806
It was around August by the time things finally settled down, which was the off-season for showbiz.
I took on the drama adaptation for another novel, holed up at home working on the screenplay, occasionally going online to play Honour of Kings, PUBG, etc.
Jiang Ran’s agent would let me go through every show that he took on; only after making sure it was safe would I allow him out to earn money.
Hey, no one is allowed to call me a kept woman, you hear?
Screenwriting at home pays the bills too, okay?
[head held high, chest puffed up.jpg]
807
After a few months, my agent arranged something for me again.
It turned out that Pisces was nearing the release date, and the company wanted us to do a livestream, heightening the anticipation for the drama.
Jiang Ran and I had pretty much already done the full assortment—interviews, livestream, MV, etc.
To my surprise, the company pulled Wen Zhao into this too this time, wanting the three of us to play PUBG on livestream.
808
Yo, PUBG! Isn’t this laozi’s time to shine?
Although I’m not any kind of gaming god, I’m still a mature Star Diamond player.
809
But if it’s PUBG, then Jiang Ran, this old fogey…
Wouldn’t he just be sending a free headcount to the enemy?
As I had expected, reluctance was written all over his face. “I don’t even know how to play the game. Why don’t you just have Shuyao and Wen Zhao do it, I’ll just watch from the side.”
But his agent was very insistent. “That won’t do, President Jiang. The fans are not concerned with your skill. The main point is for them to watch you interact with one another. It goes without saying that no one is expecting you to play at a professional level, you don’t have to put pressure on yourself.”
But Jiang Ran’s eyebrows were still tightly furrowed.
Wen Zhao was very excited. He bounded over to grab my hand. “Brother Shuyao, I heard that you’re a Diamond player, I’m only a Platinum player. On the livestream, please carry…”
“I’ll do it.” Before this young’un could finish speaking, Jiang Ran cut into his words.
He walked up and broke my paw out of Wen Zhao’s grip. “Let Teacher Mo teach me for a few days first.”
Wen Zhao’s hand hung suspended in the air, at a loss where to go.
The atmosphere abruptly became awkward.
Fortunately, his agent reacted quickly. “Yesyesyes, you’re already a Diamond player, it shouldn’t be hard for you to teach a novice.”
810
As such, logically, I once again went to stay at Jiang Ran’s place.
I let Jiang Ran play the mobile version first to get used to the rules before memorising the keyboard shortcuts.
Jiang Ran was a true electronic product insulator. I got him to try using the WASD keys. He pressed several of them in succession…
And no matter what he pressed, he would somehow end up spinning circles on the spot.
Fortunately, he has me as his instructor. After earnestly urging him time and time again over the course of a day, he eventually started to get the hang of it.
811
We were nestled on the sofa, playing games together.
Jiang Ran was sitting up straight, whereas I was lazily pillowed on his thigh.
I raised my hand and shot the little brat on the other side.
“Jiang Ran, how many times must I tell you not to pick up the shotgun, why are you still not listening to me?”
“Oh…” He obediently acknowledged his mistake. “I wasn’t able to pick up a good weapon yet.”
“Then use the pistol,” I said absently, staring at the screen. “Back in the day, when laozi was in the lowest rank, I made it into end game with just a pistol.”
“How are you this good at gaming?” Suspicion coloured his voice. “You must have top-upped in-game currency, right?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Har? Hearing this, I looked up and rolled my eyes at him.
“P kjr mbwqifafis ygbxf ja atja alwf. Kbrrlcu wbcfs lcab ujwfr? Qtja yeii jgf sbe rqbealcu?”
Dea gluta joafg rjslcu atja, atf rbcu ‘Kb Qtjif bg Rba ab Qtjif’ jeabwjalmjiis rajgafv qijslcu lc ws tfjv. P kjr mjeuta yfakffc ijeutafg jcv afjgr, gbiilcu ws fsfr ja tlw jujlc.
Xjhlcu vbkc ja wf, Aljcu Ejc oilmxfv ws obgftfjv klat atf yjmx bo tlr tjcv. “Vabq gbiilcu sbeg fsfr, sbe’nf rdeffhfv obgftfjv kglcxifr bea.”
“I’ll roll my eyes if I want to,” I raised my hand and pinched his face. “I just like to roll my eyes at…”
Before I could finish my words, my screen suddenly turned dark—
That handsome, suave, elegant avatar waved his hand at me from across the screen, then turned into a glowing green crate.
“……” My eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.
“Fuck!” The next second, I flung my phone in rage. “Jiang Ran, it’s all your fault, laozi just straight-up died!”
“Isn’t it just just a game? Don’t take it so seriously.” Jiang Ran retrieved it and placed it on my stomach. Then, he propped me to an upright position. “Are you hungry yet? I’m going to make dinner now.”
I angrily clicked my tongue, picking up my phone and matching with a squad for a new game.
Despicable. I refuse to let my rank drop.
812
There was a short interview before the livestream officially began.
When I saw the radiant smile on the host’s face as she walked over, I immediately got an ominous feeling.
“Our livestream has started. Let’s greet the fans, shall we?”
I nodded, showing an industry-standard smile and getting to business.
“I heard that Teacher Mo is the highest-ranked amongst the three? Teacher Mo, I’m surprised that you’re so good at gaming.”
I scratched my head, saying humbly, “So-so, I just play for fun.”
“Teacher Mo is incredible.” At this, Jiang Ran also came over and spoke to the lens. “He is a person of literature and familiar with the keyboard.”
The host seemed to find a topic-starter in that, hurriedly saying, “I heard that Jiang Ran has never played games before this. Teacher Mo had to teach you.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but Jiang Ran’s an idiot in PUBG. He’s beyond hope; I’ve given up on him already.”
With that, my eyes faintly drifted over to him.
Jiang Ran narrowed his eyes back at me.
I kept getting this ominous vibe...
813
Ultimately, this wasn’t a professional match. So we chatted as we played.
“Jiang Ran, jump when I do. I promise to let you win lying down.”
Wen Zhao rubbed his hands by the side. “Teacher Mo, can you carry me too?”
My expression was cold. “It isn’t like you don’t know how to play. It’s worrying enough to carry Jiang Ran already.”
After saying that, I wore my headset, confidently selecting Pochinki.
Now, it’s time for a true display of skill.
814
But never did I expect, less than a few minutes later, I would get slapped in the face.
I didn’t know what holy inputs Jiang Ran had keyed in, but he spun a few rounds on the spot and was one-shot KO’ed.
Instant death??
I was so pissed that I almost burst out in colourful language, only hastily biting it back when I remembered we were still on livestream.
I glared at his gradually dimming screen. “Don’t move, I’ll revive you.”
“Nevermind.” He sincerely looked at me. “I don’t know how to play, so forget it.”
“……” Ugh, pighead.
My goal was to carry him to a win; if he died already then what the hell am I still playing for.
Totally insipid. I charged forth madly and shoved my way through alone.
The host smiled, saying, “In the drama, the role that Jiang Ran acts in has high combat power, with a stunning and wild charisma. I didn’t expect that you’re actually a little silly in real life.”
“He’s not silly.” I gave him a sidelong glance, saying in my head, ‘How can laozi’s man be silly.’
However, this one glance tripped me up.
Seated between Wen Zhao and me, Jiang Ran was openly, forthrightly facing me, his gaze never leaving me for a single moment.
WTS!
My hand slipped in shock because of him, and I don’t know which keys my useless pig trotters hit, but by the time I recovered, my screen had already turned dark.
Wen Zhao and the host burst out laughing at the same time. “Teacher Mo, are you feeling shy?”
“……” Goddamnit, Jiang Ran, who let you stare at laozi like this in front of so many netizens on livestream?!
Bastard, just watch how I teach you a lesson when we get back,
I flung eye daggers at him, getting up and blocking the lens. “Shy, my ass. I’m a straight man.”
Jiang Ran chuckled.
815
The next round, I selected Georgopol, a position closer to the hospital.
The host, “Teacher Mo, are you going to fight in Georgopol this time?”
I wiped my forehead in exasperation. “Many loot, tall buildings, slow-grind win.”
“Teacher Mo is so cultured,” Jiang Ran casually praised.
“…Pig teammates.” Biting my teeth, I squeezed out the last two words.
This useless trash was going to be the death of me. I thought to myself that there were fewer people over there. We could make do with some gear, then hurry to find a vehicle and escape into the safety zone.
As expected, the parachute down went smoothly this time. I brought Jiang Ran into a building and watched him pick up a pistol.
“Stay here, don't move. I’ll go get you a good gun.” I looked death calmly in the face. “Watch the map closely. If someone comes, then just have a showdown with him, do your best to shoot him down, got it?”
Jiang Ran solemnly nodded.
I took Wen Zhao out to explore the area. The lower city district was visibly much poorer in resources. Fortunately, my luck was not bad and I managed to get hold of a few backpacks, even finding a jeep along the way.
I got Wen Zhao to drive the car and went to fetch Jiang Ran from the building.
“This is an SKS gun. I searched for a long time before getting my hands on this.” I spoke earnestly, “And here, energy drinks. Drink one first, when you’re done come out with me.”
You won’t die under my watch this time.
Aren’t you going to call me daddy, hm?
816
I confidently jumped up the jeep.
Jiang Ran started to spin circles on the spot again.
“Hey, what are you doing?” I anxiously glared at him. “Get on, F-key!”
“I hear you, don’t shout.” Jiang Ran’s gaze swivelled back and forth between the screen and his keyboard.
I silently put a hand to my forehead, saying to myself that were this someone else, I’d have knocked them to death a hundred times.
817
This time, the end-point was near Pochinki. When we get there, it’d surely be a bloodbath—non-stop rolling messages of people across the globe being killed in-game.
Wen Zhao suddenly said, “There are gunshot noises from behind us.”
“Yeah.” My eyelids lazily flicked up. “Slow the jeep down slightly.”
“Ah?”
Wen Zhao froze.
Listening to the gunshots, I immediately leaned out of the window and sniped that smelly kid off.
He who hesitates is lost.
818
Wen Zhao’s eyes sparkled. “Amazing, you can figure out their positioning just from the gunshot noises?”
D’uh.
After all, as a veteran player of almost four years, I’ve been killed off more than ten thousand times by others.
My skill was built on the shadows of bitterness.
I sighed softly, showing a faint, disillusioned-by-the-world smile 🙂
819
Wen Zhao drove us to chase an airdrop.
“Jiang Ran, just find a cover and hide well. Your gun can be used for sniping, don’t waste it.”
“What about me?” Wen Zhao eagerly looked at me.
“Up to you, best you live longer.”
With that, I went to check out the crate.
There was only an M249 left. I deftly killed off several little whelps.
However, I didn’t dare to pick it up, hastily slipping away.
I’m still young. I don’t want to get sniped.
820
At some point in time, Wen Zhao got sniped off by someone.
“Teacher Mo, can you revive me?”
I glanced at the map. “We’re in the end game now, I don’t want to give them a free headcount.”
“……” Wen Zhao looked at me in despair.
821
I checked Jiang Ran’s screen and found that he was actually still obediently crouched in the grass.
“Jiang Ran…!” I was speechless. I wanted to nag a bit more, but I suddenly saw a head at the foot of the hill.
“Frigging hell, watch out!” I swept my house and directly sent two bullets over there.
At the same time, I heard gunshots from behind me in my 4 o’clock direction.
“Fuck,” I swore under my breath.
“What happened?”
“I exposed my position,” I scanned the screen. “…There’s a sniper in the building.”
However, beside me, the host and Wen Zhao simultaneously shouted for joy, “What a touching brotherhood! To save Jiang Ran, you went as far as to expose your position.”
Ugh. Comrades, can’t you let me quietly act badass??
In the few seconds that my brain was waylaid, my screen darkened again.
“……”
My head was blown apart by an AWM.
822
Goddamnit!
I angrily flung my mouse aside, hatefully leaving the match.
Why was it that I never got to eat chicken whenever I gamed with Jiang Ran?
Could it really be that laozi’s eyes had gone blind from love?
823
The host said with a smile, “Teacher Mo, don’t be upset, we’re just playing for fun after all. The viewers are praising that you looked super cool; do you have anything that you want to say?”
“No.” My heart had turned to cold ash.
Jiang Ran got up and blocked the lens. He impertinently stroked my hair. “I think that Teacher Mo is especially invincible today.”
Then, he bent down, and in a low voice that sent a tremour through my heart, he said, “But to me, you’ll always be my babe.”
I would definitely raged too lol
But that last line was sweet.
Thanks for the chapter <3
Thank you for the chapter 🤍
Smooth like butter like a criminal undercover~~