Chapter 2 Start Of A New Life

The first thing he did after leaving was turning on the do not disturb mode on his phone.

After completing this essential step, Lin ShouJie finally let out a bated breath.

For a while, he absentmindedly fiddled with his phone.

It’s over…

Once that thought had flashed through his mind, Lin ShouJie returned to his senses, looking at the surrounding passerby on the street.

As the time was 8 P.M., there were many people. Bustling with energy, yet empty with spirit.

Of course… Now was the perfect time to give his best friend a call.

Lin ShouJie dialed the number that was second-from-top.

A few seconds passed, and the call went through.

“Broke up?” A familiar voice rang out.

Lin ShouJie uncontrollably laughed a little. “As expected of you; breaking through my defense straight away, eh?”

“Cut the small talk, just come over and have a drink. You won’t be able to go back tonight,” the recipient of the call said with a small, relaxed chuckle.

“Okay, I’ll head over now.” Lin ShouJie hung up and saw 99 messages, all from the first on his contact list: MengMeng.

Lin ShouJie pondered for a bit, but in the end, he didn’t click on it. He swiped her contact to the left, cancelled the set position at first it had, then deleted it.

After doing all this, he hurriedly walked toward the parking lot, his steps never before more buoyant.

GuangZhou. Next to the square. The floor under the Dawn Sun internet cafe.

Lin ShouJie had just parked the car when he saw a fashionable man standing at the entrance.

His name was Liang Hao, 20 years old, nickname: Hao Bro. He was Liang ShouJie’s best friend, middle school classmate, and later on, technical school classmates.

Lin ShouJie had always felt guilty about that, since Liang Hao had the chance to go to high school, but instead chose to go to technical school with him.

Originally, Liang Hao had said that his family has a lot of money. He could just open a store and be the boss himself, so he thought didn’t need to go to school.

But after three years working in society, Lin ShouJie found out the importance of diplomas. Diplomas were like entrance tickets, and without one, many paths in life were lost.

Everytime he thought of this, he felt a sense of regret. If it weren’t for Xu MengMeng’s influence at the time and doing random things, his grades wouldn’t have been so bad that he couldn’t get into high school.

In the end, he ended up with a lot of “useless” skills. On the other hand, Xu MengMeng got into high school with exemplary grades, and this year, got into a top college.

Of course, it wasn’t all bad memories, at least when he went to technical school with Liang Hao, they had gotten closer.

Lin ShouJie had lots of time to refine the skills that he had learned during middle school, and now he has walked on a path that differed from many people.

This was all thanks to Xu MengMeng.

She had controlled Lin ShouJie for the past 20 years, coloring that white paper with her favorite color.

But now, this paper couldn’t withstand the wait and was blown away by the breeze named freedom. No nostalgia, no regret, no attachment.

“Wow, you’re here already?”

Seeing Lin ShouJie getting out of his car, Liang Hao smiled and walked over.

“I’m a pro driver, you get it. Plus, I got a race car driving permit recently,” Lin ShouJie said casually with a shrug.

“Huh? What the, you even got those things? Did she tell you to get it?” Liang Hao seemed to be shaken. The “she” he was referring to was, of course, Xu MengMeng.

Lin ShouJie froze for a second. “Yeah, she saw a short clip and thought the driver was really handsome, then she wanted to brag to her friends and forced me to go learn.”

Liang Hao fell silent, he didn’t say stuff like, You just do whatever she tells you to do?

As his best friend, he had a deep understanding of the problem between Lin ShouJie and Xu MengMeng. He knew full well what kind of person Xu MengMeng was.

“My bad, my bad, let’s not talk about this. Let’s just go. The wine’s ready.” Liang Hao ended the topic, patted Ling ShouJie’s shoulder, then brought him into Dawn Sun internet cafe.

This was the internet cafe his father opened for him. It was in a golden location, and the decorations were very distinguished and grand. The computers were all top notch, and on top of that, there were also many cute girls in the store. Overall, this was a very popular place in the neighborhood.

Of course, the fees were expensive, but as Liang Hao’s best friend, Lin ShouJie didn’t have to pay to get into a booth.

Ironically, he had only come here the day it opened and never again.

Since Xu MengMeng didn’t play computer games, she didn’t want him playing them.

A year had passed, and now that Lin ShouJie had returned to this familiar dimly blued gaming booth, he felt a little nostalgic.

“Gou Bro and others didn’t come today?” Lin ShouJie asked Liang Hao.

Gou Bro’s actual name was Yu ChengHui, who was also his middle school classmate.

His nickname was Gou (Dog) Bro; when they played League of Legends together, he often chose Blitzcrank, and as he was a good hooker and called him Gou (Hook) Bro, but because of QQ’s autocorrect function, everyone now called him Gou (Dog) Bro.
(ED: QQ is a messaging app.)

“They pulled all-nighter here yesterday. What should we do, call them over?” Liang Hao asked.

Lin ShouJie quickled shook his head. “No need, we don’t really have to call them over. I wanted a little more peace today anyways.”

“Okay, then it’ll be just the two of us.” Liang Hao didn’t seem to mind. He walked to the table and took the beer from the ice bucket.

After having a few drinks, Liang Hao asked, “What do you plan on doing now? After you broke up with her, are you going to give up on the studio you two had?”

“Of course. I’m not even gonna go back to the house my father bought, much less the studio. I’ll wait and see after she leaves.”

After saying that, Lin ShouJie couldn’t help but make a joke. “The me now only has a car for transportation, you could say I am just about broke, hahaha…”

“Goodness, as expected of you. If you don’t want your house, don’t forget to give it to me,” Liang Hao joined in.

“Sure, if you could turn into a girl and marry me. I’d give you the house instantly.”

“No way, Jie Bro!”

The two messed around just like they had in middle school.

Afterwards, the atmosphere was calm once again.

“What do you plan on doing next?” Liang Hao asked, “Go home, or just stay outside?”

“I won’t be going home for now, or else my parents would question me. I should find something to do outside.” Lin ShouJie lowered his head, looking at the cup in his hands.

Liang Hao asked without thinking: “What can you do under this condition? Can you even clear your mind?”

“Who are you kidding? I’m at my peak condition; I have my buffs stacked up, okay?”

“You this brave?”

“Super.”

“Alright, but you haven’t found something you want to do yet, right? Wanna just be a manager here at my place?” Liang Hao suggested.

Lin ShouJie was quiet for a moment, then he raised his head and locked eyes with Liang Hao. “Sure, sorry for the trouble, I will as long as food and housing is covered.”

“Hm? What do you mean? Are you looking down at me?” Liang Hao put up a stiff face, “How does 10 thousand yuan a month sound?”
[ED: Yuan is chinese currency. 1 USD approximately equals 6.5 yuan.]
“Don’t mess with me.”

“Hahahaha…”

Inside the booth, Lin ShouJie and Liang Hao laughed happily.

Liang Hao could tell that the best he knew had returned. They hadn’t been able to laugh like this for a while.