After the lunch gathering, those with homes farther away hurried back, while those living nearby returned to grandparent’s house.
A group of aunts, uncles, and Lin Jin’s mother had set up two mahjong tables in the front room, ready to play mahjong for the afternoon. Lin Jin, Lin Chen, and their cousin Zhao Ruo rested at the house for half an hour before heading towards the town center.
Cousin Wu Jia had run off to take care of his milk tea shop in the town center after lunch, but he gave Lin Jin the address before he left, so they were now headed to there.
Walking from their grandparent’s house to the town center took a good half an hour, since the house was already on the edge of town.
Since Zhao Ruo hadn't seen them for a whole year, and her relationship with Lin Jin wasn't that close. It was even more awkward with Lin Chen as they hadn’t seen each other in nearly ten years. So the three of them did their own thing, occasionally exchanging a few words before quickly falling into silence again.
Half an hour later, they finally reached the town center. Although it was just a small town, there were a lot of people. There were tricycle carts, motorcycles, and street stalls occupying the road. It was so crowded that it was difficult to walk.
His older cousin Wu Jia’s milk tea shop was a floor below a Walmart supermarket, a supermarket that was just established two years ago but was already the largest in town.
Normally, large international supermarkets like Walmart rarely came to small towns. But this town was one of the more famous towns in Fuzhou and the residents were said to be quite wealthy. As a result, people would always think Lin Jin was a rich second generation when he mentioned his hometown was here.
However, Lin Jin's family was so poor they were barely getting by, though he was indeed once barely considered a rich second generation...
But, who asked his dad to recklessly throw all their money into gambling? Now they were also in debt, so now he was just a poor second generation.
Arriving at the Walmart plaza, Lin Jin immediately spotted the only milk tea shop there and his cousin Wu Jia was busy preparing milk tea for customers.
Cousin Zhao Ruo hurried over to chat with Wu Jia, who, after seeing them and finishing the milk tea, he handed over the shop to his employees. Then he came out with three bottles of Coke and distributed one to each person. Afterwards, he looked at Lin Jin with a smile in his eyes.
"Where are we going?" Cousin Wu Jia took the initiative as soon as he arrived, becoming the leader of the group. He actively asked Lin Jin and the others, "Want to go shopping in the plaza?"
"There's nothing to buy, might as well go to an internet cafe." Cousin Zhao Ruo, an internet addicted girl, energetically suggested to Wu Jia, "Let's team up and play League!"
"I'm pretty bad at it" Lin Jin helplessly scratched his head. He hadn't touched League of Legends for over half a year, maybe even a year. Even though he was once somewhat of a high level player, now he was nothing more than a noob who barely plays. "Plus, I haven't played in a long time."
"No worries, I'll carry you guys today" Although cousin Wu Jia appeared very mature, when he was with Lin Jin and the others who were all under twenty, he too acted like a youthful peer. He confidently declared “I’m already diamond rank, so carrying you guys won’t be a problem.”
Lin Jin glanced at Lin Chen and noticed that he seemed to want to play, so he didn't say much more. Even though he hadn't played LoL in a long time, he didn’t have any objections in joining them.
The internet cafe was just nearby. When they walked in, they found that the place was filled with smoke. Lin Jin and Lin Chen, both non-smokers, where immediately choked by the thick tobacco smoke and quickly backed out.
"Is it too smoky?" Lin Jin asked with a displeased look, hesitating at the entrance.
"Aren't all internet cafes like this nowadays?" Zhao Ruo looked at Lin Jin, confused.
Lin Chen felt the level of smoke was within his acceptable limits but couldn't understand why Lin Jin was so repelled by it.
He clearly remembered that his brother smoked, right?
"You guys go play, I can't stand the cigarette smoke" Lin Jin shook his head with a wry smile.
Maybe because the black cat disapproved of Lin Jin's smoking, he was now exceptionally sensitive to cigarette smoke. The smell alone made him uncomfortable, but if he tried to smoke himself, just one puff would make his eyes and nose run with tears and mucus.
"Shall we go in and play?" Lin Chen hesitated.
"It's okay, I'll just walk around" Lin Jin said with a gentle smile, "You go in and play with them. If you don't, when you get home, you won't even be able to watch videos, let alone play games."
"Okay then" Lin Chen reluctantly nodded and walked into the internet cafe.
Lin Jin waltched his figure recede, yawned, and rubbed his bloated stomach from eating too much at noon. Then he turned around and walked into the Walmart superstore.
The superstore was very big, but it wasn't very crowded. The people of the town preferred stores that were less than a kilometer away. Even though this Walmart does have a lot of varieties, due to various reasons, the prices were also a bit higher.
He strolled casually around the store, bought two imported chocolate bars, then left.
Even though Lin Jin used to frequent this area as a child, he moved when he was five and now was no longer familiar with the area.
Looking at the somewhat unfamiliar streets of the small town, Lin Jin aimlessly wandered around. Although the town was not large, it had a variety of shops, however, the streets were often occupied by various food stalls, making Lin Jin's walk a bit difficult.
But the abundance of food stalls had its perks. Even though Lin Jin's stomach was already full, as a bona fide foodie, when faced with something he liked and that smelled delicious, he had to eat, right?
He ordered a serving of stinky tofu and some so called New Orleans grilled wings, then went to the nearby Zheng Xin chicken steak stall for a few skewers of chicken. Lin Jin was so busy, constantly lowering his head to eat the food in his hands.
To avoid having to look up at the road while eating, Lin Jin decisively turned into a deserted alley. This alley appeared to be a residential area, and his aunt’s house should be nearby.
And then, Lin Jin f*cking bumped into someone again.
Fortunately, he wasn't running this time, or else the snacks in Lin Jin's hands would have definitely fallen to the ground.
"Sorry." Lin Jin looked up to find a tall and thin man with a crew cut. He apologized immediately, then made a turn and walked past him.
"Wait a minute." The man looked upset as he grabbed Lin Jin's sleeve.
Not again, Lin Jin thought, maybe it's another scam or someone trying to hit on him?
Lin Jin blankly raised his head to look at him.
"You knocked my stuff down" he pointed to the ground.
Looking in the direction of his finger, Lin Jin saw a bowl of piping hot glutinous rice balls scattered on the ground. The man's hand was obviously scalded by the soup and were still wet.
Hmm, I'd definitely be pissed too if this happened to me.
After putting himself in the other man's shoes, Lin Jin put a smile on his face. He pulled out a packet of tissues from his pocket, intending to descalate the issue. He handed the tissues to the man and sincerely apologized again, "I'm really sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going when I was eating. It's all my fault."
Ploania Translator’s Note: I think Diamond rank in League of Legends back when this was written was around top 2% in the game.
After the lunch gathering, those with homes farther away hurried back, while those living nearby returned to grandparent’s house.
A group of aunts, uncles, and Lin Jin’s mother had set up two mahjong tables in the front room, ready to play mahjong for the afternoon. Lin Jin, Lin Chen, and their cousin Zhao Ruo rested at the house for half an hour before heading towards the town center.
Cousin Wu Jia had run off to take care of his milk tea shop in the town center after lunch, but he gave Lin Jin the address before he left, so they were now headed to there.
Walking from their grandparent’s house to the town center took a good half an hour, since the house was already on the edge of town.
Since Zhao Ruo hadn't seen them for a whole year, and her relationship with Lin Jin wasn't that close. It was even more awkward with Lin Chen as they hadn’t seen each other in nearly ten years. So the three of them did their own thing, occasionally exchanging a few words before quickly falling into silence again.
Half an hour later, they finally reached the town center. Although it was just a small town, there were a lot of people. There were tricycle carts, motorcycles, and street stalls occupying the road. It was so crowded that it was difficult to walk.
His older cousin Wu Jia’s milk tea shop was a floor below a Walmart supermarket, a supermarket that was just established two years ago but was already the largest in town.
Normally, large international supermarkets like Walmart rarely came to small towns. But this town was one of the more famous towns in Fuzhou and the residents were said to be quite wealthy. As a result, people would always think Lin Jin was a rich second generation when he mentioned his hometown was here.
However, Lin Jin's family was so poor they were barely getting by, though he was indeed once barely considered a rich second generation...
But, who asked his dad to recklessly throw all their money into gambling? Now they were also in debt, so now he was just a poor second generation.
Arriving at the Walmart plaza, Lin Jin immediately spotted the only milk tea shop there and his cousin Wu Jia was busy preparing milk tea for customers.
Cousin Zhao Ruo hurried over to chat with Wu Jia, who, after seeing them and finishing the milk tea, he handed over the shop to his employees. Then he came out with three bottles of Coke and distributed one to each person. Afterwards, he looked at Lin Jin with a smile in his eyes.
"Where are we going?" Cousin Wu Jia took the initiative as soon as he arrived, becoming the leader of the group. He actively asked Lin Jin and the others, "Want to go shopping in the plaza?"
"There's nothing to buy, might as well go to an internet cafe." Cousin Zhao Ruo, an internet addicted girl, energetically suggested to Wu Jia, "Let's team up and play League!"
"I'm pretty bad at it" Lin Jin helplessly scratched his head. He hadn't touched League of Legends for over half a year, maybe even a year. Even though he was once somewhat of a high level player, now he was nothing more than a noob who barely plays. "Plus, I haven't played in a long time."
"No worries, I'll carry you guys today" Although cousin Wu Jia appeared very mature, when he was with Lin Jin and the others who were all under twenty, he too acted like a youthful peer. He confidently declared “I’m already diamond rank, so carrying you guys won’t be a problem.”
Lin Jin glanced at Lin Chen and noticed that he seemed to want to play, so he didn't say much more. Even though he hadn't played LoL in a long time, he didn’t have any objections in joining them.
The internet cafe was just nearby. When they walked in, they found that the place was filled with smoke. Lin Jin and Lin Chen, both non-smokers, where immediately choked by the thick tobacco smoke and quickly backed out.
"Is it too smoky?" Lin Jin asked with a displeased look, hesitating at the entrance.
"Aren't all internet cafes like this nowadays?" Zhao Ruo looked at Lin Jin, confused.
Lin Chen felt the level of smoke was within his acceptable limits but couldn't understand why Lin Jin was so repelled by it.
He clearly remembered that his brother smoked, right?
"You guys go play, I can't stand the cigarette smoke" Lin Jin shook his head with a wry smile.
Maybe because the black cat disapproved of Lin Jin's smoking, he was now exceptionally sensitive to cigarette smoke. The smell alone made him uncomfortable, but if he tried to smoke himself, just one puff would make his eyes and nose run with tears and mucus.
"Shall we go in and play?" Lin Chen hesitated.
"It's okay, I'll just walk around" Lin Jin said with a gentle smile, "You go in and play with them. If you don't, when you get home, you won't even be able to watch videos, let alone play games."
"Okay then" Lin Chen reluctantly nodded and walked into the internet cafe.
Lin Jin waltched his figure recede, yawned, and rubbed his bloated stomach from eating too much at noon. Then he turned around and walked into the Walmart superstore.
The superstore was very big, but it wasn't very crowded. The people of the town preferred stores that were less than a kilometer away. Even though this Walmart does have a lot of varieties, due to various reasons, the prices were also a bit higher.
He strolled casually around the store, bought two imported chocolate bars, then left.
Even though Lin Jin used to frequent this area as a child, he moved when he was five and now was no longer familiar with the area.
Looking at the somewhat unfamiliar streets of the small town, Lin Jin aimlessly wandered around. Although the town was not large, it had a variety of shops, however, the streets were often occupied by various food stalls, making Lin Jin's walk a bit difficult.
But the abundance of food stalls had its perks. Even though Lin Jin's stomach was already full, as a bona fide foodie, when faced with something he liked and that smelled delicious, he had to eat, right?
He ordered a serving of stinky tofu and some so called New Orleans grilled wings, then went to the nearby Zheng Xin chicken steak stall for a few skewers of chicken. Lin Jin was so busy, constantly lowering his head to eat the food in his hands.
To avoid having to look up at the road while eating, Lin Jin decisively turned into a deserted alley. This alley appeared to be a residential area, and his aunt’s house should be nearby.
And then, Lin Jin f*cking bumped into someone again.
Fortunately, he wasn't running this time, or else the snacks in Lin Jin's hands would have definitely fallen to the ground.
"Sorry." Lin Jin looked up to find a tall and thin man with a crew cut. He apologized immediately, then made a turn and walked past him.
"Wait a minute." The man looked upset as he grabbed Lin Jin's sleeve.
Not again, Lin Jin thought, maybe it's another scam or someone trying to hit on him?
Lin Jin blankly raised his head to look at him.
"You knocked my stuff down" he pointed to the ground.
Looking in the direction of his finger, Lin Jin saw a bowl of piping hot glutinous rice balls scattered on the ground. The man's hand was obviously scalded by the soup and were still wet.
Hmm, I'd definitely be pissed too if this happened to me.
After putting himself in the other man's shoes, Lin Jin put a smile on his face. He pulled out a packet of tissues from his pocket, intending to descalate the issue. He handed the tissues to the man and sincerely apologized again, "I'm really sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going when I was eating. It's all my fault."
Ploania Translator’s Note: I think Diamond rank in League of Legends back when this was written was around top 2% in the game.
