BDBE 3

Chapter 3: Becoming Part of Your Son’s Social Circle

At 8:00 p.m., Tao Yan, who had just finished working overtime, dragged his weary body into the elevator.

“Xiao Tao, just got off work? You must be exhausted.”

The person greeting him was Aunt Qin, a retired teacher and community committee assistant who lived next door. She always took a special interest in Tao Yan – a good-looking, middle-aged bachelor with a stable job – and whenever they met, she would exchange a few pleasantries, inquire about the progress of his love life, and then take it upon herself to play matchmaker.

Tao Yan’s heart skipped a beat. Worried she might set him up on a blind date, he smiled and returned her greeting.

Fortunately, Aunt Qin was more concerned with something else today: “When I was leaving just now, I saw a very well-behaved child go into your apartment. Who is that child?”

It seemed she had run into Shen Wanchao on his way home from school.

Tao Yan breathed a sigh of relief and replied, “He’s a relative’s child, staying with me for a while.”

“Oh, really?” Aunt Qin said with a smile. “You get off work so late every day, you surely don’t have time to cook for the boy. Why don’t you have him come over to my place for dinner sometime?”

Tao Yan paused. He suddenly realized he’d eaten at the company cafeteria and forgotten that Shen Wanchao was at home.

A few days ago, Shen Wanchao hadn’t gone to school and had time to cook, but he couldn’t let him go hungry today.

A few minutes later, Tao Yan opened the door with a guilty conscience and saw Shen Wanchao sitting by the floor-to-ceiling windows on the balcony. The city’s nighttime neon lights shone down on him like a shower of colorful, shattered candies. The gentle breeze slipping in through the window cracks ruffled his hair.

Shen Wanchao was sipping from a little coffee cup that he was holding. His every movement looked like it was straight out of a coffee commercial. Even from a distance, Tao Yan felt as though he could already smell the rich, mellow aroma of the Ecuadorian coffee beans in the cup.

Shen Wanchao tilted his head to one side while staring out the window.

Elegant, truly elegant.

Tao Yan couldn’t help but marvel. He set down his backpack and walked over, “Xiao Wan, have you eaten yet?”

Shen Wanchao finally snapped out of his reverie; he turned to see the dark circles under Tao Yan’s eyes. The words he’d been about to say lingered on his lips before he finally replied, “I’ve eaten.”

Actually, he hadn’t, but it was too late, so he’d just treat it as a diet.

Tao Yan breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s good.”

Tao Yan worked at an internet company. He wasn’t exactly young there; unlike the younger employees, he wasn’t easy to exploit, and he constantly faced the pressure of being laid off. Working late into the night was a regular occurrence.

Shen Wanchao had wanted to say something to Tao Yan, but seeing how exhausted he was, he didn’t know how to bring it up.

Unexpectedly, Tao Yan sat down across from him and asked, “It was your first day back at school today. How did it go? Did you see Xiao Chen?”

Shen Wanchao lowered his eyes dejectedly and sighed softly, “I did see him, but it didn’t go very smoothly.”

Tao Yan adopted a posture of rapt attention.

Shen Wanchao gathered his thoughts and recounted everything that had happened that day.

When he heard Shen Wanchao say that he’d gotten into a fight with Zhou Mingchen in front of the teacher and the whole class, even Tao Yan, who had never been anyone’s biological father, wore an expression of shock.

But the man in front of him still didn’t realize where he’d gone wrong. He frowned: “That Zhou Mingchen is getting more and more unruly.”

“Hold on,” Tao Yan interrupted him. “How are you supposed to get along with Xiao Chen like this?”

Shen Wanchao looked completely baffled, as if to say: When did I ever say I wanted to get along with him?

Tao Yan sighed. His longtime friend was a natural at everything he did, excelling in every way, except when it came to interpersonal relationships, where he had some irreparable shortcomings.

This was understandable. Shen Wanchao’s friends were all drawn to him by his charm; even his husband – who, as of this year, could be described as the epitome of a devoted and exemplary partner – had pursued him tirelessly for years before finally winning his heart.

It could be said that Shen Wanchao has never made any effort in his life for a particular person or relationship; he only needs to sit there, and countless people will come one after another to win his favor.

So now, he had absolutely no idea how to get along with his own little brat, who was completely immune to his charm.

Tao Yan jabbed a finger into the center of Shen Wanchao’s forehead and scolded, “If you want your child to open up to you and accept your guidance, you should first leverage your existing advantages, blend in his life and social circle, and influence him subtly. Not keep acting like a parent and just trying to discipline him, which will only make him reject you more and more.”

Shen Wanchao covered his forehead, and muttered, “Blend in?”

“Right.” Tao Yan nodded.

Not sure what had come to mind, Shen Wanchao suddenly stood up, grabbed his coat, and headed for the door.

Tao Yan was startled and called out, “Where are you going at this hour?”

Shen Wanchao grabbed the doorknob, turned his head, and said mysteriously, “I’m going to blend in.”

Before Tao Yan could process what he’d said, Shen Wanchao had already opened the door, and his figure disappeared into the hallway.

Tao Yan could only resign himself to cleaning up the coffee cup Shen Wanchao had left on the table.

Just as he picked up the cup, Tao Yan was startled by the cold. He looked down to see the dark brown liquid in the cup suspiciously bubbling with tiny bubbles.

Tao Yan held the cup up to his nose and took a whiff.

Coke???

…

Extreme Speed Internet Cafe, the internet cafe with the best hardware near Qiongya School, bar none, quietly quietly sheltering the e-sports dreams of countless rebellious teenagers within a three-kilometer radius despite the pressure of complaints from the dean of students and parents.

 Zhou Mingchen pushed open the door, greeted the manager, and then walked familiarly to his usual seat.

From a distance, he saw that Fang Chi was already seated, but to his surprise, someone else was sitting in the spot next to Fang Chi, the very seat he usually occupied.

Just then, Fang Chi turned his head, took off his headphones, and, with a popsicle in his mouth, waved at him.

And Zhou Mingchen finally got a clear look at the person sitting next to Fang Chi at that very moment.

Shen Wanchao’s face glowed with a pale radiance under the mechanical, cold light of the screen and keyboard. His school uniform fit him perfectly; there wasn’t a trace of the rebellious student’s attitude one might expect from someone breaking school rules to come to an internet cafe to play online games. If the dean of students saw him, his wig would surely fly off in shock.

He gave Zhou Mingchen a smile: “Good evening, Zhou.”

Zhou Mingchen’s face darkened, and he immediately turned to leave.

Fang Chi quickly stood up and grabbed his arm: “Don’t go, don’t go! If you leave Extreme Speed Internet Cafe, who within a three-kilometer radius would dare to take you in?”

This successfully stopped Zhou Mingchen in his tracks. He glanced at Shen Wanchao and said coldly, “What’s with him?”

“Um…” Fang Chi didn’t know how to explain it at first.

Shen Wanchao spoke up for him, “I heard that Zhou is really good at gaming, so I wanted to play a round with you.”

Zhou Mingchen replied coldly, “You heard wrong. I’m terrible at it.”

Shen Wanchao looked at Fang Chi and said slowly, “Is that so? But that isn’t what Tony said?”

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Fang Chi’s temple. He waved the popsicle in his hand, now down to its last bite, and said sheepishly, “Shen-ge bought me a popsicle, so I chatted with him for a bit…”

Zhou Mingchen hadn’t expected Fang Chi to betray him over a two-and-a-half-yuan popsicle. Thankfully, he was born in a peaceful era; otherwise, he’d have the potential to be remembered as a traitor for all eternity.

Perhaps even he himself felt it was a bit embarrassing to have defected over a single popsicle, so Fang Chi whispered, “Shen-ge also said he’d pay for the overnight stay.”

An attempt to make his betrayal sound more valuable.

From a one-yuan popsicle, it had escalated to an overnight fee worth a total of 50 yuan.

Zhou Mingchen said nothing more and shoved the embarrassing boy back into his seat. Then he pulled out the chair next to him before sitting down and turning on the computer.

Ever since that night half a month ago, when Zhou Mingchen’s father had brought him home from the police station with a storm-clouded expression, he had miserably lost all his pocket money.

Shen Wanchao’s original intention was to discipline him and prevent him from running around with money.

But he forgot that sixteen-year-old Zhou Mingchen was already a good kid capable of earning a legitimate income through work, and didn’t need to constantly beg for money. He took on a few game-boosting gigs online and quickly earned back his pocket money thanks to his superb skills, then went even further, staying out all night.

Zhou Mingchen wasn’t actually that addicted to the internet; these days, he was staying up late online mainly to make money.

It was also because he didn’t want to stay at home.

Zhou Mingchen logged into the client’s account, accepted Fang Chi’s match invitation, then took out his phone and started scrolling, with no intention of getting involved in the other two’s conversation.

One can’t bite the hand that feeds him. After finishing his popsicle, Fang Chi, in the spirit of service, patiently and thoroughly explained the game’s rules to Shen Wanchao.

Shen Wanchao was a humble student; he didn’t show the slightest impatience. He listened quietly as Fang Chi spoke, occasionally responding with a “Mm-hmm” or “Got it.”

Fang Chi felt a sense of accomplishment as a teacher upon witnessing seeing this, and his impression of Shen Wanchao shifted from “I hate him, but he’s a rich fool” to “Actually, he’s not so bad.”

Finally, Fang Chi pointed to a support character and said, “Pick this one. It’s easy to get the hang of, just stick with us and heal us.”

Shen Wanchao obediently nodded, swiped the mouse, click, selected, confirmed.

When Fang Chi saw exactly which character he’d chosen, he was horrified: !!!!

“That’s a jungler! Not only do you have to keep an eye on the jungle, but you also have to adapt on the fly to support your teammates, it’s really hard! Plus, that character is way too old; it’s no match for the meta’s top picks!” Fang Chi clutched his head and wailed, “Fine, you’ve already clicked confirm. There’s no changing it now.”

Shen Wanchao still looked innocent as he said, “This character’s artwork is better-looking than the one you mentioned.”

“Is this even a matter of looks…?” Fang Chi sighed, then turned to Zhou Mingchen, “What do we do?”

If this were just a casual game among the three of them, it wouldn’t matter, but Zhou Mingchen was supposed to help the client’s account climb the ranks tonight. If they ended up dropping a rank by the end of the night, he’d have to pay out of his own pocket.

Zhou Mingchen ordered a Coke from the menu, not even lifting his eyelids, and said with complete nonchalance, “It’s fine. We’ll win.”

Fang Chi clutched his heart, completely blown away by his Zhou-ge.

Once he’d relaxed, Fang Chi ordered himself an iced Coke. True to the principle that anyone who plays together is family, he asked Shen Wanchao if he wanted one too.

Shen Wanchao pursed his lips, paused for a moment, then refused, “It’s too late. Drinking Coke isn’t good for your teeth. You guys shouldn’t drink it either.”

Fang Chi looked at him with an expression that said, “Are you kidding me?” After sixteen years of life, he had finally met the “model child” his mother always talked about, the one who supposedly took oral health seriously.

The server admin came up with two glasses of ice-cold Coke, and the game match had just finished loading.

The solo laner’s rank wasn’t very high; in the past, Zhou Mingchen wouldn’t have needed to take a match of this level seriously. Unfortunately, today the team had an absolute beginner dragging them down, so he had to focus a bit more.

Three minutes into the match, Zhou Mingchen was clearing the minion wave in the bottom lane when he suddenly heard the in-game announcement:

[First Blood!]

Immediately after, Fang Chi let out a shrill, over-the-top scream: “Holy shit! Shen-ge is so awesome!”

Shen Wanchao’s lips curled up slightly as he humbly replied, “Just luck.”

Zhou Mingchen was slightly surprised, but he quickly regained his composure. It was just a First Blood; the game had only just begun, neither side had developed yet, and the opposing team’s skill level wasn’t particularly high, it wasn’t impossible for a rookie to kill them.

At first, Zhou Mingchen dismissed this first blood as a fluke, but when the match reached the twenty-fifth minute, a monster that granted a team-wide buff spawned. Both teams had their eyes on it, and a team fight was about to erupt.

Zhou Mingchen kept an eye on the monster’s health while focusing fire on the enemy, but unexpectedly, Fang Chi, who was covering him, suddenly faltered and was killed by the enemy.

The tide turned, and the enemy immediately seized the opportunity to launch an attack on Zhou Mingchen. Zhou Mingchen had no choice but to abandon his pursuit of the enemy ahead and retreat while fighting.

Just then, Shen Wanchao’s character leapt out of the bushes like a divine warrior; he cast a crowd control spell on the enemy’s damage dealer, immobilizing him. With a quick tap of a basic attack, he finished off the enemy who had been chased by Zhou Mingchen until he was down to his last sliver of health. As the kill coin sound effect rang out, the weapon in Shen Wanchao’s hand flew through the air, tracing a precise and deadly path through the air. Wherever the weapon passed, it gleamed like the blade of Death’s scythe, claiming two more heads.

Whether by good luck or design, at the very last moment before reaching the attack range limit, the weapon just barely grazed the monster’s body. The hit was registered, and the monster, with only a sliver of health left, let out a long howl before collapsing to the ground.

The team-wide buff from killing the monster took effect instantly, and at the same time…

[ACE!]

The opposing team was wiped out.

Now, Shen Wanchao’s series of moves could no longer be explained away as “good luck.”

He really had some skill.

Fang Chi was so excited he threw down his headset and jumped to his feet before grabbing Shen Wanchao’s arm and shaking him: “Holy shit! Shen-ge, you’re actually a gaming pro!”

Shen Wanchao hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and being shaken like that made him feel nauseous. Unable to take it anymore, he had to admit, “I used to… play it…”

This game had been all the rage for years. When Shen Wanchao was in high school, the game had only recently entered open beta. Back then, home computers weren’t yet widespread, and when you walked into an internet cafe, almost everyone was playing this game.

Zhou Hui had been obsessed with it for a while and often dragged Shen Wanchao along to bypass the firewall and play. Over time, Shen Wanchao became a seasoned player himself and even won the regional championship with Zhou Hui.

Although the game had been updated over the years and many aspects had undergone drastic changes, the core gameplay remained the same, and Shen Wanchao didn’t have to work hard to recapture that old feeling.

Fang Chi’s admiration was plain to see. As Shen Wanchao accepted his praise, his gaze inadvertently drifted toward Zhou Mingchen.

Zhou Mingchen finally showed his first smile of the night and gave him a thumbs-up: “Awesome.”

Shen Wanchao’s eyes widened; he seemed to understand what Tao Yan meant by “blending in.”

The three pressed their advantage and played a few more rounds. They went undefeated all night, and not only that, but Shen Wanchao managed two team wipes. Zhou Mingchen’s touch was also excellent, securing MVP in five consecutive games. 

They were riding high, completing their task ahead of schedule. Zhou Mingchen finished his assignment and yawned.

Shen Wanchao glanced at the time, it was already nearly 2 a.m.

“I’m tired. Time to go home.” Shen Wanchao shut down the game without hesitation.

Fang Chi was still basking in the joy of victory and had no intention of leaving. He grabbed Shen Wanchao’s hand to try to keep him there: “Don’t go! Let’s play a few more rounds. We paid for an all-night session, wouldn’t it be a waste not to play until dawn?”

Shen Wanchao remained unmoved. He picked up his jacket and stood up: “Minors aren’t allowed in internet cafes to begin with, and staying out all night is even worse. Aren’t your parents worried? Go home right now. This is a one-time exception.”

Fang Chi: ???

Who is this guy? The dean of students?

Fang Chi looked at Zhou Mingchen, hoping he would say something to get Shen-ge to stay for a few more rounds.

But contrary to his expectations, Zhou Mingchen also shut down his computer: “I’m tired too. Let’s go home.”

Two against one. Fang Chi was defeated and had no choice but to leave the Extreme Speed Internet Cafe with them.

Fang Chi lived in an apartment building nearby. After saying goodbye to them, he turned and walked away. Only Shen Wanchao and Zhou Mingchen were left standing on the quiet, late-night street, staring at each other.

The streetlights cast their shadows long and thin, yet the distance between Shen Wanchao and Zhou Mingchen was even greater than their shadows. They stood clearly apart, keeping their distance from one another.

After they stepped outside, Shen Wanchao kept staring at his phone without saying a word.

The slightly awkward silence lasted for several minutes before Zhou Mingchen finally spoke up: “Are you taking a cab home?”

Shen Wanchao snapped out of his trance, put his phone away, and said, “I’ll take you home first.”

Zhou Mingchen thought he must have heard wrong: ?

Shen Wanchao walked over to a silver-black motorcycle parked by the roadside, put on his helmet, and tossed one to Zhou Mingchen. Then, he climbed onto the driver’s seat and flipped down the visor on his helmet.

“Get on.”

Zhou Mingchen now thought his eyes were playing tricks on him: ???