"Jianfeng, what a fine son you’ve raised." Gu Qingshan’s eyes narrowed, and he turned to leave.

Qiu Mengze looked embarrassed. He gritted his teeth and admitted, "Uncle Xue, I was the one who brought Xue Rui here."

He knew the other man was Gu Muxue’s father. It was best for him to take the blame now.

But Xue Rui’s expression was so infuriatingly smug, as if *he* were the one who had been forced to come...

He clearly remembered Xue Rui grabbing him by the neck and dragging him over just a moment ago. ’So he dragged me here to be his fall guy?’

But it didn’t matter. As long as his old man didn’t find out, he’d be fine.

"Take your classmate home first." Xie Jianfeng shot Xue Rui a harsh glare before following Gu Qingshan out.

If it had been any other classmate, he might have wondered who the instigator was. But he saw clearly that it was Qiu Mengze, who had been playing with Xue Rui since they were kids. That boy was so well-behaved; his own son had definitely dragged Qiu Mengze here...

Xue Rui’s eye twitched. ’How can one person be this unlucky?’

"Mengze, whenever I skip class, no one ever finds out. But whenever you come with me, we both get caught."

"And that other time, when we were at the internet cafe on the weekend, we actually ran into the dean..."

...

Xue Rui was suddenly reminded of a lot of things from middle school.

"You brat, don’t tell me you think *I’m* the unlucky one?" Qiu Mengze said loudly, a look of disbelief on his face. "I think *you’re* the unlucky one! Whenever I’m by myself, everything’s fine..."

The two of them joked around, blaming each other, and quickly dispelled the awkward, tense atmosphere from before.

Xue Rui sighed. ’Great,’ he thought. ’Now I have to go home and explain this to my dad.’

He hadn’t forgotten the word "first" his dad had used earlier. It meant there was more to be said.

"Let’s go. I’ll get a cab to take you home," Xue Rui said.

In the end, he went downstairs with a bewildered-looking Lin Ruoxi.

"You... you don’t seem happy," Lin Ruoxi said.

Xue Rui pinched the bridge of his nose. ’How could I be happy?’

’I didn’t even do anything, but I feel like I’m taking the fall for something...’

Qiu Mengze was also sighing. ’Who could be happy about something like this?’

’If my dad found out I came to a place like this, I’d probably get a beating, too.’

The little girl thought for a moment. Xue Rui had seemed very happy when he was resting his head on her lap earlier. She patted her legs and said softly, "Do you want to lie down again?"

"Maybe later. I have things to do right now," Xue Rui said.

He dropped Qiu Mengze off at his apartment complex near the city’s east-side market, then took Lin Ruoxi back to her home as well.

Xue Rui waited until he saw the little girl dawdle her way upstairs before getting in the car and heading home.

When he got home, he found his dad had been back for a while, lying on the sofa with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Xiaorui, what were you doing in a place like that?" Xie Jianfeng asked.

He didn’t know what Xue Rui’s purpose for going was.

’Did he get some money? Is he starting to fool around?’

"Dad, I only went because I found out you have a membership there. Isn’t it just a place for health and relaxation?" Xue Rui said with a sincere expression.

Xie Jianfeng was speechless for a moment. The kid’s words implied, in more ways than one, that he trusted him.

’How could he question him now?’

’Tell him those places aren’t reputable?’

’Wouldn’t that be insulting himself in the process?’

"Ahem. Next time you go to a place like that, ask me first. Go to my friend’s place; they’ll take good care of you," Xie Jianfeng said, pinching the bridge of his nose. That shop was indeed owned by his friend and was a legitimate establishment.

But the problem was, Gu Qingshan didn’t know that.

"You’re still just a kid, so why are you such a dawdler? How long did it take you to get from the sauna to where we ran into each other?" Xie Jianfeng changed the subject.

Xue Rui looked astonished. ’You mean you recognized me back in the sauna?’

’But I had my face covered and was pretending to be asleep...’

Xie Jianfeng scoffed. "You’re my son. I’d recognize you even if you were turned to ash."

Xue Rui’s face darkened. "Dad, that’s not exactly a nice thing to say."

"Nice or not, aren’t you chasing Muxue? You’ve certainly made a bad impression on your future father-in-law," Xie Jianfeng snorted.

Xue Rui was speechless. He’d figured out what had happened.

He had seen Gu Qingshan and deliberately dawdled until much later before leaving...

And his dad had recognized him but didn’t call him out, instead dragging Gu Qingshan along to dawdle for a while too...

For the same reason, both sides had procrastinated for quite some time, hoping to avoid the other.

But in the end, by a strange twist of fate, they still ran into each other...

Xie Jianfeng looked at Xue Rui’s 1.8-meter-tall frame, wanted to say something to advise him, but ultimately just sighed and lit a cigarette.

"Alright, go on. Yaoyao’s finished her exams and is on break. Tell her to play fewer games and get to bed early."

After saying this, he exhaled a deep cloud of white smoke.

He remembered his own elders saying the same things to him when he was young.

Things like "study hard," "don’t smoke," "drink less"...

Looking back now, it was all good advice, meant for his own benefit.

But looking back now, it seemed he hadn’t listened to a single word.

He had just been about to say the same things to his son, but a deep sense of powerlessness suddenly washed over him.

...

Xue Rui walked to Xue Yao’s room. He thought about how busy he’d been lately and how long it had been since he’d really talked with her. In a few days, he’d be leaving Hedong, and after that, they would only see each other during the winter and summer breaks.

He knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

But the light was on in the room, and the sound of furious keyboard clacking could be heard...

He instantly understood. Xue Yao hadn’t heard him at all.

*Sigh.* Xue Rui thought back to their childhood.

Back then, Xue Yao hadn’t gotten into video games yet. Being two years younger than him, she used to follow him around everywhere, super clingy.

The Xue Yao back then was so adorable, always calling out, "Brother"...

But that was all in the past. Now, his sister was a completely different person.

After pushing the door open, Xue Yao only glanced at it quickly. Seeing it was Xue Rui, her expression didn’t change as she remained focused on her computer screen.

Xue Rui reached out and pulled off Xue Yao’s headphones, but she still didn’t react.

On the screen was the currently popular game, LOL. Headphones weren’t that important for this kind of game.

’Come to think of it, Xue Yao is a veteran LOL player.’

’But judging by her gameplay... she’s terrible.’

Xue Yao was clicking her mouse, directing her champion to gank mid-lane. But she missed her Celestial Sound Wave twice and ended up being chased by the enemy jungler, a Sword Saint...

Xue Rui watched as she was chased and cut down by the Sword Saint until her screen turned gray, even though her R and Flash were both off cooldown...

Right before dying, Xue Yao placed a ward... right under her own turret...

Xue Rui was getting anxious just watching. He felt an indescribable sense of frustration.

In that last situation, with the skills Xue Yao had available, there were countless ways to use the turret to outplay the Sword Saint, but she failed to execute a single one.

Xue Rui said, "Turtle-speed ward hop."

It took Xue Yao a moment to process his words, but then she realized Xue Rui was mocking her for being as slow as a turtle!

"Brother, if you haven’t played, then don’t talk. Lee Sin is a very difficult champion," Xue Yao said, annoyed.

"You could have outplayed him just now. Land your Q, ward-hop behind him to kick him under the turret, then reactivate Q to execute," Xue Rui said.

Xue Yao gave him a strange look. She thought her brother was just bragging.

He made it sound so simple, but doing it in-game was another matter entirely. Besides, was a move like that even possible? She’d never heard of it, anyway.

Xue Rui continued, "Or an even simpler way: R-flash to kick him into the turret, then follow up with Q."

Xue Yao gritted her teeth. "Brother, stop bothering me while I’m playing! An R-flash? That’s a move only high-level players use. I haven’t learned it yet."

"A high-level move?" Xue Rui’s mouth twitched.

In the future, a technique like Lee Sin’s R-flash would be a basic move everyone knew. It happened every day in Iron-tier games...

On second thought, the average player skill level back then was pretty low, and the cost of practicing an R-flash was high.

This version of the game didn’t have a practice tool. You couldn’t practice on dummies. To practice moves that involved Flash, you had to start a custom game, and you even needed a friend to help...

Flash had a five-minute cooldown, so in one hour, you could only practice it about a dozen times at most...

Compared to the version with the practice tool, where you could practice ten times in ten seconds, the cost of practice wasn’t even in the same league. Plus, you still had to pull it off in a real match. Unless you were exceptionally talented...

"Move. Let me," Xue Rui said, pushing Xue Yao aside without waiting for her permission.

"Brother, this is my promotion match! Wait until it’s over!" Xue Yao said, looking nervous. The kill score was already far behind.

Plus, the enemy champion was Sword Saint. He was already snowballing, and his advantage would only get bigger.

She was at her wit’s end and had no idea how to handle the situation, but she absolutely wouldn’t give up hope.

"If I lose, I’ll wash my hair while doing a handstand." Xue Rui looked at the gameplay of the ten people on the screen. They were all chumps.

He had played a lot of games with Qiu Mengze recently, so he was still in form. A low-tier game like this was an easy win for him.

After sitting down, Xue Rui’s fingers naturally rested on the Q, W, and E keys, his mouse clicking swiftly.

Xue Yao was a little surprised. She knew her brother used to like playing games, but she didn’t think he played this type...

She hadn’t expected Xue Rui’s actions to look so professional. The first thing he did was check the scoreboard.

"Not a big problem," Xue Rui said.

The mid-lane matchup was so damn classic: Yasuo versus Zed. Top lane was Riven against Fiora, and bot lane was Ashe against Miss Fortune...

Neither side cared about team composition at all; they just picked whatever.

That’s how it was in this era. Everyone just played popular champions and simply enjoyed the game.

Plus, the gaming environment was excellent. Even when a team was at a huge disadvantage, very few people would clamor to surrender. They wouldn’t admit defeat until the very last moment.

Xue Rui went top to gank. His Q Skill landed precisely on the low-health Fiora, securing a kill. He then helped push the minion wave.

Top-laner: Piss off, why are you taking my minions?

"If you don’t know what you’re doing, just let me play. See? You’re already getting flamed," Xue Yao said with a frown.

’Are players these days this bad at understanding the game?’ Xue Rui thought.

He explained, "By killing the enemy minions, I deny the enemy a lot of gold and experience. See how our own minions are being killed by their turret?"

A flash of insight went through Xue Yao’s mind, and she instantly understood what Xue Rui meant. She looked at him in surprise. ’He’s actually right.’

Back in the mid-lane, their own mid-laner’s portrait was still on a respawn timer. His 0/7 score was particularly jarring.

To recreate the previous scenario for Xue Yao, Xue Rui deliberately baited the enemy Sword Saint under their turret.

’Who knew players these days were so predictable...’

’He pretended he couldn’t win the fight, and the enemy actually chased him!’

He placed a ward under the turret and, as expected, the Sword Saint used his Q Skill. In that instant, Xue Rui executed a ward hop, followed by his Q, bringing him right on top of the Sword Saint. He then added an R-flash for good measure, kicking the Sword Saint all the way toward their inner turret...

Hit by two turrets at once, the Sword Saint’s health bar was instantly chunked. Xue Rui finished him off with the second activation of his Q.

Right before dying, the opponent even used a death-Flash.

A line of red text appeared on the screen: "66666". It was from the enemy Sword Saint.

Xue Rui nodded in satisfaction. ’The gaming environment in ’14 was really something else,’ he thought. ’People would give their opponents genuine praise, not like in the future with all the passive-aggressive emote spam...’

Xue Yao was completely stunned. She shook Xue Rui’s shoulders excitedly. "Brother, you’re actually good! Quick, teach me! That was so cool!"