William Clark walked into the Supersonic Internet Café next to ICBC.

This was one of the city’s earliest internet cafés, and it still existed twenty years later. By then, there weren’t many people left; it only regained some liveliness during winter and summer breaks or holidays.

Three yuan per hour, no ID check, thick with smoke and noise everywhere.

He glanced around: some were playing “Red Alert,” some were playing CS, and “Legend” still hadn’t had its public beta.

Huh?

William Clark’s heart stirred—should he try to make some money off “Legend”?

Hiss!

He shuddered again. Forget it, forget it, netizens are already sick of it.

After weighing his options, he sat down next to someone playing “Chinese Paladin.” Judging by the look, it was a middle schooler—face full of innocence and obsession—controlling Li Xiaoyao with AV-quality graphics, killing monsters at Shilipo.

William Clark opened a webpage, found the three major portals, glanced at the news, then searched for what he wanted. Sohu and Sina didn’t have it, but NetEase did, and it was quite eye-catching.

He thought for a moment and tried searching the second-tier websites, only finding it on TOM.com.

Younger netizens probably don’t know TOM anymore. It was a portal site launched in 2000, funded by Hong Kong’s TOM Media Group, part of Li Huanggua’s business empire.

TOM.com hovered at the bottom of the first tier and the top of the second, had its moments of glory, but eventually faded into obscurity.

“Only NetEase and TOM have it—really just pocket money level…”

William Clark closed the webpage, played Red Alert for a while out of boredom, then slouched in his chair, watching the kid next to him play Chinese Paladin.

“Go to the little grove by the dock, search carefully, there’s treasure… Come on, just look, I promise there is!”

“Chat with that guy, then come back—yeah, chat again, see, now you’ve got a marching pill!”

“Over there, over there… No? Oh, I remembered wrong, then go back… Take it, take it, there’s a Miao Dao!”

“Bro, you’re a genius!”

The middle schooler looked at him with worshipful eyes.

“Just average, world’s third best… pfft!”

William Clark wiped his own face, thinking, damn, the environment really does affect people—even his banter was getting retro. Looks like the loading is at 100% now.

“Is this your first time playing Chinese Paladin?”

“I’ve played the beginning a few times before, but never finished it. Bro, is it fun later on?”

“It’s great!”

“Really? What’s the story later? I like Zhao Ling’er the most.”

“Why do you like Zhao Ling’er?”

“Uh…”

“Is it because she’s obedient and sensible, deep and strong?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s exactly it, but I can’t describe it. What happens to her later?”

“She dies!”

Middle schooler: Gah!

What a tragedy!

Chapter 4: Mobile Dad

Before William Clark could be drowned in the middle schooler’s resentment, Brian Clark arrived just in time—he’d been called over for a meeting.

“Bro!”

“Yeah, you’re here.”

“What did you want me for?”

“Not a good place to talk here. Let’s find somewhere to eat first.”

William Clark paid the bill, took Brian Clark out of the internet café, and headed toward the commercial street.

Brian Clark looked uneasy. Yesterday, he’d suddenly been found out for having a secret stash of money, and today he’d been called over for no reason—he felt nervous inside.

The commercial street wasn’t far. There weren’t any high-rises yet, just a few clothing malls, and the shops were crowded together, some tall, some short. Some days it was packed so tight only people could get through, no cars allowed—just looking at it would get you fined. Other days it was loose and cars could go in freely.

William Clark found a small noodle shop and ordered two bowls of hand-pulled noodles, four yuan in total. At this time, it was still all hand-pulled—a big bowl, with some meat sauce and cilantro, cheap and filling.

Brian Clark had just picked up a chopstickful when the other asked, “How much have you saved up?”

Pfft!

He choked on his noodles, not wanting to admit it but unable to deny it, so he weakly asked, “How did you know I made some money?”

Because I was reborn, bro!

But William Clark couldn’t say that, so he just sneered, making Brian Clark nervous. He weakly added, “I saved it up bit by bit by building and fixing computers for people.”

“Huh? Aren’t you studying programming? Why are you doing such bootlicker work?”

“What’s a bootlicker?”

“A kind of animal that dies a miserable death. Go on.”

“I want to take on projects too, but our school isn’t good enough. Big projects don’t come to us, only small jobs, and the pay is low… I actually haven’t saved much, and I have expenses too.”

Brian Clark lowered his head, emotions welling up inside.

William Clark understood.

Brian Clark’s living expenses were only 200 yuan a month. Well, you can survive on 200, or on 2,000, but in a university environment, kids from poor families do feel inferior.

Young people in their twenties like to eat, drink, sing karaoke, buy clothes—it’s all normal. On one hand, Brian Clark wanted to enjoy these things, but on the other, he felt guilty for not contributing to the family.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re still in school. It’s perfectly normal to want the same life as others.

Uncle and aunt aren’t well-educated, but they’re so happy you got into college. Getting into college is already the first step to changing your fate. If you keep working hard after graduation, find a good job, settle down in the city, and your kids get a good education in the future, then your whole family’s destiny will change.”