At eleven o’clock at night, on the fifteenth floor of Bay Apartments.
Tan Ze was struggling to get into a very difficult dress.
He yanked off his loose pajamas in one go, squeezed his body into the long black gown, and with the hem pooled around his feet and tangling his ankles, he sat awkwardly on the bed, twisting his body to stare into the mirror as he inched the zipper up his back.
A man’s skeletal frame is broader than a woman’s of the same height; before the zipper could even be pulled all the way to the top, it refused to budge any further.
Tan Ze was lean with long legs, and the tight, waist-cinching dress outlined his waistline and hip curves without leaving anything to the imagination. Without looking too closely, you honestly couldn’t spot anything amiss.
Tan Ze was reasonably satisfied with the effect. He inched over to the mirror, used an air cushion comb to smooth out his freshly curled long black hair bit by bit, gathered the locks in his palms to toss them behind his back, and then dabbed on a nude lipstick while checking the mirror.
The wet, sticky feeling on his lips wasn’t particularly comfortable. Tan Ze pressed his lips together and gathered the cascading long curls back around his chest.
This was his very first time running into a livestream PK penalty that required him to broadcast in women’s clothing. To prepare, he had even asked a female friend he knew well how to apply makeup, but because the whole process was far too tedious, Tan Ze had pared the steps down to just filling in his eyebrows and putting on lipstick.
That was because his natural eyebrows looked a bit too harsh and needed to be softened, while lipstick was an absolute must-have step in his definition of makeup.
Can you even call it makeup if you don’t wear lipstick?
Even though Tan Ze felt the lipstick shade his friend recommended looked completely identical whether he wore it or not.
Once his look was all squared away and he confirmed there were no issues, Tan Ze walked over to his desk, pulled out his gaming chair, sat down, and started his livestream.
[Your followed streamer “Flossy Yanbei” has started streaming! Come join the stream room quickly!]
Tan Ze’s online handle was Flossy Yanbei. He was a lukewarm entertainment streamer—at best, half a minor internet celebrity.
As soon as he went live, his regular viewers filed into the room right on schedule. The online viewer count shot up to two hundred; this was roughly the number of people who consistently watched his streams.
[Did I enter the wrong stream room?]
[I’ve been saying forever that a streamer with long hair should just wear women’s clothes for us to see.]
[Pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty… Streamer, can you wear this every day from now on? Yes, please.]
Tan Ze made an “X” shape at the camera with his fingers, casually twirled his hair ends with his finger, and said, “No way, I’m only wearing this because I lost a PK punishment. Yeah, Xu Xiu is the one who punished me. Pretty mean, right?”
[This clearly isn’t a punishment, this is clearly a reward!]
[There are two words I want to shout.]
[I also have two words I want to shout.]
[Rookie checking in, may I ask if the streamer’s gender matches his dad’s or his mom’s?]
[Old-timer checking in, may I ask if the streamer’s sexual orientation matches his dad’s or his mom’s?]
“Welcome our new friends, go ahead and hit that follow button in the top left corner. Yep, I stream live every night at eleven sharp, and if anything comes up, I’ll post a leave note,” Tan Ze said in a gentle voice. Staring straight at himself in the camera lens made him instinctively soften his tone even further.
He responded to the bullet comments one by one: “I’m a guy, and the hair is real—I’m growing it out long.”
[What about your sexual orientation? Sexual orientation? Sexual orientation? Sexual orientation? Sexual orientation? Sexual orientation? Streamer, don’t pretend you didn’t see that.]
Tan Ze stared at the bullet comments that had suddenly flooded the screen and smiled with a mysterious air: “Drop a Carnival and I’ll tell you.”
[Streamer, my wallet isn’t on auto-loot.]
[Streamer, your stream room isn’t a wishing well.]
[This guy is purely fishing, he’s not even pretending anymore.]
[Whoever gifts him is a total airhead.]
[Streamer, you’re going too far! Just last time you said we were good friends! And now you’ve got your hand right out!]
Tan Ze chuckled even harder: “I’m not lying to you guys, of course we’re good friends.”
The moment those words left his mouth, abruptly, a loud “clack—” echoed from right above his head.
The lights in the bedroom went dark.
The only illumination left came from the USB ring fill light Tan Ze used for his face and the faint blue glow of his phone screen, which was still flashing with colorful gift animation effects.
[The streamer is getting divine retribution for telling tall tales.]
[Even the circuit breaker couldn’t stand for it anymore, haha. Fellow viewers, don’t you think I’m right? If you agree, drop a Carnival to sponsor me so I can figure out the truth.]
Taken aback by this sudden turn of events, Tan Ze looked around in a daze. Peering out through his window, he noticed the building opposite was also completely pitch black.
Deciding not to banter back with the chat, Tan Ze muttered, “Looks like there’s a power outage… Let me send a message to check, hold on everyone.”
He used a backup phone for his livestreaming, while his daily personal phone was a separate device that he usually kept nearby to play music. He found the top-most account in his recent chats and edited a message to send over.
Tan Ze: [Power outage?]
Liang Xubai: [Property management sent out a power maintenance notice today. Power will be restored tomorrow morning at six.]
Tan Ze: [How come I didn’t see the notice…]
Liang Xubai: [Because you’re not the property owner.]
Liang Xubai: [It was posted in the owners’ group chat.]
Tan Ze was abruptly choked up by the person on the other end. He tossed his phone aside with no intention of replying, thinking to himself that this guy was truly living up to expectations when it came to being unbeatably annoying.
He turned back to the camera and offered an apologetic smile: “Sorry everyone, the complex is doing power maintenance today, so electricity won’t be restored until six tomorrow morning.”
“Let’s just stream for an hour today. My fill light can probably last another half hour or so, I’ll chat with everyone for a bit and then log off, no more PKs.”
Tan Ze reached out to adjust the ring light, trying his best to make himself look a bit less ghostly on camera. As he concentrated on fixing the angle, his phone buzzed several times in succession, causing the music to stutter.
Ignoring it, he switched his phone to silent.
“Thanks to Mingming-ge for the sports car, thanks Mingming,” Tan Ze said, staring at the sports car animation on screen to express his gratitude. “Thanks to Xiaohua-jie for the kisses, thanks Xiaohua.”
[Streamer, someone’s knocking at your door.]
[Streamer, your door is making noise, why am I getting a bit scared? It’s the dead of night, pitch black, and someone suddenly comes knocking.]
[Great, it’s a haunting!]
“Door?” Tan Ze had barely pronounced the word when the clicking sound of his bedroom door’s latch springing open rang out instantly.
Simultaneously, an alarmingly bright flashlight beam pierced straight into the room, landing squarely on Tan Ze. The person stood shrouded in darkness, revealing only a tall, slender silhouette and one sharp-knuckled hand resting against the doorframe. The contours of this person’s facial features were vague and shadowy in the dark; staring at them for too long even felt a bit eerie.
Meanwhile, Tan Ze turned back toward the bedroom door like a startled bird, his cascading black curls scattered messily across his chest, his expression one of utter shock and disbelief, his fair face flushing bright red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The two of them stared at each other in silence for a moment, until Liang Xubai broke the deadlock.
“Why are you wearing a dress?” Liang Xubai asked, spotting his embarrassment and deliberately sweeping the flashlight beam up and down over Tan Ze’s body. His attitude was aloof, his tone laced with a hint of teasing.
For a moment, Tan Ze was too shocked to figure out what to say, stammering, “Wh-why didn’t you knock?”
[Streamer, he did knock.]
[I can vouch for that.]
[There’s actually a guy in the streamer’s house… and his voice sounds pretty young, too.]
[I have to say, he sounds kind of handsome.]
[Isn’t it a bit too romance-brained to hear a voice and instantly start imagining whether the guy is handsome or not…]
Liang Xubai took in Tan Ze’s defensive expression entirely. With a gentle downward flick of his wrist, he shifted the flashlight beam away from Tan Ze’s face and let out an emotionless little chuckle: “What counts as knocking?”
“Messages ignored, knocking ignored.”
“Hiding in your room wearing a dress and shooting videos in the dark—what kind of weird kink is that?”
Tan Ze gritted his teeth and spat, “None of your business.”
“Not my business,” Liang Xubai echoed, stepping right up to him. Only then did Tan Ze notice he was holding two flashlights in his hand.
He handed one to Tan Ze and said offhandedly, “Here, take it and shoot with the flashlight on.”
“Not bad, though the dress is a bit small.”
With that casual remark, Liang Xubai turned and walked away, pulling the door shut with a moderate click that produced a distinct sound. Clasping the flashlight that still retained a trace of lingering warmth, Tan Ze raised a hand to cover his face and cursed softly under his breath. Turning his head back, he saw that the stream’s chat room had already scrolled past two full screens of identical comments.
[I have my own judgment.]
[I have my own judgment.]
…
[I have my own judgment.]
Badly shaken by this little episode, Tan Ze apologized to his fans in the livestream, thanked them for the gift’s leaderboard standings, and logged off immediately. He flicked on the flashlight and swiftly stripped off the dress to change back into a shirt and pants.
By the time he had tidied up his chaotic room and let his mind wander back to what had just happened, he still felt an uncomfortable wave of goosebumps rippling across his skin.
There was still an unread message from Liang Xubai sitting in his chat window: [“There are flashlights.”]
Tan Ze pushed open his bedroom door. Out in the pitch-black living room, a flashlight beam stood upright on the tabletop, casting the silhouette of a person. A laptop sat on the coffee table, and the faint, scuffling sound of typing could be heard.
True to form, the guy must have dog ears; hearing the movement, he turned his head and locked gazes with Tan Ze through the darkness.
Looking at Tan Ze in his pajamas, Liang Xubai teased, “Why did you take it off?”
“Next time, don’t walk in without my permission.” Tan Ze frowned. It was just a coincidence this time that he forgot to lock the door, allowing Liang Xubai to catch him red-handed.
“This is my home,” Liang Xubai said in a calm tone. “Logically speaking, I can go wherever I want.”
Tan Ze let out a cold laugh. “You call that reasonable?”
“Otherwise?” Liang Xubai let out a very soft laugh, raised his hand to close his laptop, and walked toward Tan Ze holding a flashlight. As the distance closed, the beam of light fell between the two of them, and their previously blurry faces gradually became clear.
Liang Xubai was a textbook example of a handsome man: thick eyebrows, deep eye sockets, short and dense eyelashes, and a tall bridge of the nose connecting to a standard straight nose. He was handsome to a high degree.
Looking at his face, Tan Ze couldn’t muster up a single shred of good feeling. He leaned back slightly, trying to keep as much distance from this person as possible.
“If you think I’m unreasonable, you can just move out, junior.”
Tan Ze was staying here for free thanks to his dad’s connections; he didn’t have to pay rent or utilities, just taking care of his own meals every day. Who would have thought that the connection was “Liang Xubai’s dad,” and this so-called “empty house” happened to be lived in by the much-hated Liang Xubai.
Liang Xubai hadn’t wanted to take in a random new roommate in the first place, but forced by the fact that his dad had already made the promise, he could only relent and let Tan Ze move in.
Having only moved in half a month ago, Tan Ze had already deeply experienced Liang Xubai’s picky daily routine, hygiene standards, overbearing demeanor, and a sharp tongue that could piss people off without fail. Every time they ran into the tiniest friction, Liang Xubai would use “You can move out” to shut Tan Ze up.
Tan Ze really had nothing to say to Liang Xubai. He frowned in annoyance, cursing inwardly that Liang Xubai only ever used this one trick. He curled his lips and said in a flat tone, “It’s not.”
“Good to know.” Liang Xubai curved the corners of his lips into a smile. “I’m going to rest.”
He pushed open his bedroom door, and just as one foot was about to step inside, he turned back. Without warning, he reached out and grabbed Tan Ze by the collar.
Liang Xubai stared intently at Tan Ze’s lips.
“By the way, you got lipstick on your pajamas.”
As his voice trailed off, the strength in his hand gripping Tan Ze’s collar vanished. A soft click came from the door. Tan Ze stood frozen in place, belatedly breaking out in goosebumps.
He scrubbed hard at the lipstick on his mouth with the back of his hand, and muttered resentfully, “Fucking gay guy.”
…..
“Are you serious? You got caught red-handed by Liang Xubai while wearing a dress? And he even said your dress was too small?”
Lei Miaomiao was laughing so hard he was rolling around, slumped over the table, shaking with every breath. As his tall and sturdy frame leaned forward, his weight shifted unsteadily on the small stool, and in the blink of an eye, down he went with a thud onto the floor.
Tan Ze glared at Lei Miaomiao, who was still laughing as he sat on the ground. “Serves you right.”
Tears almost streaming from his laughter, Lei Miaomiao fumbled his way back up and sat properly.
“Why on earth are you, a grown man, wearing a dress for no reason?”
Not knowing how to explain the gaming punishment from a live-streaming PK to a normie like Lei Miaomiao, and remembering that Lei Miaomiao had never really supported him livestreaming with money, the words churned in Tan Ze’s throat for a couple of rounds. “Never mind why. I asked you out, not to watch you make a fool of yourself.”
The noisy open-air barbecue joint was bustling with chatter and laughter. Lei Miaomiao, who still sported an aging stubble on his face, covered his mouth with both hands, putting on a coy and comical display as he held back his giggles, saying nothing for a long while.
“I’m so sick of it. Just thinking about his face pisses me off.”
Tan Ze poked around repeatedly in his food tray with disposable chopsticks, muttering with a frown.
Lei Miaomiao managed to calm himself down a bit before speaking carelessly, “If it’s that bad, just move back to the dorm.”
“Why did you even have to move out of the dorm anyway? Aside from the excuse that your roommate’s feet stink.”
Lei Miaomiao and Tan Ze went to the same university and were juniors. They had known each other since middle school, both hailing from the same county town in Haishi, making them old classmates of eight or nine years. Right now, Lei Miaomiao was studying Traditional Chinese Medicine at Jiangnan University, while Tan Ze was studying Computer Science.
Though their life trajectories were remarkably similar, different people had different fates, and Tan Ze didn’t feel like explaining to Lei Miaomiao why he wanted a bedroom of his own.
Even if he explained it to this roughneck, he wouldn’t understand.
Pausing for two seconds, Tan Ze sneered, “Foot odor is a serious issue, what if I get poisoned one day?”
“You make a lot of sense. You can come to me for a pulse check then; I won’t charge you, I’ll give you a few rounds of acupuncture…”
“Can fungal infections even be cured with acupuncture? Are you messing with me?”
The two bantered back and forth for a good while, eventually circling the topic back to Liang Xubai.
Lei Miaomiao slid a few skewers of mutton off the stick all at once into his bowl, poured a bit of sweet vinegar over them, blissfully took a big gulp, and said, “I’ll give you a strategy: why don’t you just move out and rent your own place? That way you won’t have to bump into him every time you look up or down.”
Tan Ze replied, “I’m not moving out. Living in Bay View was arranged by my dad, and I don’t need to pay for it. Do you have any idea how much it costs to rent a place with conditions similar to Bay View?”
“Rent alone starts at four to five thousand a month, plus utilities and internet. Who’s going to fork out that money for me? You? Might I ask, life advisor, how much cash do you even have in your phone?”
To his surprise, Lei Miaomiao grinned, breezily opened his phone’s balance screen, and displayed it unblushingly to Tan Ze: 985.36 yuan.
“All the living expenses I have left for this month are right here.”
Just as Tan Ze was about to lecture him for being a big spender with no financial planning, he suddenly felt someone lightly tap his shoulder with their palm. He tilted his head over to meet an unfamiliar face.
“Classmate, can I add your WeChat?” The person wasn’t very tall—even shorter when standing among a bunch of guys—with slightly flushed cheeks, their eyes fixed intently on Tan Ze’s face.
Tan Ze was momentarily stunned and politely refused with some awkwardness, “Sorry, I’m straight.”
The other person looked as though they had been struck by lightning, stammered out an apology for disturbing him, and awkwardly turned to run back to sit at a neighboring table, where a few heads huddled together whispering in hushed tones.
“Straight? How is that possible…”
“Total lie.”
Tan Ze: “…”