Chapter 71: Chapter 69 - Little Prince

Edited by xiin and Noks

Mo Nancheng overheard these words, and asked, “What first-meeting gift? Do you have to give first-meeting gifts whenever you make friends nowadays? If that’s the case, Xiao Yan also has to give the three of us a gift ah.”

“He’s the youngest, how do you even have the nerve to ask for something like this?” After Yi Chen finished saying that, he went back to his seat and told Yu Yan, “He’s just that stingy, you can only snatch your gift from his wallet.”

“I’m stingy?” Mo Nancheng grew incensed, acting as if he had been humiliated. “Let me tell you, out of all my ex-girlfriends down to my Meimei, none of them has ever said that I am stingy… Xiao Yan, tomorrow you go and pick out a watch and send me the bill.”

Yu Yan hurriedly shook his head. “No need.”

Yi Ran said, “Ge, how about you buy one for me instead ba.”

“No, I don’t have to give you a first-meeting gift.”

“My Ge is right, you really are stingy.”

“Buy then!” Mo Nancheng frowned. “You go and choose! Just one ah!”

Yi Ran replied, “Okay!”

Click—as they spoke, Yu Yan pushed his tiles forward.

“Self-drawn win.”

He’d listened to Yi Chen’s advice and had only aimed at making high-scoring tile sets. Although the total number of sets he made decreased, the amount of money he won increased instead of decreasing.

During the second round, Yi Ran became the first to be unable to hold up any longer.

He looked at his empty drawer and asked the person next to him, “Xiao Yan, can I exchange some chips with you ba?”

Yu Yan said, “The chips belong to Yi Chen, ask him.”

The waiter would exchange the chips for money at any time, even during an on-going game. It was obvious that Yi Ran had lost a lot and wanted to take some chips from his cousin instead of exchanging for some of his own.

He knew he wouldn’t get any from his cousin, so he had placed all his attention on the completely harmless looking Xiao Yan.

He didn’t expect Xiao Yan to kick the matter right back to Yi Chen.

“Exchange for your own chips.” Sure enough, his cousin said this frostily, while even sparing a sneering glance towards him.

Yi Ran: “…”

He felt so miserable at that moment, so much so that he couldn’t even tell who his real bros were at the mahjong table.

By midnight, Yu Yan had won an amount equivalent to his salary for the better part of the year and put his chips in the drawer. He felt very successful.

Yi Chen looked at the time and said, “We won’t play anymore.”

“No ah, it’s still early?” Mo Nancheng said, “Play another round, Xiao Yan and I are chatting happily.”

He didn’t know if it was a tactic to distract him or something else, but for every two tiles that Yu Yan played, Mo Nancheng would chat with him for a bit. All of his questions were about irrelevant things, he merely scratched the surface.

“He has to livestream tomorrow,” said Yi Chen.

Yu Yan quickly expressed his opinion, “It’s fine… how about you keep playing, and I’ll take a taxi back? You don’t have to send me.”

“I’m not playing.” Yi Chen asked, “How much did you win?”

Yu Yan opened the drawer, feeling very proud. Although he didn’t say it, the expression written all over his face clearly implied that he was asking for credit.

Yi Chen looked at it and laughed. “Take it, let’s go.”

“Okay ba, then Xiao Yan, I’ll see you in a few days ah.” Mo Nanacheng said, “I’ll also be at the StarTV annual gala.”

Yi Ran stared at him, “Cheng Ge, why can you go?!”

“I have an invitation.”

Yi Ran was so envious that he turned around and called out, “Ge—”

Yi Chen ignored him. The cellphone in his pocket had just started to ring, so he picked it up and gestured for Yu Yan to wait for him outside. Then he took the lead in leaving the room.

Yu Yan quickly tidied up his spoils. “Then we’ll go first.”

“Wait, Xiao Yan!” Yi Ran grabbed at his last straw. “You’re one of StarTV’s big anchors… Do you have any way of getting me into the gala?”

Mo Nancheng really felt that Yi Ran was pitiful. He was very obviously the cousin of StarTV’s big boss, but he couldn’t even get an invitation.

Yu Yan hesitated for a moment. “Do you really want to go?”

As soon as Yi Ran heard this, he saw that he had a chance, so he nodded his head like a rattle drum. “Yes!”

“I have one…” Yu Yan forcefully stopped himself from completing this sentence and firmly turned it around. “Then I’ll go back and ask ba. If I can get an invite for you, I’ll contact you about it on WeChat?”

Yi Ran’s facial expression showed that he was moved as he used his thumb and index finger to make a heart.

By the time Yu Yan exited the room, Yi Chen had just hung up his call.

He raised his chin. “Go, trade in the chips.”

Yu Yan exchanged the chips, got in the car, and handed the money he had gotten to Yi Chen.

Yi Chen glanced at it and said, “Take it. This is my meeting gift to you.”

Yu Yan shook his head. “I don’t need a meeting gift.”

With that, he opened the glove compartment in front of him and stuffed the bag full of money into it.

Yi Chen didn’t force him to accept it. He said, “I will be leaving for a business trip tomorrow and will only return on the afternoon of the 1st. You can use whatever you like in the house, and call me if you need anything.”

“Tomorrow?” Yu Yan paused and then asked, “Then won’t it be inappropriate for me to be in your house by myself?”

“It’s fine.” The business trip had sprung up pretty suddenly, and Yi Chen’s face showed that he was also a little unhappy. “Livestream well. I’ll take you to eat delicious food when I come back, and…”

He paused. “Don’t you like to climb mountains and visit temples? When I come back, I’ll take you to climb Wuqiu Mountain.”

Yu Yan: “…”

Why did he hear some other kind of emotion being implied within this sentence?

He didn’t think too deeply into it, instead nodding and saying “okay”, then continued, “Um, I have another thing.”

Yi Chen let out a “Hm?”

Yu Yan said, “The platform informed me that the winning anchor in the anchor competition gets an extra invitation. It’s all because of you that I could win a prize this time… Are you free on the second? Are you interested in going to this gala?”

Yi Chen raised his eyebrows. “Not inviting family members?”

Yu Yan replied, “My uncle’s company is just starting up, so he’s very busy.”

Yi Chen raised his eyebrows slightly this time. When ordinary people heard the words “family members”, wouldn’t their first thought usually be about their parents?

He buried the doubts in his eyes and shook his head quietly.

He would like to accompany the little anchor, but since there were several partnerships to be announced by the Yi Group at the gala, it wouldn’t be appropriate if he wasn’t present for them.

“You can invite your friend to accompany you.”

Yu Yan wasn’t surprised at the rejection.

The other party had been keeping quite busy recently, so he hadn’t had much hope when he asked.

Back at the hotel, he told Lu Xiuhe about the invitation, which finally soothed the other party from the quarrel with his little girlfriend.

As for Yi Ran—he occupied the third place in Yu Yan’s heart—and now had been tragically removed from the scene. Yu Yan was helpless in this situation; the platform had only given him one extra invitation. If he could have, he would have even given his own invitation to Yi Ran.

Then, he peacefully nested in Yi Chen’s house and livestreamed.

All the girls in the 1YanTang fan group thought that they would experience living in sweet honey for the next few days. All the group leaders had even negotiated to change the group name to “Mama, I seem to have bumped into a real one”.

What they didn’t expect was for the next few days, 1 would actually disappear.

Not only did he not appear in the video, but he didn’t even show up in the stream or log into the game.

[Day 3 of 1’s disappearance, thinking of him thinking of him thinking of him.]

Yu Yan saw this line in the barrage, skimmed the rest of it, and continued to immerse himself in the game.

His situation was different from that of his stream followers.

Although Yi Chen wasn’t at home and didn’t come online to play games, they still managed to chat every day. Their chats were brief, but at the very least, they kept in touch.

After finishing the stream, Yu Yan went to the kitchen, poured himself a glass of water to quench his thirst before he had to get ready to go back to the hotel.

He looked around the house while drinking water.

A few days ago, when Yi Chen was in the living room, he hadn’t felt it, but now, when he stood by himself in the big living room, he suddenly felt… a little lonely.

A big empty space, sparkling clean furniture, and an elegant layout, but even then, it seemed to feel a bit cold.

He was just thinking about this when his cellphone suddenly rang.

Tuantuan: Xiao Yan, are you there?

The last time the two of them had chatted had been three days ago. During today’s livestream, Tuantuan had asked him if he wanted to play a game together. Yu Yan had initially been worried about how to refuse, but had later on just forgotten to reply to her message. The content in their chatbox also seemed to exude a little awkwardness at this time.

Yu Yan hesitated for a moment, but in the end replied with a “here.”

Tuantuan: What time will you set out the day after tomorrow ya? Are all your clothes ready?

Yu Yan: Don’t know yet, what clothes?

Tuantuan: Tuxedo ya.

Yu Yan: …

Tuantuan: …It can’t be that you didn’t know? Haven’t you seen the previous gala?

Yu Yan really hadn’t seen it.

Tuantuan: This event is actually quite formal. It’s like an annual meeting for the platform, and it’s completely livestreamed, so of course you need to dress a bit more formally. You’re not planning on going there in casual clothes ba?

Yu Yan: …I see. I’ll go rent one ba, thank you for reminding me.

Silence reigned for a long time, to the point that Yu Yan thought the conversation had ended, before his cellphone started to vibrate again.

Tuantuan: No need for thanks. Xiao Yan, have you been angry with me recently ah?

A woman’s sixth sense is very accurate. Tuantuan had long noticed that Yu Yan’s attitude towards her had changed, but out of a sense of self-respect, she hadn’t said anything about it until now.

But since she asked, she must make it clear.

Tuantuan: Because of the trending topic in the search hotlist? n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yu Yan: …

Tuantuan: Okay ba, I admit, that matter was a bit planned.

Although he had already had an inkling of this in his heart, getting actual confirmation of his suspicions didn’t make Yu Yan feel especially comfortable. He didn’t know what to say and could only reply with a string of ellipsis.

Tuantuan: But it wasn’t really my idea, it was my team that bought and pushed it into becoming a trending topic on the hotlist… I have a team pushing me from behind. When I came to know about the trending topic, they had already bought the 18th place on the search hotlist. I had no other way, I could only cooperate with them and go to the stream to find you. I wasn’t honest or sincere about this, so you should be angry.

Yu Yan: I understand. It’s all over now, it’s okay.

Yu Yan wasn’t being perfunctory, he really understood.

But to understand is one thing, feeling unhappy is another.

“Maybe I have too little contact with people, to think that I had really made a good friend.” On the way home, Yu Yan couldn’t help but call and tell Yi Chen this.

Yi Chen slowly listened to him, and once he finished talking, he closed the file in his hand.

He originally wanted to tell the little anchor that this was the way life was. However, the words that came out of his mouth had turned into, “You’re still young, and you will meet more people in the future, and you can always find good and sincere friends. Don’t worry about this matter too much.”

Yu Yan let out an “en” and said, “I have a very good friend now. Lu Xiuhe has always been very good to me.”

Yi Chen laughed. “En.”

“And you.” Yu Yan said, “…You’re the same as Lu Xiuhe, always treating me well.”

Yi Chen should have been happy to hear this, but he wasn’t.

He didn’t even notice that his smile had slowly disappeared.

“Then between Lu Xiuhe and I, which one is better?”

As soon as he said this, Yi Chen was stunned at himself.

Had he been infected by Yi Ran? How could he ask such childish questions?

Internally, Yu Yan murmured to himself, “How could that be the same ah.”

After a short pause, he just squeezed out a little laugh and replied, “Lu Xiuhe isn’t here, so if you ask me in such a straightforward manner… I’ll definitely say you’re better.”

—

Yu Yan had checked the videos of the previous gala, and it was indeed as Tuantuan had said—everyone was in tuxedos.

He had nearly been embarrassed.

He and Lu Xiuhe set out for the mall the very next day. Each of them rented a tuxedo suit. They didn’t pick them out themselves but rented the one recommended by the sales lady, the whole process went by very conveniently.

On the 2nd, starting at 8 a.m., StarTV’s official Weibo account began to release the highlights of that night’s gala one by one—

The list of anchors participating in the gala.

New awards and game competition links.

…

For this year’s national PUBG competition, all the members of the CN7 PUBG branch, a popular domestic club, would sign a livestreaming contract with StarTV and would appear on the scene at the gala.

Zuo Zhen, the leader of pop idol group Pz, would also be present at the gala.

The stuff being released on Weibo in the beginning was alright, but soon after, the posts being published held news that no one paid attention to in the livestreaming circles.

However, the latest two posts turned the tide. They caught the eyes of many e-sports fans and star-chasing girls. Before the livestream of the gala started, those two pieces of news both became trending topics on the search hotlist.

That very same afternoon, Yu Yan was dragged out of the room by Lu Xiuhe to go to the barber shop.

“I’m fine, but you’re the one who has to go on-stage to receive the award. You must look handsome to get fans!” Lu Xiuhe said as he pressed him into the chair.

Yu Yan chuckled. “I rely on my skills.”

“Can’t both things go hand-in-hand?”

He hadn’t noticed before, but now, after being seated in front of a large mirror, Yu Yan noticed that his hair had indeed become a bit long.

So he said, “…Then cut it shorter ba.”

The gala was being held in a large banquet hall. The seats were arranged tidily under the stage, and the stage itself was very large. There were ten computers placed further into the stage, and had been divided into five on each side, and a huge display screen hung at the top of the stage. Placed around the banquet hall were accessories from all the big games, and even the desserts had been designed with some game components in mind— all in all, it really gave off the feel of being the venue for an e-sports competition.

This time’s seating arrangements were very exquisite. In addition to placing the anchors who had won awards in the anchor competition together, the rest of the regional anchors were also all seated next to each other, so as to facilitate interaction between the anchors.

When Yu Yan sat down in his seat, there were still not many people seated at the table. A few people were scattered in the seats around the hall, and after greeting each other, they took out their cellphones and started playing games on them.

It could be said that his table was the most awkward table in this hall.

Yu Yan took out his cellphone and sent a message to Yi Chen.

The return plane ticket that the platform had booked for him was for noon tomorrow, and he would have to go back to Manyang soon.

Yi Chen had seemed very tired after returning from his business trip yesterday. He had entered his bedroom as soon as he came back, and hadn’t woken up until the livestream was over. They hadn’t managed to exchange many words before Yu Yan had to go back to the hotel.

They didn’t get to exchange a proper farewell, and he didn’t know when they would be able to meet each other again.

Being lost in such thoughts meant that he didn’t have any interest in the gala and just wanted it to be over quickly. Maybe then he could even invite Yi Chen out for some midnight snacks.

He sent the message, but received no reply. He was browsing through Weibo when someone sat down beside him suddenly.

“Yan Xiao Yan?” An unfamiliar voice called out, carrying a hint of laughter in it.

Yu Yan looked sideways. The man who was seated next to him had curved eyes and was looking at him with interest.

The man turned around, looked at his seat’s place card, and said with a laugh, “So your name is Yu Yan, it’s a very nice name. Hello, I’m Good Show.”

Good Show—StarTV’s big anchor whose name was unknown to no one and a retired LoL player— the person who had just won the Best Anchor of the Year award.

In fact, Yu Yan remembered Good Show from before he had retired, because the other party’s name was very easy to remember——

Good Show, you really are good.

Yu Yan reached out and shook hands with the other party. “Hello, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I’m the one who has heard a lot about you. I’ve always wanted to meet you, and fortunately we have an official director who understands matters and has arranged for us to sit together.” Good Show took out his cellphone and asked, “Add each other as friends on WeChat?”

Yu Yan opened the QR code scanner and said in a puzzled tone, “…Wanted to meet me?”

“Yes ah.” Seeing that he didn’t understand, Good Show winked at him, drew closer to him, and said in a low volume, “That thing with banana.”

Yu Yan suddenly defended himself, “That had nothing to do with me, he was the one who violated the rules.”

“Right, right, whatever you say. Today is a good day, let’s not talk about him, it’s a mood killer.” Good Show looked him up and down and laughed. “You’re the first anchor I’ve seen who’s more attractive in person than on the camera. This outfit suits you very well.”

Yu Yan replied, “Thank you, you’re also very handsome.”

He wasn’t simply flattering him or just going through the motions. Good Show really was handsome and had been called LPL‘s face before he had retired.

Although Good Show was popular, he didn’t put on any airs. In addition, since the two of them had some things in common, they soon started chatting.

After chatting for half an hour, they discovered that the seats in the banquet hall had almost been filled when they turned around again.

Good Show said, “I secretly played a few matches in PUBG recently and found that my TPS is really not good… Could you carry me a bit, I am absolutely willing to work hard and conscientiously be your most loyal combat medic.”

Yu Yan also laughed as he replied, “Alright, but you don’t need to be a combat medic.”

“You two!” A photographer and a female host suddenly appeared in front of them. The host held a microphone towards them and pointed to the camera with his eyes. “Say hello to the audience?”

When they saw the camera, they both sat up.

Good Show asked, “They’ve already started the stream?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, the camera Dage is working hard. Make us look more handsome ah.” In a very natural movement, Good Show stretched out a hand to pull on Yu Yan’s shoulder and brought the two of them closer to each other. “Hello everyone, I’m Good Show. Next to me is yanxyan, the rookie PUBG anchor on our platform.”

Yu Yan followed along and greeted, “Hello, everyone.”

“Welcome Good Show and yanxyan!” The female host asked with a smile, “The two of you seem to have a good relationship?”

Good Show said, “Really ba? In fact, we just met, can’t you tell ba?”

…

As Yi Chen walked into the banquet hall, the person next to him was still chattering.

Mo Nancheng said, “I even rejected a beach party invitation to come here. I must get Tuantuan’s contact information tonight!”

Yi Chen was disinclined to listen to his words. He glanced around the hall and immediately saw the person he was looking for.

Yu Yan was wearing a black suit today. A purple tie was hanging down the front, his hair seemed to have been cut short, and his eyebrows had been trimmed. He looked more fresh and elegant than he had ever before.

He sat there quietly, with his back straight and chin slightly raised— just like a noble and gentle little prince.

At this moment, the little prince was being held by the person next to him, and they were very close. There was a camera in front of them, and they were both smiling. He didn’t know what they were talking about.

Yi Chen narrowed his eyes a little, and his unhappy mood, which had been caused by the traffic jam, became infinitely magnified at the moment.

“Eh? I’ve discovered that your platform’s female anchors are not all photo deception and filter deception tricksters ma.” Mo Nancheng didn’t notice the direction his friend’s eyes were staring at and said, “I’ve changed my mind—it’s fine if it’s not Tuantuan today! Look at that one over there… Hey, where are you going?”

Yi Chen ignored him and walked on.

Yu Yan felt relieved as soon as the camera moved away at the end of the interview. He wasn’t really good at answering questions.

He was preparing to pull away from Good Show’s hold on his shoulder, when he suddenly felt his chin being covered in warmth.

Yi Chen had taken a hold of his face, and was exerting a little force. Yu Yan reflexively raised his head in tune with Yi Chen’s forceful tug at his chin, and his whole body followed the movement and was pulled out of Good Show’s grasp——

These two people, one looking upwards and one looking downwards, locked gazes for a few seconds.

Upon seeing his shocked expression, Yi Chen raised his eyebrows.

“Cut your hair?”

—

The author has something to say:

Come on, you’re not happy so you’re touching my son! Beast! (I’m helping you guys scold him)

Stepping on Christmas’ tail, and bringing the little prince along to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

—

Juurensha: Good Show seems alright but ahahahaha of course Boss Yi isn’t happy. Still Yanyan should be excited to see Big Boss at the gala, right??? (Poor Yi Ran, the only one not here at this feast) And our giant gala chapter is next chapter!

xiin: … those moves. *fans self*

Noks: Boss Yi doesn’t like it when someone pulls Yanyan’s attention away from him… and we’ll see more of that in the upcoming gala!

Please check out and support the raws if you can!

And you guys can buy the published version here! Shipping was both cheap and fast!

And there’s an audio drama for PUBG that came out! It’s more condensed than the novel, but it’s fun!

And check out our fanart/fanfic page!