Xiao An fell to the ground and frowned. His forehead and wrist hurt, and a wave of nausea crept up his throat.
Hearing the muffled snort, He Yuan sighed, grabbed his wrist, and yanked him up with some effort.
“Damn,” Xiao An muttered, panting slightly. He seemed even more dazed than before, his gaze unfocused as he stood. For a moment, he didn’t even recognize He Yuan.
He Yuan let go of his wrist, his expression turning grim. This situation was getting out of hand.
“Call your roommate,” He Yuan suggested.
“I don’t… have roommates,” Xiao An burped again, sounding unapologetic.
He Yuan tactically took a step back, trying to distance himself from the mess. He briefly considered just dumping Xiao An at the guard room, especially since it was so late and no one else was around.
But before he could take action, Xiao An staggered forward, draping an arm over He Yuan’s shoulder.
“Let’s go! Brother will give you a tour of the campus,” Xiao An slurred enthusiastically.
He Yuan’s face darkened instantly, the overwhelming stench of alcohol making him grimace.
“Figure out who’s the older brother here,” He Yuan snapped, annoyed. Xiao An was just a freshman—there was no way he was older.
Resigned to his fate, He Yuan decided to play the good guy and help Xiao An. Half-dragging, half-carrying him, they made their way to the guard room to register.
“Do you need help?” the guard asked kindly, watching the scene unfold.
“No!” Xiao An gave a confident thumbs-up, declaring proudly, “I’m eighteen years old! I can handle it myself!”
The guard chuckled, wishing them luck, while He Yuan internally cursed his misfortune.
“Let’s go to… the laboratory building. I’ll show you the rabbits,” Xiao An announced, waving his hand dramatically.
“I don’t want to see them,” He Yuan replied coldly.
“Then how about the anatomy building? We can touch some ribs!” Xiao An suggested, eyes lighting up.
He Yuan decided to stay silent. Any response might encourage him further, and he didn’t have the energy to deal with Xiao An’s antics.
As they continued, Xiao An rambled on, introducing the campus with great enthusiasm. Meanwhile, He Yuan kept his “microphone” off, only occasionally glancing at the campus map posted along the school road.
When they finally reached the dormitory area, He Yuan looked around. Most people had already gone to bed. Only a few couples lingered, huddled together in the shadows.
“Is it here?” He Yuan asked, stopping in front of one of the dormitory buildings.
Trying to steer a drunk person in the right direction was exhausting.
Xiao An squinted at the building, then sneered. “How could it be such a poor place?”
He Yuan’s patience was running thin. He grabbed Xiao An’s shoulder firmly and demanded, “Point to where it is. Now.”
But Xiao An didn’t respond. His head drooped, and he stayed silent.
“Xiao An.” He Yuan turned his head to look at him—and froze.
Xiao An suddenly raised his head, their faces inches apart. Their eyes locked, and for a moment, neither spoke.
Then Xiao An leaned closer, sniffing faintly.
“You smell sweet,” he murmured, his voice low and husky. “What is it…”
Sweet?
He Yuan’s brain short-circuited. Before he could process the absurdity of the statement, he instinctively let go of Xiao An.
Without support, Xiao An lost his balance and slid down to sit against the wall. He didn’t even complain, his head dropping forward as if he’d fallen asleep.
He Yuan stared at him for a long moment, debating whether to walk away. Finally, he turned and strode toward the duty room at the dormitory entrance.
The dormitory aunt was watching a drama on her phone. When she saw He Yuan walk in, she greeted him warmly. “Who are you looking for?”
“There’s a drunk student outside,” He Yuan said, his voice steady despite his frayed nerves. “Please look after him.”
The aunt nodded with a knowing smile. Before she could say more, He Yuan turned and left without looking back.
—
The next day, He Yuan joined the third group of students to catch a cold. Sitting next to Xu Zhaoyuan, he shared a pile of medicine.
The sore throat hit hardest during the first day of the cold, making it nearly impossible to talk. Thankfully, he didn’t have a live stream scheduled.
After class, He Yuan logged into QQ and sent Xixizi a few practical tutorials he’d used before.
As he scrolled through their previous videos, he noticed something odd. A recent clip featuring ham and egg custard felt disjointed—the editing was heavy, and some transitions were choppy.
Even the style seemed off. The usual straightforward cooking was replaced by intricate ham cubes stacked into an artistic shape.
…Was it because of the pressure of studying?
He Yuan didn’t dwell on it too much. Before long, a shaking window from the big white goose popped up.
Wall: ?
Big White Goose: Did you see the announcement about the mutual help activity?
Wall: No.
Big White Goose: Go check it out. The website updated its style again [angry].
Big White Goose: I knew it! We’re just guinea pigs for the first round of participants.
He Yuan opened the V site, ignoring the clutter of private messages, and clicked into the activity page.
Apparently, the website had added two new assessment items for apprentices to promote interaction between teachers and students.
The first assessment grouped apprentices by type and fan count. Each group would receive a random competition theme, and the winner would be determined by video views and likes. The reward was a coveted “recommendation position”.
It sounded like a hassle, and the reward wasn’t particularly enticing. He decided to let Xixizi handle it if they had time.
Wall: I saw it.
Big White Goose: We’re in the same group [falls to the ground after being hit by an arrow].
Wall: ?
Big White Goose: Didn’t I tell you I picked up an apprentice too? He makes snacks.
Big White Goose: But he’s just a bit cold, not as warm and cute as you. [sigh]
Wall: …
Wall: Are you participating?
It’s much easier if the opponent is an acquaintance. That way, appropriate negotiations can be made. If one party isn’t interested, they can just do it casually and let the other take the recommendation position.
Big White Goose: Depends on the apprentice; the website is so bad.
Big White Goose: People like us, who don’t focus on food, can’t really help much in this project.
Big White Goose: I can feel my apprentice is disgusted with me →皿→
He Yuan casually replied with an emoji pack, ended the conversation, and logged back into Deserted Island Paradise.
The other three players weren’t as diligent as he was. He Yuan continued upgrading, ready to work on the interior of his cabin.
Currently, the inside was entirely empty, with just a piece of fur on the floor acting as a carpet.
It had a distinct air of poverty.
After chatting with Big White Goose, He Yuan started to think his own apprentice might be too soft.
Now that he thought about it, the other party initially refused to bind to him in a master-apprentice relationship but then changed their attitude overnight.
He Yuan had been on the V-site for a year. Even if he hadn’t experienced it personally, he had heard plenty about human warmth and coldness, fights, and online scams.
He really couldn’t understand why Xixizi was behaving like this.
It wasn’t for money—the guy had casually thrown three bags of gold coins without a second thought, so he had to be a young master.
It wasn’t for fame either. As a gourmet, he wouldn’t make a name for himself testing beauty products.
Unless… he was actually gay?
He Yuan had plenty of male fans. In his early days of testing lipstick colors, people often mistook him for gay. He’d received all kinds of weird private messages, like, “Are you 100? Brother, are you there? Wanna look at the bird?”
In the game, He Yuan was stacking weeds and other materials to make a chair when Xixizi’s QQ message popped up.
An An: Brother qwq
An An: I just woke up [Little Yellow Bird Yawning.jpg]
He Yuan glanced at the time. It was 12:51 PM.
An An: I just woke up from a nap. Our class ended at 11:30. After lunch, I took a nap in the classroom. Now I’m playing with my phone for ten minutes before I start studying again!
The other party explained himself like writing an elementary school essay. He Yuan replied with a simple, “Hmm.”
An An: Last night was really infuriating! [Little Yellow Bird Stamps His Feet.jpg]
He Yuan wasn’t particularly interested in why An An was angry, but according to online social etiquette, he asked:
Wall: ?
The other person took a long time typing, as if carefully crafting the perfect response.
An An: I ran into some trouble studying, and this nerd who thinks he’s really cool offered to help.
An An: But halfway through, he suddenly abandoned me. [Little Yellow Bird Crying.jpg]
An An: He really shoved me aside ruthlessly in the middle of it!
An An: The nerd took you through the first and second steps, then suddenly ignored you. When you snapped back to reality, you had no idea where you were. Brother, can you understand how that feels? QAQ
He Yuan didn’t quite get what he was saying and replied, “The nerd is really bad.”
An An: Forget it, I didn’t even like him in the first place. [Little Yellow Bird Hugging Arms.jpg]
An An: When I see him next time, I’ll get back at him in my own way.
Wall: Ten minutes have passed.
An An: Let’s chat for another five minutes. I’ll start studying again at the hour.
An An: What are you doing now?
He Yuan took a screenshot of the game and was about to send it when…
An An: Is it hard to work on a construction site?
He Yuan paused after clicking send, then started coughing uncontrollably. Xu Zhaoyuan, who was catching up on his sleep, turned over.
He quickly grabbed a sip of water before realizing that he’d just mentioned to someone that he was a bricklayer.
How could someone take that seriously?
An An: Brother, I think construction workers are really great!
An An: Every brick and tile in the house we live in was built by their own hands!
He Yuan panicked for a rare moment, unsure whether to explain himself.
Wall: Now we use machines too.
An An: !!! [Little Yellow Bird Flapping Its Wings Excitedly.jpg]
An An: Then brother!
An An: Can you drive an excavator!? [Little Yellow Bird Starry Eyes.jpg]
He Yuan put his hands on the keyboard and blinked slowly.
Should he?
He sat stiffly for a long time, unable to type the word “no.”
Thinking it through, he still doubted Xixizi’s identity. Online communication depends entirely on what you say, and there’s no way to know if the other party is really a high school student.
For now, they were just ordinary netizens. Maybe they wouldn’t keep in touch much after the event, so it might not matter if he told the truth or not.
An An: That’s awesome, brother!!!
An An: I especially love watching excavators bulldozing and building houses. I could watch it all day long!
An An: That’s great, brother. I think I like you more and more! [Little Yellow Bird Blushing.jpg]
He Yuan: “…”
