Chapter 20: 20. The First Time Spending Money Is Just Playing a Game

Zhang Ran walked through the somewhat dim hallway, smelling a slightly moldy scent; most of the units in this residential complex were rented out to people who had come from out of town for work, so the hygiene here was not very good.

Trash discarded at random could be seen everywhere, and though Zhang Ran didn't say anything upon seeing this, Zhang Sicheng felt somewhat embarrassed.

Having drifted for so long without owning his own home, and living in such a poor rental, he still felt a sense of awkwardness in front of his father.

Upon entering the room, Zhang Ran looked at the sixty or seventy-square-meter apartment; it was a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout, and the floor was still the old-fashioned tile, which was cracked in many places.

However, it was cleaned very thoroughly, and it was evident that Liu Lu was usually very diligent.

The television, sofa, and dining table in the living room were all placed together, making it appear very cramped.

Zhang Sicheng hurriedly tidied up the sofa and said, "Please, have a seat. I'll go pour you a glass of water."

Although he still couldn't bring himself to say it, Zhang Sicheng did not address him by his name directly either.

Zhang Ran nodded and sat down, casually finding a topic: "What kind of work do you do now?"

In fact, Zhang Ran knew what Zhang Sicheng did; it was all in the investigation report, and this was merely to find a topic of conversation.

"I do mobile game development—that is, games for mobile phones. You can play games on a phone like the one in your hand, and it seems you predicted the development of this market years ago," Zhang Sicheng said while going to pour the water.

Come to think of it, Zhang Sicheng entered the gaming industry because of Zhang Ran; when he was a child, he greatly envied other children who could play on computers and play games.

But he was very sensible, so he never went to do so.

Yu Qingwan had also noticed Zhang Sicheng's thoughts; after all, he was just a child and couldn't hide his feelings, so Yu Qingwan had shared some of Zhang Ran's ideas regarding computers and games.

At the time, Yu Qingwan had said that in twenty years' time, not only would one be able to play games on computers, but one would also be able to play the same games on mobile phones.

This piqued the interest of the young Zhang Sicheng, so after dropping out of school, he taught himself programming while working hard, eventually entering this industry.

Zhang Ran nodded and said, "Actually, the development of an era can be predicted. Take modern society, for instance; there is one issue that is key to development, and that is the energy problem.

Once the energy problem is solved, subsequent development will accelerate once again. Take the controllable nuclear fusion that scientists in various countries are currently researching; once that research succeeds and it can be miniaturized and developed for household use, one can imagine how rapid future development will be."

"You even know about this?" Zhang Sicheng was somewhat surprised.

"It's not as if we had nothing to do for the past month and a half; there were people teaching us these things, and if you just look into it a little, the answers are actually quite obvious," Zhang Ran said, taking a sip of water.

"By the way, what kind of games do you mainly develop? Can you show me?" Zhang Ran became interested.

If one wants to cultivate a relationship with one's son, especially when that son is already grown, one must have common topics with him.

Zhang Sicheng gave a bitter smile: "It's just an unsuccessful game. It's only been online for a month, and it's already on the verge of failing."

"It's fine, let me play it and see," Zhang Ran said with a smile.

"We are a gunfight mobile game called *Battle Vanguard*; you can find it by searching here." Zhang Sicheng also wanted to get along well with Zhang Ran, and since this was a topic he was interested in, he didn't refuse.

He helped Zhang Ran download the game and then helped him register.

Zhang Ran actually knew how to do all of this, but he didn't show it.

"Taotao, Susu, watch how Grandpa wipes them out without leaving a single piece of armor behind," Zhang Ran said with bravado.

Taotao was very supportive: "Mm-hmm, Grandpa is the best!" The little guy had been completely won over by Zhang Ran and had become his die-hard fan.

Although Susu pursed her little lips and appeared dismissive, she still leaned her little head over.

This was a gunfight game similar to the *CS* of Zhang Ran's past life, though the content was much smaller, and the maps were pitifully tiny.

With fifty people in a chaotic battle, one could encounter someone almost every single moment.

However, it did have its merits: the visuals were excellent, the impact feedback wasn't bad, and the performance was quite smooth with no lag.

But what made Zhang Ran the most miserable was the equipment in the game; Zhang Ran fired several shots at someone and hit them, yet that person was completely fine, while Zhang Ran was taken down by that person in a single shot.

In the first round, Zhang Ran quit the game after two minutes.

In the second round, Zhang Ran ended the match in one minute.

In the third round, Zhang Ran lasted a little longer, ending the match after five minutes.

"Wow, Grandpa, hurry and hit him, someone's coming!"

"Watch how Grandpa kills him."

"Quick, quick, quick, over here, over here."

"Wow, Grandpa, you died again."

Liu Lu and Zhang Siyan had just returned from buying groceries and hadn't even entered the door when they heard the shouting and yelling from Taotao and Zhang Ran inside, and both couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

Opening the door to enter, they saw all four of them huddled together; not only were Zhang Ran and Taotao speaking loudly, but even Susu was staring intently at the screen, and Zhang Sicheng was no exception.

"What is this?" Liu Lu was a bit confused; how did things turn into this in the blink of an eye?

Seeing Liu Lu and the others return, Zhang Sicheng hurriedly went up to help carry the groceries.

"What's going on here?" Liu Lu asked in a low voice.

Zhang Siyan also looked at her brother with a puzzled expression, and Zhang Sicheng said, "Just now he asked me what work I do, and I said I make games. And so it turned into this."

"That's fine, too," Liu Lu said with a smile.

Afterward, she didn't disturb Zhang Ran and the others and went straight to the kitchen to start cooking, and Zhang Siyan went in to help.

"Hahaha, did you see that? Isn't Grandpa amazing?" Zhang Ran had just landed a headshot on an opponent and immediately laughed triumphantly.

"Grandpa is ama... zing?" Before Taotao could finish cheering, he saw Zhang Ran get taken out by a single shot.

Zhang Ran then saw Susu's somewhat disdainful gaze, and a sense of defiance immediately welled up in his heart; he couldn't let his granddaughter look down on him. No matter what, he had to establish a tall, impressive image in the eyes of his grandson and granddaughter.

So, Zhang Ran immediately made a decision: spend money to buy equipment!

After such a long time, Zhang Ran had figured out this game; although it looked like a competitive game, in reality, this damn thing was a pay-to-win game.

The gap in equipment was enough to make one want to vomit blood.

Afterward, while the two little ones weren't paying attention, Zhang Ran quietly bound his bank card and then bought all the best equipment available.

Next came the time for Zhang Ran to show his might; and don't say otherwise, pay-to-win games have their own kind of fun—at the very least, Zhang Ran was having a blast now!

"Wow, Grandpa is so amazing!"

"Grandpa, you won again!"

Zhang Ran looked at the somewhat worshipful gazes of the two little ones and felt extremely proud; this money was well spent—at least, that was how Zhang Ran saw it.