Lu Yan raised his beer can and said, "Welcome, Xiao Heng, to our big family of Unit 3, Building 6. As the saying goes—"

Zhang Xiaohui subconsciously continued, "A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor?"

However, Lu Yan was always unpredictable: "One more friend, one more path to wealth."

As Lu Yan spoke, he hooked his beer can to tap the one in Xiao Heng's hand. The two cans clinked together with a clang.

Then Lu Yan said again, "Net admin, if I mention your name at the internet cafe, do I get a discount?"

Xiao Heng had stayed up too late. After having a drink, he actually became more energetic. He said, "You do."

"How much of a discount?"

"I can break your legs."

"..."

Lu Yan slowly crushed the beer can he had just finished in his hand, then gave Xiao Heng the middle finger. "Fuck."

Xiao Heng unhurriedly returned the middle finger.

The two of them looked like they were comparing who had longer fingers.

"Are you two childish or what?" said the onlooker, Brother Wei.

As they chatted, they started a drinking contest.

Zhang Xiaohui was the first to fall. Can count: 2.

Lu Yan watched as Zhang Xiaohui collapsed unconscious on the table and remarked with emotion, "This is why I like drinking with Xiaohui. Drinking with him saves money."

As for the person next to him, he wasn't so easy on the wallet.

Xiao Heng appeared calm and composed, but he went through can after can, the beer in his hand never-ending.

Brother Wei drunkenly draped an arm over Xiao Heng's shoulder, calling him "little bro": "Little bro, life always has its down moments. Back in my day, I was only eighteen, determined to get into the police academy..."

But Brother Wei only managed a few sentences before he went silent, collapsing right next to Zhang Xiaohui.

Leaving Lu Yan and Xiao Heng to continue the contest.

In the end, because they ran out of beer, the two of them ended in a draw.

Lu Yan tilted his head back and downed the last mouthful of beer, just as Xiao Heng let go of the empty can in his hand.

Surrounding them were over a dozen empty beer bottles.

After a while, Lu Yan woke up Brother Wei and the others, packed everything up, and saw Xiao Heng leaning against the low wall at the edge of the rooftop.

Lu Yan walked over and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Xiao Heng was looking at this residential area.

Looking down from the rooftop, the entire Seventh District could be seen without obstruction.

The sky was dim.

The ruins were coated in a layer of gray.

"When did they start demolishing this place?"

"About two months ago," Lu Yan said. "They said they were going to tear it down to build a factory, and our building is the only one left. The complex used to be really lively, with breakfast sellers shouting downstairs. Now, if you want breakfast, you have to walk all the way to District 6."

It was the first time Xiao Heng had observed this "Seventh Residential Area" so seriously.

He didn't know how he was supposed to feel looking at all this. Having completely switched to a different environment, everything around him had a faint sense of unreality.

This environment was, in fact, terrible.

The effects of the alcohol kept rising.

Lu Yan patted his shoulder from behind, interrupting his thoughts. "Look up."

Xiao Heng raised his head and discovered an endless starry night above him. It was a sight you couldn't normally see in the city, so magnificent it was like an illusion.

"The Lower District may be a bit run-down, but it's not without its merits," Lu Yan put his arm on his shoulder, looking up at the stars with him, but the words coming out of his mouth became increasingly mood-ruining. "Look, if you go to the city, where are you gonna find a job without an ID? It's only here that the illegal industry chain is more developed. Never mind that you lost your ID, even if you were an unregistered resident, you wouldn't have to worry..."

Xiao Heng, the Black Internet Cafe net admin: "..."

After that, Lu Yan went to the Black Internet Cafe a few more times.

He had just taken on a new arrangement job, but his crappy home computer, which had been toiling away for over three years, had recently started acting up as if it wanted to retire. Specifically, it would crash midway through saving a song he had just finished editing, or it would just shut down automatically.

Client: This is urgent. Can you deliver it within a week?

Lu Yan had no choice but to grab his written score and keys and rush out to work.

Every time before he went, Lu Yan would, out of courtesy, ask a certain night-shift net admin if he needed anything.

However, after he had gone a few times, Xiao Heng's message would arrive before he could even ask: Bring a boxed meal.

[Lu Yan]: ?

[Xiao Heng]: Add a soup.

Xiao Heng's tone in these two sentences was way too matter-of-fact.

[Lu Yan]: Did I say I was coming?

[Lu Yan]: You want a loving slap from your daddy?

[Xiao Heng]: You're not coming today?

[Xiao Heng]: Oh [/emoji].

Perhaps because they had gotten more familiar, Xiao Heng would also send a few currently popular sticker packs when sending WeChat messages.

Lu Yan stared for a few seconds at the "slowly passing away" panda sticker on his phone screen.

Playing the victim is shameful.

"Logging on."

Ten minutes later, Lu Yan walked in, carrying the food and pushing aside the black curtain.

The person sitting behind the computer reached out a hand and asked him, "Where's my food?"

Lu Yan placed the food on the desk. "Have I become a delivery boy?"

Xiao Heng took it.

Not many people came to the internet cafe during mealtime. Lu Yan put on his headphones and started adjusting the audio tracks.

After quickly finishing his meal, Xiao Heng sat down next to him again to catch up on sleep. He propped himself up on the desk with one hand, leaned close, took off one of Lu Yan's earbuds, and said, "Wake me if someone comes."

Lu Yan found this very interesting. "Who's the net admin here, exactly?"

Xiao Heng had already put his head down. He closed his eyes and said, "I'll give you a discount."

"...Piss off."

The two of them sat in a corner directly facing the black curtain. To Lu Yan's left was an ashtray, its ashes uncleaned, and a faint smell of smoke lingered in the air.

Xiao Heng was lucky today; no one came for a whole hour.

He woke up, opened his eyes, and saw that Lu Yan was still repeatedly editing the audio.

Lu Yan's fingers resting on the desk would occasionally tap along to the rhythm in his headphones. His fingers were very long. Today, he wore three earrings, and a silver necklace hung on his chest. Xiao Heng looked closely and saw that the pendant was a snake with its tongue flicking out.

This person, Lu Yan, as long as he sat there without opening his mouth, anyone who saw him would think he was a tough character.

If one were to list related keywords, the following would probably come up:

Mixed up in the underworld.

Not to be messed with.

...

Xiao Heng felt he must not be fully awake. What tough character? The guy sitting next to him writing a song was just a fucking coward who only knew how to run from a fight.

Xiao Heng lay on his arms beside him, watching him operate the music arrangement software for a while. He wanted to smoke a cigarette to wake himself up, but just as he lit it, he watched as the "tough character" Lu Yan's software crashed.

Lu Yan: "..."

???