Chapter 57: His Taste Has Never Changed
At 9:30 sharp on Monday morning, Yu Hanqing walked into the office impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, polished leather shoes, and with his hair styled to perfection. He took his seat at his desk right on time.
Gold-rimmed glasses on. Refined. Elegant. The picture-perfect elite finance graduate from a prestigious university.
No one would ever guess that his in-game persona was a bald monk who spent his time yelling at the top of his lungs.
He turned on his tablet, glanced through his notes and calendar, and tapped here and there as if reviewing his schedule. In reality, not a single word registered.
He opened the Bilibili Live app on his tablet and, just as expected, his favorite stream was completely silent. The channel description read: "Streamer is in class. No daytime streams. Streaming resumes at 7:00 p.m."
Xiao Chi had started his top-up bachelor's preparatory classes today. From now on, he wouldn't be streaming during weekday mornings anymore.
Yu Hanqing had just lost his favorite way to slack off at work.
He had recently wrapped up a major project, so the next few months were supposed to be relatively relaxed.
Fine. I'll read domestic and international news... stay informed about world affairs... monitor oil prices... prepare for the next financial crisis...
Five minutes later… Yu Hanqing, who looked as though he were seriously reading financial news, finally couldn't hold himself back. He grabbed his phone and furiously started typing, his fingers moving so fast they were almost leaving afterimages.
[Qingtian Wai]: Duan Zhishi!
[Qingtian Wai]: Duan Zhishi!
[Qingtian Wai]: Get your ass out here! Right now! Immediately! This instant! RIGHT NOW!
[Qingtian Wai]: What the hell is going on with you? What exactly is your relationship with that streamer? AHHHH! If you don't reply within one minute, I'm posting this in our old class group chat! Coach! Principal! Teachers! Duan Zhishi really is gay! He's not asexual!
[Shi]: ?
[Qingtian Wai]: You still have the nerve to send a question mark?! A QUESTION MARK?! I've had a question mark about your sexual orientation for more than TEN YEARS! TEN WHOLE YEARS!
After sending that single question mark, Duan Zhishi disappeared again. Leaving Yu Hanqing crawling out of his skin with curiosity.
He couldn't help it. Really.
Ever since last night, he'd been thinking about it nonstop. He'd almost lost sleep over it.
The more he thought about it...the stranger it all seemed.
Back in school, Duan Zhishi had been both a top student and the school heartthrob. From middle school onward, admirers had followed him everywhere.
He rejected every single one of them. And every time, he straightforwardly told them, "I'm attracted to men."
At the time, nobody believed him. Everyone assumed he was simply trying to discourage girls from pursuing him. Soon afterward, boys started confessing to him as well. He turned down every single one of them too.
Duan Zhishi was incredibly popular with girls. Oddly enough...he was even more popular with guys. Not because he had an amazing personality. Not because he was ridiculously handsome. But because he was unbelievably good at video games.
Back then, Yu Hanqing and a whole crowd of boys practically followed Duan Zhishi around all day.
After all... No man could resist another man who was simply better than him at games.
High school was already brutally demanding. Everyone buried themselves in homework every day. Getting to play games for even half an hour was considered a luxury. Yet somehow, Duan Zhishi had played practically every major console title, every AAA release, and countless MMORPGs. Whenever he talked about games, he spoke with endless knowledge and enthusiasm. The boys, who spent every day miserably doing homework, happily followed him around, fetched meals for him, ran errands...anything, just so they could keep listening to him talk about games.
At one point, the entire friend group had seriously wondered whether Duan Zhishi secretly liked one of them. So they held an actual discussion analyzing his sexuality.
Their final conclusion? Duan Zhishi had to be making everything up just to scare off his admirers and focus on studying and gaming.
Because he had never shown the slightest interest in any guy...outside of gaming.
The mystery of Duan Zhishi's sexuality continued into university.
There, he still told every admirer the same thing: "I'm attracted to men."
Yet...He still showed no interest in any man whatsoever.
People eventually asked him directly, "So what kind of guy do you actually like?"
Duan Zhishi answered, "Someone handsome. Someone well-behaved. And someone who's better at games than I am."
His admirers immediately started asking what games he played and created accounts to play with him. On that front, Duan Zhishi never turned anyone away. Anyone who asked, he'd happily tell them.
As a result, throughout university, whenever Duan Zhishi logged into a game, he was constantly surrounded by admirers who had chased him from real life into virtual worlds.
Yu Hanqing and several of their old high school friends, who had gamed with Duan Zhishi the whole time, witnessed it firsthand.
Some admirers pursued him relentlessly. When reality failed, they followed him into games. They grinded levels day after day like ascetics, completed endless quests...and still failed to earn even a second glance from him. Eventually, they'd turn to Duan Zhishi's friends instead. They'd cry. Complain. Ask for advice. But what advice could they possibly give? Yu Hanqing was the easiest person to talk to, so he suffered the most. Over the years, he'd listened to no idea how many heartbroken admirers pouring out their feelings.
Then university ended. Duan Zhishi still hadn't accepted anyone's confession.
There had certainly been handsome men. But not a single one who was better than him at games.
Duan Zhishi went on to graduate school. Finished his master's. Started working.
Still single. Still had never shown romantic interest in either women or men.
Finally, his friends put their heads together and started introducing eligible men to him themselves.
They were even more anxious than Duan Zhishi's own family. They genuinely worried he'd remain a virgin for the rest of his life.
How could his brothers not worry?
The candidates they found were exceptional. Some were handsome enough to work as professional models. Some had graduated from Ivy League universities. Some held master's degrees from China's prestigious 985 universities. Others worked at game companies...
Every type of person imaginable.
Yet Duan Zhishi hadn't shown the slightest interest in any of them.
Eventually, his friends couldn't help asking him again. His answer was still exactly the same. "I like someone who's handsome. Well-behaved. And better at games than I am."
Nobody believed him. After many discussions, they finally concluded that Duan Zhishi was probably asexual. Surely, for the rest of his life, he'd only ever love two things: Gaming and programming.
Who could have imagined...
Yu Hanqing paced back and forth around his office, looking as though he were deep in thought. In reality, his mind was in complete turmoil.
It wasn't that Yu Hanqing was especially nosy. It was just that this was the first time in Duan Zhishi's entire life that he'd ever shown feelings for another human being beyond friendship or family. How could Yu Hanqing not be excited?
If he weren't still waiting to confirm things with Duan Zhishi...he would've already blasted the news to all their high school buddies.
For a brief moment, Yu Hanqing even felt like an old father tearing up with joy.
He'd honestly thought...that Duan Zhishi was destined to spend his entire life alone.
Who would've thought...that someone he'd actually liked would finally appear?
Ding—
A message arrived.
Yu Hanqing practically lunged back to his desk and grabbed his phone.
[Shi]: What do you mean, asexual?
[Shi]: I've always said I'm attracted to men.
[Qingtian Wai]: Who would believe that? You've never dated anyone since the day you were born! If you're not asexual, then what are you?!
[Shi]: I just haven't met the right person. It's not that I refuse to date.
[Qingtian Wai]: Oh? So you've finally met one now, haven't you?!]
[Shi]: ?
Yu Hanqing immediately called him.
Duan Zhishi sounded as calm as ever. "What are you losing your mind over?"
Yu Hanqing practically shouted, "You sent that streamer a gift?! My precious son, are you finally getting married off?!"
Duan Zhishi sounded thoroughly disgusted. "Worry about yourself first, son. Didn't your girlfriend dump you two months ago?"
Yu Hanqing had indeed been dumped because he'd been too busy with work.
He nearly coughed up blood. "Don't change the subject."
Duan Zhishi remained completely composed. "Oh. I mailed him some Quest for the Azure Heavens merchandise. Our company has plenty. What? Do you want some too?"
"Sure! Send it all to me!" Yu Hanqing answered instantly.
"...Go buy your own. My company still needs it for decoration."
"Hehe."
"If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up." And Duan Zhishi simply ended the call.
Curled up in his office chair, Yu Hanqing pondered the matter with the utmost seriousness.
Something wasn't right. Duan Zhishi was definitely acting strangely.
At first, he'd assumed Duan Zhishi was simply showing off again. After all, Duan Zhishi's greatest hobby wasn't getting first place. It was showing off in games. Becoming the guild leader. Leading his followers. Steamrolling everyone. Dominating entire servers. That kind of showing off.
Yu Hanqing himself loved teasing the little streamer in-game and occasionally joining the viewers in yelling, "Endless and Chi Chi are real!" But he'd never thought much of it. Even when Duan Zhishi teased the streamer more than any of them did, Yu Hanqing simply assumed Xiao Chi was naturally likable.
Then he thought about it more carefully. Wasn't Xiao Chi...handsome? Well-behaved? And better at games than Duan Zhishi?
Tears welled up in Yu Hanqing's eyes. So after all these years...Duan Zhishi's taste had never changed.
Having dated plenty of people himself, Yu Hanqing immediately recognized the biggest problem between Duan Zhishi and Xiao Chi.
After doing the math… The two were probably seven or eight years apart in age. That wasn't even the biggest issue. Age. Education. Long-distance. Every single one of those was a huge obstacle in a relationship. Not to mention… Whether Xiao Chi was even attracted to men remained a complete question mark.
Duan Zhishi had been single since birth. He'd never pursued anyone before. Did he seriously think that if they just kept playing games together...his boyfriend would magically fall into his lap?
Yu Hanqing sighed.
He needed to quietly give his dear "son" a little push.
He checked the time. Only ten in the morning. No. Not during the day. The little streamer had classes. He couldn't interfere with the kid's education.
At 5:30 p.m., Chi Zhen finished class right on time. After packing up his backpack, he habitually took out his phone to check for new messages.
The moment he opened WeChat, he saw activity in the Little Vegetable Guild group chat.
Sister Gou was complaining miserably: Only Qian Yu, Wei Yu Ning Qiu, and I are in YY.
It's so quiet it's like a funeral. Can somebody please log in and save me?
Sha Polang replied: Sister Gou, hang in there! My training class just ended. I'll be home soon! Take good care of my Second Master!
Chi Zhen couldn't help laughing.
Exiting the guild chat, he checked his other messages. Li Youran had invited him to go eat skewers after class with two other classmates and asked if he wanted to join.
Chi Zhen politely declined, making up an excuse.
Other than his roommate Luo Song, no one in his class knew he was a game streamer. Whenever people asked what he did, he simply said he edited gaming videos.
He didn't really want his classmates finding out. What if they came to watch his stream?
Just imagining his viewers' outrageous comments being seen by people he knew in real life made him want to die of embarrassment.
He kept scrolling. There was a private message from Qingtian Wai.
[Qingtian Wai]: Guild Leader Xiao Chi, want to know what Wujin Shi looks like?
[Qingtian Wai]: Exclusive photo! Wujin Shi's insanely handsome side profile!
[Qingtian Wai]: Only fifty Shattered Soul Bones to unlock! Honest business!~
Smack!
Chi Zhen's grip loosened. His phone slipped from his hand and crashed onto the floor.
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