Chapter 36. He Zhou exclaimed exaggeratedly, "—Sister-in-law..."
A hug. It's not some unreasonable request like reaching for the stars or scooping the moon.
But Nan Zhiyi hesitated for a moment. Although they had just hugged not long ago, the current situation was not one to celebrate.
He didn't know... he didn't know what his mindset or identity was when he gave the other person such a hug.
But he quickly dismissed the thought. Because You Xin had his eyes downcast, his hands behind his back, and his entire being exuded an aura of waiting.
A hug...it's nothing.
Friends often hug each other, right?
Nan Zhiyi's brain tricked him into ignoring everything the other person had just said. He stepped forward, convincing himself that he was completing a task, and carefully embraced the other person.
One second, two seconds... The instant she touched the other's body, Nan Zhiyi immediately felt that You Xin's body was tense and even trembling slightly.
His hands remained at his sides as a matter of courtesy, without returning the embrace or making any other movements.
A faint fragrance filled the air, seemingly the scent of a certain brand of shower gel that You Xin often uses.
Nan Zhiyi's mind began to wander involuntarily. If the doctor said this dependence was caused by improper treatment—though he didn't know what the so-called treatment actually meant—was he now exacerbating this improper treatment... just like someone addicted to drugs who doesn't use the correct methods to quit, but instead...?
A few seconds later, he suddenly realized that he had been holding her for a little too long.
"Uh!" Nan Zhiyi quickly let go and took a step back. He looked up to observe the other person's expression. "Are you alright...? How are you feeling now?"
You Xin stood motionless in place.
“…Hmm,” he said, his five fingers clenching into a fist in an inconspicuous place on his side, then relaxing it.
A moment later, You Xin raised her eyes again, a sincere and grateful smile on her face: "Thank you. I really feel much better now."
-
[For rational discussion, is this collaboration between Angelic Will and Yux to whitewash BL (Boys' Love) the epic success?]
0L (Original Poster)
A few months ago, or even just a month ago, both of these people were still in the spotlight.
yux: Lost the World Championship, lost the CN region title, didn't return to team training, involved in internal power struggles, banned for insulting teammates on Weibo, and quit playing professionally to compete in the streamer cup.
Angel's Intent: The video of him swearing, and the previous controversy over account boosting.
And now suddenly they've been completely exonerated?
Yux's passive training turned into playing for love in the live streamer cup, and Angel Yi also transformed into a genius entertainment live streamer?
Now, forums and Weibo are full of people shipping the Youyi couple.
I'm genuinely curious, do you guys really think they're a couple?
The attempt to sell bromance is far too obvious and feels incredibly forced; they've even turned it into a romantic version of Truth or Dare.
(P.S.: Angel said during her live stream that she knew her first love, Yux. Anyone who believes they are a couple should shake the water off their heads.)
Youyi and Yuyi have been a couple for a long time, but back then everyone hated them. Why? Because this couple was a forced pairing.
I don't need to explain what "la lang" means, right? The two of them had never interacted before, and they weren't even friends.
Otherwise, why hasn't anyone come out to clarify the situation after their fans have been fighting for so long?
1L
I don't know if Yux cares about Angel's feelings, but you seem to care a lot about them, OP.
2L
Based on what I've read, you're neither a die-hard fan of either side nor a shipper, yet you understand Youyi better than the three groups mentioned above.
Maybe this is what it means to be deeply closeted. [shrug][shrug]
3L
...Mind your own business, who cares about me, whoever you want to talk to?
Nobody actually believes the actual people shipping these couples are gay, right? Isn't everyone just having fun? [sweating emoji]
4L
Replying to the comment above, I used to have the same thoughts when I shipped couples. But to be honest, this time I'm a little scared... I just feel like there's something strange about the two of them. I don't know how to put it.
Also, solo stans don't need to argue with me. You guys definitely know your favorite players and streamers better than I, a casual shipper. You can all sense how unusual they've been acting lately, right?
5L
It's really quite scary.
Especially after yesterday's match, Yux suddenly ended his stream there.
6L
What happened after yesterday's match? I saw them starting to analyze the game, so I left...
7L
Yesterday, while Yux was reviewing the game, he suddenly slumped onto the table and didn't move. His fans were worried and asked Angel Yi to contact him to see what was wrong. When Angel Yi saw him, he looked extremely panicked and immediately ran out the door.
After a while, Yux suddenly went black and ended the broadcast.
Then, about ten minutes later, Angel returned to the live stream and told them that Yux had just fallen asleep from exhaustion.
So now everyone is guessing that they live very close to each other, probably in the same neighborhood or something. Then Angel went to Yux's house to check on things (it seems he even has a key to Yux's house).
However, there's another theory: that the two of them are currently living together... because some viewers recorded a few seconds before Yux's stream went black and ended, roughly the time Angel Yi left the room. After clearing the background noise, there were very light footsteps in the background of Yux's stream.
(Oh my god, I'm getting a little scared just writing this. Could it really be...?)
For more details, please visit this post [link].
8L
Holy crap? That's incredibly thin!
9L
I never expected to find something sweet in a troll post...
10L
My God! Yux not only didn't say a word for Angel Yi, but he also never denied that Angel Yi's first love wasn't him! It's truly terrifying to think about.
...
-
“I recently came across some posts,” You Xin said. “People in those posts think we’re playing matches to sell bromance.”
The group stage of the Juxing Cup concluded on Saturday, March 30th.
The group rankings for Groups A and B are now in. In Group A, Angel's Will team secured first place with a 4-0 record, directly advancing to the winners' bracket final. Second place went to the team with Tangyuan and Xiaolingdang, who advanced with a 3-1 record, their only loss being the intense opening match. Third place went to the Moon team.
In Group B, the first place went to Qiu Cheng's team. Their captain was Song Shi, who had played for HYG's second team and later retired to become a streamer for various reasons. The team even had a player who was ranked in the top ten of the ladder and was a master of solo queue. Their strength should not be underestimated.
The second and third place winners in Group B are Team Shuo Shuo and Team Bei Jing, respectively.
According to the schedule, the winners of Groups A and B will not compete in the winners' bracket final until the 6th of next month. Therefore, both sides will have a six-day adjustment period.
During a break in the competition, Nan Zhiyi took the bird into the living room and was teaching it to play with nesting dolls.
Upon hearing You Xin's words, his hand trembled, and he knocked the smallest one off the coffee table.
"Hmm... haha." After a while, Nan Zhiyi gave a dry laugh. "It does seem like that's a possibility."
“They think we’re fake,” You Xin added.
"…………"
In a sense, under the current circumstances, they haven't said anything wrong.
You Xin bent down, picked up the small matryoshka doll from the ground, and put it back on the coffee table: "They think that our purpose in selling bromance is to divert attention from the public opinion surrounding my loss in the finals last year and my three-month absence from the team. Because now very few people outside are discussing this matter."
"?" Nan Zhiyi immediately became displeased. "Is there any necessary connection between these two things?"
“They also said that we actually have a grudge against each other, and that we are only being forced to be associated with each other to clear our names.” You Xin shrugged. “Once the transfer window opens, I can find a new team, and then no one will remember my dirty secrets.”
Nan Zhiyi said angrily, "How could they think of you like that? If anyone should be clearing my name, it should be you who's helping me clear my name!"
The bird perched on the table and, quite fittingly, let out a loud cry.
You Xin blinked: "It seems like it's because you seemed a little nervous during our first live stream."
"So they think you're actually not very willing to do a live stream with me."
"..."
Nan Zhiyi immediately wilted.
During his first live stream... he remembered his notes on selling BL (Boys' Love) content and felt a wave of despair.
I tried my best. What can I do if I don't have the talent for this?
"But have you noticed? There are also a lot of fans who really like this." You Xin changed the subject, "Don't you think your recent live stream data is better than before?"
Nan Zhiyi thought about it carefully. When he used to stream solo, the peak number of viewers in his stream was usually around 200,000. Since Yux joined his stream, that number quickly exceeded 400,000 and hasn't dropped since.
"So...?" he couldn't help but ask.
Yu Hsin: "So I think we should continue to sell bromance."
Nan Zhiyi: "?"
"The group stage is now over. All future matches, including the Contenders, will be held offline," You Xin said logically. "If we only symbolically streamed it once at the beginning, wouldn't that just confirm these people's suspicions about us?"
He paused for a moment, then said, "—I'm guessing that our joint live stream was just a way to clear our names."
"If you continue live streaming, you can gain more traffic, and I can also get what I want."
Nan Zhiyi listened and felt that what he said seemed...to be quite reasonable?
"So, do you have any good suggestions?" he asked, "About, uh, live streaming..."
He was too embarrassed to say the words "selling pornography".
You Xin seemed to have already thought of the answer.
"Didn't we agree to go see the offline training venue tomorrow?" he said quickly. "We can hold an outdoor event then, and let your fans see what the venue is like. They are all shareholders of your team."
Nan Zhiyi's eyes widened.
This means he has to appear on camera in person... Huh?
-
You Xin found a place that was an internet cafe.
His friend Hezhou graduated from university and took the wrong path that many rich kids are keen to take—entrepreneurship, opening a chain of internet cafes throughout the city.
Upon hearing that they needed a training venue, He Zhou immediately expressed his strong support, saying that he could vacate one of the rooms for them to use for training.
The following afternoon, Nan Zhiyi got into You Xin's car again.
Previously, when Uncle Wang drove, he only hitched a ride with You Xin. But after doing so many times, You Xin had become his new rideshare driver.
Nan Zhiyi sat in the passenger seat, not feeling guilty for asking the other person to drive. He was thinking about another matter.
"Are we really going to open it outdoors? Won't we get mobbed?"
“Just don’t show the outdoor scenes,” You Xin said. “His shop is newly opened, and not many people recognize the interior decoration.”
Nan Zhiyi looked down and fiddled with her phone for a while.
“I’ve seen many people say,” he suddenly said, “that those who sell homoerotic content for the sake of traffic, or who engage in business for the sake of business, are not pure. They usually make it very obvious, and others can see through them at a glance.”
You Xin: "...Where did you get that from?"
"..." Nan Zhiyi didn't want to say that he saw it in the comments section when he was searching for "tutorials on selling BL".
He decided to give them a taste of their own medicine: "You look at the forum, I sometimes look at the forum too."
"Hmm." You Xin thought for a moment, "It's nothing. I'm not doing this for the sake of traffic."
For some reason, Nan Zhiyi felt that he described her as if she was about to "go into business".
However, the most fundamental purpose of You Xin's initial suggestion was to reach the 500,000-follower threshold for the competition.
He couldn't help but mutter, "Isn't it all just for traffic?"
The internet cafe in Hezhou is located in a remote area with low foot traffic. It was a location that You Xin deliberately chose to minimize the chances of bumping into fans.
The internet cafe's doors were tightly shut, and a sign reading "Closed" was displayed.
You Xin parked the car in the underground parking lot, and the two of them went upstairs in the indoor elevator and entered the internet cafe through the back door using the password lock.
Upon entering, Nan Zhiyi was stunned by the luxurious decor, which looked even more professional than the training rooms of some celebrity clubs: "This decoration must have cost a lot of money, right?"
You Xin didn't even lift his eyelids: "He has too much money, he's just wasting it."
"..." Nan Zhiyi looked around but didn't see anyone. "Isn't he here?"
“It should be downstairs,” You Xin said. “You wait here, I’ll go downstairs and check.”
Nan Zhiyi nodded: "Then I'll turn on the live stream and adjust the settings."
You Xin went downstairs. Nan Zhiyi used the Stars mobile app and successfully started the live stream.
He hadn't given any prior notice about the live stream, so his sudden broadcast left the fans who flooded into the live stream completely bewildered.
【？】
【？？】
Where am I? Did I enter the wrong live stream?
[Your account has been hacked, streamer]
"Hello? Hello?" Nan Zhiyi switched the camera from the rear to the front. "Can you hear me?"
He had never done an outdoor live stream before and was completely unfamiliar with the process, so he had to learn by trial and error.
[Am I seeing things? Xiao Yi has started an outdoor business?!]
Suddenly, a handsome little face appeared on Mom's phone screen [kiss][kiss]
Where am I? Why am I suddenly outdoors?
"I felt bad about missing last week's live stream. So today I'll do an outdoor one so we can chat." There weren't too many comments yet when the stream started, so Nan Zhiyi put on a smile and answered the questions she could see, "—Come on, let me show you our Angel Yi team's offline training ground."
He then switched the camera to the rear view and waved his phone around the lobby.
He explained, “It’s an internet cafe owned by a friend… we’re using it. This is the lobby. We train in a dedicated training room. It seems to be a large private room, decorated like a training room…”
Wow, this is so luxurious!
[Whose friend is this? He's incredibly powerful!]
[Which internet cafe is this? Is there a chance I'll bump into members of our Angels team if I come here?!]
[My feelings are mixed... Compared to your training environment, my team feels like a real internet cafe team. Hehehe...]
Nan Zhiyi thought for a moment, then left without revealing the relationship between He Zhou and You Xin: "They're not my friends, just friends of friends."
No sooner had he finished speaking than footsteps came from the direction of the stairs.
Before the Hezhou people even appeared, a hearty laugh rang out: "Goodbye, my brother, you're being too polite—to be honest, my monthly turnover is at most a few hundred thousand, but you, Yux, have trained here, so the advertising fees alone must be over a million, right? In a way, I'm the one who's taking advantage of you."
You Xin and He Zhou, dressed in a coat and looking quite presentable, emerged from the stairwell. He Zhou was smiling happily when he looked up and saw Nan Zhiyi standing in front of a row of computers.
He seemed taken aback for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, why is there someone here?"
You Xin frowned: "Didn't I tell you..."
He was interrupted by He Zhou before he could finish speaking.
He Zhou stroked a non-existent beard on his chin, nodded, and gave a "I understand" look: "Oh! I didn't recognize you earlier, so it was you—"
You Xin raised his voice: "Nan Zhiyi."
He Zhou shouted exaggeratedly, "—My sister-in-law is here!!"
You Xin: "..."
Nan Zhiyi: "…………"
Silence fell over the room. He Zhou's emphasized words, "sister-in-law," seemed to echo endlessly in the hall.
After He Zhou finished his enthusiastic performance, he looked left and then right, seemingly realizing that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
At this moment, Nan Zhiyi looked at him, and slowly, slowly, with a desperate expression, tapped her phone.
This time, He Zhou lowered his voice. He asked quietly, "...Brother, what does your sister-in-law mean by this?"
“What he means,” You Xin translated expressionlessly, “is that his phone is currently live-streaming, and there are probably at least 100,000 people who heard everything you just shouted.”
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