Volume 1, Chapter 16: Little Kun Kindergarten, Not Even Elementary Students

Lin Xiaolu looked indignant. "As a father, not only does he fail to stop his child from playing games, but he actually sits there watching?"

"Shen Kun has been playing for over an hour, and Shen Qi hasn't said a word to discipline him. He is truly an irresponsible father."

Bai Qinghe nodded in strong agreement. "My children are absolutely forbidden from touching mobile games. If I ever caught them, I would certainly make sure they learned their lesson!"

"My husband would never indulge our children the way Shen Qi does!"

Li Huanghe, hearing this, grew visibly agitated, and her tone became sharp. "Kun practiced calligraphy and piano this morning!"

"He washed the dishes at lunch and practiced his guitar, too."

"What is wrong with him playing a game for a while?"

"He has only been playing for a little over an hour. Even if he played for two or three hours, I authorized it. I allowed it. So what?"

"In my home, these things are not problems at all! As long as Shen Kun is independent, I don't interfere with his entertainment!"

Although Li Huanghe’s words did not quite match her true feelings, that was beside the point.

Bai Qinghe and Lin Xiaolu covered their mouths, staring at Li Huanghe with wide, shocked eyes.

"No way? Huanghe, indulging your child like that isn't right. We are only saying this for your own good."

"That's right, that's right. Huanghe, you've never had children, so you lack experience in parenting. Shen Qi is inexperienced too. This kind of wrongheaded approach will lead to terrible consequences."

Li Huanghe’s chest heaved with anger, and she desperately wanted to tell them to mind their own business. However, her professionalism and experience in front of the cameras forced her to restrain herself.

Zhuo Yiyi caught Li Huanghe’s eye. *Don't get worked up, sister Huanghe...*

"Heh... I know what I'm doing!" Li Huanghe threw out that single sentence and leaned back in her chair.

Lin Xiaolu and Qi Qingqiu exchanged glances, looking triumphant.

Fang Qian quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Every family has its own way of doing things. Shen Kun is very sensible; he surely knows how to practice self-control."

Li Lei added, "That's right, exactly. Besides, the relationship between Shen Qi and Shen Kun is a bit nuanced; perhaps Shen Qi has his own plan."

The live stream chat was in an uproar, with Li Huanghe’s fans clashing with those of Lin Xiaolu and Bai Qinghe.

Assistant director Zhang Wei looked worried, but the executive director, Hong Tao, sat calmly, stroking his sparse mustache with a look of contentment and satisfaction.

"Executive Director, won't there be trouble with the observers arguing like this?"

"What trouble? Zhang Wei, you still have a lot to learn. Think about it: why did I invite four A-list actresses and screen icons from the four major entertainment companies?"

Zhang Wei froze, then immediately wore a look of sudden realization.

Hong Tao seemed pleased by this and spoke to Zhang Wei with a mentor's tone.

"Zhuo Yiyi is a young rising star who hasn't married or had children, and she views Li Huanghe as an idol, so she will definitely stand with her."

"Lin Xiaolu and Bai Qinghe’s agencies are at odds with Huanghe Entertainment. Li Huanghe is younger than them yet holds a higher status in the industry—how could they not be jealous?"

"Both of their families will participate in the upcoming live segments. Who wouldn't want to make their family look better than the others? This is a nationwide live broadcast!"

"Therefore, the four observers were effectively divided into two camps before the show even started. Even if they are skilled at managing their expressions and words on camera, what about their fans? Heh..."

"This is the result I planned and anticipated as the executive director!"

Zhang Wei was enlightened and gave a thumbs up, sighing in admiration. "As expected of the executive director. Brilliant."

Hong Tao stood up and patted Zhang Wei on the shoulder, offering guidance to his junior. "As a director of a variety show, you must be comprehensive and keep everything under control! You have a long road ahead of you. Keep at it..."

"Yes, yes, of course..."

***

In the live stream, Shen Kun’s character, Lady Yu, had died six times.

His 0-6-2 record was truly an eyesore.

Yet, before every single death, Shen Qi had warned him. And every time Shen Kun died, it aligned perfectly with Shen Qi’s warnings.

Shen Kun gritted his teeth, his face flushed with humiliation.

His teammates had already begun to mock him.

—Damn, are all the elementary schoolers on summer break now?

—I’m speechless. Can you stop feeding the enemy?

—His gold is even lower than my support character's.

—Lady Yu is definitely a grade-schooler!

Shen Kun was so angry he pulled up the surrender menu, but his teammates refused to agree; they wanted to let him die a few more times before reporting him.

Even when Shen Qi didn't say a word, an occasional sigh from him made Shen Kun feel as though he were being mocked.

Shen Kun slammed his phone onto the sofa in frustration. "I'm done playing!"

Shen Qi’s eyes brightened. "You're really done?"

Shen Kun snapped, "My touch is just off today, I'm not in the zone..."

Shen Qi nodded. "Mm, I understand."

With that, Shen Qi picked up the phone.

[I'm laughing so hard I think I've shattered my kidney stones. Kun isn't a grade-schooler; he's a kindergartner.]

[My kid plays *Honor of Kings* too. Even though they're worse than Kun, they scream insults while playing.]

[When the son can't handle it, the dad steps in? Kun’s teammates are truly heartless.]

***

Zhuo Yiyi, who also played games, couldn't help but sigh when she saw the stats.

"Sigh, it's basically impossible for Kun to win with this record. Lady Yu’s gold is only 5,000, while the opponent’s support is nearly at 5,000, and their marksman and jungler are over 7,000."

Even viewers who didn't play games were curious. Could Shen Qi really win after taking over?

Li Huanghe didn't usually play, but she felt a sense of tension now. A child often admires their father; if Shen Qi could make Shen Kun admire him, it would be very beneficial for their relationship moving forward.

"Yiyi, what's the situation? Is it impossible for Shen Qi to win?"

Zhuo Yiyi nodded. "I’m a 10-star King-rank player, and I can see this Diamond-rank match clearly. The opponents are clearly high-ranking players smurfing, so even if Shen Qi is skilled, it's impossible to win with such a massive gold deficit."

Lin Xiaolu and Bai Qinghe also played, and their ranks weren't low.

"This game could have been surrendered a long time ago. Shen Qi doesn't seem to know how to play; he's taking it too lightly."

"Exactly. It seems Shen Qi's plan to impress Kun has failed."

***

Before the team fight, Shen Qi hid in the grass.

As the fight broke out, Shen Qi seized the moment, shot an arrow to finish off the low-health enemy mage, and used his second skill to speed away.

The fight continued.

Shen Qi turned back, taking down the enemy marksman with two basic attacks.

*Penta Kill!*

The assassin, Ke, moved in to finish him off. Shen Qi activated his second skill to become immune and used his ultimate to leap into the air. Before landing, he used Flicker, firing through a wall to finish off Ke.

*Penta Kill!*

Shen Qi began attacking minions to recover health, and once his health was restored, he rejoined the fray.

He finished off the low-health enemy support.

*Penta Kill!*

The last teammate was taken down by the enemy tank, but Shen Qi activated his second skill to become immune to damage, then lightly finished off the low-health tank.

A loud announcement echoed.

*Penta Kill!*

Shen Qi calmly pushed two towers to reach the enemy base, cleared the final wave of minions, whittled the crystal down to a sliver of health, and then hit the recall button.

The minions destroyed the crystal on their own.

Shen Qi chuckled, gently set the phone down, and hid his greatness, leaving no trace.

"Handled."