Chapter 49: Chapter 48 - "I'm not dirty."

Edited by Divetus and Noks

After Yu Yan rejected the video call request, he opened up the video platform’s app.

His thumb wavered over his favorites list for a while before he finally decided to click it. He opened the playlist of several videos, connected his headphones, and closed his eyes all in one go.

Habits were hard to get rid of. He would listen to the videos for a few more days and slowly decrease the amount of time he spent listening to them. After that, he wouldn’t listen to them any more.

He put forth this resolve in his heart without much confidence.

The next day, only after being noisily awakened did Yu Yan remember that he had forgotten to turn off his daily alarm clock.

He was still a bit sleepy when he picked up his cellphone and turned it over to read the Weibo comments before going back to sleep. However, as soon as he unlocked his phone, a message popped up.

Tuantuan: You asked for double leave again? What, are you going to remove your armor and return to the farm? You’re the only one who asks for leave so frequently during this competition; others are eager to stream for 24 hours.

Yu Yan: No, my computer got liquid damage.

Tuantuan: So what, who hasn’t had their computer malfunction ya? Find an Internet cafe with good computers and continue working. laoshu just got reported, so we should hurry and continue farming points in these next two days. It’s the perfect time for you to take advantage of the situation and rank up ah!

Yu Yan: … But, didn’t you say that the award winners have already been decided?

Tuantuan: Who knows what award he was selected for. Besides, apart from the Kills King of the Year, isn’t there also that obviously strange Chicken-Eating King award? If you rank above him, maybe he’ll get pushed into another award?

It all just sounded too sad.

Yu Yan thought about it and felt like she was right, although not specifically about the awards issue. These days, he really had asked for leave too many times; he was pretty embarrassed.

He used his cellphone to find the best Internet cafe near him and went out after washing up.

Because it was a Thursday, there weren’t many people in the Internet cafe. Yu Yan went up to the front desk and handed his ID over. “Need a computer.”

“Okay.” The receptionist at the front desk was a young girl. She was eating fruit, but when she looked up and saw Yu Yan, her mouth slowly closed. “U-um, it’s the first time you’ve come here ba, how much money do you want to charge?”

Yu Yan asked, “How much for your best machine? And, does it come with a webcam?”

“50 yuan per hour. It’s a machine in a private room with a webcam and microphone. We have the latest models so they run super smoothly.”

50 yuan an hour was really expensive. The most expensive computer in Lu Xiuhe’s family’s Internet cafe was just 12 yuan an hour. However, fortunately, in order to retain customers, this Internet cafe had an offer—charge 100 yuan into your account for the first time and they will give an additional 100 yuan’s worth of time.

Since he had already come here, Yu Yan didn’t hesitate. He took out the money to pay and said, “400 yuan, thank you.”

After he finished arranging everything, he found the area with the private rooms and stared at it.

He thought that with such an expensive machine rental rate, they would be single-person private rooms, but unexpectedly, they were all two-person private rooms. Each room had two adjacent seats, similar to a typical room in other Internet cafes.

But, judging from the computer’s exterior, its quality was still good.

“Are there only two-person rooms?” He asked the network manager who had just passed by.

He felt a little embarrassed at the thought of having to livestream in front of other people.

“Yes, do you mind?” the network manager asked. “However, the machines inside the rooms are expensive. It’s also not the weekend, so no room will be full. You can sit in one at ease.”

“So it’s like that,” Yu Yan said with a smile. “Thank you.”

He found a room far down into the corridor, turned on the computer, and tested the equipment.

… The equipment here was better than the stuff he had at home.

He had to say that although this Internet cafe was expensive, it had a good reason to be. Not only was the computer hardware good, the livestreaming equipment was also very comprehensive. He opened the settings interface but found that he pretty much didn’t have to change anything to get his livestream up and running.

He didn’t dawdle for too long and just directly started his livestream.

Because he had asked for leave, most of the viewers currently hanging around in his livestream were zombie fans. He had just finished adjusting his webcam angle when the stream followers, who had received the notification that the anchor they were following had started streaming, began pouring in.

[Did I remember it wrong? Didn’t you ask for leave for today??]

[Where is Xiao Yan at ah? The background isn’t the same as usual.]

[Did the computer come back to life???]

“It didn’t come back to life.” Yu Yan clicked to share his Weibo post, and more viewers showed up. “It’s still being repaired. Today, I ran to an Internet cafe to livestream.”

[A conscientious anchor, I’m crying.]

“Doesn’t count as being a conscientious anchor, it’s just the regular daily livestream time anyway.” Yu Yan launched PUBG and went into training mode. “This is my first time at this Internet cafe, so I’ll warm up with the new computer first.”

Last night, Coke had also spilled onto his keyboard, resulting in problems with several keys. He had bought replacement key caps online, but they hadn’t arrived yet, so he didn’t bring his own peripherals today.

For him, the computer’s hardware was secondary; it was the keyboard and the mouse that were most important. Once you got used to your keyboard and then replaced it with a different one, it would more or less affect your performance. This was also the reason why most professional players chose to bring their own keyboard to the competitions.

When he entered training mode, he picked up an AKM without a second thought and then randomly picked a target, and started shooting at it.

Following the fierce sound of gunfire were numerous bullet holes that immediately appeared on the target&#k2014;&#k2014;

Several densely packed bullet holes, all concentrated in mostly one area with minimal fluctuations.

“Not bad.” He nodded and was pretty satisfied. “Playing two solos right now. I’ll draw stream followers in the afternoon ba, haven’t taken you guys along for quite a while.”

Just as he entered Manners Plaza, Yu Yan felt as if there was someone outside his room.

He took a moment to glance over.

There were three girls standing outside.

They were playing rock-paper-scissors.

“So it’s agreed—if you win, you go inside, and if you lose, you can’t be mad ah,” One of the girls said.

“Fine, but it’s also agreed that if you get his WeChat, you have to share it with your sisters!”

“And you’re not allowed to directly confess to him. Give everyone a chance!”

“Deal!”

The girl who won the rock-paper-scissors game was a girl with two pigtails. She lifted her head and held her chest out, her whole body radiating with vigor. “I’m going in, sisters.”

“Scram ah!”

Yu Yan had no idea what was going on outside. He hadn’t expected that, despite hiding in the deepest room in the corridor, he would’ve only gotten less than half an hour before the second guest entered the room.

The door was opened and the girl came in, smiling at him shyly. Yu Yan quickly returned the smile and then looked away.

What’s to be done?

“Is no one using this computer ah?” the girl asked.

Yu Yan really wanted to tell her that someone was using the computer, and then go spend money to also book that computer.

But he only had one ID card.

And he was reluctant to waste money.

“… No one’s using it.”

[What’s the situation?]

[The anchor is at an Internet cafe, and someone else has come to use the other computer in his room.]

[Fuck. You go to sit in a random Internet cafe, and then even get a girl sitting next to you. I hate it!]

Yu Yan pursed his mouth. He felt that it was too awkward to continue talking to his stream followers, but he also just couldn’t stop interacting with them.

After a long time, he ended up opening his mouth to say, “Um, I’m sorry but, I’m running a livestream here. I may disturb you during this time…”

The girl was a bit stunned but then hurriedly nodded. “That’s fine, I’m not afraid of noise.”

“Are you an anchor ya? Which platform?”

He heard the sound of a gunshot and Yu Yan returned his focus to his computer. “StarTV.”

Seeing that he was in the middle of playing a game, the girl let out a gentle “oh”. She didn’t disturb him any more, but kept her eyes on his computer screen. She saw him directly land and shoot an enemy from behind a rock while conveniently firing twice to headshot another enemy who was trying to creep up from behind him. His marksmanship looked explosively handsome as he carried out these maneuvers skillfully with ease.

She picked up her phone, opened WeChat, and expressionlessly typed out a series of “ahhhh”: Found a babe. This little Gege is so fucking hot while playing games! He’s still so shy that his ears are even red! First time meeting such a babe, how should I flirt?”

“Oh my god, this type is the easiest to flirt with, okay?! With praise ah! Praise him to death! Praise him until his face is completely red, then take the chance to get his WeChat, and done!”

The girl thought that such a plan was feasible, so every time the little Gege killed an enemy, she exclaimed, “Wow!”

“So powerful~”

“You’re so strong ya… and your fingers are nice too.”

Five minutes had passed, and Yu Yan still hadn’t responded to her.

[Is this girl tired yet?]

[Xiao Yan really is a tender-feelings killer…]

[Not sure why, but I just feel like this is especially funny 23333]

Yu Yan had felt a bit shy at first, since it was a little shameful to livestream in front of other people.

But he got used to it after a while. After putting on the headphones, he couldn’t really hear what the person next to him was saying anyway.

After finishing off the people behind him, Yu Yan looted everything and headed to the final circle.

….

Yi Chen only saw the push notification from StarTV once the meeting was over.

StarTV’s division manager had already been waiting outside the conference room for a long time. After he saw Yi Chen come out, he hurriedly came forward and handed over the documents. “President Yi, this is our newly drafted list of personnel. Most of them are anchors on the platform, as well as club members who have signed contracts with our platform. Please have a look…”

“En.” Yi Chen received the documents and strode to his office. “You can leave first, I’ll contact you after reading the list.”

He closed his office’s door and directly opened his favorites list in StarTV.

The little anchor really had started streaming. He saw the young man sitting in an unfamiliar environment with a serious expression on his face, giving his full attention to playing the game.

There was also an unfamiliar female voice lingering beside him. Every time he showed a set of moves, it would be timely followed by a bunch of praise. The tone was exaggerated, and the words were full of adoration.

He frowned and didn’t understand what was going on.

[Boss 1 is here!! Ahahaha, I just jumped into the 1YanTang pit last night, and today I just happened to get fluff! Nice!]

Ordinarily, such a line being thrown in the barrage would be welcomed with a crowd of sympathetic users.

Who would’ve expected that the tone of today’s barrage was totally different; this line had nearly flown off the barrage screen before the other stream followers finally responded to it.

[What nonsense was the person before saying?]

[The person who just messaged came too late; 1YanTang had already come to a BE yesterday.]

[I’ve climbed out of the pit anyway. Whole-heartedly concentrating on watching Xiao Yan’s livestream ba.]

Yi Chen glanced at the barrage and waited quietly for a few minutes.

The person on the screen still continued to play the game and didn’t speak, even after a long time had passed since he had entered the stream.

Good, very good.

The person who was usually a hundred times more enthusiastic upon seeing him wasn’t even going to greet him today.

Yi Chen moved his cursor. A few seconds later, a gift notification popped up in the stream.

[1 sent out a Sea of Stars in yanxyan’s livestream]

Yu Yan was currently playing in the final circle in his current match. He was stunned by the notification but his attention was soon drawn back by the in-game gunshots.

[It’s normal to watch other anchors ah, are us sisters too sensitive? I think 1YanTang is still promising, after all, Boss 1 only sent that female anchor a meteor shower.]

[Yes ah. Didn’t he return here today?]

[And, you can open Boss 1’s personal homepage and see that he’s still only following just Xiao Yan.]

Yu Yan lay in the grass and single-mindedly focused on the location from where the sound of the gunshot had come from.

But his heart wavered and softened as he followed and read his stream followers’ words.

Seeing that Yu Yan didn’t respond, Yi Chen didn’t hesitate to send him another Sea of Stars gift.

[Boss is so generous. I give in, I’ll jump back into the pit.]

[Um, do you guys feel like Boss 1 is using gifts to try to attract Xiao Yan’s attention ah?]

[I also feel that way!! In addition, Xiao Yan actually didn’t even greet Boss 1! Before, he used to welcome Boss 1 every time he entered the stream!]

In the end, Yu Yan couldn’t completely harden his heart. He saw that 1 was smashing this much money, so he was about to open his mouth to say something.

[Wait, I just discovered something… The livestream of the female anchor that Boss 1 was watching yesterday has been banned?]

[Wtf, it’s true. Even her anchor account has been cancelled!]

[… Listening to your guys’ words, I clicked open Boss 1’s profile, saw that female anchor’s name and didn’t feel comfortable so I hurriedly left. Ugh, in my mind, Boss 1 is already dirty.]

[Tch, no wonder… This Boss 1 couldn’t even watch that stream if he wanted to ah. Like I said, he didn’t say a word yesterday, so why would he just run back today?]

[So, you mean that he only came back to this stream because he couldn’t watch that female anchor anymore? Fuck, should I return to this pit or not?]

He was dirty? Where was he dirty? How was he dirty?

Yi Chen frowned. Based on the stream followers’ words, he opened his own profile page.

Although he clearly knew why the female anchor’s ID was there, when he looked at it, he actually felt that it was an eyesore.

Yu Yan had caught sight of the last enemy and crouched down to finish him off.

After the chicken-eating victory page popped out and he glanced at the barrage, his eyebrows gradually knit together.

He didn’t think that his idiotic stream followers were being very cute today, as they were unapologetically jabbing at his feelings.

In the end, in his usual tone, he politely said, “Thank you Boss 1 for the two Sea of Stars… Don’t send more, no need to spend. Thanks.”

“…”

Yu Yan finished talking, exited the match he had won to return to the game lobby, and was getting ready to play the second match.

“I wasn’t the one who sent that gift to the other anchor.”

The deep male voice that sounded out in the livestream caught everyone off guard. They only saw that there was a small microphone icon lit up beside the yellow vest by 1’s ID.

The man lightly clicked his tongue and continued, emphasizing his words before anyone could react.

“I’m not dirty.”

—

The author has something to say:

Chen is so angry. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

—

Juurensha: Ohohohoho, it’s time to grovel and explain a bit Boss Yi, Yanyan is very upset!

Divi: Don’t let your Yi Ran loose, or else it causes misunderstandings u_u. If Yi Ran had come into the stream himself, he could’ve also explained on Yi Chen’s behalf. At least the cat’s out of the bag!

Noks: Ah!! An entire day of angst before the situation was cleared up. And Boss Yi… what happened to distancing yourself from Yanyan? Can’t tolerate it when he ignores you, eh??? XD

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