Seven in the evening.
Tang Chen went live right on time.
The moment he opened the stream, his chat exploded with messages flooding the screen.
【Chen-chen, go watch the video ASAP!!! If you don’t, you’ll seriously regret it! Your rival got absolutely destroyed by a random player four matches in a row!】
【Go watch it +1! We can wait for you!】
【Chen-chen, hurry and look!!!!!】
Tang Chen stared at the barrage, completely baffled.
“Watching is fine, but what are you guys even talking about? What video? Where am I supposed to watch it?”
The chat scrolled so fast it was almost unreadable. With the eyesight honed by years as a professional esports player, Tang Chen barely managed to extract some key information.
That rival of his—the one called Your Dad Can’t Be Killed—had run into the same person four games in a row today, and got boxed every single time.
???
Now that was interesting.
Tang Chen’s interest was instantly piqued.
“Who’s got the video link? Drop it for me—I’ll go watch it right now!”
The viewers thoughtfully pasted the link right away.
Tang Chen hurriedly clicked it. The moment the video loaded, he heard that idiot’s wildly arrogant laughter.
【Holy shit, what kind of name is this? I Am a CEO? Hahahahahaha! Then your dad is the CEO’s dad! What kind of broke loser dares take a name like that? I’m laughing my ass off—this is exactly the kind of trash I love beating up…】
Tang Chen was shocked. “He even polices other people’s usernames? Ming’s hundred-year-old grandpa would never do something like that!”
【2333, Chen’s sarcasm is still top-tier, but don’t rush it—keep watching.】
Tang Chen kept watching.
Through his headphones came a sharp whoosh whoosh whoosh—he immediately recognized the distinctive sound of a VSS.
The next second, that idiot got boxed.
!
Pure satisfaction.
Watching the kill notification flash across the screen, Tang Chen happily grabbed a bottle of cola.
“This is a joyous occasion! He runs his mouth mocking other people’s usernames, and then he gets boxed himself? Hehehe—let me crack open a Coke to celebrate!”
【Hahahahaha, opening a Coke is way too real.】
【Then I’m sending some iced Coke too—celebrating together with Chen!】
Tang Chen happily watched the video while drinking his soda. Every time he saw that idiot get killed, he took a deep gulp.
Joy.
Pure joy.
“Thanks to all my dear viewers for sharing! Today’s a good day! Since that’s the case, let’s play a few casual matches. What do you all want to see?”
Tang Chen excitedly logged into his account while asking the viewers.
【Anything’s fine, I’ll watch whatever you stream!】
【Hahahahaha, are we becoming an entertainment stream today? I want something good for eating rice!】
Everyone laughed as they watched Tang Chen log in, and Tang Chen cheerfully bantered back.
“Then how about I bring a few fans to play together? Let me see if anyone’s online on my friends list…”
His voice abruptly cut off.
The chat froze for several seconds.
Then—
It went absolutely insane.
【?????? Did I see that right? Wasn’t that CEO guy from the video just now on Chen’s friends list?】
【What’s going on? Chen actually has this person added? And the note says ‘Brother Zong’? How come we’ve never seen him before?】
【Still pretending? This is obviously a bronze account. It’s so clear the streamer hired someone to mess with that guy, and now he’s acting like he knows nothing and going live? With this kind of streamer quality, I’m gonna puke.】
The chat was in total chaos, but Tang Chen couldn’t spare them any attention.
He stared at that account name, then at the two big characters in the remark—Brother Zong—and his brain short-circuited.
His brother was actually playing on a WeChat account?
So the “ace account” his brother mentioned before really wasn’t on WeChat… Was he avoiding using WeChat because he didn’t want Tang Chen to find out?
His brain was still storming when the moderators had already gone berserk, banning over a dozen accounts.
One moderator couldn’t help but ping him.
【Chen, you need to explain this right now, or I won’t be able to ban fast enough!】
Tang Chen finally snapped back to reality, glanced at the chat, and let out a scoff.
“Are the people saying I hired someone to mess with him waterlogged in the head? That guy just once stole my kill when I’d wiped a full squad and was low HP—does that really mean my skills are bad? He shoots from the shadows and that means he’s skilled? Is he your dad or your grandpa that you’re defending him like this?”
【Streamer’s mouth is so filthy. Everyone’s just stating facts. Otherwise, how do you explain this friend of yours?】
“People who can’t speak properly can enjoy a mute package. Explain what? Why do I need to explain? Didn’t you see the remark? Viewers who know me all know my brother is called Brother Zong. If he wants to play, he plays. If he runs into some so-called ‘skilled’ enemy and wants to kill him, he kills him. You want me to explain? Why don’t you go ask that guy to explain how a ‘technical streamer’ got killed four times in a row by my Brother Zong’s bronze account? Isn’t that hilarious?”
Tang Chen didn’t hold back at all, but every word he said made sense.
The viewers who had been swept up by the rhythm calmed down and thought about it.
Right—if a technical streamer gets killed four games in a row, isn’t that just him being bad?
Where were all these conspiracy theories coming from?
【And you say you’re not explaining? This is still an explanation. And it’s weak as hell. Why don’t you explain whether this Brother Zong of yours has problems with his skills? Could he be cheating? Hiring a cheater to mess with someone—that’s pretty low.】
“I can only understand human language, but I don’t know why there’s so much I can’t understand in my stream today.”
Tang Chen looked earnestly into the camera, with an expression that could infuriate someone to death.
【Hahahahaha, I can also only understand human language. Wow, why does that ‘If the streamer didn’t stir shit I’ll eat shit’ guy keep saying things I can’t understand? So weird.】
【Learned it, learned it. So this is what a sarcastic streamer looks like? I love it.】
“All right, all right. Those who needed to be kicked are kicked, those who needed to be muted are muted. Everyone behave and watch the stream properly now.”
After Tang Chen and the moderators worked for over ten minutes, the chat finally became clean again.
“But speaking of which, aren’t a lot of fans always curious about my Brother Zong? I’ll try inviting him to team up and see if he agrees. Though honestly, he probably won’t—you guys shouldn’t get your hopes up.”
【No no no, go try, go try!】
【Ahhhhhhh! Are we finally going to hear the legendary Brother Zong’s voice?! Holy shit, I feel like he’s lived in my head for so long already!】
【A true once-in-a-lifetime moment, Chen-chen go!】
Tang Chen really didn’t have high hopes.
After all, who was his Brother Zong?
An iceberg cool guy. A cold-faced boss type. How could he possibly agree to play games with him…
Uh.
His team invite was accepted.
Tang Chen froze.
【2333, Chen is dumbfounded, hahaha! I’m dying—he definitely didn’t expect to get accepted!】
【I’m laughing so hard! Screenshot taken! Chen’s reaction memes just keep increasing!】
【Wait—am I the only one who noticed that the other ‘CEO’ with a similar name to Brother Zong is also still in the team? Are those couple names?】
“Nonsense. My Brother Zong has been single forever. Work is his girlfriend. How could it be a couple name?”
Tang Chen blurted it out without thinking—then realized—
He had his mic on.
…Fuck.
“I’ve been single forever?”
Zong Cheng’s deep, sexy voice carried an undercurrent of stormy danger. “Work is my girlfriend? Tang Chen, so this is how you see me?”
It’s over.
I’m done for.
Tang Chen: pain mask.jpg
【Ahhhhh! So Chen’s real name is Tang Chen?! Tang-Chen is so cute, I’m into it!】
【So this is the legendary Brother Zong? Damn—just like Tang Chen said, he really feels like the head of a household. His voice sounds amazing, but I only feel fear QUQ.】
【Wow. I heard nothing but ‘Brother Zong’ from that voice. Worthy of being called ‘brother.’ Too strong.】
“This is the cousin you mentioned?”
Another voice sounded in the headset.
Unlike Zong Cheng’s deep sensual tone, this one was more like cold spring water dripping from a snowy mountain.
【Ahhhhh! Is this also a guy?! His voice is insanely good too!】
【Oh my god! Who are all these god-tier voices Tang Chen knows?! This voice is totally my type—ah no, I didn’t say anything—but he sounds even colder and cooler than Brother Zong QUQ】
Tang Chen froze again.
Uh… who is this?
“Yes, that’s him. Tang Chen, are you streaming right now?”
Zong Cheng asked.
Tang Chen quickly responded, “Yeah, bro. What’s up? Is it inconvenient? I can go play on my own.”
There was silence on Zong Cheng’s end for a moment before he spoke again.
“It’s fine. He said that since we ran into each other, we might as well play together. You… just call him ‘brother’ too.”
“Oh oh oh, then I’ll call you ‘bro’ too! To tell you apart from my Brother Zong!”
Tang Chen’s little brain was incredibly sharp at this exact moment.
Why didn’t his brother introduce him? Obviously because he was streaming and it wasn’t convenient!
As for why it wasn’t convenient—how would he know! Just obey and it’ll be fine!
“Mm. Then I’ll call you Tang Chen. Zong Cheng, shall we continue?”
That voice was calm and detached. Tang Chen felt a little intimidated.
Sigh.
His brother was already an iceberg cool guy—how come the people he knew were also this iceberg-y?
“Mm… get ready. This time we’ll go try that new map you were asking about earlier.”
Zong Cheng reminded him.
“Mm, I’m ready.”
…
Uh.
Under the desk, Tang Chen’s toes started wiggling restlessly. He couldn’t quite sit still.
Why did he feel like his Brother Zong suddenly became much gentler?
Why did everything feel a little… gay?
Was it just his imagination?
【Hehehehe, Chen’s little stunned face is so cute. Screenshot taken.】
【I’m dying laughing—he never should’ve sent that team request. Even through the screen, I feel like he’s had enough.】
【Today’s happiness acquired! Thanks to Chen’s selfless contribution!】
The chat continued laughing until they were close to the final circle, when one message suddenly popped up.
【Girls, stop laughing—Chen’s been reported! That idiot reported Chen, saying he hired cheats to target him! I’m so pissed I could die ahhhhh!】
?
Seeing the message, Tang Chen quickly muted his mic.
“What video? What’s going on?”
The viewers hurried to explain and threw another link at him.
【That idiot probably couldn’t accept getting killed four times, right? And since there was a video going around, and it just so happened that the guy was your friend, Chen, that idiot somehow found out and quickly edited a video, splicing together footage of you getting killed by him before, claiming you held a grudge and hired cheaters to kill him!】
Holy shit?
Does that idiot have no shame at all?
Tang Chen was furious.
…
After finally finishing the match, he hurriedly opened the link to watch the video.
The moment it loaded, he went completely blank.
The comments were filled with people parachuting in.
【Parachuted successfully! I’m here to watch sweet CEO x CEO love!】
【Parachuted successfully! Checking in for CEO x CEO romance!】
【Parachuting…】
【Parachuting…】
Tang Chen slowly typed out a question mark.
“Huh? Didn’t you say this video was him reporting me?”
Why were so many people checking in?
And what the hell was CEO x CEO love??? What did he miss?!
The chat went quiet for a long while, until someone who had fully understood the gossip finally explained.
【Hahahahahaha! Sisters, go watch the other video and it’ll all make sense! Holy crap! I didn’t notice before, but Brother Zong and this CEO bro are insanely shippable! I realized that even though CEO bro’s skills are average, he always has level-3 helmet and armor! Meanwhile Brother Zong always has busted gear—it turns out he’s deliberately dropping them for CEO bro! This is love!!!】
The gossip-hungry crowd immediately clicked the link.
The video was clearly from the same match, filmed by another player.
Unlike the intense firefight footage on Zhang Taining’s side, this video captured three separate moments of Zong Cheng, wearing level-3 helmet or armor, running over to Yin Chen, taking them off, and letting him wear them.
The subtitles even added playful lines like 【burp~】, 【burp burp~】, 【Stop feeding me, I’m really full】.
And in the final segment—
After Yin Chen was knocked down, Zong Cheng ran over with nothing on him and blocked bullets for him. That scene was topped with a bold subtitle—
【So love really does exist】.
The screen was instantly flooded with copy-paste comments and a chain of hearts started by who-knows-who. The entire scene turned aggressively gay.
Tang Chen also clicked the video and watched it through.
After finishing it, he couldn’t help it.
Fuck.
He knew it.
He really shouldn’t have joined the team.