Xiao An seemed to suddenly lose his ability to read. He stared at the few messages Ye Miao sent for more than ten seconds.
He then took a deep breath and calmly typed a reply.
An An: How did you know?
Ridiculous. He didn’t even know it himself.
The other party seemed extremely excited by his response, replying with a row of exclamation marks.
When they played games together before, Ye Miao was always silent, and Xiao An mistakenly thought she was very cold.
Now, thinking about it carefully, how could a girl who had an online romance with Pan Xi and even met him in person possibly be cold?
Ye Miao Eating Alone: You can tell at a glance!!!
Ye Miao Eating Alone: You said you didn’t know me before—wasn’t that because you didn’t want Wall to misunderstand you?
Ye Miao Eating Alone: When his apprentice called him “Brother” you went to the forum to assert your sovereignty and argue with people.
Ye Miao Eating Alone: You follow him everywhere in the game, gather materials for him, spend money on him, skip classes to find him online, and act like a spoiled child around him.
Ye Miao Eating Alone: [Cat blushing.jpg]
The other party typed quickly, and in a blink of an eye, the entire screen was filled with “evidence of love for him”.
This… Is that so? It turns out it could be interpreted that way.
In fact, at first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with this interpretation…
Xiao An froze again.
However, if Ye Miao misunderstood it like this, it would help him protect his identity for now.
An An: [Little yellow bird panicking and covering its head with wings.jpg]
An An: Then don’t tell Wall, QAQ.
After thinking about it, to make himself seem even more convincing, he added the word “sister”.
Ye Miao Eating Alone: Don’t worry! [Thumbs up.jpg]
Ye Miao Eating Alone: I’ll keep it a secret for you, but you should report your progress to me more often.
Ye Miao Eating Alone: Don’t give up—I’ll help you! [Waving flags and shouting.jpg]
Xiao An sent a “little yellow bird nodding” emoji and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Although his identity was safe for now, he still felt inexplicably uneasy.
—
“Dad, there are photos of you in the class group again.”
In the dormitory, Xu Zhaoyuan copied He Yuan’s physical education homework while checking new messages on his phone.
Last weekend, he volunteered outside school, met a beautiful freshman girl, and added her on WeChat.
Now, he chatted with her every day, his smile growing more and more smug.
“You and Xiao An played basketball?” Xu Zhaoyuan asked. “Didn’t you say before that you didn’t know each other?”
In the eyes of boys, meeting once meant knowing each other. Playing basketball and gaming together practically made you brothers.
“Just met,” He Yuan replied.
He and Xiao An had added each other on WeChat and quickly became friends. Xiao An was the type to be friendly and warm with everyone from the start, calling people “brother” as if he had too many brothers to count.
Still, He Yuan didn’t feel like keeping in touch with him. Apart from sports, they weren’t the same kind of person.
Wait… played basketball together?
He Yuan grabbed his phone, which was charging nearby, and opened the class group chat.
Usually, he muted the group because it was full of gossip. If anything important came up, it would be in the group email.
He didn’t need to scroll far—someone had just posted a new meme.
The original photo showed He Yuan helping Xiao An up off the ground.
Both were silhouettes, and the lighting wasn’t great. At first glance, it looked like they were gazing into each other’s eyes.
The caption under the image read: A true brother is someone who will be your woman when you need a woman.
The screen instantly flooded with ‘hahaha’ and 666 comments.
Xu Zhaoyuan saw it too, but he wasn’t sure if He Yuan would find it funny, so he didn’t bring it up.
This kind of joke wasn’t uncommon, but He Yuan had always been a lone wolf. His skills were so unmatched that no one dared to ship him with anyone.
He Yuan didn’t care. It was just a joke—not real.
He continued scrolling and found several more photos of him and Xiao An.
There were shots from all angles—one of them wrestling for the ball, one of He Yuan snatching it from Xiao An, one of Xiao An falling and pinning He Yuan down, and another of them sitting side by side on the ground.
They were both incredibly handsome, and when they appeared in the same frame, it felt like a movie scene.
In the end, He Yuan only saved one photo: a shot of him and Xiao An sitting on the ground. Their eyes didn’t meet, and their faces were turned away from each other. It was already quite dark at the time, so their features were blurred, but the silhouettes of their profiles were striking, resembling sculptures in a museum.
“Dad, I ran into your little bing in the cafeteria today,” Xu Zhaoyuan further added, suddenly remembering. “He told me to make sure you come to the party.”
Little bing is a homonym for “little soldier”, specifically referred to the junior officers and members of school clubs.
In his freshman year, He Yuan had been part of the Youth League’s Propaganda Department and became its director in his sophomore year. However, he retired in his junior year.
The little bings he had led the previous year were all a year younger than him. They admired him greatly and called him “Director” every day, treating him with near reverence.
That feeling… it was kind of like leading a group of rainbow farting Xixizi.
“Are you going or not? You haven’t talked to them since you retired, right?” Xu Zhaoyuan asked. “If you’re going, I’ll go too. I want to try asking Jingjing out.”
He Yuan side-eyed him. Jingjing?
“Don’t get me wrong, her name is Jingjing,” Xu Zhaoyuan clarified quickly before groaning and hugging his head. “Ah, I want Jingjing.”
“…” He Yuan couldn’t help but feel secondhand embarrassment. “I’ll see how it goes.”
—
He Yuan and Xixizi discussed the situation. Although they had decided to give the recommendation spot to Ye Miao, they still needed to make the competition video. Not only could it serve as content for Xixizi’s new submission that week, but it would also be perfect as a reward for the anniversary celebration.
When Xixizi learned that his master cared so much about him, he sent an emoticon of a little yellow bird moved to tears.
But in the next moment, He Yuan ruthlessly suggested he start a live cooking broadcast and upload the recorded stream afterward.
Listening to his voice in the game, He Yuan estimated that his voice had mostly recovered.
“It’s time to livestream, gain followers, and earn some money for your master,” He Yuan thought with cold pragmatism.
The other party hesitated, mumbling, “I’m shy and have social phobia,” but eventually agreed to give it a try.
He Yuan patiently explained the process in detail—how to open a room, adjust the lighting, and position the camera properly.
Xixizi nodded repeatedly, but it was unclear if he actually understood.
—
On Thursday night, at exactly 8 p.m., He Yuan stopped what he was doing and logged onto the v-site. A notification popped up:
“What is Xixizi eating today, whom you follow, is being live-streamed.
The title was “Making a Picnic Lunch Box for Your Partner.”
He Yuan entered the room, where more than 200 viewers had already joined.
Although Xixizi hadn’t announced the live broadcast in advance, the number of viewers wasn’t bad at all.
He Yuan forwarded the live stream link to his feed. Within minutes, the viewer count tripled.
Xixizi sent him a panicked message:
An An: Brother, I’m scared. Don’t let more people come to watch me! [Little Yellow Bird bursting into tears.jpg]*
Wall: Don’t be afraid.
Wall: Turn on the camera.
Switching back to the live broadcast, He Yuan scattered a bag of gold coins.
When the camera turned on, it revealed a black-tiled cooking table. The setup was clean, with ingredients and tools neatly arranged within view of the camera.
[It’s actually a live broadcast! Is the anchor going to open his microphone?!]
[After all, he already opened his voice on the deserted island. The little brother’s voice is really nice qwq.]
[The lunch box is made for the object. Who is the object?]
[It was Wall who asked me to watch the live broadcast. Who do you think the object is? (squinting smile.jpg)]
“Everyone… good evening,” Xixizi greeted.
There was a faint trace of guilt in his voice, as though he were about to read a self-criticism essay.
The barrage instantly filled with comments:
[Good evening!]
[Don’t be nervous, anchor!]
[Everyone is very gentle!]
“Let’s get straight to the point. I’m currently in the kitchen of my rental house,” Xixizi began, his tone becoming more composed. “I’m going to make a lunch box for a picnic with my partner.”
Meanwhile, He Yuan, arms crossed and headphones on, was thinking about how to help Xixizi adapt to live streaming.
Some people felt nervous speaking in front of a crowd, while others got embarrassed when they couldn’t see their audience’s faces, feeling like they were talking to themselves.
“This kind of picnic lunch box can be made light and easy to carry,” Xixizi continued. “If the lunch box doesn’t have good insulation, you can prepare food that tastes good even when cold.” He opened the rice cooker next to him. “I’ve already cooked the rice in advance—”
With a loud thud, he slapped the lid of the rice cooker with his backhand.
[Did I just see something incredible?]
[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]
He Yuan saw it too. When Xixizi cooked the rice, he had added far too much water, turning it into a paste.
“My boyfriend hasn’t had a good stomach lately,” Xixizi tried to explain, maintaining a serious tone. “He likes softer foods, like porridge.”
[Let’s believe it (doge).]
[Question: How can other things be made softer?]
Xixizi brought out the pot of rice paste. It was clear he hadn’t expected to mess up from the very start.
He Yuan glanced at the live room numbers—they were still climbing. A sinking feeling washed over him.
Sure enough, Xixizi got to work. He began cutting cucumbers and carrots into petal shapes, mixing them evenly into the rice paste before adding some diced ham for extra flavor.
But as he stirred, he realized it might taste bland. He grabbed the salt shaker and carefully sprinkled a little over the mixture.
Then he shook it again—
The barrage collectively winced as an avalanche of salt poured into the rice paste.
“Salt… a little too much,” Xixizi admitted awkwardly. “It’s okay. I’ll add water, and it won’t be salty anymore.”
The rice paste, sticky and viscous, made gurgling sounds as he stirred it with water.
He Yuan, still wearing his headphones, felt his scalp tingle in secondhand embarrassment.
[What… what is this! QAQ]
[Public screens, quickly hit the brothers in fear.]
[Once upon a time, I also cooked like this when I was mad at someone.]
The rice paste looked plain and dull in color. Determined to fix it, Xixizi grabbed a soy sauce bottle. Holding it by the cap—because the bottle was slippery with oil—he moved to pour some into the pot.
[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, don’t hold the sauce bottle like that—!]
As if on cue, the bottle cap came off mid-pour, and gravity did the rest.
Although the camera didn’t capture it, the loud crash was enough for He Yuan to picture the scene.
It reminded him of the time he broke a bottle of old vinegar in high school. The smell had lingered for days.
He felt he couldn’t watch anymore.
Onee-chan:
This novel has locked advance chapters❗❗❗
One chapter would be unlock every Saturday 13:00 UTC.
You can choose to pay and unlock those chapters as a way to support the translator, or you can wait for the chapters to unlock on the scheduled days mentioned above(´｡• ◡ •｡`) ♡
If you choose to join my Wealthy Reader membership on Kofi, you can read this novel and MORE.
Ps. If you found out that a chapter wasn’t unlock even if it’s the day that is supposed to be unlocked, please comment it on the said chapter or tell me on our Discord.(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧
READ ADVANCE CHAPTERS ON MY KO-FI!
