Tan Ze logged on right at eleven. With his hair blown half-dry and still clinging damply to his frame, he fired up his computer to start the broadcast.
“Good evening, everyone,” Tan Ze greeted them routinely, pulling up a playlist to let music run in the background. Glancing periodically at the viewer count, he noticed it seemed to have ticked up slightly again; his backend metrics over the last couple of days showed steady progress compared to before.
He couldn’t help praising the chat: “Our stream stats have been great lately. Even the cumulative like count is way higher than it used to be.”
[Honestly, every time I’m tapping that screen until my hand cramps.]
[Flossy Yanbei, this is the fruit of my blood, sweat, and tears.]
[My doctor says I have Parkinson’s, and I cried. Then I found out it helps me like Flossy Yanbei’s stream better, and I smiled again.]
[Are we finally starting the comeback arc… Is it really coming to this at last?!]
“Thanks everyone for your hard work recently. Let’s keep pushing together to grow even bigger!” Tan Ze pressed his palms together, flashing an obedient, well-behaved smile as he nodded earnestly at the camera.
[Why is this Flossy Yanbei getting cuter and cuter? Totally different from the vibe he had at first!]
[When the streamer first started half a year ago, I asked him if he was a guy or a girl and he told me to go see an eye doctor.]
[I think it’s pretty great, though. Cute and comforting.]
[Actually, this guy is just acting cute in hopes of scoring a massive payday.]
Catching the comment, Tan Ze wagged a finger. “Actually, that’s where you’re wrong. I’ve never scored a big payday from acting cute, mostly because I’ve never acted cute. I’ve always felt like I run on a cool-and-refined wavelength.”
[Throw away the short sleeves and jeans in your closet first, then we’ll talk.]
[Didn’t catch the ‘cool’ part, and the ‘refined’ part is pretty sparse too.]
“Oh, thanks to ‘I Love Eating Big Watermelons’ for sending paper cranes. Thanks, Big Watermelon.”
“Hold on everyone, Xu Xiu is inviting me to be a co-host.” Seeing the incoming invite, Tan Ze clicked accept, dropping into the room to find just the two of them. Xu Xiu greeted him with a smile, explaining that Tie Cha and Xiao Cai weren’t doing PK battles that day, so he had dropped by solo to chat.
“Are Tie Cha and Xiao Cai not streaming today?” Tan Ze checked his friends list and saw only Xiao Cai marked as live.
Xu Xiu replied, “Yeah, they’re live. The two of them are doing a joint broadcast today together.”
It was Tan Ze’s first time seeing them do a joint stream, so he found it a bit novel. Switching over to his alt account to peek in for less than two minutes, he quietly backed out again.
Xu Xiu chuckled. “Did you go check?”
“I did. It was pretty unexpected,” Tan Ze laughed along. Xiao Cai’s stream room was packed—easily double his usual numbers. Sitting side by side with Tie Cha, the atmosphere between them gave off a strangely subtle vibe.
[He looks traumatized from seeing a gay livestream.]
[To be fair, the acting is pretty fake.]
[Isn’t the streamer a gay guy himself? What’s with the trauma?]
[Did you guys all forget about the guy with him from the blackout night…]
Ignoring the rolling comments, Tan Ze asked, “I’ve noticed quite a few people from the same agency streaming together before, and it makes for great content. Doesn’t your agency do that?”
“I’m not in Jiang City, so getting together is a bit of a hassle. But after the Lunar New Year this year, I’ll be moving to Jiang City and relocating my setup there.”
“When that happens, I can come look for you, Flossy Yanbei, and you can show me around,” Xu Xiu adjusted his glasses. “We could even get Tie Cha and Xiao Cai together for a joint stream.”
Deeply engaged in chatting with Xu Xiu, Tan Ze paid zero attention to the chat stream below until a sudden golden banner caught his eye. By the time he glanced down to catch up on the context, things had already spiraled.
[Black Dog: Secret crush?]
“No, the person who brought me a flashlight during that blackout was just my roommate. We’re ordinary roomates,” Tan Ze paused. “The blushing was just because our relationship is pretty ordinary—not even that great, really. I just didn’t really want him seeing me in a dress.”
“And i was awkward, not shy. I wanted to explain that to everyone last time.”
“My sexual orientation has nothing to do with him. Is he straight? That gets into personal privacy, doesn’t it? Plus, our relationship is pretty standard; we don’t know each other that well.”
Noticing the chat hounding him over the topic, Xu Xiu wisely chimed in that he was going to find someone else for a PK match, bidding a quick goodbye before exiting the room.
Tan Ze: “Is my roommate handsome? I refuse to answer that.”
[So that’s a yes, he’s very handsome.]
[Does your roommate even know you’re streaming? What are you going to do if he catches you openly gossiping about him behind his back?]
“Probably not. From what I’ve observed, he doesn’t use short-video apps,” Tan Ze answered honestly. “Never seen him browse short videos. He always looks kind of uptight and serious—either reading books or working on his computer.”
[I can’t handle this. Are there really primitive humans left in this world who don’t watch short videos?]
[The streamer’s roommate runs on a cool-and-refined wavelength.]
[Though not watching short videos sounds nice. Short videos have already ruined my brain.]
[You actually don’t like your roommate? …Every time I watch your stream, it’s partly because I want to see him! You guys really have a normal, boring relationship? Haha.]
“I don’t have anyone I like right now. I’ve always wanted to focus on getting my streaming career on track, and put my energy into my career and studies. Romance is way out of my league for now—romance only slows down the speed at which I make money,” Tan Ze spoke the absolute truth. He genuinely had no such plans.
“I’d rather buy a house than fall in love.”
[Black Dog: Then how did you figure out your sexual orientation?]
Seeing the topic cycle right back around courtesy of Black Dog, Tan Ze had no choice but to bite the bullet and make something up: “Well, there was a catalyst, of course. But it’s not really convenient to talk about the specific details. Maybe I’ll tell you guys if the stars align in the future.”
“What about you, Ge?” Glancing at the silence on the other end, Tan Ze lowered his voice and tested the waters.
Black Dog: [What about me?]
“Do you have someone you like?” Tan Ze pressed further. “A guy or a girl?”
Black Dog: [Would you prefer I do or don’t?]
A sudden smile broke across Tan Ze’s face as he leaned closer to the screen, his tone soft and airy: “If the person you like happens to be me, then I hope you do.”
[This guy is definitely flirting!]
[Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Didn’t we just talk about buying a house a second ago?]
[This man is actively flirting with his big donor.]
[Are buying a house and flirting with your top contributor basically synonymous now?]
[Why is Black Dog staying quiet… He’s totally mind-boggled by this Flossy Yanbei.]
[Why did Black Dog just skip over the guy-or-girl question?]
Tan Ze joined in on the teasing: “Ge, why aren’t you saying anything?”
[Black Dog sent a Rocket in “Flossy Yanbei’s” livestream room!]
Black Dog: [Pass that question.]
Never expecting the guy to casually drop a thousand-yuan rocket just to breeze past the question, Tan Ze blinked in satisfaction and nodded. “Alright, then I won’t press you on it.”
“Actually, Ge, even if you said no, I wouldn’t think anything of it. Just the fact that you’re willing to come watch my stream makes me really happy.” Cupping his chin in his hand, Tan Ze’s cheeks puffed out slightly.
“Because that makes sense, right? Being willing to watch my stream and actually liking me are two different things. Maybe you just like some other aspect—like how my voice sounds nice, or something.”
[If I were Black Dog, I’d be coughing up blood right now.]
[Black Dog struck out with full confidence, only to find the target lock failed.
[You gotta wonder why he didn’t just say no.]
Blinking at the screen, Tan Ze offered, “Want me to sing? Nobody’s challenging me to a PK right now, so I’ll sing a few songs for everyone.”
Black Dog stayed in the stream for the rest of the night, hanging around in the chat room and popping up with banner messages every now and then to exchange a few words with Tan Ze until the broadcast wrapped up at two in the morning.
Having sat through a full day of classes, Tan Ze was completely running on empty by the end of the stream. The second he logged off, he collapsed straight into his bedding and drifted into a heavy, dreamless sleep.
Over the next few days, Tan Ze settled into a rigid routine of classes, streaming, and sleeping. Black Dog would occasionally drop by his streams and stay until the very end, and Tan Ze felt like his diligent maintenance over this period was actually paying off.
That weekend, Xia Xuan invited him out to check out an apartment. Waking up around noon, Tan Ze boiled a bowl of fresh noodles with an egg from the fridge, cleaned up afterward, and finally headed out.
Liang Xubai had been leaving early and coming home late lately, meaning Tan Ze hadn’t crossed paths with him directly in quite a while. That suited him just fine, though—no friction meant peaceful coexistence.
Taking the subway, Tan Ze arrived at the location Xia Xuan sent. Xia Xuan was already waiting near the station exit. Dressed in a brown leather jacket despite the heavy heat, he clearly looked like he had put some effort into his outfit, waving when he spotted Tan Ze.
“Over here!”
Walking up, Tan Ze offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry I’m late. You’ve been waiting long?”
Xia Xuan waved it off casually. “Nah, I just got here myself.”
Tan Ze let out a breath. “Good. Let’s head in.”
The two of them walked side by side into the residential complex.
A short distance away inside a parked car, Zhai Xu—who had been slouching in the passenger seat—suddenly bolted upright, craning his neck to stare at Liang Xubai. “What kind of relationship do you think those two have? That does not look innocent at all! No wonder Tan Ze looked so miserable the other day.”
Keeping his eyes locked on the receding figures of the two boys, Liang Xubai reached out to shove Zhai Xu’s head back into place, narrowing his eyes as he took in the name of the apartment complex.
It just so happened that Liang Xubai and Zhai Xu were originally hanging around there to wait for someone—picking up a friend—and ended up running right into Tan Ze emerging from the subway exit.
Nearby, Zhai Xu was still muttering. Rubbing the head that Liang Xubai had just shoved, he sighed, “Looks like the suitor is willing, but the goddess isn’t entirely cold after all.”
“He’s straight,” Liang Xubai reeled his gaze back and looked straight ahead. “Probably here to meet someone.”
“No way? Take another look.” Zhai Xu knocked on the car window, pointing toward the direction where the two of them had stopped. At some point, another person had appeared—a middle-aged man in a generic, off-the-rack black suit, with a work ID badge swaying slightly on his chest and a large backpack slung over his shoulders.
Zhai Xu racked his brain. “Hiss, that guy looks like a real estate agent.”
“Why do I get the feeling those two are here to look at apartments?”
Liang Xubai stopped talking. After a quiet moment, with an unreadable tone, he asked, “Is Fu Mingyi here yet? If he doesn’t show up soon, tell him to take a cab himself.”
“He’s coming down, he’s coming.” Zhai Xu raised a hand to wave off his impatience and placed another call to Fu Mingyi.
Between open prodding and subtle urging, the guy finally arrived a few minutes later.
In their childhood, Fu Mingyi had been Zhai Xu’s neighbor. When the two of them teamed up, they were absolute menaces: their exam scores were unlookable, and they got into one trouble after another.
Their legendary mischief records included, but were not limited to: getting so wasted at Zhai Xu’s grandfather’s eightieth birthday banquet that they wept into each other’s arms; making a pact to hike across the Gobi Desert together, only to fail and pass out in the wilderness; updating each other’s social media accounts with bizarre status posts; and staging a winter swim to see who had a higher cold tolerance, which ended up making the local news.
Compared to those two, Liang Xubai could easily be considered a clear stream among muddy waters.
Some time ago, Fu Mingyi had a falling out with his family, supposedly running away for love and moving into this apartment complex with his partner. Recently, however, they seemed to have broken up, as Fu Mingyi had already moved back home. For some unknown reason, he needed to make a trip back that day.
Hence, he had called Liang Xubai and Zhai Xu to wait for him here.
From the start, Liang Xubai had been certain that Fu Mingyi’s romance wouldn’t last long. Someone accustomed to a life where everything was at his beck and call would find being forced to take the subway every day and scrimp on money worse than death.
As soon as Fu Mingyi scrambled into the car, he let out a long breath of relief. “It’s so hot. What are you two rushing me for?”
“I didn’t rush you, he did. No idea what he was in such a panic about,” Zhai Xu immediately deflected the blame.
Fu Mingyi didn’t care who was doing the rushing; he just had Zhai Xu turn down the car’s AC. Reaching out for a tissue, he wiped his eyes. “Real estate agents these days are something else. No warning, calling me bright and early in the morning and forcing me to come all the way down here just to drop off the keys.”
Zhai Xu asked, “You’re subletting the place?”
“Duh, obviously. My ex and I broke up, so why would I keep living here? Cramped in this two-bedroom place where I can’t even stretch my legs… Guess I’m just cut out to be a spoiled master, I can’t handle hardship.” Fu Mingyi sighed. “I originally planned to just let the remaining year and a half of the lease slide to save myself the hassle.”
“But the rent was split 50-50 between me and my ex. She wanted her share back and insisted I sublease it, saying she won’t take a single penny of my money.”
“So I had to run these errands. I’m exhausted.”
Zhai Xu frowned, turning to look at him with a strange expression. “Those two by the entrance just now—along with that short, stubby agent—are they the ones you said were coming to look at the apartment?”
Afraid Fu Mingyi wouldn’t remember, he added, “The two house-hunters, one of them has long hair and looks really pretty.”
Fu Mingyi paused. “Ah, yeah, that’s them.”
Stopping at a red light, Liang Xubai looked at Fu Mingyi through the rearview mirror. “They’re renting the apartment you and your ex lived in?”
“…Yeah, why?” Fu Mingyi looked at him, baffled. “Is there something wrong with the place? Just because a guy and a girl lived there, two guys aren’t allowed?”