Chapter 12

Chapter 13: The loneliness of an expert (Part 1)

The disc-based gaming room stood on a slope a few blocks from their work unit, at a crossroads in a fairly bustling neighborhood. Across the street was the International Hotel, a three-star hotel built and opened in Xiahai City back then. It also lay along Su Can's daily route to school. Occasionally, a BMW or two would be parked outside-cars that were practically rarities in a small city like Xiahai.

As they walked along the street opposite the hotel, Liu Rui suddenly raised his hand and pointed. "That's them!"

Four boys and a girl emerged from the International Hotel's brightly lit lobby. Their clothes and bearing were all quite out of the ordinary; the only thing was that they were rather young, about the same age as Su Can and his friends. Yet they were actually staying at one of Xiahai City's finest hotels, which was rather surprising.

Su Can had originally assumed some skilled players from another neighborhood had come to challenge them. Seeing this group, he could not help frowning.

The others had clearly spotted them too. The boy at the front had delicate, handsome features that already hinted at how good-looking he would become. He smiled and waved to them. The three boys beside him wore arrogant expressions, laughing and pointing at the three of them.

But the only girl among them made Su Can's heart give a slight jolt.

She wore a plain-colored dress and stood with understated grace. Her dark eyes shone like stars, and her oval face was almost perfectly shaped. She was beautiful.

Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui swallowed. "Th-there wasn't a girl with them earlier. Who is she?"

The distribution of the three of them was rather theatrical. Xiahai City had three well-known middle schools: First Middle School, Second Middle School, and Third Middle School. Xue Yiyang attended First Middle School, Liu Rui went to Second Middle School, and Su Can conveniently attended Third Middle School, as though they had planned it. By any measure, the girl across from them was beautiful enough to be a school beauty. Yet even Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui, who were usually fairly well informed about gossip, had never heard of her in their circles. Could she be from Third Middle School?

Su Can did not remember any girl like her at his junior high. After all, you might forget the name of your deskmate from junior or senior high, but you would certainly remember the prettiest girl back then-the beauty of your year or your school.

Unfortunately, he could find nothing in his memory.

When everyone reached the gaming room, the atmosphere immediately grew heavy. At first, everyone looked hostile at the arrival of the group who had challenged them that afternoon. Then they plainly noticed the girl. These gaming rooms were generally a male domain. This was nothing like the internet cafés of the future, where girls played very macho games such as Counter-Strike and Special Force in groups. A girl appearing in a gaming room was an exceedingly rare occurrence.

Several slightly older young men sitting in a corner promptly stubbed out their cigarettes. They had been lounging sideways, but now sat upright and played their games properly. Every so often, they stole a sideways glance at the girl, their faces reddening involuntarily.

It was hardly surprising. Her dress showed off her fine figure, already revealing the astonishing potential of how she would develop. Her black hair fell to her shoulders like a waterfall, and her eyes were deep. Both her clothes and her bearing were rarely seen. Even Su Can, standing a short distance beside her, felt his heartbeat quicken slightly. Before this, he had not felt his heart race like this even when he encountered Tang Wu.

Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui went straight to a console and sat down, averting their eyes, too self-conscious to look directly at her.

The most boisterous boy in the other group laughed. "What's this? You losers brought someone along? Does he represent the best you've got?"

The remark was clearly directed at Su Can. Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui had issued a challenge and brought him over after dinner, naturally leading the others to mistake him for their "secret weapon."

"He's my buddy. He's just here to play a few rounds. We're still your main opponents!" Liu Rui hurriedly said. In fact, among the three of them at the time, Xue Yiyang was the best at Pro Evolution Soccer, followed by Liu Rui, with Su Can coming last. Xue Yiyang and Liu Rui still could not swallow their humiliation from that afternoon. They were all playing the same game, so why should they be worse than anyone else? They were thoroughly indignant.

"Oh." Wang Weiwei, who led the group, gave Su Can a somewhat disappointed look. He rarely felt such an itch to play. When he had faced Xue Yiyang that afternoon, Xue Yiyang's skill had clearly only been enough to put up a brief struggle, and the pleasure of crushing him had vanished in a flash. Wang Weiwei had been fretting over the lack of opponents. When Su Can arrived, he had thought they had invited someone more skilled. But Liu Rui's words made it clear that Su Can was merely there to cheer them on and lend support, which left him rather disappointed.

A match had already started nearby. A man in his thirties in the gaming room could no longer stand the group's arrogance and challenged a slightly plump boy among them. The match was quickly decided. The young man was plainly outmatched and lost two-nil. He remained sitting there, stunned and unable to believe it.

The slightly plump boy in rather loose sportswear yanked the NIKE cap off his head, flung it to the floor, and stood up. "A small town is a small town! Right, boys, don't expect to find any opponents here! Not only is this city tiny, its people are useless too. Look at them-every last one's a noob. Where's the fun in crushing them? I can't even blow off steam!"

The other two immediately chimed in. Everyone in the gaming room flushed and paled by turns, utterly humiliated and angry.

"Xiao Wu, what are you saying?" Wang Weiwei frowned and looked at the girl beside him.

Sure enough, the girl had also frowned at the crude words of the slightly plump boy on their side called Xiao Wu. He immediately fell silent and scratched the back of his head. "Ha, well, I just got carried away. Don't mind me, Luo Ran. Ha, haha..." He looked thoroughly embarrassed.

Luo Ran!

Everyone pricked up their ears. What a lovely name.

Lin Luoran clearly did not think much of this older male cousin of hers. They had come here for a gathering of the elders in their families, and as members of the younger generation, they naturally had to accompany them. But her cousin and his friends had found the compound's guesthouse uncomfortable, and staying there also made it easy for their elders to discipline them, so they had gone off on their own and booked a suite at the best hotel. Lin Luoran did not like participating in the elders' gathering either, so she had stayed with her cousin Zhou Wu, Wang Weiwei, and the others.

Wang Weiwei did not much like everyone's attention being focused on Lin Luoran. He sat down beside Liu Rui and issued a rather casual challenge. "Heh, same rules. Beat me once, and I'll cover everyone's bill. Everything this whole room spends is on me!"

An uproar immediately broke out.

This kid might well be some rich big shot-a second-generation rich kid of that era!

Su Can, however, carefully studied Lin Luoran and Wang Weiwei

and their companions. Judging by the workmanship and styles of their clothes, there was absolutely no way to find the same designs in Xiahai in 1998. Even to Su Can's eyes as someone from the future, the styles were not out of date. They were rather understated, with no brands visible on the outside, apart from the NIKE sneakers on their feet. Xiahai did not yet have a single specialty store for high-end sports brands like that, and few ordinary people could afford to wear them.

A person could change their clothes, but their bearing and character were formed through innate foundations and the environment and education in which they grew up. This group dressed discreetly, yet their bearing was exceptional. If they were the sons of wealthy businessmen, their understated, restrained clothing did not quite fit. That made them very likely to be children of officials. Although they did not order people around, the overbearing manner they sometimes displayed was not something children from ordinary families could imitate.

Drawing on his experience from his later life, Su Can carefully analyzed them and reached this conclusion. Then he smiled, finding it rather pointless. What did it matter whether he knew who they were or not? When everyone was having fun playing together, who bothered with all that? Perhaps this was precisely the appeal of competitive games. On the gaming platform, everyone was equal.

A chorus of disappointed sighs rose. As Wang Weiwei's forward dribbled through his defense, Liu Rui struggled hard but still failed to recover. With one final goal, Wang Weiwei won three-one.