Chapter 19

Chapter 19

It was already late at night when Pei Ran finished his assignments. He got up to wash the coffee cup and, before going to bed, casually checked his Weibo.

He hadn't logged in to Weibo for quite some time, so there were hundreds of unread private messages, many of which were from people looking to commission him.

During high school, Pei Ran had taken on a few commercial commissions. He enjoyed trying new things and had learned about the strict demands of clients back then. After completing a few pieces, his fan base grew to sixty thousand, but he stopped taking commissions once he started university.

He quickly glanced through the private messages, intending to post a statement that he wasn't accepting any more commissions. However, one particular preview caught his eye.

"TZG Fan: Does the artist take private commissions? I want to draw Lin Xuhuan..."

It was from a fan of Lin Xuhuan. The message was accompanied by several photos of Lin Xuhuan playing games, with very short hair, suggesting they were from a long time ago.

"Fei Yu Yi: What are your requirements?"

The other person replied instantly.

"TZG Fan: AAAAAH!!!"

"TZG Supreme: No demands! Absolutely none!! It's just... how much would the remuneration be, QAQ...?"

"Fei Yu Yi: How much do you usually charge?"

"TZG Supreme: My last commission was 800...

"TZG Supreme: Ah, I didn't mean to imply that I want the artist to draw for me at 800! I know your artwork is valuable! Well, I'm just a student, QAQ, I can't really afford a high price. If it's suitable, I'll commission you; if not, I'll just quietly be your little fan. I genuinely love your drawings!

"Pei Ran's illustrations were indeed expensive. His last commercial commission had fetched him a five-digit sum.

Pei Ran tapped and held the image to save Lin Xuhuan's photos into his phone.

"Fei Yu Yi: Thank you. In that case, 800 will do. Could I have your email address for convenience?

"Having noted down the email address, Pei Ran closed the private message, posted a tweet declining further commissions, and then switched off his phone before going to bed.

-

The next time he received a call from Lin Xuhuan was on the weekend.

"Baby Ran, your laptop is fixed," Lin Xuhuan said. "When will you have time to pick it up? Or should I have someone deliver it to you?"

"I'll get it myself." Pei Ran took out a pen and paper, holding the phone between his shoulder and ear. "Could you give me your address, or should I pick it up at the security desk?"

"Don't bother, just come to the base. You can drop by and hang out with me while you're here," Lin Xuhuan said hastily, with some background noise on his end. "That's settled then. I'll order takeout and send you the address via WeChat."

By the time Pei Ran finished his breakfast, Lin Xuhuan still hadn't sent the address.

Perhaps he was too busy with training to remember?

Pei Ran pondered for a moment, about to leave a message on WeChat, when a voice message arrived.

"Wait a bit, darling. My brother will come to fetch you shortly."

As the voice message ended, Yan Zhun's video call came through.

It took Pei Ran two taps to answer.

"Did you have breakfast?" Yan Zhun's voice was a little hoarse, suggesting he had just woken up.

"Yes," replied Pei Ran. "What about you?"

Yan Zhun said, "Eat when you're ready. Do you have anything to do this morning?"

"Nope, it's the weekend, so I'm free all day." Pei Ran glanced at the time. "Do you want to sleep in a bit more?"

A brief honk echoed from the street, and Yan Zhun spoke, "I'm almost at your campus entrance. Get ready and come out."

After hanging up, Yan Zhun stuffed his hands in his pocket and continued scanning the chat group on his phone.

The members of Team TZG were all teenage boys, talkative and lively, and the chat group easily reached 99+ notifications when they weren't training.

Today's topic of discussion was Pei Ran.

Lin Xuhuan, that brat, had found out about Pei Ran's twenty-dollar gaming gig, and within two hours of returning to the base, everyone knew about it.

"Your Assaulter Daddy: @Yan Zhun I'll pay fifty for your fully kitted M4."

"Your Sniper God Daddy: @Yan Zhun I'll give eighty, and you don't even have to do anything. Just be a target for me to practice on for a few rounds."

"One Shot, One Kill to Sister's Heart: @Your Father Lin Xuhuan Are you sure his boss isn't a pretty sister?"

"Your Father Lin Xuhuan: Not a pretty sister, but a handsome brother."

Yan Zhun scoffed and typed.

"Yan Zhun: @Coach Yong of TZG Team, they hid their cigarettes in the vase on the first floor lobby. Go confiscate them."

"Coach Yong of TZG Team:."

The group chat was instantly flooded with question marks.

"Your Father Lin Xuhuan: Bro? You have my trust like this? You do this to me? Bro???"

"Yan Zhun: Do you know what day it is today?"

"Your Father Lin Xuhuan: ?"

"Yan Zhun: It's the annual No Smoking Day at TZG Base."

"Your Father Lin Xuhuan: The hell I knew there was such a holiday!"

"Yan Zhun: Established just today."

"Dad You Lin Xuhuan: ..."

Yan Zhun slipped his phone into his pocket and lifted his gaze to see Pei Ran.

Pei Ran was in a hurry. The distance from the campus gate to the dormitory made him slightly breathless. "Did you wait long?"

"Just arrived." Yan Zhun turned around. "Let's go, it's not far."

Pei Ran caught up and after two steps, he took something out of his pocket to hand it to Yan Zhun.

"Not sure if they have milk at their base," Pei Ran said, "so I brought a cup for you to have with your breakfast later."

At the TZG base, there had been a commotion earlier, but now everyone was gathered in the living room for breakfast.

As the door opened, all heads turned simultaneously to witness Yan Zhun strolling in leisurely, his usual aloof expression intact, holding an unopened carton of milk in hand.

Following closely behind Yan Zhun was another young man dressed in a white T-shirt, radiating a gentle demeanor. He nodded at them and apologized, "Sorry to disturb."

"Damn," the sharpshooter seated on the right side of the sofa muttered under his breath, low enough for only his teammates to hear. "He's quite the pretty little brother."

"Ran darling!" Lin Xuhuan immediately waved at him. "Come have breakfast!"

Pei Ran hurriedly replied, "I've already eaten."

Lin Xuhuan acknowledged with an "oh." "Well, sit down then and wait? I'll pass you the laptop after I'm done eating."

As an elite esports team, TZG's base was luxurious, and their living room sofa was spacious and comfortable. The players often used it as their dining table.

Both individual sofas were occupied, so when Yan Zhun approached Lin Xuhuan, he said, "Shift over a bit."

Lin Xuhuan made room, and Yan Zhun sat down, lifting his eyelids to meet Pei Ran's gaze before gesturing to the empty spot beside him.

Pei Ran slowly took his seat, sitting properly with his limbs well-behaved. He remained silent.

The man seated on the left picked up his glass filled with plain water and made a toasting gesture towards Yan Zhun. "I just confiscated four packs of cigarettes from them and fined them twenty thousand. I'll transfer the reward money to you later."

"Not like you need it," Yan Zhun replied with a nonchalant smile. "Keep it. There's nothing for me to clink glasses with anyway."

"Didn't you bring a bottle of milk?" The coach frowned, puzzled. "Have you changed your ways? Weren't you the one who hated drinking this the most?"

Pei Ran leaned against the sofa, momentarily taken aback by the question.

Yan Zhun pierced the milk cap with a straw and clinked it against Pei Ran's. "Mm-hmm, it's supposed to be good for the stomach."

Pei Ran: "..."

He noticed that Yan Zhun seemed very at ease here, chatting more than usual.

Yan Zhun appeared to be on familiar terms with the team members, who addressed him as 'brother'. They occasionally teased him during their conversations, and Yan Zhun took it all in stride.

"One of my teammates mentioned you're the legendary boss my brother keeps talking about?"

Pei Ran instinctively sat up straight at being suddenly mentioned. "No, I'm not his boss. We're alumni from the same university."

The team member nodded and pointed at Yan Zhun. "weren't you the one who gave him that weird buff?"

Pei Ran replied, "Yes, it was me."

Another asked, "Weren't you the one who accompanied him to visit all those little houses in the wilderness?"

Pei Ran replied, "Yes, it was me."

"Didn't you make him follow you and blow himself up?"

Pei Ran: "…It was me."

Suddenly, someone stood up and reached out to Pei Ran. "Boss, boss, let's shake hands... May I ask how many hours you bought him for? Do you have any remaining time? Can I buy him back at five times the price, Boss?"

Before his hand could reach Pei Ran, Yan Zhun slapped it away. "Get lost."

The man grinned. "Babe Ran, let's discuss the details on WeChat. I'll contact you tonight with Lin Xuhuan's account."

Lin Xuhuan protested, "That won't work. I need to interact with my female fans tonight." He paused. "Of course, you can transfer some rent to me..."

"Alright, I'll expose your mini Weibo account right now, so everyone can see the world champion chasing after a female idol every day."

"Damn it... Then I'll reveal that your phone wallpaper is a female streamer!"

The two engaged in a lively exchange of banter, each countering the other with increasing verve, until their verbal sparring escalated to the point where they challenged one another to a solo match of Link-Up Puzzle.

"Come here! Now!" Lin Xuhuan thundered with an intimidating aura. "I won't stop until I shatter your skull, so you finally understand what it means to be astrologically compatible!"

"Who's afraid of whom? Let's agree on a best of five matches. The loser has to post an embarrassing photo on Weibo!"

The training room was located on the first floor, surrounded by transparent glass. It wasn't until they stepped into their first session of intense concentration that Pei Ran realized he had forgotten to ask Lin Xuhuan for his laptop.

The other team members also leisurely returned to their spots. At this moment, the coach stood up. "Yan Zhun, come with me upstairs. We need to discuss something."

The coach had a solemn expression, clearly indicating that it was a private matter.

Yan Zhun asked, "Can't we talk about it here?"

"No," the coach replied straightforwardly.

Just as Pei Ran was about to tell Yan Zhun not to worry about him, Yan Zhun got up from the sofa.

"Go to the training room and find Lin Xuhuan. Ask him to set up a computer for you to play on first." With an easy gesture, Yan Zhun casually ruffled Pei Ran's hair before quickly removing his hand. "I'll be down soon."

As Pei Ran entered the practice room, he found the astrologer player Lin Xuhuan had just lost a round.

"Crap, let's go again." Catching a glimpse of Pei Ran, Lin Xuhuan pulled a chair beside him. "Babe Ran, come sit and watch me utterly crush him."

Pei Ran sat as instructed.

Lin Xuhuan wasn't as fast at matching squares as others, but his voice certainly was loud. Pei Ran watched silently, eventually unable to resist rubbing his ear.

Yan Zhun had just casually brushed against his earlobe with warm fingertips.

The game of Match-It ended in three rounds. Lin Xuhuan lost all three.

"The Astrologer is pathetic," the assault player taunted with a grin. "Hurry up and send that embarrassing photo."

Fuming with anger, Lin Xuhuan accepted defeat gracefully. He picked up his phone. "Fine, I'll send it. Just wait for me to take one..."

He tapped twice on his phone, but the screen remained dark – it was out of battery.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you? The coach will be down soon for the training match. You're just stalling until it's late and quiet, aren't you?"

"Cut the crap! My WeChat and Weibo are all logged in on my computer. Just wait." Lin Xuhuan shot him a glance and then said, "Babe Ran, take a photo of me with your phone and send it to my WeChat. I can't turn on my phone right now."

Pei Ran opened the camera function. Lin Xuhuan skillfully made a funny face. "Take a few more, so I can choose."

"Sure," Pei Ran replied.

After taking the photos, Pei Ran handed the phone to Lin Xuhuan for him to pick one. At that moment, he heard some noise behind him. Two people were coming down the stairs.

The coach was still talking to Yan Zhun, but the words were indistinct. Pei Ran turned around and saw Yan Zhun with his lips barely moving, not saying anything.

Just then, Lin Xuhuan's hand moved quickly, accidentally swiping the phone screen too much.

It wasn't until they were close to the resting room that Yan Zhun finally spoke up, "I'm not considering it for now. Maybe later..."

"DAMN IT!!"

Lin Xuhuan suddenly shouted, interrupting Yan Zhun.

Everyone instinctively looked at him.

Lin Xuhuan blinked, excitement coursing through him as he grabbed Pei Ran's phone and held it up to show the screen to his friend. "Ran darling! You have so many pictures of me saved here! Are you my fan? Why didn't you tell me before? I can't even find some of these old photos myself, yet you still have them... Have you liked me for a long time?!"

Yan Zhun, who had just entered the training room, paused in his steps.