Chapter 170: Marching Time Drew On, and Wore Him Numb
It was Monday morning. Senior Class 7 was in the middle of their first period of the week. Study hall. This was time intended for doing homework and preparing for upcoming tests. But that wasn’t how these students saw it. They’d just come back from a long and busy weekend, where they stayed up late and got up early to have fun with their friends. Monday morning study hall, that was the perfect window to catch up on some much needed sleep. Of the thirty students in the class, there were maybe five awake.
Ren Rou was the class president. She was supposed to lead these study hall periods. But she also understood that when the students got the option between an extra hour of sleep or doing homework, they would unanimously vote for the former. She shook her head, looking around the classroom. Then she felt drawn towards the very back of the classroom, towards the last row of desks. This was where Ouyang was snoring, quietly, and Lin Feng was scribbling in his textbook, furiously. She couldn’t see what he was writing, but she could tell he wasn’t happy. There was an aggression to the way he pushed his pen into the paper. And whenever he looked up, she could see just how bloodshot his eyes were. And the dark circles around his eyes. It looked like he didn’t get much sleep over the weekend.
Today marked the fifth day since that semifinals match between KG and SSK. It was also the fifth day that Lin Feng had withdrawn from everything going on around him. He was consumed with his notebook, losing sleep and letting everything else in his life fall behind as well. As for what was in the notebook, Ren Rou could make a decent enough guess. She’d seen some of his work only a few days ago. He’d been working on his preparations for the game against Shanghai International. From Champion Select to lane match-ups to habits of all the players, with both main team members and substitutes being taken into consideration. He didn’t leave a stone unturned, thinking of new approaches and searching for that one vital weakness he could exploit.
Ren Rou stared at Lin Feng. She still remembered how the entire team had felt when they saw what Lin Feng was working on. He’d prepared a dozen different scenarios for Champion Select, based on the Champions and strategies Shanghai International played most often. It was thorough. There were even small scribbles next to each Champion detailing the ways in which it was most likely going to be played and how to counter that. Lin Feng’s teammates didn’t know what to think of it. On the one hand, the insights and strategy were impressive. But on the other… It wasn’t healthy what Lin Feng was doing, they all knew that.
The only way the team members from the esports team knew how to help Lin Feng was by stepping up their own game. If they wanted to share the burden with him, they had to play at a level where they could actually share the burden. But they weren’t at that level. They couldn’t help him when it came to the game versus Shanghai International. They weren’t good enough. Ren Rou shook her head, upset. She wanted to help. But she wasn’t good at the game like Lin Feng. Nor did she have his insights in tactics and strategy. She could only put her trust in him and count on him pulling them through. She felt terrible about it, but didn’t see any other way.
✹
Tang Bingyao was one of the few students not fast asleep during study hall. She’d opened her English textbook and was reading the words. Sentence by sentence, page by page, the words flashed before her eyes, but they never entered her head. She didn’t even really know what book she was holding. There was something nagging at her mind, distracting her from everything else. She could hear his pen working away on the paper. I’m so stupid. She glanced over her shoulder, over towards Lin Feng, and started biting her bottom lip. He’s still working so hard. She turned back towards her textbook and tried to continue reading, but found she had no clue what page she was even on. She had to search for the last bit she remembered and that brief moment was enough for her mind to wander back towards him. She looked over her shoulder again and looked at Lin Feng, mumbling to herself, “I’m so stupid.”
He’s spent so much time coaching me, and I’m still not good enough. I can’t even beat that ad-carry from Shanghai International. He’s better. Even after everything Lin Feng tried to teach me, I’m still only here… “Ugh.” Tang Bingyao sighed, shaking her head in frustration. She wanted to help him, but she was no good at comforting people. Not in her mind, anyways. But that was for the most part because she’d never done it before. Because she’d never cared about anyone that much. And then came Lin Feng. She still vividly remembered how he sat next to her at the NetCow Cafe that first time. How he’d watched her play and then convinced her to play with him. From a 1v1 to playing together every day for months. He’d shown her something that was really worth something. He’d always been there for her and now there was this indescribable feeling telling her to do the same. She wanted to help him. She really did. But she had absolutely no clue what to do. “I’m so stupid,” she muttered, slightly louder than before.
Tang Bingyao looked towards Ren Rou, who was trying her best to lead the study hall. I even asked her. I’ve never done that before. But Ren Rou wasn’t much help either. She didn’t have a clue about how they could help Lin Feng. The two girls had talked about it for a long while, tried brainstorming together, but they came up empty. Tang Bingyao looked over her shoulder again at Lin Feng. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek now, watching him write. Maybe… What if I treat him to some food? She stared at Lin Feng as she completely forgot about the English book she was pretending to study. A plan was taking shape in her mind. She knew how much he loved food. He was always talking about it.