Starting Seclusion

At 8:30 p.m., Chen Hao arrived at "Drink Until You Lose a Shoe" Barbecue.

Chen Hao found a seat first. Seeing that his brother still hadn't arrived, he ordered some food.

A few minutes later, his phone rang. "Come out and give me a hand." Chen Hao went outside and saw a young man standing by the roadside, wearing a checkered shirt and jeans—the standard uniform of a tech nerd. A huge server sat beside him.

"Holy crap, why is it so big?"

"What did you expect? Help me carry it inside first!"

Thud!

The server hit the ground. Lin Lang's face flushed from exertion as the blood rushed to his head. "This piece of junk is ridiculously heavy!"

Lin Lang handed a bag to Chen Hao. "The cables are all inside. There's no monitor, so just find yourself a secondhand one."

He filled their glasses with beer, downed one himself to moisten his throat, then sat in a chair and gasped for breath.

A small server was much heavier than a computer tower. After going centuries without exercising like this, he was completely worn out.

"Where's your sister-in-law? Why didn't she come with you?" The "sister-in-law" Chen Hao referred to was Lin Lang's girlfriend.

"We broke up~" Lin Lang said indifferently, lowering his eyes as he ate edamame.

"You broke up? Weren't things going fine before the New Year?"

"My line of work requires me to be on standby twenty-four hours a day, ready to go whenever I'm called. I work overtime every day, and sometimes I'll suddenly get an alert call in the middle of the night. If a server breaks down, I have to pull my pants on and go fix it. Once or twice is fine, but after it happens too many times, you're always arguing about it. In the end, we split up. I actually understand her! After all, how many women can put up with a schedule like that? Besides, she has to work during the day too."

"Count yourself lucky. Isn't everyone in this field like that? At least the money's good, and you can hone your skills. Foreign companies will at least pay overtime. At other companies, overtime is considered voluntary, so what does overtime pay have to do with it?"

"It's just a matter of having to choose between fish and bear's paw." Lin Lang sighed and downed another glass.

Chen Hao advised him, "Women are just clothes, while brothers are your limbs. For a man, building a career comes first. Once you've achieved success and fame, what woman won't you have? Come on, bottoms up." Chen Hao raised his glass and clinked it against Lin Lang's. The two drained their glasses.

A server brought over a huge plate of grilled skewers.

Chicken gizzards, vegetable rolls, meat skewers, meat tendons, silkworm pupae, and two skewers of large kidneys were covered in cumin and chili powder. Oil sizzled as it dripped down, and the aroma was incredible.

A little while later, tiger salad, smashed cucumbers, and peanuts in aged vinegar were set out as drinking snacks.

With food in their stomachs, the two ate and drank amid clinking cups.

"Haozi, don't you feel a little different?"

"Hmm? No, I'm still me, aren't I?"

Lin Lang thought about how to describe the feeling. "How should I put it? You used to be like a child, never taking anything seriously. But after this New Year, you feel much more mature to me. Your thoughts and insights on problems have matured a lot too."

"Brother, I'm about to graduate, aren't I? I can't stay so immature forever. For a man, growing up sometimes happens in an instant!" Chen Hao thought of his past and present lives, feeling somewhat emotional.

Lin Lang gave his younger brother a strange look and raised his glass. "Looks like you've grown up too! What are your plans after graduation? Want to come work with me? I have a decent relationship with my supervisor. It shouldn't be a problem to arrange an internship for someone!"

After downing a glass, Chen Hao shook his head. "My crappy junior college isn't worth troubling you over. Besides, I've been thinking about something big lately—the Legend private server!"

Although Lin Lang didn't play games, he had heard of Legend. "I know Legend. What's a private server? A server set up privately?"

Chen Hao gave him a thumbs-up. "See? That's why you're my big brother. You get it right away. I can set up a Legend game independently from the official version, completely identical to the original."

"So, a Pirated Version?"

"Yeah. I spent twenty thousand buying the Source Code. Once I optimize the game, I'll launch it and start operating it. It'll have tremendous profit potential! Tremendous!" Chen Hao waved his hand grandly, his voice full of passion.

"Won't there be trouble? I mean, from the official side?" Lin Lang wasn't blinded by the grand promises. Instead, he was somewhat worried about the risks involved.

Chen Hao peeled some garlic and handed a clove to Lin Lang, brimming with confidence. "Don't worry. At present, the country turns a blind eye to Pirated Versions. As long as public opinion doesn't blow up, it'll be fine. Private servers should only just be emerging now. I estimate that within half a year, they'll be everywhere across the country. The law can't punish everyone. At worst, they'll arrest a couple of examples to make a point. By then, I'll have shut down already. That's the first reason."

"And the second?"

"Shanda will need some time to react. Even once they realize how serious it is, they'll be helpless. They can't manage it, and they have no way to manage it! To put it plainly, private servers are like chives: cut one batch, and another grows back. They're endless."

"So it's a licensing arrangement?" Thinking of some of the business models he had encountered at work, Lin Lang fell into thought.

"Exactly, a licensing arrangement. Shanda only has the operating rights for Legend, not the rights to modify it. The developer of Legend is the Korean company Wemade. They make a fortune collecting licensing fees every year. What do domestic cheats and private servers have to do with them?"

"I think this is feasible. Just go ahead and do it. If you need me, just let me know."

"That goes without saying. Big brother, bottoms up."

Wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin, Chen Hao changed the subject. "Brother, I only need one server for now. If things develop well, I may need at least two more new ones later. Whatever it costs, I'll pay."

"Fine. Just tell me ahead of time. I can submit an internal request and purchase it alongside the first phase of the project. You might even get an internal discount."

"By the way, what architecture do the servers you use now have?"

"Most of them are Cabinet Server Arrays, with a small number of Rack Servers."

"Do you see many Blade Servers?"

"Oh, not bad. You even know about Blade Servers. They're relatively uncommon. Why are you suddenly interested in them?" Lin Lang asked curiously.

Chen Hao advised him, "Brother, you should study Blade Servers more. They might come in handy someday!"

"These newly released servers are something I'd pay attention to even without you mentioning them. In our line of work, you have to keep learning as long as you live. The slightest slackening, and new technology will leave you behind!"

Chen Hao suddenly remembered something. "Right, my family's internet café also needs to buy twenty more computers. Just use a standard configuration costing five thousand each. I'll have my dad contact you when the time comes."

"No problem. Leave it to me."

After eating and drinking their fill, Lin Lang settled the bill, and the two brothers walked out with their arms around each other's shoulders.

A waiter shouted from behind them, "Hey, are you two still taking that hunk of metal? If not, I'm selling it as scrap metal~"

The two brothers looked at each other. "Damn!"

Half an hour later, after struggling for ages, the two of them carried the server into the apartment Chen Hao had rented. Both were panting heavily.

Chen Hao and Lin Lang collapsed on opposite ends of the sofa. Lin Lang pointed at Chen Hao and cursed with a laugh, "Why the hell did you rent a place on the seventh floor? And there isn't even an elevator! You've nearly worked me to death."

"I thought a higher floor would be quieter. It's so noisy downstairs!"

I worked with software in my previous life. Who could've imagined that servers would be this heavy at this time?

After resting for a while, Lin Lang got up and walked around the apartment. "The place is pretty decent. If I work late, I can just stay here. I'm leaving."

Seeing Chen Hao rise and lock the door, he followed him out.

Lin Lang said in surprise, "No need to be so polite. You don't have to see me off!"

"We'll leave together. I'll walk with you for a bit. I didn't bring my luggage or bedding, so I'm going back to school tonight."

"...I knew you wouldn't be kind enough to come out and see me off."

"Oh, right. Here's the door key. Take good care of it!"

After taking the key, Lin Lang hailed a cab by the roadside. It was always like this: he fought to pay, fought to hail the cab, and always looked after his younger brother.

He still remembered being only as tall as his big brother's chest when they were children, with his aunt always teasing him for being his big brother's little tail. Yet in the blink of an eye, he had grown as tall as his brother.

"Brother~"

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. I just felt like calling you!"

The next afternoon, Chen Hao treated his roommates to a meal and officially moved out of the school. He was the third person in their dormitory to move out.

During the meal, the roommates all showed genuine emotion as they reminisced about the past, laughed and joked, imagined the future, and sighed over the passage of time.

The dormitory leader said they should all gather one last time before graduation, once everyone could be present. Everyone there agreed.

That afternoon, Chen Hao moved his luggage into his new home. Then he hauled two boxes of instant noodles, a bundle of ham sausages, and a case of soda up from the supermarket downstairs!

Chen Hao took out his phone and called his parents first, explaining that he would be busy with his internship lately. Then he called Old Ban, Big Bird, and his big brother one by one to discuss various matters. Finally, he shut off his phone and tossed it aside!

He stretched his limbs and sat down in front of the computer.

It was time to begin—

Seclusion!