Chapter 26: The Social Demise of the Old Woman

At the same time, Zhi Xun had also arrived near Da Xiao Mei’s home. Since she needed Zhi Xun to help her with a solo match, the two had agreed to meet offline to avoid suspicion.

Tonight, her mother wasn’t home, but Da Xiao Mei’s family was strict. Even though she was bringing a guy home just to play games and nothing else, if her family found out, she’d get scolded, maybe even hit a couple of times. So, they decided to meet at a nearby internet café instead.

Nowadays, internet cafés are quite comfortable, and streaming from there doesn’t cause any issues. At this moment, Da Xiao Mei had already set up the computer.

“Are you serious, old lady? I came all this way and you didn’t even prepare a bottle of water for me?” Zhi Xun joked.

“Hey, manager, two bottles of Pulse, please,” Da Xiao Mei called out, then turned to Zhi Xun and warned, “Don’t lose later.”

“Lose?” Zhi Xun chuckled. “When the game starts, pick a song and listen to it. By the time the intro is over and before the lyrics begin, I’ll have gotten first blood!”

Honestly, it wasn’t just bragging. Across the national server, everyone knew him as the esports Hua Jianhua. His mastery of Talon was legendary; his level two lethality had become his signature move.

If it weren’t to help Da Xiao Mei, he wouldn’t even bother with someone like Bai Qingming, whose skills barely exceeded Gold rank.

With that, Da Xiao Mei relaxed and started her stream.

Her livestream was already crowded with viewers.

“Why isn’t the old lady showing her face today?”
“Why are you streaming so late?”
“Are you scared to solo with the Father of Singles?”

Da Xiao Mei ignored these comments and opened WeChat, sending Bai Qingming a voice message.

“Are you there? Get online!”

There was no response for a while, and Da Xiao Mei grew anxious, sending more messages.

“Where are you?”
“If you’re scared, there’s still time to surrender. You’ll only lose half.”
“Hm? Where did you go?”
“Dog man, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Say something, dog man, just say something!”

...

In his bedroom, Bai Qingming had just started his stream, seeing viewers’ comments pop up immediately.

“He’s here! The Father of Singles is online!”
“Finally! I’ve been waiting forever!”

In less than five minutes, his stream had reached a million viewers, and the fan count was climbing fast.

No denying it, the space in his hundred-million yuan apartment was vast—the living room and bedroom were far apart. Bai Qingming’s phone was left in the living room, so he hadn’t heard any notifications.

Thinking to contact Da Xiao Mei, he went out to fetch his phone and sat back at the computer. As soon as he opened WeChat, Da Xiao Mei’s messages popped up.

He smiled and replied, “I’m here.”

On the other side, Da Xiao Mei calmed instantly upon receiving his reply and turned to address her viewers.

“No need to worry, the Father of Singles has received my message. Oh, and he secretly begged me to go easy on him so he wouldn’t lose too badly.”

She said it without a change in expression.

Sitting beside her, Zhi Xun, who saw the chat record, was stunned by her bold lies.

When had he ever said that? He had only replied, “I’m here,” hadn’t he?

Indeed, the woman admired by the esports Hua Jianhua was truly remarkable!

Meanwhile, the viewers were highly skeptical of Da Xiao Mei’s claims.

“How could our spiritual leader say something like that? Isn’t the old lady just making stuff up?”
“Stop guessing. The Father of Singles is streaming, just go ask him.”
“Exactly, there’s no way he’d beg the old lady.”

As the comments rolled in, Da Xiao Mei grew anxious. She’d just been trying to save face, but now people were taking it seriously.

“Hey, what’s with you all? Don’t you know to leave some room for others? If you ask him, of course he won’t admit it!”

But it was too late. A wave of viewers flocked to Bai Qingming’s stream to get to the bottom of it.

“Spiritual leader, the old lady says you secretly begged her to go easy on you during the solo so you wouldn’t lose too badly. Is that true?”

Reading the question, Bai Qingming was momentarily stunned.

“I begged her to go easy on me?”

He had no idea what they were talking about. So he opened the WeChat chat and saw the truth clear as day.

Meanwhile, Da Xiao Mei, watching Bai Qingming’s stream from her alt account, suddenly understood the meaning of “social death.”

This was it—social death.

Without hesitation, she sent a voice call request.

As soon as Bai Qingming answered, Da Xiao Mei’s angry voice came through.

“Hurry up and get online, dog man! You’re dead tonight!”

Bai Qingming smiled faintly.

“Send your ID! I’ll add you.”

“I sent it.”

Soon, a custom room was created, and Da Xiao Mei—or rather, Zhi Xun—was invited in.

“You’re finished today. Get ready to shower me with gifts!” Da Xiao Mei gritted her teeth.

“So confident?” Hearing her arrogant words, Bai Qingming had an idea. “Want to raise the stakes?”

“Raise the stakes?” Da Xiao Mei looked at Zhi Xun, who nodded reassuringly. “Trust me, this is a sure win!”

“Sure, what do you have in mind?” Da Xiao Mei answered without hesitation.

Bai Qingming chuckled. “I’ll set the solo rules. If I lose, not only will I gift you a hundred treasure maps tonight, but for a whole week, I’ll give you a hundred each day. But if you lose, not only do you have to call me ‘Dad,’ you’ll be my maid for a month—come over to clean, do laundry, cook, whatever. Do you dare?”

Provoked, Da Xiao Mei agreed without thinking.

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s settled, let’s start!”

Zhi Xun didn’t stop her. He was confident in his skills; whether it was first blood, first tower, or a hundred minions, Bai Qingming could only lose.

“Good, that’s the spirit!” Bai Qingming wasted no time and started the game.

Zhi Xun picked his best champion, Talon.

Bai Qingming thought for a moment and chose Demacia’s Wings, Quinn—commonly known among players as Birdman.

As the game began, Zhi Xun saw Bai Qingming’s choice and smiled. He guessed Bai Qingming wanted to use Quinn’s range to suppress his Talon.

But against a true expert, that strategy was useless.

Talon’s damage output was something Quinn simply couldn’t withstand.

“So, what are the rules?” After Zhi Xun’s analysis, Da Xiao Mei felt even more confident.

Just then, Bai Qingming, controlling Quinn, arrived at mid lane, stood under the tower, and spoke slowly.

“Solo rule... Let’s see who runs fastest!”

In that instant, Zhi Xun was stunned.

The smile froze on Da Xiao Mei’s face.

“?????”