Chapter 32 Part 1

Lin Xuhuan was live streaming. He was lazy about everything except for streaming, as he was a big chatterbox, and at least the bullet comments would talk to him when he streamed.

The bullet comments were all laughing at him, saying he couldn't even control his own 4x AK recoil but still wanted to teach others. Some people also asked who was talking.

"Who says I can't handle a 4x AK? Besides my big bro, I've never seen anyone play the AK better than me. If you don't believe me, go shout it outside and see who dares to answer." Lin Xuhuan said, "The person who just spoke was my big bro. Yes, the one who was a paid game companion before. His voice sounds nice, right? ...Oh, he's not taking orders anymore... Isn't he handsome? Just kidding, he's super handsome..."

"Are you done yet?" Yan Zhun asked.

"Done, done, I'm done talking." Lin Xuhuan smiled nonchalantly, "Where are you two now?"

Yan Zhun ignored him. Pei Ran thought for a moment, then turned on his mic and replied: "An internet cafe."

Lin Xuhuan was stunned for a moment: "Why'd you go to an internet cafe? If you wanted to get online, you could have just come to the Base. I'd even reimburse your taxi fare! Which internet cafe are you at? Or how about I come find you guys and hang out?"

The words had barely left his mouth when several shots suddenly landed at Lin Xuhuan's feet. He jumped up and screamed in fright, "Fuck, fuck, someone's close! I didn't even hear footsteps! It's a hacker!"

He jumped in place a few times, then turned around in terror to see Yan Zhun raising his gun and aiming down the scope, the muzzle pointed right at him.

"..." Lin Xuhuan stammered, "Bro, I'll shut up now."

Pei Ran didn't speak, smiling silently.

Every time he played with them, Pei Ran felt particularly relaxed and happy. After a match, even if he didn't get a single kill, he would still be in a good mood.

After looting a small, remote area, he came out and discovered Yan Zhun's group had encountered people. Hearing gunshots, Pei Ran put away his gun and was about to go see if he could help when the person beside him suddenly reached over.

Yan Zhun pressed his inventory key and glanced over the items on his gun and in his gear.

Pei Ran's hand on the mouse tightened: "...What is it?"

Yan Zhun instantly killed the two enemies and was on his way to loot their death boxes: "Seeing what you're missing."

And then, Pei Ran had his eyes opened to a whole new world.

He didn't even get a clear look at what was in the enemy's death boxes before Yan Zhun, within ten seconds, had finished looting both of them before Lin Xuhuan and the others arrived.

"Here." Yan Zhun glanced at the pathetically bare gun on Lin Xuhuan's back and said, "Secretly."

Lin Xuhuan muttered to his stream audience in confusion: "I clearly saw a muzzle attachment just now... my bro wouldn't take it, he already had one, I saw it... Am I seeing things?"

Then he turned around and witnessed the scene of his two teammates dividing the spoils.

Lin Xuhuan: "Fuck, bro, you're so fucking biased!"

Having been discovered, Yan Zhun replied quite frankly: "Yeah."

Lin Xuhuan said: "Unfair! Let him put it back. Baby Ran and I will compete on looting speed. Whoever picks it up gets to keep it!"

Pei Ran hadn't participated in the previous fight anyway. It was just a muzzle attachment; his performance depended entirely on his on-the-spot gameplay, so he didn't care about it. Hearing this, he turned, intending to compete with Lin Xuhuan.

"I killed both of them, and I looted the boxes with my own skill," Yan Zhun said. "I picked it up, so it's his. What part of that is unfair?"

Lin Xuhuan didn't pay attention to the strange logic in Yan Zhun's words. He had OCD, and his gun was just one muzzle attachment away from being fully kitted. Seeing that this approach wouldn't work, he decided to try another: "Baby Ran, come on, give me the muzzle first. I'll kill someone later, loot one, and give it back to you."

Pei Ran had originally started walking towards Lin Xuhuan, but as soon as Yan Zhun finished speaking, he had turned back around.

Pei Ran said: "Go search the houses and look for one."

Lin Xuhuan: "..."

Lin Xuhuan shook his head, tsk-tsking, thinking to himself that Pei Ran had been corrupted by his brother. In the past, Pei Ran would have been willing to share any attachment.

He took a moment to glance at his bullet comment assistant and noticed that the tone of his bullet comments was a little strange.

He didn't understand some of the comments, but he saw one that said "Does Player 1 like Player 2."

Lin Xuhuan stared blankly for a moment to identify them. Player 1 was his brother, and Player 2 was Pei Ran.

[Xuxu: My Gay-dar is going off like crazy. There's a story between Player 1 and Player 2]

He quickly muted his in-game mic and said to his fans: "Don't spout nonsense, we're all brothers! Hey, the one called 'Xuxu,' put away that whatever-you-call-it Gay-dar of yours, it's totally baseless!"

That's what he said.

But now that they had mentioned it, Lin Xuhuan suddenly felt it too. It was, just, fucking, weird.

Yan Zhun: "Anyone have a Lightweight Grip?"

Pei Ran said: "I do, I just picked one up. I'll give it to you in a bit."

Lin Xuhuan randomly entered a house and saw a Lightweight Grip on the floor. He glanced at the map; he was closer to Yan Zhun.

"Bro, I found one here, I'll give it to you," Lin Xuhuan said as he ran toward Yan Zhun.

Then he saw Yan Zhun brush past him, heading straight for Pei Ran without a backward glance.

"Drop it for me."

Lin Xuhuan stood rooted to the spot, holding the Lightweight Grip in his inventory, and watched the two in the distance, blinking hard a few times.

"Uh," after a long moment, Lin Xuhuan dropped the Lightweight Grip and coughed lightly, "is that girl named 'Xuxu' still here... send me a private message. No, it's nothing, just wanna chat, just chat."

-

They happily played squad mode until after eleven at night. Back in the game lobby, Yan Zhun glanced at the time and turned on his mic: "We're done playing."

After saying that, he ignored Lin Xuhuan's protests and took off his headset.

"Should we head back?" he turned his head and asked.

Pei Ran naturally agreed. He said hi and bye to Lin Xuhuan before logging off. By the time he was shutting down the computer, Yan Zhun had already put on his overcoat.

The two walked out of the private room. The internet cafe was still full of people, but it wasn't as noisy as it had been during the day. Their shoulders brushed against each other, and Pei Ran could smell the cool fragrance on Yan Zhun, a scent unique to a winter overcoat.

A few boys came walking toward them, roughhousing. Pei Ran subconsciously turned to the side, lightly bumping Yan Zhun's arm. Yan Zhun thought he was unsteady and grabbed his wrist.

Pei Ran froze for a moment. Before he could react, the boys suddenly stopped in front of him.

"Pei Ran?" The boy in the lead raised an eyebrow and called out his name. "What are you doing here?"

Pei Ran looked over. It was a familiar face, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.

Pei Ran said: "To use the internet."

Hearing that, the boy thought his question was indeed a bit stupid and chuckled at himself: "How come it's just you? Where's Luo Qingshan?"

Pei Ran paused. He remembered.

It was one of Luo Qingshan's good friends from another school back in high school. They had eaten a meal together right after graduating from high school.

The person next to the boy also clearly knew Luo Qingshan. He raised an eyebrow and asked in a low voice: "Who's this?"

"Pei Ran," the boy said, "Luo Qingshan's boyfriend, the one he's been with for years!"

That person's eyes widened in realization. He grinned at Pei Ran and said: "Oh, oh, oh, I've heard so much about you. Luo Qingshan used to talk about you in our group chat every day, he was so annoying."

"Yeah, it was always 'baby' this and 'baby' that, damn."

"It was more than that!" As soon as his good friend's embarrassing stories came up, the boy couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Remember that time he got drunk at Suhe? He went around showing off to people at other booths that his proposal to Pei Ran was successful, and even said they'd go abroad to get their marriage certificate as soon as they graduated from university..."

Pei Ran felt his wrist suddenly lighten. Yan Zhun had let go of him.

Yan Zhun's eyes were lowered, his expression unchanged: "I'll wait for you at the front desk."

Pei Ran was silent for two seconds, then said okay.