The April breeze is pleasant and refreshing.

Lin Yifeng went to his homeroom teacher, Zhao Zhongsheng, to report back from leave, and gave him two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes. After half a month, Lin Yifeng reappeared in class.

He sat in his seat, listening to his classmates laughing and talking about various topics, and sighed at the peaceful life.

Student life is the most carefree and relaxed time. Most students do not need to bear family responsibilities or worry about making a living. They can enjoy their youth to the fullest and pursue the people or things they like.

As one of the students who were about to leave school, Lin Yifeng and his classmates only had one class in the morning, which ended before 10 o'clock.

In the 1990s, there were no "smartphone addicts" and almost no "homebodies."

In those days, the relationships among roommates were quite good, and outings were always group activities organized by the dormitory.

Lin Yifeng's dormitory is an eight-person room, but only seven people sleep there.

One of the roommates transferred to another major in his first year, leaving his bed empty, which was then used by everyone to store miscellaneous items.

After leaving the classroom, the six people, excluding Lin Yifeng, started arguing about where to go. They argued from the classroom to the playground, and then from the playground to the dormitory, but still couldn't reach a consensus.

"If you ask me, you should all come with me to the playground to play basketball."

Basketball is such a wonderful sport! You wouldn't believe how much attention girls pay to the players whenever they walk past the playground. And when they see a great basket, they cheer and scream!

Zhou Liangang, a burly man, made a shooting motion as he spoke:

"Don't worry about not knowing how to play. With me, Zhou Weidong, here, winning is a piece of cake."

In 1992, 12-year-old Yao Ming was still honing his skills at a sports school.

The most famous basketball players in China at that time were Hu Weidong, Sun Jun, Ma Jian and others. Zhou Liangang's idol was Hu Weidong, so he often called himself Zhou Weidong.

"No, it's too niche. You're the only one in the whole dorm who does it."

In the 1990s, basketball was a niche sport. The most popular sport of that era was... Qigong.

"It's much better to go to Jinyang Park. Jinyang Park is very lively now. There are various ring toss games outside Jinyang Park, and many foreigners like to play ring toss games there."

"Let's go to Jinyang Park. Maybe we can chat with some foreigners and practice our foreign language skills!"

Wang Jianwei is short and wears black-rimmed glasses. Influenced by the times, he believes that the moon is rounder abroad than in China, and he has always wanted to find an opportunity to get close to foreigners.

"Screw it! Foreigners get in the park for free, but we have to pay. We're not going, you guys go if you want!"

Sun Guowei shook his head vigorously, rejecting Wang Jianwei's suggestion.

The dormitory started making noise again.

Liu Fugui suggested going to the literary society to make friends through literature, Sun Guowei suggested going to the square outside the library to breakdance, and the other two roommates did not express their opinions, thinking that they could go anywhere.

"Come on, let's be more democratic!"

"Raise your hand if you're going to play ball!"

Unable to reach an agreement, the roommates decided to hold a democratic vote. Surprisingly, the suggestions put forward by Zhou Liangang, Sun Guowei, Liu Fugui, and Wang Jianwei resulted in a tie.

"Lin Yifeng!"

The eyes of the six people in the dormitory immediately locked onto Lin Yifeng. Zhou Liangang spoke first: "I'll lead you in basketball, we'll win!"

"Lin Yifeng, aren't you going to the literary society to learn how to write love letters?"

"Lin Yifeng..."

The group began promising Lin Yifeng benefits. Lin Yifeng placed a novel on the bed, looked at everyone, and suggested with a smile, "How about we go to the arcade?"

Arcade?

"Let's go, let's go! Why didn't I think of going to the arcade?"

"Great place, isn't this more fun than playing basketball?"

"I want to play Romance of the Three Kingdoms, don't try to take Guan Yu from me!"

"Let's play Contra. I know an arcade that plays Contra and other games that aren't available on arcade machines, like Super Mario."

At eighteen, the age when people are obsessed with games, Lin Yifeng's roommates immediately formed a united front upon hearing the words "arcade."

Basketball, literature club, breakdancing, Jinyang Park.

Get out of here, all of you.

Arcades are the only true gods.

...

After leaving Hebei Vocational University, it took Lin Yifeng and his group a good sixteen or seventeen minutes to walk to an arcade.

Unlike internet cafes in later generations.

Arcades in those days had no signs and no business licenses.

In other words, arcades in that era were all essentially "illegal internet cafes".

Pushing open a tightly closed door, the pungent smell of smoke and deafening noise instantly enveloped Lin Yifeng and his group of seven. Zhou Liangang, looking at the dazzling lights of the arcade machine, was instantly excited.

"The last time I played arcade games was during the Chinese New Year. My brother and I went to play arcade games and our dad caught us."

Haha, my dad gave my brother a good beating, but not me.

Zhou Liangang gloated as he recounted his actions of betraying his brother, while Lin Yifeng, who had suggested playing arcade games, went to the bar and bought 24 tokens.

"Brothers, I'll treat you to arcade games, three coins each."

One game coin costs 20 cents, and one dollar gets you six game coins. Lin Yifeng generously gave everyone three game coins and kept six for himself.

"Brother Feng is awesome!"

"Brother Feng is so generous."

Three game coins were enough to win over the roommates' gratitude. Zhou Liangang and the others took the game coins and went off to find their favorite games.

The 1990s were the golden age of arcade games. Lin Yifeng didn't see familiar games like "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs" or "The King of Fighters," but only "Street Fighter II," "Dynasty Warriors," "Captain Hook," "Fatal Fury," and so on.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!