Chapter 743
Never Lose
The girls excitedly took photos on the deck. Luo Xin and Xiao Yu pulled Xi Ran to pose in various ways at the bow of the ship, while Rita leaned against the bar, swirling the champagne in her glass and looking at the man sitting on the sofa with alluring eyes.
Su Mo sat on a large leather sofa, holding a glass of chilled sparkling wine, gazing intently at the bustling night view on both sides of the river.
Lin Xuan walked over and naturally sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder, feeling the river breeze.
"What are you thinking about?" Lin Xuan asked softly.
“Looking at this city.” Su Mo took a sip of his drink, his voice low and gentle. “When I was a professional player, my daily activities were limited to the base and the stadium. I rarely had the chance to quietly enjoy the scenery outside like this.”
Mrs. Yu carried over two plates of delicate French pastries, placed them on the coffee table, and sat down on his other side, gently placing her hand on the back of his hand.
“There’s still a long road ahead.” Yu Shuang’s eyes reflected the lights on the river, gentle enough to melt ice and snow. “When you feel tired of playing on the field and truly retire, we’ll find a quiet place, buy a house with a big yard, plant flowers, and raise dogs.”
Upon hearing the word "retirement," Rita, Xiran, and the others who had just arrived fell silent and gathered around the sofa.
"Brother Mo, you won the MSI championship this time, and you've won so many Grand Slam titles already. Will you still play in the Summer Split?" hope Ran asked softly, a hint of worry in her big eyes.
Su Mo looked at those concerned eyes.
He knew what they were worried about. Many professional players, after reaching the pinnacle of success, choose to retire prematurely because they lose sight of their goals, or their performance plummets.
But he is none other than himself.
He is Su Mo.
Su Mo put down his wine glass, stretched out his arms, and pulled Yu Shuang and Lin Xuan, who were leaning against him, into his arms, his gaze sweeping over each of the girls in front of him.
"Don't worry."
Jiang Feng tossed aside the stray hairs on his forehead, and in his deep eyes still burned the purest desire to control the minion wave and the outcome of the battle.
"As long as I can still hold a mouse, as long as the minion waves under the tower are still converging, my class will never end."
Su Mo slightly curled the corners of his mouth, his smile revealing an absolute confidence that seemed to rule the world.
"I haven't gone to collect my overtime pay for the Summer Split yet."
The girls couldn't help but laugh when they heard his familiar yet domineering declaration.
"cheers!"
Rita raised her champagne glass and clinked it high in the air.
"Salute to our seven-time champion! Salute to Mo, the god who never loses!"
Six crystal wine glasses clinked crisply in the night breeze over the Huangpu River.
The river flows ceaselessly, and the Oriental Pearl Tower in the distance glitters with dazzling light.
On this luxurious yacht, in this private vacation that belongs only to them.
Su Mo closed her eyes, enjoying the breeze from the river and the laughter of the girls around her.
The seven-day holiday is almost over.
On the evening before returning to the team, Su Mo fulfilled his promise made in London and treated EDG's starting players and coaching staff to a big meal.
The meeting place was a top-tier Black Pearl seafood restaurant on the banks of the Huangpu River. Since Ah Chen and Xiao Yue wanted to check out the new mice at a newly opened peripherals store nearby, everyone decided to meet on the first floor of the mall and then walk to the restaurant.
At six o'clock in the evening, the mall was crowded with people.
Su Mo wore a soft black casual shirt, paired with simple straight-leg trousers, and a black baseball cap without a prominent logo, the brim pulled low. He was still carrying his black thermos, walking unhurriedly at the back of the line.
Even though he was dressed so modestly, his tall and slender figure and calm and reserved aura still made him stand out in the crowd.
"Brother Mo, your walking style is so healthy! Come and see this!"
Ah Chen stood in front of an event booth in the mall's atrium, waving excitedly.
It was an "Extreme Reaction Challenge" hosted by a well-known energy drink brand. Ten cylindrical glow sticks were suspended above the machine and randomly dropped. Participants had to stand below and catch the falling sticks without any prompts from the machine. The more sticks they caught, the bigger the prize.
Many passersby and young people were watching, but most people could only catch three or four sticks in a flurry. Occasionally, a boy with good athletic ability would catch seven sticks, which drew cheers.
"Isn't this just a test of reaction speed? Watch me!"
Xiao Yue eagerly paid the challenge fee and stepped onto the platform.
As the countdown ended, ten glow sticks fell one after another without any apparent pattern. Xiao Yue frantically waved his arms, managing to catch only six.
"Ouch, the falling speed is too fast, and it's completely erratic!" Xiao Yue shook his hand in frustration.
Ah Chen, not believing in superstition, went up and tried it out. As a result, because he was too nervous, the first one hit his nose, which made Ming Kai and Leave burst into laughter.
"Mozi, do you want to give it a try?" Mingkai turned to look at Su Mo, a hint of teasing in his eyes. "Let these kids see what the real limits of human nerve reflexes are."
Su Mo wanted to refuse, but seeing the expectant looks in his teammates' eyes, he smiled gently and handed the thermos to Ming Kai.
"Just try it once."
He stepped onto the challenge platform.
The staff member, a young man, pressed the start button: "Ready? Three, two, one!"
Unlike the others, Su Mo didn't crouch down and wave his arms wildly. He simply stood quietly in place, his body relaxed, his eyes fixed on the beam of the machine in front of him.
"despair."
The first glow stick fell silently from the far left.
Su Mo simply raised his left hand casually, and his two slender fingers steadily held the glow stick.
Immediately afterwards, the second and third bars fell from the right side and the middle almost simultaneously!
A gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd.
But Su Mo's movements were fluid and graceful, his arm leaving several afterimages in the air. There wasn't a single unnecessary movement; with each reach, he precisely predicted the trajectory of the glow sticks as they fell.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Accompanied by a crisp sound of something being struck, the seventh, eighth, and ninth sticks were struck.
When the last glow stick fell from the most obscure corner, Su Mo didn't even turn his head. He simply reached out with his right hand to the side and gently caught it in his palm.
Ten, full marks.
The entire room fell silent, then erupted in enthusiastic applause.
"Holy crap... is he even human?" A boy watching nearby was stunned. "He didn't even blink!"
The staff were stunned and quickly picked up a limited-edition game character figurine that was half a person's height and handed it over: "Congratulations... this is the top prize."
Su Mo took the figurine and walked off the stage with a calm expression. He saw a little boy, about seven or eight years old, standing at the front of the crowd, staring longingly at the figurine. He walked over, bent down, and stuffed the huge figurine into the little boy's arms.
"Here, take it and play with it." He ruffled the little boy's hair, his voice gentle.
The little boy was so excited that he thanked them repeatedly, and passersby around him also cast admiring glances at him.
"Let's go, it's time to eat, our reservation is almost up." Su Mo took the thermos back from Ming Kai and continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.
Just then, a young girl carrying a backpack suddenly rushed out from the crowd.
"Wait a moment!"
The girl ran up to Su Mo and blocked his way. She was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan of a certain university, her cheeks were flushed red with excitement, and her chest was heaving.
Ah Chen and Xiao Yue instinctively wanted to step forward to block them, thinking they had encountered some kind of obsessive stalker.
Su Mo raised his hand, signaling his teammates not to be nervous. He stopped and looked at the girl in front of him with a calm and gentle gaze.
"Mo...Mo God! I'm your fan!" The girl stammered nervously. She pulled a pink envelope from her bag and handed it to Su Mo with both hands, her eyes glistening with tears. "I watched all your matches! The day you won the MSI championship, I shouted myself hoarse downstairs at the dorm. I...I really like you so much! Not the kind of fan's liking for an idol, but...a girl's liking for a boy!"
The surrounding air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Passersby stopped and watched curiously at this sudden public declaration of love. Mingkai and the others exchanged glances and tactfully stepped back.
Faced with this passionate and straightforward girlish affection.
Su Mo did not show any awkwardness, indifference, or condescending arrogance.
He did not take the pink envelope.
"Thank you for your kind words." Su Mo's voice sounded particularly calm and gentle amidst the hustle and bustle of the mall, carrying a soothing power that was like a gentle breeze.
He looked into the girl's eyes and said sincerely, "It's a beautiful thing that you can have such a pure passion at your age."
The girl's eyes lit up, filled with anticipation.
“But, I’m sorry.” Su Mo lowered his head slightly, a faint smile of apology yet firmness curving his lips. “My life is already full. There are people at home waiting for me to come back for soup, and there are responsibilities on the field that I need to shoulder. I don’t have the extra energy to carry your precious feelings.”
The girl froze, her outstretched hand trembling slightly.
Su Mo didn't let her fall into an awkward stalemate. He took out a pen he always carried with him from his pocket and pointed to the EDG support charm on the girl's backpack.
"If you don't mind, I can sign my autograph for you. I hope you have a successful academic year and that you find someone in the future who will only have eyes for you."
The girl finally couldn't hold back her tears, which fell in a steady stream. But they weren't tears of humiliation; they were tears of relief after being thoroughly respected and treated with gentleness.
"Thank you, Mo." She wiped away her tears and handed him the backpack. "You must keep winning!"
Su Mo signed his elegant ID on the pendant, closed the pen cap, and nodded gently: "I will."
As the girl walked away, turning back every few steps, the onlookers, though unaware of what had happened, were struck by the young man's refined manners and made way for him.
"Brother Mo, you were so gentle just now." Ah Chen leaned closer, his face full of admiration. "If it were me, facing such a beautiful female college student confessing her love to me in the street, I probably wouldn't even be able to speak properly."
"When it comes to relationships, being decisive and straightforward is the greatest form of tenderness." Mingkai patted Chen on the back of the head. "Learn more from your brother Mo what it means to be a responsible mature man."
Su Mo picked up her cup, took a sip of water, and without replying, simply walked out of the mall.
Fifteen minutes later.
The group took their seats in the Black Pearl Restaurant's private room with the best river view.
Through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the night view of the Huangpu River is fully visible. The table is laden with top-quality seafood flown in from all over the world: Alaskan king crab, French Gillardeau oysters, Australian blue lobsters, a dazzling array.
"Eat whatever you want today, don't worry about saving me money." Su Mo handed the menu to the waiter and poured himself a glass of warm water.
"Then we won't hold back! We only get a few chances a year to rip off a big spender!" Xiao Yue's eyes lit up as he picked up a piece of crab leg meat and put it in his mouth. "Mmm, this meat is a million times better than London's fish and chips!"
The atmosphere at the dinner was very harmonious.
Without the pressure of high-intensity training and competition, the team members chatted about the fun things that happened during the holiday, and even gossiped about the female companion that Ah Chen had been playing with in ranked matches recently.
"Brother Mo, the Summer Split is about to start, and there's a big patch update. It seems like the top lane has been nerfed again." Leave said with some concern while eating lobster. "I heard that Riot's designers specifically nerfed fighter items."
"Each version has its own god-tier version." Su Mo put down his chopsticks, picked up a napkin, and elegantly wiped the corner of his mouth.
He looked out the window at the neon lights, his eyes showing no fear whatsoever.
"As long as the minion waves are still converging and the turrets haven't collapsed, how we win is up to me, not the designers."
These words, spoken in an extremely calm manner, instilled an unshakable sense of security in all the EDG team members present.
Mingkai raised his glass, which was filled with red wine, and looked at his longtime comrade and pillar of strength.
"Come, let's toast to our LPL's eternal pillar of strength! May we continue to work overtime and win championships in the Summer Split!"
"Brother Jingmo!"
The team members raised their glasses filled with juice or beer.
Su Mo picked up the somewhat conspicuous black thermos and gently clinked it against the others.
"Cheers. Go back and rest early after you finish." Su Mo smiled gently. "Meet at the base at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Anyone who's late will have to run five kilometers around the Huangpu River."
"Ah?!" The private room was filled with the miserable screams of Ah Chen and Xiao Yue.
Amidst laughter and cheerful conversation, the sumptuous dinner came to a close.
Su Mo paid the bill at the front desk in advance. The bill was over 70,000 yuan, and he didn't even blink when he swiped his card.
As everyone walked out of the restaurant and onto the riverside promenade, a cool evening breeze caressed their faces.
"Alright, you guys take a taxi back to base. See you tomorrow." Su Mo stood at the intersection and waved to his team members.
"Brother Mo, aren't you coming back with us?" Ah Chen asked.
“My home is just ahead.” Su Mo pointed to the upscale river-view apartment complex with its lights on not far away.
After watching the team members get into the car and leave, Su Mo walked back alone along the riverside path.
My phone vibrated in my pocket.
It was a WeChat message from Yu Shuang.
[Yu Shuang: Brother Mozi, are you done with your social engagements? When you come back, could you please bring me a box of strawberry ice cream from the convenience store downstairs? Someone's been nagging me for it.]
Su Mo looked at the screen, a helpless yet extremely gentle warmth rising in his deep eyes.
He turned and walked into the 24-hour convenience store by the roadside. (End of Chapter)