A Natural-Born Prodigy

"Ha... ha... Lin Yu, I know I was wrong." Firefly panted heavily.

"Ha... ha... do you know what you did wrong?"

"I shouldn't have gone out alone without telling you..."

"That's just one thing. Do... do you know how much trouble you caused?"

Lin Yu sat back down on the sofa, trying to steady his ragged breathing.

He had spent so long chasing Firefly that he was exhausted.

Firefly, meanwhile, sat on a small stool with her hands on her legs, obediently awaiting her punishment.

Lin Yu handed her his phone and gestured for her to look.

Firefly took it and saw that someone had photographed her outfit when she went out that afternoon.

"This is..."

Seeing that Firefly was still confused, Lin Yu pressed a hand to his forehead, at a loss for words. "You went out dressed like that this afternoon, and people in the residential complex saw you. They all thought you were up to no good."

"It was a disguise so I wouldn't draw attention!"

"But it doesn't look like it worked. It drew even more attention instead."

"Huh? But nobody looked at me when I went out."

Lin Yu pinched the spot between his tightly furrowed brows. He was speechless.

They didn't look at you because they didn't dare!

"Firefly, do you know what you look like dressed like that?"

Firefly tilted her head. "What?"

"A thief or a stalker!"

"A thief? A stalker? What are those?"

Faced with Firefly's adorably clueless expression, Lin Yu could only smile.

As it turned out, people really did smile when they were at a loss for words.

After Lin Yu explained it all to her, she realized that she had disturbed the people nearby.

"Sorry, Lin Yu. I didn't think it would turn out like this. I just wanted to go out and have a look..."

Seeing her like that, Lin Yu gently placed a hand on Firefly's shoulder and softened his voice.

"All right, it's not your fault. Just be more careful from now on."

"But where did you learn to dress like that?"

Firefly pointed at the phone. "I saw it online."

Hiss... the internet really ruins people!!

It looked like he would have to teach Firefly all about the good and bad sides of the internet later, or she would pick up bad habits sooner or later!

"Firefly, don't go out for the next few days, okay?!"

"G-got it!"

"Good. Once this blows over in a few days, I'll take you out and show you around. Once you're familiar with the place, you won't have to ask me before going out."

When she heard she would be able to go out whenever she wanted later, Firefly's disappointment vanished. "Yay!"

Seeing her so happy, Lin Yu couldn't help smiling too.

He pointed to the unfinished cake on the table. "All right, calm down and finish this first."

"Okay!"

Firefly sat back down at the table and resumed enjoying her strawberry cake.

As she ate, the two began discussing what kind of videos to make.

Given Firefly's circumstances, games were the only direction Lin Yu could think of.

After all, Firefly couldn't show her face, and he remembered that Firefly in the game seemed to have a rather distinctive way of playing games.

Having settled on a direction, Lin Yu decided to let Firefly try playing games first and see how good she was.

The next day, before leaving for work, Lin Yu taught her how to use the computer.

He also had her try different games to see what kind suited her.

He had plenty of games on his account, both popular and obscure.

At home, Firefly stared intently at the computer screen, pressing the buttons on the controller with unfamiliar hands.

When the character she controlled fell yet again, she clicked to revive and started over once more.

This was her sixteenth death. She tightened her grip on the controller. "I can do it this time!"

She had picked a game called Sekiro from Lin Yu's account.

Not long after starting the game, she had encountered the first enemy and hadn't moved from that spot since, because she kept dying.

Firefly probably hadn't expected the game she chose to be among the most difficult of Lin Yu's games.

Even Lin Yu had taken a long time and struggled to beat it.

But as a Glamoth warrior, there was no way she would admit defeat!

And so Firefly began a long, grueling battle, the game switching constantly between death and revival.

Meanwhile, Lin Yu had arrived at the shop. As soon as he entered, he saw the manager cleaning.

Hearing the door, the manager stopped what he was doing and turned to see Lin Yu at the entrance.

"You're here, Lin Yu."

"Yeah. Manager, let me help you."

Lin Yu started forward to help, but the manager stopped him and told him to change into his work uniform first.

So Lin Yu hurried into the changing room, changed, and came out to help.

"Manager, I'll take care of the rest. You can go and rest."

With that, Lin Yu reached for the broom in his hand, but the manager pulled it away.

"What? You think I can't handle it?"

"Of course not. It's just that this is our job as employees. How can we let you do it, manager?"

Hearing that, he waved a hand. "All right, all right. Manager or not, there's no hierarchy here."

"But... when you take the little work there is, we feel a bit uneasy accepting our wages."

Lin Yu spoke the plain truth. The shop didn't get many customers, so the employees actually had very little work and were often quite idle.

Yet they each earned around 4,500 a month, which made them feel a little guilty about accepting their wages.

They even thought the manager was actually wealthy and had opened the café just to experience a different way of life.

"Uh... all right, fine." The manager returned to the register and sat down awkwardly.

Lin Yu began cleaning the café.

He had to admit, having few customers had its advantages. The floor was barely dirty, and he finished cleaning without much effort.

After finishing up, Lin Yu returned to his station and waited.

"Oh, right, manager. Yesterday's cake was delicious. My... my niece asked me to thank you."

The manager checked the morning's bills as he replied, "I'm glad she liked it. When you get home, tell your niece that if she ever wants cake again, she can come to the shop. It's on me!"

"...Okay, I'll tell her. Thank you... manager."

"No need to thank me. You've been here two years now, Lin Yu. You could say you're the employee who's been here the longest."

"There are only three employees here, but I still think of you all as family!"

Lin Yu smiled. "Is that so? Then the three of us are pretty lucky to have a boss as good as you."

"Mm, but... you'll probably be leaving soon, won't you?"

"After all, you'll be in your senior year this year. You'll need to find an internship, right?"

Lin Yu paused briefly, then said, "Yeah, but probably not that soon. It'll be at least another month."

At six in the afternoon, Lin Yu finished work and returned home.

When he came in, he was a little surprised to find no sign of Firefly in the living room or kitchen.

He entered the room and saw Firefly sitting at the computer with a controller in her hands.

She seemed so absorbed in the game that she hadn't noticed him.

Only when Lin Yu touched her shoulder did she come out of the game.

She looked at him blankly. "...Lin Yu, when did you get back?"

Looking at Firefly's dazed expression, Lin Yu patted her head. "Just now. I didn't see you in the kitchen or living room, so I came in to check. I didn't expect you to still be playing."

The mention of the kitchen reminded Firefly that she had forgotten to cook. "Sorry, Lin Yu, I forgot to make dinner. I'll go do it right now!"

Lin Yu pressed Firefly back down as she tried to get up. "It's all right. It's getting late, so let's order takeout today."

Once the two portions of braised chicken and rice Lin Yu had ordered arrived, they began eating.

As they ate, Lin Yu asked Firefly how she had done. To his surprise, she had beaten four games in one afternoon.

Two of them were among his most difficult games.

Lin Yu couldn't help marveling. Wasn't she a natural-born prodigy?