MVCFO CH26

 “Really bored, might as well do some math problems for a while.”

Lin Xiangqi, dressed in thick pajamas, waddled over to the neighbor’s yard.

Lu Cong had already gone downstairs and was busy at the kitchen island. When he saw Lin Xiangqi poke his head through the door, he glanced over and smiled, “Come here.”

Lin Xiangqi changed into slippers and ran over, leaning close to look into the pot. Unexpectedly, a piece of crispy fried pork was stuffed into his mouth.

Chewing happily, Lin Xiangqi sighed with satisfaction, “So delicious! How much longer until it’s ready?”

“Five minutes. The kitchen’s smoky in there, go outside and play,” Lu Cong said, reaching out to lightly pinch the back of his neck—not hard, just a gentle squeeze. “There’s a bowl of ginger milk pudding on the table, it should be ready to eat. Go check it out.”

It was a very ordinary gesture, at least something they used to do often.

But today, Lin Xiangqi felt a bit uneasy.

He quietly shrank his neck, trying to control his oddly pounding heart, and said, “Oh, okay, I’ll wait outside then.”

“Mm.” Lu Cong’s gaze stayed on him, neither heavy nor light. Watching Lin Xiangqi turn and leave the kitchen, he suddenly added, “If you’re really bored, you can do some math problems.”

Lin Xiangqi almost tripped. All sorts of chaotic images crowded into his mind.

He ran out of the living room with his back to Lu Cong, his face already flushed bright red. He collapsed onto the sofa, burying his face in the cushion, and muttered miserably, “Who wants to do math problems? Can’t I just play games?”

At that distance, maybe Lu Cong couldn’t hear what he said.

To prove to himself he wasn’t thinking about math problems at all, Lin Xiangqi took out his phone, opened the game again, logged in, and queued for a match.

Maybe it was because few people were online at this time, or maybe it was fate, but Lin Xiangqi ended up matched with the same support player who had earlier wanted to team up with him.

The other player obviously recognized his ID and greeted him as soon as they entered the room.

[EmptyStomachCantEat]: What a coincidence.

[EmptyStomachCantEat]: Wanna add each other as friends?

Lin Xiangqi thought it was quite a coincidence too. This player had decent game sense, at least not dragging the team down, so he agreed to the friend request.

The other player immediately got excited and turned on the full-team voice chat.

“Be honest with me, this account is yours, right? No way you have a partner, otherwise you wouldn’t have added me as a friend haha.”

“Why aren’t you jungling this game? Doesn’t matter where you go, I’m following you.”

Lin Xiangqi frowned deeply and finally couldn’t help but remind him over voice chat: “No need to follow me mid lane, and hey, you’re a support, don’t fight the jungler for blue buff… wait, dude, what exactly are you doing?”

This guy wasn’t this bad last game.

The other player got even more excited, saying, “You sound so nice, totally matches how you look—sweet and well-behaved. Here, I’ll pull this blue buff to you—”

Lin Xiangqi: “…”

Seriously, bro, haven’t you seen our jungler spamming the chat like crazy?

“Why are you ignoring me?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not stealing your lane.”

“By the way, are you Omega? Your gender says Beta, but you’re way too pretty, doesn’t seem like it.”

“Are you afraid of harassment so you changed it? Makes sense, this game has lots of people who always target Omegas, you have to be careful about those scumbags.”

At this point, a few messages popped up in chat.

[Jungler]: You’re crazy I don’t even know what to say **

[Top]: …gross, this voice sounds like a greasy middle-aged uncle in his 40s or 50s.

[Bot]: So funny, keeps harassing people and telling others to be careful.

Lin Xiangqi was speechless too, so he muted voice chat.

If it weren’t for not wanting to let down the other few team players who were jungling hard, he really wanted to just AFK.

When they pushed down the second turret, Lu Cong came out with the late-night snack.

Lin Xiangqi hurriedly held up his phone to Lu Cong, trading it for food: “Play for me, I’ll eat first.”

“Okay.” Lu Cong was clearly used to this, putting the food in front of Lin Xiangqi and taking the phone to continue pushing the lane.

“Tomorrow’s sports day, can we go to school later?” Lin Xiangqi asked while stuffing food in his mouth. “Can we get up at eight?”

Lu Cong frowned slightly as if noticing something but didn’t show it. He calmly said, “We have to gather at eight.”

“Alright.” Lin Xiangqi scooped a spoonful of ginger milk pudding, thought for a moment, and held it out to Lu Cong’s mouth. “Ah, open up.”

Lu Cong was a bit surprised, instinctively wanted to say he didn’t like it, but in the end didn’t refuse. He ate the spoonful that Lin Xiangqi gave him.

“Tasty?” Lin Xiangqi asked.

That inviting expression looked like he made the ginger pudding himself.

Lu Cong’s lips curved slightly upward. “Mm.”

Lin Xiangqi felt happy and scooped another spoonful for himself. “You always just watch me eat, no sense of participation. Next time make one for yourself too.”

Lu Cong didn’t say anything and stared intently at the phone screen like he was focused on the game.

Actually, he didn’t want to agree.

Feeding Lin Xiangqi and watching him eat was one of his little joys.

Lin Xiangqi probably didn’t know that when he ate, his cheeks puffed up and down happily. When he was really enjoying himself, he’d suddenly hum a tune, nodding his head left and right, then occasionally glance up with smiling, crescent-shaped eyes at Lu Cong. After finishing, he’d lick his lips and say, “So good,” his plump lips shining with satisfaction.

These small, casual little actions were Lu Cong’s midnight snack—enough to fill his stomach for the night.

Before Lin Xiangqi finished his midnight snack, Lu Cong ended the game. But he didn’t hand the phone back to Lin Xiangqi. Instead, he asked, “Who is ‘Empty Stomach Can’t Eat’?”

Lin Xiangqi felt that ID was somewhat familiar and took a moment to recall: “The support player I matched with last round. At first, he played decently, so I added him as a friend. Didn’t expect him to be so weird and superstitious.”

Lu Cong was silent for a moment, seemingly scrolling through some messages.

Lin Xiangqi frowned and asked, “Did he say something strange again? Don’t pay attention to him, just block him directly.”

“He can just make another account and add you again.”

Lu Cong’s tone was odd.

There was no noticeable emotion, but Lin Xiangqi felt something was off.

Lin Xiangqi said, “Normal people wouldn’t be so idle. Since I blocked him, he must feel embarrassed.”

“What if not?” Lu Cong lifted his eyelids slightly, glanced at Lin Xiangqi indifferently, and said, “Better to cut it off completely.”

Lin Xiangqi chuckled, “You’re talking too seriously. ‘Cut it off completely’? Like kill him off?”

But Lu Cong didn’t respond to the joke. Instead, right in front of Lin Xiangqi, he opened the private chat window with that person.

Lin Xiangqi frowned, “Don’t reply to him. That guy is like a dog with an ointment — if you respond even once, he’ll get worse.”

Yet Lu Cong directly pressed the voice button and said, “Delete him.”

Lin Xiangqi: “Delete? That’s what I planned to do anyway.”

He reminded Lu Cong, “But I think you accidentally pressed the voice message button.”

Lu Cong ignored him, then said again, “Don’t add strangers as friends from now on.”

“Why the sudden change…” Lin Xiangqi hadn’t seen Lu Cong so assertive before and instinctively wanted to refuse.

But soon he understood what Lu Cong meant — since the other party didn’t believe Lin Xiangqi had a partner, Lu Cong helped him firmly prove that.

Lu Cong’s voice sounded very stern — more effective than Lin Xiangqi’s hundred refusals.

Blinking, Lin Xiangqi hurried to follow Lu Cong’s lead, deliberately moving closer to the phone and raising his voice, “Next time I add someone, I’ll tell you first. For this one, just delete him.”

Feeling playful, after saying this, seeing Lu Cong still hadn’t let go of the voice button, he dared to add, “Thanks, hubby.”

Lu Cong’s hand trembled; he had something else to add but ended up sending that voice message right away.

Of course, that should be enough to handle the other side.

But Lu Cong looked somewhat stunned, not like someone who had perfectly completed his plan.

His neck was almost stiff, frozen for a long time before he looked at Lin Xiangqi and asked, “What did you call me?”

Lin Xiangqi looked at him innocently: “What’s wrong? Isn’t that what you meant?”

Pretending to be his partner to scare off the persistent guy.

“Ah.” Lu Cong slowly lowered his eyelids to hide the panic in his eyes, his throat slightly moving, and after a while said, “Yes, you reacted quickly.”

“Of course, our tacit understanding goes without saying,” Lin Xiangqi said proudly, lifting his chin and telling him, “Remember to block him.”

But actually, even without blocking, the other person wouldn’t dare to keep bothering Lin Xiangqi.

Because once that voice message was sent, not only was it a warning, it would also make that person immediately suspect who was really using Lin Xiangqi’s account.

If that person had a little shame, he’d be awkwardly banging his head against the wall right now.

If he had no shame, it didn’t matter — at least he wouldn’t dare add Lin Xiangqi’s account again.

That could count as a sort of “cutting off the source” after all.

Lu Cong didn’t say anything. It was unclear if he heard Lin Xiangqi’s voice, holding the phone but not moving.

Lin Xiangqi waved his hand in front of Lu Cong’s eyes: “What are you spacing out for?”

Lu Cong said, “Are there many people like this?”

Lin Xiangqi was a bit stunned, then realized he was asking whether Lin Xiangqi got harassed like this often when playing games alone.

Most of the time, Lin Xiangqi played online with Lu Cong together, and their IDs clearly showed they were teammates — Lin Xiangqi was [I Sneak Base You Cover], and Lu Cong was [Covering].

Usually in this situation, few people privately messaged them.

But when Lin Xiangqi played solo, nine times out of ten he would be added by others.

Before today, Lin Xiangqi thought it was because he was skilled and attracted people wanting an easy win. He was smug and proud of that.

Until today, when “Empty Stomach Can’t Eat” kept asking questions like “Is your avatar really you?” and “Are you Omega?”, he realized maybe those people weren’t interested in his skills.

Lin Xiangqi pursed his lips, “Looks like there are indeed people like that. But today’s one was especially rude. Why the hell care about someone’s privacy when just playing a game? I might as well change my avatar—”

Before finishing, Lu Cong interrupted, “Want to establish an intimate relationship?”

“Huh? Why mention that all of a sudden?” Lin Xiangqi was stuck, “We’re already bound, aren’t we?”

This game lets you establish several types of intimate relationships, like “friends,” “besties,” “close friends,” “lovers,” etc. Lin Xiangqi and Lu Cong had been “besties,” and he didn’t understand why Lu Cong suddenly brought this up.

“Bind as lovers, and you probably won’t run into people like that,” Lu Cong said casually, as if it was nothing special. “Of course, if you want to keep the lover relationship for someone else, that’s fine too.”

Lin Xiangqi was about to think it was unnecessary, but hearing Lu Cong’s second sentence, he immediately perked up, wide-eyed, and asked, “Who do I want to keep it for?”

Lu Cong propped his elbow on the table, fingers pressing his chin, looking at him, “I don’t know, do you have anyone in mind?”

“I mean, I don’t plan to keep it for anyone,” Lin Xiangqi said with a mix of anger and laughter, “Forget it, I don’t want to meet those kinds of people again. The phone’s with you, just bind it now, hurry up.”

“Is that okay?” Lu Cong asked, but his hand was already quickly navigating the interface.

Lin Xiangqi snorted and half-joked, “Sure, sure, you better bind friends, besties, close friends, and lovers all at once, that way one is as good as four, that’d be awesome.”

Lu Cong smiled gently with warm eyes, and after a moment, completed the operation.

When he handed the phone back to Lin Xiangqi, he said softly, “No need to be so complicated, I only need the lover relationship.”

Lin Xiangqi suddenly choked and coughed when taking the phone: “Cough cough!”

Damn it.

Such a familiar scene.

Who was the last person that choked on air?

Before Lin Xiangqi could trace the déjà vu, Lu Cong, beside him, asked with concern, “Did you catch a cold? I have some cold medicine here.”

Lin Xiangqi: “…”

So that’s what it feels like to be hit by a boomerang.