Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Upon hearing Luo Qingshan's voice, Pei Ran's first instinct was to exit the game.

Seconds later, he dismissed the interface, opened the map, and randomly marked a spot.

Luo Qingshan was thrilled. It took him a while to gather his thoughts before he spoke, "I've been at home these few days... I haven't gone anywhere. My mom said there's a new sushi place nearby that's really good. Would you like to..."

Pei Ran asked calmly, "Did you read what I sent you?"

Luo Qingshan paused. In the past few days, Pei Ran had only sent him one thing: a list of gifts he had given him since they started dating.

"I didn't read it," Luo Qingshan replied softly. "There were so many things on there that I wanted to buy for you. How could I possibly remember everything after all this time?"

Pei Ran landed in a wilderness area and began to search for items slowly. "I don't think I missed anything. There are still two pairs of shoes that are out of print. I can't find their prices."

"Sweetheart," Luo Qingshan choked up, then corrected himself, "Pei Ran, do you have to be like this?"

Pei Ran replied, "It's not because I want to be."

"I know, I know, I said it was my mistake," Luo Qingshan admitted. "But there really isn't anything between Su Nian and me. At least, I don't have those feelings for him. Don't you know me? I've always treated him like a brother. I just didn't expect..."

Pei Ran stood silently in the room for a few seconds before bending down to pick up the items. "Don't say anymore."

"You're not even giving me a chance to explain?" Luo Qingshan's voice was laced with bitterness. "Pei Ran, I've been thinking these past few days. I'm wondering if you actually care about this at all. Why aren't you angry? You're just silent, in a cold war with me, like back in high school when you ignored and overlooked me."

How could he explain? And how would he show his anger? Pei Ran pondered.

Should he interrogate Luo Qingshan, asking how many times he kissed Su Nian or if he had truly deleted Su Nian from his life?

Or should he create a scene, having a heated argument with Su Nian in front of everyone, leaving chaos in their wake?

Pei Ran fell into a long, deep silence, so long that Luo Qingshan thought he had muted himself or left the game.

"I just don't want it to end so badly," Pei Ran spoke softly.

It was the first time Luo Qingshan heard such a desolate tone in Pei Ran's voice since the incident.

Pei Ran didn't say much, but Luo Qingshan felt like he understood everything.

Both of Pei Ran's parents were artists, and he was born with an artist's proud spirit, pursuing perfection and romance. This was precisely what Luo Qingshan found most attractive about him.

Luo Qingshan's nose stung. "I'm sorry."

He rubbed his eyes, feeling an even stronger desire to see Pei Ran. After a long while, he asked, "After that, can we still be friends?"

Pei Ran: "..."

"Don't say no, please," Luo Qingshan pleaded. "At least give me some time."

Pei Ran instinctively resisted, but if not for an unresolved debt between them, he might have long blacklisted Luo Qingshan.

Luo Qingshan bit his lip, forcing a smile. He decided to play his trump card. "By the way... it's been getting colder and raining lately. My fingers always ache. Can fingers even get rheumatism? You should wear more layers; you catch a cold easily."

Pei Ran was particularly susceptible to this approach, and Luo Qingshan felt both ashamed and profoundly relieved.

Sure enough, Pei Ran fell silent for a moment before asking, "Have you gone to the hospital?"

"No, it's not very painful." Sensing that he had softened, Luo Qingshan inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject. "Did you find any guns? Here, stay still. I'll toss you an M24 with a 6x scope."

Pei Ran didn't pause in his steps as he passed Luo Qingshan. "Thanks, but I'm not into sniping."

-

"Someone's at N, thank you Rocket Boss for the boost, kisses..." Lin Xuhuan was energetically interacting with the stream viewers. Upon noticing his teammate's move, he sat up straight. "Holy sh*t, Number Two, calm down. Wait for me to join you, Number Two... Yan Zhun, for f*ck's sake, don't charge in alone, there are four of them over there!"

Yan Zhun was on a motorbike, a speed that even adding four more wheels to Lin Xuhuan's dilapidated pick-up truck couldn't catch up to. All he could do was watch Yan Zhun dash headlong into the enemy without looking back.

"D*mn it, it's already hard enough playing duo-squad, and you're just throwing yourself away like that!" Lin Xuhuan was furious. "No wonder you suddenly wanted to play with me today. You were planning to drag me down with you..."

"111GOD knocked down TIKERX with an AKM"

"111GOD knocked down HUMI2B with an AKM"

"111GOD knocked down JEONG with a fragmentation grenade"

"111GOD eliminated MRxu with a fragmentation grenade"

Yan Zhun: "Dead."

"Haha, I knew it. My brother must have had a plan before charging in." Lin Xuhuan smiled. "Do you guys think my brother's moves were awesome? If you like him, show your support with gifts."

Lin Xuhuan, munching on snacks, asked, "Brother, what's up? You seem a bit down."

Yan Zhun replied, "Could I be in a good mood and still play games with you?"

"Damn," Lin Xuhuan chuckled in exasperation. "Alright, then tell me what's bothering you, and I'll try to help."

"You can't help," Yan Zhun dismissed him as he swiftly gathered the equipment he needed and leaped onto the rooftop to scout for enemies. "Just be quiet; your footsteps are already hard enough to hear."

Lin Xuhuan was accustomed to this by now. He glanced at the live chat comments. "No, no, he's not cheating... How would I know? We've played countless games together in real life. When I show you his perspective later, you'll see it's all genuine skill."

"If he's not from our team's youth training program and that level of skill is what a trainee has, I might as well retire right now."

"I've always been self-aware. The truth is, he's just incredibly skilled. If you don't believe me, go ask other PUBG streamers which team doesn't recognize 111GOD."

Yan Zhun listened to Lin Xuhuan's praise without any expression, thinking that he should play solo matches.

At the end of the game, Yan Zhun secured a victory with 21 kills.

"Damn, you're really a godly beast," Lin Xuhuan exclaimed in admiration.

Yan Zhun was startled by his choice of words and lit a cigarette without responding.

Lowering his gaze, he looked at the phone placed in front of the keyboard. He repeatedly opened the pinned chat window a couple of times.

"Brother, everyone in my live stream is asking about your gaming platform. Could you mention it? I'll give you some promotion," Lin Xuhuan said. "I guarantee you'll be flooded with orders. You should raise your rates first."

Yan Zhun exhaled smoke. "No need. I'm quitting."

"..." Lin Xuhuan's expression was complicated. "You're giving up too quickly. Young people have no perseverance."

Yan Zhun replied, "Yeah, I hate every job I've ever had."

Lin Xuhuan turned on his live stream's microphone. "Stop spamming, he's not taking any more orders. Why? No reason, that's just how pros are. Bro, hold on a moment. When the team's pigs wake up, we'll play a squad match together."

Yan Zhun didn't respond. As he raised his hand to tap off the ash, his phone on the desk vibrated. His eyes narrowed, almost causing him to drop the entire cigarette into the ashtray.

"Pei Ran: I'm ready, are you still playing?"

Within minutes, the team was assembled. Just as Lin Xuhuan was about to start the game, the system alerted him that one of his teammates was unprepared.

Upon glance, the checkmark in front of 111GOD vanished.

"I'm leaving. You guys carry on," Yan Zhun said.

"Damn it," a man's voice rang out, belonging to the team's assault specialist, "I climbed out of bed just to play with you, and now you're telling me you're leaving? Where are you going?"

Yan Zhun tossed out a reply, "What else can I do? Accompany my boss."

With that, Yan Zhun left, leaving a trail of question marks in his live stream. Fans demanded to know if he was joking around, given that he previously claimed not to take requests.

Lin Xuhuan appeared nonchalant. "He did say that experts like him can be capricious."

Pei Ran had just sent a message but recalled that Yan Zhun was still in-game, so he hastily added another line.

"Pei Ran: If you're still playing, then forget it."

"Yan Zhun: Invite me."

Pei Ran, inexperienced as a team leader, somewhat awkwardly sent an invitation. Soon, 111GOD joined their team.

"What map are you playing?"

"Are you alone?"

Both spoke at the same time.

Pei Ran paused, "Yes, it's just me. Do you want to invite others?"

"No," Yan Zhun hesitated, "I saw you queuing for a duo match earlier."

Pei Ran explained, "I accidentally joined the wrong team just now. I didn't check the ID properly and thought it was your invitation."

Yan Zhun raised an eyebrow slightly, "Oh, you thought it was me."

Pei Ran didn't catch the subtle hint of amusement in his tone and simply responded with a nod, then asked again, "What map are we playing?"

"Let's do the island map," Yan Zhun suggested. "I promised to take you on a helicopter ride."

During the game, Pei Ran's phone kept ringing.

He looked at the voice message from Luo Qingshan but wasn't particularly keen on listening to it. However, he was worried that something might have happened to the other's hand, so he eventually chose to play the shortest one.

—"When are you heading to school tomorrow? Let's go together. I'll pick you up..."

Pei Ran paused the voice message before it finished playing and quickly replied with "It's not necessary."

Yan Zhun glanced at the date, and the annoyance that had just subsided resurfaced, making him crave a cigarette.

Then, through his headphones, he heard a slight rustling sound, like the unwrapping of candy paper.

With some restraint, he opened a drawer, took out a White Rabbit candy, and popped it into his mouth to satisfy his craving.

Playing games with Pei Ran was somewhat sugar-intensive.

After the game ended late at night, Pei Ran stared at the dark computer screen and suddenly thought of something. He opened the gaming companion app to settle Yan Zhun's payment.

The rules of this gaming companion app stated that the customer had to place an order first, and after the designated playtime was over, they needed to manually confirm the payment in the background for the companion to receive their earnings.

The maximum purchase limit for playtime was 50 hours, and companions were required to complete the order within a month, or it would be voided.

"Yan Zhun: ?"

"Pei Ran: I might not have much time for gaming after school starts, so I'll settle your bill now."

"Pei Ran: I'll come visit again if I get the chance."

Unbeknownst to Pei Ran, his last sentence sounded overly polite; in ordinary circumstances, "if I get the chance" could imply "I won't be coming back."

In the end, Yan Zhun couldn't resist. He went to the balcony, lit a cigarette but didn't smoke it, his gaze fixated on those words.

After a long while, he finally reacted.

"Yan Zhun: Transferred 1200 yuan to you."

Pei Ran was taken aback and instinctively typed a question mark.

A voice message quickly came back, and Pei Ran held his phone close to his ear to listen.

"Did you really think I was just your gaming companion?"

Pei Ran hesitated to reply with another question mark, but he felt that it might come across as impolite. Instead, he tapped the voice message button and replied naively, "Yes, I am."

In the next voice note, Yan Zhun's laughter was barely audible, as if he had been holding back.

"Among paid gaming partners, someone like me would charge at least two hundred yuan."

"I'm not currently in need of money."

"The reason I tried to persuade you to buy my services was to get you to play games with me."

After listening to three consecutive messages, Pei Ran's ear was almost glued to his phone from the warmth.

After a moment of silence, he asked, "...Do you really enjoy playing games with beginners?"

Yan Zhun couldn't hold back any longer. He extinguished his cigarette, bowed his head, and chuckled for a while before replying earnestly.

"No, I enjoy playing games with you."

"To be precise, I enjoy doing anything with you."

"It means I like you, do you understand? It has nothing to do with how inexperienced you are."

Pei Ran remained in the position of holding the phone, as if someone had pressed the pause button on his life.

He even paused his breathing for a few seconds, his mind filled only with the sound of his heartbeat, pulsing rhythmically against his temples.

When he put down the phone, he accidentally tapped the voice message again, and Yan Zhun's voice echoed once more—

"It means I like you..."

Pei Ran hastily turned it off. He blinked rapidly, then swiftly stood up and went to the window, slamming it shut with a bang.

It was the rain that was too noisy, he thought.