In the dark room, the monitor cast a patch of milky white light onto the empty computer chair.

Hundreds of thousands of people stared at the empty chair on the screen, their gazes gradually losing focus.

After a good while, the door was pushed open. Dou Sheng shuffled back in his slippers, carrying cocoa milk and a box of chocolates.

“My gastritis acted up recently. My mom told me to take care of my stomach, and I can’t drink alcohol during the stream.” He mumbled while picking open the box. “So I’ll just eat a box of liqueur chocolates.”

• ???
• “Taking care of stomach”
• Stomach: Are you mocking me??
• Liqueur chocolates: Who are you looking down on?
• Mama Dou cursed and left the chat.
• Be careful, the alcohol content in those isn’t low.

Xie Lan, who was watching the stream, was also a bit speechless. He wanted to advise against it, but looking at the huge popularity in the chat, he silently held back.

Dou Sheng drank the box of cocoa milk in a few gulps, then tossed several chocolates into his mouth one after another. He chewed perfunctorily, and even made a slurping sound when swallowing.

“Tsk, actually pretty strong.”

He turned the box over to look at the ingredients list and paused subtly.

• What’s the percentage??
• I bought this brand before; they all have 30-40% liquor centers.
• Stomach: I’m exploding, do as you please.
• Stomach: Fck you, can you handle it or not!*

After a long time, Dou Sheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and then he calmly put down the box.

The ingredients list was pressed against the side invisible to the camera.

“Just kidding, haha. This is ordinary chocolate. If there are super admins here, please have mercy.”

The bullet comments frantically spammed a wave of — Chocolate: Mua, who are you calling ordinary??

Ignoring the comments, Dou Sheng ate several more pieces in a row. Sweet, bitter, spicy—flavors permeated all his taste buds.

He slumped into the chair and exhaled lightly.

A bit tipsy.

Alright, time to stir things up.

Opening YouTube, he scrolled directly to the bottom and clicked on SilentWaves’ first video.

Dou Sheng said in his usual low voice, “This is Xie Lan’s first video on YouTube. He wasn’t popular then. He only really blew up around his fifth video playing H.Blood. This one can only be considered a decent start. When I stumbled upon it back then, it only had a few hundred views. Got it? I’m a first-generation fan.”

As he spoke, he turned up the speaker volume.

It was a very pure, lyrical adagio, adapted from the ED of a well-known depressing anime. The melody was modified to be softer and more melodious, wandering on the border between sorrow and healing. Although the technique was lacking, the grasp of emotion was very subtle.

The wall projection showed a mountain night. Trees all over the mountain swayed their branches and leaves in one direction. A green, tender figure was projected on the mountain peak. In the speakers, the violin sound blended with a hint of wind, real or imagined. That person played against the wind.

“Xie Lan” appeared, and the style of the bullet comments changed instantly.

• So beautiful, Lan-zai.
• Born artist.
• So cry-worthy.
• I’ll praise Xie Lan forever.
• After binge-watching S’s videos, I realized some people even have atmospheric shadows.

Dou Sheng didn’t say a word, just letting the video play. The video had a dark tone, so the light projected from the screen dimmed. He sat in the gloom, watching the silhouette of the young Xie Lan on the screen together with the audience. His eyes were bright and gentle, seeming to carry a trace of affection, but it was instantly masked by indifference as he ate another chocolate.

This video was named Dissipate in the Wind.

For a long time after his dad died, he felt like a walking corpse.

Later, he started playing underground basketball outside. Two bankers betting money; no laws on the court, consequences at your own risk.

He didn’t lack money. He didn’t play to win, nor did he make moves. He just took the ball and weaved through other people’s dirty plays alone. Being elbowed, being knocked heavily to the ground, looking at large patches of scraped and bleeding wounds, he would gain a momentary sense of reality that he was alive.

But that day, he played the most violent game.

The opposing team had gathered a group of desperate hooligans from somewhere, all around twenty years old, with the build of tall, burly centers.

He didn’t remember how he got home, only the feeling that his whole body was splitting with pain.

That day, Zhao Wenying suddenly cut short her business trip and was coming home. He panicked a bit and locked himself in his room to treat his injuries urgently. Maybe he was too agitated, but on a whim, he looked for a soothing song to listen to. He searched casually on YouTube and happened to find SilentWaves’ first career upload.

Dissipate in the Wind.

The video started. He glanced at the screen nonchalantly, and then his gaze never moved away again. Holding iodine and bandages, he stood dazed in place until it ended.

Then, miraculously, his body seemed to secrete a tiny bit of dopamine after a long absence. Just a tiny bit, only enough to produce a faint trace of happiness. But that trace of happiness allowed his long-barren nerves to take a breath from the brink of withering. Even the pain all over his body became mild under the stimulation of that excitement.

Just like the name of that video, dissipating in the wind.

That was a small turning point Xie Lan brought him.

It was a glimmer of life.

Among the thousands of people one meets, some are indeed gifts.

The video finished playing.

• Bean’s eyes have a story.
• So gentle, Deeply Affectionate Bean.
• There’s a phrase, ‘Mu Guang Ru Dou’ (Vision like a bean/Short-sighted).
• Mu Guang Ru Dou: Describing eyes that suddenly become gentle.
• Problem is he hasn’t said anything yet?
• Hungry hungry, food food, talk talk??

On the screen, Dou Sheng suddenly came back to his senses and lowered his head to put a piece of chocolate in his mouth.

When he looked up again, he had returned to his usual nonchalant laziness.

His mouse drew a few circles on the close-up of the phoenix tree leaf at the end of the video.

“See that?” he mumbled. “Look at this phoenix tree leaf. Does its shape look like a bean? Does it look like me?”

• I slowly type a — ?
• Truthfully?
• Truthfully, it just looks like an ordinary leaf.
• I rotated my phone 360 degrees, not a single second did it look like you.

Xie Lan also silently rotated his tablet a full circle.

Dou Sheng curled his lips. “You know sh*t. When I saw this leaf back then, I felt this faceless handsome guy was waving at me. Dissipate in the wind, know what that means?”

The comments paused subtly.

Dou Sheng snorted a laugh, tapping his finger on the desk. “Dissipate in the wind! He entrusted his feelings to the wind, letting the wind cross the Pacific Ocean to bring them to my side.”

• ???
• I’m gonna crawl through the internet cable to beat you awake.
• Showing a coquettishness that shouldn’t exist at that age.
• Xie Lan will never know what his audience is thinking.
• Poor Xie Lan.
• Poor Xie Lan.
• Poor Xie Lan.

“Don’t believe me?” Dou Sheng sneered contemptuously. “Wait.”

He got up and went to the bedside table, hugged out a large box, opened it, and shook it in front of the camera.

• Shocking!
• Holy sht, a box of phoenix tree leaves?*
• Numb, shocked!
• Crazy, that ghost talk suddenly became a bit credible?
• Does he seriously think Xie Lan was shouting to him across space?

“These leaves were all collected during those two years. Every time he released a video, I went outside to pick a nice leaf, processed it for permanent preservation, or made it into specimens and bookmarks or something,” Dou Sheng said casually, tossing the box aside. “When Xie Lan first came to my house this year, he had nightmares for a while. I even gave them to him to ward off dreams.”

• Wu wu, so shippable.
• Then does he know this little thought originated from himself?
• Reciprocating a peach with a plum.
• This wave, this wave is called Xie Lan reaping beans after sowing beans.
• Did you take action back then?

Dou Sheng fished out a few more chocolates.

The alcohol released its power; he was a bit tipsy now. Chewing open the slightly bitter chocolate shell, letting the spicy liquor burst out, drunkenness permeated his mouth and enveloped his forehead. Clarity and numbness intertwined.

He clicked open a screenshot of a Twitter DM.

“I just went to say hi. Nothing much to say, just a direct shot.”

Initially, Xie Lan hadn’t replied to him, so he treated Xie Lan like a tree hollow, playing a single-player game for a long time.

【QZFXR: Violin sounds so good actually. Your tunes are like they were played specially for me.】

• Damn, dying of laughter.
• Xie Lan: Subway, Old Man, Looking at Phone.
• Xie Lan: Sorry, this really isn’t it.
• Bean I love you very much, but you seem to be sick in the head.
• LMAO, Xie Lan couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to him during his invisible period.

“Couldn’t be bothered my ass.” Dou Sheng looked at the comments and said lazily, “Xie Lan replied to me. Look down.”

Switched back to YouTube.

Xie Lan’s second video, title — You know.

Dou Sheng snorted, his eyes brightening. “Hear that? He said, ‘So you know’.”

• ???
• Enterprise-level understanding!
• Enterprise-level understanding!
• A model for our generation!!

Dou Sheng let out a satisfied sigh.

Separated by a wall, Xie Lan gradually lost his expression facing the tablet.

He mechanically sent a bullet comment.

• How are you sure the video title was speaking to you?

On the screen, Dou Sheng straightened up and read this comment.

“Of course I know. Let me show you his bio.” He moved the cursor to the info bar above and read with perfect articulation: “This account is to record what I want to say to you — Tsk, how direct.”

Xie Lan: “…”

That “you” referred to Xiao Langjing.

The first video played just now was created when his mother was having trouble sleeping due to pain. He wanted to tell her that the pain would dissipate in the wind.

“Sigh.” Xie Lan sighed and turned off the stream.

“Sleep, Wutong. Some people are starting to trick fools.”

---

The bullet comments were still spamming frantically.

• Magical, I can actually swallow this ship?!
• Damn LMAO, I know he’s bullshtting, but I still want to listen.*
• Same! Is there more later?
• Hurry up and continue making it up!!

“I also know it wasn’t really said to me, but it’s just that subtle feeling, you know?” Dou Sheng clicked open the video list again. “Show you the later ones.”

“It’s Happening, what does it mean? Our fate is beginning.”

“I Have Faith in You, look, from the fourth video, he had deep faith in this friendship.”

“H Blood | A Rebirth, we who possess soulmates are like being reborn. Tsk, I’m already a soulmate.”

“Chocolate in Mind, hmm… You are that favorite chocolate life gave me.”

The comments were rolling with laughter:

• Dying of laughter, even fcking ‘favorite’.*
• Dou-style translation: First translate, then expand, expand wherever you want.
• [Drawing inferences]
• [Mastering the subject]
• Look how smart the kid is.
• I won’t take the CET-4/6 translation exam without you.

Dou Sheng’s eyes looked like they were covered with a layer of translucent water film, looking a bit dazed at the screen.

Following his excellent English instincts, he translated a string of titles with gibberish, stopping at the last video on the current page.

“Mine…” He paused, chewed on the word a few times, and murmured after a long time, “You are my private collection.”

• !!! Damn, amazing!
• Expansion is truly badass. Real, just give me a word.
• Mood right now is complicated and excited.
• I suspect someone is confessing.
• If it’s a private collection, why bring it out to tell us?
• I get it, he didn’t want Xie Lan to be exposed.
• Once exposed, it’s not a private collection anymore.
• Right, so he immediately came out to stream and stir things up, babbling nonsense, but in reality, he’s marking territory! Declaring ownership!

Hmm?

Dou Sheng stared at that dazzling comment that spoke the truth.

Under everyone’s gaze, he slowly moved the mouse, dragged the comment list up, and found that ID.

Mute.

The stream effect maxed out; the comments exploded with laughter.

• I laughed so hard my mom came to pinch me.
• He drank too much, he drank too much.
• Drunk on chocolate?
• Chocolate: Again, who are you calling ordinary?

Amidst the comments, a cool gift effect suddenly flashed.

System: [@ViolinAhZeJun sent Navigator Spaceship x10]

ViolinAhZeJun: 55555 I understand this mood!!!!

Amidst the screen full of tycoon effects, Dou Sheng suddenly frowned tightly.

“You understand sh*t.”

He moved his finger, turning on the exclusive “Mute” experience for Ah Ze who had just risen to the ranking list, muttering, “You fake fan, sarcastic to your ancestors, worthy of comparing with me? Get lost.”

• 2333333
• Damn, laughed myself silly.
• Ah Ze, tragic.
• Spending, money, to, get, scolded.
• No! Navigator Spaceship — an —
• I really think Dou-zi likes Xie Lan a little now…
• Don’t know if it’s like, but really shippable.
• Does anyone remember that sentence “I have always liked you”?
• What does Dou-zi mean? What kind of like?

“Just like Xie Lan. Since the SilentWaves era, I have always liked Xie Lan.”

The person on the screen seemed a bit drunk.

He lowered his eyelids, half-closed, murmured “I have always liked Xie Lan” many times in a low voice, poked at the hair blocking his eyes, and yawned.

“Too sleepy. That’s all for today’s story, listen to the next chapter next time. I’ll give this series a name.”

As he spoke, he casually modified the stream title.

[The Bean Who Always Liked Xie Lan]

Hmm, a bit long.

Dou Sheng pondered for a moment, then deleted a few words.

[Yi Zhi Xi Lan Dou] (Always Like Lan Bean / One Broccoli Bean)

“Let’s leave it like this.” He yawned. “Sleeping.”

As his voice fell, the stream went black abruptly, clean and efficient.

---

Xie Lan overslept the next day. When he opened his eyes, it was already past 11 AM.

His brain was still a bit foggy. Habitually, he curled up in the blanket and browsed Bilibili.

A few seconds later, he sat up abruptly.

Today’s Hot List No. 1, produced by Ms. Eat Sleep Hit Dou Dou — [Yi Zhi (Zhi) Xi (Xi) Lan (Lan) Dou] (A Broccoli Bean / Always Like Xie Lan Bean).

(Note: Puns on “One Broccoli” and “Always Like Xie Lan”)

The cover was a huge broccoli in a colorful universe, with five flower heads. Each head had a bean photoshopped on it, and each bean reflected Dou Sheng’s face.

Below were red large characters with infinite shadows: Yi Zhi Xi Lan Dou.

The art style was extremely shocking.

Views: Two million.

Two million??

Xie Lan felt like he had eaten a ton of mints, cold from the soles of his feet to the top of his skull, the kind of cold that blew cold wind.

His fingertips trembled. He took a few deep breaths and clicked.

As soon as the BGM started, Xie Lan began to shudder.

Unity — Classic BGM of the Kichiku (Auto-tune Remix) section.

Amidst immense fear, the short intro ended.

Last night’s stream interface stacked frantically on the screen—horizontal flip, vertical flip, jagged zoom—paving up from all angles. Dou Sheng slumped in the chair chanting with lowered eyes. The dubbing was cut from his past videos; some were complete phrases, some were pieced together word by word. The Kichiku effect was maxed out.

I, am, a, Like! Lan! Bean!

My mission is, protect the princess!

Everyone who scolded Xie Lan, you are all trash.

What plagiarism — Ah!

What imitation — Ah!

My Second Cat is the most, badass!

Foreign web S God is, my, wife!

(Real voice) What does it mean? Our fate is beginning.

I, am, al, ready, a, soul, mate.

He deep, ly, be, lieves, in this friendship!

I — am the chocolate! In! His! Life!

(Real voice) Just that subtle feeling, you know?

I li, li, li, li, like Xie Lan.

Al, al, al, al, always like.

YouTube — Like!

Bilibili — Like!

Cousin! Cousin (hoarse voice) Like!

Second Cat! Second Cat Like!

(Real voice) Shut up you fake fan!

(Real voice) You deserve to compare with me?

I always, always, always like you!

I always, always, always — protect!

Xie, Xie, Xie, Xie, Xie, Xie Lan!

Love, love, love, love, love, love S God!

(Real person) Eh? Is Xie Lan asleep? I’ll be quieter.

Music stopped.

Half a second later, a roar with exploding volume suddenly rang in the headphones: I ALWAYS LIKED XIE LAN!!!

…………

Deaf.

Audio-visual feast.

Xie Lan’s brain buzzed. His fingertips trembled with numbness, toes digging a half-meter trench into the sheets.

In his lifetime, he heard his own roar.

“Dou Sheng!!!”

The door was pushed open. A certain guy who got hungover from eating liqueur chocolates leaned against his doorframe, holding his forehead with head down decadently. His bangs covered his eyes, covering the twitching corner of his mouth suppressing laughter.

After a long time, he sighed deeply with a somewhat hoarse voice.

“Sorry, seems I went too far last night.”

Xie Lan: “…”

**

A fight as soon as eyes opened. When coming out of the room, Xie Lan’s eyes were still fierce, the corner of his lip slightly swollen, panting slightly.

Dou Sheng laughed mufflingly all the way behind him. The shirt collar he just changed into in the morning was full of wrinkles, and a button had popped, so he had to change again.

Walking to the top of the stairs, Xie Lan turned back again. “You’d better pray the video gets off the Hot List ASAP.”

Dou Sheng said sincerely, “Senior, you should understand better than me. Two million in a morning, the momentum of exploding the site to become a new meme—no one can stop it.”

Xie Lan suffocated, irritability rushing to his hair.

Every time he heard a remixed “I always like,” he suffocated once. But after listening, he wanted to listen again. If he forced himself not to listen, it would auto-play in his brain.

Huge shame mixed with a trace of subtle trembling and pleasure.

Nerves were about to be scrapped.

By the afternoon, sticker packs of “A Broccoli Bean” started exploding in the class group.

Another series of “A Broccoli Bean” remixes, hand-drawn animations, and beat-sync compilations appeared on Bilibili.

His and Dou Sheng’s follower counts, after a small decrease a while ago, began a new round of savage growth.

Xie Lan watched all this happen weakly. After a long time, he said with difficulty, “Can I go back to London to hide for a while?”

The trouble-maker himself sat next to him, happily liking, coining, and favoriting every derivative video. “Senior, you said we needed something more explosive to wash away the rumors. I’m just executing your orders as always.”

Xie Lan: “…”

Perhaps the heat was too high, making everyone a bit wary.

On the way back to school for evening self-study, Xie Lan refreshed the platform’s penalty announcement for One Little Black Shiba.

Account banned for ten years.

Didn’t even give a chance to apologize or defend.

Dou Sheng clicked his tongue and whispered, “This means a permanent ban. Little Black Shiba also came privately to say he accepts it, quits the site, and hopes I won’t sue. The commotion is big now; operations DM’d me hoping not to discuss this matter publicly anymore. Fine.”

Little Ma driving the car turned back hearing this. “What’s up? Did you two encounter some trouble?”

Xie Lan kept his mouth shut. Dou Sheng smiled.

“Nothing. Gaining followers fast recently, got reminded to be cautious with words and actions.”

“Oh.” Little Ma smiled. “Promising.”

Xie Lan looked at the city where night was falling outside the car window.

His phone suddenly vibrated again.

• Dr. Dou-zi: Cat Cheers.gif

Xie Lan was calm.

• Bing Ru Gao Huang: Cat Cheers.gif