Shen Kuangye was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly remembered what Cheng Rang had said to him that day at the arena—Lu Xiangyang had once foolishly thought he was gay and even drank herbal medicine to "adjust" himself.
At the time, he had thought there was absolutely no possibility between them.
And now, they could calmly hold hands, stroll along the lakeside, whisper sweet words, and even share kisses.
Time was strange.
When they returned to the club, it was pitch dark inside.
Shen Kuangye held Lu Xiangyang's hand with one hand and turned on the lights with the other.
It was already 10:30 PM. Uncle Li had long since gone to bed.
Shen Kuangye crouched down and naturally helped Lu Xiangyang change into his slippers.
When he looked up, he saw Lu Xiangyang rubbing his sleepy eyes. "If you're tired, go to sleep first," he said.
Lu Xiangyang, half-asleep, shook his head. "Not tired. I'll stay with you, Brother."
"We agreed today that we'd duo queue together."
Shen Kuangye helped him put on his little bear slippers, then stood up and said gently, "Then go wash up first."
Lu Xiangyang squinted drowsily: "Not streaming downstairs?"
Shen Kuangye ruffled his head. "Go to bed to stream. Just watch me play."
Lu Xiangyang wanted to refuse—after all, he had suggested duo queuing.
But Shen Kuangye's determination was unyielding, so he obediently let himself be led upstairs to the bedroom.
As soon as he reached the room, Lu Xiangyang collapsed onto the bed, feeling like a completely useless salty fish.
"Brother."
He suddenly spoke.
"Hm?"
Shen Kuangye was rummaging in the cupboard for his pajamas.
Too sleepy to think, Lu Xiangyang said whatever came to mind: "If one day I turned into a fish, would you still like me?"
"Yes."
"Really? Even if I were still a picky little fish who eats a lot?"
"Then I'd give you lots of good food and the best, prettiest pond to live in."
Lu Xiangyang was silent for a moment, then let out a small, quiet laugh.
Shen Kuangye came to the bedside, placing the clean pajamas aside, supporting himself on the bed as he stared at him. "What are you laughing at?"
Lu Xiangyang shook his head. "Nothing."
"Just suddenly thinking about what it would be like if we had a home together in the future."
Shen Kuangye sat beside him, body angled toward him, right hand propping up his head, his tone gentle, like coaxing a child: "Then tell me, what kind of house do you like?"
Lu Xiangyang thought he was joking—after all, they were far from buying a house right now. But he felt life needed something to look forward to, so he boldly began to imagine.
"I want a big house, with a gaming room upstairs. I can livestream and play games with you, and our room would be right next to it. Then Mom can live on the first floor, so she doesn't have to climb stairs or tire herself out." Lu Xiangyang's eyes glazed over. "Mom loved playing the piano when she was young. She told me she was always interested, but our family was poor, so she could only watch others secretly. Sometimes she sneaked into the school music room at lunch. Later, she met Dad and thought things would get better. But Dad encountered someone holding a knife trying to hurt a little boy in the street. When he went to save him, he was stabbed. After that, Mom worked tirelessly for me. Actually, Brother, I feel like Mom's illness is largely because of me… I made her work too hard."
Shen Kuangye pinched his cheek. "Overthinking again."
"I'm not overthinking," Lu Xiangyang murmured, "I just feel I've been so unfilial. Mom is sick, and I can't be with her all the time. I can only visit once a week."
The rest of the time was filled with training or occasionally talking with Shen Kuangye. The only relaxation was at night when he slept.
A repetitive cycle.
"The doctors aren't sure about Mom's illness either. They just want her observed in the hospital first," Lu Xiangyang sighed. "I don't even know what to do next."
He looked up at Shen Kuangye: "Brother, you said last time, even after five years of treatment, Mom still passed away."
His voice trembled slightly: "So… this time, do you think Mom might also…"
"She won't." Shen Kuangye interrupted firmly.
His tone was calm but resolute: "Mom will be fine."
Last life, because of Ella, he hadn't been able to give Lu Ning the best treatment. On top of that, his sudden weight loss later had certainly added to Lu Ning's psychological burden.
Sometimes mindset is the deadliest thing for a patient.
But now it was different.
He glanced sideways at Lu Xiangyang, the corner of his lips curving into a small smile.
If Shen Kuangye's presence was like a sedative for Lu Xiangyang, then Lu Xiangyang was the same for him.
Last life, he trained day and night without stopping.
This life, he had someone by his side who could make him pause and enjoy the scenery along the way.
"All right, don't overthink it. Go shower and feel comfortable," Shen Kuangye said.
Lu Xiangyang slowly got up, obediently grabbed his pajamas, and shuffled into the bathroom in slippers.
After he went in, Shen Kuangye opened his phone and started looking up housing prices in City A.
Relying solely on his salary would be too slow. The only faster way was winning the Abyss tournament.
The prize money could at least cover Lu Xiangyang's gaming room. The rest could be saved slowly—eventually, they'd get it all.
Shen Kuangye began keeping a ledger in his notes:
10,000—Mom's medical expenses
5,000—Baby's living expenses
500—Personal daily expenses
Remaining—Transferred to the bank
At 11:30 PM, WILD's livestream suddenly lit up.
[WILD! Can't believe I can see you streaming at this hour, so rare.]
[Caught it.]
[Haha, guessing this is overtime.]
[Tsukuba doesn't log in daily. You need 8 hours minimum every day.]
[Agree.]
Shen Kuangye hadn't even logged into the game yet when he suddenly asked Lu Xiangyang: "Can I use your account to play?"
Lu Xiangyang, resting his head on a soft cartoon pillow, looked up from Shen Kuangye's phone to him and nodded: "Of course."
[??? I hear SUN's voice?]
[It's almost midnight, and they're streaming directly on the phone. Are they sharing a room?]
[Judging by the voice, probably the same bed.]
Shen Kuangye ignored the comments, enabled the stream's block function, logged in with Lu Xiangyang's account, and returned to the streaming interface.
Coincidentally, he immediately received a duo training invite.
Inviter: Little Sheep.