WCG Chapter 59

 When Jiang Shi left the base, he only brought a backpack and a carton of milk.  

It was the 28th of the twelfth lunar month today. Since he only planned to stay for three days before returning to the base, he packed just a few changes of clothes.  

Jiang Shi took a taxi directly back.  

His rental apartment had been unoccupied for a long time. When he pushed the door open, a cold and dusty smell was immediately noticeable.  

Having grown accustomed to the air-conditioned environment at the TLG base, Jiang Shi suddenly felt a little cold.  

From his backpack, he pulled out the scarf Xie Xu had given him, wrapped it around his neck, tied a knot, and tucked the ends into his clothes.  

The tables and chairs in the room were coated with a layer of dust. Jiang Shi was careful not to let the scarf get dirty.  

After quickly wiping down the dust from the furniture, Jiang Shi began cleaning the apartment. While moving back and forth, he noticed a change in the light outside the open window.  

Turning his head, Jiang Shi spotted a black cat perched on the air conditioning unit outside.  

He waved to it. “Come here.”  

The cat tilted its head and stared at him for a moment before turning away, flicking its tail slightly. With a push of its legs, it jumped down from the windowsill.  

Jiang Shi clicked his tongue. “Heartless little thing.”  

After not seeing him for a few months, it no longer recognized him.

Although, to be fair, it never really paid him much attention before.  

Just as Jiang Shi finished tidying the room and was about to refill the automatic feeder for the cat, his phone rang.  

It was Bamboo.  

“Are you back? Want to have dinner together later? I’ll treat you.” 

Bamboo lived nearby, and Jiang Shi had asked him to top up the automatic feeder and take care of Xiao Hei[mfn]literally “Little Black”[/mfn], the black cat.

Jiang Shi held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he continued working.  

Opening the cabinet, he shook the nearly empty bag of cat food and replied, “Alright, then I won’t hold back. After dinner, I’ll stop by the store to buy some more cat food for Xiao Hei.”  

“Yeah, I noticed there wasn’t much left last time I fed him. I almost forgot,” Bamboo said. “After dinner, I’ll go with you. But since it’s close to New Year’s, I’m not sure if the pet stores will still be open.”  

Bamboo was right. After dinner, they visited several pet stores, only to find them all closed.  

Jiang Shi had no choice but to order online from JD.com, though the customer service agent couldn’t guarantee delivery before the Lunar New Year.  

“Forget it. Let’s stop looking. Let’s see if the delivery arrives in time,” Jiang Shi said.  

As they walked back, Bamboo suddenly stopped at a corner, laughing as he pointed across the street to an internet café. “Isn’t that the one we used to go to? It’s been years, and they haven’t even upgraded their storefront.”  

The café’s sign had a missing character in its name, making it look both ridiculous and amusing.  

“Was this where you did your first live stream? I recognized it instantly when I stumbled across your channel,” Bamboo said, his tone tinged with nostalgia. “Back then, I came to this café to find you. Originally, I wanted to convince you—a minor—to focus on your studies…”  

Halfway through his sentence, Bamboo trailed off.  

“What? And then you discovered I was a complete delinquent?” Jiang Shi wasn’t offended. With his hands in his pockets, he looked at the internet café. “I remember this place looked run-down even back then, but it had the best internet speed in the area, and it was cheap to boot.”  

He paused, his tone calm. “The key point was that it was far from where I lived at the time.”  

Back then, it took him almost an hour by bus to get there.  

During the day, he worked at a courier station, and at night, he streamed from this internet café. If he was too tired, he’d just sleep on the tables there instead of going home.  

The café owner at that time had pitied him and didn’t charge him extra for staying overnight.  

But in the end, his scummy father found out about the place.  

Bamboo looked at Jiang Shi’s face, which showed no particular emotion, and hesitated before speaking. “Jiang Shi, I recently heard something, and I’ve been debating whether to tell you.”  

Knowing Jiang Shi’s family situation, Bamboo found it hard to bring up.  

Jiang Shi sensed something. He turned to Bamboo. “You heard news about my dad?”  

Back then, not only had Jiang Shi’s dad discovered his streaming income, but he’d also found out about Bamboo.  

Although Jiang Shi moved to a different neighborhood, Bamboo remained in the same place.  

Bamboo hadn’t expected Jiang Shi to figure it out so quickly. He nodded. “It seems like he’s back for the New Year and is looking for you.”  

Jiang Shi’s gaze turned icy. “Don’t bother with him. If he comes to you, just say I’m dead.”  

He added, “If he messes with your life, call the police. He’s probably back from gambling somewhere. Let him spend the holidays behind bars for a few days.”  

His tone was detached, as if discussing an enemy rather than his biological father.  

Bamboo felt reassured by Jiang Shi’s words. “Got it. I’ll make sure not to reveal anything about you.”  

Back then, when Jiang Shi’s father found out that Jiang Shi earned money working at the courier station and occasionally made a few hundred yuan streaming, he’d tried to force Jiang Shi to hand over the money. That had led to a fight at the internet café.  

Jiang Shi still vividly remembered that day—

Both of them looking fierce, with tables and chairs in disarray. His arm had been scratched deeply, blood gushing out.  

His father didn’t fare any better, ending up with a bruised face after being completely overpowered by the fiery and determined Jiang Shi.  

After all, one was an alcoholic gambler, while the other did physical labor daily, building up his strength.  

Jiang Shi, blinded by rage, had raised a chair and nearly smashed it over his father.  

Fortunately, the café owner had intervened in time, preventing things from escalating further.  

The police eventually arrived and determined that the café’s damages would be covered by Jiang Shi’s father. Since Jiang Shi was a minor at the time, the incident was classified as a domestic dispute. After reprimanding both parties, the police let them go.  

His dad, upon hearing that the internet café would demand tens of thousands in compensation, promptly abandoned Jiang Shi and ran off. In the end, the café owner showed some mercy and only asked Jiang Shi to cover the equipment repair costs, but all the courier money Jiang Shi had gathered for a few months went in vain. 

During that time, Jiang Shi was terribly haggard. 

But now, everything is much better. After joining TLG, Jiang Shi was clearly well cared for, and his face had even filled out.  

Bamboo, noticing Jiang Shi’s healthier and rosier complexion, along with the scarf around his neck bearing the small TLG-Xu logo, gave his shoulder a heavy pat and said enthusiastically, “It’s all in the past now. Things are only going to get better for us!”  

Although Bamboo’s words were heartfelt, Jiang Shi rubbed his arms and replied with disdain, “Don’t get all sentimental.”  

Then, taking a step toward the internet café, he added, “Let’s see if the boss has changed.”  

The boss was still the same as before. It took him a moment to recognize the two of them, but when he did, he was quite pleased and even offered them free play for the evening.  

Jiang Shi didn’t decline but did take several snacks and instant noodles from the café, paying the exact price for them.  

The two didn’t go into a private room but stayed in the main hall instead. The environment was noisy and filled with cigarette smoke, yet Jiang Shi felt at ease.

This was an environment he was familiar with.  

From the pile of snacks they had just grabbed, Jiang Shi picked out a pack of cigarettes. Just as he was about to light one to suit the atmosphere, Bamboo stopped him, “Doesn’t TLG ban smoking?”  

Jiang Shi had mentioned this rule when he first joined the team.  

Jiang Shi looked at him blankly and replied, “I’m not at TLG now, am I?”  

In reality, Jiang Shi wasn’t addicted to smoking at all. He hadn’t touched a single cigarette since joining the team and had even told Xie Xu and the others that he didn’t smoke. 

But now, with no one watching over him, he felt the urge to have one.

Especially since earlier thoughts had left him a bit irritated.  

Bamboo wasn’t having it. “Don’t even think about it. Smoking’s no good for you. If your captain finds out, he’ll think I’ve been leading you astray.”  

Previously, thanks to Jiang Shi’s introduction, the three of them had played a few games together. Xie Xu had even added Bamboo on WeChat and sent him a message today, asking him to look after Jiang Shi.  

Bamboo grabbed a lemon-flavored lollipop from the snacks and stuffed it into Jiang Shi’s hand. “If your mouth feels empty, suck on this instead.”  

What a coincidence—it was lemon-flavored.  

Jiang Shi paused for a moment before unwrapping the candy and popping it into his mouth.  

His quick compliance caught Bamboo off guard. “I’m really not used to you being so obedient.” 

He grinned and reached out, trying to lift Jiang Shi’s chin. “Come on, call me something sweet?”  

Jiang Shi smacked his hand away with a crisp slap, making Bamboo yelp in pain.  

“How can you talk like that! Do you still want Dad to carry you in ranked matches or not?”  

Bamboo, clutching the back of his hand, muttered, “Want, want, you are my Dad.” 

This kid’s strength was no joke.  

While Bamboo was nursing his hand, Jiang Shi sneakily slipped a cigarette from the pack into his pocket.  

He figured he’d light it after finishing the lollipop—once the smoke was in his mouth, Bamboo wouldn’t be able to stop him even if he tried.  

Completely oblivious to Jiang Shi’s little scheme, Bamboo logged into his account and said, “I’m using a smurf this time, the rank’s pretty low. Use a smaller account too, and let’s crush some noobs!”  

With the New Year approaching, wreaking havoc in low-rank games[mfn]OG Chinese: frying small fish (in the pond)[/mfn] sounded like a fun idea.

“Oh, by the way, want to spend New Year’s at my place this year?” Bamboo asked. “My mom’s been asking if you’ll come.”  

There had been a few times when Jiang Shi, worn down by Bamboo’s persistence, spent New Year’s at his place. 

Jiang Shi was good at winning people over—Bamboo’s mom treated him better than her own son.  

“Not this year. I’ve got to sort out moving arrangements in the next few days,” Jiang Shi replied. “I’m not renewing the lease on my place.”  

He wasn’t sure if his cheap father would find his rented apartment. Better to end the lease, it would save money and hassle.  

Understanding Jiang Shi’s concerns, Bamboo didn’t push further.  

As Jiang Shi searched for an account with a suitable rank in his phone’s notes app, Bamboo casually changed the subject. “You still can’t recover that old QQ account of yours? I remember it was linked to a lot of skins in your game.”  

Without looking up, Jiang Shi replied, “Even if I got it back, it’s useless. I’ve cleared out all my contacts.”  

The day he fought with his unreliable father at the internet café, Jiang Shi managed to protect the cash in his hand but couldn’t save his QQ account.  

That account was linked to his father’s phone number. That night, the account experienced frequent unauthorized logins as the two of them repeatedly fought for control. In the end, Jiang Shi had no choice but to delete all his contacts. Moments later, the password was changed.  

At the time, he was furious and wanted to settle the score, but his cheap father had disappeared without a trace.  

Later, Jiang Shi was too busy working to pay off the internet café’s debt to deal with it.  

By the time his life got back on track, he had also lost contact with his online boyfriend.  

Thinking about it used to make Jiang Shi feel a twinge of regret, but now, as he tasted the sweetness of the lemon candy in his mouth, his mood remained steady and unaffected.  

He had Xie Xu now.  

Perhaps through some special kind of intuition, just as Jiang Shi thought about Xie Xu, a message came in from him.  

[Xu: What are you doing?]  

Jiang Shi quickly handed over a smurf account’s credentials to Bamboo to log into the game for him, while he replied to the message.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: At the internet café playing games with Bamboo, eating a lollipop~]  

He took the lollipop out of his mouth, snapped a picture, and sent it to Xie Xu.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: It’s lemon-flavored, much better than throat lozenges.]  

The lollipop, after being in his mouth for a while, was now glossy and wet, reflecting a soft, moist sheen under the light.  

Looking at the photo, Jiang Shi licked his lips.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: Want one, Captain? I can bring some back to the base.]  

Xie Xu had just finished packing up downstairs when his mom called him to join her in making dumplings. “Stop staring at your phone and come down already!”  

She muttered, “Who are you messaging?”  

Xie Xu glanced at Jiang Shi’s playful want one message, paused for a moment, and then turned off his screen, pocketing his phone under his mom’s questioning gaze.  

“Mom, I just remembered I forgot to pack some of my stuff. I’ll be down in a bit.”  

Back at the internet café, Jiang Shi hadn’t yet received a reply from Xie Xu and sent a few more messages.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: Captain, do you like candy?]  

He bit down on the candy in his mouth with a crunch, his cheeks puffing slightly as he typed.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: I can try all the flavors for you. What color lollipop do you like, Captain?]  

[Xu: Anything’s fine.]  

[Xu: Show me the snacks on your table.]  

Thinking Xie Xu wanted to see the available flavors, Jiang Shi zoomed in a little to take a clearer photo.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: I’ll send you a picture of each one as I eat them!]  

Looking at the lollipop photo he had sent earlier, Jiang Shi felt a little shy for some reason. But since Xie Xu wasn’t around, he felt bolder.  

Next time, he’d make sure to leave a few teeth marks on it before sending it, he thought with a sly grin.  

He added a cute spinning-cat sticker to his message, sweet and playful.  

But in the next second, Xie Xu’s reply made the smile freeze on Jiang Shi’s face.  

[Xu: In the picture you sent, there’s an opened pack of cigarettes on the table.]  

[Xu: Didn’t you tell me you don’t smoke?]  

Jiang Shi wanted to explain, but Xie Xu’s next message cut off any excuses he could have made.  

[Xu: Are you going to say that it was Bamboo’s cigarettes?] 

Jiang Shi: “!”  

How did Xie Xu know!

Even though Xie Xu wasn’t there, Jiang Shi still felt the nervous guilt of being caught doing something wrong.  

After hesitating for a moment, he reached into his pocket, took out the cigarette he had hidden, and placed it back in the pack. He even took extra care to smooth out the slightly squished filter before snapping a picture of the untouched cigarettes inside.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: I really didn’t smoke. I’m eating candy!]  

He opened his mouth and sent Xie Xu a picture showing the broken candy still in his mouth.  

[Obedient Jiangjiang: Look at my mouth. I’m not lying.]