Chapter 660: Game
The boy’s eyes held the same steadiness and determination as an adult’s.
Perhaps many adults don’t have willpower as firm as his.
If Bai Xiqin didn’t know what role he might play in the future, she would certainly think Hong Yu would be the best Gatekeeper.
Yet Bai Xiqin knew clearly that in the future, a boy named Hong Yu might massacre many human survivors.
People were more terrified by his name than hearing of the Zombie King.
Bai Xiqin had seen many people and events she had heard of in the future.
For instance, Zhao Mimi, her role in the future was to send herself into the research institute.
Returning to the current point in time, Bai Xiqin had not been sent to the research institute by her, which means her past crime never happened.
Not committing a crime yet doesn’t make one a true criminal.
However, Bai Xiqin sensed hostility from her; a woman’s intuition told her this person was very bad.
Seeing her didn’t give her a feeling of familiarity at first sight, but rather a light sense of disgust.
But seeing the boy in front of her, Bai Xiqin only felt he was very pure, without a trace of killing intent, and could not relate him to the term "Man Slaughter."
There wasn’t a bit of hostility about him.
Could it be that there was another boy with the same name, Hong Yu?
"Sister, what are you thinking?"
Hong Yu felt a bit embarrassed speaking his mind but seeing Bai Xiqin seem to be contemplating something, the shyness on his face became more evident.
He was really afraid Bai Xiqin would say he was bragging.
After all, with his limited ability now, becoming a qualified Gatekeeper still required a long period of training.
"Nothing, just thinking that with someone like you protecting the safety base, it will surely be safe and sound."
Bai Xiqin smiled faintly, emphasizing the word "protection."
She hoped for protection, not slaughter.
Because Hong Yu truly had an innocent appearance, Bai Xiqin didn’t take preemptive actions to kill him.
Maybe, she really mistook him for someone else?
"Yes!"
Hong Yu nodded vigorously, his youthful cheeks resembling a ripe apple.
It was evident the boy was really shy.
After speaking with Hong Yu, Bai Xiqin returned to the bus.
Bai Yifan was not afraid of Man Slaughter Hong Yu at all, nor did he follow Bai Xiqin back since they were both high school students; he was quite interested in chatting with him for a while.
"Which high school are you in?" Bai Yifan asked.
"Shanghai High School," Hong Yu replied.
"Shanghai High? It’s full of top students; you must be one of the best there!"
Bai Yifan immediately noticed the little bit of white paper protruding from Hong Yu’s pocket. He could tell at a glance.
This guy had a test paper in his pocket.
...He’s quite the oddball.
"No, no, I’m just average."
Hong Yu said very honestly.
He ranked second in class, not because his overall score was second.
But in the Olympiad mathematics competition, he ranked one place lower than a classmate.
So he considered his ability just average.
If it wasn’t first, it was just average.
"Oh."
Bai Yifan felt somewhat balanced inside.
He didn’t study now and was considered average in his class.
Hong Yu was still studying and also had average grades in his class.
They were on the same level!
Bai Yifan thought this person could be a deep, honest friend who wasn’t bragging!
"What do you usually like to play?" Bai Yifan asked again.
He didn’t understand if the future Hong Yu would become the Man Slaughter his sister talked about; asking more questions might reveal the real reason Hong Yu became the Man Slaughter!
If he could change someone for the better, Bai Yifan thought he might reserve a place in heaven for himself in the future.
"Usually? Nothing much, just guarding, doing tasks and collecting supplies, and doing math problems when I have time." Hong Yu honestly replied.
Math problems come in all shapes and sizes; if not done regularly, one would surely forget the various problem-solving ideas.
So Hong Yu would do at least one test every day and force himself to score full marks; if he made mistakes, he’d do another one to calm himself.
If scared by zombies, do a test for calm.
If he ate delicious food, do a test for calm.
If he saw a pretty sister, do a test for calm.
If he met a nice-looking friend, do a test for calm.
...
Everything is frightening; tests are calming.
"Math problems?" Bai Yifan was shocked, "Why do that when there’s nothing to do?"
It’s more torturous than English, very brain-consuming.
"Why not? If not done, those interesting problem-solving ideas would be forgotten, right? Such interesting things naturally should not be forgotten."
Hong Yu spoke very seriously, without a hint of jest.
There’s nothing math problems can’t solve; if there is, just do another one.
"Then, then, what do you do after you’ve done math problems?" Bai Yifan was astounded.
Surely, he must have some rest time!
They seemed about the same age; he didn’t believe he hadn’t been tempted by addictive games.
"After solving math problems, of course, think about better problem-solving ideas than those I’ve written down!"
After Hong Yu finished speaking, he nodded to himself, then quickly pulled out a piece of white paper from his pocket and, from somewhere, took out a pen, rapidly writing something on it.
Dense numbers and symbols appeared on the paper, making Bai Yifan’s scalp tingle.
This is definitely beyond high school level!
"Hey! Look, this is an interesting problem-solving idea I just thought of. What do you think about it?"
Hong Yu spread the densely written sheet out so Bai Yifan could see the writing clearly.
Bai Yifan rubbed his eyes and said to Hong Yu seriously, "Your A is written too unproperly, if I were a teacher, I’d definitely dock you a point."
Among all those dense symbols, Bai Yifan only recognized these English letters, thanks to his English teacher.
Hong Yu: ???
This is clearly ≮.
"Apart from these strange numbers and symbols, do you have any other hobbies? Like playing games!"
Unwilling to give up, Bai Yifan asked again.
"Yes, playing Sudoku, it’s very interesting. Next time we can play together." Hong Yu invited Bai Yifan with a smile.
Bai Yifan: ...
He thought he might have discovered why Hong Yu became the Man Slaughter.
Doing so many math problems for nothing, it’d be strange if he didn’t go crazy!
Bai Yifan shook his head and turned to run towards the bus.
In less than a minute, Bai Yifan rushed back to Hong Yu.
"Let me show you what’s really fun; here, take this."
There was a $10 handheld game console in Bai Yifan’s hand.
You could play Tetris and car games on it.
All were black shadows; it was a memory for those born in the ’90s.
Without the internet, such games were quite interesting to play.
Hong Yu took the game console Bai Yifan handed him, his dull eyes flashing with a glimmer of light, quietly staring at the console in his hand.
Since he was a child, he was sensible and knew his family was poor, so he never asked for anything unrelated to studying.
He had seen classmates playing games; he could only play Sudoku because it just required pen and paper.
"Than..."
Hong Yu’s gaze finally moved from the game console; just as he was about to thank Bai Yifan, he looked up and found Bai Yifan had disappeared.
The blue and white bus had already started, heading in a certain direction.