The barista walked over with the coffee and tea. Su Xue watched the motions of the woman, distracted. HuyaTV has their headquarters in Guangzhou, theyll make me move there if I take this deal. But I kind of really like my life here in Shanghai! I stream a ton, but I also go outside! Maybe not as much as I should, but still! I go outside! I have friends I meet up with and hang out with! All of that would disappear. Id be in a place where I dont know anyone again. When did I come to Shanghai? A year ago? No, cant be. Has to be less, right? She bit on her lips and lightly shook her head. It took me months just to get settled! I jumped through jobs and barely made any friends until later! If I move to Guangzhou, Id have to do that all over again! And this time, Ill have a job that requires my full time and then some attention! How am I even supposed to meet anyone like that? But the offer, its so good! I cant just turn that down...

Zuo You winked at the barista and said, Thanks. She nodded at Su Xue and added, From her too.

The barista smiled and walked away. Su Xue didnt notice it. She was stuck in her own mind. Her lips moved soundlessly. What do I do? I should accept the deal, right? Its too good to say no to! Ol Black was really jealous about it too! But

Hey, girl, Zuo You said. She looked at Su Xue and continued, What do you want? And I dont want you to think about this. Whats the first thing that comes to mind. What do you want?

Su Xue bit on her lips and shook her head. She mumbled, My stomach churns when I think about what I want I love my life here! With you, with Lin Feng, with everyone! I dont wanna leave that behind, but I also dont want to turn this deal down! I I dont know.

Zuo You leaned on the table and said, Remember when you told me youd started streaming? When I told you you were trying something that was most likely going to fail because there were so many others Im rambling, but you get the point, right? You knew what you wanted! To become the biggest, most famous streamer! Now you have that opportunity! This is a real opportunity to become the biggest streamer out there, Su Xue! Isnt this deal exactly what youve been working towards for the past six months?

Su Xues mind went blank. Every distracting thought was gone and she just stared at her friend. Shes right. This is what I have been working towards! Then, why am I hesitating? Whats there to hesitate She bit on her lips and watched the steam rising from her teacup. I dont like change and its all so sudden. Maybe thats why Im worrying so much about this! Maybe I just need to push myself through this. It is a great deal! Ill have every chance to become the biggest streamer on Huya!

HeyHey! This really isnt all that difficult! Zuo You exclaimed. She sipped from her coffee cup and continued, This is an exclusive contract with HuyaTV! Do you know how few people in the world get this kind of offer? You and two others! In the entire world! You and two others! Whats there to hesitate or think about? Shanghai isnt that great! And its not like well stop being best friends! Ill fly over all the time! And with your streaming thing, youre not poor anymore either! She suddenly stopped herself and mumbled, Wait She tilted her head and looked Su Xue in the eyes before continuing, Dont tell me Is it because of him? Are you really hesitating because of him? I know hes on your stream a lot, but its your stream! Youre the streamer! Those viewers are there for you, not him!

You stupid! No! NO! Su Xue yelped, shaking her head. She grabbed a small spoon and swirled her tea and whispered, Maybe

No. No. No! Zuo You said, her eyes growing progressively wider. Dont tell me you fell for him! Please dont tell me you fell in love with him! Hes still a kid!

Su Xue scrunched her eyebrows, surprised. Whu? Love him? No! She yelped. She shook her head and continued, No! Thats not it at all! Its more like She turned her head to look out of the window and explained, You know when the landlady came to my door and told me Id have to live with him? Well, I was really upset back then. I liked my life as it was. But I didnt have any money and had lost my job, so I needed some help. The landlady knew that, so she helped me out.

Lin Feng barged into my room that first night. I think he wasnt even in the apartment for 10 minutes when he showed that he has no personal boundaries. And I was really mad with him. But he was also so, so pure and innocent? He just wanted to have fun. And I think it was infectious. He brought something to my life and to the stream I was lacking before. He taught me how to, how to just have fun! Youre right, it is my stream. The viewers come for me. But I couldve never gotten to this point if it wasnt for him. And my viewers always ask when hes coming on again. He is a big part of my stream.

But its not even just that. Yeah hes a big part of my stream, but I can get over that. My viewers will get over it if he doesnt appear anymore. Theyll understand. I might lose a few of them, but most will stay. Ill still have one of the biggest streams out there. She sighed loudly and continued, But hes not just a co-streamer, and hes not just my roommate. Hes, he is He is my friend, my little brother, the person I wake up early for every day just to make sure he gets to school on time. The kid who forgets his keys. The guy who loves and appreciates my food more than anyone else in this world! Im not in love with him. Im not! Not in the way youre thinking, anyway. But I do love him, like a little brother. Hes my family, and I dont want to leave him behind I, I think I want to stay with him.

Zuo You laughed awkwardly. Dont love him, but you do Great work, XueXue! She looked at her friend lovingly and said, You cant make your decisions based on other people. Think about yourself here, XueXue. What you want for yourself. Regardless of everything and anyone else. It doesnt matter if you accept or decline the offer. But make that decision because you want to take it or turn it down, not because you worry about someone else.

Su Xue nodded and smiled. She said, Thanks. She then breathed in deeply and looked at the passing traffic outside the coffee place. What do I want What do I want? I just dont know. Stay I guess? Or go? Maybe Uch! she exclaimed. She then shook her head and concluded, I dont know! I just dont

It was almost 7 P.M. Su Xue had finished preparing dinner half an hour ago and was now sitting at the table, impatient. Where is that little shit? Did he stay out to eat again!? He better not... She turned her head to look at the hallway, listening to a key turn in the lock. Finally! She waited for the door to open and then shouted, Youre late! Take your shoes off, wash your hands, and get in here! The food is getting cold!

Coming, coming! Lin Feng shouted from the hallway. He stamped on his heel to take one shoe off and repeated the process for the other one. He then ran to the kitchen and sprinkled some water on his hands before rushing into the dining room. Smells so good! Su Xue is the best cook! He sat down at the table and looked at all the food Su Xue had prepared, grinning. So good! he said while filling his bowl with some red braised pork and stir fried beef. Then he dug in.

Su Xue watched Lin Feng devour the food and chuckled. Id have to miss this She grimaced and asked, Lin Feng?

Mhmm? Lin Feng replied with a full mouth. He looked at her and opened his mouth to say something, when she cut in and said, Dont talk with a full mouth! He nodded and swallowed the food down, then asked, Yeah? Whats up?

Su Xue chewed on her lips until she asked, If you had an opportunity presented to you. Something that could change your life and help you achieve everything youd ever dreamt of. But by accepting it, youd also have to give up on a lot of things you really dont want to give up on. What would you do?

What would I do? Lin Feng asked, scratching the back of his head. He then shrugged and answered, Accept it of course!

But youd have to give up on things. A price to pay Su Xue argued.

Lin Feng shook his head decisively and explained, Theres always a price to pay. But its your dream! You dont give up on your dream because things become a bit difficult! You think it was easy for me back in Season 1 to make it to Worlds? We didnt have any money! There were no sponsors! We ate the cheapest food and stayed in the cheapest hostels! And if we lost a tournament, we didnt have money even for that! But we didnt give up on our dream of reaching Worlds! We sucked it up and kept working for it! He grinned and added, So what if you gotta give up on a few things? Youre getting the chance to reach your goal and make your dream reality! Thats worth everything!

Su Xue scrunched her eyebrows, surprised. Whats gotten into him? Since when does he actually sound mature? Who is this person and what did they do with the real Li She shook her head and grimaced. Stop this, Su Xue! Stop making jokes to think about something else! Hes right. Zuo You is right. Theyre all right! Ive got this amazing opportunity to achieve my dream! Ive always talked about wanting to become the biggest streamer! Zuo You and Lin Feng have spent so much time helping me get there, and now I have the chance to actually get there! She chuckled. Im really stupid! Really, really stupid! This was never a question. I have to take this. She breathed in deeply, trying to stop her heart from slamming into her ribcage, and then breathed out. She looked at Lin Feng and said, Thanks, I needed that. Also, Im coming with you to Guangzhou.

You are? Lin Feng asked in surprise. He then grinned and shouted, Awesome! Are you coming just to cheer me on? Thats so nice of you! I knew you were the best! Were gonna win the whole tournament! Youll get to cheer me on in every round and then watch me lift the trophy!

No, you idiot! Su Xue interrupted. She glared at him and explained, Ive got a meeting there with HuyaTV about my future with the platform. I might become one of their faces!

Team Shanghai met up at Pudong Airport at 7 A.M. on January 12th 2016. It was the day they were going to fly to Guangzhou for the main tournament of the Winter Collegiate Cup. There were two extra people with them. The first was Chu Fang, who was the vice president of the Shanghai Esports Organization. He was the teams manager officially and would accompany them on the trip. The second person was Su Xue who had a meeting with the executives from HuyaTV.

Lin Feng pointed at Su Xue and shouted, I brought Su Xue with me! Shes gonna come and cheer us on all the way to the Finals!

Im not, Su Xue replied. She glared at Lin Feng and continued, I told you, I have stuff to do in Guangzhou! But if Ive got time, I might come and watch you guys play some.

See? Lin Feng exclaimed. He patted his chest and continued, Told you she was gonna come and cheer us on!

Tang Bingyao nodded and said, Mhm! Nice to have you join us! She looked at Su Xue and smiled. When I grow up, I wanna be like her! Shes so pretty and she plays League for a living! And she makes so much money playing League too! Shes got tens of thousands of people tuning in every time she goes live! If I could get that many viewers, life would be so much easier!

An Xin smiled and said, The more the merrier. Good to have you with us!

The group went through the motions at the airport. Dropping off their bags, going through security, getting to the gate early and waiting to board the plane. They eventually sat down in their seats and felt that brief moment of weightlessness as the airplane took off.

The plane landed at Guangzhou Airport a good two hours later. Team Shanghai got their luggage and took a cap to the 4-star hotel theyd be staying at. Chu Fang had chosen this particular hotel because of how close it was to the Tianhe Stadium, the venue for the Winter Collegiate Cup. They checked in and went to their two person rooms. Zeng Rui and Zhang Hao took one room, An Xin and Tang Bingyao another and Lin Feng and Chu Fang the last one. As for Su Xue, she got her own room.

Team Shanghai met back up in the lobby downstairs after dropping their bags off at their rooms. Lin Feng looked around, grinning, and said, Lets go eat! Im really hungry! Fatty told me about this really great restaurant thats right near here! Its got Canton style special dishes! I really want to go try it out! Whos with me?

An Xin smacked Lin Feng on the back of his head and said, No. Were going to register at the tournament venue first.

Zeng Rui nodded and added, I want to check out the venues facilities. Its good for us to familiarize ourselves with the place before playing there. It helps take the edge off.

Zhang Hao put his hand up and asked, We might also see our potential opponents, right? The other teams will also have to check in! Maybe some are there when we go!