Chapter 12

When he heard Luo Qingshan's voice, Pei Ran's first instinct was to quit the game.

A few seconds later, he closed the menu, opened the map, and marked a random spot himself.

Luo Qingshan was very excited. It took him a long time to put his words together. "These past few days... I've been home. I haven't gone anywhere. My mom said a really good Japanese restaurant opened nearby. Do you want to..."

Pei Ran asked him calmly, "Did you look at what I sent you?"

Luo Qingshan paused. Pei Ran had only sent him one thing these past few days: a list recording the gifts Luo Qingshan had given him since they got together.

"No," Luo Qingshan said very quietly. "So many things, I saw them and wanted to buy them for you. It's been so long. How could I remember them all?"

Pei Ran landed out in the wilderness and began slowly looting. "There shouldn't be anything missing. There are also two pairs of shoes, both discontinued. I couldn't find their prices."

"Baby." Luo Qingshan choked up, then quietly corrected himself. "Pei Ran, do you have to do this?"

Pei Ran said, "I'm not the one who wanted this."

"I know, I know. I said it was my fault," Luo Qingshan said. "But there really isn't anything between Su Nian and me. At least, I don't feel that way about him at all. Don't you know me? I've always thought of him as a brother. I just never thought..."

Pei Ran stood quietly inside the room for a few seconds before bending down to pick things up. "Stop."

"You won't even give me a chance to explain?" Luo Qingshan said hoarsely. "Pei Ran, I've been thinking these past few days. I've been wondering, do you even care about this? Why aren't you angry at all? You just stay silent and give me the cold shoulder, like when I was pursuing you in high school. Disregarding me, ignoring me."

Explain what? And what would count as being angry? Pei Ran wondered.

Was he supposed to press him, ask how many times he and Su Nian had kissed, or whether he had deleted Su Nian?

Or was he supposed to have a huge fight with Su Nian in front of everyone and turn everything into a mess?

Pei Ran stayed silent for a very, very long time, so long that Luo Qingshan thought he had muted himself or quit the game.

"I just don't want this to end too badly," Pei Ran said very softly.

It was the first time since it happened that Luo Qingshan had heard Pei Ran sound so desolate.

Pei Ran had only said a few words, but Luo Qingshan felt as though he understood them all.

Pei Ran's parents were both artists, and he had been born with an artist's pride, pursuing perfection and romance. That was also what Luo Qingshan loved most about him.

Luo Qingshan's nose stung. "I'm sorry."

He rubbed his eyes, feeling that he wanted to see Pei Ran even more. After a long while, he said, "Then can we still be friends afterward?"

Pei Ran: "..."

"Don't say no. I'm begging you," Luo Qingshan said. "At least give me some time."

Pei Ran's instinct was to resist. If they hadn't still needed to settle their accounts, he might have blocked Luo Qingshan long ago.

Luo Qingshan bit his lip, forced out a laugh, and decided to play his trump card. "By the way... it's been getting colder and raining lately, and my fingers keep hurting. Can you get rheumatism in your fingers too? Wear more layers. You catch colds easily."

This worked on Pei Ran better than anything. Even as Luo Qingshan felt despicable, he was deeply relieved.

Sure enough, after a moment of silence, Pei Ran asked, "Have you gone to the hospital?"

"No. It doesn't hurt that much." Knowing he had softened, Luo Qingshan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to change the subject. "Found a gun yet? Here, don't move. I'll drop you an M24. It has a six-times scope."

Pei Ran walked past Luo Qingshan without stopping. "Thanks. I don't use sniper rifles."

"Someone north. Thanks for the rocket, Cookie Boss. Kisses..." Lin Xuhuan was enthusiastically interacting with a big spender in his stream when he saw where his teammate was headed and immediately sat bolt upright. "Fuck, number two, calm down. Number two, wait for me before pushing. Number two... bro, stop fucking charging! There are four of them over there!!!"

Yan Zhun was riding a motorcycle. Lin Xuhuan couldn't have caught up even if he added four more wheels to his crappy little pickup, and could only watch Yan Zhun race straight toward the enemy without looking back.

"Fuck, playing squads as a duo is hard enough, and you're throwing your life away!" Lin Xuhuan was furious. "No wonder I was wondering why you suddenly wanted to play with me today. Turns out you wanted to help me climb down the ranks..."

[111GOD knocked out TIKERX with AKM]

[111GOD knocked out HUMI2B with AKM]

[111GOD knocked out JEONG with frag grenade]

[111GOD eliminated MRxu with frag grenade]

Yan Zhun: "All dead."

"Haha, I knew it. My bro must've known what he was doing before he charged in." Lin Xuhuan smiled. "Everyone, wasn't that a slick play from my bro? If you like him, just send me gifts."

As he looted the crates, Lin Xuhuan said, "Bro, what's wrong? You seem like you're in a bad mood."

Yan Zhun asked, "Would I be playing with you if I were in a good mood?"

"Fuck." Lin Xuhuan laughed in exasperation. "Fine, tell me what happened. Let me help with your troubles."

"You can't." Yan Zhun quickly looted the attachments he needed, then jumped onto a rooftop to aim at people. "Just stay quiet. I can't even hear footsteps."

Lin Xuhuan was used to it. Reading the chat, he said, "No, no, no, he isn't cheating... How do I know? We've played more games together in person than I can count. If we get the chance later, I'll show you his perspective. You'll be able to tell right away it's real skill."

"He's not a trainee on our team. If this is trainee-level gameplay, I might as well retire right now."

"I've always known my limits. Mostly, he really is that good. If you don't believe me, go ask streamers from other PUBG teams. Ask them who hasn't heard of 111GOD."

Yan Zhun listened expressionlessly to him singing his praises and thought he should have queued solo.

The match ended with Yan Zhun winning a chicken dinner with twenty-one kills.

"Fuck, you really are an absolute beast of a man," Lin Xuhuan marveled.

Taken aback by his choice of words, Yan Zhun lit a cigarette and ignored him.

He lowered his eyes to the phone in front of his keyboard, opening the pinned chat two or three times.

"Bro, everyone in my stream is asking what gaming companion platform you're on. Tell me, and I'll advertise for you," Lin Xuhuan said. "Guaranteed to get you flooded with orders. Go raise your price first."

Yan Zhun exhaled smoke. "No need. I quit."

"..." Lin Xuhuan wore a complicated expression. "You gave up way too fast. Young people have no perseverance."

Yan Zhun said, "Yeah. I hate every line of work I try."

Lin Xuhuan turned on his stream mic. "Stop spamming. He's not taking orders anymore. Why? No reason. Experts are just that willful. Bro, wait a second. Those pigs on the team woke up. They want to play squads together."

Yan Zhun didn't answer. He raised his hand to tap off the ash when the phone on his desk suddenly vibrated. Lowering his eyes, he nearly dropped the entire cigarette into the ashtray.

[Pei Ran: I'm done. Are you still playing?]

The team filled up in under two minutes. Lin Xuhuan was about to hit start when the system informed him that a teammate wasn't ready.

He looked. The check mark in front of 111GOD had disappeared.

"I'm leaving. You guys play," Yan Zhun said.

"Huh?" A man's voice came through. It was the team's assault player. "I crawled out of bed to play with you, and now you're telling me you're leaving? What are you going to do?"

Yan Zhun left them with, "What else? Keep my boss company."

Yan Zhun left, leaving the stream full of question marks. Fans demanded, didn't you fucking say he wasn't taking orders? Are you messing with us?

Lin Xuhuan looked perfectly composed. "Like I said, experts are just that willful."

Just after sending the message, Pei Ran remembered that Yan Zhun's status had still been in-game, and hurried to add another.

[Pei Ran: If you're playing, never mind.]

[Yan Zhun: Invite me.]

Pei Ran had never been team leader before and fumbled a little as he sent the invitation. 111GOD soon appeared on the team.

"What map?"

"Just you?"

They spoke at the same time.

Pei Ran paused. "Yeah, just me. Do you want to invite someone else?"

"No." Yan Zhun paused. "Saw you were playing duos earlier."

Pei Ran said, "I joined the wrong team earlier. I didn't look closely at the ID and thought the invitation was from you."

Yan Zhun raised his eyebrows. "Oh. You thought it was me."

Pei Ran didn't notice the subtle amusement in his voice. He said yes, then asked again, "What map?"

"Erangel," Yan Zhun said. "I promised I'd take you for a helicopter ride."

Throughout the game, Pei Ran's phone kept going off.

Looking at the voice messages from Luo Qingshan, he didn't particularly want to listen, but worried something might be wrong with his hand. In the end, he chose to play the shortest one.

"-What time are you going to campus tomorrow? Let's go together. I'll pick you up..."

Pei Ran paused it before the message finished, finding a moment to look down and reply, "No need."

Yan Zhun glanced at the date. The irritation that had just dispersed returned the way it had come, stifling him enough to make him want to light a cigarette.

Then he heard a faint sound through his headset, like a candy wrapper being torn open.

He held back, opened a drawer, took out the White Rabbit candy, and popped one into his mouth to satisfy the craving.

Playing games with Pei Ran used up quite a bit of candy.

It was late at night by the time they finished playing. Looking at his dark computer screen, Pei Ran suddenly remembered something and opened the gaming companion app to settle Yan Zhun's payment.

The app's rule was that customers placed an order first, then had to go into their account and confirm payment once the booked time was over before the gaming companion could receive the money.

Customers could only purchase fifty hours at most, and gaming companions were required to complete orders within a month, or the orders would become void.

[Yan Zhun: ?]

[Pei Ran: I might not have much time to play once I'm back at school, so I'm settling your payment first.]

[Pei Ran: I'll come back if I get the chance.]

Pei Ran didn't know how much his last sentence sounded like mere politeness. In everyday conversation, "I'll come back if I get the chance" could even be understood as "I won't be coming back."

In the end, Yan Zhun couldn't help going out onto the balcony and lighting a cigarette. He didn't smoke it, his gaze fixed on that sentence.

Only after a long while did he move.

[Yan Zhun: Transferred you 1,200 yuan.]

Pei Ran froze for a moment and instinctively typed a question mark.

A voice message quickly came from the other end. Pei Ran picked up his phone and held it to his ear.

"You really thought I was a gaming companion?"

Pei Ran wanted to send another question mark, but felt that seemed a little impolite, so he tapped the voice-recording button and answered foolishly, "Yeah."

In the next voice message, Yan Zhun's laughter was very low, as though he hadn't been able to hold it back.

"A gaming companion like me would cost at least two hundred."

"I'm not short of money right now."

"I coaxed you into placing an order just to trick you into playing with me."

Pei Ran listened to all three messages, his phone pressed against his ear until it grew warm.

After a long silence, he asked, "...Do you really like playing with noobs?"

Yan Zhun really couldn't take it anymore. He stubbed out his cigarette, lowered his head, and laughed for a long time before replying in all seriousness.

"No. I like playing with you."

"To be precise, I quite like doing anything with you."

"It means I like you. Do you understand? It has nothing to do with whether you're a noob."

Pei Ran remained in the posture of someone taking a call, his whole body as though someone had pressed pause.

He even stopped breathing for a few seconds. Only the sound of his heartbeat remained in his head, his temples pounding along like drums.

As he put down his phone, he accidentally tapped the voice message again, and Yan Zhun's voice rang out once more-

"It means I like you..."

Pei Ran fumbled to turn it off. He blinked twice in quick succession, hurriedly got up, went to the window, and slammed it shut.

The rain was too loud, he thought.