Chapter 7
At eight in the evening, at the rooftop lounge of the NSN club where they frequently gathered, a group of gaming-addicted youths who'd just finished eating hotpot filed into the private room one after another, slumping onto the sofas.
Previously, when Yu Sui returned to the country, he'd come back quietly by himself. Even the pro players who used to be close to him in the circle only found out through news reports and hadn't managed to meet up. This time, taking advantage of Chen Huo's return, everyone showed up—it was essentially a welcome party for both of them.
"Ah…" Chen Huo sprawled his legs out contentedly. "I've been dreaming about this hotpot for way too long. So satisfying. Hey, why are you all so reserved? Let's sing!"
Yu Sui, Gu Qian, and the other veterans were all on their phones. No one paid attention to Chen Huo's noise. Wa Wa, Xin Ran, and a few newer players felt too awkward around so many legendary figures gathered together, huddled together drinking sodas, too shy to request any songs. Chen Huo got up by himself, queued up a dozen songs, stuffed a microphone into Wa Wa's arms, ordered extra beers and late-night snacks from the attendant, then settled back onto the sofa.
Chen Huo scanned the room, sighing. "Back in my day, I was pretty popular. Today I come back, no fans at the airport to greet me fine, but how come only this many people showed up? Never mind, let's not dwell on the sad stuff. Everyone who came tonight is a brother. Let's all take a shot together…"
The veterans continued scrolling their phones, still ignoring Chen Huo. The newer players scrambled to drink with Chen Huo, only to be嫌弃'd by him for drinking soft drinks. Everyone half-heartedly went along and switched to beer.
Chen Huo drained half a can of cold beer, swayed over to Wa Wa, and patted his shoulder. "What's your name again? Wa Wa, right? Wa Wa! From now on you're my little brother! And you… what's that short kid over there called…"
"Tired of so few people?" Gu Qian glanced at Chen Huo. "Forgot to mention—Shi Luo is coming too."
Yu Sui, who'd been低头 looking at his phone, paused mid-scroll.
"Shi Luo?!" Chen Huo froze, looked around nervously. "I wasn't paying attention just now. Does this place have security checkpoints? If he shows up with a steel pipe, can the guards even stop him…"
Gu Qian replied calmly, "They can't. You know as well as I do what kind of fighter he is."
"That's exactly why I'm scared! I'd be nothing against that little brat even if there were ten of me!" Chen Huo despaired. He glanced at Yu Sui, instinctively swallowed. "Let's get something straight first—debts have roots and creditors have targets. When he gets here, he can go after whoever he wants. Don't drag me into it."
Yu Sui kept his eyes on his phone. "What a coward."
Chen Huo rubbed his own neck, couldn't help but complain to Gu Qian. "I literally try to walk around him even when we're just passing by. Why'd you have to invite trouble and poke the bear?"
"Honestly didn't expect he'd agree, but I do hope he'd come. You came back—eventually you'd have to meet him anyway." Gu Qian looked at Chen Huo, but his words were directed at Yu Sui. "Keeping things this awkward—is it interesting? Wouldn't it be better to clear up the misunderstanding sooner?"
Yu Sui understood Gu Qian's intentions perfectly. He helplessly shook his head, sighed. "The thing between us is… there's actually no misunderstanding at all."
Yu Sui turned to Gu Qian. "With his brain, what exactly do you think I could have tricked him about? What could I have hidden from him?"
Gu Qian hesitated, fell silent.
Someone was singing, the noise in the private room was too loud. The kids across the room hadn't heard their conversation at all. Wa Wa brought a few cans of beer over to the small table in front of Gu Qian, glanced at the three people whose expressions weren't looking too good, and asked blankly, "Aren't we supposed to be drinking?"
"Yes yes yes…" Chen Huo's eyes lit up. "Right! I'll get myself completely wasted first, then find a spot to fake sleep. I don't believe he'd actually drag me up and beat me up…"
Even Gu Qian couldn't stand Chen Huo anymore. "Can you not be such a coward?"
"What do you know." Chen Huo cracked open a beer, winced. "That little brat… ugh, don't even mention it."
Wa Wa was confused. "Are you talking about Shi-ge? Shi-ge is a really nice guy."
Chen Huo looked Wa Wa up and down. "Oh, you and Shi Luo are pretty close?"
Wa Wa nodded. "When I first entered the scene, Shi-shen took really good care of me. He's cold-tempered, sure, but he's genuinely a good person."
Chen Huo stared incredulously, unable to picture that. He shook his head. "Well, anyway, he definitely wasn't nice to me. Want to know what he was like before…"
Before Chen Huo could finish his sentence, the door to the private room opened.
The moment they saw who stood at the entrance, the room went completely silent.
Chen Huo's face went rigid as he swallowed his drink. At least, he thought, there was no steel pipe.
Shi Luo had changed into casual clothes, wore his baseball cap backwards. He swept a cold gaze across the room, then walked straight past everyone to where Chen Huo sat, picked up a can of beer, popped it open, tilted his chin up, and downed the entire can in one go.
Chen Huo's throat bobbed. He dryly said, "S-so, um, let me drink a couple with you then? I'll… I'll drink slow, you… you can sit first."
Shi Luo set the empty beer can on the table, expressionless, then walked to an empty bar counter in the corner and sat down. He ordered a few more cans of beer from the attendant.
Chen Huo turned stiffly to Gu Qian, whispered in despair, "Did he just… was that supposed to be welcoming me back?!"
Gu Qian couldn't bear to look, pushed Chen Huo back into his seat on the sofa. To the newer players on the team, he said, "You all keep doing your thing."
The newer players went back to singing and having fun. Gu Qian glanced at Shi Luo's back, hesitated, and decided not to go over.
Several cans of beer had vanished from in front of Chen Huo. Wa Wa brought over a few more, also handed Yu Sui a cold beer. Yu Sui was spacing out, smiled politely when he noticed. "Thanks, but I don't drink."
Wa Wa froze. Chen Huo waved beside him, "Don't read into it. He doesn't touch alcohol at all."
Wa Wa quickly said, "No worries, I get it. My alcohol tolerance isn't great either, same here."
"That's really not the same." Chen Huo finally finished a can of beer, burped. "His drinking capacity…"
Chen Huo reminisced about the old days, nostalgic. "Back then! This guy, that guy, and that guy…"
Chen Huo nodded toward the people in the room with his chin, sighing. "This whole room, plus everyone who retired in the past two years—put us all together and we still couldn't outdrink him. Who is Yu-shen? Hengshan Road Prince! In all the years I've known him, I've never once seen him drunk."
Wa Wa looked at Yu Sui with surprise, whispered, "Then why…"
Yu Sui slightly frowned, shot a glance at Chen Huo.
Chen Huo smacked his lips and continued, "What do they say? Right—'beauty fades.' Your Yu-shen, at nineteen years old, looked at his physical exam results and decided to quit smoking, quit drinking, quit swearing—all at once. Become a good boy from then on, find a good person and marry…"
Wa Wa was even more shocked. "Yu-shen used to smoke?!"
Gu Qian, who was sitting nearby, spoke up. "Heavy smoker."
Chen Huo nodded in agreement. "The kind who'd sneak out during match breaks to smoke a cigarette in the bathroom."
Wa Wa gazed at Yu Sui with newfound respect. "Such a huge addiction, and he quit just like that. Truly Yu-shen! What happened to Yu-shen's health back then? Was it serious?"
Chen Huo's expression grew solemn. "...Massive hemorrhage. He nearly didn't make it."
Wa Wa's face went pale.
Yu Sui had to speak up. "...It was a stomach bleed, for fuck's sake."
"Oh right, stomach bleed." Chen Huo pointed to his own stomach, sighing. "Right here, lost a ton of blood. For a whole month, face was pale as paper. Lucky there wasn't anything else wrong."
Wa Wa breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as he's okay now."
"He's okay now, but ever since then there's a bunch of things he can't eat or drink, or it's back to the ER for a month." Chen Huo sat up, picked up the beer Wa Wa had placed in front of Yu Sui, cracked it open and took a couple sips. "Want to see your Yu-shen drink? Wait until his wedding, when he does the cross-cup toast. Only the future Mrs. Yu will have the honor of breaking Yu-shen's abstinence."
Wa Wa immediately caught the key words. "Wedding! So he has a girlfriend? They're getting married?!"
Chen Huo had just been rambling. Seeing Wa Wa so excited, he laughed. "It's only a matter of time, right? I'll invite you to the wedding when it happens. You'll come, won't you?"
Wa Wa beamed. "Of course!"
At the bar counter across the room, Shi Luo, his back to everyone the entire time, tilted his head back and poured a can of beer down his throat in one go.
And Wa Wa just kept chattering away. "I didn't know any of this, sorry Yu-shen. Stomach bleeds really do require caution. Only Mrs. Yu is worth Yu-shen taking that risk for. Wow, in the future, when Yu-shen's girlfriend finds out about this, won't she be so touched? Yu-shen would only drink for her! Just thinking about it is so sweet, so sweet…"
Shi Luo's face was icy cold. He cracked open another beer, drained it in one go, then slightly tightened his fingers and crushed the beer can flat. Without even looking, he threw it backhand—it flew straight into the decorative waste bin hidden in the corner of the room. The waste bin was purely decorative, completely empty inside. When hit by the can, it suddenly clattered loudly. Wa Wa, who was closest to the bin and had been chattering away, got spooked.
Chen Huo was farther from Wa Wa, hadn't noticed anything. He was still scratching his head with a straight-guy expression. "He's miserable that he can only drink once in his whole life. What's sweet about that?"
Wa Wa's attention snapped right back, eyes sparkling. "Only once, just for her! Yu-shen would only drink for one person. Isn't that sweet?"
Chen Huo sneered. "Sweet my ass."
Yu Sui slightly furrowed his brow, raised his eyes to glance at Shi Luo's back.
Shi Luo had downed several cans of beer back-to-back. His eyes were already getting hazy. He rubbed his eyes, slowly raised his hand. The attendant in the room hurried over.
The attendant微微弯腰, Shi Luo turned his face to the side and murmured a few instructions. The attendant nodded and left.
Shi Luo pulled out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, took a deep drag.
Yu Sui watched Shi Luo light up with practiced ease, his brow slightly creasing. He held back for a moment, then turned to Gu Qian. "When did he start smoking?"
Gu Qian registered that "he" referred to Shi Luo, asked back, "He didn't smoke before?"
Yu Sui shook his head.
Gu Qian said, "When he came to our team two years ago, he was already smoking."
Yu Sui took a sip of watermelon juice. "...Such a young age."
Chen Huo turned his face, disgust evident. "You've got nerve talking about him. Do you even remember how old you were when you started smoking?"
Yu Sui said, "I don't remember. Why?"
"No reason. He's an adult now, and he's doing well for himself. It's got nothing to do with you anymore, does it?" Chen Huo said dismissively. "He wants to drink, he drinks. He wants to smoke, he smokes. It's not your business anymore."
Chen Huo撇嘴. "Besides, his heart is way bigger now. You can't figure out what he's thinking anymore anyway. Why even bother worrying?"
Yu Sui stared at Shi Luo's back, tried his best to ignore the impending storm that only he could feel building in the air, murmured to himself, "Can't figure out what he's thinking… best if that's the case."
Yu Sui's sixth sense had always been good at predicting the bad, never the good. This time was no exception.
Ten minutes later, the attendant placed a tray on the table in front of Yu Sui. On the tray sat ten large cups of some不明drink.
Chen Huo was chatting with Gu Qian about the transfer period. He turned his head, looked at it blankly. "What's this?"
The attendant hesitated. "Distilled vodka. This is actually what we use for mixing cocktails. It's over ninety proof. We recommend not drinking it directly…"
"Nobody's going to drink it directly." Chen Huo was completely confused. "Who ordered this?"
Shi Luo extinguished his cigarette, picked up a can of beer, and walked over. He calmly looked at Yu Sui and said, "I did."
Chen Huo and Wa Wa stared at each other, at a loss. Yu Sui put his phone away, let out a soft breath. Here it comes.