My Sister's Friend

"How else could I say my dad was lucky? Back then, he was dirt poor. He owed a huge amount in usury loans while doing business, and just when he had nowhere left to turn, he happened to meet my grandfather."

The rest of the story was simple. The father and son, who had been out of contact for years, unexpectedly recognized each other. Su Corporation, with its vast wealth, directly gave the down-and-out Su Zihao a hand.

Not only did Grandpa Su Ti help him pay off his debts, but he also handed part of the business over to Su Zihao to manage. Only then did Su Zihao have the financial means to send his two daughters to school. In the end, with the help of his daughter Su Yuwei, he expanded the business and built it up to its current scale.

After reaching the height of its development in Nanfeng Province, for certain reasons—and because Su Zihao also wanted to give his twin younger brother a hand—he returned to Nanjiang Province.

That was everything Su Zihao had done outside these past years.

Speaking of Su Zihao's life, he really had been lucky. It had been full of ups and downs and twists of fate. Although he truly had no talent for business, with the help of benefactors, he had somehow made a success of himself and amassed a fortune worth over a hundred million.

And Sheng Hui Electric Appliance's stock was still steadily rising, while its scale continued to expand.

Of course, none of that had much to do with Su Zihao. According to Su Qiaoqiao, Su Zihao was now just a nominal director. The company's actual operations were managed by Su Yuwei, the vice chairwoman.

After hearing all this, Su Ti's expression could not help turning strange.

"No wonder he told me that the more hardship you endure, the more hardship you'll endure. He spoke from experience."

After chatting with Su Qiaoqiao for a while, Su's Father soon finished cooking. Su Yuwei also ended her phone call, and after calling Su Ling out, the two families finally sat down to eat at the same table after so many years.

The atmosphere at the table was good. Although Su Qiaoqiao did not get along with Su Zihao and had also disliked the previous Su Ling, she still found it hard to withstand the warmth of Su's Father and Su's Mother.

No matter what, she was only a seventeen-year-old girl. Though rebellious, she could not be all that bad.

Once the meal was over, it was already two in the afternoon. Su's Father, Su's Mother, and Su Zihao had matters to discuss, so they told Su Ti to take his two female cousins out for a walk.

Su Ling had already silently slung her kendo bag over her back and run out the door an hour ago.

Su Ti had nowhere particularly good in mind, so he could only let the guests decide and have Su Qiaoqiao and Su Yuwei choose.

Su Yuwei said anything was fine. She had brought a driver with her this time, so they could go anywhere.

In the end, at Su Qiaoqiao's decision, the three of them went to an arcade in the city center.

Once they arrived, Su Yuwei received another call. Saying she had no interest in something "for children," she waited outside with the driver.

Su Qiaoqiao, meanwhile, walked into the arcade with an excited look, exchanged a pile of coins, and began trying each game in turn.

"Aren't you playing?"

After playing for quite a while, Su Qiaoqiao looked at Su Ti, who stood with his arms folded and an amused expression on his face, and asked.

"I used to love playing, but recently, I found something more fun than this."

Su Ti sighed with some emotion, then looked at his hands and casually clenched his fists.

He had indeed loved gaming before, and had even been addicted to it for a time. But that was because he had not had anything more worthwhile to pursue.

After transmigrating, however, he suddenly discovered that compared with games, the thrill of becoming stronger was far greater. As a result, he no longer had much interest in gaming.

"Something more fun? Is there really anything more fun than games?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"Heh." Su Qiaoqiao laughed in anger.

"I think you just don't know how to play. You looked pretty interesting at first, but it turns out you're as old-fashioned and rigid as my sister."

Su Qiaoqiao looked Su Ti up and down. Seeing that his clothes were utterly ordinary and even seemed a little ill-fitting, she spoke disdainfully.

"Looking at you, you must've studied yourself stupid. When I went to the restroom just now, I called some of my bros to come play. They hang around outside, so don't let them scare you and make me lose face."

"Oh, bros?"

"We race cars together. You wouldn't know even if I told you. If you're not playing, move aside. Don't stand behind me."

Seeing how arrogant she was, Su Ti could not help developing the urge to teach her a lesson. He said, "Since you're so good at games, how about we compete?"

The moment she heard Su Ti wanted to compete with her, Su Qiaoqiao became interested.

"Compete? You said it. Pick any game in this arcade. Whoever loses has to bark like a dog three times."

Su Ti smiled.

"No problem. But how about best two out of three? We'll play the fighting game you're playing now."

"Fine!"

After establishing the rules, they inserted their coins. Su Ti sat beside Su Qiaoqiao and entered the character selection screen.

Although he had been an experienced gamer in his previous life and had spent most of his life immersed in all kinds of games, he had barely touched games in this life. The original owner had played games, but only mobile games. He knew nothing about arcade machines like this.

Take this fighting game, for example. He did not recognize a single character in it, much less know anything about moves or combos.

Since he was unfamiliar with the characters, he chose the same three characters as Su Qiaoqiao in the first round. After a messy battle, he lost outright.

Seeing that her second character still had half her health left, Su Qiaoqiao glanced at Su Ti and chuckled.

"Haha, you've got some skill after all. I've played this arcade game since I was little. I've beaten plenty of experts three characters to zero, and you actually got my second character down to half health. That's already pretty good. Unfortunately, you're still a hundred thousand miles away from beating me. You're definitely barking those three times today."

As she spoke, she shook her head regretfully, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Don't be in such a hurry. It's best two out of three. There are still two rounds left."

Su Ti remained completely calm. He inserted a second coin and entered the character selection screen again. Seeing how stubbornly he refused to admit defeat, Su Qiaoqiao curled her lips disdainfully. Games were about real skill, not luck like rock-paper-scissors. The gap between Su Ti and her was so huge that he would not beat her even if they played thirty rounds or three hundred rounds.

However, after this round ended—

"How is that possible?"

Su Qiaoqiao stared blankly at the screen. All three of her characters had been defeated, while Su Ti's second character still had half its health remaining. He had thoroughly won the round.

"Th-this must be because I was careless. Again!"

After the third round, Su Ti's first character had not lost a single bit of health. At full health, he defeated all three of hers alone.

The absolute gap in skill left Su Qiaoqiao's mouth slightly open, her face filled with disbelief.

Su Ti shrugged. Based on his understanding of games, side-scrolling fighting games primarily tested familiarity with the game, and secondly tested the player's reaction speed.

Su Ti was less familiar with the game than Su Qiaoqiao, but his high Agility and Intelligence attributes allowed his reaction speed and learning ability to utterly crush hers.

That was why he had chosen the same three characters as Su Qiaoqiao: to learn how to use them from her gameplay.

During the first round, Su Ti had already learned most of the moves for those three characters while fighting Su Qiaoqiao. For someone with an arcade foundation, that was nothing difficult. Then, in the second round, he defeated her directly with reaction speed beyond hers.

By the third round, sorry, but Su Ti's proficiency was already no different from Su Qiaoqiao's, while his reactions still crushed hers. Beating all three of her characters with full health was as easy as pie.

"Y-you've played this before!"

Su Qiaoqiao stood up and pointed at Su Ti as she shouted.

Su Ti stood as well and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter whether I've played before. A bet is a bet. Bark."

Su Qiaoqiao looked as though she had been struck by lightning. Her face went from pale to red as she stood there, unable to bark yet unable to refuse.

Though she was unruly, she was not someone who could not accept defeat. It was just that barking like a dog in public as a girl was simply too humiliating.

Seeing Su Qiaoqiao caught in a dilemma and standing there in extreme embarrassment, someone could not stand it anymore.

"Brother, why are you making things so difficult for a girl? Are you even a man?"

"Yeah. Why take things so seriously with a little girl?"

Most of the people in the arcade were young. At that moment, two fashionably dressed young men in baseball caps stepped forward to "seek justice" for Su Qiaoqiao.

Although Su Qiaoqiao dressed like a delinquent girl, she had a good foundation. Her face was cute, and her legs were long and fair.

As the two young men spoke, their eyes could not help drifting toward her. Clearly, they intended to stand up for Su Qiaoqiao and win her favor.

The moment those words came out, Su Ti's face instantly darkened.

"I'm talking to my sister. What the hell are you two? Get lost!"

Su Qiaoqiao had not been polite to him earlier, but Su Ti had not gotten angry. That was out of consideration for her immaturity and for Su Zihao's sake.

But these two young men were not only making grand gestures at someone else's expense and trying to morally blackmail him, they also had ulterior motives. If he did not get angry, he really would be made of clay.

"You!"

The moment the two young men spoke, they seemed like ducks whose throats had been seized.

Su Ti's eyes gleamed as he stared at them, and an invisible aura erupted from him.

That was not some illusory thing. A powerful figure in a high position could unleash astonishing pressure with a single look. Some butchers had killed so much that even pigs and dogs would take a detour when they saw them.

The aura Su Ti unleashed at that moment was simply killing intent.

The principle behind it was simple. When the desire to kill someone was revealed, that was killing intent.

Put plainly, it was a kind of performance. It was just that someone who had never truly killed could never imitate it convincingly. Someone who had killed did not need to learn it.

And aside from the number of people killed determining the intensity of one's killing intent, one's own strength was also important.

The killing intent of a wildcat and that of a fierce tiger were entirely different.

At that moment, Su Ti's strength, speed, and explosive power were no exaggeration to call those of a fierce tiger. Naturally, the killing intent he displayed was extremely powerful.

Even Su Qiaoqiao was startled. The unremarkable Su Ti from a moment ago had now become indescribably terrifying. Everything within several meters fell silent. Everyone watched him and secretly swallowed, not a single person daring to speak.

"Y-you know who backs us?"

Perhaps because there were many people nearby, one of the young men in a baseball cap forced himself to speak.

"You know Dragon Bro from Flying Bar next to Mingguang University, right? We're his people."

"Dragon Bro?"

Upon hearing that name, Su Ti withdrew his killing intent, and a strange look appeared on his face.

"That's right, Dragon Bro. Try laying a hand on us."

Seeing Su Ti react like that, the two thought Dragon Bro's name had worked. They hurriedly spat out threats, trying to regain their dignity.

Just then, a commotion arose as several punks in floral shirts, with large areas of tattoos exposed, passed by nearby.

"It's Fei Ge and his guys!"

The two young men in baseball caps brightened and hurried over.

Before long, the two returned with those punks.

"Qiaoqiao? So you're here."

When Fei Ge, who was leading them, saw Su Qiaoqiao, his face lit up and he hurried over.

But on the way, his steps suddenly slowed, becoming slower and slower until he stopped in place and did not move again.

And not just him. The punks beside him all looked the same, their faces stiff as they stared ahead, not daring to move.

"Fei Ge, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. This is my brother. We're all on the same side. We were just fooling around with these two brothers."

Su Qiaoqiao hurried forward to explain, afraid that if a conflict broke out, Su Ti would suffer.

But Su Ti, who had been facing sideways, turned his head at that moment and looked at them with a half-smile.

"You are my sister's... friends?"