It’s So Noisy, A Friend Gave Me a Pearl Bird – CH23

Chapter 23

The ability that had disappeared actually came back.

And it even came with an upgrade—now with visuals included.

Si Jingce didn’t show much on his face, only staring at Yanyan’s shocked expression. “Covering it won’t help. Your thoughts are written all over your face.”

Yanyan lowered his hand and immediately tried to look fierce in a cute way, putting on a stiff expression. “From now on, I’m going to have a poker face!”

The man found him too adorable to respond, reaching out to ruffle his hair into a mess.

“If you want yogurt, there are conditions.”

Yanyan still relied on the wheelchair, his movements limited.

Si Jingce carried him into the wheelchair and pushed him beside the birdcage.

“Walk from here to the fridge. If you succeed, I’ll let you drink yogurt—and I’ll give you a bag of chips too.” After thinking for a moment, Si Jingce eased the requirements. “You can hold onto the wall.”

Yanyan’s poker face immediately collapsed. “Do I really have to learn to walk? QAQ”

Si Jingce was firm. “You have to.”

If his legs weren’t used for a long time, the muscles would atrophy. By then, learning to walk again would be much harder.

Yanyan had no choice but to lock both wheels of the wheelchair and, with Si Jingce’s help, stand up and steady himself against the wall.

The man supported his elbow. “Stand steady first, then move forward.”

The boy obediently followed his instructions, taking a long time before slowly lifting his right foot.

Once it was firmly planted, his left foot followed.

Si Jingce felt like he looked like that meme of a seagull testing danger at the edge.

“Walk properly.” He patted Yanyan’s waist. “You’re very smart.”

Yanyan thought seriously for a moment and stepped forward again.

At first, his movements were a bit stiff, but gradually they became smoother.

Seeing that he was doing fine, Si Jingce quietly let go of his supporting hand.

Yanyan turned his head to look at him.

Si Jingce said, “Keep walking. I’m right beside you.”

But this time, Yanyan suddenly became hesitant.

He took a small step—and then, as if pulled by some mysterious force, he fell backward perfectly into Si Jingce’s arms.

“My foot hurts.” Yanyan’s eyes reddened from the pain, on the verge of tears. “I think I stepped on something just now.”

Si Jingce looked at the floor. It was completely flat.

“There’s nothing on the ground,” he comforted. “It’s okay. At least I can catch you every time.”

Yanyan turned his head away guiltily.

After letting the little bird rest for a while, Si Jingce asked, “We’re almost at the fridge. Do you want to keep going?”

Yanyan clung tightly to him, shaking his head wildly. “No, I’m tired from riding in the car today. I don’t want to walk anymore.”

The exercise was enough for now.

This kind of thing couldn’t be rushed—it had to be gradual.

He carried Yanyan back to the sofa and gave him some water to drink.

Yanyan drained the glass in one go and looked at Si Jingce. “Then can I drink yogurt and eat chips now?”

Reason told Si Jingce he couldn’t spoil him.

“No,” he said. “You didn’t complete the task I gave you.”

Yanyan said pitifully, “Really can’t?”

“You can—if you complete another task.”

They had bought many things today. Si Jingce pulled out a book from the shopping bag—

First Grade Pinyin Practice Workbook

Yanyan: ?

“Write three pages.”

Si Jingce spread the workbook open on the table. “Finish it, and I’ll reward you with snacks.”

Yanyan pointed at himself. “But my pinyin is already very good.”

Si Jingce: “…If you mean your inability to distinguish retroflex and non-retroflex sounds, then no.”

Yanyan: …

Knowing he was in the wrong, he quietly picked up the pen and started doing the exercises.

“When you’re done, come find me for your reward,” Si Jingce said. “I need to start working too.”

With that, the man took his yogurt and went into the study.

Yanyan lowered his head and began battling with pinyin practice.

He still wasn’t used to holding a pen. He adjusted his fingers, forcing them into the correct grip. But after tracing a few characters from the workbook, he already felt tired.

Yanyan peeked toward the study—Si Jingce was turning on the computer, and from his angle, he couldn’t see him.

After hesitating for a while, Yanyan pushed himself up from the sofa and quietly stood.

Barefoot on the soft carpet, he felt no cold at all.

He tiptoed toward the fridge—completely unlike someone who couldn’t walk!

The mischievous little bird opened the fridge and scanned inside.

It was packed full, but there were only two bottles of yogurt left.

If he drank one, Master would definitely notice!

After struggling for a while, Yanyan took two strawberries instead and popped them into his mouth, chewing happily to satisfy his craving.

Footsteps suddenly came from the study.

Yanyan quickly covered his mouth and ran back to the sofa, sitting down properly. Before Si Jingce came out, he swallowed the strawberries.

The moment the man stepped out of the study, he saw Yanyan sitting obediently on the sofa, staring at him.

He was holding a pen in his hand, but his lips seemed stained with juice—bright red, full and glistening—as he looked up nervously at Si Jingce.

Wherever Si Jingce moved, that gaze followed.

When their eyes met, Yanyan immediately straightened up and waved the pen. “I’ve been practicing pinyin properly!”

Si Jingce picked up the crochet materials he had set aside, preparing to make Yanyan a new plush toy.

“Mm.” He responded lightly. “Finish early and you can eat snacks earlier… and I’ll make your toy again.”

Yanyan nodded vigorously. “I’ll study pinyin properly!”

Si Jingce frowned.

Why did it feel like… this bird had secretly done something bad behind his back?

But Yanyan couldn’t even walk. At most, he would just scribble on the sofa with a pen.

Looking at what he held in his hands, Si Jingce felt he was overthinking it and returned to the study, starting his livestream.

[Waaah you’re finally back, I thought you quit streaming!]

Yunduan had already revealed that Si Jingce would stream tonight, so many viewers were waiting.

The chat was full of voices saying they missed him. Si Jingce felt a bit apologetic. “Everything’s been resolved. I’ll resume streaming. If anything comes up, I’ll take leave on Weibo.”

[QAQ As long as you’re back! Is Yanyan’s illness better?]

Si Jingce: “He’s fully recovered. I’ll also let him rest for a while.”

[Brother, brother! Have you been out relaxing lately? Who’s that boy who went with you? Why is he in a wheelchair?]

Si Jingce: “Yeah, I did go out for a bit…”

Seeing the comments bring up Yanyan’s human form, Si Jingce paused, then chose his words carefully. “He’s my younger brother. His legs aren’t very convenient right now, so he’s using a wheelchair temporarily.”

The chat kept asking whether he was a “biological brother, cousin, or sworn brother,” but Si Jingce didn’t respond further and instead moved on to introduce today’s stream.

“Today I’m playing the multiplayer co-op game Encounter Spirits with Yunduan and Bobo Mei. It’s currently in its second beta test.”

Encounter Spirits was a ghost-hunting game, similar to Werewolf. In each round, six players had to identify the hidden ghost among them and eliminate it using holy water.

Si Jingce quickly went through the beginner tutorial. After getting familiar with the controls, he asked Yunduan to invite him into a team.

[Been seeing so many streamers play this lately. When is it going public? I’m dying to try it.]

[lcberg just started and already teamed up with Yunduan? That couple is high rank now—they get matched with top players.]

[What are you even saying? In horror games, lcberg is unmatched, okay?]

The “unmatched” Si Jingce waited for Yunduan’s reply while casually taking out his crochet hook and yarn, starting to stitch with practiced ease.

Chat: ?

He set up his phone on a stand, opened a tutorial video, and followed it step by step.

He was already familiar with the basics, but the viewers who didn’t understand crochet were completely baffled…

[Am I seeing things? Is lcberg knitting??]

[Bro… did you get married during your break? Why did you come back as a househusband??]

“Don’t make random guesses,” Si Jingce said. “Not married. I’m making a plush toy for Yanyan.”

Just as he finished speaking, a message popped up on the side of the screen.

[SweetGirl Xiaoyun] invited you to join the team~

Si Jingce: ?

[Bro!] Yunduan messaged him on WeChat. [Hurry and join!]

Si Jingce clicked and joined Xiaoyun’s team. There was already another teammate inside, with the name displayed above—

[FierceMan Xiaomei]

Si Jingce: ………………

Once inside the game, voice chat activated automatically. Yunduan laughed, “How is it? My wife and I have such cool couple names, right?!”

Si Jingce stayed silent for a long time. “Cool.”

That calm mood lasted… until they spent ten minutes matching and finally entered the game. The moment Si Jingce saw the other two players’ names, he completely lost it—

[I Am Your Amlodipine]

[You Are My Metaraminol]

Si Jingce’s temples throbbed violently, as if his blood pressure was rising and falling at the same time.

A random teammate was startled. “Two couples?”

Yunduan cursed under his breath. “Damn.”

“The worst thing about beta testing is always getting matched with people you know.”

The other side greeted them too. “What a coincidence. Oh? lcberg is here as well?”

It was Amlodipine, who had just been unbanned, along with his CP partner Leidian.

Leaving the team now would cost reputation points and require a ten-minute wait to re-match. Si Jingce muted Amlodipine and clicked “Start.”

But Amlodipine fixated on him, speaking casually. “lcberg hasn’t streamed in a while. Are things at home settled?”

Si Jingce replied, “If you want to rest for another month, just say it. No need to beat around the bush.”

The other side immediately muted.

On his own stream, Amlodipine still had a smile on his face, but his hand gripped the mouse so tightly his fingertips turned white.

This one-month ban had hit him hard.

His follower count dropped drastically, and it was difficult to climb back to his peak.

Before, everyone praised him. Now, anyone could step on him.

What was even more ridiculous… he had originally planned to target Si Jingce, but Si Jingce simply took a long break too!

Frustrated, Amlodipine had tried to dig into Si Jingce’s background, but so far hadn’t found a single useful piece of information.

If he couldn’t do anything outside the game, then inside the game, he would at least make things difficult for him.

Amlodipine’s expression darkened as the map finished loading—

Ancient Castle.

Si Jingce glanced at his role card. Right from the start, he was the hidden ghost among the players.

“No ghosting, no leaking information. Otherwise you’ll be kicked immediately,” Si Jingce said to the chat after muting his mic.

After reminding viewers, he focused on his objective.

As the ghost, his task was to disrupt the humans from collecting items, disguise himself well, and slaughter them at the right moment.

The players split into pairs. Si Jingce teamed up with a random teammate to search for items.

After the first round, they regrouped and shared what they found.

Yunduan and Bobo Mei had found a talisman that could freeze the ghost for one minute. Si Jingce and Amlodipine found nothing.

“It’s normal not to find holy water in the first round. The most important thing now is finding clues about the ghost,” Yunduan explained helpfully.

The castle had six floors. So far, they had only searched half of the first floor.

They found scattered items—talismans, peachwood swords, crosses—all useful for the final slaughter phase.

By the third round, Bobo Mei suddenly called out, “Hubby, come look, there’s something here!”

Yunduan immediately ran over.

“Hubby~” Amlodipine mimicked her tone toward Leidian.

Leidian replied, “What is it, wifey?”

Si Jingce felt his ears suffer critical damage.

While Yunduan and Bobo Mei were being lovey-dovey, Amlodipine and Leidian were going all out with their act. Si Jingce and the unfamiliar random teammate were stuck in the middle, completely helpless.

And some people in chat were actually shipping it.

Si Jingce took off his headphones. “You really have no standards at all.”

[Then you find a pretty boy and give us something better to watch~]

Si Jingce pretended not to see.

Everyone gathered toward Bobo Mei and saw a pink, cutesy treasure chest on a broken table.

A special feature of the game—True Love Chest.

The higher the compatibility between teammates, the better the rewards, attracting many couples to play.

The luckiest pull Yunduan and Bobo Mei ever got was a bronze mirror that could reveal the ghost’s true form.

Sometimes, it could even directly yield holy water.

Yunduan rubbed his hands eagerly. “Who wants to try? Or let me and my wife do it.”

Just as they stepped forward, Amlodipine suddenly interfered.

“Wait. If the ghost opens the chest, it’ll definitely give bad items.” He looked at them. “What if one of you is the ghost? Wouldn’t that waste it?”

Si Jingce sneered. “Then you go ahead. If it gives bad items, we can basically confirm you and Leidian are the ghosts.”

While ghosts always triggered bad outcomes, high compatibility increased the chance of good rewards—but it was still probabilistic.

Leidian hesitated. “Maybe we shouldn’t open it…”

“Don’t be afraid.” Even now, Amlodipine didn’t forget to flirt. “Even if it’s bad, I won’t blame you, hm?”

The random teammate couldn’t take it anymore. “…Bro, can we stop talking and just open the chest?”

[OMG that line had such dom energy??]

[Go look at Amlodipine’s real face and wake up…]

Apparently seeing similar comments on their own stream, Amlodipine and Leidian actually started acting it out.

Leidian: “Then let’s make a bet. If it’s bad, how will you punish me?”

Amlodipine forced a soft laugh. “Then you go live and call me Master.”

[AAAAAAHHHHHH—]

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!”

Yunduan snapped, pulling out his peachwood sword and wildly slashing at them. The game’s physics caused visible damage to both of them.

“Can you at least act professionally? This is disgusting, seriously disgusting!”

He ranted, “Who actually calls someone ‘Master’ in real life? I’m getting goosebumps!”

Si Jingce was still stunned, responding instinctively, “Mm.”

Why didn’t he just stay and spend more time with Yanyan instead of suffering here?

As soon as he finished speaking, a soft, timid voice came from behind him—

“Master.”

Yanyan leaned against the doorframe, peeking inside carefully.

“I finished all the tasks you gave me. When can I get my reward?”

The boy’s voice echoed clearly across all five livestreams.

On the computer screen, every character froze in place like time had stopped.

Yunduan quickly identified the source of the voice.

Yunduan: ????

Wait… bro, you?!

You look so proper—who knew you were this wild in private?!

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