Yan Fan hurriedly handed him a tissue.
Numbly wiping his mouth, You Zhi gritted his teeth. “Don’t let me run into that alpha again. Otherwise, I’ll cripple the thing between his legs.”
The hair on the back of Yan Fan’s neck inexplicably stood up.
—
At the Shen residence at the same time.
A nanny van stopped outside. A man wearing a cap and mask stepped out, strode quickly into the mansion, and was followed by several assistants.
“Young Master.” The guards on both sides greeted him respectfully.
Beneath the brim of his cap, a pair of calm, long, narrow eyes showed. He entered, wiped his hands, did not even change his shoes, took off his outerwear, and went straight upstairs.
Shen Zichen, heir apparent of the Shen Group, a top-tier domestic actor. Emotionally steady, serious about his work, with every drama he filmed considered high quality.
Secondary sex: alpha.
He was also number one on the nationwide ranking voted by omegas for “Male A I Most Want to Marry.”
Shen Zichen had fought for a few hours off from his film set and rushed back without stopping.
“Cub, look who this is.” The nanny was holding a small child in her arms.
The child sucked on a pacifier, blinking his bright black eyes and rolling them around before finally fixing his gaze on Shen Zichen.
Shen Zichen removed his mask and said lightly, “Give me the child. You can go.”
The man’s expression was cool and reserved. Because of his height, he always lowered his lashes when looking at others, creating an innate sense of pressure.
“Yes.” The nanny handed the child to him.
The instant the man looked at Cub, the frost in his eyes seemed to melt away. His features softened as his large hand gently gathered the child close. “Cub, did you miss Daddy?”
“Yiya.” Cub babbled. His pacifier fell out, he stuffed his hand into his mouth, and while being held, he kept burrowing toward Shen Zichen’s collar.
Shen Zichen did not get annoyed. He let the child mess up his collar, then hugged him more securely against his chest.
At times like this, Cub would always wrap his tiny hand tightly around Shen Zichen’s index finger. “…Wuya.”
The corner of Shen Zichen’s mouth lifted faintly. He rubbed the tip of his nose against the child’s. “Baby, grow up well.”
Shen Zichen only had half an hour off. He stayed with Cub for a while, then went downstairs, his eyes returning to their usual calm indifference. “Send me Cub’s milk-intake records for the past half month and his sleep schedule on time.”
“Yes,” the nanny answered.
“Have you been showing your own nutritional meal records to the nutritionist?” Shen Zichen asked.
The nanny hummed in confirmation. “Every day.”
Shen Zichen nodded. “Thank you for the trouble.”
He went downstairs while putting his clothes back on.
Zhao Rui was his assistant. Standing beside him, he said, “A director just sent over a script and asked whether you’ll take it. It’s a film. If you accept, shooting starts immediately.”
Shen Zichen shook his head. “Cancel everything over the next year that can be canceled.”
Zhao Rui glanced upstairs and nodded. “Yes.”
Just one month ago, the Best Actor standing before them had suddenly brought a baby home. No one knew where the child had come from; it was as though he had appeared out of thin air.
Zhao Rui had worked for his boss for five or six years and had never once seen him date anyone, much less have a child. He had even wondered whether his boss had picked the baby up somewhere.
No one dared ask about the child’s origins. They only knew one thing: ever since the baby entered the Shen household, Shen Zichen was no longer the most important person there. That position belonged to this infant who was not even a month old.
—
As for the child’s other biological father…
The biological father spent three or four days in the hospital and finally survived the so-called postpartum stress disorder. The doctor also said that, given his condition, he would have to come to the hospital once every month from now on.
During those three or four painful days, You Zhi had cursed the ancestors of that alpha he had never met.
This time, Yan Fan was not the only one who came to pick him up from the hospital. There was another man named Li Yuan, an alpha.
According to Yan Fan, Li Yuan had been their high-school classmate. The three of them had always been pretty close.
Li Yuan had a gentle personality and was good-looking too. He had even brought You Zhi meals over the past few days. In any case, You Zhi quite liked him.
You Zhi was naturally familiar with people. He threw an arm over Li Yuan’s shoulders and immediately started calling him bro. “Bro, do you play XG?”
“Finally found someone I can queue with. Wait for my message tonight. We’ll play together.” You Zhi patted his shoulder.
Li Yuan exchanged a look with Yan Fan. “You Zhi, didn’t you used to never play games?”
You Zhi kicked a stone along the road until he finally sent it flying away. He said lazily, “I didn’t play before. I can play now. Why do you keep bringing up the past? The old You Zhi died a long time ago.”
Yan Fan sighed helplessly, shrugged, and mouthed to Li Yuan, “See? Told you.”
That evening, You Zhi went home and resumed streaming. The overlord of the Looks category had returned.
You Zhi first added Li Yuan’s account, then invited him into the party. He had glanced over Li Yuan’s gameplay earlier. His top-lane play was perfectly average. As long as he did not drag the team down, it was fine.
At this rank, what You Zhi feared most every time he played was one person becoming a god while four people lay flat.
It was not that he could not carry them. He was simply tired in his soul. A five-versus-five game would somehow feel like he was fighting alongside four jungle monsters.
You Zhi greeted him. “Can you hear me?”
[Daddy Zhi isn’t solo-queuing today!]
You Zhi looked at the comments as he replied.
[Where did you go these past few days? Why didn’t you stream?]
You Zhi: Had a little problem with my brain. Went to get some brain marrow drawn.
[How’s your body?]
You Zhi: Organs all accounted for.
[I want to hear Brother Zhi insult me! I’m a fan who begs to be scolded!]
You Zhi: Be good. Don’t make trouble.
The comments erupted into a chorus of aaaaaahs.
You Zhi put on his headset and played a match with Li Yuan first. Li Yuan’s skill was nothing special, but at least he did not drag them down and could keep pace with You Zhi’s ganks.
Every time You Zhi finished clearing jungle monsters and came over, Li Yuan would happen to level up his ultimate, and the two of them could coordinate to catch the enemy dead to rights.
The match went smoothly. You Zhi did not know whether it was his imagination, but he felt as though his livestream had suddenly gained another few tens of thousands of viewers.
You Zhi picked up the water beside him, twisted the cap open, and took a drink.
[AAAAAH, God Wen is here! Daddy Zhi, you’ve made it! Even God Wen came!]
[Our Daddy Zhi really blew up!]
[God Wen is a professional jungler! Is he here looking for a substitute?]
You Zhi swept his gaze over the comments without reading them clearly, his hands never stopping. “What plague god? Did my stream get a virus?”
[HAHAHAHAHAHAHA]
Whenever God Wen sent a comment, it came with a flashy sound effect and a golden loudspeaker, so You Zhi could spot it immediately.
[One game? Want to play together?]
Only after finishing the match and seeing the message did You Zhi realize the viewers had been talking about God Wen.
“He’s a pro?” You Zhi asked the comments.
[Yes! He plays jungle just like you.]
You Zhi lifted a brow. “Our roles clash.”
[God Wen: Can you play any other lane?]
A professional had come to invite him personally, so You Zhi could not exactly refuse to give him face. Besides, he genuinely wanted to know what level the pros in this world were at. It would be interesting to spar.
“Then I’ll play mid,” You Zhi said.
You Zhi added the account on his phone and invited the man in. The three of them queued together for one match.
You Zhi: mid lane.
The guy surnamed Wen: jungle.
Until he was sure the man’s skill had reached his own level, in You Zhi’s eyes these people only deserved to be called “the guy surnamed whatever.”
Not just anyone deserved to be called a god.
Facts proved that this man was merely a guy surnamed Wen. He did not deserve the title God Wen.
By midgame, the jungler had spent half his time avoiding team fights and farming gold. Fine, whatever. But what the hell did it mean to eat You Zhi’s mid-lane waves?
A man could be killed, but not humiliated. However you stole my mid waves, spit them right back out.
“Bro, stop leeching my lane. Can you go check top? The enemy jungler has already ganked several times, and you haven’t gone up once. You’re out here taking off by yourself, with twice as much gold as the rest of us. The wealth gap is getting a little extreme.” At this point, You Zhi only frowned faintly.
The guy surnamed Wen said, “I can carry. I’ll come online late game.”
You Zhi gave a cold snort and said nothing.
[AAAAAH he ate three whole waves! I’m losing my mind!]
[So being a pro means you get to bully people like this? Who is this performance supposed to impress?]
[Please, God Wen came down here to carry the poor. If you don’t give him the gold, who should get it?]
[Exactly. Junglers need to farm early game or where would their damage come from? God Wen already has a triple kill! Awesome!]
You Zhi usually streamed with a grin on his face. Even when roasting people, he always kept an indifferent, almost lazy attitude. This time, however, his expression turned completely cold, the furrow between his brows deepening.
When the team fight ended, only the jungler was still alive. Everyone else was dead.
The guy surnamed Wen turned on his mic. “Can you guys even play? Top, tank the damage. Why are you building so much damage gear? Buy some armor.”
You Zhi pushed the keyboard away and took a sip of water.
Comments: Pulling up our little stools.
“You’re a professional?” You Zhi rested a finger against his temple and stretched lightly, looking as though he had a headache.
The guy surnamed Wen hummed. “Bro, your mechanics aren’t that good either. Your mid-lane damage is nowhere near enough.”
“You leeched all my damn gold. Of course my damage isn’t enough.” You Zhi tapped his headset with a finger. “First of all, at the start of the match, I guarded your jungle for you. You didn’t come. You invaded theirs instead, and as a result we lost half our jungle while you donated first blood.”
“Bro, this hero isn’t strong early game in the first place. During the early game, if you can fucking play safe, then play safe. I genuinely don’t know why you were running into someone else’s jungle. Are you a cargo courier making a delivery?”
“You gave away first blood early and failed to develop. Fine. But then you farmed by leeching mid waves. Isn’t that a little unethical? Or do you think as long as you develop, that’s enough, and every other teammate should sacrifice themselves to you? Are we playing pig-raising strategy? You should at least check whether you’re qualified to be the pig.”
[HAHAHAHAHAHA!]
[Daddy Zhi is fucking awesome!]
“The enemy’s magic damage is that high. If you had built even one cloak, you wouldn’t spend every team fight hiding behind top lane. That top-lane hero is supposed to handle engages, not shield you while you get chased around like a dog and come running over for him to soak the damage.”
The guy surnamed Wen said, “I’m the jungler. I’m squishy too. I’m the only one who can dive their ADC…”
You Zhi remained unhurried, hands still moving as he crouched in the brush and waited for the enemy to start the Overlord.
When the Overlord was down to its final sliver of health, he Flashed in and used his ultimate. With Li Yuan arriving to provide crowd control, they killed two enemies and secured the Overlord as well.
“So what if you’re the jungler? Being jungler makes you amazing?” The sound of You Zhi hitting the keyboard grew louder and louder. “A jungler sets the tempo early, supports all three lanes, and arrives at key moments to dive the backline. Which one of those did you do? Your early-game tempo was a complete mess. Forget supporting all three lanes; we’re lucky you didn’t eat all three lanes. And as for diving the backline, their ADC built half-tank, half-attack-speed. You dumped your whole combo on him and barely scratched him. You didn’t even take a single head.”
[Exactly! I’m seriously done. Is this the kind of play a professional should have? The tempo is shattered!]
[I hate junglers who steal lane gold!]
[Daddy Zhi, a fellow jungler, speaking up for mid laners!]
[Daddy Zhi never eats mid waves. If he can’t develop, he camps the enemy brush or ganks. He never takes his teammates’ gold.]
“Are you even qualified to be a professional?” You Zhi crouched in the brush and killed the enemy marksman, his expression unusually serious. “Do you have the basic professionalism of a pro player? This is a team game, not your personal stunt show, and not some badge for you to parade around during puberty to prove how superior you are.”
You Zhi kept talking until the other side had no words left to answer him.
The comments were all condemning these professional players, saying they took money without doing the work, that apart from putting on a lofty attitude, they had no real skill at all.
When they finally pushed the crystal, You Zhi and Li Yuan charged in first. One absorbed skills while the other dealt damage, killing two enemies.
You Zhi had no skills left, so he rapidly swapped into tank gear and stood in front of the marksman, allowing the marksman to keep dealing damage steadily.
In the end, You Zhi died. The game was won.
At some point, the livestream viewer count had passed 100,000+.
The comments flew upward nonstop.
[AAAAAAAH DADDY ZHI! DADDY ZHI!]
[Your Daddy Zhi is sooo awesome! So awesome! So awesome!]
Li Yuan finally turned on his mic too, laughter in his voice. “When did you get this good at games? I almost didn’t recognize those moves. Should I start calling you Daddy Zhi too and have you carry me up the ranks from now on?”
The guy surnamed Wen left.
“Go ahead. I don’t mind having another son.” You Zhi’s expression finally looked less ugly. He whistled, took off his headset, and gave the camera a salute.
[AAAAAAAH I’M DEAD, SO HANDSOME!]
[So A! A guy this A is obviously the one doing the fucking!]
That night, the topic of You Zhi and God Wen shot straight into the top ten of the game’s trending topics. Anyone passing by seemed to take a kick at the guy surnamed Wen.
Of course, quite a few people also began guessing You Zhi’s identity. They said his playstyle was extremely professional. Even when he played mid lane, you could feel it in his game sense and coordination. He had definitely undergone systematic training.
The guesses about his identity were all over the place.
When You Zhi saw it after ending his stream that night, he just laughed. In a single night, he gained nearly five hundred thousand followers.
In his own opinion, fifty thousand were because of his skills and four hundred fifty thousand were because of his looks.
Actually, what happened today was probably because You Zhi had been mixing esports into the Looks category far too successfully and had likely gotten in the way of someone’s money.
The guy surnamed Wen did not like him and had wanted to put him in his place.
But he probably had not expected You Zhi to be such a hard target—someone who not only dared clash with him head-on, but also did not care about his status as a professional player and roasted him until he had nowhere to hide.
You Zhi took a deep breath. A certain international-tournament champion jungler felt extremely refreshed.
Who did not love showing off? Not only had he pulled it off, he had made a pile of money too. You Zhi was delighted.
The next day, he planned to take the money and go blow some of it.
You Zhi had only two great loves in life:
First, gaming.
Second—
