Chapter 35: She is at The Shell

This shopping mall was located near the city center, only three or four subway stops away, with a CBD center nearby.

Wang Zhao glanced at the time. It was around 4 o’clock now. To be precise, their meal had lasted two and a half hours, not including the waiting time. By the end, it was more exhausting than eating French cuisine.

After hanging up the phone, Wang Zhao drove towards West Pu Road. The location Xu Yingchun sent her was a place called The Shell, with the Chinese name “Shell Theater”. From the Chinese name, it sounded like a small theater, but it was more like a bar where some singers and bands would perform.

When Wang Zhao arrived, it was still early, not even 5 o’clock yet. Xu Yingchun was standing in front of a small stall with several others, casually holding a disposable plate, talking and eating with the people beside her.

This was a very busy street with many snack shops. Small food stalls could be seen scattered along the roadside.

However, many people were standing around the stalls. Men and women in various outfits could be seen, most of them quite revealing. If not for the calendar, Wang Zhao would have doubted whether autumn had arrived, thinking the season was still stuck in summer.

Xu Yingchun and the others saw Wang Zhao and quickly waved, calling her over.

“I thought you’d be delayed for a while.” Xu Yingchun threw away her plate and casually wiped her mouth with a tissue. “It’s still early now, but there’s a band performing there in the afternoon. We can go check it out. Have you seen? Quite a few people around thirty have come here, they’re all here specifically to listen to this performance. I heard it’s to pay tribute to a British rock band.”

Wang Zhao surveyed the surroundings: “You said the exciting part is just the band performance?”

Xu Yingchun said: “How could that be? The official event starts at 7 o’clock. Here, these are the tickets, keep them safe first.”

She had managed to snag a few tickets with great effort.

The other two people were also classmates Wang Zhao used to be close with. One of them had attended the class reunion last time, while the other had just returned from a business trip out of town. One worked at a court, the other at a law firm. Now they were both dressed casually, exposing their collarbones, looking relaxed as they stood in front of the small stall, quickly finishing the food on their plates.

While talking to Xu Yingchun, Wang Zhao glanced at the two people behind her from the corner of her eye, matching their appearances with the photos. These two had occasionally contacted her during this period, but Wang Zhao had always declined their invitations to meet, citing her busy schedule.

Now the two came over to talk to Wang Zhao: “Why don’t you eat something too? It might be very late when we finish later.”

Wang Zhao couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at this, declining their suggestion. Recalling the previous conversation, she couldn’t help but speculate, looking at Xu Yingchun: “The exciting activity you said you’d show me, it’s in this bar?”

The neon sign of The Shell hung above, though it hadn’t lit up yet. Only a small sign below with some small English text hinted at the place’s uniqueness, revealing a bit of mystery in its secrecy.

By now, men and women were already walking in, truly eye-catching.

Wang Zhao now thought Xu Yingchun meant a bar party, after all, Xu Yingchun seemed quite proper in her eyes.

It was somewhat expected, most single parties didn’t go beyond such activities.

As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Yingchun’s next sentence came out: “That’s right.”

But seeing Wang Zhao’s expression, she knew the other had misunderstood, and didn’t explain: “The band performance is about to start. This band performance isn’t long, just under two hours. We don’t need to hurry now, there are still two or three hours before it starts.”

After all, it was a surprise, so there was no need to say it out loud, right? A friend who loved to play had told her about this, and Xu Yingchun had always wanted to come and see. But she couldn’t find a companion. Now, taking this opportunity, Xu Yingchun had called Wang Zhao over too, using the pretext of a pre-wedding single activity to broaden her own horizons as well.

“There’s an internet cafe not far from this street, shall we go there to kill some time?” Xu Hao suggested.

When she arrived, she had just seen an internet cafe at the corner of this street, only about fifty meters away from here, very close, less than five minutes’ walk.

Xu Yingchun and another person agreed, and everyone looked at Wang Zhao, seeking her opinion.

Since starting work, this group of people had rarely played games together. Going to internet cafes together in college seemed like something from the last century.

So going to the internet cafe now felt more like a commemoration. The enthusiasm of the three was sparked, and they decided to go and experience a bit of their youth.

Wang Zhao’s mouth twitched a few times.

They weren’t that old, only about twenty-five or twenty-six, yet these three were making it sound like middle-aged people reminiscing about the fleeting years of youth.

Actually, she was a bit hesitant. Since coming to this world, she hadn’t had the chance to understand the games of this world, or rather, the many aspects of life had already been enough to make her overwhelmed. Wang Zhao hadn’t even thought about trying to understand something like games, which were for entertainment and spiritual fulfillment.

She also hadn’t expected that her original self had some involvement with games. She had thought this person had always been diligent and studious since starting school. It was her fault for being too one-sided in her thinking.

However, after careful consideration, Wang Zhao still agreed to Xu Hao’s suggestion. As for whether she would play games when they got to the internet cafe, she could come up with explanations and excuses later.

The internet cafe was on the second floor in a hidden location. The facilities inside were quite good, without any unbearable smells.

Xu Yingchun went to book the seats, specifically opening a private room.

Walking inside, they smelled the aroma of instant noodles. Following the smell, they saw several children in school uniforms playing games.

Wang Zhao frowned slightly, and Xu Yingchun also let out a “hey”: “These little brats nowadays are much bolder than we were back then, and richer too.”

Today was a workday, Wednesday. It was still daytime, yet these little brats dared to skip school to play games in an internet cafe. They were truly bold, much more so than they were back then. And each of them had a box of noodles. Those instant noodles must cost at least four yuan a box. Playing games for half a day plus a box of noodles, that’s at least ten yuan to start with.

Back in the day, Xu Yingchun only had fifteen yuan pocket money a week in middle school. It would be gone after a few trips to the school store. And skipping class, she only dared to skip the evening self-study sessions. She didn’t have the guts to skip daytime classes.