Chapter 31

Thinking his expression had given him away, Pei Ran pressed his lips together and said, "I'm not angry."

Just as Yan Zhun was about to say something, his phone rang. It was a WeChat call from Lin Kang. As the informant, Lin Kang no longer felt guilty and now only wanted to watch the drama unfold. He urgently told Yan Zhun to check the WeChat group. Almost everyone involved had left the group anyway, so another argument wouldn't break out.

Yan Zhun put the call on speaker when he answered.

"I saw it," Yan Zhun said evenly.

Lin Kang paused, unsure. "I meant scroll up a little. They've been flooding the chat. Um, Pei Ran just joined the group..."

"I know," Yan Zhun said. "And? Did you need something?"

That question left Lin Kang stumped. It took him a long while to say, "No. Then I'll... hang up?"

Yan Zhun hummed an acknowledgment and hung up first.

Pei Ran hadn't expected him to read the group chat. He listened to the call with a frown, then fell silent for a while before saying, "Sorry. I didn't handle things properly before."

He hadn't expected things to get twisted into this.

Yan Zhun held the cardboard box in one arm, his other hand in his pocket. "It doesn't matter."

This concerned his reputation, and Yan Zhun had even been inexplicably "outed." Pei Ran didn't think it didn't matter. "I'll talk to him again. This won't happen again."

"You really don't need to." Yan Zhun paused. "Didn't you already get back at them for me?"

It was only a few sentences. How did that count as getting back at anyone?

Thinking back on it now, Pei Ran felt that he really had been angry. He rarely acted on impulse, but he didn't regret it at all.

Pei Ran usually either looked expressionless or wore a faint smile, so his anger was particularly obvious. Yan Zhun looked at him a few more times, then reached out and ruffled his hair. "Have you had dinner?"

They went to a noodle shop. Yan Zhun wasn't picky about food. Back when he was training, he often ate only two meals a day for the sake of practice, and one of those was usually instant noodles. It wasn't that the club was too poor to feed its players. It was mainly to save time.

They took the shop's last empty table. It was dinnertime, and the place was bustling. Only a married couple was working in the tiny shop, and several bowls of noodles sat uncollected at the serving counter. Yan Zhun simply got up to fetch theirs himself.

Turning around with the noodles, Yan Zhun saw Pei Ran sitting quietly in the corner, looking entirely out of place beside the patchy wall as he stared absently at the empty can holding the chopsticks.

Yan Zhun set a bowl in front of him, pulled out a pair of chopsticks, snapped them apart, and laid them across Pei Ran's bowl.

Even when eating noodles, Pei Ran chewed slowly and carefully. Broth coated his lips, and he quickly licked it clean.

"Does your hand still hurt?" Pei Ran looked at his wrist. "Should you go back to the hospital?"

Yan Zhun really wasn't badly hurt. Even the injury on his wrist was only superficial; it had been wrapped in gauze to prevent infection and inflammation.

"A little. It's nothing serious."

Yan Zhun ate quickly. By the time he finished, half of Pei Ran's noodles remained.

Holding some noodles between his chopsticks, Pei Ran looked at Yan Zhun, then at the empty bowl in front of him.

Seeing Pei Ran start eating faster, Yan Zhun said, "Take your time."

"Almost done," Pei Ran said after swallowing a mouthful.

Seeing his cheeks bulge with noodles, Yan Zhun found it funny. "It's an old habit."

Pei Ran looked up. "Hm?"

"When I first went pro, we were a new team, so we couldn't get scrims. We could only fill spots in other teams' scrims, and I'd often get called away halfway through a meal," Yan Zhun said lightly. "Later, I just brought my food to the computer desk. Mostly noodles."

Pei Ran rarely heard Yan Zhun talk about these things. Holding his chopsticks, he asked hesitantly, "Back then... was the pay really low?"

"A few hundred to a thousand a month," Yan Zhun said. "I had it okay. A lot of people didn't get paid when they first joined. Just room and board."

It was a world Pei Ran had never encountered. He raised his eyebrows, surprised and intrigued, and unwittingly slowed down his eating.

Six or seven in the evening was peak rush hour. As they left the noodle shop, an impatient honk sounded from the road.

"It's hard to get a cab at this hour," Yan Zhun said.

Pei Ran nodded, about to say he could take the subway.

"Want to watch a movie before heading back?" Yan Zhun asked.

Once they entered the cinema, they found only two kinds of recent releases: urban romances whose entire plots were obvious from the posters and synopses, and domestic horror movies that wouldn't scare an elementary schooler.

They exchanged a glance, turned around, and left the cinema.

Next, they went to a nearby arcade. It was Friday, and by evening the students had completely taken over. Almost every machine had a line.

It was dinnertime, and the basketball court nearby was deserted too.

As they left the court, Pei Ran inexplicably found it funny. His earlier emotions had vanished.

With nowhere to go, they walked aimlessly for a while. Neither said anything about leaving.

Winter had arrived, and the night breeze tickled Pei Ran's face. He couldn't help sniffling.

Yan Zhun abruptly stopped and caught the hem of his shirt. "Did you bring your ID?"

Pei Ran froze. He turned to stare blankly at him, then glanced at the hotel beside them. His mind instantly went blank. Only after a long while did he answer hoarsely, "Yes."

Then Yan Zhun led him away.

Every entertainment venue had its quiet hours or closing times. Only one kind of place didn't.

Boys sat side by side, and the whole internet café rang with cries of "You're so fucking bad," "Is this the long-lost marksmanship that spares all living beings?" and "Go, go! Are you watching a cockfight back there?" It was incredibly lively.

Yan Zhun pushed open the glass door. Seeing the person behind him dragging his feet, he raised an eyebrow slightly. "Don't want to play?"

"...I do," Pei Ran said.

Yan Zhun and the internet café's owner were old acquaintances. This place was relatively expensive, but it was clean, thoroughly disinfected, and its private rooms were well soundproofed, so customers were still willing to come.

Yan Zhun booked a two-person room with practiced ease.

The chairs in the room were large, soft, and comfortable. Yan Zhun took out his phone to check his messages. It had been vibrating constantly back at the noodle shop.

He had just sent Lin Xuhuan a question mark when the other boy immediately called.

"Bro, want to play?"

Yan Zhun entered his password and started the computer. "No training?"

"It's Friday. Day off," Lin Xuhuan said. "Coming? We just finished hot pot. We're almost back at the base."

"How many of you?" Yan Zhun asked.

"Two. Just me and A-Yu. The other two went to see their girlfriends..." Lin Xuhuan paused. "What's up, bro? You've got someone there?"

Yan Zhun didn't answer him. Moving the phone away, he asked, "They're asking us to play. Want to?"

"Can you play with your hand?" Pei Ran asked.

"It won't affect anything."

"Okay, then," Pei Ran said.

Lin Xuhuan asked a few more questions, and Yan Zhun answered intermittently. Turning his head, he saw that Pei Ran had already logged in and entered the training ground.

He hung up and asked, "Why'd you open the training ground?"

Pei Ran kept his eyes fixed on the target on-screen. "I'm not very good... I want to practice."

Even if it was only a game, he couldn't keep holding his teammates back.

After watching for a while, Yan Zhun said, "Change your grip. Switch to the Lightweight."

Pei Ran said, "Hm?"

"Switch the muzzle attachment to a Compensator too." The chair wheels made a faint scraping sound against the floor as Yan Zhun stood up. "I'll teach you recoil control."

Wearing his headphones and concentrating on the targets, Pei Ran only belatedly asked after firing a full magazine, "How are you going to teach..."

Before he could finish, Pei Ran's back stiffened. In an instant, he froze, not daring to move.

Yan Zhun reached around him from behind and to one side, asking evenly, "What distance do you want to start with?"

They had both taken off their coats after entering the room and were wearing thin, long-sleeved T-shirts underneath. Because of their position, a spot behind his shoulder inevitably pressed against Yan Zhun, and searing warmth passed through the soft fabric.

Pei Ran stopped breathing for a few seconds.

"Hm?" Yan Zhun prompted.

"...Anything's fine," Pei Ran said. "Whatever you want to teach."

Yan Zhun picked a target at a moderate distance. "Try controlling it once."

Pei Ran obediently fired. Forty bullets later, only a few holes marked the target. If it had been a moving enemy, he wouldn't have landed a single shot.

Pei Ran fell silent, then explained, "That wasn't my best."

Yan Zhun gave a soft laugh, his breath brushing the tip of Pei Ran's ear. Pei Ran instantly went quiet.

"Got it," Yan Zhun said. "Reload."

Pei Ran reloaded and was about to try again when a hand closed over the back of his.

Yan Zhun's palm was hot, his grip firm. "Every gun has a recoil pattern. The M4 doesn't kick that much. You don't need to move so far when you pull down..."

Pei Ran moved the mouse entirely under the guidance of his hand. Bullets left the barrel, and the target was instantly covered in bullet holes.

"If you really can't manage it, crouch or go prone. It'll reduce the recoil. Give it a try." As Yan Zhun spoke, he reached over with his other hand to press the crouch key on Pei Ran's keyboard. His arm touched Pei Ran's neck, both burning hot.

"Leaning while controlling your spray reduces recoil too."

"When you shoot, try to aim for the head."

The low voice spoke sentence after sentence. Pei Ran held his breath and let him take control, reloading again and again.

"Got it?"

Pei Ran opened his mouth. Several seconds passed before he said, "...I think so."

He thought so?

Yan Zhun raised an eyebrow and was about to ask more when the phone on the desk suddenly rang. It was Lin Xuhuan.

Yan Zhun released his hand and turned to answer.

"What?"

"Bro, we're home! Hurry up and log in," Lin Xuhuan said.

"We're on. Can't you look for yourself?" Yan Zhun said.

"But I've been inviting you forever, and you haven't responded. Ran Baby's in a match too."

Yan Zhun glanced at the screen and saw the invitation. "Teaching him recoil control. Be right there."

Pei Ran let out a long breath. While Yan Zhun was on the phone, he quietly, slowly let go of the mouse.

His fingers had all gone numb, and sweat seeped from his palm. After being held for so long, the back of his hand felt a faint chill at the sudden release. He could still feel the tremor of his heartbeat in his palm.

Once they entered the game, Lin Xuhuan's chatter quickly filled his headphones.

"Come on, Ran Baby, come over here and fire a few shots at the tree," Lin Xuhuan said, half joking. "Let me see how well my bro taught you. If he's good, I'll sign up for lessons too."

With Lin Xuhuan urging him on, Pei Ran had no choice but to fire a magazine at the tree.

The bullet holes straggled crookedly from the middle up onto the branches.

Lin Xuhuan: "..."

Lin Xuhuan walked up and took a very close look. "Ran Baby, what exactly did my bro teach you...?"

Pei Ran faltered, put away his gun, and turned to look at Yan Zhun.

Actually, Yan Zhun had explained everything in great detail, but none of it had registered. His only thought at the time had been that his heart seemed to be beating faster than the gunfire.

"Bro, stop leading students astray," Lin Xuhuan said. "Ran Baby, come to the base someday and I'll teach you recoil control. Let's set our sights higher and go straight for the 4x AK."

Pei Ran hadn't yet had a chance to refuse.

"Shut up," Yan Zhun interrupted his rambling. "It's not your turn."