171— Hosting A Classmate

"You've been writing for so long, aren't you tired?" He started writing around the same time Li Yuchen started coding.

It was a one word answer this time, "No."

Li Yuchen kept quiet, looking around in boredom. What should he do now?

Thinking for a bit, he stood up and tip toed to Han Yichen's side of the room. His plan was to cover Han Yichen's eyes suddenly and just cause mischief.

But as he lifted up his hands, Han Yichen's voice sounded, "What do you think you're doing?"

Li Yuchen's poised hands dropped in defeat, "Do you have eyes at the back of your head or something?" he muttered.

"No, I only know you very well."

While Li Yuchen was trying to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing, there was a knock on their door.

Both of them turned to face each other. Who could that be?

Han Yichen was the first person to speak, "If they're from the Broadcasting Club, tell them I'm not around."

"Why is it always my job to get the door?" Li Yuchen grumbled as he headed for the door. This had better be worth it.

He swung the door back as if he was about to face an enemy, only to see .....Tian Jue.

Tian Jue waved with an awkward smile, "Hi, it's me."

Li Yuchen wordlessly let him in, while wondering what he came to their room for.

"You have a really nice place here." Tian Jue said with admiration. Their room was quite nice, levels above the one he shared with Jiu Renxin. Liu Shou stayed in one of the single rooms on the first floor.

"Did you lose your way?" This was from Han Yichen.

Tian Jue smiled before shaking his head. "No. I told you I would visit, didn't I?"

Han Yichen exchanged glances with Li Yuchen as if to ask, "when did this happen?" Li Yuchen assumed a look of innocence as he shrugged. "Who knows?"

Either way, they had a guest now, so Han Yichen stopped writing and saved his work before getting up to entertain their guest.

After serving Tian Jue a cup of juice, the three of them sat down in a circle. The atmosphere was very strange.

A few more minutes of looking at each other went by before Tian Jue spoke, "So what are you guys up to this weekend?"

"Writing."

"Coding." Even Li Yuchen gave a one word answer too.

It was the first time Tian Jue was finding out how difficult it could be to converse with people that were not interested.

But he wasn't fazed. He genuinely liked the two boys and wanted to get to know them. He asked another question.

"So what are your hobbies?"

"Reading."

"Well, I like gaming when I'm not coding."

Tian Jue perked up, turning to Li Yuchen. "Games? I like games too. What kinds do you play?"

"Many. Dominoes, Criminal Scenes, Lord level kingdoms—"

"You play Lord level kingdoms too, seriously? I love that game!"

Li Yuchen's face finally showed some interest. He felt a bit proud at the fact that someone loved the game his father developed. "Really? What level are you on?"

"I'm still a Level 35 Lord. I'm finding it too difficult to defeat the Bingtan Bandits." He said.

"Oh, that's easy. You just need to get some coal from the Garden of Life. They would weaken immediately it touches them."

"That simple? I didn't know. But I don't have the coal either."

"You know what? Let's get you some coal now." Li Yuchen said, getting up with excitement. Tian Jue went with him to his side of the room.

While he admired Li Yuchen's "refined" taste, Li Yuchen set up the game on his computer. Tian Jue logged in to his account and added Li Yuchen as a friend of his kingdom.

Before long, they were at the Garden of Life, fighting the Coal keepers. Because Li Yuchen had high level equipment, he finished them off quickly and got the required item. Tian Jue was in admiration.

"How did you get such equipment?"

"I bought some, and I won some from completing quests."

"Amazing. I take it that you're at a very high level?"

"No 1 on the server." Li Yuchen counted this as one of his proudest achievements. The look of surprise on Tian Jue's face was proof enough.

"You mean you're "Dad's _Sweetie?"

Li Yuchen's face collapsed immediately. He had forgotten that his username was corny. He chose it at a time that he was very happy with his father, so he didn't mind the sappiness at the time. But now that he was a grown man, it sounded kind of ridiculous, especially when it was said out loud like this.

"Yes." He muttered.

Tian Jue looked like he was seeing a celebrity, "Wow! Can I follow you around?"

Since the conversation had moved away from his nickname, Li Yuchen nodded quickly, "Of course. But Yichen already follows behind me." To which Han Yichen replied, "You can take my place."

He wasn't very invested in games after all.

"It's settled. I'll give you my best equipment in exchange. Thank you." Tian Jue said with excitement. Han Yichen's reply of "no need" was lost on him.

Both of them continued playing games for the next two hours, while Han Yichen was finally able to continue writing without disturbance.

By the time Tian Jue said his goodbye, he was already on level 51, which was something he couldn't have achieved in the next three weeks if he was playing alone. With Li Yuchen, breezing through levels was a piece of cake.

Tian Jue was clearly excited, and he thanked them courteously for the fun afternoon, promising to visit them again. Both boys nodded.

"After this afternoon, I can say he's not that bad. I wonder how he got to be friends with Delusional." — which was what he called Jiu Renxin.

Han Yichen shrugged in agreement. He too felt Tian Jue was worth befriending.

"By the way, isn't it time for lunch yet? I'm starving." Li Yuchen complained, rubbing his flat tummy.

Han Yichen gave him a look, "We ate lunch hours ago, remember?"

"What?"

He was interrupted by his cellphone ringing. It was number he didn't recognize.

"Hello." He said neutrally, but when the familiar image of a young man appeared, he became livelier.

"Uncle Junmo! You're back!" Li Yuchen's voice went up a notch as his mouth curved in happiness. He cradled the phone and sat on his bed.