng with that infamous smile of hers.
“Say that again.
I dare you.
I double dare you.”

Lin Feng grinned and then corrected himself, “err, playing the game at my level! It would be more fun if you were just as good as I am! All I meant is that you’re just a little bit worse than me… You’re not bad.
You’re very good! Really!”

Su Xue laughed at the two high schoolers squabbling with each other.
Then she turned to look at An Xin and asked, “I’ll be streaming in a bit.
Want to play some duo queue?”

“Sure! I’d love to!” An Xin replied.

Lin Feng looked at the two girls, confused. Game? But BunBun didn’t bring her laptop… What are they so excited about? Did they forget? He licked the grease from his lips, then said, “Uh, how are we going to play a game? There’s three of us and only two computers.
You know BunBun didn’t bring her laptop, right?”

“Three of us? I asked her, not you,” Su Xue said.

An Xin giggled and said, “It’s fine, it’s fine.
How about this, Lin Feng.
You can be in charge of getting us drinks and snacks!”

The thought of being reduced to maid duties scared Lin Feng into action.
He quickly came up with an excuse and said, “Wait! Look at the clock.
There’s no time to play a game.
How are you going to get home in time? You need to sleep early.
Tomorrow is the game against Shanghai High School and you still need to come up with a strategy for that!”

An Xin raised her eyebrows and shut Lin Feng down, “Oh, don’t worry.
I’m sleeping here tonight.
I told my parents before I left for school this morning.
Didn’t you ask me to stay over yesterday? Yep, that’s totally how it went down.
By the way, mom and pa asked me to say hi for them.
Hi.”

“That’s settled then,” Su Xue said, waving her hand.
“She can sleep in my room.
Or she can sleep in your room and you can sleep on the couch.
We’ll figure it out.
I’ve got some spare blankets.
But let’s worry about that later.
Finish your food first so that we can start playing some League!”

✹

Su Xue started up her stream, pointing the webcam at only herself.
Lin Feng had brought his laptop over and put it down next to Su Xue’s computer.
An Xin sat behind it, while Lin Feng stood behind the two girls.
Viewers started joining the stream and they quickly flooded the chat, angry at how long it’d taken Su Xue to grab a late night snack.

「Holy shit girl… Eat faster please….
I can only keep going without you for so long…..」

「I ALMOST DIED OF OLD AGE WAITIN FOR YOU!!!!!!」

「ssssssooooooooooooooooooo slllooowwwwwwww…… I FELL ASLEEP!!」

「MAH GOD! Slowpoke is faster than you are! Snorlax woke up before you finished your snack!」

Lin Feng leaned over Su Xue’s shoulder and entered the frame of her camera.
The viewers noticed him immediately and started congratulating him for his win in the Shanghai 16 School Tournament Semifinals.

「oh shit! it’s the raid boss himself!!!」

「LIL BROOOOOO!11!1! WE MISSED YOU!1!!!!!」　

「TEACH ME OLAF PLS< SENSEI!!」

「WE SAW YOU PLAYING TONIGHT