NOVPUBHaving dropped Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi back home, upon returning to Lianhua Courtyard, night had fully settled in.
The aroma of families stir-frying and cooking wafted through the air, blending into a familiar scent.
The few mongrels in the courtyard were listlessly curled up on the ground, dozing off. They were over ten years old, and it was uncertain whether they would last till they finished junior high school.
Not far from the dozing dogs, there was a brand new BMW X3 parked—Xu Aiguo’s recently purchased new car, with an on-the-road price of around 430,000.
Xu Qingfan had initially suggested that the elders get a Range Rover to let him experience the life of a wealthy second generation, but upon seeing the staggering price of one to two million on Autohome, they immediately gave him a chestnut on the head.
The main reason actually was that not many people in an ordinary family knew the Range Rover brand at the time, and spending one or two million on a car only to have to explain it oneself seemed pointless. Why bother?
In contrast, the BMW emblem was enough to show others that the young man was getting ahead of himself, daring to buy a luxury car!
The couple’s views on consumption were quite sensible. The Xu family’s current savings were just over 4.5 million, so spending a tenth on a car was just about right.
As the trio returned to the third floor, Xia Xiaoxiao’s front door was tightly shut, but the living room lights were on. No need to ask, Lin Jing must have come next door to cook.
"Hello, Uncle."
Xu Aiguo was lounging on the couch watching TV in the living room. He nodded his head in acknowledgment when he saw the three of them return.
"Mom~ is dinner ready?" Xu Qingfan took off his shoes and yelled toward the kitchen.
"You’re back, go wash your hands, dinner will be ready in a moment," said Yao Jiping, carrying out the freshly stir-fried winter melon and perilla braised duck, smiling at them.
The smile was naturally for Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu; when it came to Xu Qingfan, his mother began to chide, "All you know is to shout nonsense all day. It’s almost New Year’s, remember to buy red paper to write couplets tomorrow!"
"Auntie, let me help you." Xu Qingfan ignored his mother’s nagging. Seeing Lin Jing carrying dishes out, he jogged forward to help.
"Thank you, Xiao Fan," Lin Jing said, smiling after wiping her hands on her apron.
Their families had long held the habit of dining together when the children returned home from school, and with the final dish of salted egg and mustard greens soup served, dinner soon began.
"Dad, why did you park the car downstairs? Aren’t you worried about it getting scratched?" Xu Qingfan casually brought up the topic as he ate.
"No way, there’s surveillance downstairs, and I’m going to drive it again later." The car had only a temporary license plate, as Xu Aiguo’s excitement hadn’t worn off yet. He undoubtedly intended to continue driving around later in the evening.
He seemed to think of something, looking at Wu Lingyu he said, "Yu, are you going home tomorrow? I’ll drop you off on the way!"
"Ah? Thank you, Uncle!"
"Haha, no problem, the new car needs to be driven during the break-in period anyway."
"What’s going on, didn’t you just attend the graduation ceremony? Why hasn’t anyone given a report on their grades?" Yao Jiping suddenly remembered that the kids had gone to school in the morning for the end-of-term graduation ceremony and asked.
"What’s there to say, if it’s not first, it’s second!" bragged Xu Qingfan.
"Xiao Fan, did you get first this time?" Lin Jing asked with a smile.
"Mhm mhm, Brother Fan is first in the grade, only lost points in Chinese, Xiao Xiao and I tied for second, Yiyi is fourth, Ruan Wen is fifth, and Wanning is sixth!" Wu Lingyu rattled off their results like spilling beans to the adults.
"That’s so impressive. Yu and Xiao Xiao keep it up, strive to surpass this stinky boy next time!" After finishing her words, Yao Jiping gave each girl a chicken leg, saying with a laugh, "Auntie rewards you each with a chicken leg!"
"Thank you, Auntie!"
Xu Qingfan pursed his lips, mixed a little soup with his rice, and quickly finished the rice in his bowl, "I’m full, going to take a shower first!"
After taking a shower and coming out of the bathroom, the living room was already empty, the meal over.
Lin Jing and Yao Jiping were washing dishes in the kitchen, and Xu Aiguo had probably gone out to test drive the car.
He returned to his own room, where Wu Lingyu and Xia Xiaoxiao were already playing on the computer.
"What are you up to?" Xu Qingfan placed his hands on Wu Lingyu’s shoulders and gave her a gentle massage.
"Don’t trust the search results on Baidu, they could make a cough sound like a terminal illness," he advised as he saw that she was looking at information related to uremia.
"Got it, I’m just checking it out," Wu Lingyu turned her head and smiled at him. The girl was actually trying to find out if there were any new medical technology advancements abroad.
"All you think about is racing, you’ll end up as a four-eyed girl!" he switched to massaging Xia Xiaoxiao.
Xia Xiaoxiao shivered slightly, thankfully playing on the Chinese City map, where her car was flying through the air, preventing any slip-up.
She didn’t speak, quietly enjoying Xu Qingfan’s massage service. Once back on the settlement page, the girl aimlessly clicked through the game’s backpack and the store.
"Brother Fan, do you want to play?" Wu Lingyu was using his laptop and stood up, offering her spot.
Xu Qingfan pushed her back down, saying, "You play, I’ll watch."
"Okay!" Wu Lingyu entered 4399 in the browser, and after clicking on the homepage, she found Obi Island and opened it.
Compared to competitive online games, the girl still preferred these sort of nurturing games like playing house. When she was a little over three, her father had given her a teddy bear stuffed animal, but it got lost when they moved. Whenever she played this game, Wu Lingyu would always think of the teddy bear she had lost.
Bubble Bobble’s storyline was now featuring the Nian Beast saga, and the confrontation between Bubble Bobble and the Nian Beast could be called one of the earliest turn-based card games.
There was also a game where you move Bubble Bobble around to avoid firecrackers and grab red envelopes. Watching Wu Lingyu play, Xu Qingfan fell into a flood of memories.
"I remember the Elf Egg seems to be on the beach." Seeing Wu Lingyu searching the entire map for clues to the Elf Egg, Xu Qingfan reminded her.
"Brother Fan, you played too?" She turned her head to look at Xu Qingfan, surprised.
"Heard it from someone online. Go check it out," Xu Qingfan said with a helpless smile. This game, after all, was something he had stumbled upon in his previous life during a computer class in the seventh grade.
"It’s really here!" After Wu Lingyu opened the map and went to Summer Beach, she indeed found the Elf Egg hidden by the Phoenix Baby.
"Now, just take it home to hatch. Apply it for five minutes every day, and after three consecutive days, it will hatch," Xu Qingfan advised.
Wu Lingyu looked back at Xu Qingfan again, thinking: Knowing so clearly, yet Brother Fan claims he never played!
"Heard it on the forums, what are you looking at me for!"
"Mm-hmm!"
"Xu Qingfan, there’s a racing championship here, can I join?" Xia Xiaoxiao opened up the event website for racing and asked Xu Qingfan.
"Why bother joining? Just play the game for fun. Do you really want to be an eSports athlete?" asked Xu Qingfan, slapping the girl on the head playfully.
"What’s wrong with being an eSports athlete? SKY even got inducted into the WCG Hall of Fame, that’s not any worse than athletes who run and swim!" Xia Xiaoxiao said defiantly, turning her head and glaring at him.
"Please, did you misunderstand me?" Xu Qingfan gave her a look that said ’are you kidding me’. "I’m not saying that being an eSports athlete is bad. I mean, you can’t do it!"
"Xu Qingfan!!!" Xia Xiaoxiao stood up, ready to pounce and bite him.
She was incredibly skilled, okay? After only a week of playing Warcraft, she had beaten Xu Qingfan, who had played for seven or eight years in his previous life, so thoroughly he was lost; she similarly crushed him in Bubble Bobble and QQ Speed.
"Are you a dog or something?!" Xu Qingfan said grumpily while rubbing the shoulder she had bitten.
"Humph~" Xia Xiaoxiao put on her usual proud yet adorable expression.
"Being an eSports athlete is tough, plus with your current results in QQ Speed, you’re not even up to professional standard," Xu Qingfan, not holding back, glanced at her.
"That’s because I haven’t been practicing seriously!" Xia Xiaoxiao clearly had blind confidence in her gaming talent.
"QQ Speed won’t do, who knows, in two years no one may be playing it anymore. By then, if the game loses its popularity, you couldn’t even get into high school, let alone work as a factory girl, right?" Xu Qingfan said this remembering a certain popular competitive game from his past life.
[Being an eSports athlete isn’t too bad.] Xu Qingfan thought to himself. As long as Xia Xiaoxiao doesn’t go abroad to study, then everything is fine.
If the girl took an interest in League of Legends or DOTA2, she could become a professional player. The worst case, he’d just buy a team to support her, and with the short video era’s benefits, turning her into a legend would be a piece of cake.
"You’re the one who’ll be the factory girl, and who says I won’t get into high school!" Xia Xiaoxiao protested, giving him a look of aggrieved innocence.
Wu Lingyu forgot to move her mouse controlling Little Bubble Bobble, as she watched the whole drama like a bystander enjoying the show.
"Sorry about that, I just wanted to say that being an eSports athlete is very tough, staring at a computer for over ten hours a day, running through the same map over and over," Xu Qingfan apologized for his earlier remarks.
"I was just saying; you didn’t have to say I couldn’t do it..." After Xu Qingfan apologized, Xia Xiaoxiao gave him an out, her voice trailing off.
With the drama concluded, Wu Lingyu immediately stepped in to smooth things over, "Alright now, who knows, Xiao Xiao might really become a great, amazing eSports athlete in the future, then Brother Fan will have to apologize!"
"Humph~ Of course!" Xia Xiaoxiao said conceitedly.
Xu Qingfan chuckled and shook his head, "If that day really comes, I’m willing to kneel on the keyboard for you!"
"You said it! Yu, you have to be my witness!" Xia Xiaoxiao, like an anime girl, pointed her index finger and thumb at Xu Qingfan.
"Yeah!"
The two girls ignored Xu Qingfan, chatting happily with each other.
"Yu, you haven’t played the game for a long time, right? Log in and open the king crab, you might pull out a permanent Renault!"
"Really? Which one is the king crab?"
"This one, buy the cheapest one... ah!!!"
"Wow!"
Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu exclaimed together because the girl’s game account had actually unlocked a permanent A-class Renault.
"Xu Qingfan, come look!!!" Xia Xiaoxiao took a screenshot and sent it to the group immediately, and the exclamations quickly rose from two to five people.
In truth, Wu Lingyu didn’t really like to play QQ Speed, but seeing everyone happy about her unlocking a permanent A-class car, she felt happy too, and gradually started to like the game.
The most epic gear in games was always those friends who could accompany you through the long river of time.
....
