Chapter 7

At eight o’clock in the evening, at the top floor of the club where NSN often had their get-togethers, a group of Internet-addicted teenagers entered the private room in twos and threes. They had just eaten hotpot and they were now lying on the sofa, paralyzed in a food coma.

When Yu Sui had returned to China he had done so quietly. The pro-players he’d had good relationships with before were completely unaware until the news broke out. They hadn’t had the chance to meet up. So this time, they took advantage of Chen Huo’s return to gather together, making this a welcome dinner for the both of them.

“Oh ......” Chen Huo spread his legs flat, feeling very satisfied. “I had been dreaming of that hotpot for so long. That was great. Hey, what are you all being so awkward for? Come on, sing ......”

Yu Yan, Gu Gan and these old guys were all playing on their mobile phones. No one paid attention to Chen Huo being noisy. Wawa, Xinran, and the few newcomers stared at this congregation of so many great gods and couldn’t relax. They pulled back, huddled together and drank, too embarrassed to sing. Chen Huo got up and reserved a dozen songs. He then shoved the microphone to Wawa’s chest and ordered beer and snacks from the server. With that done, he sat back down on the sofa.

Chen Huo looked around and sighed, “I was pretty popular back then. When I came back today, there weren’t any fans to greet me at the airport. Fine, that’s to be expected, but why are only a handful of you guys here? Whatever! Let’s forget about sad stuff like this. All the brothers who came here today are my true brothers. Together, we shall walk down the... ”

The old guys as before, still played on their respective phones, ignoring Chen Huo. A few of the newbies hurriedly accompanied Chen Huo to drink. Chen Huo scoffed at their soft drinks and everybody changed to beer after a making a show of initial resistance.

Chen Huo downed half a can of cold beer and shakily patted Wawa’s shoulder. “What’s your name? Wawa, right? Wawa! From now on you shall be my didi! You ... the little man over there. What are you called? Come here... ”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“You think there’s not enough people?” Gu Gan glanced at Chen Huo, “I forgot to mention, Shi Luo will be here in a while.”

Yu Sui, who had his head bowed as he fiddled with his phone, suddenly stopped.

“Shi Luo?!” Chen Huo was dazed. He looked around and said, “I didn’t notice but this club does have a security check, right? ... If he comes here with a steel pipe, security will stop him, won’t they? ...”

Gu Gan calmly said, “Not that they’d be able to. You’ve experienced for yourself the way he fights, haven’t you?”

“It’s precisely because I’ve experienced it that I’m scared! Ten of me wouldn’t be enough to beat that little bastard!” Chen Huo collapsed. He took a look at Yu Sui, and subconsciously gulped. “Let me make this clear now. For every grievance someone is responsible, for every debt there is a debtor, okay? ...He should look for who he came here to look for. Don’t go involving me in this. ”

Yu Sui looked back down at his phone. “Wimp.”

Chen Huo rubbed his neck and couldn’t help grumbling to Gu Gan, “You couldn’t have left well enough alone? Why are you looking for trouble trying to provoke him?”

“I didn’t expect him to agree to come. But I was also hoping that he would. Now that you’re back you’re going to meet him sooner or later.” Gu Gan was looking at Chen Huo but was addressing Yu Sui. “Is it fun having things this strained? Wouldn’t it be better to clear up the misunderstandings as soon as possible? ”

Naturally, Yu Sui was clear on Gu Gan’s intentions. He shook his head helplessly and sighed. “The problem between us is that ... there is no misunderstanding.”

Yu Sui looked at Gu Gan. “With that sharp mind of his, could I have deceived him? What could I have hidden from him?”

Gu Gan stopped and didn’t continue to talk.

Someone was singing and it was very loud in the private room. Though not far from where they were, the children didn’t hear what the three had said. Wawa took a few cans of beer and placed them on the small table in front of Gu Gan. He looked at the three people who weren’t looking so well, and asked dumbly, “You’re not gonna drink?”

“Drink, drink! I’ll drink...” Chen Huo had a flash on inspiration. “Yeah! I’m gonna get myself drunk and then I’m gonna find myself a place to pretend to sleep. I don’t think he’ll drag me up just to beat...”

Even Gu Gan was starting to lose patience with Chen Huo. “Can you stop being so panicky?”

“What do you know?” Chen Huo opened a can of beer and letting out some of the spirit. “That little whelp &#k2026; hiss &#k2026; Don’t remind me.”

Wawa was at a loss. “Are you talking about Shi Ge? Shi Ge’s really nice.”

Chen Huo looked Wawa up and down. “Wawa, you have a good relationship with Shi Luo?”

Wawa nodded. “Shi Shen took care of me when I first started. He might be a bit cold but he really is nice.”

Chen Huo looked at Wawa in disbelief. He just couldn’t imagine that scene. He shook his head. “Anyway, he wasn’t the least bit nice to me. Do you want to know what he was like before ...”

Chen Huo hadn’t finished speaking when the door to the private room opened.

Seeing who had come in, the private room quieted down instantly.

Chen Huo’s face stiffened and he gulped down the drink in his mouth. He thought to himself, ‘It’s okay. At least, he didn’t bring a steel pipe.’

Shi Luo had changed into casual clothes and had a baseball cap on backwards. He looked indifferently around the private room and while gazing fixedly, headed straight for Chen Huo. He picked up a can of beer and pulled the tab open. With a slight chin raise, he emptied the can in one go.

Chen Huo’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he said hoarsely. “Then, then I’ll join you for a drink of two. I-I, I drink really slow s-so, you, you should sit down first.”

Shi Luo put the empty beer can on the table and with a blank expression, walked over to the empty bar counter and ordered a few cans of beer from the server.

Chen Huo looked stiffly at Gu Gan and said in a broken whisper. “Did h-h-h-he just give me a welcome?!”

Gu Gan couldn’t bear to look straight at him. He pushed Chen Huo to sit down on the sofa and said to the newcomers in the team. “You guys play amongst yourselves.”

The newbies continued to sing and play amongst themselves. Gu Gan looked at Shi Luo’s back, hesitated but still decided to say nothing.

The beers in front of Chen Huo suddenly went down a few cans. Wawa took a few more cans and handed one to Yu Sui as well. Yu Sui had been lost in thought. Upon seeing this, he smiled. “Thanks, but I don’t drink.”

Wawa was surprised. Chen Huo waved it away saying, “Don’t worry about it. He won’t touch even a drop of alcohol.”

Wawa said hurriedly, “It’s all right, I understand. I’m actually not good with alcohol either. We’re the same.”

“No, it’s not the same.” Chen Huo reached his limit and gave a burp. “The amount he drank...”

Chen Huo thought back to that year and became upset from what he remembered. “That year! This, this, and this ...”

Beacon used his chin to point to everyone in the private room and sighed. “Everyone in this room and add to that those who retired this past two years, combine us all together, and we still wouldn’t be able to outdrink this guy. Who do you think Yu Shen is? He’s the Little Prince of Henshang Road! I have known him for so many years and I have never seen him drunk. ”

Wawa looked up at Yu Sui in surprise. He whispered, “Then why...”

Yu Sui frowned slightly, and threw a look at Chen Huo.

Chen Huo smacked his lips and continued, “How do you say it? Ah, yeah, the belle is past his prime! Your Yu Sui, saw his health report at age nineteen and decided to quit smoking, give up drinking and refrain from speaking profanities. From then on, he became a good boy, who will one day find a good woman to marry ...”

Wawa was even more shocked. “Yu Shen also used to smoke?!”

Beside them, Gu Gan said, “He was a chain smoker.”

Chen Huo nodded, and added, “The kind that sneaks off between games to take a smoke in the toilet.”

Wawa looked reverently at Yu Sui. “Your addiction was so bad but when you said you’d quit, you really did. As expected from Yu Shen! Was there something wrong with your health back then? Was it something serious?”

Chen Huo’s face was solemn. “... Massive hemorrhage, we almost lost him.”

Wawa suddenly paled.

Yu Sui had no choice but to say, “... It was f*cking gastric bleeding.”

“Oh, yeah, gastric bleeding.” Chen Huo pointed to his own stomach and sighed, “Here, there was a lot of bleeding. Even his face was deathly pale for a whole month. Fortunately there wasn’t anything else the matter.”

Wawa breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good then.”

“It’s great, but from then on, he was no longer allowed to eat or drink a lot of things. Else, it’s going to be a month-long emergency room tour again.” Chen Huo sat up and took the beer that Wawa had placed in front of Yu Sui. He opened the can and drank a couple of mouthfuls. “If you want to see your Yu Shen drink, you’ll have to wait for him to drink a toast when he gets married ba. Only the future Mrs. Yu will ever have to honor of making your Yu Shen break his abstinence.”

Wawa instantly seized the keyword. “Married! Do you have a girlfriend? Are you getting married ?!”

Chen Huo had just blurted out these things that came to mind. But seeing Wawa was so excited, he smiled. “Wouldn’t that be a matter for the future? When the time comes would you toast to the lovely couple?”

Wawa was excited. “Of course I will!”

Not far from them, in front of the bar, Shi Luo had his back to everyone. He emptied out the contents of a can of beer in one swig.

Unfortunately, Wawa will chattered on and on, “I didn’t know about this. I’m sorry, Yu Shen. You really need to be careful about gastric bleeding. Only Mrs. Yu would be worthy of such risk. Aiya, if Yu Shen’s future girlfriend finds out about this, she’ll be really moved. Yu Shen would only drink for her! It’s really sweet when you think about it ...”

It was like Shi Luo’s face had iced over. He opened another can of beer and once again, emptied it in one go. Then with just with a little pressure from his fingers, crumpled the empty can flat. Without looking, he threw it over his shoulder and into the concealed waste basket. The waste basket was originally decorative. It was completely empty and the smashed can made a loud ‘bang’ as it landed. The chattering Wawa was closest to the basket and he got quite the scare.

Chen Huo was quite a distance away from Wawa and didn’t notice anything. In true straight guy fashion, he said. “It’s downright miserable. Now, he can only ever drink once in his entire lifetime. What’s so sweet about this?”

Wawa’s attention was instantly drawn back. With eyes sparkling, he said, “This once in a lifetime chance, he would only use it for her! Yu Shen would only risk drinking for one person alone, isn’t that sweet?”

Chen Huo was disdainful. “Sweet, my ass.”

Yu Sui’s brows knit slightly, raised his eyes and stared at Shi Luo’s back.

Shi Luo had already drank several cans of beer in a row, and his eyes were already a little unfocused. He rubbed his eyes, slowly raised his hand, and the server in the private room promptly walked over.

The server stooped slightly, and Shi Luo leaned in and whispered a few words. The waiter nodded and went out.

Shi Luo took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He held one between his lips, lit it and took a deep drag.

Seeing how practiced Shi Luo seemed at lighting that cigarette, Yu Sui’s brows furrowed slightly. He tried to resist but still turned his head to look at Gu Gan. “When did he learn how to smoke?”

Gu Gan realized that “he” meant Shi Luo and asked in reply, “Didn’t he smoke before?”

Yu Sui shook his head.

Gu Gan said, “He was already smoking when he came to our team two years ago.”

Yu Sui took a sip of his watermelon juice. “... That’s young.”

Chen Huo turned to him and scoffed, “You have the gall to say that about other people? How old were you when you started smoking? Do you even remember?”

Yu Sui said, “No, I don’t remember. So?”

“So, nothing. He’s also all grown up now and he has gotten by well enough. This isn’t any of your business now, is it?” Huo Chen completely didn’t care. “If he wants to smoke, let him smoke. If he wants to drink, let him drink. It’s none of your business.”

Chen Huo said, “Besides, people change as they grow. You can’t even guess what he wants now. Then what are you worrying about?”

Yu Si stared at Shi Luo’s back and tried his best that aura of foreboding he could feel in air. He said to himself, “That I can’t figure out what he wants ... might be for the best.”

Yu Sui’s sixth sense has always been the kind that worked well about bad tidings but never about good ones. It was the same this time.

Ten minutes later, the server placed a tray on Yu Sui’s table. The tray was filled with ten large glasses of an unknown drink.

Chen Huo had been talking to Gu Gan about the transfer period. When he turned to look at it, he was confused and asked, “What’s this?”

The server hesitated, “Distilled vodka. This is actually what we use to mix drinks. It has a proof of over 90%. We don’t recommend that you drink it directly ...”

“No one would want to drink that directly.” Chen Huo was at a compete loss. “Who ordered it?”

Shi Luo extinguished his cigarette and came over with a can of beer. He looked calmly at Yu Sui, and said, “I did.”

Chen Huo and Wawa looked at each other in dismay. Yu Sui put away the phone and exhaled softly. Finally.