Fake Slackers

Chapter 33: Why should my little friend smile for you?

He Zhao didn't seem to mind talking about himself at all.

He seemed not to care that his family was separated and that his mother had brought his sister out of the country. When they left, his sister had only been three years old. She hadn't even been able to talk properly and had followed behind him mumbling 'gege.'¹

Their first year in C Country, He Xi had still cried and yelled for her brother. But children forget quickly. As time went by, she grew up and went to school, and her brother became like the doll she wouldn't put down as a child because she loved it so much—it became outdated and gradually retreated from center stage.

While explaining, He Zhao didn't feel down. In fact, he felt fine. Thankfully, she had been young and could forget many things in the blink of an eye.

And embrace her new life.

Xie Yu wasn't sure what to say, so he didn't say anything at all.

"...I'll say it again. It's really not that tragic. This isn't some heartbreaking soap opera about amnesia, she just isn't close to me," He Zhao said. "She's pretty good at playing games. Every time I log in, her equipment and level—even the stinking man she's with—is different. It's quite impressive."

He Zhao's EQ was something special.

Xie Yu couldn't tell whether to consider it high or low. All in all, he could probably be considered a drama king who had made up his mind to do things he himself considered emotionally moving.

For example, this matter—He Zhao's little sister, far away in C Country, logged into a game and discovered that the level she couldn't pass had been passed and the male character she had put a lot of effort into pursuing had run away.

This was yet another instance of He Zhao moving himself, moving heaven, and moving earth, but not being able to move the other party.

Xie Yu said, "You're impressed? Do you feel especially touched when you think about it?"

He Zhao squatted by the flowerbeds and laughed. "Don't say that. Maybe a little bit."

Xie Yu had never been curious about other people's stories. He only felt that He Zhao was a big idiot.

Maybe other people didn't know, but Xie Yu knew everything. He had seen He Zhao play this idiotic game with his own eyes; he played in class, he played after class, and sometimes he sent Xie Yu screenshots in the middle of the night, asking him which of two pairs of shoes to pick.

Xie Yu should have thought, What damn business is this of mine? But he seemed to be possessed. Xie Yu wasn't sure what he had been thinking either. He suddenly bent down, and by the time he came back to his senses his hand was already resting on He Zhao's head.

Both of them were a little stunned.

He Zhao's hair was short and it pricked Xie Yu's hand.

Of the options 'push him down' and 'immediately take your hand away, turn, and go,' Xie Yu picked the latter. "I'm leaving."

"Let's go together." He Zhao jumped down and followed, raising a hand to the top of his head as he walked. "Was there something on my head? What are you walking so quickly for?"

Xie Yu went back and took a shower. He didn't even dry his hair. He squatted by his bed and stuck an arm under it, pulling out the suitcase underneath.

Inside were study materials. Mock exams and the notes he took in class, a whole box full of them. They usually lay quietly under his bed, under lock and key.

He thought that he could do some questions to calm down.

Xie Yu squatted by the luggage bag. He stared at it for several seconds, touching the cover of the 5-3. Then he looked up and out the window. In the dark night sky hung several faint stars. For some reason, he suddenly thought of He Zhao's smile as he had squatted beneath the streetlights. Very bright, like it could tear apart the night.