Are your partners under that tower?

Xie Yuan glanced at him and joined Mu Ze in putting the dishes into the insulated food containers the production team had provided.

The production team had bought these containers specially to keep the food warm.

After handing them to the staff, Xie Yuan and Mu Ze left the kitchen.

Seeing them obediently leave, Gu Yanzhou felt a little out of sorts.

Su Wanyue noticed his distraction and tugged at the hem of his shirt. "Brother Yanzhou, could you please help me prep the ingredients?"

Gu Yanzhou came back to his senses and looked down at the ingredients in his hands, a little troubled. "I've never done this. I don't know how."

"It's okay." Su Wanyue broke into a smile. "It's very easy. I'll teach you."

"Use the peeler to peel the skin off this potato first."

Su Wanyue's voice was gentle and patient, and before he knew it, Gu Yanzhou began putting his heart into it too.

Since it was his first time, Gu Yanzhou was a little clumsy.

Seeing this, Su Wanyue smiled encouragingly. "Brother Yanzhou, you're amazing. I was much clumsier than you my first time."

Receiving praise from the woman he loved, Gu Yanzhou felt a little pleased with himself.

"It's okay. You're doing very well now."

The romantic atmosphere between them sent the CP fans in the livestream into a frenzy.

[So sweet. Yueyue and President Gu are such a perfect match.]

[Yueyue and President Gu really are a couple made for each other.]

[See? They only have eyes for each other.]

[Cooking with the person you love-this is the kind of love I want.]

[I heard President Gu's fiancée is some rich family's Eldest Miss. Her background is just a little better than Yueyue's. What else does she have over Yueyue?]

Putting one woman down to praise another rubbed quite a few casual viewers the wrong way.

[She's an Eldest Miss. She has plenty of people to cook for her. Why should she go looking for hardship? Does she have to debase herself like you? Been working that prison sewing machine too long? You're awfully good at stitching someone up to prop someone else up.]

[What a joke. What's wrong with coming from a good family? If you're so capable, send your idol back to be born again and see if she gets that lucky. She might not even come back human.]

It had to be said that these netizens knew how to dish out insults, and exactly how to hit those rabid fans where it hurt.

Xie Yuan knew nothing about the commotion in the livestream. He was sitting in the living room with Mu Ze, chatting with the other guests.

Actually, Tan Yaya and Zhang Jue did most of the talking.

Feeling that he had grown considerably closer to Xie Yuan, Zhang Jue finally spoke. "Young Master Xie, Teacher Tan really likes your paintings. Could you paint one for her sometime?"

"If you don't mind, I can pay for it."

Xie Yuan nodded. "Sure."

Zhang Jue and Tan Yaya both looked surprised.

Ever since they had met him, Xie Yuan had seemed unapproachable. They hadn't expected him to agree so readily.

While they were still surprised, Xie Yuan said, "There's no need for money. I quite like gaming. Just carry me through a few games sometime, Mr. Zhang."

At the mention of games, Zhang Jue felt even closer to him. "You like gaming too?"

"Sure. As long as it's something I know how to play, I can play with you."

Then he and the livestream viewers watched Xie Yuan pull his phone out of his pocket. "Want to team up now?"

Zhang Jue froze for a moment. "Sure."

Before starting, he asked Tan Yaya and Mu Ze, "Teacher Tan, Teacher Mu Ze, would you like to join us?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

They took out their phones too.

After entering the game, they added one another as friends and formed a team.

They were still one player short, but none of the four minded, and they went straight into matchmaking.

While they waited, Tan Yaya said, "I'm not very good at this game. If I die later, don't worry about me."

Xie Yuan added, "I'm pretty average too."

Mu Ze said nothing, but Zhang Jue assumed his skills were average as well.

They entered the game and reached hero selection.

Zhang Jue offered the three some advice. "You can pick some simpler heroes to get a feel for the controls and familiarize yourselves with the game."

Tan Yaya picked a very pretty support. "This one's pretty. I want to play this one."

Xie Yuan picked a good-looking marksman.

Mu Ze played a mid-lane mage.

Zhang Jue specialized in assassins, so he played jungle.

Their randomly matched teammate saw their four heroes, picked a top laner, then turned on his mic. "You guys aren't friends, are you?"

Zhang Jue was used to playing with his mic on. "Don't worry. We won't drag you down."

The top laner said, "Let's hope so."

Yet barely two minutes into the game, Tan Yaya's support and Xie Yuan's marksman died under the enemy tower, one after the other.

The top laner sent a "Play safe and farm. Don't overextend."

A minute later, the two died in the same place again.

The top laner was starting to lose it and spoke over his mic.

"Can the support and marksman stop feeding?"

"Is this your first time playing? Don't you know you can't tower-dive early on?"

"Are your partners under their tower? Why are you so obsessed with it?"

"Can you just stay under your own tower?"

The voices from the game carried into the livestream.

The camera operator even gave their phone screens a close-up.

Their game screens were dark, their characters lying quietly under the enemy tower.

[Hahahaha, Heavenly Queen Tan and Young Master Xie are so cute.]

[What's cute about it? Let's see how happy you are when you get teammates like that.]

[Hahahaha, the top laner's already losing his mind.]

[Good, tell them off. I hate noobs like these the most. They clearly can't play, yet they deliberately make trouble.]

[Good, tell him off. Let's see if that Xie Dog can still act smug.]

Zhang Jue muted his in-game mic and comforted them. "It's okay. It's normal not to know what you're doing your first time."

"Only a few naturally gifted players can play well on their first try."

"Stay under your tower. I'll come help you in a bit."

Xie Yuan's hero had already respawned, and he took a different lane.

Tan Yaya followed him.

A moment later, the top laner's voice cracked with despair.

The top laner said, "Wait, what are you doing over here? Are you just abandoning bot lane?"

Xie Yuan turned on his mic. "Can't beat them. Taking another lane."

The top laner was speechless for a moment before finally saying, "You died twice in the first two minutes and have no gold. Of course you can't beat them."

The top laner said, "Just my luck, getting two total newbies."

The top laner switched lanes outright and went bot.

Zhang Jue lived up to his background as a professional player. Even with two noobs in tow, he still won the game.

Mu Ze's mid-lane skills were good too, and he racked up quite a few kills. Most were kills on the enemy bot-lane marksman.

Xie Yuan coasted through the entire match. By midgame, Tan Yaya had started following Zhang Jue around to get kills, picking up plenty of assists.

When the match ended, Tan Yaya still wanted more. "Mr. Zhang, you're amazing. You have to play with me more often."

Zhang Jue nodded. "Sure. We'll play together."

Xie Yuan leaned sideways to look at Mu Ze's phone. "That hero of yours looks pretty strong."

Mu Ze explained, "He's all right. It's mostly about gold. Once you have enough gold, pay attention to using your skills, and he's decent at getting kills."

Su Wanyue and Gu Yanzhou came out to find everyone getting along well.

Su Wanyue asked curiously, "What are you talking about that's making you so happy?"

Liu Yan smiled. "Teacher Xie and the others were gaming."

"They were just talking about the game."

Su Wanyue covered her mouth in surprise. "You play games too, Teacher Xie? Didn't you used to dislike things like games?"