Cousin, Don't Look Back—I'm Xixi

Jiang Yang carefully considered this "Buy Now, Pay Later" thing. He would still have to pay in the end, but it could indeed be useful to him.

If he rolled something particularly good, he could buy it first and pay it off little by little afterward.

He could experience the effects of items bought from the shop first.

That was very cost-effective for him.

The only problem was that he could only use it once, so he had to think carefully about how to use it.

He could not buy something too expensive, or he would be paying it back forever.

But buying something cheap felt like a waste too. He had to get the balance right.

Although he really wanted to buy that Butterfly Knife, Jiang Yang held himself back.

Then he heard his cousin's frustrated voice from beside him. "WGNLS, queue, queue, queue, queue!"

After losing another PL match, Ma Xixi clicked to start matchmaking, but they did not enter a game right away. He analyzed the situation. "Looks like they're not playing anymore."

Unlike normal ranked ladders, 5EPL was a special small server that only matched players within the PL pool.

If fewer than ten PL players were queuing at the same time, matchmaking could not succeed.

When the viewers heard Ma Xixi say that, they immediately began teasing him.

[The moment they heard you were queueing, they all hurriedly canceled matchmaking.]

[Go play tile matching.]

[Xixi has shown everyone what it means to be the terror of PL.]

[Little Ghost and the others probably never expected Xixi to hunt them down too.]

[Little Ghost has been playing business CS all afternoon. He's completely numb.]

[Bad but loves playing.]

[Awesome. Has my Xixi become someone other PL players need to avoid now?]

Ma Xixi usually had a good temper, but after losing several PL games in a row today, he was already somewhat tilted.

Then the chat kept throwing sarcastic comments at him, and he got heated and started arguing with them.

"They're obviously not playing anymore. There are no PL players. If there are no PL players, I'm ending stream."

"It's boring. Time to clock out."

"I'm getting ready to go drinking."

Hearing that, Jiang Yang leaned over and asked curiously, "What happened?"

Seeing his cousin come over, Ma Xixi complained to him. "I'm telling you, every time I play PL, there's always a group of randoms who come over to flame me."

"I even changed the title today to '38-year-old Old Timer takes on PL.'"

"Then these randoms came in and started with all kinds of questions, saying stuff like, 'Why aren't you throwing utility? Why aren't you killing anyone?'"

Jiang Yang added from the side, "So why aren't you killing anyone? Is it because you don't want to?"

The longtime viewers in the stream burst out laughing when they heard that.

[That's killing the man and stabbing his heart.]

[This cousin is killing me.]

[So, Xixi, why aren't you killing anyone? Is it because you don't want to?]

[How about Xixi goes drinking and lets his cousin play? We want to see Cousin's fun C+ games.]

[He can't play PL, and he can't drink either. Ma Xixi might as well let his cousin play.]

Jiang Yang's words directly left Ma Xixi speechless.

He did not know how to explain it. When he streamed PL for his old viewers, it was more about bringing them entertainment.

But Jiang Yang could also tell that Ma Xixi was not angry. He was just bickering with the random commenters.

Ma Xixi was not particularly angry at what Jiang Yang said either. His frustration was aimed at the situation, not at him.

And once again, he was amazed by Jiang Yang's talent for streaming.

This guy really knew how to make content.

At that moment, he noticed two eye-catching comments on the Secondary Screen to the right.

[Cousin is way too entertaining.]

[Support Cousin getting on stream! WOW~]

He suddenly noticed that the ID posting those comments was CSBOY.

For now, only three people could use that ID.

Himself, Jiang Yang, and CaptainMO.

Hearing his partner complain from the sidelines, Ma Xixi shouted, "You're here? If you're here, start streaming!"

"MO, stop yapping over there. I asked you to be my partner so you could give us a Main Perspective, but you keep ditching me every day!"

"You want my cousin to play, huh? Fine, fine. Just wait until my cousin sends you to the palace one day too!"

Ma Xixi said angrily.

Jiang Yang comforted him from the side. "Bro, don't get worked up. The more you argue with chat, the happier they get."

"Yeah. There's no point getting worked up with Captain MO either. You know he's not right in the head."

Ma Xixi felt a little better, then got up and said to Jiang Yang, "All right, go stream for me for a while. I don't want to play right now."

"I can't do that. I don't know how to stream," Jiang Yang said, instinctively refusing.

"Just stream whatever. Play some Perfect World C+ or something. They love watching that. They've all been yelling for you to get on stream." Ma Xixi was still competing with the chat.

"Anything at all?" Jiang Yang asked tentatively. "How about we stream outdoors?"

Not only Ma Xixi, but even the viewers were stunned by Jiang Yang's bizarre train of thought.

They had been streaming CS just fine. Why did he suddenly want to go outside?

Seeing the confusion in his cousin's eyes, Jiang Yang said, "Listen, let me explain. Streaming works like this: they watch us play CS every day. Even if a dish tastes great, if you eat the same thing every day, you'll eventually get sick of it."

"If we stream outdoors, let them relax and change things up a little, they'll definitely think today's meal is pretty good!"

Ma Xixi laughed at Jiang Yang's wild idea. "Then what are we going to stream?"

The moment he asked that question, Ma Xixi got a bad feeling.

Because he had no idea what strange suggestion Jiang Yang was about to come up with.

Then he heard Jiang Yang say tentatively, "How about we go out and run five kilometers?"

"As big streamers, we need to help the Helmets build good habits. Look at those foreign CS guys, aren't they all built like tanks? We don't need muscles that exaggerated, but we should at least maintain some good habits."

Ma Xixi fell silent.

How many years had it been since he last went running?

Before he could respond, Jiang Yang said excitedly, "Cousin, we need to be disciplined!"

"Think about it. You stay up late and drink every day. Look how fat you've gotten. Keep this up and you'll turn into braised pork head!" Jiang Yang continued, "Besides, look at what the viewers are saying. See what they think."

Hearing that he was about to become "braised pork head," Ma Xixi was somewhat tempted. Then he looked at the chat on the Secondary Screen.

[Cousin really is a genius!]

[Going out to run five kilometers in this weather? Cousin is something else, hahaha.]

[I'm genuinely afraid he'll kill Xixi.]

["Braised pork head" is killing me.]

[What did Wan Ji Qi ever do to you?]

But Ma Xixi was considering the technical issue. "How are we supposed to stream outdoors? I have the equipment, but how are you going to film it?"

Jiang Yang thought for a moment. "I can hold it in my hand, but that probably won't be very stable..."

"I have a classmate who lives nearby, I think. I'll call him over to be our pack mule and hold the camera."

Based on Ma Xixi's routine over the past few days, the guy definitely could not run fast. So if Jiang Yang's classmate held the phone and filmed them, the footage should be fairly stable.

CaptainMO fanned the flames from the side. "The little old man can't even run five kilometers, can he..."

Honestly, Jiang Yang's suggestion did tempt him. Ma Xixi's daily routine was terrible, but he had kept it up for a long time.

He lacked the motivation to rebuild good habits.

But now that his cousin was dragging him along, he wanted to give it a try.

Seeing Ma Xixi still hesitating, Jiang Yang directly grabbed him and prepared to head out.

"At least wait for me to change clothes! You want me to run outside in my underwear?"

"All right, Helmets, we're ending stream for now. See you in a bit."

To avoid revealing their home address, they deliberately went to a riverside greenway nearby.

Jiang Yang also called over his pack mule classmate to hold the phone for their livestream.

Running five kilometers was nothing to him, but his cousin treated him so well that he wanted to help Ma Xixi do something.

Ma Xixi's schedule was too terrible because of streaming, so Jiang Yang wanted to bring him along whenever he completed his running task.

After fiddling with his phone for a while, Ma Xixi started the stream.

Once he was done, Ma Xixi could not help complaining, "Fuck, it's so damn hot. Why did I run out here for no reason?"

Then he handed the phone to Jiang Yang.

Jiang Yang took it and greeted the camera. "All right, Helmets in the stream. Today, we're definitely going to supervise Xixi until he finishes five kilometers, so everyone knows the CS scene is full of real men!"

But the viewers did not play along. Instead, more of them noticed Jiang Yang's face.

[Fuck, where did this Male Model come from?]

[Is Cousin really this handsome?]

[This looks is working a summer job for Ma Xixi??]

[Keep the camera on Cousin the whole time!]

[I'm licking the screen.]

[Cousin, I'm Xixi. Don't look back.]

After noticing the comments, Ma Xixi remarked, "Is he that handsome? I was probably about the same when I was young."

Hearing that, all the viewers fell silent.

Looking at Ma Xixi's current scruffy, unshaven face, it was hard for them to compare him with Jiang Yang's handsome features.

Jiang Yang was bare-faced, yet he looked no different from a celebrity. They took one look and wanted to keep looking.

Most of the stream's viewers were men, yet even they could call him handsome. That meant he really was handsome.

But Jiang Yang knew that Ma Xixi was not lying.

When he was young, Ma Xixi had not been as handsome as him, but he had not looked bad either.

(Young Ma Xixi)

When Ma Xixi first called Jiang Yang over to work as a summer temp, he had also been worried that the kid would go down the wrong path.

He was too good-looking and too young. If he really went to work illegally at some factory, one wrong turn and he might become a blond delinquent.

Jiang Yang handed the camera to the classmate who had come to be their pack mule. After doing a brief warm-up on the spot, he started running.

He had no problems at all, but Ma Xixi, who had spent years staying up late, started panting after just a few steps.

"I can't do it, I can't do it. I feel like my lungs are about to explode!"

Jiang Yang had only just started warming up. Hearing that, he came to Ma Xixi's side. "It's only five hundred meters! Cousin, you need to be fierce!"

Seeing him slow down, Ma Xixi was gradually able to keep up.

The viewers were also delighted. Although most of them did not exercise either, cyber exercise was still exercise.

Watching Ma Xixi suffer made them happy, while also making them feel as if they had worked out too.

Then, after they reached two kilometers, Ma Xixi once again cried that he could not run anymore.

This time, instead of encouraging him, Jiang Yang directly grabbed Ma Xixi's hand and pulled him forward.

Ma Xixi could not help complaining, "What kind of sickness possessed me today? Going out to stream a run with you."

Although it was painful, Ma Xixi still kept going.

The chat had irritated him a little earlier. He was also thinking that if he lost weight, maybe he could slim down and show off some of his youthful charm.

Toward the end, Jiang Yang practically dragged him through the entire run.

After the full five kilometers were over, Jiang Yang said between breaths, "Don't sit down, or you'll see stars. Drink some water and rest for a bit."

The viewers had not expected Jiang Yang to actually pull Ma Xixi through five full kilometers.

They were all somewhat moved, and gifts began flooding the stream.

[Awesome. He actually got Boss Ma through five kilometers.]

[He really is strong. You know what, watching them run outdoors is actually kind of fun.]

[You mean watching Xixi suffer is fun, right?]

[Don't say it out loud, hahaha.]

[Our cousin is pretty entertaining.]

Quite a few people had started to like Ma Xixi's little cousin.

He was good-looking, knew how to create content, and gave off the energetic, positive aura of a young person.

How could they not like him?

After resting for a bit, Ma Xixi eagerly pulled Jiang Yang over for a selfie. "That wasn't easy. Those five kilometers nearly killed me. I have to check in and post this!"

Jiang Yang leaned into Ma Xixi's phone camera and pulled his classmate over as well. The three of them took a photo together as proof of their run.

For an Old Timer nearing forty who stayed up late year-round, five kilometers was truly a massive challenge. Ma Xixi had made a huge decision today and had come along half-willingly.

While running, he had felt like dying, but Jiang Yang had stubbornly dragged him all the way through.

But after finishing the five kilometers, he also felt more fulfilled.

Maybe it was just psychological, but even his steps felt lighter.

Then he heard Jiang Yang say, "That's it for today. We'll do it again tomorrow!"

Hearing that, Ma Xixi, who had just started feeling proud of himself, felt his vision go dark. "We're doing this again tomorrow?!"

"Of course," Jiang Yang said as if it were obvious. "You have to keep at running consistently."

As he spoke, he saw the familiar small text appear before his eyes again.

[Daily Task: Run 5 kilometers. Reward: Random Comeback Points]

[Congratulations, Old Timer, for receiving 369 Comeback Points...]

There would be another chapter in the evening.