Chapter 34: Thoughts

Chapter 34: Thoughts

The Speed Internet Cafe was bustling on Sunday.

The VIP room on the second floor was reserved by Ye Lincheng. Inside, two out of four computers were turned on. Gu Sheng was engrossed with headphones on, swiftly aiming around, while Yu Yang set up his sniper position. The blue circle had shrunk to its smallest size, and only 7 players were left alive.

However, their hope of winning ("Chicken Dinner" in PUBG) was dashed in the next second.

A grenade fell from the sky, killing three with one blast.

Yu Yang angrily spoke into his microphone, berating Ji Feifei in the voice chat, "Are you even capable? How can you let a grenade explode in your hand?"

From the other end of the headphones, there was the sound of furious keyboard tapping, followed by Ji Feifei shouting, "Damn it, I'm done. I told you I'm terrible at PUBG. Challenge me in LoL, and I'll beat you ten times over."

"Damn you... If we weren't short on players, I wouldn't have invited you. And now you want to quit?" Yu Yang snapped, looking at Ji Feifei's avatar, which was about to disappear from the voice chat.

Blue Vest.

Grinding his teeth.

Beside the avatar with the blue vest, a green dot lit up, "Ugh, you said it was three on one. I came over only to find just the two of you. Where's my idol?"

Yu Yang clicked his mouse in frustration, "How would I know why your so-called idol messed up and came to the Internet cafe without playing any games?"

"Damn, how can we win two against four?"

Gu Sheng, looking a bit resentful, glanced towards the window-side lounge area of the room and said to Ye Lincheng, who was leaning against the sofa, "Can you please not do Huanggang Question Bank exercises in an Internet cafe?"

Contrary to the heated gaming ambiance on this side, over by the sofa, a bright golden Huanggang Question Bank lay sprawled on the table. Ye Lincheng was casually solving problems with a relaxed demeanor.

Indifferent, showing no emotion.

This comment reached Ji Feifei's ears through the voice chat, and the blue vest avatar flashed, "Tsk, my idol is just different from common folks like you."

Since Ji Feifei's genius persona had unfortunately collapsed, he slowly came to accept Ye Lincheng's new image of diligence, determination, and down-to-earth attitude.

Now more than ever, he believed that being a genius wasn't all that. A man who strives to learn is the most handsome, and a man engrossed in his books is the most captivating!

However, this wasn't the right setting for such a scene.

Such an appealing sight should be at a library, so why was it occurring in an internet café?

Yu Yang, resting his cheek on his hand, remarked, "So your whole idea was to invite us to surf the web and supervise your studies? Isn't that Xie Chu's job?"

Ye Lincheng's hand, flipping a book, paused for a moment.

After asking, Yu Yang suddenly realized something, his eyebrows twitching, "Ahem, you... you guys...?"

He pressed 'esc' intending to exit the game and mute the chat, but Ye Lincheng, leaning on the sofa and lost in thought, didn't pay attention to Yu Yang and Gu Sheng. He lazily responded,

"I confessed to him, and he rejected me."

Yu Yang distinctly heard a metallic explosion-like noise in his headphones.

Before they could address the strange sound, both Yu Yang and Gu Sheng stared in disbelief, mouths agape,

"You like him?"

"You got rejected?"

The slow-to-react beta quickly shut his mouth.

Yu Yang stood up and approached the sofa, his eyes filled with maternal concern, "Come on, tell daddy how you got turned down. I'll give you some advice."

Ye Lincheng glanced at him, "Could you please hide that schadenfreude expression of 'so even you have days like this'?"

"Nope." Yu Yang suppressed his laughter and moved closer. After getting a good look at Ye Lincheng's face, he quipped, "You know, with that anguished youth expression, you could star in a teen angst drama."

Gu Sheng, still immersed in wondering when Ye Lincheng ever mentioned liking Xie Chu, also leaned in, inspecting Ye Lincheng like he was a giant panda, then sighed and asked, "What did he say?"

Ye Lincheng didn't respond verbally, instead, he handed over the chat window.

The two of them leaned in to take a look,

Everything I said last night was true.

I genuinely like you.

How about we give it a try?

Yu Yang continued scrolling, only to find a short three-word reply below.

Let me think.

Scrolling further, he saw today's conversation, which was just two brief lines.

Did you eat breakfast? Aunt Zhang made shrimp dumplings, want me to bring some over?

Let me think.

Gu Sheng: "..."

Yu Yang: "..."

Anyone would think WeChat had an auto-reply function.

Ye Lincheng pocketed his phone and turned back to his study guide. He had combed through this interface at least a hundred times since yesterday. Even after changing his home router, nothing new had appeared.

Always thinking.

He was almost getting sick of seeing the words "let me think."

Staying at home alone and continually seeing those words might have driven him mad, so he invited Yu Yang and Gu Sheng to the internet café. Having more people around did make him feel somewhat better. Yu Yang tried to comfort him, saying, "Dude, it's not exactly a rejection, right? She's still considering, waiting for a reply. People need to think, right..."

Upon hearing the words "let me think" again,

A large droplet of ink spilled from the pen he was holding.

Yu Yang wisely shut his mouth.

After a few more duo games and Ye Lincheng completing a chapter of exercises, evening approached. The three decided to go for a barbecue before heading home.

When they went downstairs to settle the bill, the internet café's owner recognized Ye Lincheng. Recalling that it had been a while since he'd last visited, the owner decided to retain his VIP and affluent young customer, pulling out a promotional leaflet and saying,

"Xiao Ye, I haven't seen you in two months. This is our latest annual VIP membership. After one payment, you get half-priced internet for a whole year, no matter how many hours you use. It's quite a deal."

A group at the next table was also settling their bill, and the owner quickly pitched them too, "It's 688 for the whole year, use as you like."

Though this deal seems beneficial, it's common knowledge that just like the prepaid cards at hair salons, once you deposit money, it's hard to get it back. Who can guarantee they'd be using the internet here for an entire year?

Besides, most are high school students. Who knows where they'd be in a year?

The young guy beside them just chuckled and made a non-committal response, "Alright, I'll think about it."

Ye Lincheng: "..."

The internet cafe owner clicked his tongue, "C'mon, what's there to think about? If you're going to top-up, just do it. All this 'thinking' talk is just for show. Look at these benefits! I'm even giving away a free 3GB mobile data card..."

The young man, clearly experienced, politely declined and headed for the exit. Seeing no hope, the owner turned his attention back to Ye Lincheng, "Xiao Ye, consider this: you usually pay over 300 for a day's VIP pass. Now, for just 688 a year, you get a 50% discount every time. Isn't it a great deal?"

Yu Yang and Gu Sheng on the side covered their faces, unable to watch.

Ye Lincheng gritted his teeth, took the promotional flyer,

"I'll think about it." Some people die, but not entirely...

After an endless unconsciousness, Shi Yu suddenly sat up from the bed.

He took deep breaths, feeling the fresh air, his chest heaving.

Confusion, bewilderment, a rush of emotions flooded him.

Where is this?

Then, instinctively, Shi Yu scanned his surroundings, only to become more puzzled.

A single dorm room?

Even if he had been rescued, he should be in a hospital room.

And his body... how could there not be a single injury?

With questions in mind, Shi Yu's gaze swiftly moved around the room, finally settling on a mirror at the bedside.

The mirror reflected his current appearance: a handsome young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old.

Previously, he had been a striking young man in his twenties, having been working for some time.

But now, no matter how he looked at it, he seemed to be just a high schooler...

This transformation left Shi Yu stunned for a long while.

Please don't tell him the surgery was "successful"...

With both his body and face changed, this wasn't a matter of surgery but more like magic.

He had seemingly turned into an entirely different person!

Could it be... he had time-traveled?

Apart from the poorly placed mirror by the bed, which seemed to go against feng shui principles, Shi Yu noticed three books next to it.

Picking one up, the title rendered him speechless.

"Essential Guide for Novice Beast Keepers."

"Postnatal Care for Pet Beasts."

"Evaluation Guide for Beast-Eared Species."

Shi Yu:

The first two titles sound reasonable, but what's the deal with the last one?

"Ahem."

Shi Yu's gaze became serious as he reached out, but soon his arm stiffened.

Just as he intended to flip open the third book, wanting to understand what it was all about, a sharp pain struck his brain, and a flood of memories washed over him.

Iceplain City.

Beast Keeper Base.

"Trainee Beast Keeper." The website will soon be closed, download the "LoveRead" app for "Master Zhizhi's" deceptive tales of a gorgeous Omega.

"Beastmaster?"