Chapter 48: Chicken Dinners and Midnight Revelations

My friend and I spent the entire afternoon at the internet cafe. We were both quite free, and our main purpose for coming was to check on Dragon Brother. Since everything was fine on her end, we felt relieved and started playing.

Old Shen was exceptionally skilled at the game. Aside from the very first round, where she was instantly killed by a “god’s” magic bullet, she dominated every subsequent match, virtually unstoppable. Her playstyle wasn’t reckless; if a game progressed to the later stages, she avoided unnecessary fights, retreated when prudent, and prioritized getting into the safe zone.

We played about five rounds that afternoon and secured three “chicken dinners.” The one time we didn’t win was because Old Shen took a reckless gamble, driving us straight through a bombing zone. As divine retribution would have it, both we and the car were destroyed. Damn it, a child of divine wrath!

We had arrived at the internet cafe around one in the afternoon. Having not played together in quite some time, we ended up staying rather late, until about nine in the evening.

Our ability to play for so long stemmed from the abundant free time we had after high school graduation. Though both of us intended to go to college, we hadn’t yet decided on our majors. I’d heard that some schools had already closed their applications, with the latest deadlines reportedly in June. My grades used to be excellent, but from sophomore year to senior year, I barely studied, causing my performance to drop from outstanding to merely above average.

While I was keen on attending university, I didn’t particularly care about getting into a top-tier one. If worse came to worst, I figured I could just enroll in a less prestigious school for now.

Old Shen hadn’t submitted her college applications either, but her family was quite wealthy. She was essentially a trust fund baby, though not as extravagant as Young Master Feng. Even if she just drifted through life, she would still be more than comfortable.

Initially, I had considered working at this internet cafe if they were still hiring. After all, I was just idling at home, and working there would also allow me to look after Dragon Brother. However, upon inquiring, it seemed they only hired women. Old Shen had no intention of working there either; she much preferred spending her days playing games at home.

By nine o’clock, we had played enough. Old Shen seemed to have other plans and left first. Before departing, I went to a nearby restaurant and brought Dragon Brother a bowl of oil-splashed noodles.

There wasn’t much else for her to do that evening, and she didn’t need to worry about cleaning. Her only tasks were to help customers log on or serve drinks.

She devoured the noodles at the counter, and watching her, I felt a pang of unease. “How’s the work? Is it tiring?” I asked.

Dragon Brother mumbled indistinctly, “Not tiring.”

Xiao Hua was bent over, sweeping the aisle of the internet cafe. I watched Dragon Brother eat for a moment, then casually said, “If it’s not tiring, then keep at it. If you can’t handle it anymore… you can always come stay at my place.”

Dragon Brother looked up at me. The oil-splashed noodles were a bit spicy, so she turned her gaze away, blowing air to cool her mouth and grabbing a tissue to wipe her lips. After a moment of thought, she fixed her eyes on the computer in front of the counter. “It’s fine, not too tiring… Just come play when you have time. We close at eleven, and there’s another shift taking over for the night.”

I sighed.

Patting my pocket, I found the seventy-odd yuan left over from our internet usage. I handed it all to Dragon Brother. “If you get hungry, buy something to eat… Damn it, remember to treat me to a good meal when you get paid!”

Dragon Brother smiled, not bothering with pleasantries. She folded the seventy yuan and tucked it into her chest, saying, “Find me on payday, and this old lady will treat you to lobster!”

Upon hearing her refer to herself as ‘this old lady,’ I chuckled for a long while.

Only after stepping outside did I realize I had given all my money to Dragon Brother. I didn’t even have enough for a taxi. The pedestrian street wasn’t particularly close to my house, nor was it terribly far. I walked for about half an hour, treating it as a stroll.

By the time I arrived home, it was almost ten o’clock. At the doorstep, I fumbled for my keys, opened the door, and haphazardly tossed my shoes in the entryway.

Exhausted, I was about to enter the room when I noticed the living room light was on.

A sudden knot tightened in my chest.

What the hell? Had we been robbed?

I felt for my phone, which was safely in my pocket. I stood still for a moment, then slowly walked into the living room.

A girl sat upright on the sofa, typing rapidly on a laptop.

She wore a slightly old shirt, her black hair cascading down to her waist. At that moment, she seemed to sense someone had entered the house. She looked up, her dark eyes like two black holes that reflected no light. After an expressionless glance at me, she lowered her head again, resuming her typing on the computer.

I paused for a moment, recognizing the person as Ming Hai.

I had no idea where she had been these past three days. I stood with my hands on my hips for a while, unsure what to say. After a moment of thought, I slowly sat down on the sofa, staring at her.

The lenses of her glasses reflected a bright white glare, refracting the screen’s light, making her eyes unreadable. She remained silent, and a large stream of English characters scrolled continuously across the screen. I watched for a while, then shifted my gaze. It was then that I noticed several books beside her. I tilted my head and glanced at them.

Damn, I shouldn’t have looked. The titles were all incredibly high-minded: ‘C Programming Language Design,’ ‘Code Complete,’ ‘Programming Pearls,’ ‘Refactoring,’ ‘Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment’…

The air was thick with silence.

Sitting beside her, I pondered an opening line. ‘Hey, where have you been these past two days?’

After a moment’s thought, I said, “What have you been doing these past few days? If you were out, why didn’t you tell me?”

Ming Hai’s hands didn’t stop moving. The lenses of her glasses reflected a dazzling white light as she softly said, “Looking for a job.”

The silence descended once more.

I sat on the sofa, holding back for a long time. ‘What kind of job, you should say! Is it escort work?’

Suddenly, Ming Hai sighed, and the sound of her typing finally ceased.

She slowly straightened up. As she did, a faint crackle emanated from her back, suggesting she had been sitting in that position for an unknown duration. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. It was then that I noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes; her face was also quite pale.

How much sleeplessness would it take for eyes to get that dark…

I looked at her and asked, “Are you hungry?”

After asking, I had already stood up, but Ming Hai waved her hand, rubbing her temples. “No need, I just had instant noodles… Do you have any sugar at home?” she asked softly.

I stood there, a bit bewildered.

I don’t have kids at home, so where would I have sugar? I thought for a moment, then softly asked, “Would honey water work?”

Ming Hai, looking quite tired, nodded.

I got up and went to the kitchen, taking a bottle of honey from the cupboard.

I put about a third of the honey into a cup, then walked to the water dispenser, adding both hot and cold water. After stirring it with a spoon, I walked back to the living room and handed it to Ming Hai.

She took the cup with her head bowed, drank it all in one gulp, and let out a sigh of relief as she leaned back against the sofa.

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