Chapter 27 Part 1

When Luo Qingshan received the reply from Pei Ran's mother, Su Nian happened to come out of the bathroom with a hot towel.

Su Nian spread the towel on his hand, wanting to help Luo Qingshan wipe his face, but was stopped by Luo Qingshan: "I'll do it myself."

Su Nian paused and obediently gave him the towel.

Luo Qingshan casually wiped his face a couple of times, his gaze fixed on his phone.

[Luo Qingshan: Auntie, I brought back some local specialties for you from a trip I took earlier. Recently, Ranran and I had a small falling out, so I can't give the gifts to you. When are you free?]

[Mother Pei: It's alright, no need for the gifts. Auntie doesn't lack anything, and besides, we're not in the country at the moment. Thank you.]

Luo Qingshan rubbed his aching temples and propped himself up to get out of bed.

Su Nian made way for him, grabbing his elbow: "Are you okay? Can you walk?"

"Yes." Luo Qingshan's voice was hoarse. As he passed by, he patted his shoulder, "Thanks for yesterday."

The hint of a smile on Su Nian's face froze. He didn't come back to his senses until the bathroom door closed.

He was very sensitive to contact between guys. The couple of pats Luo Qingshan had just given were truly just gratitude towards a brother, with no other meaning.

Su Nian ordered breakfast, and the delivery person arrived just as Luo Qingshan came out.

"I bought soy milk and youtiao. Eat a little to line your stomach. You drank too much yesterday, and you'll get a stomachache if you don't eat." Su Nian placed the items on the table, "You look pale. Are you not feeling well?"

Luo Qingshan's expression was very grim, not much better than it had been on the way back to the hotel last night.

"Pei Ran came over yesterday." He took two bites of the youtiao and finally couldn't help but speak.

Su Nian asked: "And then? Did you two argue?"

Luo Qingshan took a large gulp of soy milk: "And then... he picked up Yan Zhun."

Su Nian raised an eyebrow, his expression subtle.

Luo Qingshan really couldn't hold it in. He was too angry. He had been suppressing his temper all last night. If it hadn't been his friend's birthday, he would have wrecked the place.

Worried that he would cause trouble, he could only ask someone to take him away first.

"Yan Zhun..." Su Nian paused deliberately, "No wonder."

Luo Qingshan asked: "No wonder what?"

"Nothing, I just suddenly remembered... I seem to have some conflict with him." Su Nian smiled, "Remember that time I was chatting in the group and he cursed me out for no reason? Have you forgotten?"

Of course, Luo Qingshan remembered.

Su Nian added: "But I remember you and Pei Ran had only broken up for a few days then, right? Even a rocket isn't that fast... Didn't you notice anything off about Pei Ran before?"

Luo Qingshan lost his appetite for breakfast. He put down the youtiao and turned to grab his jacket.

Su Nian quickly grabbed him: "Where are you going?"

"Back to the dorm." Luo Qingshan said, "Thank you for picking me up last night."

Luo Qingshan had already reached the door when Su Nian grabbed him again.

Su Nian frowned, an expression he rarely wore. After a long moment, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Brother Qingshan, Pei Ran cheated on you, and you're still going to look for him?"

Luo Qingshan said: "It's Yan Zhun's fault."

Su Nian still wanted to ask more, but Luo Qingshan was too strong for him to hold on.

So he could only ask the question he most wanted to ask: "Brother, in your eyes... what exactly am I to you?"

"Good friends." Luo Qingshan tossed out the two words concisely, then reached out to rub Su Nian's neck, his tone as perfunctory as his action. "You get some more rest. I'll extend the room for another day when I go down. I'm leaving."

-

Late at night, Pei Ran sent the finished draft to the client and was about to turn off his computer to sleep. Unexpectedly, less than ten seconds after the message was sent, the QQ notification sounds came in like a torrential downpour.

[TZG Saigao: Ah]

[TZG Saigao: Ahhhhhh what kind of god are you]

[TZG Saigao: Da-da, you're too too too amazing! You're so good! How was I ever worthy enough to commission a piece from you!!!]

[Fei Yu Yi: ...It's because the materials and photos you provided were detailed enough.]

[TZG Saigao: It's so beautiful, so beautiful!!]

[TZG Saigao: Can I post it on Weibo, Queen? Can I use it to make support banners for the event? [Praying]]

[Fei Yu Yi: You can, but this price is for a private commission. For commercial use, you need to discuss the price with me.]

[TZG Saigao: Understood! Queen, you are beautiful and kind-hearted!]

[Fei Yu Yi: ............]

This wasn't the first time Pei Ran had seen such words. His fans on Weibo always seemed to assume he was a girl.

After submitting the draft, Pei Ran let out a long sigh and closed QQ.

His gaze fell on the last image file on his computer desktop. After a few seconds, he double-clicked to open it.

The boy in the painting had somewhat cold eyes and brows. A TZG team uniform was draped loosely over his shoulders, and his fingers rested casually on a keyboard. Behind him was a slightly messy training room, with a few empty gaming chairs that had other teammates' clothes thrown on them.

Yan Zhun blended perfectly into this environment, as if he himself were an esports player.

Pei Ran looked at it quietly for a while, until his phone's notification tone sounded.

[Yan Zhun: Lin Xuhuan's birthday is the day after tomorrow. Want to go to the base together?]

[Pei Ran: No, he didn't tell me. It's not good to go uninvited.]

[Yan Zhun: He was originally going to. I took on the job.]

[Pei Ran: ......]

[Yan Zhun: See you the day after tomorrow night?]

[Pei Ran: Okay.]

[Yan Zhun: Sleep early]

Pei Ran replied "you too," then closed the chat box, blurred out the TZG team logo in the painting, saved it to his phone, and posted it on Weibo.

When he came back after washing up, there were several hundred new comments under his Weibo post.

Pei Ran rarely replied to comments, but he seemed to be in a particularly good mood tonight, lying on his side in bed and scrolling through them one by one on his phone.

[Ahhhh it's a handsome esports guy! So good-looking! It feels like the style is so different from your previous works, is it a commercial commission?]

[I think it looks like fanart?]

[Fei Yu Yi: Not a commercial commission, and not fanart either.]

[Is it a fictional character? Will there be more? I want to ship it!]

[Fei Yu Yi: It's someone I know.]

[Queen knows someone this handsome?! I don't believe it! It must be beautified!]

[Fei Yu Yi: I do.]

[Wait, this background, this esports fan inexplicably feels that it's... familiar?]

[So I'm not the only one who thinks so! Is it some esports player? That can't be right, if he were this handsome I should have an impression of him.]

[Fei Yu Yi: Not a player.]

After sending the reply, Pei Ran thought for a moment, and then added another serious reply in this thread—

[Fei Yu Yi: But he's also very good at gaming.]

Pei Ran replied to a few more comments intermittently until drowsiness overtook him, then he closed Weibo and went to sleep. He didn't think about it again after waking up. Posting the draft on Weibo was just a way for him to save or commemorate it, not for the retweets, likes, and comments.

Pei Ran had no classes on the day of Lin Xuhuan's birthday. He went out early in the afternoon to buy a gift. When he returned, he saw Yan Zhun standing outside his department's building, wearing a black baseball cap, a white hoodie, and a mask, holding two cups of room-temperature milk tea.

His figure was outstanding, and the men and women passing by would, intentionally or not, glance at him.

Yan Zhun turned his head, and their eyes met.