Chapter 20

Late Saturday night, the Lu family's living room was unusually brightly lit.

Tonight was the night of the Heroes Glory World Championship finals.

Lu Yao, Lu Qi, Ms. Li, and Father Lu were all watching the live broadcast on TV with rapt attention.

The match had yet to begin. The hosts were warming up the crowd and introducing the players on both teams.

When Lu Shenyuan was mentioned, thunderous shouts and cheers erupted from the venue. As though the director knew what the audience most wanted to see, the camera kept cutting to Lu Shenyuan's expressionless face.

Seeing how excited the audience on TV looked, as if they were about to faint, Ms. Li smiled and teased, "Little Uncle's popularity is really incredible."

Lu Qi said, "Of course. What guy who plays Heroes Glory doesn't treat him as an idol?"

Hearing that, Ms. Li looked at Lu Yao. "Is Xiao Yao the same?" She remembered seeing Lu Yao play Heroes Glory before.

Lu Yao nodded and gave a quiet "Mm." Among esports players, Lu Shenyuan was the only one whose matches he watched.

The match soon began, and the outcome was unsurprising. Lu Shenyuan once again led his teammates to the world championship and reached the pinnacle of the world.

Lu Shenyuan's most famous hero was the marksman hero Night Assassin.

As though they had anticipated the outcome long ago, the game's officials announced at the awards ceremony that they had specially commissioned an exclusive Night Assassin figurine for Lu Shenyuan.

There was only one in the world.

When he received the championship trophy, Lu Shenyuan showed no sign of joy, as though he had long grown accustomed to it. Yet when he accepted the figurine from the staff, the corner of his lips lifted slightly.

That stunning smile of his, together with the topic of their championship victory, shot to the top of trending searches across major websites that night.

It was daytime overseas. A large number of reporters from both home and abroad crowded outside the venue, hoping to interview Lu Shenyuan as soon as possible. But all they managed to catch were his other teammates, the coach, and other staff.

Lu Shenyuan had already disguised himself and left the venue after receiving his award.

After getting up, Lu Yao changed into workout clothes and planned to go outside for a morning run.

The moment he opened the front door, he was startled by the person standing outside.

The man had his head lowered, a black cap on his head, and was dressed entirely in black.

Hearing the door open, the man slowly raised his head.

Lu Yao blurted out in surprise, "God Lu?"

Hearing Lu Yao's form of address, Lu Shenyuan gave a low laugh, his voice deep. "Call me Little Uncle!"

Since Lu Shenyuan had suddenly appeared at the front door, Lu Yao's morning run was naturally canceled.

The others had not gotten up yet, so only Lu Yao and Lu Shenyuan, uncle and nephew, sat at the breakfast table.

Lu Shenyuan had previously learned from Father Lu that Lu Yao also played Heroes Glory, so their conversation over breakfast mainly revolved around the game.

After breakfast, Lu Shenyuan went to the living room and opened the suitcase he had brought back. He took out the exclusive custom figurine given to him by the organizers the night before.

With a smile in his eyes, he handed the still-packaged figurine to Lu Yao.

"Here. This is Little Uncle's belated gift for our first meeting."

Lu Yao frowned. "It's too valuable."

Lu Yao understood the significance an exclusively customized figurine held for a professional player.

Lu Shenyuan curled his lips in a soft laugh and forcibly stuffed the figurine into Lu Yao's arms. "If I'm giving it to you, it isn't valuable at all."

Ever since Lu Shenyuan learned about what his little nephew had gone through in the past, he had felt sorry for him and wanted to make it up to him in every possible way. He knew Lu Yao usually played ADC as well, so when the game officials asked him what surprise reward he wanted if he won, he thought of giving Lu Yao a one-of-a-kind custom figurine.

Seeing Lu Shenyuan's firm attitude, Lu Yao had no choice but to accept the lavish gift. He held the figurine carefully, his voice calm but sincere. "Thank you, Little Uncle."

Lu Shenyuan waved a hand. "We're family. No need to be polite. I'm going back to my room to sleep off the jet lag."

Though Lu Shenyuan was Father Lu's cousin, he had his own room in the Lu family home. Whenever he was not staying at the club, he stayed with the Lus.

Lu Shenyuan slept straight through until noon.

When he woke up, Father Lu and Ms. Li had already gone out. Only Lu Yao and Lu Qi remained at home.

After the three of them sat in the living room staring at one another for a while, Lu Qi took the initiative to say, "Since we've got nothing to do, how about a game of Heroes Glory?"

If it had only been Lu Qi, Lu Shenyuan would certainly have rejected the suggestion without hesitation. But considering his little nephew was there, he nodded in agreement.

When the two of them looked at him together, Lu Yao also agreed to Lu Qi's suggestion.

Lu Shenyuan's room already had two desktop computers, and Lu Qi went to get his gaming laptop from his room as well.

Just as they opened Heroes Glory, Lu Shenyuan's phone suddenly rang. He took it out, glanced at the caller ID, and immediately declined the call.

Unfortunately, the person on the other end refused to give up and kept calling persistently.

Lu Qi said, "Little Uncle, why don't you answer it? It keeps ringing. It's noisy."

The moment Lu Shenyuan answered, the club manager wailed loudly from the other end of the line.

"God Lu! Lord Lu! Please start a livestream and explain why you disappeared after the match! Otherwise, your fans are going to stage a sit-in protest outside the club!"

Lu Shenyuan said, "Can't you just explain it in a post?"

The manager said, "Do you think I haven't? I posted a statement ages ago, but they say they won't be reassured unless they see you in person. If I didn't know what was going on, I'd think you really had fallen out with the club."

Lu Shenyuan said, "I'm on vacation right now."

The moment the manager heard that, he knew exactly what Lu Shenyuan was angling for.

Gritting his teeth, he said, "I'll waive two months of your required streaming hours."

Lu Shenyuan said, "Three months."

The manager ground his teeth and enunciated each word. "Deal! Now! Immediately! Get yourself on a computer screen!"

After hanging up, Lu Shenyuan turned to Lu Yao and Lu Qi. "I need to start a livestream for a bit. Do you mind? If you do, I'll stream after we finish this match."

Lu Qi said, "Just play and stream at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone."

Lu Yao said, "I don't mind."

Hearing that both of them agreed, Lu Shenyuan logged onto the streaming platform and opened his channel.

Although Lu Shenyuan's livestream had started suddenly, without any promotion or advance notice, a huge number of fans and passersby flooded in at once. The platform staff immediately placed his stream in the featured section on the homepage.

Lu Shenyuan deliberately aimed the camera only at himself, avoiding filming Lu Yao and Lu Qi.

While they were still matching with teammates, Lu Shenyuan looked at the chat and selected a few comments to answer.

Seeing many people spamming questions about why he had vanished without a trace after the match, Lu Shenyuan locked in the hero he wanted and said in a low voice, "I was eager to get home."

Rather than stay overseas for all those pointless interviews, he might as well come home early to see his little nephew.

When viewers saw that God Lu, the world's number one ADC, had actually locked in a support hero, while ADC was subsequently claimed by an unknown random player, the livestream instantly exploded.

[Honestly, I've been using the reading app to keep up with updates lately. It has source switching and multiple narration voices, and works on both Android and iPhone.]

The world's number one ADC, God Lu, was going to support him?! Did he deserve that?!

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