After talking to his mom on the phone for over an hour, Zhao Yu finally felt a little better after the complicated emotions stirred up by his memories of the hospital.
Today's stream was about to begin as well. He gathered himself and opened his livestream room as usual.
The moment he opened it, A Shui's connection request popped up. Zhao Yu accepted it.
"Not bad, bro! Your song's popularity is absolutely exploding. I checked the comments, and it hit 999+ in no time," A Shui praised him.
"It's alright. I think it was only natural."
The value of Compendium of Materia Medica alone was enough to crush most songs nowadays, so Zhao Yu was not surprised in the slightest.
[IG Awesome sent Rockets x99] [IG Awesome: Congratulations on the song's huge sales~]
"Thanks, boss. Same to you, same to you," Zhao Yu immediately said gratefully.
[IG Awesome: Why isn't Yuuka here? Is she not coming today?]
"She'll be here soon. It seems like she's busy with something. I'll ask her."
Zhao Yu took out his phone.
After ending the call with him earlier today, Yuuka had seemingly been busy with something. He had sent her two messages in the afternoon, but she had not replied.
"Yuuka, are you still busy?"
"No! I'm free now!"
Yuuka finally replied at her usual speed again, which made Zhao Yu breathe a sigh of relief.
At some point, he had started overthinking things too. Yuuka had not replied for so long that he had gotten a little worried.
A few minutes later, the three of them appeared on screen together again after a long time. A Shui's Big Head was as conspicuous as ever.
"Long time no see, Yuuka."
"Long time no see, Jackey-kun."
Yuuka had actually used Chinese this time, and a trace of surprise appeared on A Shui's face.
"You've improved so quickly! You can speak Chinese already?"
"Only speak a little," Yuuka replied with difficulty.
"I think Yuuka is amazing too. She's only been learning for a week, yet she's already reached this level," Zhao Yu chimed in with praise.
[At this rate, even Brother Coin from next door seems a little behind.] [The title of Chosen Chinese Cigarette is about to change hands.] [So here's the question: Yuuka can learn simple Chinese in one week, so why can't certain Korean imports learn it after several seasons?] [Those who get it, get it. Better not say any more.]
"Ahem, brothers, don't start stirring up trouble with that," Zhao Yu hurriedly reminded the Bullet Screen.
[What? You're chickening out already? Come on, you're so weak!] [I'm dying. Isn't A Shui right next to you? Just let him draw the fire. He's a 100% teamfight-participating AD anyway.]
"What? You can drag me into this too?" A Shui looked helpless.
"Alright, alright. Actually, we need to ask you guys for a favor today," Zhao Yu interrupted the Bullet Screen.
"Isn't Yuuka learning Chinese? She wants us to teach her together. It'd be best if we could ask her some questions about grammar."
[Interesting. I'll take this job.] [If it's for Yuuka, I'll do anything.] [The guy above needs to tone it down. But for Yuuka's sake, we really should take this seriously.]
The Bullet Screen immediately became interested upon hearing that.
"Then I'll start with something simple. Is that okay, Yuuka?" Zhao Yu asked.
"No problem! Okay!" Yuuka raised her hand like an elementary school student as she answered.
"Then let's begin. First question: What's your name?" Zhao Yu began asking in Chinese.
"My name is Ueno Yuuka. I'm twenty years old this year." This time, Yuuka's Chinese was much smoother.
"What do you like to eat?"
"Soup dumplings, twice-cooked pork, and shredded pork with green peppers."
Yuuka's answer was an exceptionally standard Japan trio. If she added Tianjin rice, it would be even more classic.
"Your home—"
"Isn't that a little too simple?" A Shui suddenly interrupted Zhao Yu's question.
"Huh? Yuuka just started learning. We obviously can't give her difficult questions right from the start, can we?" Zhao Yu instinctively argued back.
"Ooh, ooh, ooh, you're already defending her? Don't you think you two are being a little too intimate?" A Shui teased with a grin.
"So what if I'm defending her? If you've got the ability, go find one yourself," Zhao Yu said.
[??? Something's off!] [What? Is this the pace of an official relationship announcement?] [No! My Yuuka!]
The viewers in the livestream room keenly noticed something was wrong. Zhao Yu used to stubbornly deny it, so why was he admitting it so directly now?
[Did Yuuka really give herself to him?] [Just a casual thing.] [Promise me, Yuuka, don't give it to him, okay?]
"Lord Yu, what does 'give it to him' mean?" Yuuka asked innocently.
"It doesn't mean anything. They're just going crazy!" Zhao Yu turned his head, glared viciously at the camera, and quietly added, "Don't teach Yuuka bad things!"
[That's it, confirmed!] [My Yuuka!]
Seeing this, how could the viewers possibly fail to understand what was going on? The Bullet Screen immediately erupted into wails and howls.
"Alright, let's continue. If you think that was too easy, then you can come up with some harder questions." Zhao Yu looked at A Shui.
"Oh, right! Don't make them too hard, or Yuuka won't understand."
"Wait a moment." A Shui disconnected, then quickly spoke to the viewers in his livestream room.
"Brothers, these two have betrayed our Singles Alliance. Can you tolerate that?"
[Absolutely not!] [Those bastards, give Yuuka back!]
"How about we turn up the difficulty on them?" A Shui revealed an evil smile.
Since you two had stopped pretending, then go ahead and bear the resentment of us single dogs!
A few minutes later, A Shui reconnected with Zhao Yu.
"You're not thinking up some rotten idea, are you?" Zhao Yu looked wary.
"How could I? They're all very simple questions." A Shui smiled pleasantly.
"That's good." Although Zhao Yu was somewhat suspicious, he still chose to trust A Shui.
"I'm ready, Jackey-kun!" Yuuka said confidently.
"Then listen carefully!" A Shui said.
"Dante is Italian, but Ding Zhen is Chinese. Dante really went to hell, but Ding Zhen never went to hell. Ding Zhen was born from his mother, and Dante really was also born from his mother. But Dante and Ding Zhen are two people."
"In this sentence, exactly how many people are there?"
Damn! He really should not have trusted A Shui! Zhao Yu's smiling face instantly froze.
"Yuuka, why don't we skip this question? He's making things difficult for you."
"No! You can't be afraid of difficulties when learning Chinese!" Yuuka stubbornly shook her head, then began counting on her fingers.
Although A Shui's words were complicated, they were still basic vocabulary, so Yuuka could roughly make out which Chinese characters they were.
She just could not really understand them once they were strung together. But if she only had to count how many people there were, that should not be a problem.
"Dante, Ding Zhen, Dante Ding Zhen... Dan..."
As she counted, Yuuka suddenly froze.
She wore a blank expression, her mouth continuously repeating the words.
"Dante, Ding Zhen, Ding Ding Zhen Zhen..."
"I understand now. There are three people! Dante, Ding Zhen, and Ding Ding Zhen Zhen!"
"Huh? Ding Ding Zhen Zhen?" A Shui was confused.
"Dante is Italian, Ding Zhen is Chinese, and Ding Ding Zhen Zhen is Japanese, so there are three people!" Yuuka said firmly.
[Oh no, Lord Ding suddenly changed nationalities!] [Hahahahaha, Ding Ding Zhen Zhen actually works. That sounds way better than Litang Junichiro!]
The livestream room instantly filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Before you continue