[WILD, you're loving him a little too much.]
[No way?! I want someone to send me D.M. skins too.]
[Ahhh!! Does everyone remember that Fisherman guy? The one who called SUN a poor ghost? WILD directly punished him afterward, and now he's sending skins like crazy. If that's not true love then what is?]
[Exactly. Our Xiangye-jie really has it good.]
[SUN hurry up and use the D.M. skin!!]
Lu Xiangyang stared blankly for a few seconds. Then he put down the console, picked up his phone, and sent Shen Kuangye a message.
"Kuangye-ge, you don't need to give me such expensive gifts."
When all those prices were added together, it really wasn't cheap.
Lu Xiangyang even felt a little heartache.
Shen Kuangye's reply was simple:
"Just keep them."
"But they're really too expensive qaq. There's really no need."
"If you like them, then there is."
People in the livestream saw Lu Xiangyang's face redden slightly. He coughed to cover it up, lowered his head, and accepted the gifts.
[What are they talking about? Can I see? (curious)]
[The person above—what exactly do you want to see? I'm too lazy to expose you.]
[So nice. I also want to receive gifts like that once.]
[Maybe he's only sending D.M. because he doesn't have enough salary left.]
[Then I predict next month he'll send Seer White.]
[Then the month after that—Gat and Kirin Merchant.]
[Did everyone forget Mr. Reasoning?]
...
Lu Xiangyang quickly stopped the barrage.
"Stop saying that."
He had a feeling Shen Kuangye would really send them.
That would be way too wasteful. Not okay.
But the new skin he had been eyeing for so long was finally in his account, so Lu Xiangyang couldn't resist playing a few matches.
The feel was amazing.
The effects were also very cool.
That entire night he basically slaughtered everyone nonstop.
In the final match, he unexpectedly got matched with Shen Kuangye.
[Isn't WILD supposed to have a fever? Why is he still playing ranked?]
[Playing ranked even with a fever—if that's not true love what is? No wonder his performance improved so much this season.]
Lu Xiangyang banned characters and then stared at Shen Kuangye switching characters.
He picked Prospector.
The map was Red Church.
Lu Xiangyang habitually glanced at the other three survivors and noticed the Female Dancer's ID:
WILD-SUN.
He thought it was just a fan who happened to like both him and Shen Kuangye.
But the chat was laughing like crazy.
[Oh my god she really brought it directly in front of the real people.]
[SUN's expression is hilarious. Pure baby probably doesn't know what that means.]
[Did this girl change her name again?]
The Female Dancer was also screaming:
"WILD! I finally matched with you!!"
Shen Kuangye sent her a simple "Hello."
[Certified old-cadre style.]
[To others: Hello. To baby: Where are you?]
[The difference in treatment, I'm not even going to say anything.]
[Her previous username was even crazier. It got reported and turned into a Seer White redemption code.]
Lu Xiangyang didn't notice any of that. He quickly switched to Joseph.
The match started.
He dragged the Acrobat's mirror image and reached the middle of the map. He put the body down, intending to gamble for a Terror Shock.
Unexpectedly, he actually succeeded.
And the one who got shocked—
Was Shen Kuangye.
Maybe because he had just recovered from being sick, his reaction speed was still slow.
At the very start of the match the support position got Terror Shocked. The hunter even had Blink, so it was hard to kite for long.
Lu Xiangyang didn't immediately chair him.
He stood there for a few seconds, then suddenly started spinning in circles.
He repeatedly picked the Prospector up and put him down until the man struggled free.
The Prospector stood there looking at him, as if he had guessed who it was.
Then he gave him a kiss emote.
The chat exploded.
[??? Is this still WILD? Bro, what about your cool guy persona?]
[Of course you give your wife a kiss.]
[Oh my god this is the first time WILD has ever done this emote to someone, I'm dying from the ship.]
[CLIP IT!! I NEED CLIPS!! I'm going to replay these moments over and over tonight!!]
At that moment the Female Dancer also arrived.
She stood beside them clapping, then pointed at the camera.
Lu Xiangyang immediately understood and took photos for them.
After the photo, the dancer pointed toward the basement of the church.
Joseph kept spinning in place, clearly a little flustered.
Of course he knew what this meant.
But… where was Kuangye-ge?
It turned out Shen Kuangye had already jumped into the basement and was crouching next to the rocket chair.
He even sent a message to his teammates:
"Hurry and leave. I'm going to the hatch."
But the dancer clearly wasn't satisfied.
She pointed toward the locker in the basement.
[This is too bold OMG]
[I also want to live boldly like her once]
[Live CP-shipping I'm crying]
Just when Lu Xiangyang was still feeling shy—
Shen Kuangye's Prospector voluntarily entered the locker.
[!!! HE LOVES HIM SO MUCH!!!]
[I refuse to believe he doesn't know what that means]
[I don't believe it either. He's probably tempting baby into committing crimes]
[Are leopard-cat babies about to be born?]
Lu Xiangyang didn't expect Shen Kuangye to actually agree.
Now he had no choice but to pick him up.
He took the man out of the locker and carried him to a mysterious corner.
The Female Dancer watched nearby the entire time, clapping and dancing.
Not long after, the other teammates finished decoding and also came over.
Three little heads peeked over together, their button eyes full of curiosity.
Lu Xiangyang felt his face heating up.
He quickly pressed surrender.
He didn't even dare to look at the post-match screen and directly exited.
The livestream chat:
[We're full everyone. Tonight's wait was worth it.]
[I'm going to browse the supertopic hehe]
[What supertopic?]
[You'll understand without words.]
...
"Alright, alright, I'm off work! Bye everyone!"
Lu Xiangyang casually said that and ended the stream.
He sat in his chair for a while and rubbed his face.
It felt like a dream.
He looked around.
Li Shu and Jiang Chixin were playing Copycat in the corner.
Li Shu suddenly wailed:
"I was neutral this round! Why did you kill me?!"
Jiang Chixin calmly replied:
"Last time you were Sheriff you did the same to me."
Li Shu collapsed dramatically:
"I finally got Little Greedy Cat for once—Xinxin I hate you!"
Pei Xunan and Cheng Rang were still playing ranked.
Pei Xunan pretended to be calm.
"Terror Shock."
Cheng Rang's voice had no emotion.
"Trash."
"Come rescue me."
"Selling you to secure the tie."
"I still have half a ball."
"…Wait. Half-card."
Lu Xiangyang glanced at Shen Kuangye's empty seat.
Then he opened the game and practiced 1v1 with a survivor player from his friend list.
They had added each other after a late-night rank once. The guy was very skilled.
Lu Xiangyang later found out he was a student at University A named Xiao Yang.
After practice today, Xiao Yang asked:
"Is it convenient to add WeChat?"
Lu Xiangyang thought it would be good for future practice, so he agreed.
They chatted briefly before Lu Xiangyang said:
"I still have something to do, let's talk later."
"Okay ^-^"
Lu Xiangyang usually checked messages together at night.
When he opened them, he noticed the EAR salary had arrived.
Even though they hadn't been there a full month yet, EAR still paid them a full month's salary.
Some IVL clubs were known for delaying salaries, even making staff pay their own air-conditioning and electricity fees.
Yet EAR, whose situation was even worse, was still willing to treat them like this.
Lu Xiangyang felt extremely grateful that Shen Kuangye had stopped him back then.
Right.
Shen Kuangye…
He quickly opened Alipay.
---
Upstairs, Shen Kuangye was reviewing the Japanese professional league match recordings.
Suddenly he received a 20,000 yuan transfer from Lu Xiangyang.
His salary wasn't much to begin with.
Clearly that kid hadn't kept much money for himself.
Shen Kuangye originally wanted to return it and say there was no need.
But after thinking about it, he couldn't.
If he refused it, Lu Xiangyang would definitely feel like he owed him something.
So Shen Kuangye transferred the money into another account.
He planned to save it for Lu Xiangyang and return it later with some excuse.
---
"Alright, stop playing for a moment. I have something to say."
Coach Yishui called everyone together.
"Although we beat ZOE this time, we can't relax. We still need to work harder."
"Also, the boss is very happy about the championship."
"The Japanese league team Aurora will be coming here to watch matches. They'll probably arrive in the next few days and train with us for a while."
Aurora was the strongest team in the Japanese region.
They reached the finals every year and almost won the Abyss world championship last year.
Their style focused on unexpected strategies and unpopular picks.
Characters considered useless in IVL maps could become strong in their hands.
If teams only scrim within IVL, it easily becomes "a frog slowly boiled in warm water."
Everyone becomes too familiar with each other's strategies and stops paying attention to international teams.
That could cause disasters during world championships.
EAR thought so.
Aurora thought so too.
As for why they didn't pick a stronger IVL team…
They had actually been rejected.
Pei Xunan asked:
"When are they coming? Where will they stay?"
Yishui said:
"Not sure. Maybe long-term."
"There's talk about letting IJL teams stay in IVL later and play in our league."
"I see," Jiang Chixin said.
"I'm just informing you first. Specific arrangements will come later."
Yishui paused.
"Oh right. One more thing."
"About the team captain—meaning the in-game shotcaller."
"I'm thinking of letting Shen Kuangye take that position. Any thoughts?"
"No problem," Li Shu said immediately.
"I actually think he fits really well."
Pei Xunan and the others agreed.
Only Jiang Chixin lowered his head silently.
After the meeting, Yishui patted Jiang Chixin's shoulder.
"Chixin, come with me for a moment."
---
Shen Kuangye had only watched half the match replay when he heard rapid footsteps outside.
He didn't even need to guess who it was.
"Kuangye-ge!"
Lu Xiangyang pushed open the door and jumped onto the bed.
"Slow down," Shen Kuangye said. "Careful you don't hit something."
"The coach said the IJL team Aurora will come train with us in a few days."
Lu Xiangyang's eyes sparkled.
"I'm actually a little excited. It's my first time playing against a foreign team."
"Do you think I should learn some Japanese?"
He thought for a moment and said:
"Sumimasen? Annyeonghaseyo?"
Shen Kuangye turned his head and laughed.
"The second one sounds like Korean."
Lu Xiangyang snorted.
"I'm double-cultivating Japanese and Korean."
"Mm," Shen Kuangye said, holding back a smile. "Very smart."
He habitually smoothed Lu Xiangyang's slightly messy hair.
"Going to visit Aunt Lu tomorrow?"
Lu Xiangyang nodded.
"Yeah. Ge, will you come with me?"
"Mm."
"Oh right."
Lu Xiangyang opened a drawer and took out a poster.
"Then I'll give this to Xu Wen tomorrow."
Shen Kuangye asked casually:
"Who's Xu Wen?"
"She's my mom's wardmate. A girl about my age. She really likes our team."
"I see."
Lu Xiangyang rolled his eyes mischievously and sat beside him with the poster.
"Kuangye-ge, her friend drew this fan poster of our team. Isn't it nice?"
The poster showed a very different atmosphere between the two of them, with many pink hearts drawn around them.
Lu Xiangyang was trying to hint at something.
Shen Kuangye glanced at it.
But his attention stayed on Lu Xiangyang's little portrait.
"It looks good."
The drawing captured Lu Xiangyang's youthful aura perfectly.
---
That night when they went to sleep, Shen Kuangye noticed something.
Lu Xiangyang was no longer sleeping near the edge of the bed.
Instead, he lay comfortably in the middle.
No longer that defensive posture.
He looked relaxed.
Shen Kuangye lay down beside him.
He looked at Lu Xiangyang's pale neck, then quickly looked away.
Recently he felt a bit strange.
Before, he worried the kid might fall off the bed.
Now he didn't need to hug him anymore.
Maybe because he slept too much during the day, Shen Kuangye couldn't fall asleep.
In the middle of the night he opened his eyes irritably—
Only to see Lu Xiangyang was still awake, playing on his phone.
He turned over and asked hoarsely:
"Why aren't you sleeping yet?"
Lu Xiangyang nearly jumped in fright.
Luckily it was dark.
Before bed he had been scrolling Weibo and accidentally discovered a super-topic called XiangYe.
Out of curiosity he clicked it.
Half an hour later—
A whole new world had opened.
It was actually a CP super-topic for him and Shen Kuangye.
And the moderator seemed to be that Female Dancer from earlier.
Because her game ID was pinned on her Weibo profile.
The super-topic was extremely lively even at this hour.
Everyone was posting clips from today's livestream and analyzing ship moments.
Lu Xiangyang finally realized how obvious his expressions had been.
He couldn't help but sigh.
These fans were terrifying.
Besides clips, there were also other posts.
["What exactly happened in SUN's livestream?"
Cold cool-guy survivor king × pretty obedient baby hunter king. OOC warning. Explicit. Link in pinned comment.]
Lu Xiangyang didn't understand those abbreviations.
He followed the tutorial and opened the document.
The words on the screen shocked him.
This… this was way too…
He wanted to call it vulgar.
But he still kept reading.
The opening scene:
SUN hurriedly closed the stream and went upstairs.
As soon as he entered the room, someone grabbed his arm and dragged him inside.
WILD's hot breath brushed against his ear.
"Where did you go?" he asked hoarsely.
"I was streaming, ge."
The boy answered softly.
WILD fell silent for a moment.
His hand slowly moved to the boy's slender waist…
That was the least explicit paragraph in the entire story.
Lu Xiangyang read the rest with a completely red face.
He also discovered there was a fan group.
Unable to resist, he created a small account and joined the group.
The moment he entered—
He was shocked.
[WILD you must interrogate SUN tonight!!]
[He just got paid and immediately bought skins for his wife—what else is that besides a wife slave?]
[First thing after waking from illness: find wife.]
[New sisters don't hold back, everyone here is a pervert.]
[Today WILD even went into the basement voluntarily so SUN could "do things" to him. They probably do it a lot normally.]
…
What the hell was all this?
Lu Xiangyang watched for a while and quickly muted the group.
Too scary.
He decided to calm down first.
A few minutes later—
He couldn't resist.
He created a Weibo alt and followed the super-topic.
Now there was no risk of being exposed.
He happily started reading fanfics.
When stories stopped updating halfway, he even commented:
"Author please update."
In the end he even added several fan creators as friends.
Just as he was deeply immersed in reading—
Shen Kuangye's voice suddenly came from behind.
"Still not sleeping?"
Lu Xiangyang's heart skipped a beat.
He nearly died of fright.
Sneaking around at midnight reading explicit fanfiction about himself and Shen Kuangye was already stressful enough.
Now he had been caught.
He quickly turned off his phone.
"Just… a little insomnia."
"Ge, why are you awake?"
His acting was so good he almost believed it himself.
Shen Kuangye hadn't seen the screen clearly.
Hearing that, he took the opportunity to pull him into his arms.
"Close your eyes. You'll fall asleep soon."
Lu Xiangyang liked being held by him.
The other man's body was warm and smelled nice.
His heart felt sweet.
In the darkness he gathered courage.
"Ge, I can't sleep. Let's chat."
Shen Kuangye wasn't sleepy either.
"About what?"
Lu Xiangyang finally asked the question he'd wondered about for a long time.
"Ge… have you ever dated?"
He believed the answer was probably no.
Shen Kuangye didn't seem like someone who had dated before.
But Shen Kuangye didn't hear clearly.
He misunderstood the word tan (谈) as tan (贪) meaning "to be greedy in gameplay".
So he replied:
"Yeah. I've been greedy quite a lot."
Lu Xiangyang's heart jumped violently.
Then a huge wave of disappointment washed over him.
What did he mean—"a lot"?
So Lu Xiangyang wasn't the most special one?
Shen Kuangye had already dated before him?
No wonder he was so good at taking care of people.
"Then what happened?"
Lu Xiangyang tried to hide the sadness in his voice.
Shen Kuangye thought seriously.
"Nothing really. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."
"It's not certain."
Lu Xiangyang: "?"
Wait.
Were they even talking about the same thing?
Shen Kuangye continued analyzing seriously.
"Don't think too much about it. Being greedy or not both have risks."
"You're still accumulating experience in competition. Just play freely and you'll find your rhythm later."
"…."
Lu Xiangyang fell silent.
So Shen Kuangye thought he was asking about greedy gameplay.
He sounded so serious that Lu Xiangyang suddenly felt like the pervert here.
Shen Kuangye's whole mind was about matches and victory.
Meanwhile Lu Xiangyang was thinking about how to date him.
"Understand?"
"Mm."
Lu Xiangyang's face felt hot.
"I will."
Shen Kuangye asked again:
"Do you like the skin?"
"I love it!"
Lu Xiangyang quickly added:
"But you really don't need to buy such expensive gifts again."
Shen Kuangye ignored the second half.
"Good if you like it."
Lu Xiangyang asked carefully:
"Have you given gifts like this to others before?"
He was afraid it was just Shen Kuangye's habit.
Shen Kuangye looked confused.
"Why would I give gifts to others?"
Lu Xiangyang blinked.
"I'm the first?"
"Of course."
Shen Kuangye said calmly.
"You're the only one."
His tone carried no flirtation at all.
It sounded like he was simply stating a very ordinary fact.