You’re Causing Chaos Again

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As the saying goes, “Don’t hit the person who is smiling at you,”…yeah right.1Don’t hit the person who is smiling at you: “伸手不打笑脸人” (shēn shǒu bù dǎ xiào liǎn rén) is a Chinese idiom. This idiom implies that sometimes even seemingly kind or harmless people may have hidden intentions or ulterior motives, so one should not let their guard down too easily. It’s a cautionary saying about being cautious and not blindly trusting appearances

Shen Yanming squinted his eyes, initially trying to be polite, “I’m sorry, I’m allergic to milk tea.”

A tinge of disappointment crossed over Zhuo Minxing’s face, but he still didn’t put down the milk tea he was holding, “How about giving them to your other teammates?”

It had to be said that this young guy was rather good-looking; the furrow of his eyebrows and the droop of his lips made him quite pitiable. Unfortunately, Shen Yanming wasn’t falling for it. When Zhuo Minxing said that, Shen Yanming gave a perfunctory fake smile, “Our whole team is allergic to milk tea.”

If the previous rejection was still somewhat tactful, this unfriendly retort made his stance very clear. Zhuo Minxing’s mouth slightly opened, and after a while, he uttered a word, “You…”

When they coincidentally met at that barber shop before, Zhuo Minxing felt like Shen Yanming seemed somewhat indifferent to him. But at that time, he didn’t pay much attention–some players just had that kind of personality. And truth be told, he hadn’t really considered this player to be anything special. Even if he was from TMM, he used to be a streamer after all, and not even a particularly famous one. Who knew how far he could go?

But after watching the game at the venue today, Zhuo Minxing understood that this guy was more than just a potential star. This was undeniably a contender for the next champion.

He hoped to make connections with these skilled players, without any other reason than to prove himself in front of someone.

He used to have a high school boyfriend who gradually lost interest in him after joining a certain team’s youth training camp. At first, the guy claimed it was due to being busy with training and not having the time for this kind of stuff. Later, he found out that the guy had actually gotten involved with a female commentator and was just making excuses to break up.

Zhuo Minxing’s thought process was simple. His ex-boyfriend, who thought highly of himself, looked down on him. So, he decided to infiltrate their circle, mingle with people stronger than his ex, and show him that he could socialize with even more formidable individuals. He wanted to see if his ex would feel a pang of jealousy and frustration.

This idea might seem childish, but when Zhuo Minxing developed relationships with some players and intentionally or unintentionally let his ex know about it, then saw the furious comments from his ex’s Weibo alternate account, he felt a sweet sense of satisfaction.

Even if he set aside the revenge aspect, just knowing so many well-known and respected figures in the gaming world was enough to satisfy his vanity.

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Once this seed had germinated in his heart, it quickly sprouted and grew. He wasn’t content with just knowing a few relatively unknown but potentially promising players. He wanted to befriend players from top teams directly.

And if he could develop other relationships with some like-minded individuals in the process, that would be even better.

…

Being rejected for the milk tea, Zhuo Minxing was initially somewhat displeased, but he soon understood when he thought it over. After all, players being cautious about accepting items from outsiders was normal. They had only met once, which hardly counted as knowing each other. Incidents of players facing serious consequences due to eating food from fans had made headlines before. It wasn’t strange for players to be cautious.

Zhuo Minxing smiled again and was about to say something when he saw Shen Yanming taking out his phone and making a call, “Hey, is this the NPC from the event? There’s a suspicious person who has sneaked in to the backstage. Please call security to escort this person out quickly… And your security measures really need to be strengthened. How is it that anyone and everyone can get in?”

Zhuo Minxing’s smile froze on his face.

After making the call, Shen Yanming continued walking as if nothing happened. Zhuo Minxing’s expression faltered, and he quickened his pace to catch up with him, “I’m not a suspicious person, I’m a friend of Bored…”

Zhuo Minxing’s persistent chatter was giving Shen Yanming a headache. At first, he didn’t want to engage, but when he realized this person wouldn’t relent, he turned around with his hands in his pockets and said, “You might be a friend of bored, but you’re not my friend. If you have something to say, go tell your friend…”

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He didn’t finish his sentence before the staff, who had received Shen Yanming’s complaint, arrived with two security guards. They questioned Zhuo Minxing and found out he indeed had no relevant credentials but had managed to sneak in to the backstage. Zhuo Minxing had initially insisted that he was a friend of Bored, but when the staff contacted Bored to confirm, they got this reply, “No, seems like he’s just a fan. A few of us were saying in the fan group that we wanted to buy milk tea but were too lazy to go out. This person in the group said he could bring it to us… but we didn’t actually agree to let him come over.”

Zhuo Minxing’s face alternated between red and white, which was quite a sight.

Shen Yanming watched this play out for a while without making any comments. He just told the staff, “Thanks for your hard work,” before continuing on his way back.

Before he even reached the lounge, he saw He Changkong coming out, heading in his direction. Seeing his Kong ge approaching, all the discomfort that had been clinging to him like a plague dissipated instantly.

Shen Yanming waved his hand and took three quick steps to jump in front of He Changkong, “Ge, why did you come out?”

He Changkong said, “You’ve been gone for so long, I was worried you might get lost.”

Shen Yanming grinned and tried to prop his elbow on He Changkong’s shoulder. Despite being a bit shorter than He Changkong, he struggled to make the move, but he seemed to enjoy it. After finally getting his arm in place, he quipped, “I’m all grown up, how could I possibly get lost??”

He Changkong glanced at him, “Samoyeds getting lost is quite common, isn’t it?”

“Damn,” Shen Yanming recalled the joke he made with the host earlier. He hadn’t expected He Changkong to join in and continue the humor. For someone as reserved as He Changkong, this was truly remarkable progress! Shen Yanming followed up, “My owner treats me well, I definitely won’t get lost.”

“Mhmm,” He Changkong paused, then added, “I didn’t mind that your black hair grew out. Just now… I was just saying it casually.”

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Rather than saying he mentioned it casually, it was more accurate to say that he had said something unrelated to cover up a different emotion at that time. He hadn’t expected Shen Yanming to take it to heart.

Finally tired of propping his elbow, Shen Yanming took it off He Changkong’s shoulder, “Not really, I do feel like I need to touch up the color… You know, it would be great if I were a 2D paper character. My hair would be colorful from birth, and I wouldn’t have to worry about black hair growing out… Wait, ge, do you think characters in anime secretly dye their hair when they don’t have any scenes?”

He Changkong, “… Probably. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.”

Shen Yanming, “Hahaha, you’re so serious about it. I was just making it up.”

“…,” He Changkong continued, “Constantly dyeing your hair isn’t good. You look fine the way you are.” He Changkong wasn’t lying. Shen Yanming’s facial features were handsome, and no matter how he experimented with his appearance, he wouldn’t look bad.

Shen Yanming wavered again, “Then I’ll see what Ding Ding jiang says. If he wants to dye his hair, then I’ll go with him.”

“Alright,” He Changkong replied as he started heading back, as he turned to walk back, “Let’s go. The coach said we’ll do a quick review first and then he’ll take us out for barbecue.”

Back at the base that evening, Shen Yanming, as usual, finished his shower and headed straight to He Changkong’s room. He was so comfortable there that he didn’t even bother moving his blanket and pillow, just leaving them in He Changkong’s room as if it were his second home.

When he entered the room, it seemed that He Changkong was still in the shower. He familiarly hopped onto the bed, snuggled into the blanket, and started playing with his phone.

When He Changkong emerged from the bathroom, he saw Shen Yanming giggling at his phone screen.

Hearing the sound of the bathroom door opening, Shen Yanming eagerly lifted his phone to show He Changkong, “Ge! Everyone online is praising us!”

When He Changkong saw Shen Yanming approaching, he originally had something else to discuss with him. However, now that they were sidetracked, he also leaned over to glance at the contents on the phone screen. Their match had indeed gone well. The online discourse had shifted, and now everyone was singing praises for TMM. Some even went to the official team account, showering them with praise, saying things like the team’s management had incredible foresight and had truly struck gold.

He wasn’t sure if this was the same group of people who had previously mocked them.

He Changkong said, “It’s good to take a look, but there are still many more matches to come. After the regular season, there are playoffs, and in between, there might be other scattered events. Matches are endless. When you win, they’ll praise you, but there’s no eternal undefeated general. Sometimes, when you lose… they’ll criticize you just as fiercely. Therefore, you shouldn’t take their words too seriously.”

“True,” Shen Yanming rolled his eyes; of course, he knew all this. “But being praised still feels good… look at this one.”

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It was a comment under the official account’s Weibo post reporting the team’s results. It had been pushed to the top, and the comment was quite long, divided into several paragraphs.

– There were all sorts of opinions online before, mindless criticism and mindless defense. I didn’t care about any of it until Luanzi ge officially played. Now that I’ve seen his performance, I just want to say, Luanzi ge… or rather, TMM’s Chaos. He’s a natural fit for this team. He coordinates effortlessly with every teammate, just like gears in a watch, perfectly meshing together. They combine their strength, making the hands of the watch move. Taking any one of them out individually wouldn’t be interesting at all.

– Furthermore, other comments say that Kong can maximize the potential of his partners. However, in my view, it’s not exactly like that. It’s more like Chaos inherently has this ability, but he just hadn’t come across partners who could set him free. Not just Kong, like I said earlier, all of them are essential. If the other two members don’t cooperate, they might not pull off these moves today.

Of course, there were also differing opinions about this comment, saying this person was exaggerating… Shen Yanming pretended not to notice.

He genuinely felt that this comment struck a chord with him.

Shen Yanming rubbed his face, “To be a bit melodramatic, playing team games before was not much different from playing solo. Later, I was lost. I did like it and wanted to win championships, but…”

“But” went on for a while, yet Shen Yanming was unable to articulate his thoughts. He received a consoling look from He Changkong, who said, “It’s all in the past.”

“That’s why I think what this person said is so accurate. Meeting you all feels like good luck,” Shen Yanming grinned foolishly, “We truly are born to be a team.”

Hearing the latter part of his sentence, He Changkong’s heart skipped a beat.

After a moment, he realized that Shen Yanming was probably talking about their team.

“I think so too. Let’s keep working hard in the future,” he sighed almost imperceptibly, suppressing those fleeting thoughts, “By the way…”

Shen Yanming tilted his head, “What?”

He Changkong hesitated before saying, “Wouldn’t it be better if you still went back to your room?” He had intended to say this earlier, but Shen Yanming had brought up other topics first, so he held back.

This statement sounded like a polite way of asking him to leave. Actually, He Changkong didn’t truly want to send him away. He enjoyed the feeling of Shen Yanming unconsciously snuggling into his embrace every night, his arms and heart filled to the brim. But the past was the past, and while previously it was just two good buddies sleeping together, now…

Although He Changkong still hadn’t completely figured things out, he had spent a long time coming to terms that his feelings for Shen Yanming had gone beyond friendship.

Knowing he had feelings but still taking advantage like this wasn’t what a true gentleman would do.

Moreover, Shen Yanming appeared to be quite straightforward, and if it were revealed that his intentions weren’t entirely pure, what would Shen Yanming think?

Unbeknownst to Shen Yanming, He Changkong had contemplated all these thoughts. He was taken aback, “And you said you didn’t mind me!!! You won’t even let a dog on your bed! Is this how it is? I’ll complain to the Animal Protection Association about you!”

Author’s Message:

Luan luanzi: Just stop pretending to be a gentleman, I like messing around, you understand?

Thank you for reading! 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day

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1Don’t hit the person who is smiling at you: “伸手不打笑脸人” (shēn shǒu bù dǎ xiào liǎn rén) is a Chinese idiom. This idiom implies that sometimes even seemingly kind or harmless people may have hidden intentions or ulterior motives, so one should not let their guard down too easily. It’s a cautionary saying about being cautious and not blindly trusting appearances