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Prologue 002- Li Xiang (Part 2)

Li Xiang asked doubtfully, “Is it a graduate student senior brother?”

Teacher Zhang shook her head, “No, he’s a senior student from the History Department. This student’s situation is rather special. He previously took a three-year leave of absence due to personal reasons. All the students in his year at the History Department have already graduated, and his bed had long been allocated. The dormitories on the fourth floor of the History Department are also all full. It’s not convenient to arrange for him to return there. Since there’s an empty bed on your floor, it’s convenient to let him live with you for a year.”

Li Xiang quickly said, “I understand, no problem! I‘ll go back and tidy up the dormitory!”

On the way back, Li Xiang couldn’t help but have some doubts in his heart.

The maximum leave of absence for C University is three years. In other words, no matter what the reason, after handling the leave of absence procedures, the school will only reserve your student status for three years maximum. If the student cannot return within three years, they will be handled as a dropout.

There were two most common reasons for leave of absences: the first was for health reasons. Illness was unavoidable, so one would have to temporarily suspend their studies to seek treatment and return to school after recovery. The second was for psychological reasons. Students under great academic pressure may develop depression. Instead of waiting for the situation to deteriorate to the point of suicide, the school would persuade these students to take a leave of absence to adjust their mentality at home before returning to class.

This classmate from the History Department actually took a three-year leave of absence in one go, truly so courageous…

Did he have health issues? Or did he have psychological issues?

***

In the office of the Student Affairs Office.

Teacher Lin Fang from the History Department watched Li Xiang leave, then turned around and said, “Xiao Zhang, I’m really sorry for troubling you. This student suddenly returning to school shocked me too. His situation is quite special. Professor Liu specifically talked to the dean to ask us to keep an eye on him as much as possible. Missing even one class is not allowed… Being so strict towards his twenty-something-year-old biological son, even his computer was confiscated.”

Teacher Zhang Yue was embarrassed, “Even confiscating his computer? So exaggerated? What exactly is the deal with this student?”

Lin Fang coughed and said, “A top-tier player in the gaming world.”

Zhang Yue was surprised, “A university student playing games, shouldn’t be a big deal right? Just now, that Li Xiang, our Physics class monitor, also plays online games.”

Lin Fang rubbed her temples with a headache, “He’s different.”

Zhang Yue was confused, “How is he different?”

Lin Fang asked, “Have you ever heard of the professional e-sports league?”

Zhang Yue nodded.

Lin Fang said, “This game, Wulin, launched an official professional league a few years ago. This student led his team to compete and won many national championships.”

Zhang Yue, “…”

Being able to play only games? This was indeed very common. There were many students around us who could play online games.

But the professional league was entirely different. Professional e-sports players made gaming their profession. This was just like how basketball and football athletes made competing their profession.

E-sports was a brand-new term that had emerged in the 21st century, starting from the very first Warcraft and StarCraft to the later DOTA, League of Legends… In the Internet Information Age, various e-sports projects had emerged one after another, springing up like bamboo shoots after the rain.

The hosting of the WCG World E-sports Championship swept the globe with the e-sports storm, and China’s e-sports circle gradually aligned with the world. More and more prestigious teams and top professional players appeared. China’s representative teams had also achieved countless glories in world e-sports championships.

Nowadays, the domestic e-sports circle was becoming more and more formal. Popular e-sports players had countless fans and were treated like stars wherever they went!

Teacher Zhang was truly surprised.

Such an awesome figure was actually returning to university?

***

At the same time, at the Capital Airport.

A man walked out of the international arrival hall dragging his suitcase, stopped in the corridor, and took out his phone from his pocket.

He was wearing blue jeans and a pure black vest, the muscles on his exposed arms were strong and beautiful. His height of over 1.85 meters made him extremely eye-catching in the crowd. He wore a peaked cap on his head, the brim pressed very low. The expression on his face could not be seen clearly, and only a sharp profile could vaguely be seen.

His side profile was rugged, with a high nose bridge and a clean, neat jawline. His lips were curved slightly, with a hint of a smile.

The man was texting. Anyone who passed by could clearly see his hands — they were very good-looking hands, with long and powerful fingers, evenly spaced joints, and clean, neatly trimmed nails.

At the moment, he was holding the phone with his left hand and typing words on the screen quickly with his right index finger.

His hand speed was extremely fast. In less than five seconds, a message had been sent from his phone.

“I’m back in the country. Are you in Beijing? Come out and meet up tomorrow?”

After sending the message, he lazily leaned against the window, squinting his eyes, basking in the sun with contentment.

The phone rang very quickly, and a familiar name appeared in the reply: Nightfall¹.

The other party’s tone seemed somewhat cold: “Liu Chuan? What are you coming back for?”

Liu Chuan said: “Go to school :)”

Nightfall: “…”

Liu Chuan continued: “Tell the captains of several teams, during the time I’m away, don’t miss me too much.”

Nightfall replied: “Get lost.”

Liu Chuan smiled, typing: “Tomorrow night at 7 o’clock, same place, my treat.”

Outside the window, the sunlight was just right.

Pure white clouds were scattered like clusters of cotton, strewn across the high sky, while the azure sky was clean and clear as if it had been washed clean with pure water. Occasionally, there were airplanes leaving the horizon, breaking through the skyline, gradually disappearing from peoples’ sight.

New semester, new season.

For many people, perhaps it was also a new beginning?

Liu Chuan raised the corners of his lips slightly, stuffed his phone back into his pocket, and carrying his suitcase, walked out of the airport with quick steps.

Note:

夜色 Yèsè: night color/shade ↩︎

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