SMMW | Chapter 13

〖Madam Wen: Youth really does make a difference. After recuperating for ten days, you are almost fully healed. Wen Qing also looks much better. With someone supporting him, he can already walk a few steps.

Yuan Hao: I still have to thank you, Auntie, for taking such good care of me.

Madam Wen: You saved my son’s life, so no matter how much I do, it is only what I ought to do. Since you are anxious to hurry home and see your mother, I won’t keep you any longer. Take these tonic supplements back with you, as a token of my regard.〗

“Finally got the injuries healed. Sure enough, it really costs money. I ate roast duck and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for so many days, and now my Physique is… 54! I probably won’t suddenly croak in some accident now.”

“But I don’t have much money left either. There’s only 1300 left.”

After analyzing his stats, Song Hao finally had time to glance at the comment section, only to discover that not only had his stream shot up to 5,367 viewers, the newly arrived audience and his old fans were also fighting with each other.

[Feels like I just watched an episode of a dating reality show [smile]]

[You lured the bros in here just to kill us???]

[You know perfectly well in your heart whether you’re doing this for the stat boosts, I can’t even be bothered to expose you]

[Change the title. Don’t hang up a sheep’s head and sell dog meat]

[You guys only found out on day one that the streamer is gay?]

[It really is straight guys who ship the hardest]

[Love watching this, streamer update more]

[Came here by reputation, just in time for a hot meal]

[+1]

[Looks even gayer here than in the videos]

Anyway, the whole direction of the chat was very wrong. Song Hao could only pause the game and explain stiffly, “I’m playing a proper harem game. There are several female characters you can romance. Right now it just feels difficult because I’m doing a zero-spend run. There really is no BL route. Not in the game, and not outside the game either.”

[Say no more, we all get it]

[If my feed showed me this, that means you’re already way off]

[Hell yeah! Straight turned gay]

[I may not know you, but can’t I at least know my own algorithm?]

[Isn’t this more entertaining than a novel?]

[You hand-fed him tea. Is that something a straight guy would do?]

[Made a little money and spent it all on a man]

[I don’t even feed my girlfriend like that]

[That said, the person above doesn’t even have a girlfriend, so what are you pretending for]

[Hahahahahahahaha]

[Weren’t you all shipping them happily before]

[I thought everyone was here for the BL. There are actually game fans here too?]

[Game fan here [raises hand]]

[You even called him sis-in-law in the video]

[It was just teasing. Who knew he’d take it seriously]

Video?

Song Hao remembered then. Every time he streamed, he also recorded it. After the stream ended, he did not edit anything, he just uploaded it directly to his account, and even the titles were perfunctory, like Challenge: Clear a Predatory Pay-to-Win Game with 0 Dollars, Day 1, then Day 2, Day 3 after that.

He had checked on them before, but they never got many views, so later he simply stopped bothering. It became a habit, and every time he just tossed the video up there.

And yet this whole series of videos, no editing, no subtitles, no tags, absurdly long, even with covers randomly generated by the system, had somehow reached 300,000 views.

At the lowest estimate of 10 yuan per 10,000 views, there were already 300 yuan sitting in the backend of his account, BigBigBigBigWhitePotato.

Wow, he’d made money!

After all, a stingy streamer can only attract stingy fans. He had streamed for so long, and all the tips he had received added together had only just reached 100. That was only because he had gotten lucky and run into a rich viewer who sent him a sports car. One sports car gave him a split of 49.5. Otherwise, he would not even have reached 100.

And as for the comment section under his videos, it had long since become something he could not understand anymore.

Top comment #1: This video is also known as My Daily Life of Falling in Love with a Male NPC in a Harem Game

Top comment #2: Humanity’s three great hobbies are persuading people to turn over a new leaf, forcing decent people into vice, and watching straight men turn gay

Top comment #3: Who said there aren’t any good domestic LGBTQ games

It was over. He really had been taken for BL.

Although he was unemployed at home, his savings were still enough to let him scrape by for another two or three months, and for now he had no plans to cash in by making trashy money. So Song Hao once again made a solemn statement.

“Thanks, everyone, for coming to my stream, but there really isn’t any LGBTQ content here, so I’m sorry to disappoint you. If you watch a little longer, you’ll understand. This kind of old-school game is just constant stat grinding. It’s pretty boring.”

Song Hao felt he was being very sincere. Those words were practically driving viewers away. But there was no helping it. He was not actually into men, and if he pretended to be gay to scam money, he would definitely get exposed sooner or later. If things blew up online then, it would not be worth the trouble. He was only streaming because he was bored anyway, and being able to earn a little money for takeout was already pretty good.

[Bro, I support you]

[Thank god, I didn’t misjudge you [free flowers x1]]

[This is what a real man is. Heard that? No gay stuff]

[I’m seriously annoyed by all those people who sell fake BL]

[Supporting you [gesture 666]]

[Yeah yeah yeah, this is exactly that straight-guy flavor, extra fragrant, extra good [heart x5]]

[This is exactly what sis likes to eat [hot air balloon x1]]

[Streamer, keep it up. I’m sick of industrial saccharine [lollipop x1]]

[What we want is all-natural! [little yellow duck x1]]

[Don’t mind us, just pretend we don’t exist and keep playing normally [rose x1]]

[Don’t you dare act. If you act, I’ll spot it instantly [heart x3]]

“……”

That was Song Hao.

[…]

[…]

[…]

That was the “bros” in the stream who had never seen the world.

[Check Wen Qing’s affection [hot air balloon x1]]

That was a generous new fan making bold moves. One hot air balloon was worth 20 yuan, and she had already sent two.

When the boss gives an order, of course you obey. Song Hao opened the affection panel.

〖Affection Value: Xing’er 9, Yun Ling 3, Kong Mengxue 2, Wen Qing 99, Zou Hui -30…〗

The one in second place for affection was Xing’er, with 9 points. Aside from the +4 from their first meeting, later on he had successfully found the Golden Teng Flower to treat his mother. Xing’er had been very excited and gave another 5 points, making a total of 9.

In first place was Wen Qing, with 99. He was the only one with a two-digit value, and the gap between him and second place was extremely large, extremely eye-catching. Song Hao did not know whether it was because the lag from that day had reset itself, or because all these days of eating roast duck had raised it. Anyway, it was just very high.

[…]

[Bro, you’re making it really hard for straight men]

[Hahahahahahaha]

[Even when I speak up for you, I can’t quite keep my back straight]

[Send another gift and round it up to 100~]

Send another gift? If he sent another one, it really would hit 100. That would be very hard to explain away.

“Ahem.” Song Hao cleared his throat. “Let’s not send another gift for now. I only have 1300 money left, and going to the capital later will definitely still cost…”

[Send Wen Qing a calligraphy brush [sports car x1]]

One sports car was 99 RMB. One brush was 100 in-game money. Exchanging real money for game currency, that really was a lavish move.

When you take someone’s gift, your hands get short. Song Hao shut his mouth and obediently bought a wolf-hair brush from the gift shop. He had clearly just left the Wen residence, but turned right back around. Wen Qing was still lying in bed recuperating.

〖Wen Qing: Brother Yuan, weren’t you supposed to be going home today?

Yuan Hao: I’m just about to go. This is the wolf-hair brush you like. I forgot to give it to you.

Wen Qing: Many thanks…

※ Wen Qing Affection +5〗

Seeing the 5-point affection increase, Song Hao nodded in satisfaction. Last time it had only added 1 point. After all, it was a 100-money gift, so how could it possibly only add 1 point? That day, no matter what he did, Wen Qing’s affection had been dropping sharply. It definitely must have been a system bug.

This time, without waiting for the boss to say anything, Song Hao opened the affection panel again.

〖Affection Value: Wen Qing 99〗

There was no change. It looked like he had hit the cap. Song Hao let out a sigh of relief, and his tone lightened as he said, “Boss, the affection should’ve hit the max. I told you, this game doesn’t have any BL side route.”

[Alright, then when the game gets acquired by a new company, I’m adding a BL route. Come back and play it then]

[???]

[What kind of power is that?]

[You’re bluffing, right?]

[When’s the acquisition happening? Got a date yet [ears]]

The rich lady was generous and looked like she really had some power, and she effortlessly took control of the room. The original old fans could not sit still anymore. They were determined to win back some face for their bro.

[I don’t believe it. Go raise affection with a female character [sunglasses x1]]

One sunglasses gift was 10 yuan, a somewhat cramped amount, but once someone had sent a gift, you had to comply. And Song Hao really did want to clear his name too.

“Thanks, boss, for the gift~ Xing’er isn’t on the mountain anymore, and the academy isn’t open, so I can only go to the medicine shop to look for Yun Ling.”

The comment section did not care. As long as he spoke to a female character, that was enough.

〖Yun Ling: Young Master Yuan, you’ve come. How has your recovery been lately?

Yuan Hao: Doctor Yun’s medical skill is superb. I’m already almost fully recovered.

Yun Ling: My father has practiced medicine for many years, so of course his skill is remarkable. I wonder when I’ll be able to become like him…

Yuan Hao: A tiger father has no dog daughter. Miss Yun will naturally be able to as well.

Yun Ling: Then I’ll borrow Young Master Yuan’s auspicious words~ This is newly prepared wound medicine for Brother Wen. I heard you’ll be leaving soon for the examinations, so I’ll trouble you to bring it to Brother Wen.

Yuan Hao: Alright.

※ Yun Ling Affection +1.5, obtained wound medicine x5〗

[…]

[When two people are in love, Heaven itself will bring them together]

[Can I get my sunglasses money refunded]

[Why refund it? Just answer whether he went to look for Yun Ling or not. He even got affection points]

[Why is it 1.5? That’s so weird]

[Did the system bug out? It’s usually whole numbers]

[Still, sis-in-law’s affection goes up a lot more generously]

[Old fan explanation: because when White Potato Bro was saving Wen Qing and couldn’t beat them, he shouted that he was Longyang. The debuff is that female characters’ affection gets halved for a year]

[Holy shit, that’s actually true, I totally forgot]

[Very normal, because after that he never went to find any female characters again [smile]]

[White Potato Bro, are you becoming a monk?]

[He’s becoming a gay guy, hahaha]

[If not for the system stopping him, bro would’ve married Wen Qing ages ago]

Faced with all the teasing in the comment section, Song Hao had absolutely no strength to argue back. After leaving the medicine shop, he quietly went home.

His mother was still lying in bed, but she looked much better. Seeing Yuan Hao return, she rambled on and on about various things, then finally hesitantly took a jade pendant out from under her pillow.

“Here it comes. Time to reveal my background.”

〖Su Shi: I do not know whether I should tell you this. You are grown now and have your own judgment. How you choose the road ahead will be up to you.

Actually, I am not your birth mother. You are the emperor’s child. Your mother was the late Virtuous Consort, and I was a senior palace maid serving at Virtuous Consort’s side. Back then, Virtuous Consort went into difficult labor. She clutched my hand and asked me to take you out of the palace.

I knew then that something was wrong. Her health had always been good, so how could she have had a difficult labor? Someone must have tampered with things, but there was nothing we could do against them. If you had been left in the palace, there would only have been a dead end.

So a few of us loyal palace servants found an infant who had died young outside the palace and pretended it was you, announcing to the world that both mother and child had died. In truth, I secretly left the palace, brought you here to this remote Hezhou County, lived apart from others, and raised you to adulthood.

Originally, I had hoped that you would keep placing highly all the way until you could gain an audience with His Majesty, and then return to the palace with this jade pendant, the token of love between Her Highness and His Majesty. But… the older you grew, the more afraid I became. We have no support at all. I fear that you may never even get to see the emperor. And I fear that even if you do see him, once you enter the imperial palace, you may somehow be harmed too, just like Her Highness back then.

You do not know this, but you and the emperor in his youth are practically cast from the same mold. As long as you show this jade pendant to the emperor, he will certainly not doubt it.

Now the choice is yours. Return to the palace, or remain here. The road back to the palace is one of countless hardships and perils, with nine chances of death in ten. But if you remain, then you will be like a roc with broken wings, trapped here for the rest of your life.

Your choice is: Return to the Palace / Stay〗

There was nothing to think about. He was playing the emperor route. Song Hao did not even save and directly chose 〖Return to the Palace〗.

〖Yuan Hao knelt beside Su Shi’s bed and said through tears: Mother’s grace in raising me is engraved in my heart and marrow, but as a son, I dare not forget my birth mother’s hatred. Your son wishes to go to the capital and gain an audience with His Majesty, to seek justice for my birth mother. If misfortune befalls me, then in the next life I will repay Mother’s grace in raising me.

Su Shi: This is what it means to be a son of the imperial house. How could a true dragon remain trapped in shallow waters? Just go boldly, and need not worry yourself over me.

※ Obtained jade pendant x1〗

〖Quest: In half a year, pass the metropolitan examination, enter the palace for an audience with the emperor, and be acknowledged by him.

Conditions for completion: Literary Talent > 200, Physique > 50, Martial Arts or Intelligence or Reputation > 50〗