Chapter 18: May Happiness Fall Into Baby Song's Hands
"Welcome, Croissant's... Little Doggy." Jian Xingsong felt an inexplicable sense of shame every time he read that name aloud, his fingers tightening their grip on the crochet hook.
Seeing the boy on screen grip his hook tighter, the small crocheted croissant pin on his chest swaying with the movement, Xie Zhijin could easily imagine the expression hidden beneath Jian Xingsong's mask.
He was definitely biting his plump, glossy lower lip, and his cheeks had to be flushed red.
Staring at the boy on the screen, Xie Zhijin swallowed hard. He practicedly sent a Rocket gift, his fingers flying across the screen to type another comment.
[Croissant's Dog: What is Baby Song crocheting today? Which friend is it for?]
Thinking of Xie Zhijin, Jian Xingsong suddenly fell silent for a long moment before replying softly, "It's a little wolf. It's for an... old friend."
Upon hearing Jian Xingsong's words, countless fireworks exploded in Xie Zhijin's heart. An old friend? Is he talking about me? I'm actually Songsong's old friend?
Thrilled beyond words, Xie Zhijin continued probing.
[Croissant's Dog: Oh~ Why a little wolf? Which friend is this? I haven't heard Baby Song talk about him before!]
Jian Xingsong valued quality over quantity when it came to friends, so his inner circle was very small. He had assigned a specific animal persona to each of his friends. For instance, his childhood friend Tang Xiaolu was a grumpy reindeer, and another friend was a dangerous fox.
As for giving him a little wolf... why was that?
Whenever the topic touched upon Jian Xingsong's comfort zone, he naturally became more talkative.
On screen, the boy’s pale, slender fingers deftly maneuvered the brown wooden-handled crochet hook through the grayish-blue yarn as he murmured softly,
"He's very tall and gives off a strong sense of security, but at the same time, he has this dangerous, unapproachable aura. He has a really cool personality, though maybe a little bit vain, so I designed this cool little wolf for him. I hope he likes it. But he's actually a really great person; when I was sick yesterday, he was the one who took care of me..."
Jian Xingsong recalled Xie Zhijin from their high school days. Despite his seemingly frivolous demeanor, he was genuinely a good guy. When they first met, they were actually deskmates.
At the time, Xie Zhijin had trouble keeping up with the coursework, so the teacher had assigned Jian Xingsong to tutor him.
Xie Zhijin wasn't stupid; he just didn't want to learn. Under Jian Xingsong's guidance, he grasped concepts immediately.
This gave Jian Xingsong an immense sense of accomplishment, filling him with so much confidence that he ran for the position of Study Committeeman—only to suffer a massive blow to his ego.
He soon discovered that his tutoring methods didn't work for just anyone.
He didn't run for the position again in the second semester. Of course, this was also because he and Xie Zhijin had begun to drift apart toward the end of the first semester.
He went back to being a loner just like before. It wasn't that he had no friends at all, but rather that they were all "situational friends."
For these friends, he was never their first choice. He simply didn't have anyone who was truly inseparable from him.
For example, whenever PE class was dismissed, most students would gather in small groups to head to the snack shop or huddle together to chat. Very few were left completely alone like him.
Jian Xingsong was one of those rare exceptions. To mask his loneliness, he would always retreat to the classroom to read a book right after these activities ended, making himself look studious rather than isolated.
Perhaps that was just the naive mindset of a child back then.
Truth be told, Jian Xingsong's looks easily made people like him, not to mention that his soft, easygoing personality made him incredibly approachable.
However, that was only on the surface. Actually forging a deep, meaningful connection with him required a long period of testing and trust-building.
Back when he was deskmates with Xie Zhijin, it was actually the happiest period of Jian Xingsong's life. Finally, he had someone to hang out with after PE class.
But later, he heard that Xie Zhijin was homophobic and especially loathed guys like him, whose appearance perfectly fit the stereotype of a "bottom" in the gay community.
When Jian Xingsong first found out about this, he could no longer face Xie Zhijin with a calm and composed demeanor.
At the time, he was just beginning to understand romance, and he knew full well that his feelings for Xie Zhijin weren't entirely pure.
Because he knew Xie Zhijin was disgusted by people like him, he had quietly distanced himself.
Later on—he couldn't even remember whose mouth he heard it from—a rumor spread that the person Xie Zhijin hated the most was him.
The rumor claimed that Xie Zhijin found Jian Xingsong's "impure thoughts" exceptionally disgusting and only refrained from publicly confronting him to maintain civility between classmates. After that, Jian Xingsong never dared to approach Xie Zhijin again.
And so, they drifted apart. Throughout the rest of high school and into college, even though they had each other's contact information, they rarely ever exchanged a word.
The original account of Xie Zhijin's that he had added had long since turned into a permanent offline grey icon right around the time their relationship soured.
It wasn't until the post-college entrance exam graduation party, when everyone passed around yearbooks to sign, that he managed to add Xie Zhijin's new account.
That new account would always send him a brief greeting during holidays and festivals.
But Jian Xingsong always assumed it was a fake account. Back then, Xie Zhijin had been so popular and outstanding that many people desperately wanted his contact info, leading to quite a few impersonators.
Jian Xingsong had figured it was just someone playing a prank on him. Even so, he couldn't bear to delete it, silently keeping it on his list and treating it as an unseen classmate.
It wasn't until the day before yesterday, when Xie Zhijin moved in and waved his phone at him, telling him that it was indeed his real account.
Jian Xingsong had felt a sudden wave of shock and bewilderment. So the person who had been messaging me all these years... was actually Xie Zhijin?
But then again, Xie Zhijin did seem to be just that kind-hearted of a person.
Jian Xingsong's crocheting movements paused slightly. So, does he intend to keep being friends with me now?
Having just gone through a failed relationship—even if it was only online—Jian Xingsong didn't dare let himself easily fall for anyone else.
Perhaps he was just naturally suited to being alone.
Jian Xingsong crocheted in silence, a sudden pang of desolation rising in his heart.
Perhaps because he had grown up in an environment devoid of love, Jian Xingsong actually deeply yearned to have a small family of his own.
He dreamed of a future where he could nestle in his lover's arms on the sofa, watching childish cartoons.
They would go grocery shopping together, stroll along the riverside park, and watch the sun rise and set. It would be an ordinary, yet warm and cozy life.
His demands for the future weren't high at all.
His vision for the future had never changed. Originally, he had hoped that Shen Jinye would be the one to fulfill this wish. During the six months they were dating, he had grown eager to finally meet Shen Jinye in person.
But he hadn't expected disaster to strike faster than happiness. Right when he thought he was sprinting towards a happy ending, they broke up.
Thinking of Shen Jinye reminded Jian Xingsong of the screenshot Xie Zhijin had sent him the day before. Without a change in expression and without missing a beat, he continued to weave his yarn.
Shen Jinye... perhaps their relationship was a mistake from the very beginning.
How could someone who sucked at video games and had no interest in them possibly maintain a long-term relationship with someone who treated gaming like his lifeblood?
They were originally two parallel lines destined never to cross, only bumping into each other by mistake. Now that things were set right, breaking up was the correct path.
Jian Xingsong lowered his eyes. Seeing the little wolf's head slowly take shape in his hands, a faint smile inadvertently graced his lips.
Meanwhile, after hearing his explanation, the viewers in his livestream saw their favorable impression of this "Mr. Wolf" skyrocket.
[What does he look like, Baby Song? How does he compare to that guy Ah Ye?]
[Don't even mention that guy, he doesn't deserve it! Whether Baby Song has a new friend or a new boyfriend, it doesn't matter to me. I just want Baby Song to be happy.]
[Croissant's Dog: May happiness fall into Baby Song's hands!]
The comments exploded in a screen-filling "Flower Seas" special effect. The entire livestream chat was immediately flooded with spam: [May happiness fall into Baby Song's hands!]
The "Flower Seas" was the most expensive gift on the Black Cube platform. Sending just one triggered an overflowing floral wall effect and dropped a shower of virtual gold coins.
Ten gold coins were equal to one RMB, and viewers could snatch them up by clicking on the flower wall.
The prerequisite for grabbing the coins was to copy and paste the message sent by the gifter, which was why the livestream chat was completely covered in that exact phrase.
At the same time, a notification for the Flower Seas would scroll across the top of all other active livestreams for about five seconds, ensuring that streamers and netizens in other channels could see it too.
A single Flower Seas was worth 100,000 RMB. Aside from massive top-tier streamers or channels in the middle of fierce PK battles, it was incredibly rare for anyone to drop a Flower Seas in an ordinary livestream.
Therefore, when the Flower Seas erupted in Jian Xingsong's livestream, many people flocked over out of curiosity. Seeing that it was just an ASMR-style crocheting stream, a trace of bewilderment arose among the newcomers.
Naturally, this notification also appeared in Shen Jinye's livestream. Some nosy viewers immediately recognized that this was Shen Jinye's ex's channel and instantly started teasing him in his own chat.
[Ah Ye, looks like your ex has quite the charm! Someone just dropped a Flower Seas, oh my god! I'm gonna go grab some gold coins first!]
In an instant, Shen Jinye's livestream lost several hundred viewers.
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