Six Degrees of Separation Theory

In the hotel lobby, Jin Chuanfu was surrounded by little clusters of lackeys, all bowing and scraping.

Many of them were thugs who had bullied Xiao Hao back then.

They had neither education nor connections, and even their pitiful intelligence was a serious handicap. Flattering the rich was the only way they could scrape by.

Gone was the arrogance of their youth. Life had long since worn away their rough edges.

A few women had wanted to come over and talk to Xiao Hao, but when they looked at everyone's formal attire, then at his casual clothes, they immediately abandoned the idea.

Xiao Hao glanced at his old middle school classmates. They insisted on turning a class reunion into some business function. He wasn't here to do business, so what was wrong with wearing casual clothes?

Besides, the group announcement hadn't said anything about formal attire. They should have felt honored he'd even come!

Wait.

Had it really not mentioned formal attire?

Or had they simply not told him?

At that thought, Xiao Hao gave a contemptuous smile.

Jin Chuanfu really had a knack for these petty little tricks.

Xiao Hao simply sat down and ate the pastries on the table.

"You really have no class."

A clear voice sounded beside Xiao Hao. It sounded familiar, so he looked up to see who it was.

It was a girl who had confessed to him in middle school. Xiao Hao had forgotten her exact name.

He had to admit, women were a strange species. Their affection and hatred for you could switch astonishingly fast.

He had never changed; he was still the same person. Yet she could fall for him, then start hating him in no time at all.

Watching Xiao Hao struggle to remember her, the corners of the woman's mouth twitched.

He actually forgot!

Her secret crush had been so unforgettable, so deeply moving, and he actually forgot!

Why had she fallen for such a bastard?

Wasn't he supposed to be smart?

Why couldn't he even remember a name?

Had Xiao Hao heard her thoughts, he probably couldn't have resisted telling her that he naturally forgot people who didn't matter.

The woman struggled to suppress her anger. Sometimes, unless she pushed him, he wouldn't understand who he was messing with!

"It's very rude not to answer!"

Xiao Hao felt troubled. He really couldn't be bothered to remember women he wasn't interested in.

Left with no choice, Xiao Hao replied, "Thanks for the compliment."

???

The woman's face froze.

That wasn't a compliment!

I said you had no class! What the hell are you thanking me for?

Let me tell you, thank you-thanks to you, all four seasons have turned cold!

Seeing the shifting emotions on her face, Xiao Hao felt reassured.

He stayed single through sheer skill, practicing a new trick every day.

Even the woman who had spoken up for Xiao Hao earlier couldn't stand watching anymore. "Xiao Hao, don't go too far."

This woman with a strong sense of justice was named Lin Nanyao. Xiao Hao remembered her.

She was one of the few middle school classmates whose names Xiao Hao remembered, because she had once spoken up for him when he was being bullied.

Of course, they were nothing more than classmates. Xiao Hao felt only gratitude toward her, nothing else, and the same went for Lin Nanyao. Her sense of justice was part of her character, not a feeling sparked by romantic interest.

Xiao Hao was willing to show Lin Nanyao some consideration.

He quickly searched his mental roster of middle school classmates. Details connected, faces matched up with names, and he soon remembered this woman's name.

"All right. Did you need something, Du Shijie?"

The moment he said her name, Du Shijie felt much better.

So this bastard really was just trying to get her attention!

If he improved his attitude a little, she might even change her mind about him!

He might not have much money, but he was handsome! He was dependable and smart, too-a promising investment with a good chance of making something of himself. Investing now would even earn her a reputation as a devoted romantic. Not a bad deal!

Du Shijie had long since forgotten that her current "love" no longer possessed its original purity.

She was weighing far too many things.

While Du Shijie was still busy with her private calculations, the enormous screen in the lobby lit up, showing Jin Chuanfu holding a microphone.

Smiling, Jin Chuanfu addressed everyone. "Today, we've all gathered here for our class reunion. Since I called everyone together so abruptly, I've prepared a few gifts as an apology..."

As Jin Chuanfu continued with his pleasantries, Xiao Hao raised an eyebrow.

He had a feeling Jin Chuanfu's real purpose was about to come to light.

Jin Chuanfu's bodyguards handed out gifts. One even went against Jin Chuanfu's wishes and tried to give Xiao Hao one.

Xiao Hao smiled and declined, completely unbothered.

"I'm sure you've all seen the news recently. The Survival Game has appeared out of nowhere..." Sure enough.

Jin Chuanfu's goal was to recruit players.

He wasn't expecting any of these classmates to be a player. The odds were too low.

What he wanted was to recruit players through a tangled web of connections.

If any classmates present had a distant relative or a friend who was a player, introducing that person to Jin Chuanfu would earn them a handsome reward.

It might have looked like a pointless exercise, but it was actually highly effective, with a decent chance of finding players.

With Jin Chuanfu's brains, he probably couldn't have come up with this. Even his speech was remarkably coherent.

Listening to Jin Chuanfu's speech, Xiao Hao quickly thought of a theory.

The six degrees of separation theory.

The theory stated that no more than six people stood between you and any stranger.

In other words, through at most six intermediaries, you could get to know any stranger.

That was the six degrees of separation theory, also known as the small world theory.

This class reunion cost a great deal, but the real expense lay in the rewards for intermediaries.

Anyone who became an intermediary in recruiting a player would practically be set for life.

A classmate might not know any players, but who could say whether their father's friend's son's friend was one?

The authorities wouldn't disclose players' information, but couldn't these rich people find them on their own?

With enough money on the table, recruiting players was only a matter of time!

Official restrictions prevented them from openly recruiting through the media, but for every policy from above, there was a workaround below!

No wonder Jin Chuanfu was so polite at this reunion, unlike back then, when he had sexually harassed his deskmate, Qiu Yanan.

Xiao Hao also vaguely suspected that Qiu Yanan's suicide had something to do with Jin Chuanfu.

But what did that have to do with Xiao Hao?

He had stopped overflowing with kindness long ago. All he could do was keep himself from hurting others. Everyone else's grudges and tangled relationships were none of his concern.

From a practical standpoint, Jin Chuanfu naturally intended to build good relationships with his classmates at this reunion.

As for Xiao Hao, not only were they already on bad terms, but he was an orphan with neither relatives nor friends. Naturally, he couldn't serve as an intermediary.

So Jin Chuanfu singled out Xiao Hao. The logic made sense.

Once he figured it out, Xiao Hao almost laughed aloud.

Whether it was the security guards at the hotel entrance or the bodyguards Jin Chuanfu had brought, everyone around Jin Chuanfu had treated Xiao Hao politely.

That showed that his family had instructed him to maintain good relationships with every classmate and pursue mutually beneficial cooperation.

Even if he and Xiao Hao had a grudge, offering enough benefits and apologizing and making amends for his past misdeeds would have kept the Jin family from becoming Xiao Hao's enemy!

With a good enough attitude, they might even have had a slim chance of working with Xiao Hao!

Instead, Jin Chuanfu thought he was being clever and deliberately isolated Xiao Hao, pushing him into the opposing camp!

The funniest part was that the very player the Jin family was going to such lengths to find was Xiao Hao, whom their own son had turned into an enemy!

They had spent a fortune, only to gain a hostile player!

And a top-tier player at that!

Listening to the speech, Xiao Hao couldn't help marveling at how clever Jin Chuanfu's father really was. The game had only been announced yesterday, yet he was already positioning himself for the future today. No wonder he controlled such a large corporate group.

Unfortunately, he had fathered an idiot who made enemies everywhere.

After all, the apocalypse was coming...

Jin Chuanfu's father had started laying his plans early. Xiao Hao didn't know whether he intended to crown himself king amid the chaos, but this move would at least give him the ability to protect himself. The Jin family wouldn't be eliminated early in those turbulent times.

Unfortunately, thanks to his son, what use would the players he recruited this way be?

Xiao Hao wouldn't go out of his way to provoke the Jin family and give others grounds to criticize him or something to use against him.

But that didn't mean Jin Chuanfu would stop provoking him!

Once the time was right, Xiao Hao would wipe out the Jin family in one stroke!

So what if they recruited players?

Even ten players wouldn't be enough for Xiao Hao to cut down!

All Xiao Hao had to do was quietly watch Jin Chuanfu keep dancing on the edge of his own destruction!

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