Chapter 87: Playground (Part 1/2)
The Frozen Star was a well known cold beverage chain in Xia City. Even though its peak season was already over by now, there was still the Frost River Reality supporting them from behind the scenes. Business was still thriving on Sunday night.
Luo Nan and Mo Peng nearly got lost when then entered the shop that was packed with a flowing crowd of people. Luckily, the people waiting for them weren't small in numbers. They were quite eye-catching when they all waved their hands.
The party had to take two tables in order to sit relatively spaciously. More interestingly, most of the people here had the last name Mo.
The members of the Luo family were limited in number in Xia City. Instead, the Mo Family was a thriving family here. If you counted the parents and the siblings, Mo Haihang’s family had five Mo’s. An assortment of family relationships made it a relatively simple task to bring a hundred people together.
If you counted all the cousins, Mo Peng would be in the 17th spot amongst all of these brothers and sisters in terms of age. He was often called Peng Seventeen.
Every time the new year holidays came about, Luo Nan would always find his tongue getting stuck when greeting these uncles, aunts, and cousins. If he could hide, he would hide.
Of course, since he was a boy sent to live with his aunt's family, he was indeed an outsider relative to the Mo Clan. He didn't have any blood relationship with them at all. In addition, there was his nature. He would just nod his head in the conversation with those who were the same age and generation as him. He only came to these gatherings once in a while, usually when Mo Ya and Mo Peng dragged him along.
"Over here, over here."
The one who waved the most cheerfully was none other than Mo Han, who had contacted Mo Peng just now. She was number 16 of the same generation of brothers and sisters. In reply, Mo Peng shouted without restraint, "Sister Sixteen!" Luo Nan, on the other hand, politely said, "Sister Han."
Previously, he would follow Mo Peng and call her Sister Pomegranate, but it was fine to not call her that in the end. (石榴- Pomegranate is pronounced exactly the same in Chinese as 十六- sixteen)
Other than Mo Yan with her super long legs, the youths of the Mo Family weren’t that at all. This was probably due to their genetics. For example, Mo Han was shorter than Luo Nan by half a head despite being clearly two years older than him. She was a lively young woman that was about to go to university. Additionally, she looked to be quite innocent with her smiling and beaming appearance. She looked like the type that could play with anyone.
Luo Nan followed Mo Peng the whole way over. Mo Cheng was the oldest of the brothers and sisters of the Mo Family that came along. He was ranked seventh. He was already a third year university student this year but he was just like Mo Peng—they were both veteran gamers who holed up at home. His major was Game Design as well. He was certainly the one to take the lead when it came to any similar activity.
Mo Peng always served as his assistant. He started the headcount, "Brother Seven, Brother Nine, Sister Thirteen, Sister Pomegranate... Whoa, hey! There's also Nanster, Brother Lu, Brother Jiang, Brother Jia. That should be everyone."
Lu, Jiang, and Jia were all members of Mo Cheng's gaming clan. Mo Peng was familiar with them since they had played games together.
Mo Cheng waved his hand, "Wait a bit more. Chenchen still hasn't arrived. There’s also Brother Three. He's here as well and was the one who had invited everyone."
"Huh?" Mo Peng was very surprised.
The so-called Chenchen was the only female member of Mo Cheng's clan. It was very normal for her to come.
But the third brother of the Mo Family, Mo Qiu, was nearly thirty this year. He was at the age when it was time to settle down. He was far past the age to go play around with their group of youngsters. Additionally, he was typically the sort of person to put on airs. There was something wrong with this situation!
Mo Han winked, muting his voice a little, "Apparently he's come for a blind date."
Mo Peng still didn't understand and asked, "Blind date? Doesn't he have a girlfriend?"
"They must have broken up. He’s always been a bachelor. Now he job hopped to a new company, so the break up happened quickly. This time, it seems like they're acquainted through Sister Chen, who’s part of the university section of Acumen College..."
"Acumen College? What a coincidence." Mo Peng glanced at Luo Nan, "Must be a teacher."
"Ridiculous, she's a student!"
"Oh dang! The old ox is eating tender grass!"
Mo Han wrinkled his nose. "I heard she's a beauty! The secretary of Acumen College's Student Council. She graduates this year... Hey, Lil Nanster, you should show off your usefulness now. Is there such a person in your school?"
Luo Nan just laughed. How could he just list it off from the top of his head?
On the other hand, Mo Peng felt great admiration. "It looks like Third Brother Qiu struck it rich. He invited the ten of us to go play games together for the sake of his blind date?"
"They're calling it 'getting together to make friends'."
Mo Han's appearance was of one who clearly knew the ways of the world. "Playing games is an excellent choice. Don't look at the number of people here. Once we're in virtual reality, who would be concerned about others? In the end, wouldn't they be alone? They can do whatever they want!"
Mo Peng gave Pomegranate Sister a thumbs up—she truly feared nothing.
The subject of the conversation, Mo Qiu, came walking into the cold beverage shop. He was dressed casually and had a medium height. He had maintained his figure quite well and he looked like he was full of energy. The feeling of matureness that came from being a member of society, along with a bit of superiority, was perhaps truly destructive to the young ladies who had yet to graduate.
Mo Qiu scowled a bit due to the clamor of the cold beverage shop. This wasn't his ideal get-together point and neither was Frost River Reality. Anyways, since he was here already, he might as well go with the flow. He greeted the group of brothers and sisters with an easy-going attitude. He looked to be quite confident.
After getting seated, he asked Mo Cheng, "Mo Seven, she hasn't arrived yet?"
"Chenchen just went to pick up her sister from the campus to come over and kill some boredom. She'll probably be a bit late."
"How many people are coming?"
"Right now there's four of them. Three girls and one boy. Chenchen is coming with her sister, who’s your get-together target. The last one is probably her sister's boyfriend. Look! They're here."
As soon as Mo Cheng uttered these words, everyone in their party turned their gazes simultaneously.
"Which one is the blind date target? The one to the left or right of Sister Chen?"
"It has to be the one on the left. No matter how you look at her, her height fits in very well with Brother Three's taste. The right one should be Sister Chen's sister. She should be nearly 1.7 meters tall and has just entered high school. Brother Three wouldn't be that desperate."
Mo Peng chuckled. "High school? High school is good. She can get together with me."
Mo Han reached out his hand and slapped the top of his head. "A short girl is cute. A short man..."
Halfway through his words, he suddenly felt unfriendly gazes from his surroundings. He stuck out his tongue and didn't speak any further.
Chenchen's group of people had already drawn near and they were whispering amongst themselves. With Mo Qiu leading the way, the people here greeted them one after another.
But as Luo Nan stood up he was stupefied when he saw the lean figure of the little sister next to Sister Chen.
She didn't realize that Luo Nan was within the crowd of people at first glance. Instead, she just followed after her sister and greeted everyone.
But in the end, she saw him. The two people locked gazes. Luo Nan had already done some mental preparations but the girl's face went completely blank. She went mute instantly.
By now, Sister Chen was in front of him and was already introducing her quite clearly. "This is my sister, Chen Xiaolin. Secretary of Acumen College's Mutual Assistance Gathering..."
That's right. She was none other than Xue Lei's girlfriend. Because of the fright from the incident on Friday at the Limestone Water Village Pub, she had been admitted to the hospital for treatment. She was Chen Xiaolin.
Luo Nan never imagined that he would meet her again under such a situation.
It looked like Chen Xiaolin's impression of him had not been alleviated at all from her ten days of medical treatment.
Now, this was quite awkward.