Chapter 22

Despite the fierce momentum Ruan Ning had shown in the previous game, when she opened her mouth and turned to the keyboard, her tone was still unconsciously gentle and humble.

She @'d Bai Xingmiao's account, typed out a message after much deletion and revision, added a few cute emoticons, and read it over several times before hitting Enter: "@00, you're amazing! Could I ask how you manage your quick stops? Would you be willing to teach me?"

Actually, after sending it, Ruan Ning didn't really expect Bai Xingmiao to reply.

The Certain Death community had a strict hierarchy. As a newcomer, she'd be lucky to get a single emoticon in return, and many skilled players valued their techniques highly, not likely to share them generously with newcomers.

She greeted him simply to get her name out there, and sure enough, as soon as she sent the message, it was drowned out by the rapidly scrolling chat log from her teammates.

Ruan Ning felt a bit dejected that Bai Xingmiao probably hadn't seen it. But she wasn't the outgoing type, so she decided to wait until after the next match to try to strike up a conversation.

A moment later, amidst a flurry of flashy special-effect chat bubbles, a white avatar suddenly appeared: "You can join my group. Tutorials are posted there occasionally."

Ruan Ning was overjoyed, as if she'd been noticed by the most important person in the world from across a sea of people. She typed feverishly, afraid that a second's delay might mean missing her chance: "Really? Thank you so much! [Kitten with starry eyes.jpg]"

Previously, Ruan Ning had thought Bai Xingmiao was hard to approach, but after observing him up close, she realized he was exactly the kind of teammate she'd always dreamed of.

Bai Xingmiao basically never spoke in the group, but he was highly skilled and emotionally stable. Whether he won or lost, he never turned on his mic to curse, and he regularly posted analyses of his playstyle.

Bai Xingmiao was aloof and picky, so he almost always gave away the weapons and items he won to his teammates for free. Those items could easily sell for over a thousand bucks outside. As soon as Ruan Ning joined, she got a full set of gear worth over 10,000, moved to tears of gratitude.

After playing together for a few days, Ruan Ning figured it was time and clicked on Bai Xingmiao's avatar to send a friend request.

A verification question popped up on her phone: "What's something you've been thinking about recently?"

Ruan Ning raised an eyebrow slightly and quickly typed a response: "Haha, I've been thinking about finding a regular gaming partner to duo-rank with."

She'd been playing brilliantly lately and had built a solid reputation in the group. Everyone loved inviting her to form a team, so she was sure if she asked, no one would turn her down.

When Ruan Ning came back from lunch, full of excitement, and opened her phone, the system showed: "The other party has declined your friend request."

Ruan Ning licked her upper lip. Maybe her answer had been too casual and didn't show enough sincerity. She switched to a real photo and tried again.

She usually didn't take pictures, but her only real photo was the one from the freshman ball, where she wore a gown and a bun, and had taken a mirror selfie in her dorm to send to her mom, so she had it saved in her gallery.

This time, after thinking it over, she replied: "I've been thinking about finding someone who's also into astronomy to go stargazing with offline."

Ruan Ning figured that tailoring it to his interests would do the trick. After sending, she put her phone aside and focused on her homework.

When she finished reviewing and checked her phone, a glaring red notification dot popped up, with over a dozen messages—all of them friend request notifications.

Ruan Ning smiled slightly, but they were all from her group teammates.

Ever since she changed her profile picture, the group had blown up. The new pro was not only great at the game but also a beauty. Everyone was frantically tagging her, and emoticons were popping up like popcorn everywhere.

"Is that really you in the profile pic? So pretty!"

"No way. Pretty AND that good at gaming?"

"It's got to be a fake photo. Or her boyfriend plays for her."

In the gaming community, there was a lot of prejudice against female players. They didn't believe girls could be good at games, and certainly not pretty ones. If she was pretty and good, it must be because her boyfriend or her little brother played for her—anything but her own skill. Ruan Ning was used to this prejudice and too disdainful to explain. No matter what the group speculated, the flood of friend requests overwhelmed her request folder.

Ruan Ning quickly skimmed through them one by one. Finally, buried among the irrelevant ones, she found "The other party has declined your friend request" again.

She froze for a moment.

Ruan Ning lay back on the bed, phone on her chest, staring blankly at the beige ceiling.

This question seemed simple, but it was more like a direct probe into her soul. No amount of feigned politeness could pass Bai Xingmiao's sharp eyes.

In her heart, she repeated the question.

Me...?

Ruan Ning fell into thought. She had been thinking about some things lately.

After completing two tasks, she'd been going home regularly to learn the family business and help her parents with factory matters. The first lesson she learned was watching her father humbly beg for a bank loan.

Recently, the import prices of cotton and raw silk had skyrocketed, driving up costs across the textile industry. On top of that, the family was facing a cash shortage, and her father, a man in his forties or fifties who had always been his own boss, had to grovel like a young kid just to get the bank to give him a loan.

And the bank that would issue the loan? It was the bank owned by the family of the rich girl who had knocked her down with a horse on the school grounds during her time at the girls' school!

Ruan Ning didn't know how to describe the feeling.

Back when she transferred to a public school, she had secretly vowed to get into Iya University just to show those bullies.

Later, she did get in, and sure enough, none of the rich girls who had bullied her made it, and their families had to spend a fortune to get them into second-tier schools.

When she heard the news, she treated herself to an online lucky draw that day. When people asked what good thing had happened, she wouldn't say, but she secretly rejoiced.

And now, everything had come full circle. She was back to bowing and scraping to an old enemy. She was still the commoner who had to smile at the rich girl. Whether she made it into Iya or not, she was destined to work for them, to be a tribute bearer.

Ruan Ning thought, could it be that a person's life is a script written in advance, and no matter how hard you try, you can't break free from the original trajectory?

She gave a distant, faint smile and typed a line.

"I'm thinking: Is the world we live in real?"

A line of clear, large text appeared on an enormous electronic display screen in a luxurious private club room, catching the eye of a lean, handsome young man.

Outside the door, noise and clamor seeped through the wooden door. Bai Xingmiao turned off the screen and walked out of the room.

Jiang Yihao was on the phone. He covered the receiver and called out excitedly, "Miao, you're out!"

Bu Chen sat alone at a long table made of rare stone, working on his laptop. He'd pulled an all-nighter and endured hours of cross-ocean conference calls, hanging up just moments ago. His face was heavy, darkened by clouds.

Bai Xingmiao walked slowly into the living room, returning to the chess set he'd left behind the last time. He leaned forward slightly, resting his arm on the white pieces: "What's got you two going at it since early morning?"

Jiang Yihao was just instructing the butler to re-clean the house in preparation for receiving Ruan Ning. When he saw Bai Xingmiao, a smile spread across his face: "Perfect timing. This weekend, come over to play games. I've also invited a friend, and we'll all have dinner together."

Bai Xingmiao knocked a pawn off the board with a knight: "Not interested."

"But I promised her. It's my first time inviting someone over to my place. Just come and show some support."

Bu Chen looked up from his laptop, cocked his head, and chuckled: "First time inviting someone over?"

Bai Xingmiao: "Which friend?"

Jiang Yihao didn't want to go into details, but Bai Xingmiao was the type who had to know everything, so he brushed it off vaguely: "Just someone I met at the start of the semester, the one who gave me back the 2 million."

"Oh, the brooch's owner?"

Bu Chen closed his laptop, poured a glass of wine, and strolled over. He lazily leaned against the edge of Jiang Yihao's sofa, looking carefree and wild.

For a while now, Jiang Yihao had been pining over a brooch, and both his friends had noticed.

All they knew was that a girl had left it behind, but as for who she was, they had no idea. Bai Xingmiao simply wasn't interested; Bu Chen was very interested, but Jiang Yihao stubbornly refused to reveal anything.

Bu Chen had always hoped his friend would get a clue and enjoy the taste of romance sooner rather than later. He switched legs, making himself look even more slender and long-legged: "You're an idiot. When something like this happens, you should call me, not Miao. What were you thinking?"

Jiang Yihao sneered: "And what's your reputation like? You'd scare everyone off the moment you show up."

Bu Chen chuckled lightly: "Is my reputation really worse than Miao's? You bring him to dinner but not me?"

Jiang Yihao was silent for a few seconds. He'd actually thought about this. Bai Xingmiao often got up in the middle of a meal and left everyone to go verify a formula in his room. They were used to it, but a newbie might be startled.

Jiang Yihao said seriously: "It's not a date. Just an ordinary friend having dinner."

Bu Chen saw right through his friend's bluff: "Fine, a friend. Are you sure you can entertain her well, make sure she has a good time and leaves happy?"

Jiang Yihao's gaze flickered.

He'd been planning this for days, telling the butler to clean the entire 1,000-square-meter house, including the underground garage, replacing curtains and fragrance, stocking the kitchen with top-tier ingredients, and having his three dogs sent to the grooming salon...

But he still felt something was missing, though he couldn't pinpoint what.

Bu Chen curled his lips into a smile, his handsome face set off by sharp, piercing eyes.

"Have you ever asked a girl out? Do you know what she likes and dislikes?"

"First impressions matter a lot. If you screw up your first date, don't even think about a second one."

"Girls have thin skins. If you invite Miao to the dinner, you'll be alone forever."

"The only person you can bring is me, your strategist. Got it?"

Bu Chen spoke fluently, then turned his head and added a playful aside: "Miao, you too. Ah Hao's taken the first step. Don't be the only one of us three left out."

Bai Xingmiao lifted his eyes slightly, sweeping over them both: "Boring."

Jiang Yihao remained resolute: "No way. I promised her I'd invite Miao over..."

Bu Chen was speechless, so he changed his approach: "Did she say you don't understand her?"

"She did. So what?"

Bu Chen asked coolly, "Does she often seem uneasy around you?"

Jiang Yihao's eyes softened: "How did you know?"

Bu Chen leaned back, a hint of contempt in his eyes: "You can't even figure out the basics, and you want to plan a perfect date?"

Jiang Yihao's expression shifted slightly: "Then what should I do?"

"Easy. Listen to me and everything will be fine." Bu Chen flipped his hair and checked his bangs in the reflection of his glass: "First step, ditch Miao. Second step, bring in the commander-in-chief—me."

"You don't even know what she's thinking and you want to ask her out again? I'll tell you, girls decide your fate at first sight. If you fail the first date, you're dead in the water. Don't waste your efforts and just find the next one."

Jiang Yihao stroked his chin, his internal scales tipping back and forth.

He had complete faith in Bu Chen's authority on matters of the heart. Bu Chen was always the smoothest talker among the three; he could charm girls from age eight to eighty without exception.

Once, when the three of them were on vacation in a primeval forest, they got lost and lost contact with their guide. Bu Chen, despite the language barrier, managed to charm the local chieftainess—who wore animal skins—with nothing but gestures, and she personally sent them back to camp.

Jiang Yihao teased: "Right, you're the best. There's no girl you can't handle?"

"Of course," Bu Chen's eyebrow arched with an imperceptible shift, his gaze confident. "With me looking out for you, you'll know what a world-class date looks like."

Jiang Yihao vaguely felt something was off, but when he thought of Ruan Ning's timid face, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine. It'll be you."