Chapter 107:
Shi Luo’s tempered kitchen knife managed to temporarily maintain peace within the team.
But although he was able to maintain it for a while, he couldn’t maintain it for a lifetime. By his careful calculation, the Free team would be able to remain peaceful for less than one night.
At two o’clock in the morning, everyone closed down their live broadcasts. The base auntie cooked some wontons for everyone as a midnight snack. Except for Yu Sui, the rest all went downstairs to eat.
In Free’s elegant and quiet kitchen filled with the rich aroma of beef bone broth, Chen Huo lowered his head, ate a wonton, then looked up at Shi Luo. He then lowered his head, ate another wonton and then looked up at Shi Luo again. Several times, he wanted to say something. He was going to explode from curiosity.
Chen Huo kept looking at Shi Luo’s ear.
Perhaps it was to regain his former ‘f*ck the heaves and f*ck the earth’ self; or perhaps it was to deter Chen Huo and Puppy, these kids who couldn’t catch the meaning of a loaded look. Before the team came back from Hangzhou, Shi Luo put back on his ear stud that he hadn’t worn for quite some time.
No one loves ear studs once they’re worn.
Shi Luo chose a silver stud with a big tiger’s head; very fierce and very violent.
Very gangster, very rebellious.
Shi Luo’s way of thinking had been very simple. He felt that he didn’t need to say anything personally. He could just remind his teammates that he’d spent his time on the streets back then.
It was a simply act, just this ear stud coupled with the kitchen knife. It displayed his imposing manner without the need to show anger.
Shi Luo didn’t think that there would be anyone in the team still brave enough to dare ask him about the side account.
But people"s joys and sorrows are not interlinked. Time and time again, Chen Huo would look at Shi Luo’s ear stud. A thousand claws scratched at his heart and he became even more curious.
At this moment, what Chen Huo was curious about wasn’t even that side account anymore.
“On your ear…” Chen Huo really couldn’t help it anymore. After eating a bowl of wontons, he squinted at Shi Luo’s big tiger. He couldn’t see clearly from a distance. “That iron stud you have on your ear, …Is that part of the Three Gold that Yu Sui gave you? You let him off easy… Why did he give an iron one?”
Puppy had been holding back all night and had wanted to ask for a long time, “There’s no special occasion. For what reason did you suddenly wear that ear stud? Is it… Suppose to signify that your ident.i.ty is now different?”
Shi Luo: “…”
“This is silver.” Shi Luo forced out between his teeth, “Moreover, Laozi used spent his own money to buy this for myself.”
“Silver?” Chen Huo craned his neck and tried to take a good look, “Oh, it’s deliberately made to look worn… Now that I’m taking a closer look at this little toy, it’s actually an animal. What is it?”
Shi Luo looked at Chen Huo coldly, “The king of beasts.”
Yu Sui, who had just walked to the staircase, choked.
Worried that his little boyfriend was being bullied by his f*cking teammates, Yu Sui had taken a shower and headed downstairs to look for Shi Luo. Yu Sui stood by the side of the stairs, barely managing to stop himself from laughing out loud. His shoulders were trembling slightly.
Yu Sui was worried that he wouldn’t be able to contain himself. He walked back up two steps. Leaning against the handrail on the second floor, he listened quietly.
Yu Sui couldn’t understand how Shi Luo could be so cute.
Downstairs, Puppy thought for a while and the suddenly had a realization. He patted the dining table, “That’s right. Yu Sui was born in ’98. Year of the Tiger.”
Shi Luo chocked with resentment. He took a sip of the soup and muttered, “It has nothing to do with him.”
“You’re not a tiger, so why are you wearing one?” Puppy was still counting the lunar calendar, “You were born in year 2000 so you should wear a dragon.”
Shi Luo was dumbfounded and he shook his head. “I don’t have a dragon.”
“You should buy one later.” Puppy said seriously, “You should wear your own zodiac sign.”
“I won’t.” Shi Luo frowned. “Tigers are stronger.”
“Nonsense, dragons are more powerful.” Chen Huo said earnestly, “It’s also more Chinese. Later, when we go to Germany, you can take this Chinese dragon with you and it’ll be like a cultural export.”
“…” Shi Luo tried hard to control himself from hitting Chen Huo. “I won’t wear it so shut up.”
Chen Huo still opened his mouth as if to speak. Shi Luo said coldly, “I can wear whatever I like. Maybe I’ll feel so happy tomorrow that I might just wear h.e.l.lo Kitty and it won’t be any of your sh*tting business.”
Chen Huo admitted defeat and shut his mouth.
Hardly has one gourd been pushed under water when another bobs up, Puppy thought for a while and said to Shi Luo, “Hey, speaking of… Your zodiac signs are really suited for each other, It’s fighting between a tiger and a dragon.”
Shi Luo paused and thinking that it was a word of praise, said nothing.
Chen Huo looked at Puppy and decided to bring up the topic and hit the snake with the stick. He carefully pried, “You two… When did you…”
“I won’t tell you.” Shi Luo gave himself another large bowl of wontons and warned, “Shut up and just eat.”
“I’m curious!” Chen Huo frantically scratched the tablecloth. “Everyone here is your good brother. Tell me. This monk has walked within the temple in darkness. You two never told anyone and then suddenly you’re together. You’ve destroyed my base’s Buddhist calm…”
“It wasn’t suddenly.” Shi Luo was getting a headache from Chen Huo’s stupidity. “Are you an idiot?”
“He is.” Puppy said coldly from the side. “The first day he arrived in Hangzhou, he told me all mysterious-like after waking up from his drunken sleep…”
Puppy imitated Chen Huo’s hushed tone, “Puppy, let me tell you a secret. Don’t panic, don’t be afraid, and don’t tell Old Qiao and the others yet. I just had an idea. I’m beginning to suspect that… maybe Yu Sui had already gotten together with that little whelp Shi Luo.”
“It was so stupid I just wanted to ignore you. Really, I suspect that even Auntie has already long seen it.” Puppy took a sip of the soup and turned to look towards the kitchen, “Isn’t that right, Auntie?”
In the kitchen, the auntie said in Shanghai-ese dialect while packing up the ingredients to be used for lunch tomorrow, “I knew it a long time ago. The look in both their eyes wasn’t right. And they always kept going to the kitchen together when there was nothing the matter. What could they possibly do going to the kitchen? They certainly weren’t washing the dishes for me… I talked it over with the Sweeping Auntie. The two children were definitely together.”
Auntie broke open the cabbage with a crack. Not forgetting to harp on Shi Luo, she said, “Return my knife after you’re done with it. What use do you even have for it?”
Shi Luo: “…”
Chen Huo: “…”
Chen Huo asked, unwilling to give up, “Then Zhou Huo…”
“He knew too.” Puppy said lazily. “And he’s always been covering for them.”
There was one last glimmer of hope left in Chen Huo’s eyes. “Old Qiao, that idiot…”
“Also knew.” Puppy looked at Chen Huo pityingly, “It’s only you. only you, understand? Even the roombas in our base have probably seen that something was fishy. Only you didn’t know.”
Chen Huo breathed out a long sigh. He looked Shi Luo up and down, his stomach surging with acid, “Yu Sui, that son of a b*tch. What a true winner in life.”
Chen Huo recalled the screenshots of that side account that was being spread online like crazy. He didn’t dare touch Shi Luo’s inverse scales so he could only roast them in his heart.
After having their midnight snack, the three of them, by mutual probing, managed to figured out each other’s bottom line. As long as the Weibo side account, which has now been reduced to a tourist attraction for Yu Sui and Shi Luo’s CP fans, was not mentioned, peace within the team can be maintained before the World Championships.
Shi Luo went upstairs after eating his midnight snack and on the way there he met face to face with Yu Sui who was still by the staircase. The two did not speak and Shi Luo went straight to Yu Sui’s room without so much as a by your leave. Yu Sui followed after Shi Luo into his own dorm room. Yu Sui hadn’t closed the door yet and he heard a clinking as Shi Luo took off his tiger ear stud and threw it aside. Listening carefully, he heard Shi Luo murmur indignantly, “Good-for-nothing.”
Yu Sui tried his best to restrain the impulse to do little Shi Shen. He closed the door and together with Shi Luo, took a bath and slept.
The next day, it was still another vicious day of catching up on their lacking hours.
Chen Huo and Puppy deliberately got up two hours early. Chen Huo was still not too bad. Although he didn’t play the game during the entire live broadcast, he kept the chat time in the middle to a reasonable duration. Puppy though was completely shameless. He didn’t even open the game client. Instead, turned on the webcam to shows the viewer’s Free’s training room. From time to time, he would turn the camera to show Chen Huo doing his like broadcast for a while, then he would turn to show Shi Luo’s seat or Yu Sui’s seat.
This was exactly what Yu Sui saw when he entered the training room.
“I’ve always been curious about something.” Yu Sui walked to his seat, “Puppy, do you burn your hand when you receive your live broadcast salary?”
“No, it does not. I’m simply being an honest paddler. I’m not as young as Shi Luo and I’m not that durable. I’ll die if I spent all my time live streaming playing.” Puppy turned around and seeing that Shi Luo still hadn’t come to the training room, became a little bolder. He turned the camera to Yu Sui and urged, “Come on, just say a few words. Give me a little more traffic. I’ll share with you a bit of my live broadcasting salary this month.”
Yu Sui ignored Puppy. He sat down and turned on his computer. “I’m not interested in dirty money.”
“Tsk…” Puppy said impatiently, “Soon you won’t be able to talk! Hurry up.”
There was a smile that couldn’t be hidden in Yu Sui’s voice, “You should be cautious in words and deeds. What are you saying?”
Sure enough, before Puppy even finished speaking, the live chat became all excited.
[What do you mean that soon you won’t be able to talk? ? ? 】
[Those who understand, understand everything. 】
[66666666……】
[Irrefutable evidence that a certain player is the team tyrant. 】
[Can I still ask questions if I send a gift? Puppy, I beg you. Please look at my comment. 】
Puppy spiritedly took a look at the live chat. He hurriedly said, “Ask, ask. I’m telling you now, you better ask quickly. In a little bit, I have no idea if I’ll still be able to earn this dirty money.”
Puppy covered his microphone and asked Yu Sui, “Is Shi Luo awake or not? What time is he coming?”
Yu Sui opened the game client and said, “He’s awake. He saw that it was still early so he’s playing with his phone in bed. He’ll probably be here soon.”
Puppy let go of the microphone, “You’ve got three minutes. I won’t wait if you go over the time limit.”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone gave a gift and asked: [How long has Yu Sui been in love with who he’s seeing? ]
Puppy read the comment to Yu Sui. Yu Sui wasn’t paying any attention to him at all. Puppy was left with no choice. He turned around and started pushing Yu Sui’s shoulder, “Hurry up…cooperate with me here. Can’t I sc.r.a.pe a bit of benefit from your love life? Aren’t we brothers?”
Yu Sui was being pushed by Puppy and couldn’t control the mouse. He was given no other choice but to say, “Almost three years.”
There was no need for Puppy to repeat it. It could be heard clearly in the live broadcast.
[Take notes, take notes. It’s been three years, three years, three years. Sh*t, I know…]
[To Whisper’s fans, I’m sorry. We really shouldn’t have been fighting for so long these past three years. There hadn’t been any need to. 】
[I’m going to cry to death. It’s really three years. 】
[Yu Shen is killing me… I have long said that this slag man is super affectionate. 】
Another person gave a gift: [Cough… I would like to apologize to Yu Shen. I scolded your romantic partner’s Weibo account. At that time, I was young and ignorant. Now I only want to kill myself. I would like to ask if your romantic partner got angry? We used some pretty harsh words. QAQ]
Puppy read to Yu Sui and Yu Sui said, “He wasn’t really angry, but…”
Yu Sui deliberated his words and tried his best not to waste his words. “But he did doubt himself. Once you scolded him so fiercely that he sent me WeChat in the middle of the night and asked me…”
Yu Sui entered the match. After entering the match, he bought himself the initial equipment, and continued, “In the dead of night…he suddenly asked me if he was particular hussy-like and why was someone on Weibo scolding him for being a hussy.”
Puppy: “Pfft.”
Yu Sui regretted, “You guys…really, he carries his task in the teeth of wind and rain and licks blood from the edge of his knife… It was the first time he ever said something like that. He was completely struck stupid.”
The live chat apologized frantically and a group of people began to kowtow, knocking their heads to the ground with a ‘clang, clang, clang’.
[I have eyes but could not see Mount Tai. Please let your romantic partner continue to post daily. 】
[I hate myself……】
[I was wrong. I was really wrong this time. 】
[I actually scolded my most favorite person for several long months. My heart has been bleeding these past days… A few days ago, I finally understood how Qiao Feng felt when he accidentally killed A Zhu. I hate it! ! ! 】
[A misunderstanding! It was all a misunderstanding! Please continue to update that side account. 】
[We have already regarded the contents of the side account as our holy bible. I have studied it day and night and can recite it by heart. Please update it. 】
Puppy looked at the barrage and laughed so hard, his stomach was hurting. He turned around, wanting tell Yu Sui to remind Shi Luo to update his side account. But then the training room door opened and Shi Luo walked in with a blank face. Puppy turned off the microphone in a split-second. He sat upright in his seat and no more questions were asked.