After the kidnapping incident, to handle potential future trouble, Ouyang Earth assigned a sniper to perch on a nearby building. He also had my father confine me indoors under official orders.

Only at noon did it finally sink in: Earth and Luo Wei hadn’t been joking earlier.

Those people’s identities were truly mysterious—far beyond what the me from the previous parallel world could ever reach.

Yi Yao’s fate in this world had already shifted.

Back then, if I hadn’t insisted on standing up for Liang Zhenyi, if I hadn’t injured Huang Qinghao… I’d never have crossed paths with the mayor’s daughter, Huang Yingdie. I wouldn’t have met Yellow Skysea. Ouyang Earth wouldn’t have taken me to Luo Wei.

And most crucially… Huang Yingdie’s fate had been rewritten by me.

In another parallel world, the mayor’s daughter being kidnapped was infamous citywide. Unlike now—where two clever teens outwitted criminals and returned safely—back then, the kidnappers executed her.

It made sense. Anyone reckless enough to fire shots in that situation… without me, Xiaodie’s death would’ve been inevitable.

But this also meant my重生 advantage—"seeing most people’s futures"—was slowly fading.

"So annoying…"

Alone at home, I sighed at my middle school textbooks, already reviewed once.

The living room computer glowed faintly.

My phone had been tossed by the kidnappers, so QQ was my only window to the outside world.

The news headline *Handsome Teen Outsmarts Criminals, Rescues Mayor’s Daughter* had swept Shangjing City—even my school and class knew. After confirming I was safe, nearly every acquaintance messaged me online.

Yet Azure Excellence’s QQ avatar remained stubbornly gray.

I knew that "coughing blood" symptom all too well. My mother had been diagnosed with leukemia after the same sign. Tan Lijiang’s warning about Azure Excellence had haunted me. She was one of Yi Yao’s few true friends—and mine now, too.

Bored, I opened the Skyfire Forum.

As usual, 99+ summon notifications flooded in.

But this time, the "Notifications" tab showed a new "1".

I clicked it. A message from an admin read:

*"Respected Mr. Bee, due to unavoidable circumstances, we wish to contact you. Please reply at your earliest convenience—Long Teng."*

Trouble again? I recalled Tianhuo Company should’ve been calm this month.

After bypassing their firewall again and linking to their system, I cut straight to the point: "What’s the issue?"

A long pause. Then:

*"So you truly are ‘Bee’ from the forum."*

"I never denied it."

*"Your current bounty exceeds most veterans’, nearly matching the infamous hacker BRS. Your insights on programming have revolutionized our field."*

"Bounties mean nothing to me."

*"Then, as Chairman of Tianhuo, I have a personal matter to discuss. Might you spare some time?"*

"Keep it under thirty minutes."

*"Thank you. I must ask: when you told my son Long Fei to leave Shangjing City… was that your own decision?"*

"I told you—it was a distant relative’s request."

*"Could you share that relative’s name?"*

The reply stunned me.

*"Why?"*

*"Out of trust for helping us before… my son Long Fei had a close girlfriend in Shangjing. The day after he left, she was attacked by criminals. You must’ve seen the news."*

I almost laughed. "You suspect I conspired with the kidnappers?"

*Great. I conspire with thugs to lure Long Fei away… just to get myself kidnapped?*

Logically, it made sense. I’d demanded Long Fei’s transfer one day; his "girlfriend" was attacked the next. Anyone would suspect me.

*"We have no choice but to suspect."*

*"I owe you no proof."*

*"For your safety, we advise proving your innocence. This case involves political pressure. If higher-ups intervene, we can’t guarantee keeping your identity secret."*

Threats now, after failed persuasion?

"I can’t prove it. But I swear—I had no reason to do this."

*"Sir, please don’t make this difficult."*

"Fine."

I sighed, typing my QQ number into the chat: "Add me. If you distrust me, we’ll start there."

Among hackers, sharing QQ numbers was half-surrendering your real address—though that only applied to current tech. Ten years from now, I’d still have countless ways to hide.

This was my only option. Until I revealed everything, I’d trade trust for trust.

*I’ve exposed half my IP. If anything happens, you’ll find me easily. Isn’t that trust enough to ease your doubts?*

Long Teng was in Shangjing; Long Fei in Tiandu. I wasn’t worried about old-school hackers tracing my QQ.

Thirty seconds later, Long Teng added me.

*"The legendary Bee—omniscient master of computers—is a 16-year-old middle school girl?"*

His first message.

I replied casually: "Believing account profiles is your choice."

*"Haha, Mr. Bee, you’re humorous."*

*"Your decision?"*

His avatar stayed silent for thirty seconds.

*"We’re merchants."*

*"...Go on."*

So it came to this.

All their persuasion and threats were just bait to make me yield—to spring their real request.

*"We’re merchants"* meant they valued profit. Their bargaining chip was *"keeping your secret."* To them, my QQ number alone wasn’t equal payment.

Translation: I owed them a favor.

*"Our company’s webpage has a JQ effect incompatible with IE10 browsers."*

*"That’s a frontend development issue."*

*"We trust the all-capable Mr. Bee will find a solution."*

For the first time, I wanted to shove someone headfirst into a toilet.

"Send the code."

…

Ten minutes later, I sent back the fixed code.

*"Deeply grateful. After internal discussion, we’ve decided to maintain our trust. We look forward to continued cooperation."*

*"Likewise."*

Dealing with merchants was exhausting.

Just as I closed the chat window, a new message popped up.

**Big Iron Pillar:** *Bro Yi Yao! Rare seeing you online on a Wednesday. Girlfriend ditch you?*

Big Iron Pillar was a League of Legends friend. Yi Yao’s neutral-sounding ID and no-nonsense attitude had convinced him she was male.

*"Shoo. I don’t have a girlfriend."*

After typing that, I remembered something and added: *"Got time to play today?"*

In my past life, I’d only started League in 2019 during college. Back then, it was essential for socializing. Reluctantly, I’d gotten hooked—climbing from clueless newbie to Challenger tier over four years. I’d shed my "good student" skin, gaming obsessively until I finally woke up.

Yes. Games were just games.

When you realized the dream was over… dawn had already broken.

But now was different. 2015–2016 was peak livestreaming boom, and League dominated platforms. If possible, I’d leverage this to ease my family’s money struggles.

*"Whoa! First time you’ve ever asked me to play, bro!"*

*"Cut the crap. Yes or no?"*

*"Yes yes! Damn, bro, so impatient."*

We logged in. I sent a ranked match invite.

Big Iron Pillar hesitated before joining: *"This feels wrong… you sure about ranked?"*

Yi Yao usually only played vs. AI. Matched games happened only when dragged by him. Ranked was uncharted territory for this account.

His rank was Bronze—a player perpetually stuck in the pit.

I hit "Start" and typed: *"Not confident."*

*Confident?* With three years of muscle memory? Please.

He panicked: *"I’ll drop to Bronze IV if we lose! Bro, let’s voice chat for better coordination!"*

I agreed.

*"Testing, testing! Can you hear me, bro?"*

A rough, distinctly northern voice boomed through my speakers.

I put on headphones: "Loud and clear."

*"L-little sister… put your brother on."*

His cluelessness amused me. "I have no brother. I’m Yi Yao."

*"WHAT?! You’re Yi Yao?!"*

He sounded utterly unconvinced. *"But you’re a guy!"*

*"Did my QQ profile say I was male?"*

*"I… wait, isn’t that your sister’s account?!"*

Then I remembered. My sister often posted stories about her "brother" on QQ Space—stories I’d whispered to her in dreams. Clearly, he’d assumed Yi Yao’s account belonged to her brother.

*"I told you—I’m an only child. No brothers, no sisters. Pick your position."*

*"But why don’t you talk like a girl?!"*

*"What, you think girls just ‘nya~’ and cling to legs all day? Times have changed, uncle."*

…Well, in this era, boys actually spoke like this:

*∑(っ °Д °;)っ How could you do this?!*

*QAQ Sob sob…*

While girls sounded like:

*What the hell, are you stupid?!*

*Piss off! How dare you talk to your dad like that?!*

So honestly? His misunderstanding was totally justified.

Since I was a girl, Da Tiezhu was extra uneasy. When picking heroes, he kept stressing over and over to just choose a support. That way, even if we lost, the blame wouldn’t fall too heavily on me.

I looked at the few heroes on Yi Yao’s account. Finally, I selected a mid-laner and typed in the all-chat:

“Second pick boosting: no feeding, guaranteed win.”