Superstars of Tomorrow

Whether others saw it as worthwhile or not, at least Su Hou felt that his rage had simmered. After all, he did not count on his dad to follow his wishes. His argument with his dad had just been to make known his dissatisfied feelings and give his father a piece of his mind.

Su Hou now owned two plots of land. One was Dongshan Farm, which he currently co-invested in with Fang Zhao and was in the midst of becoming operable. Of course, in such a short time, profits were not yet in the pipeline, but because of the sheep-herding championships, the farm had at least some degree of reputation. Perhaps in a few years it would be profitable.

The other plot of land had been awarded for winning the sheep-herding championship. Su Hou had plans to construct a farm there, but currently, the plot of land was being held by an uncle of Su Hou’s, Su Feng’s father. He would hold the land till Su Hou had matured. It was not that his uncle coveted Su Hou’s land—he was just worried about Su Hou’s IQ and easily susceptible nature, it would be best to safeguard the land for a few years. After Su Hou matured and gained experience, he would then hand it back.

Su Hou approved of this. He also knew that he wasn’t very bright. If not for the stroke of fortune he’d had running into Fang Zhao, he would have fallen flat on his face regarding the matter with Dongshan Farm.

The Su family as a whole was not as extremely chaotic as outsiders liked to think. Just like the Renaults of Leizhou, although there were occasionally trifling matters that tabloids loved to report on for days, when it came to important matters, there would be unity. Otherwise, they would not have endured for 500 years.

There were members of the Su family that disapproved of Su Hou, but there were also members that supported him. For example, Su Feng, Su Feng’s dad, and his siblings, who would regularly poke fun of him but would stand firmly behind him when it came to crucial matters.

Fang Zhao noticed Curly Hair continuously glancing at the gaming room and so asked Su Hou, "Can I enter and take a look?"

"Err... Su-sure," Su Hou stammered.

Su Hou was a little embarrassed and afraid that Fang Zhao would laugh at him.

Inside the gaming studio, naturally, there were gaming consoles. As Su Hou was still underage, there were many popular titles that he was unable to access. He could only play games intended to relieve boredom for young children. The console he used most was a beginner’s console meant for children. It could not match up to specialized game consoles, but it had accompanied Su Hou from kindergarten all the way through primary school and then secondary school. Even though his older siblings had given him other specialized models of gaming consoles, Su Hou still had the deepest sentiments with it. When he had moved to Dongshan Farm, he had brought it along.

Originally, Su Hou had intended to give everyone a tour of the room after the 10th-generation console had arrived, but Fang Zhao had asked first. Su Hou had hesitated a little before agreeing. There was nothing shameful, it was just a console that children used. Who had never used it before?

Su Hou fished out a set of keys to unlock the door. The room was not equipped with an electric lock. However, when the 10th-generation console arrived, Su Hou intended to change the locks.

Fang Zhao scanned the interior of the room after entering. All sorts of gaming equipment was inside. Minors used more helmet-type game consoles, and there were five gaming helmets in the room. Four of them had been left on a shelf and seemed like they had not been touched for quite some time. Only one of the helmets was placed on a chair in the centre. The helmet was adorned with a few cartoon pictures and was simpler and lighter compared to specialized gaming helmets.

The beginner’s console was a supplementary gaming console used by kindergarten and primary school kids. It was said to aid in the development of the brain.

Generally, after primary five, very few people still used the beginner’s console.

Su Hou noticed Fang Zhao studying the beginner console’s helmet and was a little embarrassed. "They said I was too stupid and could continue using the beginner’s console to develop my brain. Who knows, I might be able to increase my IQ."

Zuo Yu, who was standing guard outside: "..." You even believed that? Seems like your IQ hasn’t improved at all.

Generally speaking, beginner’s consoles were only suitable for kids aged 10 and below. Anyone older would be ill-suited to use them. Su Hou was already in secondary school, and the use of the beginner’s console would not have any results. He believed whatever others said, so it was little wonder he’d been defrauded.

Su Hou did not notice Zuo Yu’s expression and relaxed when he did not see Fang Zhao laughing at him. "Actually, I no longer use it that often, only when I’m feeling bored."

"Can I try it out?" Fang Zhao asked.

"...Ah?" Su Hou stared blankly. He totally did not expect Fang Zhao, the 10th-generation-using world’s No. 1, to say this. "Sure. But the beginner’s console cannot compare to specialized game consoles, and it is even worse when compared to the 10th generation. Master Zhao, you might not be able to get used to it."

At this moment, Su Hou received an incoming call. It was from his younger sister. She said she would be arriving at the farm soon. Primary school holidays had started, and when she had heard someone would be sending over the 10th-generation console to Dongshan, she had decided to come along.

Su Hou grinned knowingly and told Fang Zhao, "Master Fang you stay here and have a look. I shall go fetch the machine."

"Go on."

After Su Hou left hurriedly, Zuo Yu wanted to enter and see how Fang Zhao would use the beginner’s console. Turning his head, Fang Zhao had already closed the door and locked it.

Zuo Yu: "..." Alright, Boss doesn’t want anyone to see him using the beginner’s console. Zuo Yu could understand that. He really couldn’t tell that a grown man would actually be a child on the inside. Just like Su Hou, he had a beginner’s console complex.

Inside the room.

Fang Zhao held on to the beginner’s console’s gaming helmet and turned on the monitor beside him. On it were many games suited for kids. Some trained the brain’s control, some trained the brain’s reaction speed.

This was different from the virtual world effect that specialized game consoles created. The gaming helmet of the beginner’s console only acted as a receiver for brainwaves and was used to remotely control the games, which were displayed on the monitor.

As Fang Zhao studied the beginner’s console and the pre-installed games on it, Curly Hair crouched beside Fang Zhao and kept whining. When he whined, he would look at Fang Zhao then at the gaming helmet in Fang Zhao’s hands.

Fang Zhao’s gaze shifted away from the display screen to Curly Hair on the floor beside him. "You wanna play?"

"Woof!" Curly Hair wagged his tail vigorously.

"Try it." Fang Zhao placed the gaming helmet back on the chair, and Curly Hair leapt up and squeezed his head into the helmet. He even used the armrests to adjust the position of the helmet on his head.

At the side, Fang Zhao crouched there and silently watched the dog put on the gaming helmet. On the display screen, the cursor moved and selected a game to enter.

Such proficiency. This definitely wasn’t his first time!

The game Curly Hair had chosen was whack-a-mole, a game that kids loved.

Middle difficulty, timer mode.

Fang Zhao watched as the points displayed on the right of the screen rose steadily. On the screen, Curly Hair did not make any mistakes or miss any!

After the one-minute time limit, the system gave an evaluation of 5 stars.

This was the best possible result.

Finishing the game, Curly Hair speedily deleted the record, exited the game, removed the helmet, and leapt down from the chair.

Fang Zhao could guess that this was Curly Hair’s customary course of action. He reckoned this fellow had taken advantage of Su Hou simple-minded nature and snuck in to play many times and even knew how to delete his records. Fang Zhao did not know whether to curse his audacity or praise him for being prudent.

Fang Zhao was silent, so Curly Hair’s tail-wagging gradually slowed down, as if he was afraid that Fang Zhao was angry.

"One more time. There is no one around now, so you don’t have to hold back."

Hearing this, Curly Hair’s lackluster tail-wagging went up a notch. With a whoosh, he got on the chair, skillfully got the helmet on, and selected the same game. This time, he chose the highest difficulty.

In that minute, the image on screen seemed to be in fast forward. Every time a mole was hit, the dazzling effects that appeared when adding points were like a continuous stream of fireworks. If it was someone else with poorer eyesight, they would probably have been unable to catch the changes on the screen, but Fang Zhao saw it clearly. Just as before, there were no mistakes or leaks!

The displayed score at the side kept rising at an increased tempo.

After one minute, Curly Hair did not immediately quit the game. He just removed the helmet and looked at the displayed score on the screen before glancing at Fang Zhao while wagging his tail lightly, nervously waiting for Fang Zhao’s evaluation.

However, before Fang Zhao said anything, Curly Hair’s ears pricked up and he hastily jumped off the chair and crouched at Fang Zhao’s feet, glancing at the doorway.

A few hurried knocks on the door.

Su Hou’s elated voice rang out, "Master Zhao, my 10th-generation console is here!"

Fang Zhao gazed at the screen but still did not delete the record.

The door opened and Su Hou entered, beaming and ready to tell Fang Zhao all about his new game console. As his gaze fell on the display on the screen and saw the difficulty level, points, and evaluation stars, his eyes widened.

"I have never achieved more than 2 stars playing this game at the highest difficulty! Master Zhao is awesome! As expected of the world’s No. 1 crazy point-sweeping demon!

Fang Zhao: "..." There is no way to explain this