WCG Chapter 60

Jiang Shi’s tongue was unusually red, perhaps from having sucked on candy earlier. A few pieces of crushed candy rested on it. His tongue tip was slightly curled upward into a sharp point—perhaps from the nervousness of taking the photo.  

He indeed hadn’t smoked.  

After Jiang Shi sent the picture over, he followed up by asking Xie Xu if he believed him.  

Xie Xu’s gaze lingered on Jiang Shi’s tiger tooth in the photo for a few seconds before replying:  

[Xu: Hmm, I believe you didn’t smoke.]  

Seeing Xie Xu’s reply, Jiang Shi felt relieved. But when he glanced back at the photo he had sent, and the fact that he had specifically asked Xie Xu to look at his mouth, he suddenly felt the entire thing was a little suggestive.  

Blinking, he quickly retracted the photo of his mouth.  

It was too embarrassing.  

Thankfully, Xie Xu didn’t ask.  

[Xu: What are you having for dinner?]  

Jiang Shi glanced at the instant noodles on the table.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: Self-service buffet.]  

Xie Xu, who was checking the map near the internet café where Jiang Shi was staying, noticed it was a rather remote location, though there was a police station just one street over.  

Security wouldn’t be an issue.  

However, there weren’t any decent dining options nearby, let alone a “buffet.”  

Scrolling back through the pictures Jiang Shi had sent earlier, Xie Xu noticed several buckets of instant noodles among the snacks.  

Xie Xu: “…”  

Jiang Shi, after sending the message, looked up to find that the game’s main menu had already appeared on the computer screen. 

His alternate account was logged in and ready to go.  

Bamboo glanced at him and teased, “I thought you were going to sit in this internet café chatting with Xu all night.”  

Hadn’t they talked enough back at the base? They’d only just parted ways, and now they were clinging to each other on WeChat.  

He had even seen Jiang Shi taking selfies just now, which was enough to give him goosebumps.  

Jiang Shi coughed lightly and covered his mouth. “Of course not.”  

Xie Xu had just returned home and was probably busy—he wouldn’t have time to chat for long.  

Jiang Shi sent an invitation to Bamboo in the game and started a match immediately.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: Captain, I’m going duo queue with Bamboo for now~]  

[Xu: Mn, I’ll be visiting relatives later, so I might not reply quickly.]  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: Got it!]  

Putting down his phone, Jiang Shi focused on playing with Bamboo.  

Even though it had been a while since they played together, their teamwork was still solid. In lower-rank matches, they were completely dominating their opponents.  

While playing, the two casually chatted. Bamboo couldn’t help but gossip, “Your fans have been super active lately. One moment they’re saying you kissed, the next moment they’re saying you slept together. So what’s the actual progress?”  

Judging by Jiang Shi’s current demeanor, it didn’t seem like he was officially with anyone yet.  

Jiang Shi flashed in, used his ult, and took out the enemy AD with a smooth combo. As he returned to base, he replied, “It’s all fake. The only thing that happened was when I got drunk and held Xu’s hand once.”  

The key detail was that the memory of that night was hazy. He only remembered stroking Xu’s hand rather meticulously, even touching the small mole on his right hand. But as for how it actually felt, he couldn’t recall.  

Bamboo blocked the enemy mid-laner mage from going bot lane and forced a trade of abilities. “You can safely recall now, the mid-laner won’t dare to follow.”  

Just as he finished speaking, the enemy jungler appeared. However, it seemed like Jiang Shi had anticipated this. With a quick sidestep, he dodged the enemy’s ultimate, used his skills to retreat under the tower, and continued recalling right in front of them.  

Frustrated, the enemy jungler fired off a random shot in place before slinking away in defeat.  

Bamboo gave him a thumbs-up. He noticed that Jiang Shi’s game sense had improved significantly since joining TLG. Even in low-level matches like these, he could accurately predict the movements of all five opponents, effectively countering the jungler and support’s routes.  

Bamboo gave him a thumbs up. “Show-off.” 

This level of map awareness was something Bamboo had previously observed while watching TLG’s match replays, particularly in Xu’s gameplay.  

Many fans jokingly referred to Xu as the “Prophet.” And now, Jiang Shi seemed to be developing the same vibe.  

Once the action died down, Jiang Shi picked up his phone and checked it.  

No messages from Xie Xu.  

Bamboo noticed his movement and chuckled. “You really are a love-brained person. One moment you’re heartbroken over your ex-boyfriend, and the next you’re falling for Xu at first sight from just a photo. You’re either all in or not at all.”  

Deeply sentimental yet a scumbag.  

Bamboo asked, “Is Xu’s face really that much to your liking?”  

He didn’t quite understand the appeal of being a face-con or hand-con but found it amusing that someone could fall so hard for just those features.  

Jiang Shi bought items in-game and replied, “It’s not just his face. Xu’s hands are really beautiful too.”  

“So you like him just for those two things?” Bamboo laughed. “Does that mean if someone else comes along who’s even more to your taste, you’d just drop Xu?”  

Jiang Shi’s hand on the mouse froze for a moment. After a few seconds, he finished buying his items and left the fountain.  

He didn’t respond.  

Logically speaking, Bamboo wasn’t wrong.  

“But then again,” Bamboo said earnestly, “in all these years, aside from your online ex-boyfriend and Xu, I’ve never seen you take such a liking to anyone’s face or hands.”  

There were plenty of hand model streamers on platforms like Little Bear TV, but Jiang Shi had never paid attention to them.  

Once, Bamboo had even sent Jiang Shi a screenshot of someone he thought had particularly nice hands, but Jiang Shi had only replied dismissively: [Meh.]  

And despite all the attractive celebrity posters on the streets, Jiang Shi had only ever been drawn to Xie Xu at first glance.  

In some inexplicable way, it seemed like fate had made Xie Xu uniquely irreplaceable to him.  

Bamboo figured it out, but Jiang Shi subconsciously started thinking about what Bamboo had said.  

He was certain that he really liked Xie Xu right now, but if someone new came along, would he really develop feelings for them? Or if someone similar to Xie Xu appeared, would he waver?  

Moreover, what is Xie Xu to him? 

He probably had some feelings for him, right? Otherwise, he wouldn’t let Jiang Shi hold his hand. He hadn’t seen Xie Xu let anyone else hold his hand.  

But what if Xie Xu only saw him as a junior to take care of? Helping someone drunk by holding their hand seemed pretty normal, especially since they were both guys.  

So, did Xie Xu even like men?  

As Jiang Shi’s thoughts spiraled, Bamboo suddenly spoke up, “Looks like our support this round is a streamer. Their name has the Little Bear TV tag.”  

Their rank wasn’t too high or too low, which made it a perfect spot for streamers to smurf and get some dramatic gameplay for their content.  

In this game, Bamboo filled in as the jungler. The mid-laner was a girl with the ID [Strawberry Jam], who politely discussed positions with Bamboo when picking heroes.  

At the start, the support stuck with the mage in the middle lane. For a streamer, they had some skills—flashing to stun enemies and coordinating with the mid-laner to secure the first kill.  

[Team Chat] Strawberry Jam: Awesome.  

[Team Chat] Little Bear TV.X.u: Not bad.  

Jiang Shi frowned. “That support’s name?”  

Bamboo answered, “Intentionally imitating.”  

He found the streamer’s channel, opened it, and handed his phone to Jiang Shi. “Check out their stream.”  

Jiang Shi glanced down. On the screen, the streamer was wearing a black wool coat and a dark blue scarf, with even their hairstyle mimicking Xie Xu’s. With the addition of a mask, they really did look quite similar at first glance.  

As Jiang Shi stared at the person, a question that had been troubling him suddenly found an answer.  

Even if someone similar to Xie Xu appeared, he wouldn’t waver. On the contrary, he’d just want to punch them.  

Bamboo glanced at the scarf on the streamer in the video. “That’s the exact same color as the one you wore out today.”  

Jiang Shi nodded. “Yeah.”  

It was Xie Xu’s scarf. He had tucked it away when they arrived at the internet cafe, worried it might absorb the smell of smoke.  

Jiang Shi’s expression turned cold. “He’s dressing like Xie Xu on purpose.”  

In the streamer’s channel, there were a lot of viewers with Xu’s fan tags. But since he’s obviously an imposter, the channel didn’t have a lot of viewers.  

The streamer hadn’t turned on his mic but occasionally pinned messages in the chat:  

[Get to fan level 10 to add my personal contact info. I’ll help you climb ranks then.]  

This reminded Jiang Shi of something Yuan Yang had told him before—someone had pretended to be Xie Xu and even sold Xie Xu’s social media account.  

This person wasn’t much better, though they were clearly using their own account.  

[It’s totally Xu! They really look alike.]  

[He even played Snowman. Not many people are this good with that hero.]  

[Could this be Xu, just streaming for fun while on vacation?]  

Some irrational fans were even calling the streamer “husband.”  

The streamer tacitly allowed these comments without clarification.  

Their mid-laner in this game also noticed the ID.  

[Team Chat] Strawberry Jam: Are you really Xu? I’m a big fan! I even asked my parents to give me my New Year’s money in advance so I could buy loads of your merch!  

[Team Chat] Little Bear TV.X.u: Thanks for the support.  

[Team Chat] Little Bear TV.X.u: Add me after the game. If I’m in a good mood, I’ll help you rank up.  

[Team Chat] Little Bear TV.X.u: You can also check out my stream to support my alt account. That merch you bought? It’s just money for the manufacturers.  

The mid-laner, clearly young, believed them without a hint of doubt.  

[Team Chat] Strawberry Jam: I’ll search for it now!  

They stopped playing entirely, standing under the tower idly while typing.  

Jiang Shi clicked his tongue.  

[Team Chat] Your Dad is Here: Focus on the game, mid-laner, or I’ll report you for being AFK.  

[Team Chat] Strawberry Jam: Okay! I’ll search for Xu’s channel after this match.  

The streamer wasn’t in a rush, sticking close to the mid-laner and occasionally speaking up, clearly targeting the “New Year’s money” she mentioned earlier.  

Jiang Shi narrowed his eyes but said nothing.  

Later, during a team fight, the streamer made a poor decision, failed to land any stuns, and got both themselves and the mid-laner killed. Jiang Shi managed to turn the tide, taking out two opponents and balancing the situation.  

[Team Chat] Your Dad is Here: Not a single freeze landed? And you dare impersonate Xu with that skill level?  

[Team Chat] Your Dad is Here: Also, Xu uses his flash to engage fights, not to escape and crash into walls like some ATM.  

[Team Chat] Your Dad is Here: Can’t scammers even make a decent effort before the New Year rush?  

Jiang Shi’s hands flew across the keyboard, sending all three messages in quick succession, leaving the streamer dumbfounded.  

[Team Chat] Little Bear TV.X.u: Who are you?  

[Team Chat] Your Dad is Here: Isn’t my ID clear enough?  

As soon as Jiang Shi sent this, the streamer cursed aloud on their stream in a crude, heavily-accented tone, scaring off most of their viewers. The viewer count plummeted to single digits.  

Jiang Shi chuckled softly.  

[Team Chat] Your Dad is Here: That’s all it took to break you?  

Realizing the person was in their stream, the streamer quickly went silent and pretended to act clueless.  

[Team Chat] Little Bear TV.X.u: I don’t know what you’re talking about. Believe what you want. I’m just playing for fun.  

[Team Chat] Your Dad is Here: Then let me ask you a simple question: What does Xu love the most?  

The streamer hesitated.  

[Team Chat] Little Bear TV.X.u: Competing.  

Xie Xu’s passion for the professional scene was well known, so this answer seemed foolproof.  

[Team Chat] Your Dad is Here: Wrong.  

Jiang Shi smiled faintly.  

[Team Chat] Your Dad is Here: Xu obviously loves his little AD the most! Stupid fake!