Chapter 33

Lu Yan stood not far from the bus stop sign. As Xiao Heng got closer, he finally understood the meaning of that "turn around" just now.

"What are you doing here?" Lu Yan asked.

"Shopping."

Lu Yan scanned him from top to bottom, and was just about to say that he didn't see him carrying anything.

Xiao Heng said, "That store was closed."

Lu Yan wanted to say more, but Xiao Heng didn't want to continue the topic. He turned his head slightly, raised his hand to pat him on the head, and interrupted, "Are you coming or not?"

'Coming.'

Lu Yan said in his heart.

Two more streets ahead was that pile of ruins in the Seventh District. The dilapidated building of Unit 3, Building 6 stood there. This wreck, which could be demolished at any moment, was the last refuge for this group of people with nowhere else to go.

Xiao Heng walked in front of him.

For the first time, Lu Yan had the feeling of 'I'm home.'

It was like temporarily letting out a breath, finally having a place where he could open his mouth and breathe.

After Lu Yan entered the building, he was pulled aside by Brother Wei and forced to chat for a bit.

When he went upstairs and pushed open the door, he found that Xiao Heng had already used his spare key to open the door with practiced ease. The man was sitting in front of the computer, puffing out clouds of smoke. After exhaling, he held the cigarette in his mouth again and squinted as he typed on the keyboard.

"Close the door," Xiao Heng said without looking up when he heard the noise.

Lu Yan: "..." 'Whose house is this, anyway?'

Too much had happened that day. Lu Yan only felt a little sleepy after getting home. He put his things down and lay on the bed for a nap.

The intermittent sound of a keyboard clacking was in his ears.

When he woke up from his nap and pulled open the curtain to look outside, the sky was already completely dark. Xiao Heng was still in the same position as when he had closed his eyes two hours ago, not even the way he held the cigarette in his mouth had changed.

Lu Yan opened his eyes and leaned against the wall, watching him.

From his angle, most of the man's face was blocked by the computer screen, but his hand extended out from the side, holding the mouse, occasionally dragging it to click a few times.

After he finished typing, Xiao Heng pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray, leaned back in his chair, and distanced himself from the computer.

His gaze shifted a few degrees and met Lu Yan's eyes. "Awake?"

Lu Yan grunted in affirmation and got up.

Xiao Heng had been busy with the computer these past few days and hadn't looked for a job. At this rate, even the thousand-plus he had saved up before wouldn't be enough. Lu Yan walked past the computer desk and asked, "You still haven't gotten your ID card yet?"

Xiao Heng pulled a card out of his pocket and casually placed it on the desk, saying, "Got it a couple of days ago."

Lu Yan glanced at it. The photo on Xiao Heng's ID card was an old one. Black trench coat, shirt, sharp and cold features—he looked exactly like a rich young master with "I'm very rich" written all over his face.

Lu Yan then saw the string of numbers on the ID card, the date of birth.

November.

'...Two months older than me.'

"What?" Xiao Heng asked. "Mesmerized by how handsome your daddy is in the photo?"

"Screw you."

Lu Yan took out his own ID card and slapped it down next to his. "Laozi is way more handsome than you!"

The photo on Lu Yan's ID card didn't conform to national regulations at all. In the photo, the teenager's long hair clearly had a few strands of vibrant red. Not only was his hair dyed, but he also wore an earring.

Passionate and flamboyant.

In Xiao Heng's memory, the requirements for ID photos were quite strict, not just in Xiajing City, but pretty much everywhere. "They let you take pictures like this where you're from?"

After he asked, his gaze moved down and saw the address field on the ID card: Jizhou.

Lu Yan put his ID card away and said, "They're not strict about it... Since your ID is here, aren't you going back to work at the internet cafe?"

Xiao Heng didn't answer. He typed at the computer for a while longer before calling him over. "Come here."

On the computer screen was a website page.

Lu Yan didn't really understand it, only feeling that it looked similar to the kind of websites he usually browsed.

"Took on a gig. I have to finish this in the next few days." Xiao Heng had barely slept these past few days. As he spoke, he lit another cigarette.

Four years ago, he had made a template website himself, but he stopped touching computers after leaving it unfinished. Now, it seemed the manual template he had made was incomplete and couldn't keep up with current technological trends.

Fortunately, the company's requirements for the website weren't that strict; they just needed it urgently.

—Xiao Heng's tone of voice didn't have many fluctuations, but there was a clear sense of purpose in his words.

After speaking, Xiao Heng stared at the computer and started typing again.

Lu Yan didn't disturb him anymore.

He took a shower and remembered he still hadn't figured out the live streaming thing. After browsing through various major live stream rooms, he went to Sister Lan's stream to watch for a while.

When he entered the stream room, Sister Lan was eating a bowl of malatang that she claimed cost 'sixty yuan'. The bowl was bigger than her head.

The woman ate with hearty and unrestrained gusto, her mouth full of red chili oil. While eating, she said, "Thanks, bro!"

'This is too hardcore.'

Lu Yan was amazed. He emptied his impoverished account balance to gift Sister Lan a flower.

When Lu Yan exited to check his balance, he saw an unread red dot in his inbox. He clicked it and saw an official email stating that the streamer application he submitted a couple of days ago had been approved.

Lu Yan thought, 'Forget researching it, I'll just go for it.'

And so, halfway through his typing, Xiao Heng heard Lu Yan, who was sitting on the sofa, say, "New streamer here, click follow so you don't get lost."

"What are you performing?" Lu Yan read the viewer's comment aloud and then answered, "I sing."

Lu Yan had good conditions. The dim light in the living room shone on his face. His looks were already eye-catching, and his voice was outstanding. The number of viewers had been rising steadily since the stream began.

Although the equipment wasn't professional, it didn't affect his performance in the slightest. Back when the band was doing gigs in shopping malls, they sang with even worse sound equipment. After all, Lu Yan had years of stage experience. He didn't look like a new streamer at all and had an extremely strong ability to control the atmosphere.

Viewers started requesting songs.

"Ah, this one." Lu Yan nodded to show he knew it.

The audience expressed their anticipation.

But after nodding, he added, "I'm not singing this one. I'll sing a song by the Vent Band for you."

Hearing this, Xiao Heng's hands paused their coding, and he choked on the smoke from the cigarette in his mouth.

After Lu Yan finished speaking, he waited for them to ask what Vent was.

The audience's reaction was within his expectations: ...Huh? What's that?

Lu Yan waited for them to spam the chat for a while before saying, with extremely obvious promotional intent, "Vent, never heard of them?"

The audience started spamming: No.

Lu Yan sighed and introduced them with great regret, "This band was formed over three years ago. They're a brilliantly talented band with a versatile style. Every one of their songs is a classic. A talented band like this deserves more attention." The more Lu Yan spoke, the more invested he became. "Especially the band's lead singer! He has both looks and skill, and he's the soul of the band."

Xiao Heng absolutely could not type on his keyboard anymore. "..."

He flicked his cigarette, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

'How is this guy so different from normal people even when live streaming? Did he pay the platform for advertising fees?'

After promoting his own band, Lu Yan thought to himself how he hadn't gotten into the live streaming industry sooner. What a great free advertising platform.

Since he still wasn't very familiar with the functions of the live streaming software, he just cleared his throat and started singing a cappella.

Lu Yan singing a cappella was different from when he sang for Xiao Heng on the rooftop with his guitar.

Without the sound of any other accompaniment, there was only him. His own voice was a fine instrument in itself. The power and penetrating quality of a rock singer were fully embodied in him.

"When the horizon tilts and continuously falls

Even the wind threatens in my ear

...

Recklessly vent"

Xiao Heng lowered his head, his fingers touching the keyboard keys, listening so intently that he forgot how to write the next line of code.

He typed a string of characters purely out of instinct.

When Lu Yan sang the last word, he lifted his eyelids and looked up at the screen, discovering that he had typed five letters: luyan.

"Thank you everyone for the gifts."

The viewers who had previously been dismissive of some "V-something" band all fell silent in unison and started spamming gifts instead. After thanking them, Lu Yan continued his advertisement, "The song just now is from a new compilation album released two years after this band's debut. Speaking of this band—"

As Lu Yan was speaking, a line of text floated past at the bottom.

A viewer commented: That electric guitar in the background is nice, a good instrument.

The camera for Lu Yan's stream was aimed right at the wall where the guitars were hanging.

Half of the guitar was visible, with the big G logo showing.

The viewer commented again: You sing so well, how about playing one?

After this viewer commented, others followed suit and started spamming: Ah! Sing and play! Good idea!

Lu Yan's mood, which he had been adjusting since getting on the bus, plummeted again when he saw all the spam. In his mind, the words "Old Qi" and "Aren't you quite arrogant?" mixed with the sound of a shattering wine bottle alternated in his left and right ears. Finally, the two phrases collided and merged into a buzzing sound.

Normally, if they asked him to play, he would just play. It was no big deal.

But today, he really wasn't in the mood.

This bunch of viewers got emotional quickly; a few words were all it took to get them to start spamming the chat.

Someone who had just sent a gift was dissatisfied. Acting like a big shot, they started spamming some less-than-harmonious words: I already gifted you, what's your problem, can't you just play one.

All of Lu Yan's ability to control the atmosphere disintegrated the moment "singing and playing" was mentioned. He clearly could have smoothed things over with platitudes like, 'I'm not playing today, it's getting late, and the soundproofing isn't good, I'm afraid of disturbing people. Maybe some other day.'

But he didn't say that.

He rambled a few sentences, not even knowing what he was saying himself.

In the midst of the chaos in the stream room, another man appeared in the frame, approaching from a distance. Due to the angle, the man's face wasn't captured. Only his hand, holding a cigarette between bent knuckles, could be seen. As he got closer, that hand reached past the streamer and appeared up close before all the viewers.

Then came a voice as arrogant and lazy as that cigarette. That voice said, "He can't."

The voice then scoffed, "Did he force you to gift?"

"How many cents did you gift?"

Xiao Heng didn't use any curse words, but his imposing aura was palpable.

The big shot who sent the gift felt like he had just met a real big shot.

After speaking, Xiao Heng asked Lu Yan, "Still streaming?"

Lu Yan shook his head and said, "Let's log off."

Xiao Heng used the hand holding the cigarette to tap the "End Stream" button.

The phone screen returned to the live stream lobby page.

The atmosphere fell into silence for a moment.

The smoke from the cigarette in Xiao Heng's hand drifted upwards, all the way to the tip of his nose. Lu Yan's craving for a cigarette also surfaced.

Xiao Heng understood. He stood in front of Lu Yan, looked at him and said, "There are no more. This is the last one."

Lu Yan felt his own pockets; they were also empty. He only found a lighter.

His nicotine addiction wasn't actually that heavy. He had considered quitting before to protect his throat, although back when he used to play guitar, smoking didn't seem to affect his voice much.

It was just that too much had happened after the band broke up.

—Four years ago, after hearing from the doctor that he might not be able to play the guitar anymore, the subsequent blank period of more than half a year was the lowest point of his life. Four years later, continuing to form a band as a lead singer, the band's impending breakup was another low point.

Lu Yan didn't know what he was thinking either.

Maybe he just needed a drag.

He placed one hand on Xiao Heng's wrist and pulled his hand towards himself. The pad of his finger touched the prominent bone of Xiao Heng's wrist. Then, Lu Yan leaned forward, moved closer, and took a light drag from the cigarette in his hand.

The filter of that cigarette was slightly damp.

It was the part Xiao Heng had been holding in his mouth just now.

Only after Lu Yan exhaled the smoke did he realize what he had just done. He let go of his hand, thinking he should say something, anything. A thousand words ultimately turned into a single sentence: "My... my younger brother used to be a damn good guitarist."