matchstick heaven

As New Year's Day approached, Zhou Chenshan and Shen Qing got busy at the same time.

Since they came back from Hangzhou, Zhou Chenshan was not at home most of the time. Even when he was at home, he was always changing reports, making phone calls, and holding video conferences, busy with a big project that KUP will launch next year.

Shen Qing stayed in his workshop, watching videos over and over again, trying out heroes, and constantly arranging and combining players' hero pools.

On the night before the holiday stipulated by the Eagle Club, Zhou Chenshan returned home early.

"When are you going to leave?" Zhou Chenshan asked Shen Qing while handing over the coat he took off to the servant.

Shen Qing replied: "It is required to return to the base before 12:10 noon tomorrow, and I plan to leave after [-]:[-] in the morning."

Zhou Chenshan nodded: "Well, almost. Let's eat first."

Shen Qing realized that Zhou Chenshan might have come back to "fulfill the duties of a husband" for him to practice. After all, since the start of the German Cup, he has basically lived in the base, and it is likely that he will stay for half a year.

"You don't have to come back specially."

Zhou Chenshan said with a smile: "It's still necessary to pretend, besides, I haven't had dinner at home for a long time."

Shen Qing sat down in the position she had grown used to.

He remembered that there were still arrangements for tonight, so he spoke carefully: "Do you need to work from home later?"

Zhou Chenshan raised his eyes, and there were a few shallow lines on his forehead: "Why?"

"I made an appointment with the top laner of our team to have a private talk before the game. His home is not far from here. He will be returning to the base tonight, so I stopped by."

"Which player?" Zhou Chenshan thought of the answer as soon as he asked, "Your old friend?"

"Yes... I want to talk to him alone about some points for attention in the new season. I don't know if it's convenient."

Zhou Chenshan said with a smile: "What's the inconvenience? It's just that in this way, he might know about our relationship."

Shen Qing gave a vague "hmm".

In fact, this was the main reason why Shen Qing asked Pan Luping to come here to talk.He needs someone in the team to know his situation, so that if he messes with the management and affects the team in the future, someone can stand up and deal with emergencies.

Zhou Chenshan probably understood it, and said indifferently: "If you think it's okay, then I'm fine too."

Zhou Chenshan didn't intend to conceal this marriage with an impure purpose. Why did he get married? Why did he want to find a person who had nothing to do with interests, who was not too calculating about money, and who was not burdened by his family? Someone with a little brain I can figure it out.

Such temporary marriages are very common in the Zhou family, but he was luckier than the average person and found the most suitable candidate.

"When will he arrive?" Zhou Chenshan asked.

"About seven o'clock."

Zhou Chenshan glanced at his watch: "Then we have to eat quickly."

Shen Qing scratched her head embarrassingly: "I thought I was the only one eating, and I thought I would eat after he left."

These words made Zhou Chenshan frowned: "You eat too casually."

"There is nothing we can do in this industry. The training time is usually not accurate. Sometimes we discuss some tactical arrangements for a long time, and we don't feel hungry after the meal, so we eat irregularly."

"It's not healthy."

"Well... I know. The club is thinking about the health of the players, and there will be staff in charge of logistics to remind us every now and then, but sometimes... it's not too loud to move everyone."

Zhou Chenshan heaved a sigh of relief: "This is one of the reasons why the careers of e-sports players are too short."

Shen Qing was a little unconvinced: "You probably won't be much better, there are many people who drink beer bellies at a young age."

Zhou Chenshan politely retorted: "There is nothing to do about the wine table, besides, I always eat something to fill my stomach before drinking, so I won't be hungry to talk about business."

Shen Qing said: "Then there is nothing we can do..."

The two fell silent for a moment, looking at each other's faces.

"Uh... sorry..." Shen Qing subconsciously apologized.

Zhou Chenshan smiled, and shook his head: "Forget it, we two don't need to laugh at each other, there is nothing we can do, let's eat."

During the dinner, the two of them didn't talk much, but the atmosphere was not dull.

After the meal, the servant put away the tableware and made another pot of coffee.Zhou Chenshan sat on the couch and read documents, while Shen Qing nestled on the side sofa and watched a OB video of the training match on the tablet.

Pan Luping arrived at about 7 minutes to seven. He was slightly surprised when he saw Zhou Chenshan, who was wearing home clothes and looked more like the owner of the house.

"This is Pan Luping, the top laner of our team," Shen Qing introduced to the two, "This is... Zhou Chenshan, the team he helped Brother Zhang fund."

Pan Luping stared blankly at Zhou Chenshan, not even paying attention to Zhou Chenshan's hand.

"Er...you..."

Shen Qing smiled slightly at Pan Luping, and said in a flat tone: "Old Pan, I married him."

For a moment, the atmosphere was a little stiff.

Pan Luping seemed to want to say something, but fell silent again.

In the silence, Zhou Chenshan took half a step forward and took the initiative to hold Pan Luping's hand, looking enthusiastic and polite.

"Hello, first meeting."

Pan Luping is obviously not used to this style of greetings. He is different from Shen Qing. He has been a famous player since he entered the professional league, and he does not do a lot of entertainment outside the arena. very strange.

"Uh... hello..."

Seeing that he was uncomfortable, Shen Qing took him to her workshop and asked him to sit on the small sofa.Zhou Chenshan originally wanted to ask his servant to make tea, but in the end Shen Qing changed it to iced cola.

As soon as the door of the workshop was closed, Pan Luping jumped up from the small sofa: "woc! What's going on with you?!"

Shen Qing raised her hand and pushed him back onto the sofa.

"I just wanted to tell you about this, so I made an appointment to meet today first. You don't have to think too much about it. For small things, listen to me first."

Shen Qing leaned on the back of her ergonomic chair, turned it in a small arc, and briefly explained the matter.

He didn't want to hide the part from Pan Luping, so Pan Luping knew all about how many unusual purposes were mixed in this strange marriage.

"You... this..." The old friend was stunned for a long time, not knowing what to say.

In the end, he tentatively asked: "Will he... um... divest halfway... cheat us... or something?"

Shen Qing lowered her head, and said softly: "He needs to consolidate his power position in the Zhou family. I don't know the details. Anyway, he won't be untied in the near future. But we have agreed on a maximum of 2 years, and after 2 years, the There will be a divorce, and he may have to withdraw the capital by then."

Pan Luping opened his mouth, still not knowing what to say.He is not an expressive person.

Shen Qing raised his head: "However, if the team's performance is good and brings him enough attractive income, he should also be willing to continue to support the Eagles. After all, it is also a way to advertise KUP."

Pan Luping finally found what he wanted to say: "No... Oh! This is not good! What if you are deceived by him... They are the most scheming businessmen, how can we deal with them? When he takes you into the army, you won't even have the ability to resist."

Shen Qing laughed out loud: "Why did he cheat on me?"

"Uh..." Pan Luping scratched his head, unable to answer.

"We have nothing to do with each other. I am meaningless to him. We get a permit and pretend to live together for 2 years—up to 2 years—and I live in the base most of the time. Wait until the right time to divorce, he gets his inheritance, I keep our team, everyone is happy. What do you think?"

"Um... I... don't know..."

Shen Qing didn't care about Pan Luping's attitude towards this matter, he just turned his gaze out of the window.

There was a gust of wind blowing outside, which blew the branches of the trees upside down, and the few pines and cypresses that were still lush in winter were shaken and rattled non-stop.

Pan Luping was silent for a while, and said, "Shen Qing, this is too dangerous. If that Zhou is always a beast in clothes, what will you do?"

Shen Qing couldn't help laughing, lowered her eyelids, and said indifferently: "Don't worry, I'm not a fool, I won't suffer casually."

Besides, after getting along these few days, he felt that Zhou Chenshan was not that kind of person, but he didn't say it, and it was meaningless to explain such things to Pan Luping.

"Just do your own thing. It's the last year, so don't leave any regrets."

Pan Luping took a big gulp of Coca-Cola and said, "I'm sure I know that. Every year I play seriously, that's...sometimes luck is not in place, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Shen Qing's gaze stayed on the door lamp outside the villa, that lamp was so strong, it shone steadily in the strong wind.

He turned around and said to Pan Luping, "I hope we will have good luck this year."

After seeing off Pan Luping, Shen Qing stayed in the workshop and continued the work of the past few days.Zhou Chenshan also entered his study early, busy discussing user preferences and adjusting product parameters.

At night, the wind outside the villa seemed to have stopped, and everything was quiet.

When Zhou Chenshan got up and went outside to make a new pot of coffee, he was not surprised to see the small studio with the lights still on.

After working these few days, he always thought of Shen Qing.

At noon yesterday, he received a promotional video for the Spring Split from Eagle's manager. Although there is still a while before the start of the Spring Split, it can be seen that the entire Eagle team is holding back their energy.

The praise that was regarded as the "new king" by the outside world, the unexpected defeat of NEST, the sudden crisis of dismantling the team, and the timely rain to save the team's capital injection, these accidents made everyone feel like they were on a roller coaster.Now their desire for victory is stronger than ever, and all of this is reflected in the promotional video produced by the team itself.

However, Zhou Chenshan's attention was fully focused on the 2 seconds after Shen Qing appeared.

Shen Qing in the camera looks different, the paleness has been modified, making her look more temperamental and refined.

Zhou Chenshan had an association, if Shen Qing's complexion was better and his face grew a little flesh, he would probably look like in the movie.However, it is indeed a bit difficult to live and rest in his kind of life.

Zhou Chenshan himself is a person who has given up a comfortable life. He knows that pursuing a distant goal requires far more than just personal life.As far as he himself is concerned, wanting to take down KUP completely is not just a hunter's instinct cultivated since childhood, KUP has been his goal from the very beginning.

One thing he has never admitted is that he has a sense of belonging to KUP, his first job.

Shen Qing is even better than him.

Zhou Chenshan learned some details from the side. The current lineup of the Eagle team was selected by Shen Qing himself.This team carried some of Shen Qing's dreams. He must have thought about it many times in his heart, but he hadn't expressed it.

Thinking of this, some changes appeared on Zhou Chenshan's expressionless face, the hand that poured the coffee beans hesitated, and added two more spoonfuls.

The rich aroma soon wafted out.

Zhou Chenshan took two cups of coffee, walked outside Shen Qing's work room, and knocked on the door with his elbow.

Shen Qing opened the door and looked at him in surprise: "What's wrong?"

"Seeing that you are still busy, I made some coffee, would you like a cup too?" Zhou Chenshan raised the coffee cup in his hand to signal.

At this moment, he is different from Shen Qing when we met for the first time, he looks very gentle, without distance, and without sharp edges.He's just here to deliver an evening cup of coffee.

Shen Qing was taken aback, and quickly took one of the cups: "Ah...thank you!"

Zhou Chenshan said briskly: "You're welcome, go get busy."

After finishing speaking, he turned and left, and after a while, he heard a slight closing sound of the door behind him.Holding another cup of coffee, he slowly walked back to his study room. Along the way, the mellow aroma of coffee wafted out, filling the originally empty villa in the quiet night.

When the moonlight came up, the two windows were simultaneously stained with a layer of silver paint, and the lights were on all night in a secret time that no one could pry into.