Out Of Control All The Way - Chapter 9

Hearing this overly youthful reply, Shang Shixu chuckled and didn’t mind it at all.

When it came to romance, almost everyone in his social circle replaced their girlfriends every few months, whereas he seemed completely uninterested in such matters.

Perhaps it was tied to the family atmosphere of his upbringing. His father was away on business year-round, and his mother was always immersed in research projects where she was nowhere to be found. Their marital relationship belonged to that kind of water-like, respectful-yet-distant state, coming together only on special occasions.

As for their only son, his memory of their care extended only to inquiries about his academic performance during childhood. Later, seeing that he consistently stayed at the top of his class, they simply let him be. Once he achieved success in his career later on, they asked even less.

The only people who seemed to care whether he was married or not were the swarm of relatives who visited during the Lunar New Year, alongside people wanting to leverage his father’s connections who tried to set him up on blind dates. Only then would his parents remember that their son had yet to settle down.

He understood that he couldn’t keep dragging this matter out. According to his personal plans, he preferred to marry before turning thirty, which was why he had gone on several blind dates over the past year, though all of them had fizzled out into nothing.

While he remained indifferent to romantic matters, he was quite the opposite regarding his career. He enjoyed farming simulation games; building his own company was just like farming, and watching the company slowly grow larger and stronger gave him a sense of accomplishment.

As Shang Shixu was lost in thoughts about his life plan, his train of thought was pulled back by Jiang Muzhou.

“Since President Shang isn’t used to the food here, and since I’m treating a friend to a meal, I can’t let you stay hungry. Come on, I’ll cook something for you myself.”

“You’re going to cook?” Shang Shixu looked skeptical.

“Of course. It’s definitely cleaner and more hygienic than a restaurant.” Jiang Muzhou wore an earnest expression, then asked, “Do you prefer braised chicken with mushrooms, braised beef, or old pickled cabbage flavor?”

In a familiar setting, the first-floor lounge of the studio, the air conditioning was humming quietly.

The waiting time for instant noodles was three minutes.

Shang Shixu looked at the plastic fork stuck into the rim of the noodle bowl and looked at Jiang Muzhou. “I’ve never tasted your cooking before, so how do you already know the flavor?”

“Haha, that’s just the flavor it is.”

With the time up, Shang Shixu opened the lid and began to eat his noodles.

Perhaps because the topics they had discussed earlier were a bit too private, the sense of distance between Jiang Muzhou and Shang Shixu gradually vanished when they were together, making them feel genuinely like old friends who had known each other for a long time.

Sitting next to Shang Shixu while playing with his phone, Jiang Muzhou proactively asked for advice on commercial investment matters.

While eating his noodles, Shang Shixu offered him suggestions and simultaneously remarked, “This game of ours already exists on the market, but it lacks refinement and the response has been mediocre. The breakout hits are basically all from Europe and America. I suggest aiming for AAA quality, which will give you more leverage during the Series B financing round.”

Before he could finish, he noticed Jiang Muzhou’s eyes shining brightly, causing Shang Shixu to pause.

Jiang Muzhou clapped his hands together. “We thought of the exact same thing! I didn’t expect you to understand gaming so well. True to form, behind every success is diligent learning.”

He certainly didn’t lack confidence.

After tidying up the table, Jiang Muzhou asked, “Do you have any plans for this afternoon?”

Shang Shixu shook his head. He had purposely cleared his schedule for today, never expecting to sample two different flavors of instant noodles instead.

“How about keeping me company to experience some games today? A lot of new games have dropped recently, and I want to find some inspiration from them.”

“Sure.”

Jiang Muzhou cleared the scattered gaming equipment off the sofa in the office area, invited Shang Shixu to sit first, and went to turn on the console.

Once everything was set up, he pressed the buttons to select a game and then instructed Shang Shixu to choose a character.

Shang Shixu studied the game controller for a few seconds. The moment the game started, the character on screen was instantly KO’d, making Jiang Muzhou realize that Shang Shixu truly did not play video games.

Taking the game controller back from Shang Shixu’s hands, Jiang Muzhou remarked, “You said before that you used to be a model student dedicated solely to his studies. I believe you now.”

Shang Shixu watched as Jiang Muzhou used his character to clear out minor monsters, passing the level in less than a minute.

Operating the controller with left attacks and right strikes, Jiang Muzhou wore an expression of intense focus.

They quickly reached the final boss of the first stage. Mid-dash, he wanted to brag to Shang Shixu about how he could defeat this boss in two minutes.

Turning his head, he caught sight of Shang Shixu’s dark, fathomless eyes. The corners of the man’s lips curved upward as his entire body leaned back against the chair in a naturally relaxed posture, watching him sideways. Who knew how long he had been staring.

He was rarely stared at like that. In a momentary lapse of concentration, he was defeated right then and there by a relatively easy boss on the first stage.

Jiang Muzhou, who had never once been defeated on the first stage, shoved the controller back into Shang Shixu’s hands. “Are you going to play or not?”

Shang Shixu set the controller down, pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped it a few times, and turned the screen to show Jiang Muzhou.

“I usually play this kind of game.”

Seeing the phrase “City Building” displayed across the mobile interface, Jiang Muzhou asked in astonishment, “You play this game?”

He truly couldn’t imagine someone this busy enjoying a farming-style simulation game. Farming really was rooted deep in the bones of every Chinese person.

Shang Shixu nodded, showing him his level. Level 388 was displayed brightly at the top. Since 388 was the maximum level in this game, it meant he had cleared the entire game.

“I finally played all the way to level 388, only to discover I had hit the ceiling.”

“This game hasn’t received an update in over two years, it seems.”

“Yeah, a bit of a pity.”

Looking at the dense cluster of towering architecture on Shang Shixu’s phone screen, Jiang Muzhou had no idea how long Shang Shixu must have spent playing to reach such a state. Management games like this required investing a substantial amount of time every single day just to build up to that level of achievement.

“I heard what comes after level 388.”

A glimmer of interest sparked in Shang Shixu. “You know this game? Right, you are in the gaming circle. Is there more after that?”

“After that, the Earth can no longer accommodate any more construction. The character collects gold coins and materials, assembles a spaceship, flies out into space, and builds a habitable environment on Mars.”

By the time Jiang Muzhou reached the halfway point of his explanation, Shang Shixu was already starting to doubt him. When he finally wrapped up by talking about cosmic bases, alien strongholds, and group raids on monsters, Shang Shixu felt an urge to curse.

He had actually taken it seriously the whole time.

Noticing that Shang Shixu looked ready to cover his mouth, Jiang Muzhou voluntarily shut up and adopted an expression of absolute sincerity. “Everything I said is true.”

Shang Shixu tapped the game interface on his phone. “I don’t believe it!”

“Alright then!” Believe what you want.

The attention of both men drifted back to the adventure game on the big screen. Jiang Muzhou played the game while explaining it to Shang Shixu, helping a gaming layman understand the rules and combat strategies.

Later on, when Jiang Muzhou had Shang Shixu try battling monsters on his own, the man actually managed to clear a notoriously difficult stage.

Jiang Muzhou praised him by saying, “He is a man of potential.”

Shang Shixu countered that he was simply “endowed with exceptional intelligence.”

At four in the afternoon, the roar of a motorcycle suddenly echoed from outside the studio doors.

“Muzhou, are you in?”

That rugged voice instantly gave away that Gu Yubai had arrived.

Jiang Muzhou stood up, and Shang Shixu rose right along with him.

Spotting Shang Shixu, Gu Yubai froze for a moment, genuinely surprised to find him here.

Setting his helmet down on the table, Gu Yubai greeted them both.

Having not seen him for a while, Gu Yubai’s skin had darkened noticeably from wind and sun exposure.

He pulled a generous amount of local specialties out of his motorcycle cargo box. “These are local cured meats, completely authentic, and they taste great.”

Motorcycle trips were supposed to be traveled light, yet whenever any of them went out, they always brought back some local delicacy to share with the others.

No matter the quantity, it was the thought that counted.

Seeing that Jiang Muzhou had a visitor, Shang Shixu took his leave.

Jiang Muzhou walked him out.

Gu Yubai lingered for a long moment, watching the retreating figures of Shang Shixu and Jiang Muzhou as they walked away.