He Yuan had been an up master on V Station for a year, and many people often asked him what he did in real life.
This type of question didn’t have a good answer. If he said too much, he worried about exposing himself, so he always replied casually, “I move bricks.”
It wasn’t far from the truth anyway. When people heard this answer, they usually understood that he didn’t want to elaborate and would tactfully stop asking.
That was also how it went with Xixizi.
An An: You don’t like being called Master? [Little Yellow Bird flaps its wings.jpg]
Wall: Not really.
He Yuan always found it odd to be called Master. It gave him the feeling of acting in Journey to the West.
An An: Then what do I do? [Little Yellow Bird falls into deep thought.jpg]
An An: Brother Wall?
An An: But Brother Wall doesn’t sound very handsome qaq
He Yuan raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t used to nicknames. At most, his classmates jokingly called him “He Shen”.
An An: How about this—just call me Brother! [Little Yellow Bird blushes.jpg]
An An: Besides, you’re only two or three years older than me.
Wall: Fine.
He Yuan closed the chat, stretched briefly, and made plans with Xu Zhaoyuan to order takeout for lunch.
This week, he didn’t have to assist the professor, so he had plenty of free time to browse through the library books he borrowed earlier.
On the laptop next to him, a notification from QQ popped up: The Big White Goose sent a shaking window.
The Big White Goose was a cute-pet up master he met when he first joined the platform. She was independent, living alone with a Shiba Inu and a black cat.
The Big White Goose: Check the group!
He Yuan clicked into the group chat, where the unread messages in their small group of four had already hit 999+.
He skipped directly to the tagged section, which came from Pick Up a 98k, a game anchor, inviting them to an online stream.
Pick Up a 98k: [Link: Deserted Island Paradise]
Pick Up a 98k: V Station signed a promotion for this game and directly tagged me.
Pick Up a 98k: Perfect timing! Let’s play together on a shared save file.
The other two members quickly agreed. Now it was up to He Yuan.
Huahua Kindergarten: Wall, big Wall, come on! It’s been so long since the four of us played together [tears]
Pick Up a 98k: Even clumsy players can play this. It’s super chill, like The Sims.
He Yuan’s gaze paused at “clumsy players” and frowned slightly.
Wall: I’m in.
The group erupted into cheers, and they sent over the download link.
The game was about 8GB, but the dormitory had good internet speed, so He Yuan downloaded it in under an hour.
Pick Up a 98k began the live stream, cracking jokes with fans, asking them to guess today’s guest lineup, and introducing the game.
It was a 3D life simulation game set on a deserted island. The premise was similar to Robinson Crusoe, with players stranded and forced to rebuild from scratch.
He Yuan wasn’t much of a gamer. After installing the game, he entered the character customization screen.
Knowing he wouldn’t play for long—likely uninstalling it after this stream—he casually created a burly savage who looked every bit like a real deserted island dweller.
The four players entered the shared save file. Their characters appeared barefoot, dressed in tattered rags.
“This is so realistic. We’re dirt poor,” Pick Up a 98k commented through the mic. His in-game username was Qiangqiang.
[This is too accurate—the game version of Metamorphosis!]
[Both chefs are losing it! Qiangqiang actually managed to bring Wall in! AAAHHH MOM, WALL IS GAMING NOW!!]
[Shipping Qiangqiang x Wall CP immediately (bushi)]
[My Wall is too wild, hahaha. He’s a white-skinned beautiful boy but insists on being a tough guy.]
“Wall,” Pick Up a 98k said, “You’ve dominated all the bullet screens again.”
“What are we supposed to do now?” asked the Big White Goose. “I’m a little lost. Should I read a strategy guide first?”
“I feel dizzy walking around in 3D like this,” Huahua Kindergarten said as she controlled her red-haired character to stroll along the coastline. Her voice was soft and cute, immediately attracting bullet screens from voice enthusiasts.
He Yuan adjusted quickly. He was used to playing around with rendering software, where he’d often move through the houses he designed from a first-person perspective.
The lighting in the game was excellent. The sun glittered on the sea, and the background sound of waves crashing against the beach made everything feel very real.
“There’s a task bar in the lower-left corner. Just follow the tasks in the beginning since we don’t know much yet,” Pick Up a 98k instructed. “At first, you just pick up items, find water, and gather food. And check the clock in the upper right corner—it’ll probably get dark again soon.”
[This looks so fun! How much does it cost? QAQ]
[It’s going to get dark again—are you really going to sleep outdoors on the first night? (laughing and crying)]
[Will there be mosquitoes biting when you sleep outdoors? Hahaha.]
The four characters separated to scavenge. He Yuan’s burly character took two steps for every one of the others, quickly gathering resources.
They kept their microphones on, sharing any valuable finds.
“I picked up a foot basin!” announced Huahua Kindergarten.
“Good stuff,” Pick Up a 98k praised. “We can soak our feet together tonight.”
The Big White Goose burst out laughing, calling him crazy.
The deserted island was vast, and it looked like there were plenty of daily necessities to be found if they kept exploring.
While the others kicked cans and rummaged around, He Yuan guided his burly character through some ruins, hefting a particularly thick tree trunk.
“Come on! Look at what we found!” Huahua Kindergarten called out, jumping up and waving to the burly man.
“What are you doing?” asked the Big White Goose.
“Building a house,” He Yuan replied.
In the ten minutes since they began scavenging, he had already scouted a relatively flat highland to set up a small wooden house using simple tools and materials.
[Yes! No outdoor sleeping tonight!]
[Look at this guy being productive. Meanwhile, the other three are still kicking cans.]
He Yuan quickly calculated the appropriate dimensions for the cabin. The first house didn’t need to be fancy—just enough to live in. Once he gathered better materials, he could expand and improve it.
His burly character squatted down, counting the stakes needed and deciding the placement of doors and windows based on the sunset’s direction.
The other three joined in, helping to gather materials. He Yuan’s character stayed behind, using a small hammer he’d found to seriously knock on the wooden boards.
The sound effects were surprisingly realistic.
A significant advantage of the game was that characters didn’t get physically tired. As long as they weren’t hungry, they could work endlessly.
“Bro, I’m logging off now,” Pick Up a 98k said, putting down a set of nails. “The bullet screen reaction is great. Let’s play again when you’re free.”
The burly man straightened up. In the game, the sun was setting, painting the sky with red clouds.
“You guys go ahead. I’ll finish building the house first,” He Yuan replied, completely serious.
—
Except during class and homework hours, He Yuan spent the next three days hammering away at his cabin.
When it was finally done, he switched to a wide-angle view to admire his work.
The design wasn’t intricate, but it was simple and practical.
On Tuesday night, after testing some colors, he logged off the game and did something unusual—he went off-topic in his broadcast.
“Check out my cabin. I hammered this together myself,” He Yuan said, sharing a screenshot.
[? ? ? ?]
[It’s actually finished! This is too fast!]
[Can I check in here? (starry eyes)]
“I’ll build a new one next time,” He Yuan said, turning off his camera. “See you another day.”
Xixizi didn’t show up during the live broadcast. He Yuan guessed he was probably in evening self-study and didn’t disturb him. After all, high school students should focus on their studies.
Closing his laptop, He Yuan stood up—only to hear Xu Zhaoyuan coughing uncontrollably behind him.
It had been getting colder since autumn, and students at school were catching colds in waves. Xu Zhaoyuan was part of the second batch to fall sick.
“Do you have a fever?” He Yuan walked over to his roommate’s bed to check on him.
“I don’t know, just a headache.” Xu Zhaoyuan stretched out his hand weakly. “Son, come here. The password for Dad’s bank card is…”
Before he could finish, he broke into a fit of violent coughing. He Yuan silently took a step back, trying to avoid catching the illness.
“I’ll go buy some medicine.” He Yuan grabbed a thin coat and headed for the door.
“Thanks, son…” Xu Zhaoyuan caught the look in He Yuan’s eyes and quickly corrected himself. “Thank you, Dad!”
He Yuan ignored him and left the dorm.
The campus wasn’t very big; it only took about ten minutes to walk from the dormitory to the main gate. Across the overpass was a large pharmacy.
With so many people catching colds lately, the pharmacy was well-stocked. As soon as he walked in, the clerk guided him toward cold medicine, fever reducers, and cough syrup.
He Yuan carried a large bag of medicine as he crossed the overpass. A luxury car came speeding to a stop about ten steps away from him.
The car door swung open, music spilling out along with drunken laughter.
“No need to send me further. Just drop me off here,” a familiar voice said. “You have to register when entering and exiting late.”
“Be careful not to fall into a ditch!” someone in the car called out, laughing.
“Don’t worry,” the person getting out waved dismissively.
The luxury car drove off, leaving the person behind. He swayed slightly, burping loudly as he turned around.
He Yuan wasn’t great at recognizing people, but something about the figure felt familiar. He glanced a few more times to confirm.
The person noticed him and waved generously, stumbling over.
He Yuan finally recognized him—it was Xiao An.
Xiao An’s brown hair had been dyed blue-black, and he was dressed like someone who frequented nightlife venues. The smell of cigarettes and alcohol lingered around him.
“What a coincidence.” Xiao An smirked at him, his eyes clouded with drunkenness.
He Yuan didn’t respond, frowning slightly at the smell and displeased by Xiao An’s approach.
“You’re still not talking,” Xiao An said, his tone tinged with annoyance. “You’re just like my dad and brother, always acting weird.”
He Yuan finally looked at him and said, “You’re drunk. Go back to sleep.”
“Time to go back, huh…” Xiao An turned toward the direction of their school and froze.
He didn’t live on campus, and in his drunken haze, he’d forgotten to tell his friends to take him home. They’d dropped him off here instead.
“Forget it. I’ll get a taxi,” Xiao An muttered, waving goodbye as he turned to leave.
But as he took his first step, he lost his balance and fell forward.
He Yuan instinctively reached out, grabbing his wrist—but it wasn’t enough to stop the fall.
Xiao An still hit his head on the ground.
