When Jian Rong saw that text, he stared blankly at his phone for a short moment.
Did he know how to act spoiled? How come he himself wasn't aware of that…
However, what was done couldn't be undone, and it was now irrelevant whether he knew or didn't know how. The group chat quickly switched to a different topic. Their match against Fighting Tiger was coming up soon, and even on break Ding-ge wasn't idle; he told them about a few small habits that Fighting Tiger's members had during competitive matches, as well as what to pay attention to during the pick/ban phase.
After the group chat calmed down again, Jian Rong slipped his phone into his pocket and stood up, intending to go to the study room and play ranked.
But when he opened his door, he discovered that the door to the study room was also wide open. Lu Boyuan was leaning back in the gaming chair, his posture relaxed as he watched a match replay.
When he heard a noise, Lu Boyuan looked over and called out to the person who was about to silently return to his room. "Want to game?"
"Mn." Jian Rong paused. "Well, it's not like I really want to, I'm just a bit bored."
Lu Boyuan exited the video before he got up and freed the space in front of the computer. "It's fine, I'll watch you play."
There was only one computer in Lu Boyuan's study, but there were two chairs. One was for using the computer, and the other was for reading.
A photo of the little teacup pig rolling around on grass was placed on the desk. Only then did Jian Rong think of asking, "How come… I haven't seen the pig?"
"When you arrived, it was asleep. Right now, they're taking it out for a walk."
Jian Rong was startled. "Pigs also have to be walked?"
Lu Boyuan laughed. "It's fine if you don't walk them… but my dad likes to mess around. Want to see it?"
Jian Rong said honestly, "Yes."
Lu Boyuan hummed. "Once they're back, I'll sneak it up for you to play with."
Sneak it up… for him to play with.
Jian Rong looked at Lu Boyuan quietly for a few seconds before he abruptly whipped his head around and quickly answered, "Okay."
After he sat down, Jian Rong logged into his WeChat out of habit before he remembered that he was currently using Lu Boyuan's computer.
He was about to close the social media interface when Ding-ge sent a message over.
Jian Rong clicked on it, completely unguarded. When he saw the photos of the dresses that the other person had sent over, he froze for quite a few seconds.
[Ding-ge: You'll be resuming streaming soon in a few days, so we have to quickly arrange these things. See if there's anything among these photos that you can accept, if not I'll ask the stylist to keep searching.]
For the most part, the clothes that Ding-ge sent over were very modest. The majority were dresses, and the most risque one was a black and white maid outfit, but that was just because the chest area was quite revealing, which wasn't an issue for a guy at all.
Lu Boyuan saw the outfits from behind Jian Rong, and he could sense Jian Rong's stiffness. He asked, "Don't want to wear it?"
Jian Rong snapped out of it and closed the pictures. "A little bit."
"Then don't wear it." Lu Boyuan took out his phone. "I'll go talk to Ding-ge, it's not a big deal."
Jian Rong shook his head. After being tormented for so long, he ended up calming down. "Forget it, since I already agreed, I have to do it… and Ding-ge also checked several times with me in advance, I was the one who didn't take it to heart."
Lu Boyuan lifted an eyebrow in surprise. Based on how strongly Jian Rong had rejected crossdressing earlier, Lu Boyuan thought that Jian Rong would instantly jump at the opportunity to back out.
Jian Rong could probably sense Lu Boyuan's puzzlement, and after he started solo queueing, he lowered his head and ruffled his hair once. "At the beginning, when I first started dyeing my hair this color, it wasn't done willingly either. But if you want to bet, you have to accept your losses… plus it's just a matter of dyeing some hair or changing some clothes. It doesn't really affect anything. I only didn't want to wear it because I didn't want to let those dumbass water friends laugh at me, I can guess with my eyes closed how they'll mock me on that day."
Lu Boyuan: "Then now you aren't afraid of them mocking you anymore?"
Jian Rong chose his champion. "I am. So I told Ding-ge to arrange a few more room mods for me, when the time comes if I can't out-argue them I'll just kick them."
Lu Boyuan was briefly startled before he ducked his head and laughed.
Jian Rong had already entered a game, so he didn't know what kind of expression the person behind him was wearing. This lasted all the way until the sound of the garage door opening traveled in through the crack in the window. Lu Boyuan stood up from his chair and patted Jian Rong's head.
"When the time comes, give me one of your stream moderator positions too?"
The tips of Jian Rong's ears immediately grew hot, but his hand movements didn't slow down, and he beautifully solo killed the enemy mid laner. "…okay."
"Mn." Lu Boyuan withdrew his hand, satisfied. "You keep playing, I'll go steal the pig."
That night, Jian Rong clicked on the button to post on his Moments for the first time in a long while. He chose a few pictures of Little Orange from his photo album before adding on a few pictures of the little teacup pig too, preparing to dust off his Moments a little.
Right before posting, Jian Rong paused for a few seconds before he doubled back to add one more picture. The photo was of the red envelope that Lu Boyuan had given him.
After he successfully posted, Jian Rong refreshed his homepage while he was at it and discovered that Lu Boyuan had also posted on his Moments two seconds ago, which made his post sit right next to Jian Rong's.
Besides the nine photos included in Jian Rong's Moments post, he had also included a simple caption: [New year.]
Lu Boyuan had only posted one photo, with no caption.
The picture had been taken from the side. In the photo, Jian Rong was sitting cross-legged on the floor, with one hand propped up under his chin while he used the other to pet Pipi's head—or, in other words, the little teacup pig's head.
Jian Rong stared blankly at that picture for a long time and only snapped out of it when Xiao Bai's comment popped up beneath Jian Rong's post.
[Xiao Bai: Fuck that scared me to death. With these two posts right next to each other, at first glance I thought that my ge was announcing that he was dating.]
Someone else asked a question underneath very quickly after.
[Yuan Qian replying to Xiao Bai: You're overthinking it, who could Captain announce that he's dating?]
[Xiao Bai replying to Yuan Qian: Tang Qin-jie?]
Jian Rong expressionlessly deleted Xiao Bai's reply.
A few seconds later, he felt like it wasn't enough, so he pulled up Xiao Bai's profile and, for the very first time, used the "Hide My Posts" function on Xiao Bai.
When Lu Boyuan woke up, he had over a hundred comment notifications from his Moments. He narrowed his eyes and read a few of them but felt too lazy to respond, so he just liked Jian Rong's post before he got out of bed.
A few short minutes later, Ding-ge called him.
Lu Boyuan was in the middle of washing his face. He turned off the tap and answered the phone. "I'm not awake yet."
Ding-ge replied, "You're awake. I saw you like Jian Rong's Moments post."
Lu Boyuan was rendered speechless. "…what is it?"
"I'm back at the base now. They've caught the thief and recovered everything except Xiao Bai's laptop." Ding-ge lowered his head and sorted through his luggage. "The thief didn't have time to sell your watch yet, and it's currently with me, so I just wanted to let you know. Oh, right, I'll have someone go pick up Jian Rong and bring him back in a bit."
Lu Boyuan tugged down his towel and wiped his face dry. He asked, "Today is still part of the break, why does he have to go back?"
Ding-ge was stumped by the question. Wasn't Jian Rong originally going to spend the New Year at the base?
"He's about to resume streaming, of course he has to come back ahead of time to prepare."
Lu Boyuan's movements paused, and he said a few seconds later, "Got it, don't make anyone come get him. I'll go back with him."
He called Jian Rong out of his room to eat breakfast. After eating, they returned to their rooms to pack and get ready to go back to the base.
Jian Rong hugged his backpack as he waited at the entrance to Lu Boyuan's room. He couldn't help but say, "Actually, I can just take a taxi back."
Lu Boyuan walked out of his room, pushing his suitcase, and he made up some random excuse. "They found the watch, I have to go back and inspect it."
Jian Rong's eyes widened. "They found it? Really?"
"Mn." Seeing Jian Rong's expression of pleasant surprise, Lu Boyuan burst into laughter. "It's my watch, why are you so happy?"
This entire time, Jian Rong had felt like the base's robbery was his fault, so naturally he heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that the items had been found.
"No reason, I'm just happy." Jian Rong averted his eyes and picked up Lu Boyuan's suitcase. "Then I'll wait for you downstairs."
Jian Rong encountered Lu Boyuan's parents on the first floor.
The two of them seemed to have just returned from outside. Mama Lu was slightly startled when she saw that Jian Rong was carrying her son's luggage. "You two are going back already? This… is Xiao Lu's suitcase, right?"
Papa Lu snorted coldly. "Making his junior carry his suitcase for him, he really knows how to put on airs. After entering that profession, he gained all these arrogant bad habits…"
Jian Rong had never really said much in front of these two parents, but now he responded extremely quickly. "I was the one who wanted to carry it, I grabbed it from him."
Papa Lu: "…"
"He isn't arrogant either, he's very considerate towards every team member. He's never really put on any airs before, and he definitely doesn't have any of the bad habits that you were referring to." After that, Jian Rong bowed slightly towards the two parents. "I've troubled you all these past two days."
Jian Rong waited in the garage with the luggage. Lu Boyuan only came out ten minutes later.
After the car started, Jian Rong had just fastened his seat belt when the person next to him suddenly asked, "What did you say to my dad?"
Jian Rong froze. "Nothing much… did he scold you?"
"No." The car pulled out of the garage, and Lu Boyuan said mildly, "He asked me what kind of bewitching potion I fed you… to make you support me so strongly."
Jian Rong hugged his backpack and was dumbfounded for a few seconds, before he went completely mute.
—
Ding-ge said Jian Rong had to return and get ready to resume streaming, but in reality there were just a few small tasks to get done. Most importantly, it was so Jian Rong could get used to the streaming process.
Jian Rong rejected Ding-ge's offer to ask a professional to come by and provide guidance. "I'm more popular than this person that you found. From now on, if you need anything else regarding this field, you can just directly ask me. I'll charge a lower fee than him."
Ding-ge: "…"
Afterwards, Jian Rong routinely and easily finished setting up his sound card, webcam, and streaming interface, all right in front of Ding-ge's face.
By the time Lu Boyuan returned from another checkup at the doctor, Jian Rong had already begun training.
When he returned, Ding-ge hastily put down his phone. "How was it? What did the doctor say? I already said that I could go with you, but you insisted otherwise…"
"It's nothing serious." Lu Boyuan sat down on the couch and looked at the black cloth bag placed to the side. "What's this?"
Ding-ge let out an "oh." "The skirt."
"…" Lu Boyuan kneaded his forehead. "Haven't you gone a little bit overboard with this."
"I knew you were going to say that." Ding-ge sighed. "It's really not as bad as what you all keep imagining, it's just wearing a skirt for a few hours, that's all. Crossdressing combined with duo queueing with you… do you know what I negotiated from StarTV based on these two factors? Starting from tomorrow afternoon, Jian Rong's livestream room will be able to stay on StarTV's best recommendation list all the way until night. All of StarTV's marketing will follow accordingly, and the platform is even willing to split the gifts he receives tomorrow in a 20/80 ratio… who else would receive this kind of treatment, besides you? Even though I only helped him negotiate for a single day, this exposure will be enough for him to make a bountiful profit from now on.
"I felt like this would allow him to receive the greatest benefit, so I helped him fight for it. It's that simple."
Lu Boyuan silently listened to Ding-ge finish speaking. "You're not worried that he'll be unwilling?"
"That won't happen." Ding-ge first denied it before he joked, "If he truly is unwilling… then I'll make you help out, he really listens to you."
Lu Boyuan stood up and headed upstairs, tossing behind a: "You're thinking too much. If he isn't willing, I wouldn't make him stream."
Jian Rong resumed streaming on the fourth day after Lunar New Year.
When Lu Boyuan woke up, the team group chat was already bursting with energy. Xiao Bai was counting down in the group chat.
[P-Baby's Little Support: There's only one minute remaining!]
[P-Baby's Little Support: The last 30 seconds! I can't restrain my screenshot key anymore!]
[Da Qian: You should restrain yourself a bit, you'll be going back to the base tonight, not afraid that Xiao Rong will beat you to death?]
[P-Baby's Little Support withdrew a message.]
Lu Boyuan exited the group chat and, still in the position that he had been in when he woke up, he pulled up Jian Rong's livestream.
Jian Rong hadn't started streaming yet, but the barrage was already covering the entire screen.
[It's been so long since I last came to the little dumbass' livestream, reminiscing TAT]
[I didn't even camp out this punctually when I was waiting to check my freaking college entrance exam scores.]
[Ahhh dumbass gkdgkd, my wife is about to enter the delivery room!]
[I started a ranked game, but my teammates were too trash and the game didn't end even after 40 minutes. In order to watch your stream, I left the game, but in the end you're fucking late on the day you're set to resume streaming???]
[Above, I was your teammate, I also left.]
[Hasn't even started streaming yet, but the stream popularity has already reached #3…?]
[Son, face.]
[I took a look at the viewer list… currently there are already 11 LPL pro players in this livestream room...… I didn't see it wrong, did I?]
[13 now, they don't freaking stream themselves, but they get here faster than anyone else in order to watch the show!]
[Holy shit holy shit holy shit, God Lu is here!!! A few months later, God Lu has returned to my son's livestream room once again!!!]
Seeing that the stream still wasn't beginning, Lu Boyuan was about to get up and wash when the screen suddenly flashed and started to reveal an image—
The person in the video was wearing a pink and white sailor outfit, and a pink bow was tied at the collar area, revealing a slender and fair-skinned neck above it. Since his head was raised, his slightly protruding Adam's apple was also visible.
He was wearing a wig, the blue ponytail draped over his chest. On top of his head, there was also a… pair of pink bunny ears.
Jian Rong had put on makeup, and his cheeks had purposefully been colored very red. Putting on the eyeliner had forced out a few reflexive tears from him, so the depths of his eyes were currently glistening.
It seemed like he couldn't read the barrage clearly. He narrowed his eyes and scooted forward a little, causing his shirt collar to fall forward lightly, his pale collarbones faintly discernible.
The barrage paused for two seconds, before it immediately rushed forward like a flood breaching a dam.
When Jian Rong was concentratedly looking at something, his mouth tended to open a bit out of habit. A few seconds later, his pink, lip-balm coated lips opened and closed. "Spam the barrage slower, your dad can't read it clearly."
[...…]
[Laozi was already ready to jack off, but the moment he opened his mouth I wilted]
[Dumbass darling is so pretty dumbass darling is so pretty]
[Dumbass daughter tug at your collar!!]
[Dumbass daughter happy 18th birthday!!!]
[Can those damn YY losers get lost? Several thousand of his dads are here, do you still fucking dare to be so lecherous?]
[If I say you're girly now, will you admit it??]
[I remember that TTC doesn't accept female members, were you actually a girl pretending to be a guy earlier in order to join TTC?]
[Darling you're so cute, Mommy gives you a kiss -3-]
[Mom fans gradually become degenerates.]
"Thank you Xiao Bai, Qian-ge, Hezi, Pine, and Kongkong for your Sea of Stars. Thank you 'Soft World's #1 Sissy' for your Sea of Stars. Thank you 'Soft Damn Crossdresser' for your Sea of Stars. Thank you 'Darling Daughter I Love You' for your two Sea of Stars…"
After reciting the last name, Jian Rong frowned. "Darling? You all are so disgusting, don't call me that, you're going to make my foot hair bristle."
[You have foot hair even though you look like that??]
"Your dad has more foot hair than you do hair." Right after Jian Rong said that, he directly hiked up his right leg and put it on the chair before he grabbed the webcam and started to direct it towards his leg.
[????]
[Ah what? What kind of segment is this…?]
[Shit nobody really wants to see your foot hair!!!]
[Even if you wore ten fucking skirts you'd still be pure dumbass…]
[Skirt!! Pull up your skirt a little!!!]
[Oh my this skirt is actually a genuine version. Dumbass son hasn't disappointed Mom, he knows the business.]
[Shocked, will this not be locked??]
The camera shook, and the white stockings that Jian Rong was wearing had just entered the shot when the viewers heard the sound of a door opening.
Jian Rong was about to prove that he was an authentic man when someone suddenly snatched away the webcam. He froze and subconsciously looked up.
Lu Boyuan wore a short-sleeved shirt and gray trousers. His hair was a bit messy since he just woke up and hadn't styled it.
It was the appearance of someone who had just gotten out of bed and hadn't had time to wash up yet.
Lu Boyuan held the webcam in his hand and crooked his finger before he tapped it against the knee of the leg that Jian Rong had hiked up.
"Sit properly." His voice was slightly hoarse.
Jian Rong snapped out of it and instantly put his leg down. "You're up?"
Lu Boyuan hadn't even washed his face yet. He placed the webcam back on top of the monitor before he looked down at Jian Rong. "Want your livestream room to be locked?"
Jian Rong was startled, though he recovered very swiftly. "No, I'm wearing pants underneath, look."
After Jian Rong said that, he lifted up his skirt and showed Lu Boyuan that pair of little shorts.
Lu Boyuan: "."
During the past few months, Jian Rong had become a little plumper from being fed, and he no longer looked like a sack of bones. His thighs were clean and pale, and there were two tiny moles on them.
[????]
[Can't see can't see can't see, let me see what the shorts look like!]
[Damn my husband's just-woke-up appearance is so handsome!]
[rwkk! rwkk! God Lu angle the webcam downwards a bit ahhh—]
[God Lu's voice is so sexy ahhh wsl]
[Aren't you supposed to be duo Q'ing with God Lu?? When are you guys starting ah?]
Lu Boyuan reached out and tugged down Jian Rong's skirt. The rough pads of his fingers stroked very lightly across Jian Rong's thighs.
Originally, Jian Rong hadn't thought much of it, but after that touch, he immediately sat properly and stopped moving around.
"Let me go wash my face, and then I'll come back to queue with you." Lu Boyuan said mildly, "You're not allowed to lift your skirt again."