Summer rainstorms were like a freshly paid wallet—suddenly bursting full, then instantly emptied again.
The heavy rain from the night before had already been scorched away by the morning sun, and the blazing sunlight now baked the entire world without restraint.
Birdsong woke Su Qin. He sat up and glanced at the beer can and cigarette pack on his nightstand. In the end, he still hadn’t managed to keep up the act of being cool. What could he do? If he didn’t like something, he just didn’t like it.
His life was dull, simple, mechanical. No sunlight. He lived in this apartment—his only inheritance from his parents. Each day began with zoning out, then gaming, taking power-leveling jobs, just barely maintaining a daily routine.
Occasionally, he’d also take “playing companion” jobs. But given his personality, not many girls liked hiring him. Eventually, he simply focused on taking solo orders.
He was good at games, had lots of time, and lived alone. In the end, he managed decently.
He wasn’t really “cool” at all—more like just unlucky.
If this kind of life continued like this, it wouldn’t be too bad. But the real problem was the pain of being dragged into the sunlight from the shadows—only to be tossed back again. That kind of taste really wasn’t easy to stomach.
Su Qin stared at his computer and—for the first time—felt the reckless urge to smash it. But he was someone with excellent self-control. He sat down in front of it, cracked open a can of Coke, and began power-leveling again.
He opened his phone. There was still a red dot on WeChat—an unread message from Yu Zhongmeng. After thinking for a moment, he marked it as read.
Her appearance in his life had been strange from the start. In fact, she was the only client in his companion gaming career who’d ever left him a good review. After their first session, she had taken the initiative to ask for his WeChat.
The next day, she booked him for the entire day. Then again the third day. On the fourth day, they didn’t game—because they met in person. After that, he never took another companion job again.
Suddenly, a thought struck him: if he could meet Yu Zhongmeng before, why couldn’t he meet another client?
Maybe a big-sister type in black stockings? He’d only seen Yu Zhongmeng in white ones—kind of felt like a missed opportunity.
Of course, the outcome was predictable—no one hired him.
He’d expected that, so his fingers never stopped working on the orders.
Ping! A WeChat notification sounded. He glanced at it—a new friend request.
“Hey there~ I’m looking for a game companion~ Add me on WeChat to chat privately~”
“Big data is terrifying.”
Su Qin sighed and locked his phone.
With a victorious sound from the game, he took off his headset and made himself another cup of cold medicine. Only then did he notice the WeChat unread badge: 99+.
His heart sank. “Got hacked?”
He didn’t even have 99 friends. Where’d 99+ unread come from?
The account sending the messages had the nickname “Pan.” All the messages were from her. But Su Qin didn’t remember ever having a contact like that.
He opened the chat.
The screen was full of “Are you there? Are you there?”
He tapped his reply: “What is it.”
The response came instantly:
“I’m looking for a game companion! Can you help?”
“So... when did I add this client again?”
Although he couldn’t recall who it was, it’d be foolish to refuse money. Su Qin replied with a simple: “Sure.”
The other person got excited—and immediately initiated a WeChat call.
Su Qin frowned. That was pushing it. But he had a decent temper, so he still picked up.
“Su Qin?”
It was a sweet, childish-sounding girl’s voice—so youthful it made Su Qin suspect it was a prank. He was about to hang up and delete the contact.
“Don’t delete me!! Su Qin, want to act cool?”
“Act cool?” Su Qin was completely lost.
“I can help you win back Yu Zhongmeng~”
“Nutjob.”
Su Qin muttered a curse, then hung up, blocked, and deleted her—clean and efficient.
Just as he finished all that, his phone rang again—this time from an unknown number with no location data. A tremor ran through his heart, and he hesitated before picking up.
“Told you not to delete me. I really can help you~ Revenge too, if you want.”
“I don’t need revenge. We split on good terms.”
“Pfft. You got dumped—abruptly and with a terrible excuse. Seems to me, you’re pretty good at numbing yourself even without alcohol.”
Su Qin paused. For once, his expression turned serious. “Who are you?”
“I’m just me. That’s not important. What is important is whether you want my help. It’s a good deal~ Newbie discount and all.”
“You’re a pretty entertaining scammer, I’ll give you that. But you’ve got the wrong target—I’m broke.”
“Who said I need your money? I’m hiring you to game with me! I’m paying you! Forget it, you’ll find out soon enough. But if you’re ready to be my companion, you better call me first~”
The call ended abruptly.
Su Qin stared at the black screen and silently cursed, “Nutjob.”
He stood up and stretched his neck and waist. Power-leveling came with its drawbacks—sitting too long ruined your body. He considered grabbing another Coke, but when he opened the mini-fridge, it was empty.
He had no choice but to head downstairs.
Big cities had their perks. You could crack your head open on the sidewalk and nobody would care. Su Qin liked that. He’d lived in this old residential block for years and still didn’t know whether his neighbors were men or women—and that was perfectly fine by him.
Right outside the neighborhood gate was a small convenience store. Su Qin was a regular, always carrying off two cases of Coke when he visited.
A cargo van was parked by the curb. The store owner—a middle-aged woman—was unloading goods. She glanced over and said, “Hey, Xiao Su, here to grab your Coke? Take two cases yourself. Just send the money to my WeChat.”
Su Qin, rarely showing much emotion, gave a genuinely pleasant smile. He nodded and lifted the Coke cases, heading back toward the building. But then he heard the thud of heavy items hitting the ground behind him.
He sighed, set down the Coke, and went to help her.
After they were done, the store owner handed him an opened bottle of mineral water while wiping sweat from her forehead.
“Thanks, Xiao Su. This one’s on me. Oh right—where’s your girlfriend? Haven’t seen her around in a while.”
Su Qin didn’t see the need to hide it. He took a sip and said, “We broke up.”
“Huh? Just now, I saw Xiao Yu’s car parked outside the complex for quite a while. I thought she was waiting for you!”
Su Qin hesitated, then carefully chose his words. “You probably saw something wrong.”
The woman gave him a few uncertain looks. “Xiao Su… are you sure there wasn’t someone else involved?”
Su Qin went quiet. He put the Coke he’d just picked up back on the ground, gave her a wide smile, and said, “I’ll leave the Coke with you for now. I’ll come get it later.”
He transferred the money for the Coke and water via WeChat, then rented a shared bike on the roadside and began pedaling along a familiar route.
The summer sun was brutal, scorching enough to sting skin. The mineral water in the bike basket rattled noisily with each bump. Su Qin’s face was blank.
The phone rang again. Su Qin answered it with his left hand.
“So? Thought it over? Want to be my game companion now~?”
“Nutjob.”
(End of Chapter)