No Match for the Real Thing

Meng Meng liked the post to show her approval of the artist. Mm, it was indeed quite well drawn—at least thirty percent like An-an—but compared to the real person, the painting was still too bland.

Meng Meng hurried over to check out that influencer called "Little Brother Xiao Xuan." Sure enough, his latest work was a one-to-one recreation of the screenshot from Xu Shasha's new video. His editing skills were clearly decent, but the person still looked worse than the painting Xu Shasha had made!

The difference was miles apart!

And he had the nerve to come here and siphon off their traffic? Shameless!

Meng Meng flipped him off internally, then sent Xu Shasha's video to Shen Rui'an.

When Shen Rui'an saw Meng Meng's share, he opened it. "Who's this? It's pretty well drawn, but why does it look a little familiar?"

Ya-ya leaned over for a look. She examined the picture, then looked at Shen Rui'an and said sincerely, "Don't you think the eyes and brows of the person in the painting look a bit like yours?"

Still, it was obvious that the artist had worked hard, and it was very pretty—but it still could not compare to the real person.

It was genuinely rare for an anime-style image to lose out to a real person like this, Ya-ya thought.

She sneaked another glance at Shen Rui'an. Thinking of the unfinished drawing on her computer, her fingers suddenly itched to draw.

Only after being prompted did Shen Rui'an suddenly realize. "A little, but not much."

He opened his phone and took a typically straight-guy photo for comparison. "The eyes and brows really do look a little alike!"

After finishing a phone call, Su Tingbai came over and leaned in for a look. His gaze lingered for a moment on Shen Rui'an in the photo before falling on his face. Not as lively as the real thing.

"What are you talking about?" Su Tingbai plopped down beside Shen Rui'an. The soft sofa bounced slightly, forcing Shen Rui'an to adjust his sitting position again.

"How much do you think this painting looks like me?" Shen Rui'an eagerly showed Su Tingbai the video Meng Meng had shared.

The video consisted of only two images. The first was the painting, and after a few seconds, it automatically slid to the second image—the screenshot of Shen Rui'an by the refrigerator door.

Su Tingbai subtly leaned back. He took in the heavily rendered anime-like character in the first image, then glanced at Shen Rui'an. Just as he was about to say something, the background music hit a beat and the video automatically switched to the second screenshot.

It was obvious from that screenshot that it was Shen Rui'an. Some parts were blocked by refrigerator magnets, making it impossible to see the whole picture, but Su Tingbai would never mistake him for anyone else. Shen Rui'an's features were too distinctive, especially those lips that invited deep kisses...

Whether it was the painting or that screenshot—even the photo Shen Rui'an had taken himself—none of them were remotely as striking as facing the real person.

"One point. I think the painting is too stiff," Su Tingbai said blandly, withdrawing his gaze and letting it settle on Shen Rui'an's fluffy head.

Shen Rui'an lowered his head, sat cross-legged while hugging his phone, and repeatedly swiped back and forth to compare them. "Huh? That low? I think the eyes look pretty similar..."

Not wanting Shen Rui'an to focus on other things, Su Tingbai reached out and held his wrist. There was some flesh on it now; it was no longer as bony as when Shen Rui'an had first arrived. Su Tingbai found that deeply gratifying.

Shen Rui'an had finally put on a few pounds.

"Stop looking. Let's play a game. I'll carry you up the ranks."

At once, Shen Rui'an forgot all about the painting. Taking advantage of the moment, Su Tingbai connected the livestream to the projector. One screen showed him playing games with Shen Rui'an, while a smaller screen showed everyone in the living room busy with their own things.

When the Timi sound played, the livestream viewers immediately began spamming question marks.

[???]

[Hello? Isn't this a food livestream? How did it turn into a gaming stream? I watch someone else for gaming—change it back to food already!]

[I'm dying. You made me exit and check the stream name. I almost thought I'd entered the wrong stream.]

[Is Su Tingbai always this casual? The stream title still says something about making fried chicken. Why am I watching games after clicking in?]

There were too many questions, so Meng Meng prompted Su Tingbai to take a look and respond.

Seeing Shen Rui'an lock in Bull Demon, Su Tingbai regretfully noted that he had not picked Lesser Minister of Fate. At the same time, he inwardly complained about why the game developers had not given the tank supports an official pairing.

Since Shen Rui'an had not picked a mage, the game started quickly. Shen Rui'an charged straight into the enemy team on Bull Demon. He did not really know how to play; he only played tank supports because he thought this hero could take a beating.

Luckily, it was still a Gold-tier match. Neither the enemy team nor their own team was much different from bots. Su Tingbai picked Grand Minister of Fate and effortlessly carried the entire match within minutes.

When he received Meng Meng's prompt, he took a moment to glance at it and replied without looking up, "Chicken needs to marinate for an hour or two to absorb the flavor better. We're doing something else while we wait. If you find it boring, come back in an hour to see the finished product."

At the moment, many people in the livestream were passersby drawn in by that screenshot. They were extremely curious about Shen Rui'an, and seeing Su Tingbai's style only made their curiosity itch like cat claws. Hearing Su Tingbai try to drive viewers away, some netizens' rebellious streaks immediately surfaced.

[Hey! I'm not leaving. Let's see what kind of game you can play.]

[Gold rank? That's basically farming noobs. Streamer, do you carry viewers? Or I can carry you.]

[Duo queue? Who are you playing with?]

[Obviously, Shen An-an.]

[Our An-an looks so quiet and refined, but he actually plays Bull Demon? That really shattered my expectations.]

[Wifey An-an, I'll carry you! I'm fifty stars in King rank!]

Su Tingbai happened to look up and see that comment. His face immediately tightened. What did they mean, Wifey An-an? Who were they calling wifey? Was that a word they could just casually use?

Su Tingbai secretly glanced at Shen Rui'an, who was seriously operating Bull Demon, and grumbled inwardly. He was King rank too—eighty stars, even. Far better than that guy!

But King-rank players could not match with Shen Xiaoyao, so he could only settle for using an alternate account.

Shen Rui'an was delighted to be carried by Su Tingbai. The match ended quickly, and he decided not to keep playing ranked. A ranked match took too long. He still preferred the chaotic ten-versus-ten mode; that way, no one would notice how bad he was!

Most importantly, he could pick a hero with powerful crowd control, jump into a crowd, and immediately hit several people!

It was more thrilling, more addictive!

The more Shen Rui'an thought about it, the more excited he became. He lightly bumped Su Tingbai with his elbow. "Su Tingbai, let's stop playing ranked and play Divine Prayer Battlefield! This mode is so fun!"

If he played Zhen Ji, he could close his eyes and throw out her second skill and still snatch several kills!

He rather liked killing people.

Seeing himself get so many kills and assists felt great.

Su Tingbai went along with everything he said. He skillfully exited ranked mode, entered Divine Prayer Battlefield, and invited Shen Rui'an.

Shen Rui'an had originally wanted to invite the others, but he barely had any friends on his account. The only ones he had were Little Zhu and the others, and they were busy, so he gave up on the idea and happily went off to play with Su Tingbai.

At some point, Ya-ya had moved over beside Meng Meng, helping her manage the livestream comments.

Whenever the two saw accounts deliberately stirring up trouble and redirecting traffic to Xiao Xuan's stream, they immediately blocked and kicked them out. So annoying.

Even though they knew this kind of tactic was common, it was still a little nauseating.

Shen Rui'an and Su Tingbai were so immersed in the game that they had long forgotten everything else.

Time passed quickly. After several matches, Shen Rui'an had thoroughly satisfied his craving. He was mentally a little tired, but he was still thinking about the fried chicken.

He had eaten stewed chicken for more than ten days. Fried chicken was all he wanted now.

"Su Tingbai, fried chicken, fried chicken!" he urged. He stood up, eagerly tied Su Tingbai's apron for him, then pushed him toward the refrigerator to check on it.

Su Tingbai gave Little Zhu a meaningful look. Little Zhu understood and used the camera angle to keep Shen Rui'an out of frame—there was not even a reflection of him in the refrigerator!

The livestream viewers sighed in frustration.

[Damn it, cameraman, do you know what the priority is? Deduct a drumstick!]

[Obviously, Little Zhu is doing this on Su Tingbai's orders. Su Tingbai is hiding An-an so thoroughly.]

[Help, didn't I come here to see Shen An-an's real face? How did I end up watching for this long without realizing it?]

[This is making me hungry.]