He Yuan hesitated, then sent a question mark to Xixizi.
Lying on his side on the bed, He stared at the phone screen for about two minutes. The other party’s status showed “typing…”
An An: Brother qwq
An An: You looking for me? [Little Yellow Bird Flapping Its Wings.jpg]
Seeing this familiar meme, he suddenly felt a strange sense of relief.
But he didn’t know what to say. Should he ask, “Have you seen the competition details?” or comment, “Your video editing is a mess,” or even suggest, “Would you consider trying to be a streamer?”
For the past twenty years, he’s been silent so often that communicating with others felt inexplicably awkward.
Might as well stay quiet and let the other person talk.
The other side was quiet for a while before sending a picture.
It was a photo of a guy’s hand—large, backhand half-clenched, with an IV attached.
An An: I’ve been sick the past couple of days. I’m hooked up to an IV now.
Sick. No wonder the video turned out like that.
Wall: Sick but still making videos?
An An: I have to.
An An: I’m grinding for the website’s anniversary event rewards. This week I have to post an update.
He frowned, curious about what kind of reward would make someone work so hard even while sick.
Opening the V-site forum, he searched for “anniversary event”.
V-site’s ninth-anniversary event was coming up in January, with a special campaign for contracted creators.
[Anniversary Event Reward List! I’m Taking My Waifu Home Right Now!!! (Strong Man Roaring.jpg)]
He clicked on the post, and the first thing he saw was—
A life-sized body pillow.
It featured an anime character: a twin-tailed girl with a blushing, annoyed expression, wearing a frilly swimsuit that accentuated her skinny arms and legs.
Comment 1: Aaaah, my waifu! I can’t! I absolutely can’t! [Muscular Man Crying Hysterically.jpg]
Comment 2: When does the event start? I want to cuddle my waifu every night.
Besides the body pillow, there were other rewards like posters, badges, and figurines.
But the most shocking reward was a magical staff and a pink frilly dress complete with a prop wig.
…What’s so great about that?
The thread was full of anime fans, both male and female, who religiously posted weekly updates to inch closer to their rewards.
So, this was Xixizi’s style.
He silently took note of it and exited the thread, only to find several new messages from Xixizi.
An An: I used to work hard on posts for events, but now I want to work hard for you! Starting tomorrow, I’ll figure out how to make better videos! [Little Yellow Bird with a Serious Expression.jpg]
An An: Brother, are you joining the next competition?
An An: Will you switch disciples by then? [Little Yellow Bird Pouting.jpg]
An An: Brother, why aren’t you responding? Did you fall asleep? [Peeking Head Emoji]
He replied with a single word: “No.”
An An: It’s late. You should sleep. Don’t you have work early tomorrow?
He actually had a 9:30 AM class and almost forgot construction work required early mornings.
Wall: Yeah.
An An: Then goodnight, Brother. [Little Yellow Bird Folding Its Wings and Crouching Down.jpg]
He wanted to tell Xixizi to rest well and recover before worrying about new videos, but no matter how many words of concern came to mind, they all felt awkward. In the end, he left only a simple but heartfelt four words:
Wall: Drink more hot water.
—
After Xixizi’s poorly edited video was posted, it unexpectedly gained nearly 100,000 views in less than a day. The account also grew by several thousand followers, pushing it past the 10,000 mark.
He truly hadn’t expected this. After a week of mentorship, he hadn’t taught Xixizi anything, yet just a single phrase caused their follower count to soar.
“See, this is the thing about you young girls,” Pick Up a 98k said in their deserted island survival game. While chopping wood, he manipulated his character to split the log in two. “They just like these superficial things.”
“But their voice is really nice!” Huahua Kindergarten handed him another log. “Don’t you male streamers rely on ‘boyfriend voice’ to attract followers too?”
“What do you mean superficial?” asked a somewhat unfamiliar voice, still tinged with nasal congestion.
“You know, flashy but without substance,” Pick Up a 98k replied casually.
The black-cloaked figure crouching behind them nodded seriously, as if deep in thought.
Huahua Kindergarten froze mid-motion while handing over wood. After another couple of comments, he fell silent.
To be fair, it wasn’t his fault. Pick Up a 98k mostly played multiplayer games, so he was used to random players opening their mics to chat at any time.
Good thing they weren’t live-streaming, or the chat would’ve been in stitches, teasing him about this for a whole year.
“Big Wall, you bring someone along and don’t even say a word!” Pick Up a 98k shouted, clearly flustered.
Huahua Kindergarten nearly doubled over laughing.
Wall, who’d been quietly listening through the team’s voice chat, didn’t respond. He was busy building a small backyard for their cabin.
Xixizi’s character strolled over—a pale, attractive young man dressed in an extravagant black robe, which was clearly a paid skin.
“Brother,” Xixizi rasped, their voice still hoarse. “Did you make all this? It’s amazing!”
Wall had no idea that, at this very moment, Xixizi was genuinely full of admiration for him.
Just think about it: He already built houses for work, and now even his leisure time was spent constructing virtual houses. This was someone truly passionate about their craft!
What a rare and noble individual.
“I wish I could live in a house Brother built.” Xixizi said.
Without their usual Little Yellow Bird memes, Xixizi’s words didn’t come off as cutesy at all. But through the headphones, their voice was undeniably captivating—especially when calling him “Brother”.
Typing “Brother” in a chat was one thing. Hearing it aloud? That was a different story.
Wall didn’t have any siblings, so Xixizi was the only one who called him that.
“I’ve got over 10,000 followers now. Does that mean I can’t be your disciple next month?” Xixizi’s voice sounded a little down.
“Yeah,” Wall replied simply, then added, “I haven’t really taught you much.”
“What do you mean you didn’t teach me?” The black-robed figure sat on the tire swing Wall had built. “You taught me to keep a low profile and avoid crazy people. I remember that.”
Wall pressed his lips together briefly. “Your throat’s still not better.”
“Are you worried about me, brother?” Xixizi asked, clearly pleased.
No, I just want you to quiet down.
The others could hear everything.
“You two sound so… gay.” Huahua Kindergarten couldn’t help but comment.
“Of course! If I were a girl, I’d totally start an online relationship with my brother,” Xixizi replied casually.
When He Yuan heard the phrase online relationship, he thought of Ye Miao’s “One-Person Meal” username. He wondered if Xixizi had noticed the group chat messages afterward.
“You can date him online now. His first love is yours for the taking,” Pick Up a 98k quipped as he busily planted crops.
“Really?” Xixizi laughed. “Perfect timing—I’ve never dated before.”
He Yuan: “…”
As expected, you can’t trust a single word online.
None of them played the game consistently, so they were still stuck on early-stage missions—digging wells, picking fruit, and other beginner tasks.
By the time dusk fell in the game, two female characters appeared at the spawn point near the shore.
One, with a mature and androgynous appearance, was Big White Goose, leading a twin-tailed loli character whose design looked about the same age as Xixizi’s black-robed avatar.
“Wow, today’s just ‘bring your apprentice to work’ day, huh?” Pick Up a 98k joked.
He Yuan shifted his camera view and, sure enough, saw the ID ‘Ye Miao’ above the loli’s head.
Ye Miao’s avatar had a very anime vibe—she’d splurged on a pink sailor uniform skin. It immediately reminded He Yuan of the V-Site anniversary celebration’s life-sized body pillow reward.
Yep. This was exactly the type of thing Xixizi liked.
Big White Goose immediately noticed Xixizi. There was a brief moment of awkwardness, but she had no choice but to bring Ye Miao over.
“This is my apprentice, Ye Miao. You guys know her,” Big White Goose introduced. “She watched Wall’s livestream recording and wanted to try the game, so I brought her along.”
As soon as Ye Miao arrived, her eyes locked on Xixizi in the small wooden house garden.
It had been two years since their breakup. Running into each other online shouldn’t have been a big deal, but her previous ghosting in the group chat left a bad taste in Ye Miao’s mouth.
What puzzled her was that Xixizi’s current avatar style didn’t match his usual in-game look. Still, tastes could change in two years.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Ye Miao started, her voice cool and clear, though it still carried the youthful tone of a girl around sixteen or seventeen.
Everyone else was caught off guard. Big White Goose quickly explained their relationship in a private four-person Penguin group chat.
Pick Up a 98k: He confessed his love to Big Wall just moments ago, and now his ex shows up claiming he’s never dated before. Amazing. [‘Dad approves’ emoji]
Huahua Kindergarten: Men lie with their words! Wall, don’t fall for it! [Scared cat emoji]
Wall: …
In the game, Xixizi’s black-robed character continued to swing leisurely on the tire swing, showing no reaction whatsoever.
Ye Miao seemed displeased and walked directly to Xixizi’s avatar. “Why are you hiding all the time? Can’t you act a little more confident?”
There was a pause before Xixizi responded, “Are you talking to me?”
The tone was completely different from the one he used with He Yuan—cold and distant.
Everyone froze, including Ye Miao. Something about his voice felt… unfamiliar.
Was her memory failing her? Back when they were together, they used to have endless YY voice calls.
Finally, she huffed, “Who else would I be talking to?”
“Sorry,” Xixizi replied. “Do we know each other?”
