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Honest, pure-hearted, timid guy vs. flirtatious, affection-starved girl
☆ A cozy, everyday-life sweet treat
Girl pursues boy | Love at first sight | Taming-the-dog story | Happy ending | Both are each other's first love and have no sexual experience
1.
Song Zhizhen is the quintessential good girl: sweet, quiet, neat, and a little slow on the uptake. Plenty of people have shown interest in her over the years, but she has politely turned them all down.
She shakes her head when asked what it's like to like someone. She's never had a crush, so she doesn't know.
After her best friend pesters her into it, she stumbles into a shooting game called Valorant, despite having never played one before.
She's completely lost in-game, doesn't know the controls, and keeps getting killed as soon as she sees someone. Her team is crushed, and the other side taunts her: "Is one point enough?"
Song Zhizhen bites her lip, fuming, and types back. The other side responds with even harsher taunts.
As her anger boils over, a clear male voice with a slightly husky, nonchalant drawl rings in her ear. "Don't get mad. I'll carry you to a win."
The voice is completely different. Kill notifications keep appearing in the upper-right corner, and Song Zhizhen realizes: Someone else has taken over.
On the victory screen, she vaguely hears through her headset, "Thanks, Brother Yan. I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow."
"Don't bother me while I'm playing a paid carry. Don't let it happen again."
Before long, the account's owner comes back and starts another game.
Song Zhizhen presses a hand to her chest, unable to tell why her heartbeat has gone haywire.
2.
Cen Yan's daily routine: classes, meals, sleep, and paid carries for money.
His life is as bland as a glass of water. Luckily, he's already used to it.
His roommate says, "Brother Yan, you play games like you're at work. There's no fun in it at all!"
He lowers his eyes. "As long as I can make money, that's enough."
Nothing else matters.
One night, a friend request pops up. The other person is completely sincere: "You're so good at games. Could you teach me?"
He replies, "You have to pay."
Then adds, "You have to pay to add me as a friend, too."
Staring at the username and profile picture, he raises an eyebrow. Song Zhizhen?
The girl's using her real name online, huh?
To his surprise, she's actually a little fool. She transfers him money with the note "voluntary gift" and asks pitifully, "Can you teach me now?"
Cen Yan softens. But every morning, he opens his eyes to find messages from her full of cringe-worthy pick-up lines she learned online, and his heart hardens again.
-
With Song Zhizhen in his life, Cen Yan's dull, boring days become something to look forward to. Every day, he looks forward to seeing what the girl will share, and his happiest moments are spent teasing her.
One day, he wakes up and habitually opens his chat with Song Zhizhen. There's a message she unsent at four in the morning and nothing else. He feels strangely unaccustomed to it, so he sends a quick "Morning." A glaring red exclamation mark appears. He stops breathing for a moment.
The little fool has deleted him.
She has deleted him completely, as if she'd never been part of his world.
He laughs in anger and waits on the path she has to take back to her dorm. "So this is how you treat someone after leading him on?"
Song Zhizhen's cheeks flush all the way to her ears. She freezes in place. She knows that voice far too well.
"Add me back, okay?" he coaxes.
Song Zhizhen: "But I'm out of money."
He sends her a friend request without even looking up. "I'll add you. I'll pay you."
He won't accept her leaving.
You were the one who came into my world, Song Zhizhen. You spoiled me.
-
Bonus scene-
Cen Yan: "Why do you keep sending me those lines?"
He means the excruciatingly cheesy pick-up lines.
Song Zhizhen takes a step back. "I'm pursuing you."
Cen Yan: "?"
Song Zhizhen, serious: "And I got you!"
Theme: A girl's romantic dreams are what make her a gaming expert
