Praise Society 1

New Eridu, Thorne District—Weifei Land.

Chenghui Plateau had entered the rainy season. Moss spread along the bases of old walls, passersby hurried along, splashing mottled mud everywhere. Everything was damp with the smell of mildew.

In a house in the old residential district, sunlight streamed through the glass into the room, falling on mountains of takeaway containers while several flies buzzed around them.

The owner of the house, A-Cheng, sat in a chair wearing a gray tank top and plastic flip-flops, frantically working the game controller in his hands.

"Damn! You sneaky bastard? Watch me smash your crystal!"

"A-Cheng! You're playing games again!"

From the dilapidated kitchen came his elderly mother's voice. A-Cheng looked up from his game and said impatiently, "Oh, stop bothering me!"

His mother came in carrying a bowl of rice, set it before her son, and scolded him:

"Can winning games put food on the table?

"You've been mooching off us at home for three years! Last time, I recommended you for a waiter job at Tea Immortal, but you said it had no status. You said a college graduate like you was supposed to be a waiter?"

"I'm waiting for an opportunity, okay? Stop pushing me!" A-Cheng stared at the game's black screen and snapped back at his mother in annoyance.

"Waiting for an opportunity? How can you face your father and me like this?"

His mother set down the bowl, picked up a yellowed photograph from the table, and could not help feeling a pang of sorrow.

A-Cheng's father had passed away early. Before he died, he had specifically asked her to support their son through college so he could make something of himself one day.

Perhaps fed up with his mother's nagging, A-Cheng suddenly stood, kicked aside the takeaway containers at his feet,