Chapter 71 Part 1 一 Fight For the Squad, Charge Ahead!
Lu Jin stood on the balcony, where the cool moonlight and the bright balcony lights fell together, casting endless elongated shadows, making his silhouette appear depressed and helpless.
It was the bitterness and struggle after resistance.
On one hand, I believe that resistance is not wrong, but on the other hand, I feel distressed by the increasingly haggard appearance of my parents who are getting older.
Lu Xuan lightly bit her lip, inadvertently grabbing Ruan Yōu’s elbow. The usually confident and lively little princess suddenly became cautious and careful, fearing that she might say something to upset her brother.
“Brother, do you want to play a game?”
Most of the time, Lu Xuan loved to tease Lu Jin, finding joy in seeing her brother frustrated, but when he was truly upset, little princess Lu Xuan would always stand by Lu Jin’s side.
Normally, she was the one who wanted to scold her brother and make him face consequences, but now, she was the one who wanted to make her brother happy.
Lu Jin remained silent for a while.
Then, he turned around.
Lu Xuan, Ruan Yōu, and Fu Jiazhan all looked at him, their eyes filled with unspoken concern.
In times like these, silent comfort and care seemed to be much more powerful than saying something like “It’s okay, they’ll understand you in the future.”
Lu Xuan’s eyes welled up with tears, almost on the brink of crying.
It was the first time she had seen her brother in conflict with their parents, and she was both scared and sad, as both sides were the people she cared about and wanted to protect.
Lu Jin noticed Lu Xuan’s quivering lips and sighed softly, nodding. “Alright, let’s play a game.”
The three people standing three meters away silently breathed a sigh of relief.
. . . . .
When Ruan Yōu left the Lu family, she didn’t see Father Lu and Mother Lu.
That’s even better.
Even if she had seen them, she wouldn’t have known what to say. Communication between elders can only involve parents, as parents understand parents better.
Fu Jiazhan had the same thought.
As they walked out of the Lu family’s gate, Fu Jiazhan whispered, “My mom and Aunt Lu are good friends. She usually doesn’t have much to do, but she loves dealing with these little conflicts.”
Ruan Yōu replied casually, “I’ll talk to my mom about it when I get back.”
On the way back home, Fu Jiazhan thought of something.
“Why suddenly think about playing games?”
In his mind, he suddenly remembered the young boy sitting across from him playing games at the hotel.
Ruan Yōu spoke casually, “The boy sitting across from you was really good at the game, and it seemed like they were having a fight. There were so many characters on the screen, using skills and all. I thought it would be fun for us to play together.”
Five player e-sports is different from online gaming.
With the rise of mobile gaming, traditional PC gaming was fading away. However, the passion and excitement of gathering with friends in the virtual gaming world to battle together couldn’t be replaced by a simple mobile game.
More importantly, Ruan Yōu remembered the popular games from middle school like “Day □ Three,” “Against □ Cold,” and “Fantasy □ Game.” Many classmates used to gather to play during the day, joke around in the virtual world at night, form teams to challenge dungeons, and have as much fun as the Calabash Brothers fighting each other in a snowball fight.
Organizing group battles and engaging in intense combat against opponents in online games was a great way to release emotions. Besides, it was almost Lunar New Year, and during the holidays, when else would they have time to play games?
Fu Jiazhan hadn’t expected Ruan Yōu’s response to be so relaxed. When she mentioned the young, thin boy, he couldn’t help but whisper, “That boy seems to know Wen Juxi.”
Ruan Yōu blinked slightly, “Do they know each other?”
Fu Jiazhan nodded.
“When Uncle Gu and Aunt Ruan’s group arrived in the hall, Gu Min saw the boy’s game screen, and Wen Juxi silently blocked Gu Min’s line of sight.”
The action was subtle, but Fu Jiazhan, who had walked in the business circle for many years, still noticed the difference.
Wen Juxi was cold at heart, warm on the surface, and would never be warm enough to block someone else’s line of sight for a stranger boy.
This can only mean that Wen Juxi knows the boy who was playing the game, and they are familiar.
Ruan Yōu tilted her head and leaned back in her chair, trying to recall.
She had observed that although the young boy was dressed simply, the watch on his wrist was quite expensive, and the shoes on his feet were limited edition from a trendy brand. He looked like a young gamer, probably around the same age as Qi Nuo.
The young gamer was playing games in the hotel lobby, while Wen Juxi was inside with her family having dinner. This arrangement seemed oddly familiar.
Their car happened to reach the hotel where Ruan Yōu would have dinner tonight.
At a red light, their car came to a stop.
Ruan Yōu glanced outside unintentionally.
On the pedestrian walkway in front of the hotel entrance, a black business car was temporarily parked.
The car window on the driver’s side rolled down, a hand resting on top, and someone looked bored, gazing at the cars on both sides.
The soft light from the streetlamp cast gentle shadows. Half of the boy’s face was hidden inside the car, and the other half was exposed outside the window, creating a play of light and shadow that added a touch of depth to the boy’s youthful face.
Two cars were only three meters apart, with a green strip in between.
Ruan Yōu: “Is that the boy who plays games?”
Fu Jiazhan followed Ruan Yōu’s gaze and looked over.
Wen Juxi, dressed in a deep blue coat, walked gracefully toward the black business car, opened the door, bent down to get in, and the boy closed the car window as the car slowly drove onto the road.
Ruan Yōu finally understood where that familiar feeling came from just now.
“So, is he here to pick up Wen Juxi?”
Just like how Fu Jiazhan came to pick her up.
Without much thought, given her simple understanding of Wen Juxi, no matter how you looked at it, Wen Juxi didn’t seem like someone who would date a younger brother.
Fu Jiazhan smiled, “Do you think he looks like a driver?”
Ruan Yōu glanced him up and down, curious, “Aren’t you also working as a driver? Why are you laughing at him?”
Pot calling the kettle black, huh?
Fu Jiazhan: …
Fu Jiazhan suppressed his smile, honestly playing the role of Miss Ruan’s driver. There was a hint of amusement in his deep eyes, and he said, “Yes, yes, drivers shouldn’t make fun of other drivers.”
Ruan Yōu leaned back in her seat, hands folded on the armrest, and started to fall asleep. She had been to too many places today, and she was tired.
“When we arrive, remember to wake me up. I don’t want to sleep in the car.”
Ruan Yōu is becoming increasingly familiar with others, and now, when calling upon Jiang Huai, Lu Jin, and Fu Jiazhan, it’s as familiar as calling upon Gu Fuchen.
They’re all friends, so there’s nothing they can’t call.
“Hmm.” Fu Jiazhan lowered the volume of the piano music in the car, maintaining a soothing level to help relax and induce sleep.
. . . . .
By the time Fu Jiazhan sent Ruan Yōu home, it was already 10 o’clock in the evening. Ruan Liuyu and Gu Youqian had already returned home, and they were slightly surprised to see the two of them coming back so late.
Ruan Yōu was extremely tired, rubbed her eyes, and murmured, “Mom, Dad, let Fu Jiazhan explain to you. I’m going upstairs to sleep.”
She hadn’t taken a nap, and her energy was depleted, so now she needed to recharge through sleep.
Ruan Liuyu quickly had Wei Wen accompany her upstairs and then turned to ask Fu Jiazhan what had happened tonight.
Fu Jiazhan recounted the events at the Lu family’s house, and Ruan Liuyu and Gu Youqian both sighed.
Lu Jin was a friend of Ruan Yōu, Gu Fuchen, Fu Jiazhan, and others, while Father Lu and Mother Lu were friends of Ruan Liuyu and Gu Youqian.
Everyone had someone they cared about and wanted to protect.
Ruan Liuyu looked worried and said, “Tomorrow, I’ll go talk to them. It’s already 10 o’clock, so you can rest here if you want.”
Gu Youqian nodded.
“Fuchen will be back soon.”
Fu Jiazhan unconsciously looked towards the elevator where the figure had already disappeared. “No need, Auntie and Uncle. I need to go back and talk to my mom about this.”
And now, as the Lunar New Year approaching, my mother, who already felt lonely and desolate, finds it even harder to endure being alone at home.
Ruan Liuyu knew about her friend, Mother Fu’s situation, nodded, and said, “We agreed to spend the New Year together this year. You can move in with her tomorrow, and she’ll definitely be willing.”
Fu Jiazhan nodded with a smile.
As they were leaving, they happened to run into Gu Fuchen, who had just gotten off the car.
Gu Fuchen looked at him suspiciously and asked, “Why are you still here?”
Fu Jiazhan couldn’t be bothered to respond and got in the car and drove away.
Gu Fuchen snorted lightly and then found out about Lu Jin’s situation from his parents. His dissatisfaction and suspicions were temporarily suppressed.
If his sister spent a few hours with Fu Jiazhan behind his back, he would go crazy.
When he got back home, he set an alarm clock to wake up early tomorrow to visit Lu Jin.
Today was the second-to-last day of Bozhan’s work, and there was a company annual party tomorrow night. After the party, this year’s hard work would come to an end. He could only visit Lu Jin before going to work tomorrow.
. . . . .
As Fu Jiazhan and Gu Fuchen were contemplating how to comfort their friend tomorrow, Lu Jin had already taken the initiative to download the game <A Chinese Ghost Story> that Ruan Yōu recommended.
<A Chinese Ghost Story> is an ancient-style online game based on the story of <A Chinese Ghost Story>. It’s very easy to pick up. The maximum level is 150, and players can choose to engage in battles, experience dungeon clearing, or focus on improving their equipment’s luck factor to obtain rare items.
Lu Jin checked the official website and forums, then casually entered the marketplace, where he bought a level 100 character with over a hundred collections for 100,000 yuan.
Once he entered the game, everything felt fresh and exciting.
In the world chat, many were either provoking enemies to fight or chatting, expressing love, or sending early New Year wishes to someone.
Lu Jin didn’t know how to play.
Ruan Yōu mentioned things like “letting loose,” “engaging in faction battles,” and “checking out 818,” but he had no idea how to do them. So, in his free time, he could only experience the thrill of bullying low-level monsters in the wilderness.
The character Lu Jin bought is a max-level archer with S+ rated equipment. Before selling the account, the previous owner used to rank in the top 20 on the current district, making him quite a pro.
As a newcomer who didn’t know how to play, he could only wait for Ruan Yōu to show him the ropes. He just didn’t want to dwell in a gloomy mood, so he planned to distract himself by playing games. As soon as Ruan Yōu, Fu Jiazhan, left, he returned to his room to play games and purchase an account.
In the world chat and channel chat, everyone was chatting happily, discussing what New Year goods they had bought.
Lu Jin had a good initial impression of the game. It felt like a virtual community, where countless strangers gathered through their computers to chat about New Year goods and play games, occasionally cursing at bad games.
No need to worry about the troubles of reality, it was truly comfortable.
Within his same-level channel chat, Lu Jin asked, 【Where should I go to fight monsters?】
【Wow~ a pro player has joined! Are you new?】
【Haha, boss, you don’t need to fight monsters with this character. If you really want to, you can go to the Heavenly Palace and play there; the monsters there are around your level.】
【Heartbroken: Where’s the Heavenly Palace?】
【Open your friend list, there’s a little sprite at the top. If you don’t know something, just ask it.】
Lu Jin understood. He searched for the Heavenly Palace and found a landmark. When he clicked on it一
His character suddenly summoned a majestic dragon and soared across the map.
Not bad.
Lu Jin brought the perspective closer, observing the mount, Divine Dragon, up close.
Before he could even admire the majestic appearance of the Divine Dragon, at the moment when his character ventured into the wilderness, his screen suddenly turned gray.
His character tragically fell to the ground, and the Divine Dragon disappeared as well.
He was killed by someone.
Not only was he killed, but he also lost an item from his inventory.
Lu Jin’s expression turned stern as he stared at the screen.
一Killing him is one thing, but killing his majectic dragon? ? ?