The scene suddenly fell silent for a few seconds.
Brother Zong? Why aren’t you saying anything?
Tang Chen was happily munching on his metaphorical “dog food”—though it made him a little sour, it was still sweet!
Just as he was getting into it, the silence over the headset triggered his habitual awkwardness for other people.
“Oh no, oh no, can’t Brother Zong just say something like ‘yeah’ or whatever? Suddenly quiet like this, I feel so awkward, what do I do quq!”
Tang Chen muted his mic and whimpered.
【Don’t even mention it, don’t even mention it, I’ve already scraped together three bedrooms and a living room with my toes!】
【Me too…】
【Ahhhhh! Brother Zong, please say something!】
A new wave of viewers, led by a top-ranked player, flooded the stream. Tang Chen was momentarily stunned, then noticed a whole batch of new viewers had entered.
【Tsk, I knew the CP sweetness was all edited. Came here to ship them, and what? This? How can you call this true love? I can scrape together a whole courtyard with my toes!】
【A bit disappointing. Feels like I got tricked by fake sugar again, only ended up with a mouthful of glass shards.】
【Streamer, stop looking! My awkwardness is about to reach critical levels.】
Tang Chen furrowed his brows.
These were new viewers or alternate accounts, and their comments were harsh.
Just as he was about to have the moderators clean them up, the M762 wooden-stock sound suddenly rang in his headset.
What was happening?
He barely lifted his head when he heard that familiar brotherly voice.
“I’m down. Two of them are rushing over. Don’t come.”
Yin Chen glanced at his downed character onscreen and reflected.
He shouldn’t have teased Zong Cheng earlier—he missed a perfect chance to mark enemy positions.
But still… teasing Zong Cheng was just too fun.
He let go of the controls, propping his chin with delight.
“Don’t move, just stay put.”
Zong Cheng didn’t listen at all. He held two Molotovs and blocked Yin Chen’s flanks.
His gaze was serious as he threw the smoke grenades, clearly trying to distract the enemies.
Tang Chen watched, feeling a pang of jealousy.
“See that? My Brother Zong’s tactical rescue! Who can still say he’s cheating?”
【Hahahaha, don’t say it, but a tiny bit of sympathy for my Chen who also went down as a tool.】
【People are really different from each other. Observe carefully, savor it.】
【I think Chen wanted to say, with that skill, why didn’t Brother Zong rescue him earlier quq!】
【Can’t help it, I ship it again! Fire for love! Smoke for love! Hahahahaha.】
Yin Chen hadn’t expected Zong Cheng to rescue him at this moment.
Seeing Zong Cheng’s character crouch next to him, he was slightly stunned.
Wasn’t Tang Chen supposed to “shine one last time” instead? Why rescue him now?
No time to think further, Yin Chen placed his fingers back on his phone.
His character had already been helped up.
“Prone, heal.”
Zong Cheng’s voice was urgent. He threw a frag grenade nearby—it wasn’t perfectly placed, probably confused by another smoke—but only minor damage was done, and Yin Chen quickly used a med kit.
“…Hmph.”
Tang Chen felt sour and said nothing.
He finally realized—Brother Zong wasn’t some cold, aloof guy.
He just picked carefully who he treated kindly, because the rest weren’t his target.
That was why he seemed so cold and ruthless!
As Yin Chen’s med kit finished, enemy footsteps grew louder.
“Enemies incoming,” he warned nervously.
Zong Cheng muttered.
“I know.”
No sooner had he said “I know,” he crouched and fired a preemptive wooden-stock burst toward the footsteps.
A small yellow-duck-skin character fell immediately.
“Whoa!”
Tang Chen couldn’t hide his shock.
“Brother Zong’s preemptive wooden-stock burst looked so cool!”
Timing was perfect, direction spot-on!
【Can a streamer even hype this up? I could do that too; the footsteps were so obvious anyone could hear.】
【Brother Zong has game sense! Way better than ordinary players.】
【Hmm… streamer must be exaggerating, right? Preemptive burst from smoke with no vision? Ridiculous!】
Zhang Taining, unable to resist, typed with his alternate account.
【Isn’t this cheating? Is the streamer really fooling himself too?】
Seconds later, he realized he had been muted.
…Damn it!
Cheater can’t even let people talk?
Then show some courage and don’t use it!
“Closer, there’s one more. Don’t know if he’s their teammate or a lone wolf. Be careful.”
Zong Cheng threw another smoke, shrouding both of them.
“…Tsk, I want to mute Brother Zong’s mic, what about you guys?”
Tang Chen’s voice dripped with sourness.
Damn!
This is discrimination, clear as day!
【2333, Chen is so humble hahaha!】
【Don’t mute! I’m shipping this so hard, my new OTP!】
【Hahahaha, me too! Too sweet, too sweet!】
The downed yellow-duck struggled and tried to crawl behind a rock.
Zong Cheng squinted slightly.
“Any grenades? Throw them behind the rock.”
Yin Chen checked.
Level 3 backpack, packed full.
“Five.”
Zong Cheng nodded.
“Throw them all, practice your aim.”
Yin Chen pursed his lips nervously.
“Okay.”
The teammate hiding behind the rock tried to revive, but a grenade landed near him.
He quickly stepped back.
Before the explosion, another grenade landed.
He backed up a few more steps.
Panicking, he shouted:
“Revive me first! I’m dying!”
His teammate was frustrated.
“Grenade! Wait!”
Third and fourth grenades followed.
He finally cursed out loud.
“Damn! How many grenades are there?”
The livestream erupted with laughter.
【That yellow-duck teammate is about to cry!】
【Is this the legendary human bombing zone? I love it!】
【I, a domineering CEO, eliminated Xu Wo Qianbei with a frag grenade.】
【I, a domineering CEO, eliminated 111 Missing 1 with a frag grenade.】
Zong Cheng looked at the system notifications and chuckled lowly.
“Nice job. Your skills are impressive too.”
Yin Chen lightly smiled.
“So you did hear me, huh? I thought I wasn’t speaking.”
Caught off guard, Zong Cheng choked a little, though his mic had been muted instantly. Everyone still heard.
Tang Chen: “…I really have to mute my mic now quq!”
He felt utterly humble.
【I’m full, I’m full!】
【? Suddenly feels like this guy has more dominant energy!】
【233, what’s dominant energy?】
【Maybe it’s that aura of dominance hahaha, I’m just rambling!】
Unsurprisingly, the remaining lone wolf was eliminated by Zong Cheng’s Groza from the loot crate.
Tang Chen’s parachute descended; he was about to collect Brother Zong’s “winner’s trophy” when he heard him speak:
“Okay, win achieved. Now, you better explain this cheating thing.”
Tang Chen froze.
Wanted to cry.
Brother Zong, you just won—how do you still remember this?!
He stammered, reluctant to speak.
Joking!
Even though he fantasized wildly, Brother Zong had never said he was gay!
Being called a cheater is minor, but being labeled gay is serious!
He stubbornly refused to admit anything.
Zong Cheng’s brows knitted tightly.
Tang Chen’s silence only made him more certain something was wrong.
Otherwise, the kid would have already cried over and told him everything.
After a stalemate, Yin Chen spoke up.
“It’s fine. I know what happened. I’ll handle it.”
Then he apologized.
“Sorry, I need to log off first.”
His name disappeared from the stream.
He knew?
Zong Cheng’s brows furrowed further. How did Yin Chen know?
Tang Chen was stunned.
What? Wait, who was this guy?
How did he know what happened?
Viewers were equally confused.
【Could this guy also watch the stream? And noticed? Chen, does he know in your livestream?】
Tang Chen instinctively denied.
“No way. Brother Zong doesn’t even know my stream account.”
Besides, the new person he just met?
Zong Cheng, hearing him, subtly felt something and logged off too.
He didn’t know, but his aunt surely did.
Seeing him log off, Tang Chen panicked.
“What do I do? Do they all know?”
Viewers rushed to comfort him.
【Don’t panic. Knowing isn’t a big deal. Brother Zong didn’t cheat, no one else has proof, it’s fine.】
【Yeah, and that guy said he knew and would handle it. Don’t worry, they seem mature enough, no problem.】
【Chen, don’t panic. The problem isn’t them, it’s you. You were accused of cheating for hiring someone, the blame is still on you.】
Tang Chen cried in panic.
Being attacked by crazy fans is nothing!
He streamed every day; after gaining popularity, people constantly came to troll him. He was used to it!
But…
Just as he fretted, the phone rang.
Tang Chen flinched and instinctively hung up.
【…?】
【????? Chen, did you hang up Brother Zong’s call?】
【Wake up, Chen! You’ll get scolded if you keep avoiding it!】
【Wake up, Chen!】
Tang Chen checked the caller ID.
“It’s not Brother Zong!”
But the next second, he froze.
It was…
The number of the team manager he had saved in contacts! Why was Xie Liu calling?
Before he could think, the phone vibrated like crazy again.
【Chen, answer! Explain and solve it! Avoiding it won’t work!】
【Chen, be good, pick up.】
【Yeah, yeah, pick up, let Brother Zong help you!】
Tang Chen pressed his lips.
“It’s not Brother Zong’s call, it’s the team manager inviting me for a trial.”
He decided to answer.
“Hello, Xie Liu, what’s up?”
The voice came through his headset to the stream.
“Oh, nothing major. The team base is set—Jiang Ting’s villa. I’m going over today to arrange rooms with the big boss. It’s said to be a nearly ten-acre mansion. When can you come for the trial? Early signing lets you pick your room.”
The livestream exploded.
【Ten acres? A villa???】
【Wow, I’m jealous! First time hearing a house measured in acres, awesome!】
【Ahhh! Chen is really joining a team? Go, pick a good room!】