Chapter 128 – Thinking of Family During the Holidays

On his way back from smoking, Fifth Brother ran into Birdy heading out. When asked where he was going, the other completely ignored him and brushed past without a word. Fifth Brother exchanged puzzled looks with Diamond before returning to the private room and asking Fang Zheng, “Why did Meng Chudong go out?”

Fang Zheng was still playing on his computer, not even lifting his head as he casually replied, “Smoking.”

Fifth Brother was speechless. “Is it trendy to smoke outside now? Since when was smoking banned in our room?”

“You two went out to smoke too.”

“We couldn’t stand your romance drama!”

Fang Zheng froze for a second before realizing something was off. He looked at Fifth Brother and Diamond. “Right, why did he go out to smoke too?”

Diamond facepalmed. “Who are you asking?!”

Fifth Brother, ever the sharp one, knew how to get to the heart of the matter. “What happened between you two in the few minutes we were gone?”

Fang Zheng looked totally confused. “Nothing? He just mocked me when I said I’d get a purple-tier weapon—you guys heard that too. Then I jotted down the key points from our recent dungeon clear in a Word doc… Oh, right, Birdy looked at it and said the idea of stopping attacks to suppress the boss’s AoE nuke was sharp, that Thousand Mountains had real skill. I said yeah, you didn’t see it, but he led the joint team with almost zero mistakes. He was the only one talking in YY the whole time—commanding, controlling, his technique flawless—and he’s loaded too. He’s practically—”

As Fifth Brother and Diamond’s expressions shifted from “we’re all ears” to “ah, so that’s how it is” and finally to “you deserve to die for this,” the Commander’s voice gradually trailed off. At last, a glimmer of the “truth” dawned on him—

“Was he… upset because I praised Thousand Mountains?”

Fifth Brother patted the Commander’s shoulder. “If he said Lucky Charm was cuter and more likable than you, how would you react?”

The Commander didn’t hesitate. “I’d strangle Your Uncle.”

He’d expected to find a shivering figure huddled in the back alley, desperately puffing on a cigarette butt in the cold. Instead, the alley was bustling with several barbecue shops in full swing, their charcoal grills packed with glowing embers, waiting for plump cuts of meat to be served to customers. The back door of the internet cafe happened to be downwind, so waves of warmth mixed with sparks and ash kept blowing their way. Smoking here didn’t even require a lighter.

Leaning against the wall, Meng Chudong smoked leisurely, the moonlight outlining his profile into a strikingly handsome silhouette.

(Of course, that description was heavily influenced by the Commander’s subjective bias.)

If Fang Zheng had felt a little guilty when he first came out, now all that was left was quiet glee—Birdy being jealous was even more satisfying than getting a purple-tier weapon >_<

“Hello~~” The Commander sauntered up to his Deputy’s side, leaning one hand against the wall with what he thought was a dashing smile. “Spotted a handsome guy.”

Meng Chudong tossed away the half-smoked cigarette, crushing it under his shoe before looking up and returning the smile. “Spotted a fatty.”

Fang Zheng deflated instantly, shooting him two dirty looks. “Will I ever hear a single nice word from you in this lifetime?”

Meng Chudong thought about it seriously. “There’s still a chance. Depends on your performance.”

Fang Zheng immediately pounced on him with a bear hug and a French kiss, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve and asked eagerly, “How was that?”

Birdy didn’t answer, but Fang Zheng suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Turning around, he saw the barbecue grill attendants frozen in place, their expressions brighter than the charcoal flames.

The Commander regretted not wrapping himself up like a terrorist before coming out TAT

Meng Chudong sighed almost imperceptibly. “If you’re not going to start, I’m heading back inside.”

Fang Zheng blinked. “Start what?”

Meng Chudong: “Declaring your loyalty.”

Fang Zheng: “Why would I do that?”

Meng Chudong: “You praised Thousand Mountains, which pissed me off, so after figuring it out, you rushed over to declare your loyalty and make up for the hurt you caused me. Right?”

…Right.

But damn it, did he have to guess so accurately and describe it so thoroughly?!

Even someone as shameless as him could still feel embarrassed!

“5.”

“Huh?”

“4.”

“Whoa, whoa, no countdowns!”

“3.”

“Wait, hold on—”

“2.”

“Even though Thousand Mountains has top-tier skills, sharp awareness, flawless control, and is loaded, I wouldn’t want to sleep with him!”

“1.”

“Hey—”

“It’s just a Lusong Hammer. I’ll farm another one for you.”

As the saying goes, every pot has its lid—meaning even the most twisted declaration of loyalty could make its intended recipient blossom with joy ╮(╯_╰)╭

The Commander and Deputy Commander returned to the private room hand in hand. With just one glance, Fifth Brother and Diamond knew these two shameless lovebirds had leveled up their relationship again.

Completely unaware that his own teammates had labeled him as shameless, the Commander sat back down at his computer, filled with happiness. Unfortunately, that happiness was soon crushed into dust by the merciless waves of reality—

Bright Noob 19:04:25

AHHHHHHHHHH!!! YOU GOT ME A PURPLE-TIER WEAPON, RIGHT?! RIGHT?!?!?!?! I LOVE YOU AHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Bright Noob 19:04:43

I can’t take it anymore. Are you offline? Doesn’t matter, even if you’re not, I’m coming to hug you!

Bright Noob 19:06:21

HAHAHAHAHA, even Thousand Mountains praised me! Said my technique improved and my luck got better too HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Fang Zheng silently turned his head away, gazing at some distant, unknown deity…

You all understand this feeling—I don’t want to deal with this guy at all TAT

Bright Noob 19:07:25

Boss?

Bright Noob 19:07:32

Boss, you still there?

Milk is Mom 19:08:09

Here.

Bright Noob 19:08:28

Aren’t you happy?! Aren’t you excited?! Don’t you have anything to say??

Milk is Mom 19:09:00

Remember the twenty bucks. Thanks.

Bright Noob 19:09:07

Holy shit! You’re so damn stingy! I’m transferring it right now!!

Fang Zheng silently closed the QQ chat window, swearing off love forever, when Fifth Brother suddenly said, “Oh yeah, your phone rang a few times earlier, so I answered it. When I asked who it was, the guy just yelled ‘I’m your father!’ and hung up angrily.”

Fang Zheng was baffled. He quickly grabbed his phone to check the call history.

When he saw the familiar number—one not saved in his contacts—his expression turned serious.

Fifth Brother, noticing this, asked nervously, “Was it… really your dad?”

Fang Zheng didn’t answer. He sat there for a long time, then finally mustered the courage to call back.

The call was picked up after just one ring—he suspected his dad had been holding the phone the whole time, given the inhuman speed.

“It’s me…” Those two words drained half his MP bar.

But Father Fang only let him speak those two words before launching into his tirade: “You little brat! Are you living with some shady man now?! Huh?! Who the hell was that just now?! Do you even have any shame?! If you don’t, your mother and I still do! How are we supposed to face people after this?! Are you trying to kill me with anger—”

At first, Fang Zheng had felt a little guilty, thinking it had been a while since they last talked, so he’d try to be nice and not provoke the old man. But now that the opening salvo was a full-on artillery barrage, Fang Zheng snapped too: “That was my friend! Am I not allowed to have friends?!”

When it came to volume, Old Man Fang never backed down: “Your friend? What kind of decent friends could you possibly have?! Nothing but a bunch of lowlifes!!”

“Fine, all my friends are lowlifes, and the men I date are shady. Well, you just talked to one lowlife. Now let me introduce you to the shady one. Meng Chudong, come say hi to my dad—”

The utterly blindsided Deputy Commander found a phone suddenly shoved into his hands. Under the Commander’s “if you dare refuse, I’ll strangle you in your sleep” glare, he had no choice but to steel himself and speak into the phone: “Uh, hello, Uncle. My name is—”

Click.

Commander Father Fang didn’t give the Deputy a chance, cutting off his introduction in its infancy.

Birdy was speechless, but given the circumstances, he wasn’t entirely surprised. He handed the phone back to Fang Zheng with a resigned look. “No need to provoke him on purpose.”

Fang Zheng knew that, but once his temper flared, he couldn’t help it. However, when he caught sight of Fifth Brother and Diamond’s expressions—clearly screaming “our Commander is terrifying >_<"—he burst out laughing, his anger dissipating as he slowly calmed down.

Truthfully, Fang Zheng had a pretty good temper and rarely got angry. But whether it was because he and his dad were fundamentally incompatible or because he just acted more spoiled around his parents, nine out of ten conversations with the old man ended in disaster, with the tenth escalating into a full-blown fight. His mom was smarter in this regard—she’d shut him down with a single sentence, leaving him tongue-tied and fuming but unable to retaliate, only to resent his own lack of wit.

But why had his dad, who rarely reached out, suddenly pulled this stunt today? Just to pick a fight?

Fang Zheng thought about it for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. In the end, he sent a text to his mom—with whom he was on relatively good terms, or at least hadn’t openly clashed with yet:

[Dad just called me. Is something up at home?]

His mom replied quickly:

[No.]

Now Fang Zheng was even more confused:

[If something’s wrong, just tell me! Don’t scare me like this!]

[You’re scared? You’re the one who scared your dad so badly he almost needed an ECG.]

[What the hell happened? Just tell me!]

[Nothing. We were just watching Animal Planet earlier, and it made us miss you.]

This is definitely not my real mom. Definitely not!! TAT

In the end, Fang Zheng never found out what the call was about. But judging by his mom’s attitude, it was probably something trivial, nothing serious.

Throughout it all, Birdy never asked about the phone call. Fang Zheng figured that with his mind-reading skills, he could probably piece together the truth in seconds. But this was his own business, and he wanted to tell Birdy himself.

So after their evening gaming session ended, he wrapped an arm around Birdy and recounted every major milestone of his life—from childhood to coming out to leaving home.

“So you see, I’m a failure—no car, no house, no money, no career. If I hadn’t met someone with low standards like you, I probably wouldn’t even have a love life. I used to be my parents’ darling, but now I’m just the unfilial son…”

Fang Zheng rambled on for ages before finally noticing Meng Chudong’s silence. He slowly trailed off.

“Done?”

“Yeah.”

Meng Chudong nodded and began his own story—though his was much more concise:

“I have an older sister. She was always better than me—grades, sports, looks, even health. Later, she got married, I came out, and then I took the money my parents had saved for my house and invested it in the internet cafe. In their eyes, I’m the number one most unfilial son in the world. My dad doesn’t yell at me anymore—he just beats me on sight. Every time I went back for New Year’s, I got kicked out. Now I don’t even bother going back. You can still call your family. I’ve almost forgotten their phone number…”

This was the first time Meng Chudong had talked about his family.

Fang Zheng didn’t know what to say or how to react.

Then someone ruffled his hair, and he heard Meng Chudong say, “So, I’m not as great as you think, and you’re not as bad as you think. We’re about even.”

His heart suddenly warmed, as if someone had secretly slipped a few of those alleyway charcoal grills inside. It didn’t burn—just made him want to cry from the heat.