After being moved to tears by the sworn enemy's pheromones - Chapter 29

What’s going on?

 

While going downstairs, Shen Jin felt something was off.

 

Given his usual temperament, he wouldn’t get angry and act out over such a small matter, much less criticize someone else’s carefully prepared food.

 

But this time, he clenched his fists and decided to run first, ask questions later.

 

On Sunday mornings, West Street was quite empty. Shen Jin walked for half a minute and looked back. He thought if Gu Yu chased after him, he could compromise, apologize, and go back to eat. However, there was no one in sight, which made him purse his lips and walk even faster.

 

Damn. He thought: Does it really have to rain heavily to set the mood?

 

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. It took him a few minutes to calm down before he returned to school. On the way, he brought back some food for his roommate. However, it was clear that his roommate wasn’t going to let him off just because of breakfast.

 

“You’re back already at this hour?” Qin Zhu was still lying in bed. When he heard the door open, he was surprised. “Didn’t your back hurt so much you couldn’t walk?”

 

“…” Shen Jin knew it was a trap, but he couldn’t help but answer, “Gu Yu isn’t that powerful.”

 

“Who said anything about Gu Yu?” Qin Zhu was indeed being intentional. “As the father of two children, I have a responsibility to care about their health.”

 

“…” Shen Jin ground his teeth and dragged his chair loudly. Xu Tingyun, who was on his computer, glanced at him and asked, “Had a fight?”

 

“A fight?” Shen Jin handed him the buns and soy milk and responded with a bit of bravado, “I was the one who criticized his breakfast—it’s worse than the cafeteria’s first floor.”

 

“You compared his cooking to the cafeteria’s animal feed?” Xu Tingyun said, “That’s harsh. It’s basic decency for someone who only eats and doesn’t cook to not complain about the food.”

 

“Decency?” Shen Jin kicked his chair, “Looks like you haven’t grasped the essence of the e-sports profession.”

 

Xu Tingyun swung a punch at him and said, “A new six-yuan skin is out. I’ll gift you one. Hurry up and make up with Gu Yu. The e-sports club has an internal competition soon. It would be awkward if you ran into him.”

 

Shen Jin turned on his computer, not listening at all: “Don’t use material temptations to test a leader. I’m not buying it.”

 

Make up? Make up for what? The other person just got up early despite a hangover, seriously prepared breakfast, and was then criticized. It’s not a big deal… right?

 

Shen Jin imagined Gu Yu’s heart breaking, tears falling into his food, and bit into the bun harder: “Log in, live-stream jungle and support duo queue.”

 

“Sure.” Xu Tingyun didn’t refuse, “So today’s plot is the streamer is heartbroken and the top supporter comforts him?”

 

“Heartbroken? Where did the top supporter come from?”

 

Shen Jin was just a very ordinary small-time streamer. He was skilled, but in the competitive “Battle Summon” streaming category, there was nothing particularly special about him. Usually, he had a few hundred to a thousand viewers. If someone sent gifts, he was grateful. To date, the top supporter in his stream was still a graduate student studying abroad.

 

Xu Tingyun clicked his tongue and shook his head: “You’re out of style. Hasn’t that graduate student been gone for a while?”

 

“Probably busy with her studies.” Shen Jin thought aloud, “I shouldn’t have accepted her gifts in the first place. She’s not much older than us. Who knows if she was spending her own money or her parents’ money.”

 

“Wow, our university town’s wild king is quite the pure white lotus.” Qin Zhu joked, “That little money probably isn’t enough for the young lady’s meal. How are you going to snag a rich lady at this rate? I’m still counting on you to help me make money and experience life as a steel wool king.”

 

Shen Jin looked up at him sincerely and suggested, “You should buy a dog leash now, then post on Weibo that you’re a pure college boy looking for a sugar mommy. You can experience it tomorrow.”

 

If Qin Zhu wasn’t still in bed, they probably would have started fighting. Xu Tingyun listened while joking with Shen Jin: “You two stop it. You’d be better off trying to scam Gu Yu for money than trying to find a rich lady. His family seems pretty well-off.”

 

Qin Zhu replied to the ceiling: “He already told him to put a pillow under his waist, but he didn’t listen.”

 

“…” Shen Jin hit the keyboard loudly, “With my core strength, I need a pillow? Besides, I don’t care about his family background. You two stop the nonsense.”

 

“Really?” Xu Tingyun held back his laughter and asked, “Then what do you care about?”

 

Shen Jin’s expression broke for a moment. After a long pause, he coldly snorted: “I care that his cooking is bad, that he has many admirers, and that he constantly annoys me.”

 

The dorm was filled with stifled laughter. Qin Zhu spoke directly: “Why do you sound like a resentful little wife now?”

 

Shen Jin bared his teeth and threw a bun at his bed: “Fine, how about you start calling me mom today, good son?”

 

“Get lost.” Qin Zhu caught the bun and got out of bed. After they finished eating, they connected to the live stream, treating it as training to boost their streaming activity.

 

As for how many viewers were watching, it never really mattered.

 

By the afternoon, Shen Jin’s stream had accumulated three to five hundred viewers. Occasionally, some would ask him questions about jungle strategies via the chat, and he would patiently answer each one. That was until—after one game ended—a message popped up in the chat: [Streamer, how old are you?]

 

Shen Jin saw this while waiting, and he knew what it probably meant: either the person was genuinely curious or they were flirting while trying to check if he was of age.

 

The ID was “Don’t Be Mean to Me,” with a user level of LV1, clearly a newly created account. So Shen Jin guessed the latter was more likely.

 

“How old do you think I am?” he replied nonchalantly. “18 centimeters, definitely bigger than you.”

 

Sure enough, the intention was clear, as the reply came: [Not as big as me.]

 

“Dude, are you sure you’re here to watch me play games?” Shen Jin said lazily. “If not, I can recommend a site for you, p*b, which should have a lot of what you’re looking for.”

 

He didn’t care about losing one or two viewers, but the person didn’t seem to want to leave: [How can I make you not be mean to me?]

 

Shen Jin frowned, thinking to himself: A soft, cute omega with a sweet voice like me is hard to find. That statement makes it sound like I’m very mean.

 

But he still replied sarcastically, “If you send me five rockets, I’ll listen to whatever you say. How about that?”

 

Wasn’t it all about gifts anyway? He could play that game too.

 

Rockets cost 99 yuan each, not cheap. He figured this new LV1 user would soon leave his stream. However, just as he was about to start the next game, “Don’t Be Mean to Me” responded: [How do I send them? I don’t know how to do it.]

 

“…” Shen Jin initially wanted to kick the person out, but his interest was piqued by this reply. He quickly said, “Have you linked your real name? Just click on the gift icon in the lower right corner and follow the payment instructions.”

 

He thought: Trying to trick me? Why not say you want to buy me a seaside villa but forgot your bank card password?

 

This LV1 account, seemingly unwilling to spend money yet not wanting to lose face, still didn’t leave: [I really don’t know how. Wait a minute.]

 

Although there weren’t many viewers in the stream, this comment generated quite a buzz in the chat.

 

[Is this a 70-year-old grandpa learning how to start with 3 buffs in the game?]

 

[Does your grandson know how eager you are to learn?]

 

[Case solved, the 70-year-old wild king getting 25 kills per match was the grandpa himself.]

 

Shen Jin laughed but didn’t take it seriously. Just as he was about to start the next game, fireworks and special effects suddenly appeared on the screen, leaving him stunned and completely frozen.

 

User [Don’t Be Mean to Me] has sent a rocket

 

User [Don’t Be Mean to Me] has sent a rocket

 

…

 

Even the previous chat comments were in shock.

 

[?]

 

[What the hell?]

 

[I’m sorry, I’ll apologize right now. Grandpa, how much is your pension? I’ll arch my back for you!]

 

[What grandpa? This is clearly a domineering CEO falling in love at first sight.]

 

[I just came in and saw this? Subscribed. Please skip straight to streaming the streamer sleeping.]

 

Shen Jin and his two roommates exchanged looks. Qin Zhu couldn’t hold it in: “Damn, we’ve hit a fool, huh?”

 

“Watch your mouth,” Shen Jin snapped immediately, changing his tone. “Come on, call me grandpa.”

 

“Don’t Be Mean to Me” replied: […I’m not a grandpa.]

 

Shen Jin didn’t expect him to take it so seriously, so he asked, “How old are you?”

 

“Don’t Be Mean to Me” responded: […19.]

 

Indeed, a bit older than 18.

 

Ignoring his innuendo, Shen Jin just asked, “Do you need us all to call you brother?”

 

“Don’t Be Mean to Me” sent a gift but replied: [No need. What if you have a boyfriend and he gets mad?]

 

“Where would I get a boyfriend?” Shen Jin’s mind inexplicably flashed to Gu Yu’s face, making him even angrier. “Even if I had a boyfriend, I’d kill him tonight for fun. Just tell me what you want.”

 

“Don’t Be Mean to Me” replied with: […]

 

He seemed hesitant, then made a strange request: [I want you to have lunch.]

 

Shen Jin was a bit surprised: “How do you know I didn’t have lunch?”

 

“Don’t Be Mean to Me” answered: [I entered the stream at 11 and didn’t hear you guys eat.]

 

Although it was indeed past lunchtime at 2 PM, Shen Jin still couldn’t figure it out and could only speculate that this guy wanted to hear him eat as some sort of ASMR. Maybe his next request would be something suggestive, like eating bananas or hot dogs dipped in yogurt.

 

So Shen Jin tested the waters: “…What do you think I should eat?”

 

“Don’t Be Mean to Me” first asked: [Are you a student?]

 

“Of course.” Shen Jin laughed, “Didn’t I say I’m 18? If I weren’t a student, would I be a grandfather of three?”

 

After a slight pause, the other typed quickly: [Oh, you’re a student. Then just eat at the cafeteria. Isn’t the cafeteria food the best?]

 

“…?” Shen Jin suspected he really had encountered a fool, so he replied perfunctorily, “Fine, I’ll go soon.”

 

But within five seconds, the screen popped up with special effects again: User “Don’t Be Mean to Me” sent a rocket: [Go now.]

 

This guy learned how to send gifts pretty quickly. Shen Jin was full of questions, but even more absurdly, his stream had gained two to three hundred more viewers, and the chat was more active than ever.

 

[? I want to kick over this bowl of dog food right now]

 

[Grandpa’s hands are still nimble. Waiting for “we’re already together”]

 

[Grandpa, look at me! If you’re not well, I can use my waist to draw an 8!]

 

[Thanks, I’m already picking up and dropping off grandpa’s grandkids from school]

 

“This grandpa is pretty interesting.” Qin Zhu came over and pulled Shen Jin, “Let’s go, let’s eat at the cafeteria. I’m hungry too.”

 

Shen Jin sighed and furrowed his brows, reluctantly putting on his headset: “Alright, we’ll go eat first, grandpa. We’ll be back in about 40 minutes.”

 

The few of them quickly tidied up and headed to the nearest cafeteria.

 

In the stream, only “Don’t Be Mean to Me” was left, facing dozens of comments, silently typing to emphasize: I’m, not, a, grandpa.

 

*

 

Recently, Shen Jin had some free time, so he would occasionally stream with his roommates and write tactical reports. “Don’t Be Mean to Me” would often hang out in his stream, acting almost like a grandpa, only missing out on telling him to drink more hot water with brown sugar—Shen Jin resigned himself to this, letting him be.

 

A week later, the e-sports club organized an internal competition on Saturday night. Participants just needed to log in on time.

 

Ten people created a game room for a 5V5 match, a regular club event that had previously escalated to offline “brawls,” which were eventually resolved with a barbecue meal.

 

Qin Zhu always thought this event was pointless: “Next time, can we just organize a barbecue directly?”

 

“What kind of talk is that?” The club president said over voice chat. “We are an e-sports club, not a barbecue club. Isn’t that right, China’s number one mid-laner?”

 

“…Ahem.” Qin Zhu was pleased and immediately responded, “The president has great insight.”

 

This week, Shen Jin hadn’t contacted Gu Yu. Although Gu Yu wasn’t proactive either, he sent Shen Jin a photo of his dinner every day, featuring all his favorite dishes—without a single word, but enough to make Shen Jin almost block him on the spot.

 

Looking at the shrimp and scrambled eggs in the photos, Shen Jin wondered whether to ask about this week’s housekeeping, but instead, they first encountered each other at this event.

 

In the voice chat, Gu Yu’s name lit up, and Shen Jin couldn’t help but want to talk to him, but his tone slipped: “I didn’t expect you to actually sign up for this event. You’ve only been playing for a few days and already love getting beaten by me?”

 

Everyone else noticed and knew Shen Jin was talking to Gu Yu. Gu Yu remained silent, suddenly switching places with He Senzhou.

 

He Senzhou saw that Qin Zhu was on Gu Yu’s side and gladly swapped—so just as Shen Jin finished speaking, Gu Yu went from being his opponent to his teammate.

 

“You son of a—” Shen Jin immediately wanted to switch back with Qin Zhu, but the club president started the game, saying: “No need to say which couples to target this game, right, guys?”