Chapter 43

Because Ji Wensheng had to catch his flight, the group going for hotpot that night ended up just being Little Yang, Qiao Yu, and Lin Linya.

After the Event ended, Little Yang and Qiao Yu wandered the Hall 4, buying some merch as souvenirs. Lin Linya, meanwhile, accompanied Ji Wensheng to get a taxi.

While waiting for the car, Ji Wensheng wanted to say something to Lin Linya, but he saw him pull a gift box out of his messenger bag and hand it over.

It was something Lin Linya had bought during the noon break at a nearby Supermarket. “This is a return gift for the brooch you gave me, Bro Ji. I just kept thinking about it, feeling bad for receiving such an expensive present.”

Ji Wensheng chuckled wryly. “It wasn’t anything very expensive…”

Lin Linya cut him off. “But it’s still a token of your feelings! I took great care choosing this, I don’t know if you’ll like it.”

Lin Linya’s clean, Pretty little face held a pair of bright eyes full of mirth, his tone almost coquettish. “You Absolutely must not say you don’t like it. The saleslady said I can’t return it once it’s opened.”

In that moment, Ji Wensheng felt that maybe Lin Linya knew everything.

He wasn’t a particularly dense person. Aside from a lack of great talent in the Game, he was actually very sharp and considerate in matters of life.

Perhaps he had sensed his feelings and was using this Gentle way to respond, without harshly rejecting him, leaving room for both sides to maneuver.

Ji Wensheng, an adult who’d been working for many years, found himself treated so gently by a young man for the first time. His expression softened, and he accepted this gift, whose worth had already surpassed its material value.

“Thank you. I trust your taste. I’ll love it, no matter what it is.”

Sitting in the taxi, Ji Wensheng looked out the window. The tall, slender young man, straight-backed like a white poplar, stood by the roadside, waving goodbye. His lovely face felt like a lingering dream from a midsummer night.

So Ji Wensheng imitated him, waving back, bidding farewell to this brief meeting.

Once the figure was completely out of sight, he finally opened the gift box. He pulled the dark green string, opened the lid, and inside lay a silver-white tie with a subtle grey diamond twill pattern, a classic, unerring style for work.

He liked it very much. He took a Photo and sent it to Lin Linya, 【It looks great! I want to wear it to work tomorrow already~】

He also posted his offline meetup photos and the Photo of the gift on Weibo, with the Text, 【The 7th anniversary ended early for me. I was very happy, met many good Friends.】

Perhaps busy and not checking his phone, it was a long time before Lin Linya replied, 【That’s great! I was originally worried I picked the wrong style. I’m glad you like it.】

He even Liked Ji Wensheng’s Weibo post and commented, 【Old Maid really is fun, but next time, don’t call me, thank you!】

Ji Wensheng was amused by him, Liked his comment, and replied, 【I’ll Go easy on you next time.】

Beneath Lin Linya’s comment, many sprout fans, alerted by the activity, rushed to reply, 【Caught you, naughty Yaya! Look at other streamers posting nine-picture grids! What about yours? Are you trying to leave me hanging on your overgrown Weibo?】

【The group Photo is so nice, thank you Brother Slow for the new picture. If I had to rely on Yaya’s selfies to survive, I’d probably have starved to death and reincarnated several times already. (holding heart) (holding heart)】

【Dang! The two of them together look so much like a CEO and his Little Wife. Yaya, reflect on why you’re so delicate. @Wolf Fang Little Yaya】

【My Slowly Sprouting ship actually has such sweet post-event content?! Right now, I’m the happiest baby in the world!】

Before boarding his flight, Ji Wensheng went through and Liked every comment that praised Lin Linya, then carefully Liked the CP fan comment too.

…

Eight in the morning. Lin Linya once again just barely made it to class on time. Luckily, the Professor was also stuck in traffic and hadn’t arrived yet. Chen Chun was sitting in a corner playing with his phone. The moment Lin Linya entered the classroom, he looked up unerringly and waved him over.

Lin Linya stuffed his bag into the desk cubby and promptly collapsed onto the desk.

Chen Chun was amused by his appearance. “Why do you look like a Fox spirit drained all your life force? Didn’t you Sleep last night?”

Lin Linya was drained. Even his fair face had dark circles. He mumbled, “How could it not be a Fox spirit draining me?”

After finishing hotpot last night at eight, Qiao Yu dragged him and Little Yang to a KTV for an all-nighter.

Once Lin Linya got into the KTV, he practically forgot who he was, refusing to let go of the microphone. The first few hours were basically just him singing. By the time he came back to his senses, it was already 1 a.m. By the time he took a taxi home, it was almost 3 a.m., and washing up took another half hour.

He had only Slept four hours before rushing to his 8 a.m. class.

Complaining to Chen Chun, even he himself found it Outrageous, vowing never to Stay up late like this again. “In bed by three, up by seven, the King of Hell praises my good health.”

Chen Chun didn’t know how many oaths he’d heard him swear. He asked, knowing the answer, “So what happens the next time you stay up late?”

Lin Linya pillowed his head on his arms, tilted his head, and blinked at him. He said, righteously, “Next time I Stay up late again, then I’ll just swear another oath!”

Chen Chun, “…Amazing.”

After the Professor arrived, Lin Linya forced himself upright at his desk. He listened for 20 minutes, his eyes too heavy to keep open. When class ended, he looked at his notebook and immediately, “…”

Seriously, he tried to identify the things he’d written down while half-asleep. After a difficult attempt at deciphering them, he eventually gave up thinking and decided to shift the pressure entirely onto Finals Week.

He closed his textbook, stuffed it into his bag, and asked, “No more classes today. What are you gonna do?”

Chen Chun was looking at his phone, answering without raising his head. “Go back and catch up on Sleep, get up at noon, eat, then go play basketball.”

“Ah—” Lin Linya propped his chin on both hands, drawing out the syllable. “I was going to invite you to hang out at my rented place this afternoon. But since you’re busy, forget it then.”

Chen Chun glanced at him sideways. “I think you just need a lackey.”

Every time Lin Linya proactively invited him over, it was never good news—either helping him clean or cooking for him. Yet, he always coaxed him with sweet talk.

Every time he texted him, it was stuff like “Miss you” or “Miss you so much, Big Bro.”

The kind of Chat Logs so cloying that if anyone else saw them, his reputation as a Straight man, Chen Chun, would be utterly ruined.

Wearing a deadpan expression, he said, “The basketball match this afternoon is pretty important. Our major scheduled it with the neighboring department ages ago. But I’m not sure when it’ll end. If I can make it, I’ll head over.”

Lin Linya wasn’t interested in this kind of Match. He deliberately pinched his voice, his tone dripping with tea-like sarcasm. “Fine, fine, go do your thing then, Big Bro. No need to worry whether I live or die.”

Furious, Chen Chun gave his cheek a hard pinch.

Lin Linya was also dead tired. He hurriedly took a taxi back to Sleep. As it turned out, he Slept until 3 p.m. Got up, washed up, ordered takeout, and lazily sprawled on the sofa scrolling Weibo.

But the moment he logged into the Super Topic on his Smurf Account, he sensed something off in the atmosphere.

Usually, the Super Topic was filled with discussion and chat posts, occasionally sharing screen recordings and screenshots from streams. But today, many people were doing ‘plaza cleansing,’ posting unrelated things.

Lin Linya clicked on the Plaza. He scrolled for ages, mostly just seeing fan posts. It was a long time before he found a Weibo post with Like counts higher than his own.

【A certain small Wolf Fang streamer lives quite the wild private life, huh. Sure enough, gays are open. What do you guys think of this? (Short Video)】

Lin Linya clicked it, utterly puzzled. The initial image was blurry and dim, clearly a candid shot. The background had noisy music—it was from that time he went to a bar and got recorded by his classmate.

He thought to himself, what’s the big deal? And clicked on the comments section to read.

【Thanks for sharing, blogger. Fans got new material! Also, is anyone into the persona of someone who looks super obedient on the surface but is secretly bad and seduces men?】

【Though this might not be the time for shipping, since you brought it up, I’ll just nibble a little. The ’98 light on his fair, Pretty face makes him look like such a Little Goblin.】

But some Sisters were more fierce. 【What’s strange about an adult going to a club? But the person recording the video… it’s hard not to suspect ulterior motives. Doing this kind of ratty thing and posting it online. Could you be Secretly crushing on our Baby, resorting to slander because you can’t have him?】

【What’s your goal? I watched it three times and only saw our Ya looking good, being too popular, and getting sexually harassed by some guy. Only makes me feel protective love, nothing else.】

【Lying through your teeth. That guy in the back is Yaya’s Roommate. Clearly, he’s just out with a Friend. So unlucky. Normal private life, and you guys record it to Spread Rumors.】

The blogger quickly replied to her, 【Check my newest Weibo post.】

Lin Linya clicked into the blogger’s profile page. As expected, it was a burner account, only two posts total. One was the one he just saw, the other was posted this morning when Lin Linya was still in class.

He opened the photo the blogger had piled on for added impact, even turning his phone upside down to look. Once he made it out clearly, he nearly called the cyber police right then and there.

A slender young man seen from behind, wearing only a shirt, was sitting on a man’s lap. The man’s face wasn’t shown, but the young man on the lap had a sliver of his side profile visible.

Both men’s lower and upper bodies were connected in the image. The image quality was extremely blurry, looking very much like a temporary screenshot from some gay micro-video.

That little bit of visible side profile, at first glance, did bear some resemblance to Lin Linya.

Lin Linya, “…”

Surely no one would actually believe something like this, a complete fabrication, right?

He opened the comments section. The top-hottest comment was, 【Thanks for the material, Substituted it.】

Himself, “…”

Substituting anything will only harm you!

The following comments were much more Normal, mostly people speaking up for Lin Linya. 【Obviously fake. I hope the blogger Understands that Spreading Rumors is a crime~】

【Ya, you’re really famous now. Even needs fans to do your anti-hate.】

【Whoa! Before I clicked, I was expecting some kind of thunderclap of evidence. After clicking, I just feel like my eyes have been dirtied. As a three-year veteran fan, I can confirm with absolute Certainty that this is not Yaya. Are you crazy?!】

This photo was Taken down very quickly. The blogger deleted this Weibo post, and then the other one too. When Lin Linya clicked in again to check, it already showed that the user had been deactivated.

Just as he thought the matter was over, unexpectedly, it began to ferment rapidly on a small scale.

The rumors spread, getting more and more Outrageous. The photos and videos were saved by many people and re-shared. Ultimately, it evolved into a story about a pitiful Little Streamer, attending classes during the day and streaming at night, who had to do compensated dating after logging off. And many people actually believed it.

By the time the basketball Match ended in the afternoon, the sky was already dark. Chen Chun stood by the court drinking water. Suddenly, a hand clapped his shoulder. “Nice game this afternoon, huh? Wanna grab dinner together?”

Chen Chun checked the time, not expecting it to be this late, and frowned.

Thinking that Lin Linya might have already ordered takeout at this hour, his brow smoothed out. He lazily swatted the hand away. “Fine. What are we eating?”

He lowered his head to text Lin Linya. He got halfway through typing, 【Team dinner tonight, so I won’t make it over. You—】

Before he could send it, the guy next to him, sharp-eyed, spotted the contact name. He joked, “Bro Chun, you’re really close with our Department Belle, huh. Have you seen the rumors online lately? I heard the Department Belle likes guys, is it true?”

Another guy nearby heard this and chimed in, “I saw that too. Otherwise, he’s really good-looking. Truly worthy of being S University’s Gay Dock.”

Chen Chun nearly choked on his own spit. He turned around in disbelief and demanded, “What the hell are you guys Talking nonsense about?”

The few big boys exchanged glances. One of them said weakly, “Bro, we were just gossiping. Saw it online, don’t be mad.”

Chen Chun told them to send what they’d seen to him. Some were Weibo reposts, some were shared on Qzone. As he read, his brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

After finishing, he earnestly explained to the others, “These are all baseless rumors. He’s not that kind of person. As far as I know, his family’s financial situation is quite good. Don’t go spreading this.”

The group of guys all agreed hurriedly.

Chen Chun thought again: if they had all seen it, then someone like Lin Linya, who surfed the web frontline at all times, must have seen it too. His mood instantly soured.

“Suddenly remembered I have something to do. Can’t make it tonight. You guys go on without me.”

“Huh?” The guy who invited him grabbed his arm in a panic. “Junior Sister Xiaoxue is going tonight too, you sure you’re not coming?”

Chen Chun was completely annoyed now. “Who the hell told you all… Forget it. I really have stuff. Next time, my treat.”

The other guys wanted to say more, but Chen Chun was already walking out of the court without looking back, head down as he fiddled with his phone, as if texting someone.

Chen Chun sent Lin Linya several WeChat messages asking what he was doing. No reply. He simply called him directly via WeChat.

The call connected surprisingly quickly. The voice coming through the phone was slightly distorted. Chen Chun could hear Lin Linya’s voice was a bit muffled. “Hello? Bro Chen?”

The question he wanted to ask reached the tip of his tongue, then he suddenly stopped. He coughed once and asked, with feigned Casualness, “Have you eaten yet? I’m heading over to your place now. I’ll stop by the Supermarket on the way. What do you want to eat?”

Lin Linya Turned over in bed, sniffled, and said, “Want Braised Chicken, boiled beef filets, steamed mandarin fish… basically, anything that can be killed. Kill it for me.”

Chen Chun, who had originally been worried about him, “…What is this, the King of Hell summoning names? Look at the time. Can you just make do with something simple?”

“Fine, then just decide yourself.”

Lin Linya had been reading the rumors on Weibo and completely lost track of Time. Now, coming back to his senses, he pulled his phone away to check and realized it was very late.

So he asked, “Didn’t you say you had basketball this afternoon? Not going for dinner with your classmates, still coming over this late?”

Chen Chun strode quickly towards Lin Linya’s place, answering with a tone of impatience, “My lackey addiction’s acting up, got a problem?”