Half an hour later, Long Ming carried his small wooden stool toward the Haichang Street intersection. But as he got close, he saw a long queue stretching out ahead of him—one that looked painfully familiar.
His expression turned into quite a sight. So the queue he had seen while eating earlier wasn't some trendy shop's grand opening at all. It was a new game release!
"I'm done for!"
Long Ming's heart went cold. This time he was really finished.
But he had no choice. He could only grit his teeth, take his stool, and join the back of the line.
Just then, Boss Zhao Ku spotted Long Ming queuing with his little stool and asked, his face oddly stiff, "Long Ming, you here to be a shill too?"
"Uh, no. This isn't a trendy shop opening. It's a new game release."
Long Ming explained awkwardly.
"Oh. Then queue away."
Boss Zhao nodded.
"Okay."
Long Ming smiled.
The next morning at first light, Long Ming sat on his stool with one hand propping up his cheek, so drowsy he was about to nod off.
Then several staff members in work uniforms came over with a megaphone and shouted, "Everyone at the back, disperse! There aren't that many helmets to sell. Queuing is pointless."
"What? No way!"
"Sell to us, we'll pay extra!"
The crowd shouted, unwilling to give up.
"Extra money won't help. There are only so many helmets. Everyone disperse!"
The staff member explained helplessly.
"Ugh."
Watching this, Long Ming got up and left, equally helpless.
Soon after, Long Ming dragged his exhausted body and his little stool into his room. Every sales point in the entire Lower City had a long line.
You could say there was no hope at all.
Buzz.
His phone vibrated. He hurried to pick it up and check the message.
"Dear Mr. Long Ming, we are very sorry. Your application for a temporary Upper City pass has not been approved. The quota of applications is currently full. Please wait patiently."
"Ah..."
Seeing that he had failed to apply yet again, Long Ming let out a helpless sigh.
He wanted to apply to go to the Upper City and see whether he could buy a helmet there, but far too many people had the same idea, so he simply couldn't get approved. And even if he had been, the helmets would probably be sold out by then.
If he couldn't even buy a helmet, how was he supposed to play?
Long Ming sat in silence for a few seconds, then tapped in a phone number and called it. The screen immediately popped up with a contact note: Jerk.
Beep, beep.
Long Ming had always been an outstanding student, and he had gone on to test into Shanchengshan First Higher Academy. The fellow saved as Jerk was named Wang Yang, one of his three roommates and the one he was closest to.
But back then they had all been upper citizens. Now he had sold his house and moved down to the Lower City to become a Lower City commoner, and after so long without contact, he had no idea whether Wang Yang would still be willing to help him.
The call connected, and a polite voice came through the phone.
"Hello, who are you looking for?"
"It's me."
Hearing that familiar voice, Long Ming hesitated a few seconds before speaking.
As soon as Wang Yang heard Long Ming's voice, he answered in his cheeky way, "Well, well, if it isn't my Brother Long! What a rare surprise!"
"Jerk, can't you talk like a normal person?"
"Nope. Who told you to vanish without a word after graduation and never contact us again? Our bond has really faded. I'm devastated."
"Cut it out. Cough, cough."
Long Ming drew a breath and broke into coughing.
Hearing him cough, Wang Yang said with a laugh, "All right, no more jokes. Why'd you suddenly call me? Did your conscience finally wake up?"
"I need to ask you something."
"Something up? Want me to come meet you and we'll talk in person?"
"Sure. I'll send you the address. By the way, keep a low profile when you come. Better take the subway."
"Got it."
Wang Yang answered cheerfully.
Long Ming hung up, then wrote a message with the meeting place and the route to get there and sent it to Wang Yang.
Night fell.
Beside a noisy, bustling street, Long Ming stood under a dim streetlamp, waiting patiently. He hadn't seen Wang Yang since graduation. After all these years, he was a little excited.
Beep beep.
A shrill car horn sounded.
Long Ming looked up, and there in front of him was a glaring red car with a three-ring emblem, parked right before him.
A young man in a plaid shirt, black sunglasses, and spiky yellow hair opened the door and swaggered out to face Long Ming, asking cheekily, "Pretty cool, huh? I just bought this car for 300k."
Long Ming's mouth twitched. His face took on a helpless look.
"Didn't I tell you to keep a low profile? Why'd you drive here?"
"I can't do low profile. I'm a success now."
"Fine. Drive on ahead, go past three intersections, and park in that lot over there."
"That's too much hassle. Your roads here are ridiculously narrow. I'll just park in a space on the street."
"It's not safe."
"It's fine. Why are you still like this, worrying about everything the way you used to?"
Wang Yang paid no attention at all to Long Ming's warning.
"Fine, let's go."
Long Ming led Wang Yang toward the night market ahead.
The two found a barbecue stall and sat down, ordering some meat skewers and a few bottles of beer.
Long Ming opened a bottle, poured a glass, and handed it to Wang Yang.
Wang Yang took it, glanced at the noisy, grimy surroundings out of the corner of his eye, and asked with a chuckle, "You live around here?"
"Yeah."
"Can you get used to it?"
Long Ming's hand paused as he poured, then he answered calmly, "It's all right."
"It's been two years since we've seen each other, hasn't it?"
"About that."
"You really are heartless. Right after graduation you quit the college group chat and your phone number went dead. You made it look like you'd vanished from the face of the earth."
Long Ming fell silent at that.
Seeing him go quiet, Wang Yang teased him cheerfully, "Long Ming, quitting that college group was such a shame! It's really lively now. We chat and joke in there all the time. Not long ago a girl even brought you up. Want to know?"
"Not interested."
Long Ming answered coldly.
"Wait. You sold your house in the Upper City and moved to the Lower City—was that because of the surgery?"
"Yeah."
"Then let me ask you something. When you had that surgery, you didn't get your little brother cut off too, did you?"
Wang Yang flashed a cheeky grin.
"Screw you. You're the one who got cut."
"Then that's really strange. Life is nothing but eating, drinking, and having fun. But you don't like food, you don't like fun, you don't chase women, you're not interested in anything. What's the point of living?"
"I can't explain it to you. Enough of this. I've got real business with you."
Long Ming cut him off, annoyed.
Just staying alive was a luxury for him now. How could he have any interest in those things?
"Go on, then. What business?"
"I want to ask you to get me one of the newly released game helmets in the Upper City. Paying extra doesn't matter."
"You mean Civilization Paradise, the new game Shanchengshan just released?"
"Right!"
"That's not easy to get, but I can give it a try for you."
Wang Yang wasn't too confident either.
"Thanks. By the way, want to play too?"
"Can't. I'm a 996 workhorse now. Honestly, I can't play at all."
"All right. Give me your card number and I'll transfer the money to you."
"No rush on that. I'll send it to you later. Drink up!"
"Okay."
Long Ming said nothing more.
Now he could only pin his hopes on Wang Yang, hoping he could help him buy one in the Upper City. Compared with the Lower City, after all, the Upper City had fewer people and a larger allocation.
Chapter 5