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Prologue 003- Liu Chuan (Part 1)

Liu Chuan walked out of the airport and saw a girl with long hair and big eyes standing there, looking around. Liu Chuan walked up behind her and gently flicked the back of her head. The girl immediately turned around, her eyes lighting up when seeing him, and pouncing on him like an octopus, saying, “Ge¹!”

Liu Chuan helplessly peeled off the octopus on his body, “… How old are you, is this appropriate?”

Liu Xiaomeng smiled and let go of him, looking up at Liu Chuan.

This girl’s personality was a bit quirky. When she was young, she loved to pester him with questions like: Gege, why this, why that, why exactly? A typical child who asked “a hundred thousand whys”.

However, girls change a lot when they grow up. The snotty little sister from his childhood had now become a beautiful young lady, fair-skinned and lovely, with particularly beautiful eyes, and long, black hair that was enough to captivate countless people even when seen from behind. Only those who knew her would know that this girl was mischievous and tricky, capable of causing endless trouble.

They hadn’t seen each other for a few months, and she seemed to have grown taller?

Liu Chuan looked at his little sister and rubbed her head with a smile, “Where are Dad and Mom?”

Liu Xiaomeng said, “Dad is at home waiting for you, Mom will be back later after a meeting. I personally came to welcome you as the representative of the Liu family.”

Liu Chuan walked outside with his luggage, asking, “You drove here?”

Liu Xiaomeng nodded, “Hmm, I just got my driver’s license.”

The siblings arrived at the parking lot together and took the car. Liu Xiaomeng was about to sit in the driver’s seat, but was stopped by Liu Chuan. He rushed his little sister to the passenger seat while he himself got into the driver’s seat, saying, “I’ll drive. You, this rookie, stay aside.”

Liu Xiaomeng stuck out her tongue and did not argue with him, obediently fastening her seatbelt by the side.

The car drove out of the airport and headed home along the highway.

Liu Chuan was extremely familiar with Beijing, where he had grown up. He didn’t even need to use a navigation system to know the way around.

Halfway through, the car stopped at a red light. Liu Chuan’s phone beeped with a message. He picked it up and saw it was a reply from Nightfall: “My flight to Xi’an is at 8 o’clock tomorrow night. Change the dinner time.”

Liu Chuan replied; “Change it to 5 o’clock then. There will be a lot more people during rush hour after work, so I’ll reserve a table in advance. I’ll drive you to the airport after dinner.”

The other person responded: “Okay.”

Liu Xiaomeng opened her eyes wide and curiously peeked at her brother’s phone. Liu Chuan glanced at her and took the phone away.

Liu Xiaomeng smiled slyly, “So secretive? Is it your girlfriend?”

Liu Chuan said, “It’s Qin Ye².”

Liu Xiaomeng suddenly understood and immediately straightened up, saying, “Oh, oh! The vice captain of the Chang’an Team, Qin Ye?”

Liu Chuan lifted his lips slightly, “Girl, you have quite a good memory. You still remember Qin Ye?”

Liu Xiaomeng said, “Of course I do. He was so awesome at cursing people!”

Liu Xiaomeng did not play games and did not understand what e-sports competitions were, but with her own eldest brother being a top player in the professional circle, she naturally understood some matters related to the Wulin professional circle.

To put it simply, esports professional leagues were similar to basketball or football competitions. There were various star teams and players, and the winning team would receive prize money. Businesses would also sponsor the teams, and professional players would also earn income from various advertising endorsements. Top players had many fans, and there were even some players who received treatment similar to entertainment industry stars.

As a great god in the league, Liu Chuan had led the Huaxia³ Team to achieve the glorious feat of winning the Year-End Grand Slam — the so-called Year-End Grand Slam, that is to say, winning the professional league spring league, TGA summer grand prix, professional league fall league, TGA winter grand prix, all within the same year. Only those who win all four consecutive events would receive the special “Year-End Grand Slam” trophy.

So far, only the Huaxia team led by Liu Chuan had achieved such a brilliant record.

There were many strong teams in the league, and achieving a Grand Slam was very difficult. This also solidified Liu Chuan’s top position in the league. He had many rivals and friends in the league. Liu Xiaomeng couldn’t remember the names of those people clearly, but Qin Ye had left a deep impression on her.

On the day Liu Chuan retired, this man named Qin Ye called and scolded him to shreds. At that time, Liu Xiaomeng and Liu Chuan happened to be at the airport. Amidst the noisy crowd, that man’s voice coming through the phone was clear and calm, each sentence extremely sharp and heart-piercing. Liu Chuan just listened quietly with a smile, only replying briefly after he finished listening, “I’ve made up my mind, it’s useless for you to persuade me.”

… The other end was so angry that he hung up the phone directly.

Liu Chuan put away his phone, turned around and walked towards the security checkpoint.

Liu Xiaomeng looked at her brother’s tall figure as he walked away, her nose inexplicably becoming sour.

Time passed extremely quickly, and now she was personally picking her brother up from the airport.

Liu Xiaomeng’s emotions were complicated and she asked anxiously, “Ge, you’re contacting Qin Ye not because you want to return to competing right?”

There was no expression on Liu Chuan’s face, and he said calmly, “Talk about it later.”

Liu Xiaomeng whispered, “Don’t make Mom angry again. You and her confronting each other won’t do good for anyone…”

Liu Chuan smiled, “I know.”

The car soon stopped at the Liu family estate.

Liu Chuan’s father, Liu Boyuan, was a leading figure in the domestic academic world. A renowned history professor, he was knowledgeable, gentle, and at the same time, also very nostalgic. The decoration style of the Liu residence resembled that of the Republican era, filled with various precious antiques and jade objects. In Liu Chuan’s words, “As soon as entering the door, it would make people feel a particularly solemn atmosphere.”

No one would believe it if it were said that Liu Chuan, this shameless guy, actually came from such a solemn background…

When Liu Chuan entered the door, his father was practicing calligraphy in the study.

Professor Liu wrote excellent calligraphy, and was the titular president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association. Any piece of calligraphy he casually wrote could be taken to an auction where people would bid on it as if it were a masterpiece. Many people had also specifically asked him to write inscriptions, and many of the calligraphy and paintings in the house were from his hand. Liu Chuan had been trained in calligraphy by him when he was young and had written dozens of copybooks. In the end, he had developed a beautiful rough script.

Liu Chuan’s calligraphy was very unrestrained and bold, just like his personality.

Liu Xiaomeng was more tragic. Both her father and brother wrote excellent calligraphy, but this girl’s handwriting had always been like kindergarten scribbles, failing to improve no matter what.

Liu Chuan glanced at the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on his father’s desk, smiled, and said, “Dad, practicing calligraphy?”

Seeing his son coming in, Liu Boyuan did not even bother lifting his head. He “hmm”-ed and then picked up the brush and dipped it in ink, continuing to write slowly and leisurely.

Liu Chuan sweated, “Dad, I’ll go upstairs to put away my luggage first.”

Liu Boyuan made a “hmm” noise with his nose again.

Liu Xiaomeng said eagerly, “Dad, I’ll go to the kitchen to prepare food! We’ll have dinner as soon as mom comes back!”

Liu Boyuan once again made a “hmm” noise.

The siblings speechlessly slipped out of the study.

Liu Chuan quickly unpacked his luggage in his room. His father, who was writing in the study, seemed like a Wudang Taoist Master practicing Tai Chi, every stroke was slow and meticulous. He was so demanding even when casually practicing any calligraphy, every single stroke had to be perfect. It really impressed him…

After going to the bathroom to take a shower, changing his clothes and going downstairs, Liu Chuan’s mom had just returned home.

Note:

哥: Older brother ↩︎

Same “ye” as the “ye” in Ye Se (Nightfall). ↩︎

华夏 Huáxià: typically refers to the ancient Chinese civilization or the Chinese nation. It’s a term that can carry historical, cultural, or even poetic connotations, often used to refer to the entirety of Chinese civilization or the Chinese people. ↩︎

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