Retaliation

Yu Nian smiled and shook his head. "It's fine. There are only a handful of major companies on the market right now. I'll compare them some more."

His roommates meant well, but they weren't in the industry. There were things Yu Nian still needed to consider based on his own interests and circumstances, so he wouldn't waste their time.

"I remember when you barely had any followers. You squeezed in part-time work during the day, then went to an internet café to stream at night. I honestly never thought you'd make it," Bian Yan said, giving him a thumbs-up. "While we're still asking our parents for money, you're already earning enough to support yourself. That's seriously impressive!"

Fang Xu nudged his elbow and stuffed a pan-fried bun from his own box into Bian Yan's mouth. "Don't just talk. Eat more."

With his mouth stuffed full, Bian Yan realized he'd said the wrong thing. He chewed a couple of times and swallowed, then gave Yu Nian a sheepish look. "Sorry..."

Yu Nian wasn't reserved by nature. Once he got to know them, he was perfectly happy to joke around with them, but he'd never talked about his family or called home.

During their freshman year, when they weren't allowed to stay on campus over the holidays, Yu Nian had been the last to leave.

But neither of them had imagined that he hadn't gone home at all.

On Lunar New Year's Eve, they'd sent holiday red envelopes in their group chat, but Yu Nian never claimed any. Only after Bian Yan checked his stream did he realize Yu Nian was still streaming at an internet café.

Those details were enough to give them a pretty good idea of his family situation. Neither of them asked further, though, and they tried not to mention parents or older relatives in front of him, afraid of touching on something painful.

Watching their little gestures, Yu Nian felt both touched and amused. "Come on, I'm not that fragile."

Only then did the two relax. Fang Xu added sincerely, "Yu Nian, I'm really happy you've made it this far on your own."

After all, not everyone had the courage to stick with something for so long without knowing how it would turn out.

Bian Yan nodded. "Yeah, exactly. I watch your streams sometimes too. You've got around two hundred thousand followers now, right? I keep seeing people in the chat begging you to show your face."

"But you're so good-looking. Wouldn't showing your face get you even more followers? Why keep hiding it?"

Fang Xu calmly reminded him, "Have you forgotten that Yu Nian was actually socially anxious when he started?"

Yu Nian was a little embarrassed. Two years of streaming had made him somewhat braver, but showing his face still posed a challenge.

Bian Yan asked another question. "Oh, right. Didn't you used to hang out with Qin Yu a lot? How come I haven't seen you two together lately?"

The thought weighed on Yu Nian, but he answered honestly. "He and I... had a falling-out."

"What happened?"

Yu Nian was close to both of them, but they didn't know his sexual orientation or that he'd dated Qin Yu.

"We disagreed about some things and had an argument," Yu Nian explained briefly, hoping to avoid complications. "Yeah, that's about it."

Bian Yan sucked in a breath, looking worried. "You argued with that rich kid? Did he say anything about getting back at you?"

Yu Nian shook his head. Fang Xu was unconcerned. "Getting back at him? Have you been reading too many novels?"

Bian Yan looked rather nervous. "No, seriously. You guys haven't heard?"

Yu Nian and Fang Xu both looked at him in confusion. "Heard what?"

Bian Yan leaned closer and lowered his voice. "I only heard about it recently myself."

"Qin Yu isn't just rich. His family is insanely wealthy!"

Fang Xu knew he always liked to exaggerate and didn't take it seriously. "How insanely?"

"Ever heard of the Azure Group?"

Both fell silent.

Anyone living in modern society knew of Azure. A long-established company founded decades into the last century, it had started out in freight shipping in the harbor region before expanding inland into electronic communications and artificial intelligence research. Many of the high-end modern products on the market came from them.

Even the usually composed Fang Xu couldn't help raising his voice. "You're saying Qin Yu is the heir to the Azure Group?"

Bian Yan nodded. "If the information's right, yes."

"And I also heard that some rich brat who didn't know better pissed Qin Yu off. His family ran a chain of supermarkets, and within a few months, they declared bankruptcy."

"Supposedly, the Qin Family was behind it."

As he spoke, he looked at Yu Nian with growing uncertainty. "By the way, what did you argue with him about? Was it bad?"

Yu Nian said nothing.

He felt a little uneasy. "Nothing much. It-it wasn't too bad."

Yu Nian truly hadn't expected Qin Yu to have that kind of background. If he'd known, he would have kept his distance from the very beginning, never mind dating him.

Qin Yu wasn't exactly petty, but he was far too self-centered and wanted everyone to go along with him.

When they'd parted on bad terms that day, Yu Nian had thought he'd merely ended a failed relationship. It hadn't occurred to him that there might be repercussions.

Fang Xu frowned at Yu Nian's dazed expression, then quickly collected himself and reassured him. "It might not even be true. Besides, Yu Nian's so easygoing. Even if things ended badly, it was probably Qin Yu's fault."

Noticing the strained atmosphere, Bian Yan apologized. "My fault. I shouldn't have brought this up. Fang Xu's right. Maybe they're just making things up. Yu Nian, don't overthink it."

Despite those words, none of them felt certain.

Qin Yu was well-known on campus for being domineering and doing whatever he pleased. Most people who knew him understood that, but no one dared spread it around.

Yu Nian recalled how Qin Yu had casually offered to transfer him a hundred or two hundred thousand, the lavish banquet at his family's villa, and Qin Yuheng, whom he'd met that day. With that commanding presence... it wasn't hard to believe he controlled the entire Azure Group.

Yu Nian's heart went numb. I'm screwed.

I really might have offended someone I can't afford to cross.

After I gave Qin Yu such an attitude that day, would he actually hold a grudge and come after me?

Anxious as he was, Yu Nian didn't regret asking to break up.

Qin Yu had been in the wrong to begin with. Even if he were the son of the ruler of Earth, Yu Nian would still have chosen to break up with him.

Yu Nian had already considered the worst-case scenario.

At worst, Qin Yu would use his connections to get him blacklisted so he couldn't stream anymore.

Luckily, he'd always lived frugally and saved some money. At most, he'd go back to looking for part-time jobs everywhere, just as he had before.

It would be harder, but at least he'd still be able to support himself.

Despite the risk of being blacklisted, Yu Nian still dutifully launched his game and started streaming. As long as he had the job, he'd keep doing it properly.

[Good evening, Nian-Nian!]

[What did you have for dinner tonight, Nian Bao?]

Even though he saw much the same messages almost every day, they still made Yu Nian happy.

He adjusted his microphone and said cheerfully, "Good evening. I ordered wontons for dinner tonight."

"Have you all eaten?"

[I had the little fried meatballs my mom made tonight. Sob, they were so good! I polished off two big bowls of rice with tears in my eyes!]

[Not yet. Waiting for the delivery driver /collapsedfromhunger.jpg]

[Aaah, overtime again today. Nian Bao's streams have seriously become spiritual sustenance for this wage slave T_T]

The atmosphere in Yu Nian's stream was relaxed. Whenever a topic came up, everyone eagerly joined in, and when he could spare the attention, Yu Nian picked out a few comments to reply to and interact with his viewers.

[Nian Bao, don't eat takeout all the time. It's bad for your health.]

[It's been getting cold lately. Take care of yourself!]

The match found, Yu Nian selected a hero and spotted those two messages among the flood of comments. Both belonged to a familiar username: Autumn Fish Who Loves Rice Cakes.

A sparkling superfan badge sat beside the name.

Qiūqiūyú was a longtime fan and one of his moderators, and had supported him since shortly after he started streaming.

They'd also spent money on him here and there. After more than a year, their fan affinity was almost maxed out.

Yu Nian's eyes narrowed slightly, a smile shining in them.

He was in such a good mood that when a teammate asked him to give up the marksman he'd selected, Yu Nian didn't fuss over it. "Thanks for caring, Qiūqiūyú. I'll take good care of myself. You all should too."

Yu Nian selected a jungler instead.

More caring messages from viewers scrolled across the chat, but Yu Nian stopped looking. The game had begun.

The hero Yu Nian had chosen scaled into the late game and couldn't take much punishment early on. He roamed around, playing cautiously and farming, in no hurry to invade the enemy jungle. Still, while passing through mid lane, he helped his team's mage take down the enemy mid laner.

The chat immediately filled with praise.

Yu Nian always played with a mix of steadiness and flair, never recklessly.

By the early-to-mid game, he'd secured three kills, but the opposing team wasn't weak either, and there was little difference between the teams' gold totals.

As he passed through the bottom-side jungle, he spotted the enemy tank and support hiding in a bush.

He was about to warn his team when the bottom-lane marksman sent a message asking him to help steal the enemy blue buff.

Yu Nian shifted his camera but couldn't find the enemy jungler.

[Did this marksman not see those two go into the bush? Why's he still asking the streamer to help?]

[Two against two. With the streamer's gold, they should be able to win, right?]

[This marksman's already fed two kills and fattened up their tank. Their support has strong heals too. Better leave it. Feels like they'd just feed.]

While the chat debated whether he should help steal the blue buff, Yu Nian simply marked the enemy blue-side jungle and warned his marksman to watch out for an ambush.

Then he breezed away, cleared another round of jungle camps, and helped stabilize the wave in top lane, where the tower was close to falling.

[Hahaha, streamer, you're so heartless!]

[Nice. All that gold and you're playing like such a coward?]

[What are you talking about? Didn't you notice their jungler hasn't shown up this whole time? He's probably already lying in wait in the bush.]

[Lmao, the streamer just checked with his camera. How's he supposed to fight three of them? Have you even played this game, or do you just come here to flame?]

Streamers always encountered viewers like this. The moment something went against their wishes, they couldn't resist sneering, desperate to prove they were smarter and knew more than the person streaming.

Of course Yu Nian believed there were plenty of people smarter than him, and it wasn't as though only smart people deserved to stream games.

He simply hated that snide, barbed tone, with its instinctive need to contradict everything and its air of superiority.

Yu Nian didn't indulge him either. He gave a soft, mocking laugh. "Sorry, this is just my style. If you enjoy dying fast, you're welcome to start a match of your own."

Yu Nian's voice was clear and gentle. Even his sarcastic remarks weren't grating to the ear. Instead, he sounded like a haughty little cat acting cute, leaving listeners with an irresistible itch in their hearts.

The moment he finished speaking, a kill notification appeared at the top of the screen. His team's marksman had been killed by the enemy jungler.

Two assists followed: the enemy tank and support.