Song Yang waited at the entrance of the teaching building for a while before a female voice came from behind him. “Hey…”
He turned around alertly and immediately cut her off. “If you call me by that terrible nickname again, I am not taking this job.”
“I am sorry, Song Yang.” Bai Mo clasped her hands together and looked at him with innocent, wide eyes.
Seeing that she was a pretty young woman, Song Yang’s tone softened subconsciously. “Are you the one who booked me on WeChat?”
“Yes. Actually, I noticed you the first time you argued with the student council president. I thought you were very brave, so I wanted to ask for your help.”
Song Yang put on a serious expression. “Ahem, it is only right to serve a beautiful lady. Tell me, what is the matter?”
He followed Bai Mo to the school basketball court. The two hid behind a wall, peeking at a group of sports majors in a heated game.
“That is him.”
Song Yang looked in the direction Bai Mo was pointing and saw a man with slender limbs, jumping around the court like a hyperactive monkey.
“How did he provoke you?” Song Yang asked.
“Since the beginning of the semester, this guy has been pursuing me. I have rejected him many times. I originally intended to give him the cold shoulder, but lately, he has become increasingly intrusive. Sometimes he deliberately crashes our classes, and he even secretly takes photos of me on the street. He sends them to me with messages saying, ‘Caught you.’ I feel like I am being haunted by a malevolent ghost; it is quite terrifying.”
“What a pathetic simp. I, Song Yang, cannot stand stupid men like that.” Song Yang spat and rolled up his sleeves, full of energy. “Leave it to me. Watch me tear that damn monkey-spirit a new one. I will make sure he ends up using the sewers every time he leaves his house from now on.”
“Monkey-spirit?” Bai Mo paused, confused. “Are you looking at the wrong person? I am talking about the guy in red, number 6.”
Song Yang looked again. He saw that the number 6 she mentioned was tall and broad-shouldered, with thick, sturdy limbs and muscles like boulders. The man had a buzz cut, and under his red jersey, a green dragon tattoo was faintly visible on his back.
Song Yang timidly took a step back and swallowed hard. “No, wait. His arm is as thick as both of my calves combined. You want me to yell at him? Are you trying to punish him or me? I am not taking this job, buddy. Go hire a professional hitman.”
Seeing him turn to leave, Bai Mo grabbed him. “Don’t, Song Yang! I just do not want to get physical because hitting people is against the law. That is why I came to you.”
“I might not hit him, but there is no guarantee he will not hit me.”
Bai Mo widened her watery eyes and held up a finger, signaling a number. “Two thousand.”
Song Yang remained unmoved. “With his physique, he would knock me out in two punches. How is this any different from an egg hitting a rock?”
Bai Mo added another finger. “Three thousand.”
“No, miss, this is not about the money. I need money, but I value my life more.”
Song Yang turned to walk away again. Bai Mo chased after him and blocked his path, her tone softening further. “I really have no other way to deal with him. He is like a shadow that will not go away. If he does something even more terrifying later—you have heard of those murder cases, right? By then, it will be too late.”
Song Yang frowned but stayed silent.
“Can you think of a way to scare him off mentally? Like the way you handle people with those tricks of yours? Please.”
Song Yang wavered. “Don’t look at me with those eyes.”
Her eyes reddened. “Please, Song Yang. I am just a girl; how can I contend with him? He has made it so I cannot sleep at night, and I am too afraid to even leave my dorm room.”
“I really cannot do anything with you.” Song Yang stomped his foot in frustration, sighing helplessly. “Fine, let me think.”
In the dimly lit, empty corridor, the fluorescent lights flickered due to a poor connection, accompanied by a faint, buzzing electric sound.
A young man dressed entirely in black walked from the end of the hallway. He had red string wrapped around his hands and held a purple clay cup. He sprinkled a few pinches of gray-white powder into the air with his fingertips, murmuring strangely, exuding a sinister aura.
“You have been following me the whole way; are you sick in the head? Get lost!” The buzz-cut man with the tattoo roared, turning around. Seeing the other person’s bizarre actions, he swallowed nervously.
“Entrusted by others, I complete the task.” Song Yang glared at him, tapping the lid of the purple clay cup at a steady rhythm, answering in a cold, mechanical tone.
“Who the hell hired you? Is it that…”
Before he could finish, Song Yang flicked his hand and threw a handful of powder at him. The man choked, coughing for several seconds before gasping, “What is this?!”
Song Yang cackled. The pale light cast down from above gave him a chilling look. “This is the most potent ancient poison in the world. It will lie dormant in your body, and in five years, you will be plagued by incurable diseases.”
“Witchcraft! Ah!” The buzz-cut man, terrified to his core, shrieked and stumbled away until he vanished.
Once he was sure the man was gone, Song Yang took a long breath and pulled down his black face mask. “Come out, miss.”
A head poked out from the stairwell behind him. “Scared him off?”
“Yeah.” Song Yang tossed the prop to her. “Let that simp see what ‘mysterious Eastern power’ is. I guarantee he will search the internet until he breaks it tonight. He will not bother you again. Remember to reimburse me for these expenses.”
Bai Mo picked up the purple clay cup. “What is this?”
“An ashtray I bought at the campus supermarket.”
“Is there really poison inside?”
“Chalk dust.”
She praised him, “Not bad, Song Yang. You have quite a few methods.”
“I have to resort to tricks, do I not? With his massive size, if I actually tried to argue with him, he would have crushed me with one hand before I even finished my lines. It is lucky he is just a clueless, stupid college student. If he were any sharper, I would not have been able to trick him. I am not taking these dangerous jobs anymore; no amount of money is worth my life.”
His phone chimed: “Alipay received 3,000 yuan.”
Song Yang was startled and checked his phone. “You really paid that much? I thought you were joking.”
Bai Mo said, “Of course. Thank you for your hard work today.”
Song Yang patted her shoulder, his gaze extremely sincere. “Don’t worry, miss. I offer after-sales service. If he harasses you again, just let me know. If you need anything else in the future, just call me. I take orders online, and I am on call anytime.”
Lis quickly provided the split files. Recently, Song Yang had earned a decent income from his “arguing” jobs, so he was able to successfully book the modeler he wanted.
The final avatar model was completed quickly. Song Yang tested it out early; the modeling was flexible and fluid, not losing out at all to the one his former company had customized for him.
Now everything was ready except for the name. Song Yang stared at the empty nickname field, deep in thought.
He was not good at naming things. After agonizing over it for a long time, he typed in “Sabi.”
After that, Song Yang uploaded a self-introduction video to his homepage. The view count was predictably dismal, but he was not worried; everything had just begun.
The day for his first planned livestream arrived. He made do with a quick dinner, picked up the gift Lis had sent from the courier station, and went home early.
Lis: Are you starting soon?
He had told Lis about the stream in advance.
Song: Yeah, at seven.
Lis: Okay.
He took a deep breath. Even though he expected his first stream to be a flop, he could not help but feel nervous. After all, it had been too long since his last broadcast following the previous incident.
Lis: Don’t be nervous.
Song Yang froze, almost suspecting this person had installed a camera in his home.
Song: I am fine, just doing some deep breathing.
At exactly seven o’clock, Song Yang clicked the broadcast button.
After a long break, the streamer is finally making a comeback!
He cleared his throat and spoke in his normal voice. “Hello everyone, I am the new streamer, Sabi.”
System Message: Lis gifted “Radiant Galaxy” x1 System Message: Congratulations to user Lis for becoming the number one on the leaderboard.
“Ah?” Seeing the brilliant fireworks on his screen, Song Yang was caught off guard. “No, bro, I just started the stream.”
System Message: Congratulations to streamer Sabi for reaching the Trending List, currently ranked No. 51.
Admin Lis: If I do not throw money, how will others see you?
“You do not need to go to such trouble. I am feeling a bit anxious; is this what it feels like to be a kept man?”
Admin Lis: If you are willing to be kept, I can give more.
Song Yang’s breath hitched, his voice trembling slightly. “Maybe we should skip that. Even if you can afford it, I cannot pay it back. I am still a virgin; I sell my talent, not my body.”
Just walked in, what is going on? Is this a cheesy drama? The business between a streamer and their sugar daddy. Is the patron a guy too? Oh my, I smell a BL novel vibe here. Can you guys give us more? I love this.
Song Yang was speechless.
Song Yang glanced at the audience list. The 1,000-yuan gift from Lis was effective; the number of people in the room had instantly jumped to over fifty.
To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, Song Yang quickly changed the subject. “Thank you all for coming. Tonight is just a chatting session. Is there anything you want to talk to Sabi about?”
Who is the top between the streamer and the patron?
Song Yang replied, “Sorry, the streamer is straight.”
Straight men know what that means? Sounds like you are in the closet.
Song Yang responded, “It is because, based on the nature of people like you, I can probably guess what it means.”
Don’t ask about someone’s sexual orientation right off the bat, it is rude. Besides, the streamer looks like a total energetic sub, so is it unrequited love from the patron?
Song Yang remained silent.
He automatically ignored their comments, struggling to think of something to shift everyone’s attention.
Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration. Sorry, Sister Tao, let me borrow your story.
“Since you do not have any serious questions, let me tell you a fun story. I have a friend named Little A. He is a total sucker for love. Recently, he met a jerk named Little B.”
Sure, “a friend.”
“It really is my friend. Then the jerk B was just craving his body, and after he was done, he dumped him and even cheated Little A out of a large sum of money. Love-sick A was so heartbroken he wanted to jump into a river, and I pulled him back from the gates of hell.”
And then?
“Then, of course, I could not let it go. That jerk B even had evil intentions toward me, so I hung a banner under B’s dorm building. Once B appeared, I gave him a left hook and a roundhouse kick, knocking him down.
“Immediately after, I sat on top of him and beat him to a pulp. The jerk B was crying and begging me to forgive him. I was not satisfied yet, so I made him crawl around the dormitory building twice in full view of everyone while barking like a dog. I even took photos and pasted them on their dorm door so he could review his failure every time he left.”
Badass! Good, that is what men deserve.
Seeing the audience count climb, the chat erupted in cheers. Song Yang got more and more carried away. “Then I became famous at our school. They all call me the Iron-Blooded God of War! That is a cool title, right?”
“Heh.” Ji Ting, sitting in front of his computer, chuckled softly and shook his head helplessly. “He does not even draft a story before bragging.”
Song Yang continued to blow things out of proportion, maintaining the philosophy that on the internet, your identity is whatever you make it. He painted himself as a powerful, invincible figure. Soon, the number of people in the stream exceeded three hundred.
The first stream ended amidst Song Yang’s tall tales and the audience’s applause. The result was beyond his expectations; his follower count climbed to two hundred, and the view count of his self-intro video increased significantly.
It was a good start.
Song Yang exited his homepage happily and scrolled through his feed.
Lis had just updated an image—it was a character art he had drawn for Song Yang, and he had tagged Song Yang’s account in the caption as if promoting him.
Song Yang’s gaze stopped. He opened the comment section of the post, which was filled with a predictable storm of chaos.
God Lis? Why did you clear all your posts? Are you switching fandoms? What is this? You do not like Little Dai anymore? No! Husband, how am I supposed to live without you! I am done. I joined the fandom specifically because of your art. How can you be so disloyal? I am really angry. Unfollowing.
Song Yang’s eyes widened. He went to Lis’s profile and saw that he had indeed deleted all his previous work.
He felt guilty at first, then realized what reason would make Lis do such a thing.
I do not have any real skills, and I am as irritable as a powder keg. I do not seem to provide him with any emotional value. On the other hand, Lis has superb painting skills and a large fan base; he must be a very excellent person in real life.
Would someone like that really like me?
He could not figure it out, his heart a mix of complex emotions. He opened WeChat, found Lis, and tapped out a message with stiff fingers:
Song: Teacher, did you really stop being a fan of Little Dai?
The other person replied a few minutes later:
Lis: My sincerity is limited, enough only to like one person.
Song Yang was stunned for a second, then typed:
Song: Then why do you want to be my fan? I feel like I do not have anything worth liking.
Lis: It does not need a reason. You are special to me.
Song Yang’s heart skipped a beat. Just as he was thinking about what else to ask, his phone buzzed again.
Lis: Did you sign for the gift?
Song Yang suddenly remembered the package he had brought home. He turned to look at the desk and saw the square, unopened box.
Lis: Did you open it?
Song: Not yet.
Lis: Open it and take a look.