Chapter 80: A Day of Boredom and Lingering Feelings

The Old Master’s funeral was scheduled for the following day.

I was usually an early riser. However, I hadn’t slept well the previous night.

By the time I finally rose, it was already past nine in the morning. After a quick wash-up, I opened my door.

Today’s weather seemed pleasant. The curtains in the living room were open, allowing the morning sun to stream through the windows, bathing the space in bright, clear light.

There was no sound from Dragon Brother’s room; she was likely still asleep. Her back needed more time to heal.

The internet café where she worked had called me several times, noticing her absence. I informed the person on the phone that Dragon Brother had been in a car accident and wouldn’t be able to return. After a moment of hesitation, they suggested she come back once she had fully recovered.

Though the internet café had only recently opened, its location near University Road on the pedestrian street meant a steady stream of customers. When I last visited, I noted the workload wasn’t particularly heavy, yet they seemed eager, likely due to a growing number of regulars.

Ming Hai wasn’t awake either, though I hardly expected to see her during the day. While she had strictly disciplined herself to coding hours, her routine still leaned towards nocturnal activity. The last time I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, seeing a figure in all black hunched over a laptop in the living room had given me quite a fright.

I retrieved the lemon tea from the fridge, mixed myself a glass with cold water, and settled onto the sofa to drink it.

Life had been rather dull lately. My last few disastrous games of League of Legends had completely extinguished my remaining interest in gaming.

My teammates would instantly pick Riven upon seeing a Jayce, or Lux when faced with Fizz. Others would lock in a ‘happy wind man’ top lane, ready for a ‘joyful game,’ only to feed 0-5 and then blame the jungler for not ganking. This pattern repeated for five or six matches, infuriating me to the point of slamming my mouse and swearing I’d castrate myself if I ever played League again.

As for PUBG, playing alone was tedious. My randomly assigned teammates rarely spoke. The usual conversation in the pre-game lobby went something like, ‘Hello, can you hear me?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Okay, let’s jump to the airport.’ And then, the next round would begin.

I had no desire to play games anymore. University registration had already passed, meaning I couldn’t enroll until next September. I had nearly a year of idleness stretching before me.

My days now consisted of sitting at home, scrolling through my phone, waiting for dusk, and then sleeping.

Still no sound from Dragon Brother’s room. After sitting on the sofa for a while, feeling bored, I pushed open her door.

Dragon Brother had likely just woken up, as she rubbed her sleepy eyes before turning to look at me. She sat in her swivel chair, waiting for her computer to boot up.

I paused, then remarked, “You’re up quite early.”

“Just bored, you know?” Dragon Brother yawned, staring idly at the computer screen.

Feeling equally bored, I sat on Dragon Brother’s bed.

I had intended to tidy her bedding. My hand had barely touched the blanket when I noticed the lingering warmth of her body.

A faint, gentle heat.

A strange flutter arose in my chest, and I quickly withdrew my hand.

The Windows startup music played. Dragon Brother idly clicked refresh a couple of times, then opened the Dungeon Fighter Online interface. “Old Han’s grandfather passed away yesterday?”

“Yes.”

As I tidied Dragon Brother’s bedding, I secretly mocked myself.

‘I’ve even washed Dragon Brother’s underwear,’ I thought. ‘Why am I acting so strangely now?’

Dragon Brother clicked her tongue as the piano background music of Dungeon Fighter Online began. “What a shame… The Old Master was a truly kind man. He lived on the third floor, and when he heard I was your friend, he even had the nurse send me oranges.”

To me, the Old Master had been more like an old friend, despite our age difference.

But now he was gone. And we, the living, had to continue living, didn’t we?

I neatly folded Dragon Brother’s blanket, placed it at the head of the bed, and sighed. “Indeed, he was a very good man…”

Dragon Brother remained silent. For her, the Old Master was simply a kind elderly man who had brought her fruit.

I sat in the room for a while longer. Dragon Brother had already started grinding dungeons with her Crusader. I then left the room and headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

I hadn’t been home much these past two days, and only one or two boxes of instant noodles were missing from the cupboard. Dragon Brother was probably too engrossed in gaming to eat properly. She particularly enjoyed my omurice, so I cracked two eggs and began to whisk them.

Once you knew the trick, omurice was quite simple to make. I flipped the pan, rolled the egg over the fried rice, plated it, drizzled it with ketchup, and carried it to her computer desk.

“Eat it while it’s hot after you’re done grinding,” I said. “It’ll get cold soon.”

Dragon Brother’s eyes were glued to the screen. Suddenly, she sprang up in shock, exclaiming, “Holy shit! A Battle Mage shoulder piece dropped!”

“Congratulations,” I sighed.

Dragon Brother glanced at the omurice on the table, picked up a spoon, tapped the soft egg skin, and turned to me with a smile. “Thanks!”

Her smile revealed her two small canine teeth.

A strange sensation welled up in my heart again, and I averted my gaze.

Dragon Brother looked at me oddly. “Why is your face so red?”

“No, I just have a cold,” I coughed, then replied.

Dragon Brother gave me two curious glances but didn’t dwell on it. She took a spoonful of the omurice, tasted it, and looked at me in surprise. “Your cooking is amazing! You should find a rich woman to take care of you in the future.”

“Get lost,” I said.

Dragon Brother burst into laughter, stuffing a few mouthfuls of rice into her mouth. She chewed while watching the screen, her cheeks puffed out, like a diligent hamster.

I actually felt a sudden urge to poke them.

But on second thought, losing a hand would significantly impact my life.

“You smell like her perfume~~ It’s my nose playing tricks…”

Dragon Brother’s phone rang. She tilted her head to look at it, then answered with an impatient tone, propping the phone against her ear as she continued to control her character.

I watched her Crusader smash through maps with her Holy Hammer, its cooldown incredibly fast. She must have spent all her recent internet café wages on the game.

“No, I’m not going. I don’t have time,” Dragon Brother said to the person on the phone, her voice laced with impatience.

Sitting beside her, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the voice on the other end belonged to a man.

A strange feeling, akin to jealousy, crept into my heart. I asked, “Who is it?”

Dragon Brother ignored me, continuing to play on the computer, her head still tilted.

After a moment, her tone softened. “Alright, I understand. Let’s talk another time. I’m hanging up.”

“Who was that?” I asked again.

Dragon Brother sat cross-legged, frowning as she placed her phone on the table. “Xiao Cuihua. We met up a while ago; he wanted to catch up. We just had dinner a few days ago, what’s there left to catch up on?”

Xiao Cuihua was a friend Dragon Brother and I used to hang out with. He always dressed sloppily, and his left arm bore a tattoo of some indecipherable script—which he claimed was French. He had dropped out of school early, often waiting for Dragon Brother at the school gates after class so they could go to the internet café together. Back then, Dragon Brother and I also loved to go to internet cafés after school, and that’s how we got to know him. He was a loyal guy; we’d shared drinks together before.

“You already went? When? You went to eat with him by yourself?” The words tumbled out of my mouth without thought. I regretted them immediately. The statement was too obvious, carrying a strange underlying meaning.

Dragon Brother looked at me oddly, continuing her game. “Yeah, just catching up, and we had some drinks.”

I stood there stunned, speechless for a long time.

Dragon Brother finally finished grinding out her Crusader’s fatigue. She stretched luxuriously—her frame was quite petite, and my gray T-shirt still looked a bit big on her, like a child wearing adult clothes. She sighed contentedly, then quickly devoured the omurice in a few large bites.

I, too, stood up, feeling a sense of resignation, picked up the plate, and headed to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, as I scrubbed the plate with a sponge, my phone suddenly rang in my pocket.

I rinsed my hands under the tap, wiped them on my pants, and pulled out my phone. The caller ID showed ‘Xiao Cuihua.’

“Hello?” I answered.

“Come out for a meal!” a cheerful voice boomed from the other end.

“No time.”

I glanced towards Dragon Brother’s room, still wiping my hands on my pants.

In truth, I had plenty of time, but I simply didn’t feel like going.

“Damn, that was a quick rejection! Don’t be like that, brother! It’s been ages since we last met…” The voice on the phone persisted.

I sighed, checked my watch—10:15. “Where are we going to eat this early in the morning? All the restaurants are closed, and I just finished eating.”

“Come on, just consider it an early withdrawal, eat your lunch now too!” The annoying voice chuckled.

I put my hands on my hips and asked, “You can ‘withdraw’ meals early now?”

“Of course! Why not? The bolder a man is, the more he produces! Come on!”

“What the hell are you even talking about?” I sighed.

“Don’t sigh so much, it shortens your life!” The voice chuckled. “Come on, I’m waiting for you at the Sanchakou skewer place. Let’s have a drink!”

I checked my watch again. Sanchakou wasn’t far from here. After a moment of thought, I said, “I’ll be there in a bit, so wait for me.”

After hanging up, I dried the plate, told Dragon Brother I was leaving, and walked out the door.

Sanchakou was south of the pedestrian street, about a ten-minute walk from my place. There was a famous open-air skewer stall there, but skewers were usually eaten in the evening, so the place was deserted right now.

By the wooden railing near the entrance, Xiao Cuihua sat with one leg crossed over the other, swinging his foot, idly playing on his phone. An indecipherable tattoo adorned his left arm; it looked like English, but rendered in an overly ornate, flowery script, resembling a demonic scribble. A bottle of Snow beer already sat on the table, along with a plate holding about twenty raw lamb skewers. The charcoal fire was already lit.

I walked over and tapped the railing.

Xiao Cuihua looked up, saw me, and burst into laughter, extending his hand for a high-five. “Getting you to come out is truly hard work! Long time no see!”

I returned his high-five, sighed, and pulled up a chair.

It was nearing noon, and the sun beat down from directly overhead, making the area outside the shop glare white. Fortunately, despite the strong sun, the temperature was pleasant, and a cool breeze blew. There were also parasols at the entrance and fans inside the shop, making it quite comfortable.

Xiao Cuihua squinted, looking out at the street. He let out a breath, raised his glass, and said, “It’s been so long since we last met, brother. Let’s clink glasses.”

I raised my glass, clinked it with his, and then lowered my head, lost in thought as I drank.

He squinted, drank half his glass, and sighed contentedly. “On a hot day, ice-cold beer is just so damn refreshing.”

“It is.”

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