Gu Xin’s ears flushed a deep red at Jiang Chen’s sudden question. “I… I don’t know.”
Disbelief flashed in Jiang Chen’s eyes. “Yeah, right. How is that possible? Wei Meng used to talk to me about this stuff every single day back in middle school.”
Wei Meng was the type who would willingly tell Jiang Chen absolutely anything, but Gu Xin clearly rarely brought up topics like this.
But they were right in the thick of their ABO adolescence how could anyone not be curious? Plenty of teenage boys and girls secretly hid from their parents to watch adult videos, gossiping and sharing dirty jokes in dorm rooms or group chats. Jiang Chen just wasn’t usually the type to join in, which didn’t mean others didn’t. Most of the time, he couldn’t care less. But hanging out with Gu Xin like this, his long-dormant curiosity was suddenly rearing its head.
Just as Gu Xin was floundering for an answer, a voice cut into the team voice chat.
The mic icon for junyi lit up. “Wei Meng, are these all our classmates?”
Wei Meng was riding a wave of excitement. He had wanted to give Jiang Chen a surprise. Ou Ruoyi had actually added his WeChat today out of the blue, asking if he wanted to play a game together, so he had naturally dragged Jiang Chen and Gu Xin along.
Wei Meng replied, “Yeah! Chenchen’s Sidekick Xingxing is our class monitor, and Xingxing’s Sidekick Chenchen is Jiang Chen, my bro. He can totally carry us to a chicken dinner!”
junyi: “Your class monitor, Gu Xin?”
Jiang Chen hadn’t expected the person Wei Meng brought along to be Ou Ruoyi. Though he’d barely spoken a couple of words to her in person, he recognized her voice. After all, she frequently loitered outside their classroom door, and whenever she bumped into Gu Xin, she always went out of her way to say hello.
junyi: “Gu Xin, I’m not very good at this. Can I just follow you in a bit?”
Gu Xin: “We’ll play as a team.” He gave a non-committal answer, avoiding a direct agreement.
Jiang Chen wondered how on earth Wei Meng had gotten Ou Ruoyi’s WeChat. Not long ago, Wei Meng had been sheepishly begging him to ask her for it. How had he suddenly added her behind his back? Something was definitely fishy.
Once everyone boarded the plane, the thunderous roar of the engines filled their headphones.
With an outsider present, Jiang Chen’s voice took on a clean, cool tone. “Where are we dropping?”
They were playing the classic map, so they knew the terrain inside out.
Wei Meng: “Let’s drop G-Port. Tons of loot.”
Gu Xin: “Alright, let’s go.”
junyi: “I’m jumping!”
The four of them hit their parachute keys one after another.
Gu Xin and Wei Meng landed in different container zones, while Jiang Chen and Ou Ruoyi touched down in the residential area, right outside the same building.
Jiang Chen’s hands were fast. He slipped into the nearest door, his fingers tapping fluidly as he scooped up a gun, ammo, a level 1 helmet, a level 1 backpack, and some bandages.
The loot was rich, but a pair of footsteps kept trailing tightly behind him. Checking his minimap, he knew it was Ou Ruoyi.
Before Jiang Chen could even say anything, Ou Ruoyi spoke up. “Gu Xin, can you give me a gun?”
Gu Xin sounded confused. “What?”
Ou Ruoyi said gently, “I’m right behind you.”
Gu Xin: “I’m over by Container 5.”
Ou Ruoyi: “Ah? Did I follow the wrong person?”
Jiang Chen dropped his pistol straight onto the floor. “You might be following me. I dropped a gun on the ground, go ahead and pick it up.”
Ou Ruoyi let out a dry laugh after a few seconds of silence. “Oh, looks like it. Your usernames are just too similar.” They looked exactly like couple names.
Jiang Chen didn’t take the bait. He immediately left the building and ducked into another one. This time, Ou Ruoyi didn’t follow him over.
Wei Meng completely missed Ou Ruoyi’s true intentions and laughed out loud. “I almost mixed them up when we played Honor of Kings last time too! You’re not the only one!”
Without a tail, Jiang Chen looted freely and even sniped a kill through a window.
Gu Xin saw the kill feed flash on the screen. “Nice.”
Right after, Gu Xin’s own kill feed flashed in the top right corner a clean double kill.
For a moment, the kill feed was completely flooded by Chenchen’s Sidekick Xingxing and Xingxing’s Sidekick Chenchen. Anyone not paying close attention would think it was the same person and would be ready to spam praises in chat.
Wei Meng showered them with his limited vocabulary: “Chen-er is a beast! Monitor is a beast!”
Fully geared up, Jiang Chen started running toward Gu Xin’s position as the playzone circle was about to shift.
Jiang Chen: “Looks like the circle is shifting north.”
Gu Xin: “Come find me. Wei Meng, go find a car.”
Wei Meng: “Roger that, I spot a ride!”
Ou Ruoyi: “What about me?”
Gu Xin had almost forgotten about her. “You come over with Jiang Chen.”
The journey to regroup with Gu Xin was rough; plenty of players had dropped G-Port with them. Ou Ruoyi played completely passively, hiding out, and Jiang Chen hadn’t seen her fire a single shot.
Before they could even clear the residential area, gunfire erupted ahead.
Jiang Chen immediately took cover and hunted for targets. His aim was solid—no wasted bullets, every shot landing true or scoring a headshot. It felt incredibly satisfying.
He was having a blast, but Ou Ruoyi got caught in the open because she failed to find proper cover.
Ou Ruoyi panicked. “Ah, I’m hit! Someone save me!”
She obviously expected Jiang Chen to revive her.
Jiang Chen checked his map. “That spot is under heavy crossfire. It’s too hot to revive you right now. Hold on a second.”
But Ou Ruoyi didn’t last. Another player finished her off, and she was out of the game.
Jiang Chen: “…” Can’t she even find a wall to hide behind?
Ou Ruoyi complained slightly, “You were too slow, now I’m dead.”
Wei Meng chimed in, “Ah, Ruoyi, you’re dead already? Next game you follow me!”
Ou Ruoyi: “Okay, I’ll wait for you guys to finish this match then.”
With Ou Ruoyi out of the picture, Jiang Chen systematically cleared out the remaining enemies. He almost got hit himself, but managed to dodge just in time.
Gu Xin didn’t comment on Ou Ruoyi going down. He asked Jiang Chen, “Need me to come over and help?”
Jiang Chen was perfectly calm. “No need, I can handle it. Heading over to regroup now.”
Meanwhile, spectating the match, Ou Ruoyi stared at the IDs of Jiang Chen and Gu Xin. Something felt incredibly strange. These two were a little too close. It just felt off. Shouldn’t Jiang Chen be closer with Wei Meng?
Wei Meng drove up to meet them, and Jiang Chen ran over to jump in. Their inventories were fully loaded.
Gu Xin took the driver’s seat and pulled up right in front of Jiang Chen. “Get in.”
Jiang Chen hopped into the passenger seat, while Wei Meng took the back.
Wei Meng: “Let’s go, I can’t wait to wreck these guys.”
Clang, clang, clang! Their car suddenly took fire from an enemy hiding behind a tree.
Jiang Chen and Wei Meng scoped in instantly. “1 o’clock direction.”
Wei Meng yelled, “Daring to chase your grandpa? Witness my god-tier aim, I’ll blast your ass to pieces!”
Wei Meng’s accuracy was a bit lacking. Jiang Chen popped two headkills, while Wei Meng landed shots on the last one and finished them off.
Jiang Chen said with a touch of pride, “限制, Wei Meng, your daddy’s aim isn’t bad, right?”
Wei Meng: “Insane!”
Infected by Jiang Chen’s energy, Gu Xin was in a great mood and pulled off a slick drift.
Wei Meng howled, “Damn, Xin-ge, nice driving! I’m practically flying!”
The trio played aggressively but stayed sharp. They managed to clutch the final fights and secure a smooth chicken dinner in round one!
Before the second round started, Jiang Chen noticed his kill count was lower than Gu Xin’s. He decided to swap computers.
Jiang Chen: “Xin-bao, swap computers with me. Let me see if a laptop makes it easier to play. I’m definitely getting more kills than you this round.”
Gu Xin teased him, “It’s a skill issue, has nothing to do with the computer.”
Jiang Chen pulled him up from his seat, forcing a switch. “Stop nagging, it’s definitely a computer issue.”
Gu Xin sat down in front of his desktop. Since they were both his own computers anyway, there was no adjustment period needed.
Having learned her lesson from the first round, Ou Ruoyi carefully memorized Gu Xin’s ID: Chenchen’s Sidekick Xingxing.
They played the same map, but this time they dropped Military Base.
Ou Ruoyi stuck to Gu Xin like glue, determined to play the role of a clingy little Omega to capture Gu Xin’s attention.
“Gu Xin, I need a helmet. Can you help me find one?”
Jiang Chen looked back at Ou Ruoyi, who was trailing behind him in default gear. “I’m Jiang Chen. There’s a Level 1 helmet on the second floor near the stair landing. Go up and grab it.”
Ou Ruoyi: “…Huh?” How is it Jiang Chen again?!
She had verified it multiple times! This ID belonged to Gu Xin! How did she follow the wrong person again? Was she seeing things, or was her vision failing her?
Jiang Chen reminded her, “You need to learn to look for resources yourself. Military Base is packed. Running around without gear will get you killed.”
Still reeling from her mistake, Ou Ruoyi muttered, “Okay.”
What else could she do? She was the one who kept messing up Gu Xin’s username, not Jiang Chen. This time, she firmly etched it into her brain: Chenchen’s Sidekick Xingxing is NOT Gu Xin. Gu Xin is Xingxing’s Sidekick Chenchen.
In the second round, because Ou Ruoyi couldn’t keep up with the trio’s frantic pace, she basically coasted the entire time and somehow won another chicken dinner.
Using the laptop, Jiang Chen’s kill count was not only lower than Gu Xin’s, but even worse than his own first round.
Jiang Chen muted his mic and turned to Gu Xin. “No way, I’m taking my desktop back!”
Gu Xin sighed helplessly, “Don’t blame the road for being uneven when you can’t walk straight, Chenchen.”
Jiang Chen must have taken his medicine because he wasn’t sleepy at all now. The game had got his adrenaline pumping. “Save the life lessons. You’re the one who can’t walk straight. You use the laptop!”
Seeing Gu Xin hesitate, Jiang Chen targeted his ultimate weakness ticklishness and poked him in the waist. “Hurry up.”
Gu Xin twisted away from the poke, bursting into laughter. “Stop poking, stop poking! Alright, I’ll switch, I’ll switch.”
The two swapped places once more.
Round three began!
This time, they dropped Pochinki, the absolute bloodbath of a hot drop.
Ou Ruoyi double-checked Gu Xin’s ID: Xingxing’s Sidekick Chenchen. This time, there was absolutely no mistake! She stayed quiet, silently trailing behind him to scoop up leftover loot.
Wei Meng played a bit too wild and almost got knocked out. “Damn! Quick! Daddy, come save me!”
Jiang Chen finally unmuted. “Save your ass. Find some cover and hide. I’m on my way.”
With that, Ou Ruoyi watched as Xingxing’s Sidekick Chenchen downed an enemy and bolted toward Wei Meng’s position.
Ou Ruoyi dropped her mouse and rubbed her eyes hard. “???”
Wait! What?!
Wasn’t Xingxing’s Sidekick Chenchen the ID Gu Xin was just using? Why was it still Jiang Chen?! Is this guy haunting her?!
Jiang Chen directed, “Ou Ruoyi, go revive Wei Meng. I’ll clear the area for you guys!”
Ou Ruoyi crouched down and sneaked over to revive Wei Meng along the path Jiang Chen had just cleared.
Hearing his “daddy” talk like that made Wei Meng feel incredibly coddled, as if the universe was clearing a path for him to romance the school beauty. His voice took on a playful, flirty tone: “Ruoyi, hurry up and save me~”
Ou Ruoyi revived him, feeling completely dead inside.
By the time Jiang Chen finished sweeping the surrounding enemies, Gu Xin called out to him. “I have a Level 2 vest here. Chenchen, come grab it.”
Jiang Chen: “On my way.”
And just like that, he left. Chenchen’s Sidekick Xingxing and Xingxing’s Sidekick Chenchen reunited once again.
Having completely given up on pursuing Gu Xin, Ou Ruoyi’s gaming experience for the rest of the match became an absolute nightmare.
Jiang Chen: “Leave the kill to me.”
Gu Xin: “Sure, yours. Need a sniper?”
Jiang Chen: “Yes!”
Gu Xin: “This crate has an 8x scope. Come here.”
Jiang Chen: “Coming.”
Gu Xin: “I see someone hiding behind that rock. Chenchen, can you see him?”
Jiang Chen: “Spotted. I’ll take the shot. Bait him out a bit the moment he peeks, I’ll fire.”
Gu Xin obediently exposed his position before quickly ducking back. Jiang Chen fired instantly, deleting the enemy on the hill.
The duo’s synergy was flawless. Wei Meng cheered them on from the sidelines, repeating his limited vocabulary of “Xin-ge is a beast, Chen-er is a beast.”
Ou Ruoyi listened, completely questioning her life choices. Who was she? Where was she? What was she even doing here?
Midday arrived. After logging off the game, Wei Meng sent Jiang Chen a message on WeChat.
Wei Meng: Chen-er, do you think I have a shot with the school beauty?
Jiang Chen: As your best friend, I’m going to give it to you straight. No.
Wei Meng: I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it!
Jiang Chen was indeed telling the truth. Ou Ruoyi was clearly gunning for Gu Xin today. But his constant computer-swapping hadn’t been in vain it had completely shut her down.
If anyone wanted to chase his childhood friend, they’d have to get past the Jiang Chen barrier first!