FYN Chapter 54, Double Encounter
Chapter 54, Double Encounter
At 8 p.m., Gao Huan saved the last track of the arrangement, took off his headphones, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh.
The arrangement of the two new songs took almost a week to complete, and it's finally finished today.
He typed "final_v3" into the project file, thought for a moment, then changed it to "final_final" before closing the computer.
My phone vibrated.
On WeChat, Chen Duling's profile picture has a red number lit up in the upper right corner.
"Huan-ge (one-day boyfriend), wanna play League of Legends?"
Gao Huan glanced at the time.
8:03.
Naza flew to Beijing this afternoon to film GG. The RV was so quiet that only the hum of the air conditioner could be heard.
He replied with two words: "Log in."
The other person replied instantly: "I'll pull you."
Gao Huan turned on his computer and logged into the game. Chen Duling's invitation had already arrived; he accepted and entered the room.
There are two people in the room, one is him, and the other is "Dudu Budu", whose profile picture is a cat.
"Is it open?" Chen Duling asked on WeChat.
"open."
Matching has begun.
As the countdown began, Gao Huan picked up the thermos on the table and took a sip of water.
Goji berry and Solomon's seal tea is warm, with a slight medicinal taste, but it's not unpleasant to drink.
Men must always strive to be stronger!
Upon entering the game, they were assigned to the blue team.
Chen Duling chose support, while Gao Huan chose AD.
The remaining three positions are randomized—top lane, mid lane, and jungle.
During the loading screen, there was a moment of silence in the team voice chat before someone spoke up.
"Hello, hello, hello, can you hear me?"
The voice had a familiar air about it, with an upward inflection, like a sparrow that had been perched on a telephone pole for a long time and finally found someone to talk to.
Gao Huan's finger paused on the mouse for a moment.
Chen He.
He was all too familiar with that voice; he had heard it countless times in variety shows in his past life. That "I'm just here to make people laugh" tone was unique.
He didn't speak, but glanced at the ID: "Mr. Chen, an ordinary citizen." It was indeed Chen He's account.
"I heard you, I heard you, stop shouting."
Another voice rang out, lower than Chen He's, with a lazy and impatient tone.
If you mess up again this game, I'm going AFK.
Wang Sicong.
Gao Huan understood.
That tone, that directness of "I'm not happy, so I'll say it," is something no one else can match.
The third voice didn't speak at first, but the next sentence in Northeastern Mandarin, "Um ah," immediately made him realize it was Lin Gengxin.
He picked Fiora for top lane, without Flash but with Ignite, full of confidence.
Chen Duling did not turn on her microphone.
Her microphone icon was gray, as quiet as a cat curled up in a corner.
But she typed in the game: "I'm the support, the AD is my friend, don't steal my position."
"AD, is that your friend?" Chen He's voice rang out again. "Male or female? Turn on your mic, friend."
Chen Duling did not reply.
Gao Huan didn't say anything either.
He picked Ezreal, with Heal and Flash, and standard masteries and runes.
The game has begun.
The first five minutes were uneventful. Gao Huan was farming minions in the bottom lane, while Chen Duling's Sona was wandering around nearby, occasionally using her Q on the enemy or healing them.
The problem occurred in the ten minutes.
Lin Gengxin's Fiora was ganked by the enemy jungler in the top lane, failed to use Flash, and died. After respawning, she teleported back to lane, was ganked again, and died again. She died twice in two minutes, with a score of 0-2-0.
"Holy crap, are you delivering this here, Lin Gou!"
Wang Sicong's voice came through the audio, his tone was not loud, but it was quite impactful.
Lin Gengxin remained silent.
"I'm asking you a question, what are you sending?"
Wang Sicong added another sentence, this time in a louder voice, conveying a direct sense of "I'm very unhappy".
Chen He tried to smooth things over, saying, "No, no, no, calm down, calm down. It's just a game, entertainment comes first."
"Entertainment my ass! You're entertained by losing rank points?"
Wang Sicong cursed, then continued lecturing, "You picked Fiora but didn't take Teleport and instead took Ignite, got ganked twice and didn't even buy a Control Ward, are you playing a normal match?"
Lin Gengxin finally spoke, his voice low and tinged with aggrieved defense: "I'm being targeted."
"If you're going to target me, then retreat to your tower. What are you going out to feed?" Wang Sicong persisted, his speech becoming increasingly rapid.
Chen He chimed in from the side, "Alright, alright, stop cursing, just fight properly—"
"Shut up, I haven't even said anything about your 0-8 hand last time."
Wang Sicong shifted his focus, and Chen He fell silent.
There was a two-second silence in the voice message.
Then Gao Huan spoke.
That's enough.
Just two words: small, but very stable.
There was a moment of silence in the voice chat.
"It's just a game, don't get worked up."
Gao Huan continued, speaking at a moderate pace and in a calm tone.
"Winning adds points, losing deducts points; it's not like we've lost time or distance."
Wang Sicong did not respond.
Chen He chuckled softly on the other end, then quickly suppressed it.
Gao Huan did not speak again.
He turned his attention back to his screen. The enemy jungler had shown up in the bottom lane. He used Ezreal's Arcane Shift to jump backward, dodging a fatal crowd control skill. He then used a QWA combo to bring the enemy AD to low health.
"Holy crap, that movement was amazing!"
Chen He spoke softly in the voice message, as if talking to himself.
In the next team fight, the enemy mid and jungle ganked the bottom lane, with four people surrounding and killing the bottom lane.
Chen Duling's Sona was positioned too far forward and was caught out by the first move.
The health bar was draining away like a tap that had been turned on.
Gao Huan's fingers moved.
EZ's E skill was on cooldown, and he used Arcane Shift to jump in front of Sona, blocking a fatal skill.
Then he used Flash to reposition, hit the enemy jungler with Q, applied W, and landed a critical hit with a basic attack, killing the jungler.
As the enemy AD chased after him, he dodged their crowd control abilities and unleashed a precise barrage of his ultimate, hitting two enemies. Combined with the turret's damage, he secured the kill on the enemy support.
Double kill.
"Beautiful!" Chen He exclaimed in the voice chat.
Wang Sicong didn't say anything, but typed a single word in the game: "AD is awesome."
Gao Huan did not reply.
He pushed the minion wave forward and went back to base to buy equipment.
The next steps made the voice chat increasingly quiet.
His reflexes and hand speed had been enhanced twice by the system, and this advantage was fully demonstrated in the game.
The opponent's skill animations looked like slow-motion replays to him, giving him ample time to judge, reposition, and counterattack.
His last-hitting is as steady as a clock, his positioning in team fights is as precise as if he were programmed, and every wave of damage hits the opponent's most vulnerable spot.
After the first game, he was the MVP, with a score of 12-0-8.
At the start of the second game, Wang Sicong asked in the voice chat, "AD, are you a professional player?"
"No," Gao Huan said.
"With your skill level, it's a shame you're not a professional player."
Wang Sicong's tone changed, from his previous agitation to seriousness, carrying an excitement of "I've discovered a treasure."
"Which team's youth training program are you with? Or are you not yet signed?"
"No contract signed, and not from youth training."
Wang Sicong was silent for two seconds, then said something that silenced Chen He and Lin Gengxin.
"Bro, come join my team. You name the salary, top pay."
Gao Huan's fingers paused on the keyboard for a moment.
I don't play professionally.
"With reaction speed like yours, it's a waste that you're not playing professionally."
Wang Sicong's tone carried an undeniable certainty. He had spent so much money in the e-sports circle and seen too many professional players, but he had rarely seen a player with Gao Huan's level of skill.
"Think it over, I'm serious. Top salary, signing bonus, whatever you want, name your price."
Gao Huan didn't reply and focused on finishing the second game.
MVP, 9-2-11.
In the third game, he dominated the opponent during the laning phase, and the opponent surrendered after fifteen minutes.
After the three games were over, Wang Sicong spoke again in the voice chat, this time with a more serious tone than before.
"Bro, I'll say it again, if you join my team, the pay won't be a problem. With your skill level, it's a real shame you're not playing professionally."
Chen He chimed in from the side, "Yeah, brother, the principal rarely praises people like that; he's serious."
Lin Gengxin rarely spoke up, his voice low but sincere: "Indeed impressive."
Gao Huan remained silent for two seconds.
Chen Duling's microphone icon flashed; she turned on her mic.
"He is Gao Huan." Her voice came through the audio, not loud, but very clear.
There was a full three seconds of silence in the voice chat.
"Who?" Chen He's voice rose an octave.
"Gao Huan," Chen Duling said again.
"Is that... Gao Huan from Hesong? The Gao Huan who played in 'Swords of Legends'?"
Chen He's voice carried an excitement akin to "I've won the lottery."
"Yeah, Brother He and Brother Gengxin, it's been a long time," Gao Huan said.
"Holy crap!" Chen He laughed. "Brother, I especially loved your performance of 'One Meat, One Vegetable' on the Spring Festival Gala! I almost cried!"
Wang Sicong didn't say anything more. He sent Gao Huan a friend message in the game: "Are you really Gao Huan?"
Gao Huan typed back: "Mm".
Wang Sicong posted another message: "Professionals really don't play?"
"I really won't fight."
Wang Sicong was silent for a few seconds, then sent a thumbs-up emoji and added, "Let's line up together next time, add each other on WeChat."
Gao Huan gave her his mobile phone number.
Lin Gengxin didn't say anything, but silently gave Gao Huan a thumbs up in the game and then sent a friend request.
Chen He continued rambling in the voice chat, "Bro, that move you just made, even some professional players can't pull it off. You really are talented!"
"Talent," Gao Huan said.
Chen He smiled, a very happy smile.
"Wow, that's quite the boast."
"Being humble is useless," Gao Huan said. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
Chen He laughed even harder, and after he finished laughing, he suddenly asked, "Um, the girl who turned on her mic just now, her voice sounds familiar."
Chen Duling's microphone icon went dark again.
"Chen Duling?" Chen He guessed. "Right? Chen Duling has a very soft voice... You two just collaborated on 'The Left Ear'?"
Chen Duling didn't say anything.
Gao Huan didn't answer for her either.
"Alright, alright, stop guessing."
Wang Sicong said in the voice message, "If someone doesn't want to talk about it, don't ask. Gao Huan, let's rehearse together next time. I've added you on WeChat."
"Okay," Gao Huan said.
It was almost 10 o'clock when I logged out of the game.
Gao Huan leaned back in his chair and rubbed his wrists.
On WeChat, a message from Chen Duling popped up.
"When are you coming to Xiamen? You said you'd treat me to your cooking last time, but you haven't kept your promise yet."
"After filming wrapped."
"Then hurry up and finish filming, I'm really looking forward to your delicious cooking."
Gao Huan replied with a single word: "Okay."
He put his phone on the table and stood up to stretch his neck.
The night outside the hotel window in Shanghai was as dark as ink, with office buildings in the distance still lit up in patches.
My phone vibrated again.
He thought it was Chen Duling, so he picked it up and looked at it. The note read "Hu Yanbin".
Voice message.
He clicked on it, and every word in his voice carried a kind of languid, alcohol-soaked weariness.
"Gao Huan...are you in Shanghai?"
Gao Huan replied with a text message: "I'm here. Brother Bin, are you alright?"
The other party replied with a voice message instantly.
When I opened it, the voice was even lower than before, as if I was speaking with the phone pressed against my chest.
"I've broken up with her completely. Can you come over and talk to me?"
Gao Huan looked at the message and hesitated for a moment.
He wasn't very familiar with Hu Yanbin; they had met a few times, shared a meal, and followed each other on Weibo.
But the fact that Hu Yanbin called him at this time and in this state indicates that among the people he was willing to call, only Gao Huan answered.
It's also possible that Gao Huan saw his most pathetic side, when he was frantically looking for his dog in the Gubei No. 1 residential area.
He squatted silently in front of the incubator at the pet hospital.
If someone has already embarrassed themselves in front of you once, it won't be so difficult for them to do it again.
Gao Huan picked up his car keys, put on his coat, and walked out of the room.
The night air in Shanghai is damp and sticky, like it's about to rain but doesn't.
He got into the car, started the engine, and used the navigation system to search for the location sent by Hu Yanbin.
M1NT, located on the 24th floor of Gaoteng Building, No. 318 Fuzhou Road, is one of Shanghai's oldest members-only bars. It's a nightclub hidden on the top floor of an office building, offering panoramic views of the Bund at night.
The car drove onto the Yan'an Road Elevated Highway. Traffic was sparse in Shanghai at night, and the office buildings on both sides of the elevated highway were brightly lit.
Twenty minutes later, the car stopped downstairs at the Gaoteng Building.
The doorman opened the car door, and Gao Huan walked in with his head down. As the elevator went up, he watched the floor numbers jump one by one.
On the 24th floor, as the elevator doors opened, a chorus of deep electronic music and dim lighting poured out.
M1NT's layout is quite different from Bar Rouge; it's more like a private club.
There is a bar in the center of the lobby, surrounded by booths. There is a VIP area on the second floor, and security guards stand at the top of the stairs.
This location is more secluded and private than Bund 18, but there were quite a few people here tonight, sitting in twos and threes.
Gao Huan put on her mask and walked into the lobby.
He spotted Fan Bingbing immediately.
She was sitting on a sofa in the VIP area on the second floor, surrounded by several other people, men and women, who appeared to be her team or friends.
She was wearing a long black dress, her hair was loose, and she was holding a glass of wine in her hand, but she didn't drink it. She just held it as if she was waiting for something.
Her gaze fell on the lobby downstairs, casually sweeping over the crowd, like a peacock looking down from above.
Gao Huan didn't look at it much.
He is looking for Hu Yanbin.
Then he heard a melody.
Intermittent notes came from the direction of the stage; piano notes flowed from the speakers like water droplets, but the singer sounded more like he was "shouting."
A heart-wrenching, long-suppressed outburst, a cathartic release that finally found an outlet.
Gao Huan looked in the direction of the sound.
Hu Yanbin stood on the first-floor performance stage.
He was wearing a dark blue shirt with two buttons undone and sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and he reeked of alcohol and looked exhausted.
His eyes were closed, his brows were furrowed, and the veins on his hand holding the microphone were bulging.
He was singing a song that wasn't finished yet.
The melody wasn't completely finalized yet, and the lyrics were also pieced together haphazardly, but a few lines were already firmly planted, like nails that, once inserted, couldn't be pulled out.
"Take everything you want, turn memories to nothing, don't care about feelings, and retain some dignity..."
Gao Huan paused for a moment.
"...Keep our dog, no matter if it's useful or not. I'm afraid no one will love it in the future, even if it doesn't understand my pain."
Gao Huan stood there, listening to that lyric, and in his mind was the image of Xiao Shiyi curled up in the shoebox.
Dirty curly fur, half-closed eyes, and bandaged front legs.
Hu Yanbin and I stood motionless in front of the incubator at the pet hospital, watching the dog's back.
He finished shouting the lyrics, his voice changing from a high-pitched shout to a whisper, and then to silence.
The microphone only carried his breathing, deep and shallow, like someone groping in the dark, unable to find the wall or the door.
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Then someone applauded.
It wasn't enthusiastic, just scattered, but every clapping was genuine support.
Gao Huan walked over and stood below the stage waiting for him.
Wait until he slowly comes out of that state, wait until he puts the microphone back on the shelf, wait until he stands there with his head down.
When Hu Yanbin stepped off the stage, he was a little unsteady on his feet.
He steadied himself by holding onto the microphone stand, then looked up and saw Gao Huan.
His eyes were red, and when he saw Gao Huan, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly; the expression was neither a smile nor a cry.
"Gao Huan, I'm sorry to have called you over," he said, his voice a little hoarse.
"It's nothing, I haven't been here in a long time either," Gao Huan said.
Just then, a low gasp came from the crowd behind them.
"What a nice view."
"It's so beautiful."
Gao Huan turned around.
Fan Bingbing came down from the second floor.
She came down alone, and everyone's attention was drawn to her.
Her long black dress trailed a smooth arc down the stairs, and her gait was graceful, each step exuding an alluring charm.
As she walked downstairs, everyone in the lobby seemed to be drawn to her by a magnet, their eyes following her every move.
She ignored the people, walked through the crowd, and headed straight for the stage.
Gao Huan stood there, motionless.
Fan Bingbing walked up to him and stopped.
She was a little shorter than him, and she looked up at him with her head tilted slightly. Her eyes were large, and the color of her pupils was not clear in the dim light of the bar, but the light there was bright.
She tiptoed, brought her lips close to his ear, and spoke as softly as a feather falling on cotton.
"You're Gao Huan, right?"
Gao Huan turned his head and looked into her eyes.
He half-removed his mask, and a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Sister Bingbing".
Fan Bingbing smiled, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment, carrying a sense of scrutiny, assessment, but more than that.
"How's your Aunt Bing doing lately?"
She asked in a casual tone, as if she were talking about the weather, but Gao Huan sensed the probing beneath the polite conversation.
She and Li Bingbing have been rivals for so many years, starting from their time at Huayi Brothers, competing for resources, billing order, and endorsements.
Now that Li Bingbing has built up Hesong's business and still holds him as a trump card, Fan Bingbing can't help but be curious.
"It's fine," Gao Huan said calmly.
Fan Bingbing looked at him, and the corners of her mouth curved up a little wider.
She reached out and gently patted his arm. The movement was light, carrying a sense of "older sister cares about you" intimacy, but beneath that intimacy lay a thin, subtle layer of seduction.
"Your Aunt Bing is a good person in every way, except that she's too strict."
Her voice was very low, so low that only the two of them could hear it, "Don't you feel bored following her around?"
Gao Huan looked into her eyes but didn't reply.
Fan Bingbing smiled, took a step back, and created some distance between them.
Her expression returned to that polite, impeccable smile, as if her previous remark was just a casual remark, not worth mentioning.
"Let's have dinner together sometime," she said, her tone polite, but with a certainty that said, "I'll contact you again."
She turned and left.
The long black dress swayed briefly in the light at the doorway, and the assistant who had just arrived followed behind. The group disappeared into the elevator.
Gao Huan stood still, looking in that direction.
Hu Yanbin stood beside him, his eyes blurry with drunkenness as he looked in the direction Fan Bingbing had disappeared, and mumbled something indistinctly:
"She actually lost her dog! It was only a few thousand dollars..."
Gao Huan looked away and took Hu Yanbin's arm.
"Let's go, Brother Bin, I'll take you home."
"I'm not going back." Hu Yanbin shook his head, like a child unwilling to go home. "Just one more drink, just one more."
Gao Huan ignored him and led him outside.
Hu Yanbin staggered alongside him, muttering, "Tell me, why did she throw that dog away? We raised it together... How could she throw it away?"
Gao Huan did not answer.
As the elevator descended, Hu Yanbin leaned against the elevator wall, his eyes closed, and continued talking.
"I wrote that song for that dog. 'Keep our dog,' do you know what I was thinking when I wrote that line?"
Gao Huan looked at him.
"I'm wondering, if I had kept the dog, would she still have stayed?"
Hu Yanbin opened his eyes, his gaze unfocused, but the pain in his words was genuine.
"Later I realized it wasn't about the dog."
She doesn't care at all.
They don't care about the dog, and they don't care about me.
The elevator reached the first floor and the doors opened. Gao Huan helped him out.
A night breeze blew by, carrying a damp, impending rainy scent.
In the dead of night in Shanghai, the neon lights are still on, but there are very few cars on the road.
Gao Huan helped Hu Yanbin into the passenger seat, fastened his seatbelt, then went around to the driver's seat and started the car.
"Where to?" he asked.
Hu Yanbin leaned against the car window, closed his eyes, and mumbled, "Drive wherever you want."
Gao Huan didn't say anything. The car drove out of the parking lot and into the Shanghai night.
Hu Yanbin fell asleep in the passenger seat.
His breathing was heavy, his brow furrowed, like someone who had a nightmare but couldn't wake up.
As Gao Huan drove, Fan Bingbing's words that had just been whispered in his ear, "Don't you feel bored following her?" and the way she had gently patted his arm, were still on his mind.
He recalled that Yangyang Jin had once chatted with him in the RV, mentioning that Fan Bingbing had previously offered him a role in "The Empress of China".
Li Bingbing refused outright without discussing it with him.
Yangyang Jin laughed and said, "Sister Bing scolded her terribly in private, saying she was dreaming of being an old cow eating young grass!"
Gao Huan didn't take it seriously at the time.
Looking back now, Li Bingbing's criticism of "an old cow eating young grass" might not have been just empty talk.