Everyone's Face Is Red-Hot Ye Cheng: "Someone Save Me"

"What's going on here?"

Tang Yuyao was puzzled as she forcibly hauled her youngest nephew—who was lying in bed feeling sorry for himself—back up into a sitting position.

Forced boot-up.

The little kid: "..."

Auntie, are you sure this is okay? You'll never get a boyfriend like this. No wonder my little uncle doesn't come home and hangs out with pretty older sisters instead—who'd want to deal with this?

Of course, the kid only dared to mutter that in his head. If he actually said it out loud, he'd end up twice his size.

The kid looked at the two profile pictures his aunt was pointing at and immediately understood what was confusing her.

"These two seem to be fighting."

"Fighting?" Tang Yuyao raised an eyebrow.

"Give me a little more detail."

"Auntie, I'm so sleepy. I have school tomorrow. Haven't you heard that kids need to win at the starting line? I'm already way behind everyone else like this..."

Tang Yuyao: "..."

"What starting line does a kindergarten kid even have?" Tang Yuyao couldn't help but mock.

"Tell you what—tomorrow I'll pick you up, and I'll figure out a way to get that Xiao Hong girl over. I'll treat you both to a meal. Your pick of the place."

This was Tang Yuyao's way of compensating the kid. After all, she'd confiscated his phone, bugged him late at night, and if she didn't give something back, that'd be pretty heartless. She wasn't that kind of person.

The kid's eyes lit up, instantly recharged: "Auntie, for real?!"

"Obviously. Hurry up—have I ever lied to you?"

"Hmm... the times are kind of numerous. Let me count. Last time, you said you'd bring me roast chicken on your way home, but by the time you got here, only the bones were left. And you said I was already too fat to eat. The time before that—"

The kid started counting on his fingers. Tang Yuyao was stunned. Did those things even happen?

Huh... maybe?

It wasn't her fault, okay? The roast chicken was just too tempting. She couldn't resist. She took a tiny bite on the way, and then it just tasted better and better, until by the time she got home, only the bones were left.

Tang Yuyao: "..."

No way—how did this chubby kid remember all that? Wasn't that ages ago? Ugh!

Tang Yuyao's face was turning red with embarrassment. The kid was still counting on his fingers, so she forcibly cut him off, putting on her aunt authority.

"I don't remember any of that. But if you keep spouting nonsense and slandering your auntie's good name, then tomorrow's Xiao Hong thing might just—"

The kid's eyes instantly went innocent, and he threw on a fawning smile: "Auntie, everything I just said was something from my dreams."

"You know, I'm just a little kid. I dream all the time. My brain isn't fully developed yet. It's totally normal to mix up reality and dreams. Auntie, you're so magnanimous—please let bygones be bygones. So, about tomorrow's Xiao Hong thing..."

Tang Yuyao: "..."

This was definitely her fourth brother's son. Tang Yuyao seriously doubted that her sister-in-law had any part in making this kid—she was just the delivery service. He was beyond father-and-son; he was a direct copy-paste. Her brother in his youth had been exactly the same way...

The kid quickly told Tang Yuyao everything about the match just now, the whole story. He even automatically reenacted the two people's tones of voice, like he was performing a crosstalk routine.

"Oh... I see. That's such a mess—can they even win?" Tang Yuyao's mouth twitched.

Three damage dealers total, and two were already dead weight, building tank items to see who could survive longer and die fewer times. How were they supposed to win that?

"They can! They can win! Little uncle carried hard. When he jungled, he won at six minutes, super fast."

"Then why didn't he keep jungling?" Tang Yuyao asked with an odd tone.

The kid shook his head: "Don't know. Seems like little uncle's classmate wanted to jungle, so little uncle switched to support."

Tang Yuyao found it more and more strange. Wasn't the whole shtick supposed to be this innocent white-lotus type? How was she suddenly so aggressive? Playing even after getting completely stomped?

That kind of personality and playstyle... The more she thought about it, the more it looked like those two.

Wait—maybe it wasn't Lin Baizhi at all. Could it be Shen Qinghan or Dongfang Zhixia?

"Alright, I've got it. You go back to sleep." Tang Yuyao planned to test it out later to confirm the identity of this "18-year-old innocent college girl."

She leaned more toward Dongfang Zhixia, because... Shen Qinghan was more reserved and spoke less. She wouldn't just attack someone directly after one line.

But it wasn't certain, either. The hospital incident from before was still fresh in her memory—that woman's aggression was absolutely brutal...

The kid was about to fall asleep anyway before being force-woken, so now he couldn't sleep anymore even if he lay down. Instead, he wrapped himself in a blanket and watched his aunt play from the sidelines.

In less than three minutes, Tang Yuyao got her first death. Her phone screen went black.

"Bad feel today. Weather's a bit cold." Tang Yuyao muttered to herself.

The kid nodded. Yeah, he had that too sometimes—when the feel was off, he'd get solo-killed by jungle monsters out of nowhere. Understandable. Totally normal.

Less than a minute after respawning, Tang Yuyao got jumped and killed again.

"Wasn't looking at my phone that time."

"Uh... auntie, weren't you looking pretty intently just now..."

"Xiao Hong..."

"Right, right! Everyone makes mistakes—even the best of us. Those jerks on the other team just got lucky catching you at that timing, auntie!" The kid said with righteous indignation, making excuses for her.

Tang Yuyao had died twice in a row, which perked her up quite a bit. She finally stopped dying so frequently. The turning point came at the ten-minute mark.

Tang Yuyao was heading to mid lane to grab some farm when five enemies jumped out. A barrage of flashy skills—so fast she couldn't even follow the effects—took her down instantly. It was like getting hit by a flashbang; her screen went black right after.

Tang Yuyao: "..."

The kid: "..."

The aunt and nephew both went silent. Quietly, Tang Yuyao opened her own scoreboard. She was the one with the most deaths.

Meanwhile, the two players she'd been looking down on—who built tank items—were both doing just fine.

"Ding ding ding—"

"Ding ding ding—"

Two crisp notification sounds came one after another. Shen Qinghan and Xia Tongxin were tagging her.

Mixed little cutie: "Stop feeding mid."

18-year-old innocent college girl: "No skill, just practice more."

Tang Yuyao: "..."

At visible speed, Tang Yuyao's face went beet red, flushed with rage. The little kid nestled in his blanket nearby felt a wave of heat radiating off her.

"Auntie, you're really red."

"Shut up!" Tang Yuyao was losing it.

That death, plus the one-two punch from the young miss and Xia Tongxin, marked the turning point of the night. From there, the game turned into something bizarre. The enemy team opened their scoreboard.

“Holy crap, you're serious? That much tank?”

“666, sis Yao's building crit items now!”

“Wait, why does the enemy support have so much gold? They hit like a truck!”

“I thought this was a free win, turns out the enemy is just... a bit special in the head...”

“Stop yapping and come help! This top laner is insane, we're getting destroyed! Help me!”

The five of them each had their own take. The item builds were weird as hell, but somehow the game stabilized and stayed locked in a stalemate for thirty minutes without ending.

In the end, the enemy squad outplayed them, successfully wiping Ye Cheng’s group and grinding out a hard-fought win.

“These degenerates... absolute degenerates! Five enemies, four tanks, a crit-building support — are there no normal people left?!”

That was the desperate outcry after their crystal exploded. They'd won, sure, but winning felt worse than eating crap.

The match had been too grindy — every single enemy was annoyingly cautious, booking it the moment they saw you, nearly impossible to hunt down. If they hadn't capitalized on one opening, they could have dragged on for another half hour.

“BOOM!”

“Defeat!”

Inside the villa, four people — three of their faces were flushed red, the head maid included. Why only three? Because Ye Cheng had again earned the highest rating, got a gold medal, and still gained one star. The other three not only had low ratings, but also received “stamina deduction” emails.

“Detected malicious item build. 4 credit points deducted...”

Shen Qinghan: “…”

Xia Tongxin: “…”

Head Maid: “???”

Xia Tongxin and the young miss had their punishments coming, but the head maid couldn’t figure it out — why did her normal, proper play also get flagged? The most absurd part? Ye Cheng’s crit build wasn't flagged, and he still had the highest rating.

The reason for her deduction... “Malicious refusal to teamfight.” The head maid had been laning top the whole time, which — in a sense — did count as “maliciously” not participating in fights.

Why?!

What kind of rating system is this?!

For the first time, the head maid felt like she'd been rigged by some corporate algorithm. She was steaming.

“Why didn't you get points deducted?!” Shen Qinghan’s chest heaved as she grabbed Ye Cheng by the collar and demanded.

Ye Cheng: “…”

Missy, why you so worked up... Good thing his rating was the highest, or he might've gotten ground into beef balls for no reason.

“Beats me, maybe 'cause I got top rating?” Ye Cheng said helplessly.

Meanwhile, he was already planning to throw the next game — no way could he keep getting top rating. Shen Qinghan, even if she was slow, would eventually catch on.

Then it'd be goodbye, world.

Shen Qinghan narrowed her eyes, stared at him for a few seconds, then released her grip and went back to staring at her phone, examining the post-game screen.

When she saw that Xia Tongxin’s rating was lower than hers, a smug smile finally spread across her face.

“Get good, or get going.”

Xia Tongxin: “???”

“Rematch!!!” Xia Tongxin’s chest heaved, though visually, nothing changed.

“Nope, going to bed.” Shen Qinghan curled her lips into a smirk.

“Oh, are you scared? Worried I'll outrank you?” Xia Tongxin put on a look of “shock.”

Ye Cheng: “…”

Seriously, little Blondie, you think that trick works on the young miss?

A joke, honestly...

“Ready up. Hurry.” Shen Qinghan’s calm voice came from the side. She reached over and queued for him.

Ye Cheng: “???”

Missy, what happened to you? You fell for such a low-blow taunt?!

Game over. The situation was spiraling out of control. Ye Cheng pinned his last hopes on the head maid, planning to collude with her — they could coordinate, start with Xia Tongxin, while he made moves on his end, and then...

Huh?

Wait a sec, Xia Xia, why is your face red too?

Nooooo!!!

“Vroom——”

“The game begins!”

“All lanes, GO!”

Ye Cheng: Someone save me!!!