Zhan Ruoqing was speechless at Ye Zhi's excited demeanor.
However, she still produced the snacks and drinks Ye Zhi wanted.
Ye Zhi munched on sunflower seeds and said, "You can start telling the story now, it doesn't matter if it's long~"
Zhan Ruoqing's lips twitched. After Ye Zhi's disruption, she didn't feel as embarrassed anymore.
She hesitated, then said with a bit of shyness, "Then you have to promise... not to laugh while listening!"
Seeing Zhan Ruoqing's flushed cheeks, Ye Zhi was a little surprised. Her words were quite strange; how could she laugh while listening to a story?
However, she immediately promised, "I definitely won't laugh! If I laugh, I'm a puppy!"
Hearing her say that, Zhan Ruoqing finally breathed a sigh of relief. She thought for a moment and began, "That was when I was in my third year of high school..."
Seeing Zhan Ruoqing seeming to recall something, Ye Zhi said, "That's quite a while ago, isn't it? It's been ten years, right?"
"Mhm," Zhan Ruoqing's expression was a little unnatural. She took a deep breath, "When my brother was in his third year of high school, the whole family almost revolved around him. Whether it was in life or studies, it reached a point where if he even sneezed, his parents would take him to the hospital for a specialist consultation. Honestly, I was quite envious.
I originally thought that when I entered my third year of high school, I would also be valued by my family and receive similar treatment, but my family still treated me as usual. They didn't care if I studied diligently or how my college entrance exams would go. They just told me that I didn't need to push myself so hard, and if I had a university in mind, I could just say it, and they would find a way to get me in.
I was really hurt at the time. My family didn't care at all, which made my efforts completely meaningless. So, my rebellious phase kicked in, I started disliking studying, and I became obsessed with a very popular online game at the time. My in-game name was Bing Meng Shang Lei... You said you wouldn't laugh!"
Looking at the nervous Zhan Ruoqing, Ye Zhi's lips twitched a few times. So Zhan Ruoqing had such a dark history? She quickly ran through Taoxun's recent decisions in her mind, then managed to suppress the urge to laugh.
"A name with quite a bit of nostalgic flair," Ye Zhi gently patted her hand and placed the shelled sunflower seeds in front of her. "I understand how you felt. And then?"
Zhan Ruoqing picked up the handful of seeds and ate them all at once. This sense of satisfaction dispelled the sense of loss brought on by the memory. After calming herself, she continued the story.
At that time, Zhan Ruoqing was very immersed in that game. Although her gaming skills were terrible, she had money and was willing to spend it.
She directly formed a guild, recruited top players from the rankings, generously gave money and equipment, and quickly became a celebrity on the server.
Zhan Ruoqing continued to recall, "At that time, there was a particularly powerful expert in our guild, whose in-game name was 'Shui Ge' (Water Ge), and everyone called him 'Brother Shui'."
"Shui Ge?" Ye Zhi was a little surprised, "What a clumsy name."
"Mhm," Zhan Ruoqing nodded, and then continued, "He was usually online at night and on weekends, and he was very wealthy. The equipment he had was among the top few on the server.
Plus, he was very concise with his words, only saying one word when he could have said two. Everyone in our guild unanimously believed that he was a high-earning, very aloof office worker. We asked him, and he didn't deny it."
"Wasn't he?" Ye Zhi was curious.
Zhan Ruoqing didn't answer the question and continued with the story.
Her guild was flourishing and swaggered through the entire server. Later, their guild even won the guild championship in the server battle.
However, this displeased a guild named Haifeng Ge. Because they had always won the server battle, and this time they were only the runner-up, they were very unconvinced. Thus, the leader of Haifeng Ge began to accuse Zhan Ruoqing of being a "renyao" (male playing a female character), claiming she was a man playing a female account and deliberately using this method to lure other male players.
This enraged Zhan Ruoqing so much that she directly cursed in the world channel for half an hour. Anyway, she had money and could afford small喇叭 (in-game broadcast items). In those thirty minutes, the system blocked content that lasted twenty-five minutes, but she was willful with her money; she just wanted the satisfaction.
However, the voice messages in the world channel also proved that she was indeed a girl, not a "renyao."
The runner-up guild then shifted their attack, accusing her of being a mistress kept by a rich person, and that every penny she spent in the game was from selling herself.
Zhan Ruoqing really wanted to retort, but at that time, it was her monthly exam period.
To show her parents that she wasn't studying obediently in her third year of high school and that her grades had significantly declined, she went to take the exam.
After the monthly exam ended, her parents took the whole family on a trip, and she went along, returning to the game after a week.
When she logged back in, her friend messages were nearly a thousand. This startled Zhan Ruoqing; she thought she had been cyberbullied.
After she read all the messages, she was so touched that she couldn't speak.
[Guild Leader, don't mind what others are saying, they're just jealous that our guild won the championship! Don't worry, we all believe in you!]
[Guild Leader, Guild Leader, did you know? Brother Shui issued a server-wide bounty for you! The bounty reads: 'He who insults my Guild Leader shall be killed!' Isn't that super cool?]
[Guild Leader, Brother Shui recorded all the world channel messages. He really killed everyone who cursed at you!]
[Guild Leader, Brother Shui is now hunting down people from Haifeng Ge, and he's made it known that he won't kill them if they leave the guild. I heard that many people in Haifeng Ge are wavering and want to leave!]
[Guild Leader, the leader of Haifeng Ge ambushed Brother Shui, but was killed by Brother Shui instead. Brother Shui said he would kill him back to the新手村 (newbie village). He's already been killed by Brother Shui so much that he's afraid to log in. He deserved it, for always slandering you!]
[Guild Leader, didn't you say you were going for exams? Why haven't you logged in yet? You know, Brother Shui hasn't logged off for several consecutive days for you, which has never happened before! We asked him, and he said he took leave from his company.]
[Guild Leader, why haven't you come back yet? Haifeng Ge has disbanded, please come back...]
[Guild Leader, did you quit the game? We miss you so much, please come back...]
...
After reading these messages, Zhan Ruoqing's heart was filled with emotion. It turned out that in this virtual world of the internet, there were still people who cared about her so much.
She opened her friend list and opened Shui Ge's chat window.
He hadn't left her any messages during her absence, but he had done everything he could to protect her.
Bing Meng Shang Lei: [I'm back.]