"I'm not going to jump off the building!" Gao Xiaojie muttered. "If you're worried, I'll come down first. It's just that it feels cooler sitting up here."
Then Chen Xu saw the woman jump off the balcony, heading inwards, of course. But the jump made Chen Xu's heart skip a beat. Because to prevent accidents, the balconies on the top floor are usually quite high, at least 1.8 meters, and it's not easy for most people to climb up. He wondered how this woman had managed to get up there!
After Gao Xiaojie came down, the camera showed her sitting down on the ground without any formality. She leaned against the wall and said into her phone, "Hey, talk to me for a bit."
The voice sounded very soft, unlike her usual flamboyant tone. Although she deliberately added "hello" before her words, it felt as if she had added it intentionally. Chen Xu nodded and sat down, saying, "Okay."
Gao Xiaojie's first words were: "Do you usually think I'm very fierce?"
Chen Xu broke out in a slight sweat and said, "It's alright. Although you're all baring your teeth and claws, you're quite cute." "Yeah, at least you don't hit people, which is much better than Jun Ji-hyun."
Gao Xiaojie couldn't help but laugh and said, "Am I that scary?" Chen Xu also laughed and said, "It's alright, at least you have a cheerful and lively personality. I must have been stupid to think that someone like you would actually go and jump off a building."
The two laughed again over the phone. If you added a shot looking down from the air at this moment, you could see that the two of them were sitting on the ground, smiling, leaning against the wall, looking very relaxed and happy.
Actually, some things are just that simple. Although Chen Xu and Gao Xiaojie's relationship was far from being enemies or adversaries, it was just average. It was like any other classmate. Besides a few roommates and a few others, how could you be so close to just anyone? The reason was that they didn't have the opportunity to spend time together.
Whether it's friendship or love, it's impossible to succeed without spending time together. Whether such a connection can be formed, to put it in a mysterious way, depends on fate.
"Why did you thank me just now?" After laughing, Chen Xu asked this question.
"Thank you for your concern. It's only polite to express gratitude when someone cares about you. You came upstairs so late instead of sleeping. Is it because of my game or insomnia? Don't say no, or you'll ruin the last bit of my dream."
Chen Xu was somewhat amused and exasperated. To be honest, he had come here because of the game. However, the claim of being unable to sleep in the middle of the night was a bit of an exaggeration, as he only needed two hours of sleep to fully recover. He was currently full of energy, showing no signs of insomnia whatsoever.
However, it wasn't a good time to further hurt the young girl's fragile feelings, so Chen Xu said, "Okay, I'll accept your thanks for now."
"You're still reluctant?" Gao Xiaojie said angrily on the other end of the phone. "It's rare for me to say thank you."
Chen Xu laughed when he heard this. This girl was quite domineering. However, her next sentence made Chen Xu's smile fade: "Some people who deserve our gratitude should be kept in our hearts. Why say it so mushyly?"
This sentence greatly changed Chen Xu's impression of Gao Xiaojie, but he soon felt something was wrong and shouted, "Hey, what do you mean? So you only thanked me verbally? Don't you have any public spirit? I'm here in the middle of the night, braving the cold wind to chat with you, and I was worried you'd jump off a building. Don't you have any conscience?!"
Gao Xiaojie laughed heartily on the other end of the phone, but didn't say a word. Oh dear, how cunning!
After laughing for a while, Gao Xiaojie said, "I just thought about it, and I've decided to give up on this game for now."
Chen Xu was shocked: "Give up? Why give up?!"
"Oh dear, I just said I'm giving up now!" Gao Xiaojie said, "I'm not the kind of person who admits defeat so easily! Besides, I've put so much effort into this game, and you've all seen how good it is, how could I bear to give it up?"
Chen Xu didn't understand: "Then why did you say you wanted to give up?"
"I'm just giving up now. Let me tell you, I've already seen the game 'Shushan Swordsman' from the single-player game website," Gao Xiaojie said. "You don't need to know how I found out. The game is basically finished now, and the release date is estimated to be around now. Hmm, I heard that there will be a large game expo in our city at the end of next month, organized by several major domestic and foreign companies. It's a very large-scale event. They probably plan to launch the game at this expo, which shows how confident they are in their game."
Gao Xiaojie continued, "The game they prepared, 'The Legend of Shushan Swordsmen,' is a joint production between Single Player Games Network and a large game company. The investment alone is tens of millions of yuan, and it aims to surpass the two classic domestic single-player games, 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy' and 'Xuan-Yuan Sword.' The game graphics are also made using an advanced foreign engine, and they are basically on par with World of Warcraft. In the domestic single-player game market, the graphics are absolutely leading. So their deliberate manipulation of the game graphics this time is not because they have any grudge against us. To be honest, they don't take us seriously at all. They are just using this opportunity to promote their game, especially the graphics."
"Single-player game website intends to make this game a classic. Their main goal is to enter the English-speaking market, so there are both English and Chinese versions. However, I have to say, the only redeeming quality of this game is its graphics. I've seen the gameplay myself, and it's absolutely awful. A perfectly good 'Legend of Shushan Swordsmen' has been turned into a game with Western werewolves and vampires. Okay, even if the concept is novel—Eastern magic versus Western magic—the gameplay is just... well, I don't even know what to say. The game planner's IQ is on par with the screenwriters of those idiotic TV dramas. They've messed up 'Legend of Shushan Swordsmen,' deliberately catering to Western tastes. It's just... disgusting!"
Chen Xu sweated a bit and said, "If that's the case, why did they even release this game? They invested so much, but the script is so terrible, who would watch it? Don't they know that whether it's a game, a novel, or a TV show, the most important thing about any storytelling program is the story itself?"
“You can ask Chen Kaige about this,” Gao Xiaojie replied, equally annoyed. “Ask him what exactly ‘The Promise’ is about. This ‘Legend of Shushan’ is really just a game version of ‘The Promise.’ Apart from the gorgeous graphics, the content is really incomprehensible. So did you not see that the editors of the single-player game website didn’t dare to mention the game content? They play single-player games, so they naturally know which is more important, the story or the graphics.”
Hearing Gao Xiaojie say this, Chen Xu was slightly stunned again. He had certainly seen *The Promise*, but the problem was that he had watched Hu Ge's *A Bloody Case Caused by a Steamed Bun* before finding it incomprehensible, and then went to watch *The Promise*. The comparison almost made him burst out laughing. What made Chen Xu laugh even more was Chen Kaige's confident assertion that Chinese film fans and netizens would have to wait five years to understand the film.
What this sentence really means is unknown in this era, because no one can predict what will happen five years from now. But Chen Xu, the only one who might know what the future holds, accidentally saw a news article from early 2008... about Cecilia Cheung's sex photo scandal.
In the film, Chen Manshen tells Cecilia Cheung, "You'll never find true love, and even if you do, you'll lose it immediately!" Then Nicholas Tse tells Cecilia Cheung, "You ruined my chance to be a good person." The funniest part is when Cecilia Cheung initially addresses a million soldiers, asking, "Do you want to see me take my clothes off?"
And sure enough, the whole world saw her undress! It was worth far more than a million!
When Gao Xiaojie heard Chen Xu laughing so hard on the other end of the phone, he couldn't help but ask, "What are you laughing at? Your laughter is so lewd."
Chen Xu quickly said it was nothing, nothing at all. He added that mentioning Wuji reminded him of a bloody incident caused by a steamed bun. At this point, he couldn't reveal the details of the sex scandal, so he could only secretly gloat to himself.
Chen Xu's explanation made sense, because that steamed bun was just too funny. Gao Xiaojie couldn't help but laugh out loud when he thought about it. After the two chatted about the steamed bun for a while, Gao Xiaojie said, "But whether this game is good or bad has nothing to do with us anymore. I just thought about it and I regret it. We know we don't have the technology, so why did we still make this game? Probably because I've been waiting too long. After the game design was completed, I was eager to produce the finished product."
Chen Xu was stunned for a moment, and then Gao Xiaojie said, "During the summer after the college entrance examination, everyone else went out to play, but I stayed at home to put the game to the test. After many revisions, I finally produced the finished product before I came to university. At that time, the thing I wanted most was to find a way to make this game as soon as possible!"
"During the summer vacation, I contacted several game companies through various means, but no one was interested. One reason was that no one was willing to invest, and the other was probably due to Lao Jin's copyright issues. From the beginning, I never intended to make a profit from this game; it was just to fulfill a wish of mine... Now it seems that I was too impatient. To deliver such a half-finished product, or even a defective one, to others, and to be quite satisfied with it myself, is really a disgrace to my dream."
"Don't say that!" Chen Xu became a little anxious upon hearing this. When he first started playing, he also thought the graphics were quite jarring, but as he played and got into the gameplay, he immediately ignored the graphics. It was indeed a very good game; although some of the graphics were directly taken from other games, they felt quite fitting.
Originally, for a game independently created by netizens, this game was already surprisingly satisfying. Even Little Pig said that it was a pity that the game was not well-made. If a large company like Softstar Entertainment had invested in it, it could have created another great success.
But Gao Xiaojie's words sounded rather self-deprecating. She said, "Don't try to comfort me. We all understand. The level of the game's graphics is definitely beyond what we can improve right now. I was too impatient before. I rushed into making this game without thinking things through. Looking back now, it was really stupid. Oh well, I'll try my best in the future. If all else fails, I'll start my own game company after graduation and focus on making games. I'll definitely finish my script!"
Chen Xu breathed a sigh of relief; at least the girl hadn't given up. He had almost blurted out about the "RPG Game Maker" software in his haste, because he knew that creating a game using it alone would take him an indefinite amount of time—at least half a year. However, many elements of the game were already pre-defined, so with everyone working together, it shouldn't be a problem.
And most importantly, Chen Xu also felt that he couldn't swallow his anger!
Single-player online game!
Okay, as a game review website, you have the right to comment on the game's graphics. But for such a large website and a large game company to resort to such tactics against a group of amateur netizens just for your upcoming game? Before going to bed that night, Chen Xu discussed it with Wu Yuan again, feeling that the website didn't really need to be so stingy and harsh towards their small, amateur team. But they guessed it was because the game's release was imminent, and they wouldn't let go of any material that could be used for publicity or hype, and Chen Xu and his team just happened to walk into the line of fire.
And then there's their breach of trust!
They promised to recommend the game when they received it, but is this the effect of their recommendation? Is this a genuine recommendation or a slap in the face?
Using such methods is despicable!
Thinking about this, Chen Xu became somewhat annoyed: "So you're just going to swallow this insult? I certainly can't!"
Gao Xiaojie smiled and said, "There's nothing I can do if I can't swallow it. Do you think I want to swallow it? It's just that there's nothing I can do in reality. There are many things that we can't control. A few senior students just advised me, saying that I'll encounter many setbacks when looking for a job after graduation. If I can't handle this little thing now, I shouldn't work in the future. I can't handle those setbacks."
Chen Xu was very frustrated after hearing this. After all, young people his age have not experienced hardships or setbacks. Many of them are quite unrealistic and wishful thinking, believing that as long as they work hard, they will reap the rewards. However, they keep hitting walls and getting hurt, but they still do not repent.
Of course, if Chen Xu didn't have a supercomputer, his fate would have been the same as other sharp-edged young people: battered and bruised in this real world, until his edges were slowly worn down and he became just another ordinary person.
Hearing that Chen Xu had fallen silent, Gao Xiaojie forced a laugh: "Chen Xu, thank you so much. Thank you for helping me so diligently, and thank you to Wu Yuan in your dorm, and to the guys in the computer interest group. Really, don't refuse. You all did so much and gave so much. This kind of friendship in college doesn't exist in society anymore. Nowadays, society is all about self-preservation. Really, I cherish this friendship. I think it's a pity that this game didn't succeed, but as long as we have this friendship, failure or success doesn't matter anymore."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xu felt an indescribable emotion welling up inside him. He could sense the vulnerability in Gao Xiaojie's heart as she spoke, as if her heart had been slashed a dozen times with a knife, yet she still thought of comforting the people around her. Although this tone was very unsuitable for this spirited girl, Chen Xu could understand... At this moment, the one who needed comfort the most was not someone else, but herself.
Chen Xu also agreed with what she said about relationships on campus.
Although Chen Xu possessed a computer from the future, he wasn't like many time-traveling protagonists in novels who had lived two lives and accumulated decades of experience, unlike many who had already seen through the world. However, given today's advanced information technology, he had indeed read quite a few similar articles and novels.
I remember an article that said something like this, the title of which was "Cherish Your College Life, Cherish the Last Pure Land in Your Life." The article stated:
University is the last period in your life where you are allowed to make mistakes.
University is the last period in life where you don't care about personal gain, and you can get help or help others for the sake of loyalty and friendship.
University is the last period in life when one can enjoy pure love.
University is the last era in life where you don't have to care about the other person's family background or money, and you can freely fall in love.
University is the last period in life when you can give it your all and enjoy the process of striving rather than focusing on the outcome...
Judging from Chen Xu's current experience, these words are a bit extreme. He believes that many sacred things like friendship and love can last forever, but he doesn't know how ridiculous, yet also how proud, his past impulsiveness and ignorance will seem when he looks back on his campus life ten, twenty, or thirty years after graduation!
This is the last time in my life I can be proud of the "silly things" I've done!
So Chen Xu really wanted to say that this game wouldn't fail, that as long as he was there, it wouldn't fail, and that he had already found a way to do it. But then he thought that if he said that, people would laugh him to death, so he held back.
The two fell into a strange silence.
After a long silence, Chen Xu finally asked a question that had been on his mind for a long time: "Can I ask why you put so much effort into this game? Well, if it's a private matter, you can refuse to answer."
There was another moment of silence on the other end, and Chen Xu could hear slightly heavier breathing through the microphone.
After a long pause, Gao Xiaojie said, "All I can say is that this game is a promise I made to someone, and he is watching from heaven. That is my motivation."
Although the pronunciation of "he" and "she" is the same in Chinese grammar, Chen Xu still noticed it keenly and subconsciously asked, "A man?"
“It’s a man,” Gao Xiaojie said with a smile, “What are you thinking?” Then she said quietly, “That’s my own brother.”
"Uh, I'm sorry." Chen Xu's mind worked quickly. He didn't need Gao Xiaojie to explain; he could figure out the reason. No wonder this girl was so persistent; that was her motivation.
What motivates Chen Xu to persevere?
As I just mentioned, he still lives in an era where he would do anything for friendship. Besides being furious with single-player games, he also hopes to help his friends as much as he can.
As for money? Hey, doesn't it seem a bit tacky to ask that question now?
"Alright, student, it's getting late. Thank you for chatting with me for so long, but I also have to remind you that it's almost dawn. Go to sleep now, or you'll get caught by the teacher in class tomorrow."
Chen Xu checked the time and realized it was already past three o'clock. So he said, "Okay, I'm going to sleep. But don't be discouraged. I believe things will turn around soon."
Gao Xiaojie smiled on the other end of the line, said nothing, only said goodnight, and then hung up.
Chen Xu felt a pang of anxiety when Gao Xiaojie said "goodnight," because he could sense the pain of being forced to temporarily give up. The main problem was that she was the leader of the team. When he talked to Wu Yuan that night, Wu Yuan told him that it was Gao Xiaojie's persistence that had kept them going. If she collapsed, the team would fall apart.
How can I win her back?
We need to give her a big boost, a real motivation. But seeing how disheartened she is now, Chen Xu can't just hand over the software. Sigh, should we have SMMH step in?
Thinking of this, Chen Xu suddenly had an idea and immediately asked Xiao Min if the population census system could find out who Gao Xiaojie's brother was.
Xiaomin said, "Wait a minute," and then quickly recited, "Gao Pan, male, ID number XXXX, died in 2001, only 19 years old..."
Gao Xiaojie dusted herself off and prepared to go back to her dorm to sleep. She wondered if she could fall asleep after being out in the wind for so long.
Just then, her phone rang. Gao Xiaojie thought it was Chen Xu calling, but when she looked down, she saw it was a string of asterisks—a hidden phone number?
Hiding your phone number isn't difficult. For example, some reactionary organizations often use this method to make phone calls, arrest people, and ask them questions that could lead to the execution of their entire family, spreading rumors.
Gao Xiaojie assumed this call would be the same, so she casually tried to hang up, but then, as if possessed, she answered the call.
"Hello?"
A strange voice rang out: "Are you Ms. Gao Xiaojie? Hello, I am a friend of your brother Gao Pan. I have seen the game you made, it's just missing the graphics. I also made a promise to your brother that I can give you a month to realize your dream. Oh, let me introduce myself, I don't have a name, but people online call me...SMMH."
Chapter 59 A Masterpiece (Part 1)
"This is a software I developed. Although it's not perfect, it's sufficient for your needs. Due to copyright issues, I've scheduled it to automatically uninstall at midnight on October 28th, 2006. During this month, you and your friends can use this software to fulfill your wishes. This can be considered as me fulfilling my promise to Gaopan. Well, dear lady, some things need to be put aside. Your game is great, I like it very much, and I hope my small contribution can make it even more perfect and help you achieve your dream."
Gao Xiaojie and Zhan Jing stared at the words that appeared on the webpage, speechless with shock.
SMMH? Is it really SMMH?!
As instructed by the phone call, Gao Xiaojie skipped class at 3 PM and stayed in the computer interest group's computer lab. Sure enough, she received another message with a website address. To Gao Xiaojie's astonishment, the website didn't lead to any mysterious webpage, but to a well-known online storage service... Nanopan.
The file in the cloud drive is a 10.5GB compressed file, uploaded at 9:00 AM this morning. The compressed file is named: "Ms. Gao Xiaojie, please receive this."
At nine o'clock, everyone was still in class, and Chen Xu was also in the classroom... The reason for mentioning Chen Xu was that the timing of the phone call from SMMH last night was too coincidental, but it was only a minor suspicion. Gao Xiaojie remembered their conversation yesterday; although she said she had an older brother, she definitely didn't mention Gao Pan's name. Chen Xu didn't know her before, so he couldn't possibly know. Besides, even if he did investigate, where could he possibly find out in just five minutes in the middle of the night?
Gao Xiaojie started downloading with some doubt. Downloading a software of over 10GB would take a lot of time; if she were in her dorm with the crappy campus network, it probably wouldn't be finished even after a whole day. However, SMMH had previously advised her to go somewhere with faster internet, so she went to the computer interest group's computer lab. Because the computer interest group was very powerful, with its own dedicated high-end bandwidth, the download speed could reach up to 10MB per second at its fastest, and downloading such a 10GB file only took about twenty minutes.
The wait was agonizing, as Gao Xiaojie wasn't sure if it was a prank or something else. Besides, how could her good-for-nothing brother have known someone like SMMH? But if her brother didn't know him, why would this world's number one hacker help her?
Or maybe SMMH is just a fake!
“I don’t think so,” Zhan Jing said at this moment. “I just hacked into Nanopan’s server to check the records of the software uploader and found that they have been completely wiped clean. Even if the other party is not SMMH, they must be a master who did not leave any clues.”