C18 Xia Chuchu and Her Seniors

When Zhang Muye deployed the final Nuclear Bomb, which was dubbed “Big Ben”, the screen went completely white. The other players could only shield their eyes or stare blankly at their monitors.

It was a shocking development, to say the least. Zhang Muye was too formidable a player. The enemy didn’t even have time to react when everything just exploded.

“Impossible! How could we have lost?” The two players who had been swapped in as substitutes were stunned by the results.

Unbeknownst to Zhang Muye and his team, one of these “reinforcements” was a professional player called Xiao Biao. He was touted as one of the best Stars players in the city, and Lu Liang has specifically invited him out for assistance today. For him to have lost to a rookie player... was nothing short of terrifying.

It was clear that Zhang Muye was well on his way to being a professional player himself.

After securing his victory, Zhang Muye leaned back against his chair and glanced at Lu Liang before asking the latter to hold his end of the bargain.

Bobcut Girl and the rest of their team all looked at Lu Liang in unison. The other girl opened his mouth, presumably to spout excuses for Lu Liang to renege. But she thought back to Zhang Muye’s domineering attitude just now, and ended up swallowing her words.

“Big brother!” Lu Liang yelled with a sneer. Several emotions passed over his face—grievance, humiliation, and rage.

“Remember,” Zhang Muye declared, “Today, I am your big brother. You must address me as such whenever you speak to me or about me. Do you understand?”

Lu Liang gnashed his teeth together in frustration, but he couldn’t refute Zhang Muye’s words. Even so, his frustrations were clear for everyone to see.

Zhang Muye relished every minute of the experience. In any case, it was still just a game. He wasn’t looking to make trouble for everyone. He took off his headset, rose from his seat, and walked toward the billiard hall.

“That was amazing, Zhang Muye! You’re my idol now!”

Liu Dong and Sheng Kai rushed after him, their eye bright with admiration. They never imagined they would one day witness such a legendary player, let alone be friends with him.

They laid claim to an empty billiards table and grabbed their cue sticks. It was time to stretch their limbs after sitting all tense and rigid for so long.

They had barely started a round when the doors to the establishment opened wide, and in walked a group of good-looking young men and women.

Liu Dong’s face lit up. “Hey, that’s Xia Chuchu over there.”

Sure enough, Xia Chuchu was among the new arrivals.

Although she stood out from the group as the most attractive one, the others were certainly beautiful as well.

Their complexions were smooth and fair, and they handled themselves with an unmistakable air of elegance.

A couple of them were carrying a guitar case and a violin case on their backs. By the looks of it, they seemed to be music students.

“Chuchu,” Sheng Kai called out from where he stood. “Did you come here to play online games, too?”

She gave him a sweet smile before saying, “That’s right! Oh, these are my seniors. They’ve come to Jinan for a performance, so I offered to take them around the city.”

Xia Chuchu glanced at Zhang Muye and Liu Dong, and hesitated for a beat before nodding to them in greeting.

Ever since Zhang Muye’s unexpected confession and Xia Chuchu’s immediate rejection, there had been an invisible wall between the two childhood friends.

“Are these your friends, Chuchu?” One of the more handsome boys asked, coming up to stand beside her. He swept a glance over Zhang Muye and his friends with a subtle yet condescending eye.

“Oh, yes.” Xia Chuchu floundered for a bit, unsure of how to introduce her childhood friends. “These are my classmates.”

She was quite embarrassed to acknowledge them, so she hastily added, “This is Zhang Muye. He is a very good singer.”

“Is that so?” The handsome boy arched an eyebrow and looked Zhang Muye up and down. This time, he didn’t bother to hide his sneer.

He wasn’t at all interested in getting to know these local kids.

Xia Chuchu felt even more awkward after seeing her handsome senior’s reaction. It shouldn’t be surprising, since her childhood friends were considerably beneath her fellow music students. The unfortunate thing was that this reflected on her as well.

She wasn’t the greediest or the most ambitious out there, but Xia Chuchu did care a lot about appearances. And so, when she looked back at Zhang Muye, Liu Dong, and Sheng Kai, her expression was a little aloof.

She had never intended to introduce both parties, anyway.

Meanwhile, two of the pretty girls who had arrived with them were eyeing Zhang Muye with interest.

“Does he really sing well? He sure looks handsome...”

“Gosh, look at those eyes. His eyes make me feel things.”

“Chuchu! Introduce us, will you?”

Xia Chuchu just smiled at them tightly and said nothing.

After observing their dynamic, Zhang Muye went back to the billiard table. He wasn’t interested in talking to these people.

Liu Dong and Sheng Kai followed his cue and began to play. Zhang Muye had always been a good player, while the other two lagged behind him. Most of the time, the other two would compete while Zhang Muye acted as the referee.

After a while, Xia Chuchu and her seniors also took a vacant table.

The handsome boy who had spoken earlier was good at billiards, too. He was able to defeat his friends with just two turns. After finishing a game, he sat to the side and sipped his drink with an arrogant look on his face.

Seeing that he was getting bored, Xia Chuchu went up to Liu Dong and Sheng Kai. “Hey, guys, how about playing a round with Brother Zhao?”

The two boys exchanged a look. They shared a mutual dislike for Xia Chuchu’s snobbish friends, but they couldn’t bring themselves to embarrass her. “Sure!”

The handsome boy, Zhao Yang, was still preening over his easy victory. He slowly stood up as Liu Dong and Sheng Kai approached. Instead of greeting them, however, he walked past them to refill his drink. As a result, the two boys were left standing awkwardly, facing the wall.

It wasn’t until Zhao Yang finished his glass of water that he finally spoke, but even then, he addressed Xia Chuchu. “Chuchu, are you sure they can go against me? I don’t really like wasting my energy on rookies.”

He was looking down on Liu Dong and Sheng Kai right to their faces!

A short, slightly plump boy chimed in with an explanation—“Our Brother Zhao only competes with worthy opponents.”

At this point, Xia Chuchu was blushing a furious shade of red. She whirled around at Liu Dong and asked, “You’re good at billiards, aren’t you?” Fear was evident in her voice.

Both Liu Dong and Sheng Kai were outraged, and it showed in their faces. Liu Dong was even more annoyed by Xia Chuchu’s behavior. Still, he was helpless against her pleading look. “We’re all right,” he bit out through gritted teeth.

“Oh?” Zhao Yang said. “In that case, why don’t we make a bet to make things more fun?”

Liu Dong’s expression turned dark. “What bet?”

“Let’s go with Snooker, say, fifty yuan per round? Double the price if one of us scores eighty points in a stroke. What do you say?”

A bet involving money? That would be gambling. Liu Dong and Sheng Kai balked at the prospect. After all, they couldn’t afford to burn money, should they lose.

Zhao Yang smirked at them. “What, you can’t afford to play? Never mind, then.” He turned to Xia Chuchu and softened his tone, if only a little. “Chuchu, your friends are obviously not on the same level as us. You should stop interacting with them in the future, or their poor standards might rub off on you.”