Chapter 32: Jokes at the Dinner Table (2/2)

While Shen Lingyao was writing in her diary, Zhao Qingfeng and Zhang Yang arrived at Tiancong Internet Café.

Zhao Ming was not there, probably arranging an online date at home.

The internet café manager, having received instructions earlier in the day, flipped through the booking journal. “Wait a bit, two computers will be free in half an hour. I can give them to you, but only you can use it for free.”

Despite the cost, Zhang Yang was happy.

Only those who had experienced the craze of internet cafés in 2001 knew how popular they were. Being first in line to wait for a computer was already quite a privilege.

Moreover.

Due to limited network bandwidth, most internet users were still immersed in local network games.

The most popular was Counter-Strike (CS), followed by Red Alert and StarCraft, while other games like Age of Empires catered to a niche audience.

Zhao Qingfeng thanked the manager, looked inside the internet café, and took a deep breath.

The mix of cigarette smoke, sweat, and foot odor felt both familiar and strange.

In the small internet café with less than twenty computers, he could see everything at a glance.

At the moment, some girls were chatting on QQ and watching Meteor Garden, while the boys were fiercely battling in games, occasionally shouting excitedly.

The fifteen-inch CRT monitors and Double Flying Swallow ball mice exuded a sense of the era.

Zhang Yang, unable to wait, stood behind others, stretching his neck like a tortoise, eager to join the fray.

However, Zhao Qingfeng had no interest in gaming.

He came to the internet café mainly to prepare for his future plans: to register a hundred QQ accounts for future use and download a programming toolset to his email. Later, when he got his own computer, he planned to set up a complete programming environment.

Time in the internet café flew by.

Half an hour passed quickly.

The manager was quite polite, offering Zhao Qingfeng a bottle of soda and even asking if he wanted instant noodles.

Zhao Qingfeng refused the noodles, took the soda, and sat down with Zhang Yang at computers 15 and 16.

“What are we playing today?” Zhang Yang envied Zhao Qingfeng for getting free internet access.

“Didn’t Zhao Xiaoguo give you an account for Stone Age? You play that. I’ll check out some foreign websites,” replied Zhao Qingfeng, opening Google efficiently.

“Foreign websites?” Zhang Yang became nervous, “brother Zhao, you can’t do that. It’s broad daylight. People only sneakily watch that stuff during all-night sessions. If Shen Lingyao finds out, she’ll kill you!”

Where there’s internet, there’s pornography.

Zhao Qingfeng wasn’t into that, but he had to admit it was a cornerstone of technological advancement.

For instance, future VR technology.

Statistics showed that 71% of VR device purchases were just to watch ‘realistic movies’ and play adult games.

The world’s largest adult website starting with ‘P’ received 42 billion visits a year, meaning over a hundred million daily visits, far exceeding some normal major websites.

“Am I that kind of person?” Zhao Qingfeng kicked Zhang Yang’s stool.

In his second life, what he needed wasn’t the company of beautiful women. Those were mere clouds passing by.

His heart was set on Shen Lingyao, even if their future held no physical intimacy. He wondered if the future Shen Lingyao would be averse to such matters, though deep communication was preferable.

Just as he was about to open GitHub, Zhao Ming returned to the café with his online date for an ‘inspection.’

Seeing Zhao Qingfeng at the computer, Zhao Ming was overjoyed.

The naive little brother had been lured back by false kinship, hadn’t he?

Who the hell was his brother? Let him play, play for free, play him to death!

Let him waste his time and become a failure unable to get into university. Then, the compensation would belong to the real Zhao family!

“Little brother, you’re here?” Zhao Ming circled around, smiling as his eyes landed on the screen.

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