Chapter 63 "Let's stop selling bromance."...

For five consecutive days after the finals of the Contenders Cup, the roeCN community was bustling with excitement.

CG fans were naturally busy assigning blame, arguing about who did their best, who committed the crime, and whose playstyle was not team-oriented. But no matter how they argued, they couldn't shake the fact that a league team lost to a streamer team in an official match, and that the streamer team even had their main carry player who had just been kicked out of the team.

Someone else, with two non-professionals and one retired player, can still crush you. What else is there to say? Just disband the group.

As for those who dislike the CG team, especially Yux fans, after pretending to be dead for half a year, they are naturally unwilling to let go of this opportunity to settle scores with the other side once they regain their right to breathe.

Some people flooded the CG official Weibo account with comments like, "Last year, Yux made you lose the finals, how come you lost again this year without him?" Another group followed up with replies like, "Wasn't it his fault this year?" Some even cut out clips of Wind playing Priest and being scared by the Witch in the fifth game and posted them everywhere. The comments section was filled with comments like, "@CG.Wind, here's your high-energy highlight reel!" and "Who says Red Wind isn't high-energy?"

At the same time, Yux's final acceptance speech also caused a huge uproar among fans.

Prior to this, he had never spoken about his family in any public setting. Unexpectedly, he dropped a bombshell, leading many to believe he was joking at first glance.

However, when they discovered that CG's new investor was actually named You and had been involved in last year's transfer turmoil, the "contract dispute" suddenly escalated to a whole new level.

Yu Qing's post-match commentary was captured on camera. In the picture, he also looked pale and frowned, appearing no better off than the CG team members present. It seems that all the malice he expressed towards Yux during the commentary has now been given a reasonable explanation.

Meanwhile, CG's true fans couldn't sit still any longer. They directly posted on Weibo, tagging You Qing and asking him what he was up to. They questioned why he had to bring personal grudges into the public eye to undermine someone else's team instead of resolving them privately. They also tagged the big boss Yan Feng, asking him if he still wanted the CG club brand. They said if he did, he should kick out scum like You Qing, and if he didn't, he should find a buyer who truly cared about the club. They asked if fans were just tools to be manipulated.

Besides, many gossip enthusiasts focused their attention on Yux's family background—it's worth noting that You Qing has considerable resources, and since the two are indeed related by blood, Yux's status as a "young master" is thus confirmed.

Suddenly, a large number of comments inexplicably appeared under Yux's few scattered live stream replays, asking if he still needed someone for his maid's room.

In the past few days, Nan Zhiyi has spent three hours a day scrolling through social media with great interest, enjoying the changing expressions of various people. He only spends three hours on it because he is busy preparing his thesis and simply cannot spare that much time.

In late May, Nan Zhiyi returned to school to participate in her graduation defense. She successfully passed the defense under the watchful eyes of several senior teachers. From then on, she was free of worries and could simply lie down and wait to receive her graduation certificate.

Looking back, even he himself found it unbelievable: in just two months, he built a team from scratch, juggled competitions with one hand, his thesis with the other, and also had to retaliate against the mudslinging against him by the Millennium Guild. He managed to solve all three things perfectly.

There are many rumors about yux's future. The least credible one is that he is going to return to CG. However, several well-known insiders have said that their connections tell them that yux has signed a letter of intent with HYG and will likely join as the main DPS.

The first to react to this revelation were naturally the fans.

After all, the whistleblower's meaning is quite clear: with the original secondary carry Soso suspended, Yux joining as the main carry, and Milk remaining on the team, the only possibility for him is to switch from the main carry position to the secondary carry position.

For many fans, it's unacceptable for a champion main carry to give way to a newcomer who has never won a world championship.

But to onlookers, it seemed like a perfectly normal thing: "Milk is definitely capable of doing something like this. What wouldn't he do to win? Doesn't anyone remember when he first joined the league and applied to the league to change his hair green because of his low win rate on jungle maps?"

Sure enough, that very evening, Milk posted in the fan group: "Everyone, please calm down. I just want to win another championship."

This essentially confirms the rumors of Yux joining the company.

-

It was nearly evening when Nan Zhiyi got home from school.

He opened the door, and the first thing he saw was a suitcase laid out in the living room. He paused for a moment.

You Xin was holding a stack of clothes. Hearing the noise at the door, she looked up and said, "You're back."

Nan Zhiyi: "...Are you going out?"

“Yes, I need to go to HYG’s club. We’ll sign the formal contract tonight,” You Xin said. “I plan to bring some of my luggage with me first.”

Nan Zhiyi had known for a long time that this day of parting would come, but it wasn't until it actually arrived that the feeling of separation truly overwhelmed her: "...Congratulations."

You Xin didn't say anything.

He glanced at the empty space in his suitcase, then looked at Nan Zhiyi.

Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he said, "When I get back... I have something I'd like to talk to you about, is that alright?"

"Okay," Nan Zhiyi heard herself reply.

The door slammed shut behind him with a click, as if a switch had been flipped, abruptly silencing all sound in the large room. Silence surged in like a tide, quickly filling every inch of space around Nan Zhiyi.

Even though there was only one person missing, the room suddenly seemed to be magnified several times, and every corner exuded an inexplicable desolation.

Nan Zhiyi suddenly felt an urgent need to talk to someone, as if the silence would become unbearable if it lasted even a second longer.

But when he opened his contact list, among all his friends, he couldn't find a single one with whom he could confide his feelings at that moment.

Sitting in the living room with his phone in hand, he felt somewhat lost.

Ten minutes later, many Angels fans received a notification from Stars that the live stream was about to start without warning.

Fans rushed into the live stream room – this was their first live stream since winning the Contenders Cup, making it a significant event – ​​only to be slightly disappointed when they found the screen was black with a small message in the lower right corner saying "Let's chat for a while with a black screen."

Regardless, the sudden broadcast was a pleasant surprise.

From the dark screen, the streamer's muffled voice could be heard: "...Streaming with Yux? Hmm...maybe next time, next time. Yux is very busy lately, he has his own things to do. Is it about a transfer? I can't say, everyone wait for the club's announcement."

Why did the streamer suddenly start a live broadcast to chat with us?

Why does Xiaoyi seem a little unhappy? Has something happened recently?

"Unhappy? No, how did you guys tell I'm unhappy?" Nan Zhiyi glanced at the scrolling comments and replied absentmindedly, "I'm a little bored, I wanted to chat with you guys..."

"Xiaoyu? Xiaoyu went for tryouts recently, and quite a few teams are looking for him. Meng Ge, Meng Ge went back abroad, yeah, we had dinner together a few days ago and he left. Whether he starts streaming or not... it depends on his own wishes. If he doesn't want to, we can't force him. Inviting him to be on a show... um, I'll ask him later if he'd be willing?"

"The team just disbanded like that? Yeah, it was only a temporary team. Everyone has their own path to follow."

As Nan Zhiyi spoke, she unconsciously played with a pen on the table, making a "click-clack" sound, her thoughts already drifting to the ends of the earth.

He knew that day would come eventually.

I knew it all along. I knew it from day one.

What if we choose not to separate...? If we don't separate... what if we tell him...?

With a "thud," the ballpoint pen slipped from his fingertips and fell to the ground.

Nan Zhiyi suddenly came to her senses and realized that she had forgotten that she was still live streaming, and had been silent for several minutes.

The barrage of comments was already overwhelming:

Why is the streamer not saying anything?

Are you asleep, Xiaoyi?

[You must be exhausted! Two big matches in a row, and you also have school matters to attend to. I'd be dead tired if I were in your shoes!]

Why does the streamer seem so down? TT Can someone call Yux over to cheer him up?

Nan Zhiyi took a deep breath, stood up, and bent down to pick up the pen that had fallen to the ground.

"I'm a little thirsty, I'm going downstairs to get some water," he said to the screen. "I'll rest for a bit, see you all later."

Before leaving the room, Nan Zhiyi casually cut off the audio of the live stream, cruelly leaving behind a silent, black screen and tens of thousands of online fans staring at each other in bewilderment.

He went downstairs, made himself a cup of hot lemon water, and then his face scrunched up from the bitterness.

Just then, a fluttering sound came from upstairs.

Nan Zhiyi immediately felt a sense of unease. He quickly put down his cup, went upstairs, and saw that the door to the birdhouse was indeed open.

...They've escaped from prison again!!

Now, the parrot is nowhere to be seen on the entire second floor. The only place it could have gone is obviously the workroom where it had just left and whose door was still open.

Nan Zhiyi: "…………"

Right now, in the live stream room.

All viewers first heard a slight "hissing" sound, realizing that the mute in the live broadcast room had been lifted.

But the "anchor," who had been unmuted, didn't rush to speak. Instead, he turned around and started rummaging through something, making a rustling noise.

Then, without warning, everyone in the live stream heard a clear and loud "Xiao Yi~"

【？？？？？】

[Who's talking? Who's talking?! That scared me to death!]

[...Why does it sound a bit like Yux's voice? Am I just imagining things?]

I also think it looks somewhat similar.

[That sound is so strange, is it some kind of recording? Didn't the streamer just say that Yux has been busy lately?]

Could it be that they've developed some new type of wheat bran...?

After a brief silence in the live stream room following the word "Xiao Yi," the sound of something pattering back and forth could be heard again.

Then, a voice that everyone knew intimately, yet sounded slightly strange and inorganic, said: "I like you..."

【？？】

【？？？？？】

The voice continued: "I like you, brother..."

After a pause, it ended with a very loud "mua~!"

"………………"

Now, both on and off the screen, there was a truly deathly silence.

After a long silence, someone typed shakily: "Is this the bird Xiaoyi keeps at home...?"

As soon as this idea was proposed, the audience seemed to come back to life and became lively again.

【Why is it a bird talking? It startled me, haha. I thought Yux was coming over to confess his love. [sweating][sweating]】

So Xiaoyi keeps a parrot? I've never heard him mention it before.

【Although, don't you think it's kind of scary that a parrot could say such things in a yux-like voice?】

【………………】

Holy crap... now that you mention it...

"This... huh? That's... unlikely..."

[I'm really scared, could it be that I've actually taken the real thing this time?! ...

This time it seems... really... different...

When Nan Zhiyi returned to her room, the brightly colored parrot was trying to make a second "mua~" sound.

It glanced at Nan Zhiyi and immediately called out "Xiao Yi" in a clear and distinct voice. The familiar voice startled Nan Zhiyi, but then she remembered that she had turned off the live stream audio. She breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to grab the parrot: "Daodao, come here!"

However, as if it knew it had done something wrong, the bird flapped its wings and flew to the top of the wardrobe, where it stood looking down and pawing at the edge of the wardrobe, refusing to move.

Nan Zhiyi had to move the chair over, but as soon as he stood on it, the birds flew down again.

The battle between the person and the bird lasted a full ten minutes. Finally, taking advantage of the bird's unpreparedness, Nan Zhiyi caught it and at the same time, the door to the workshop was pushed open again.

"What's wrong?" This time it was the real You Xin speaking. "I heard some noise downstairs."

Nan Zhiyi was panting as he held the bird in his hands when he turned around and nearly had a heart attack—You Xin was standing empty-handed at his door, clearly having just returned from the club.

After a long pause, he could only manage a dry, stammering, "You...you're back? I was catching a bird; it just escaped from prison and came to my room..."

As he spoke, he even chuckled twice, feigning ease.

But You Xin did not laugh.

The corridor lights spilled over from behind him, casting a blurry outline around his entire figure, but failing to illuminate the emotions in his eyes.

The air seemed to freeze between them. Nan Zhiyi could almost hear her heart pounding wildly in her chest, almost breaking free from its grip.

The bird, caught in the palm of my hand, shifted restlessly, its feathers brushing against my fingertips, causing a slight tickle.

Nan Zhiyi took a deep breath, grabbed the bird, and prepared to squeeze past the people blocking the doorway.

But at that moment, You Xin spoke up and called out to him, "Xiao Yi."

"Wait a moment." He lowered his eyes slightly, staring into Nan Zhiyi's eyes at a very close distance. "I have something to tell you."

That moment is coming.

A strange emotion suddenly welled up in Nan Zhiyi's heart. In an instant, something that seemed rational but was not rational took over his mind, making him suddenly make a decision: he would strike first.

So he opened his mouth and said, "Actually... I also have something I want to tell you."

"You Xin, from now on... let's stop playing up the BL (Boys' Love) genre."

After saying that, Nan Zhiyi's mind went blank for a moment. He didn't even understand why he was so nervous that he couldn't even spare the attention to look at You Xin's expression. Or perhaps, he was afraid.

What kind of expression will appear on the other person's face? Relaxed? Understanding? Or...disappointed?

Or perhaps it was he himself who was hoping to see what kind of expression the other person would have at that moment?

“Because, because…” Nan Zhiyi stammered, trying to get all her thoughts out in one breath, as if if she didn’t finish now, she would never have the courage to speak again. “The competition is over, and there will be no more rumors. We all have to go back to our own lives. We’re still friends, after all. If things continue like this, I feel… no, it’s not good…”

"When are you planning to move to the club? Hmm, if you need to pack your things, it might be inconvenient for you to do it alone. I... I can help you..."

By the end, his words seemed to be squeezed out through his teeth.

Nan Zhiyi's gaze fell unfocused on a blank space between the two of them, and out of the corner of her eye she saw that You Xin's body was also motionless, frozen there like a statue.

After a long while, the fingertips hanging at her sides twitched very slightly.

He awaited some kind of verdict, waiting for the other party to give their final answer to his proposal. Even the large parrot seemed to sense the awkward atmosphere, and stopped struggling, lying obediently in his palm.

"Ring ring!"

A particularly jarring ringtone broke the heavy, seemingly impenetrable silence.

Nan Zhiyi realized it was his phone ringing. He frantically looked down to grab it and answered. On the other end came his manager, Sister Li's, heart-wrenching scream: "Turn off the live stream!!!!"

-----------------------

Author's note: There won't be any angst.