Chapter 34

Chen Yuchuan stared at Zhou Wen's name, his eyes gradually turning cold.

He wished he could have someone kidnap him right now so he could settle all the old and new scores.

But ultimately, it was Zhou Wenxian and Shen He who became friends, a fact that Chen Yuchuan could never change.

Chen Yuchuan met Shen He during the time Zhou Wen was sick. On the school rooftop, he never expected that, besides him, there would be someone else blatantly skipping class on the first day of school.

The sound of a door being pushed open came from the rooftop, and Chen Yuchuan subconsciously frowned and looked over. Shen He walked in lazily, his school uniform disheveled. At that time, Shen He's features still had a touch of childishness, but his outline was already very clear: a straight nose, thin lips, and skin that looked clean, pale in the sunlight. Chen Yuchuan inexplicably thought of a character figurine he treasured in a glass box, one that couldn't be allowed to get dusty and required extreme care even to touch.

During that time, Shen He's dark circles were very noticeable, and he looked somewhat tired, as if he hadn't slept well. But his eyes were also very bright, with a straightforward curiosity as he looked at Chen Yuchuan without any attempt to hide it.

It wasn't a provocation, nor was it a precaution; it was simply something I thought would be fun.

Chen Yuchuan grew impatient under the gaze, and his brows furrowed even more.

Shen He chuckled, looked away, and completely ignored Chen Yuchuan's irritation. He took off his school uniform jacket, tossed it on the ground, sat down, pulled a handheld console from his bag, and started playing a game with practiced ease.

Chen Yuchuan stared at him for a few seconds, then snorted coldly, turned around, and continued smoking.

After that, Chen Yuchuan would occasionally run into Shen He skipping class on the rooftop. Later, he learned that Shen He wasn't actually the kind of student who didn't study. On the contrary, he was smart and had good grades. His reason for skipping class was so simple it was speechless: he didn't like the teacher.

Chen Yuchuan was a little annoyed, feeling like his private space had been invaded. But the feeling wasn't bad; he even tolerated it a bit. Chen Yuchuan attributed this complicated feeling to the figurine he liked. He found it pleasing to the eye, so he simply couldn't be bothered to chase it away.

Neither of them spoke to each other. Chen Yuchuan leaned against the railing, playing on his phone or smoking. Shen He sat in the corner, occasionally taking a nap against the wall, and sometimes letting out strange sighs when he lost a game.

On the day their paths actually crossed, the two ignored each other as usual.

But a moment later, a package flew over and landed at Chen Yuchuan's feet.

It was unopened; it was a rather unusual snack. The bag had a cartoon design on it, and it looked like it hadn't been bought for long.

Chen Yuchuan glanced down at him, then looked up at Chen He. The man didn't even turn his head, still sitting and playing his game, his face expressionless, but his movements seemed slightly impatient.

Chen Yuchuan didn't move; the bag of snacks lay at his feet.

It's easy to see that Shen He couldn't finish it himself and just threw it over there. He didn't really want it for him; he was just too lazy to take it downstairs to deal with it.

Because Shen He packed his things and ran away not long after, looking like he was in a real bind.

He was supposed to kick it away, but inexplicably bent down and picked up the package.

In the days that followed, the two became a little more familiar with each other. Chen Yuchuan would occasionally watch Shen He play games, and Shen He would bring Chen Yuchuan some strange little gadgets. The two chatted casually, and the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable.

Whenever Shen He talks about games, he becomes more talkative. Halfway through his sentence, he will suddenly stop, turn his head to look at Chen Yuchuan, as if to confirm something.

Chen Yuchuan realized that Shen He was worried he would find it noisy.

He wanted to say that he didn't dislike him, and even somewhat enjoyed listening to him talk, but the words stuck in his throat.

There's no point in saying it.

The day Zhou Wen returned to school, Chen Yuchuan stood in the shadows of the teaching building corridor, aimlessly looking at the scattered crowd on the playground, not really looking for anything. It's just that lately, every time he comes to school, he subconsciously wants to see what Chen He is doing.

Then he saw the sunken river.

Shen He stood at the edge of the playground, his hands in his pockets, a slight smile on his face, chatting casually with Zhou Wen.

Chen Yuchuan narrowed his eyes and watched as Shen He stepped forward, put his arm around Zhou Wen's shoulder, and patted him on the back.

The kind of hug between friends who haven't seen each other in a long time is casual and doesn't mean anything special, but Chen Yuchuan remembered it for a long time.

His gaze returned to the documents; the money he invested in ASG was registered under someone else's name. His original intention was simply to make Shen He's life at ASG more comfortable, at least in an unfamiliar city, so he could eat better and live more comfortably. Beyond that, he didn't want to get involved and didn't care.

So it's only now that he knows Zhou Wen was also involved, which makes him feel very awkward.

Zhou Wen's gaze lingered on the photos in the file. Shen He entered, and Zhou Wen gave him a quick hug. The two figures in the photos were very close, looking like longtime friends reunited. Further down, Zhou Wen sat beside Shen He, his expression natural, a gentle smile on his face. Shen He remained aloof, sitting beside him indifferently, but without any sign of resistance.

Ultimately, what Chen Yuchuan cared about wasn't actually those photos.

Given Shen He's personality, he shouldn't have accepted this kind of dinner invitation, but he went, and even got Zhou Wen to hug him.

The day he and Shen He reunited, they didn't even touch shoulders, only grabbing wrists. From the time they met until now, aside from putting their arms around each other's shoulders, there had been almost no other physical contact, let alone a hug. Why was Zhou Wen different? Why could he?

Chen Yuchuan stared intently at the photo, wishing he could kill Zhou Wen right now. But he had to consider Shen He's feelings, so he had nowhere to vent his anger and could only grit his teeth and swallow his resentment and jealousy.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a message from Shen He, containing only one word: "Platform?"

The anger that had been building up in his chest all day suddenly seemed to be forcefully suppressed. For a moment, Chen Yuchuan was dazed; this was the first time since their reunion that Shen He had taken the initiative to ask him to play games.

He stared at the word for a long time before replying, "Wait for me."

Shen He waited a while, but Chen Yuchuan still hadn't logged on. Bored, he started scrolling through his phone and came across a Weibo post Chen Yuchuan had just made:

"My good buddy's treating me to hot pot! ^_^"

The accompanying photo was a blurry, messy picture of a hot pot restaurant table. The comments section, however, was already buzzing:

【^_^ Was this posted by my sister-in-law?】

[Got it, he's jealous because his sister-in-law treated someone else to hot pot ^_^]

Why should I copy my sister-in-law's Weibo posts? ^_^

[Did you enjoy your meal, sister-in-law? ^_^]

[You know that this emoji doesn't suit you, right? Give the ^_^ back to your sister-in-law.]

[Give me a straight answer, is your sister-in-law Styx? What's your relationship with her?]

[Are Sichuan dogs addicted to creating CP pairings?]

When are you going to duo queue with your sister-in-law? ^_^

After watching for a few seconds, Chen Yuchuan really seemed to enjoy the drama and wished that Shen He would be dragged out and shipped as a couple every day.

A short while later, Chen Yuchuan entered the team room, and Shen He couldn't help but ask him, "Are you short of money?"

Chen Yuchuan didn't react immediately and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

Shen He said coldly, "Are you going to keep trying to ride my coattails forever?"

陈豫川语气很欠揍：“周一帆那种不熟的人都能和你营业，我这正儿八经的兄弟倒像你地下情人一样，见不得光。”

Shen He sneered: "Why do I feel like I'm the one who's the secret lover, being guessed at by your fans every day?"

Chen Yuchuan said matter-of-factly, "I've already prepared the identity of your legitimate sister-in-law for you, but you're the one who doesn't want to admit it, so why blame me?"

This guy is a master at creating fake couple pairings, and he's incredibly shameless. Shen He couldn't argue with him anymore, so he just started playing the game.

Chen Yuchuan was still nagging: "Why do you have to give your brother the silent treatment in your daily routine? I didn't say it was you. I can't stop people from making wild guesses."

Shen He stared at the character selection screen and said slowly, "If you send another random message, I'll duo queue with someone else next time."

Chen Yuchuan immediately shut up: "Okay, I was wrong."

But he wasn't idle; he was still relentlessly trying to switch positions with others. He had driven too fast in the river just now, not giving him a chance to pre-select a support.

Shenhe said, "Go play your jungler, don't bother me in the bottom lane."

Chen Yuchuan reluctantly switched back to jungle: "Fine, fine, you decide. Who told me to provoke you for no reason?"

After the game started, the two cooperated surprisingly well, and almost every game was a crushing victory. As soon as the fourth game started, Shen He glanced at the opponent's ID and raised an eyebrow: "Gao Mingyuan".

Chen Yuchuan chuckled: "What a coincidence, it's just the right time to bring him some warmth."

This game was even more brutal. Shen He directly controlled Chen Yuchuan to stay in the bottom lane, ignoring the enemy ADC and just tormenting Gao Mingyuan. The moment the game ended, Gao Mingyuan immediately joined the two's team, his tone clearly filled with gritted teeth: "Shen He, it's not enough for you to smurf by yourself, why did you bring Chen Yuchuan to carry you to a lower rank and smurf? Can't you have a conscience?"

Shen He was in a good mood and lazily replied, "It's a technical issue."

Chen Yuchuan, standing nearby, said dismissively, "Xiao Gao, you still need to practice."

Gao Mingyuan immediately ended the voice chat.

He was matched with them again and was tormented by the two of them together. He was so angry that he typed in the game channel: "You two are really cunning to no end!"

Shen He replied: "^_^"

Chen Yuchuan quickly followed up with a message: "^_^"

Gao Mingyuan couldn't help but scold him: "Are you trying to be clever?"

Chen Yuchuan ignored him, but still stubbornly replied with a "^_^".

Shen He glanced at the clock in the lower right corner; it was almost one o'clock.

He raised his hand and rubbed his neck, feeling a rare sense of lingering satisfaction. He hadn't experienced this kind of perfect teamwork and exhilarating fighting in a long time.

But physical exhaustion reminded him that he needed to rest. He left the team and sent Chen Yuchuan a message: "I'm not playing anymore, going to sleep."

He paused, then added, "By the way, the new chapter for the game will be released tomorrow. Come find me if you want to play."

Chen Yuchuan looked at the message, raised the corners of his mouth, and replied instantly: "Okay, see you tomorrow."