Internet Cafe Owner Wang Defa

Qin Siyang and Wen Shu left the campus side by side.

At an intersection, they had to head in different directions.

Qin Siyang kept watching behind them. Once he was sure Li Jingwen and the others had not followed, he said, "Don't worry. They didn't come after us. I'm really sorry you got dragged into what happened today."

Wen Shu glanced at Qin Siyang, her expression complicated. In the end, she quietly said, "Thank you."

Qin Siyang glanced at her. Much of the attraction he had noticed in her eyes before seemed to have faded, replaced by dissatisfaction.

That only puzzled him further. They barely knew each other-why such complicated feelings?

Qin Siyang waved a hand. "No need to thank me. You got beaten up because of my problems, so I'm partly to blame. Seeing you in such a sorry state doesn't feel good."

"No. Li Jingwen and the others are to blame for beating me. It didn't have much to do with you. You rescued me and dealt with the trouble afterward. I should thank you."

Looking into Wen Shu's far from meek eyes, Qin Siyang shrugged. "But your eyes aren't saying the same thing as your mouth."

"You're right about that. Rationally, I know you didn't really do anything wrong. Emotionally, though, I can't help feeling a little distant from you. I hope you understand."

Qin Siyang nodded. "You're very polite."

Wen Shu gave a small nod. "Of course. You're not a bad person, after all."

With that, Wen Shu turned and left.

Qin Siyang, however, felt troubled.

Li Jingwen's stupidity and malice had exceeded his expectations.

Even after she had deceived him in his previous life, he had only thought she was a two-timing gold digger.

Now it seemed Li Jingwen was rotten to the core, beyond any real hope of redemption.

Still, dragging Wen Shu into it left Qin Siyang feeling somewhat guilty.

She had suffered a completely undeserved disaster. In her place, he probably would have killed someone already.

Qin Siyang sighed and went home carrying his lunch box, packed full of food.

Today's meal was Thousand-Foot Mushroom again, one of Qin Siyang's favorite cafeteria dishes.

Auntie Zhang, who served the food, seemed to know his preferences and had given him two extra scoops. He had thanked her for it.

He moved a chair to the window and sat down, eating while admiring the various Gods wandering outside.

He enjoyed himself like a cat munching on kibble while admiring the delicious fish in an aquarium.

After eating, washing his lunch box, and taking a cold shower, Qin Siyang went to bed.

Qin Siyang had finally come to terms with things.

What was the point of wasting his evenings at home?

He had nothing to do after coming home anyway. He might as well go to bed early, get up early, and keep himself healthy.

A night's sleep cleared away many more of Qin Siyang's worries.

Before leaving, he glanced at today's calendar.

[Earth Era, January 5, 2010]

[Western calendar: Tuesday.]

[Xia calendar: Jichou year, eleventh month, twenty-second day. Auspicious for sacrifices.]

When he woke up the next day, Qin Siyang took a bag and his lunch box as usual.

But remembering how that meddlesome teacher had hassled him yesterday, he found two books and stuffed them inside as well.

He had already lost this semester's books, though, so he took last year's textbooks.

They were only for keeping up appearances. It didn't matter.

After leaving home, he took another detour to the Internet Cafe.

This time, the person behind the counter was not Liu Dazhi, but a burly, middle-aged man with a full beard.

Qin Siyang smiled faintly.

Here's my chance.

He pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt, avoided the camera at the Internet Cafe entrance, and beckoned for the bearded man behind the counter to come outside.

The man pointed at himself curiously. "You want me?"

Qin Siyang nodded. "That's right."

The middle-aged man was a little puzzled, but he came out anyway.

After all, Qin Siyang looked young, like a student. He probably wasn't up to anything bad.

Once the man came outside, Qin Siyang led him into the alley behind the Internet Cafe.

The garbage was still sitting in the alley, and the stench of slop had grown stronger.

Even Qin Siyang, who hated the cafeteria, had to admit that compared with this place, the cafeteria was paradise.

The Internet Cafe owner approached with his nose covered, looking around in disgust. He seemed unaware that the garbage had been dumped behind his business.

He muttered, "That lazy bastard Liu Dazhi. I told him to take the garbage to the dump, and he left it here instead! I'm going to make him pay!"

Qin Siyang heard him but said nothing.

Only when they reached the spot where he had spoken with Liu Dazhi that night did Qin Siyang ask, "Are you the owner of the Internet Cafe?"

"That's me."

"One of the two people the police took away from your Internet Cafe the other day was my friend."

The owner frowned. "Your friend got taken away. What does that have to do with me?"

"You know what those two people did for a living, right?"

The owner was no pushover either. Hearing Qin Siyang's words and looking at his youthful face, he immediately grew wary. "What are you trying to say? Trying to get me to talk?"

"Get you to talk?" Qin Siyang chuckled. "There's no need. Before the police took my friend away, he sent me a message saying he'd left something here. I want to check that day's security footage."

The owner snorted. "You think you can play me, brat? You think you can check my footage just because you feel like it?"

"What he left me is worth twenty silver coins. If I find it, you get one."

"One silver coin for me? Look at what you're wearing. Everything on you put together isn't worth more than a few copper coins. What are you bluffing for-"

Before the owner could finish, Qin Siyang took out a silver coin.

The coin, gleaming a dull white beneath the starlight, instantly caught the owner's attention.

"You..."

Qin Siyang flicked the silver coin into the air, producing its distinctive metallic ring, then caught it again.

"Do we have a deal?"

Qin Siyang had kept the silver coin he had looted from the three thugs on him all this time.

There were too many copper coins. Carrying them around would make noise and draw attention.

But he only had one silver coin. Nobody would notice it in his pocket. Besides, silver coins were valuable. One could accomplish a great deal.

Yet because of his status, he had no way to spend it.

He couldn't register with the Sequence Ability Management Bureau yet, nor could he access higher-level transactions. As for places like the Black Market, he knew nothing about them.

The silver coin had become something he could neither use nor bear to discard.

But Qin Siyang clearly understood that as he grew stronger and became a registered Sequence Ability User, this coin would steadily lose its value to him-because he would no longer lack money.

With [God Eater] at my disposal, even if I spend a fortune, I can earn it back.

So, to get the most out of the silver coin, Qin Siyang chose to use it as soon as possible.

For instance, to buy Liu Dazhi a coffin.

The owner swallowed. "You... what exactly do you people do?!"

Qin Siyang smiled. "You don't know? Good. Not knowing will save you a lot of trouble."

"Now, back to my question. Can you handle taking this silver coin?"

The owner's eyes darted around before he gritted his teeth. "Follow me."

With that, he led Qin Siyang into a small, dark storeroom next to the Internet Cafe.

Qin Siyang frowned. He hadn't known that this little room, which never opened, also belonged to the owner.

The storeroom was filled with junk, including many scrapped machines covered in dust.

Only a table in the middle and the space around it were clean.

Three monitors sat on the table, each displaying four surveillance feeds.

"All the footage is here. Have a look. But let's get this straight: once I let you watch it, you owe me one silver coin, whether you find anything or not."

Seemingly worried Qin Siyang might go back on his word, the owner said this as soon as they entered.

"Wait," Qin Siyang interrupted.

"What now?"

"You have to watch the security footage here? Can't you view it on the computer at the counter? There's light there. It would be easier to see."

The owner said, "The computer at the counter only handles customers' sessions and monitors their computers. It can't access the security footage."

After a moment's hesitation, Qin Siyang nodded and went over to check the footage.

When he found the recordings for January 3, however, there was only nighttime footage, nothing from the morning or afternoon. He immediately frowned.

"Why isn't there any footage from the morning of January 3?!"

The owner curled his lip. "Electricity is so expensive. Of course I can't leave the cameras on all the time. I usually turn them on once every few days. Only when I know United Government inspectors are coming do I switch them on in advance and record a full twenty-four hours."

Qin Siyang clenched his fists and stared coldly at the owner. "Are you playing me? Without footage from when the police came that morning, how am I supposed to check?"

The owner chuckled and picked up a hammer from beside him. "We already agreed. Even if you don't find it, you still owe me a silver coin. Otherwise..."

Qin Siyang raised his foot and planted it on a discarded monitor nearby. Before the owner's eyes, he slowly crushed the bulky, metal-cased monitor until it became a flat metal disk.

He kicked the disk aside, smashing three or four more monitors. "Otherwise, what?"

The owner immediately panicked. "You... you're... a Sequence Ability User!"

Qin Siyang gave him a contemptuous look. "What sort of person do you think could conduct a twenty-silver-coin deal in this shabby Internet Cafe on the edge of the Safe Zone? Didn't you have any idea who I might be?"

"Or did you think there was no way I could be involved in a deal worth twenty silver coins?"

The owner was utterly stunned. His body trembled with fear, and the hammer fell from his hand.

Qin Siyang always spoke in hints, never explaining anything fully, leaving the owner's imagination free to run wild.

In an instant, the owner imagined an organization of Sequence Ability Users specializing in Black Market business.

And Qin Siyang was one of its managers, here to collect a debt!

"Spare me! Please spare me! I don't know anything! I wasn't trying to interfere with your business!"

Qin Siyang realized the owner thought he was an outlaw dealing in underground business, so he played along, taking on the role the man had imagined for him.

"Of course I know you don't know anything. If you knew something and still dared hide it from me, you'd already be a corpse."

"Yes, yes! Thank you for understanding!"

Hearing Qin Siyang offer him an excuse, the owner hastily seized on it.

"But you're lucky today. I'm fairly easy to talk to."

With that, Qin Siyang tossed the silver coin to the owner.

Looking at the coin in his hand, the owner felt as though it were burning hot and hurriedly refused. "No, no, no. I can't take this. You didn't find the footage. I can't take your money for nothing."

"I may come here looking for things again. I don't want to make a scene. That silver coin is payment for keeping your mouth shut."

"Is... is that really all right...?"

"If I give it to you, take it."

Qin Siyang walked up to the owner and lightly patted his shoulder twice. "There's only one thing I'm worried about. You won't tell the police about what happened between us, will you? If you sell me out, the next time our people come, they won't be bringing you a silver coin. Understand?"

"No, no, no. Absolutely not! You can trust me! You should know that anyone who can run an Internet Cafe in this dump has some connections. As long as there's no evidence, the Police Bureau won't do anything to me."

Then the owner chuckled, his face turning obsequious. "Besides, if I turned you in, I'd have to hand over this silver coin too, wouldn't I? With this much money, why would I ask for trouble? You can come whenever you want. If I find anything, I can keep it until you come to collect it."

"Fine. But I might come here to use a computer in the future. I hope you can keep that secret for me."

The owner said, "Come straight to the storeroom! Use the computer here! This surveillance computer is the latest model! And its network login port is encrypted. Even the Police Bureau can't track it!"

With that, he detached a key from the ring at his waist and handed it to Qin Siyang.

Qin Siyang took the key and nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly remembered something. "This computer doesn't have any monitoring software, does it?"

"No! I'm the only one who can enter this storeroom, and I use the computer myself. Why would I monitor myself?"

"Good. Understood. Thanks."

"Please, just say the word if you need anything! My name is Wang Defa. You can call me Defa!"

"All right, Defa. I'll remember that. I'll report your situation to my superiors. Rest assured, as long as nothing happens to me, you won't have any trouble."

It was both reassurance and a stern warning, discouraging Wang Defa from trying anything behind his back.

"Don't worry! My lips are sealed."

"Oh, right. Last time I came to your Internet Cafe, I don't think you were the one behind the counter?"

"Oh, you mean Liu Dazhi? He stays home on Tuesdays and Wednesdays."

Qin Siyang nodded. "Then I'll come see you on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from now on. I have things to do, so I'm leaving."

"Yes, of course! I won't keep you!"

After seeing Qin Siyang off, Wang Defa looked at the silver coin in his hand, then at the flattened monitor, and let out a long breath.

Spotting the hammer nearby, he kicked it away in disgust.

An ordinary man like him had dared try to fight a Sequence Ability User. He must have had a death wish!

Fortunately, this Sequence Ability User had a decent temper. Otherwise, he probably would have gone to meet his ancestors already!

Having survived the ordeal, he was left alone in the empty storeroom.

Thinking it over, Wang Defa realized Qin Siyang's visit and departure didn't seem to have affected him much. He had even earned a silver coin for nothing.

Wang Defa studied the silver coin in his hand, put it in his mouth, and bit it.

"It really is a silver coin."

"But is this coin a blessing or a curse...?"

After agonizing for a long while, Wang Defa gradually came around, his gaze growing firm. "Nobody gets rich without a windfall! If I were scared of everything, I'd never have made it this far!"

"This enormous windfall was meant to land in my lap!"

After leaving the Internet Cafe, Qin Siyang smiled faintly and set off for Liu Dazhi's home.

He was in an excellent mood.

"No wonder today's calendar said, [Auspicious for sacrifices]."