The match began with Cynthia full of ambition, but ended with her on a losing streak.
As expected, taking over for someone with bad luck only seemed to pass the bad luck along.
Cynthia: This is definitely not because I'm bad at the game!
Even so, everyone was having a great time, as if it were New Year's again — a family gathered around the mahjong table, enjoying a rare moment together.
"I think the biggest winner today should treat us to dinner," Cynthia said, her eyes locked on William.
Even though William didn't get another insane Earth Win after she joined, he still barely lost any points in the later rounds. The others had mixed results, but in the end, William came out on top.
"It's not that I don't want to treat you," William said, "but look — Tina, Leon, and Chris have already gone home. Just the few of us going out wouldn't feel right. Let's do it another day."
Their game had ended half an hour after work hours, and the others had all left right on time.
Of the four who played, Cynthia and Claire were the gambling types, Marcus would play any game available, and William couldn't even call it quits when he wanted to, which is why it had dragged on so long.
Actually, the funniest part was that during the game, Cynthia took a call saying she had smoothed things over with the Chinese Mahjong Association, meaning the game could be officially released. Whoever was on the other end of the line definitely didn't expect her to suddenly shout "Win!" mid-call — whether she was serious or joking was anyone's guess.
"This doesn't count as a company dinner, this is a mahjong friends' gathering!" Cynthia argued.
"I agree," Claire said, nodding.
"Boss…" Marcus looked at William with pure mooching intent.
"Fine, you win," William sighed, knowing he couldn't escape.
He called Aunt Oliver to cook an extra pot of rice. She had already been asking when they'd be back for dinner, and since no one said they weren't coming, she'd timed the dishes perfectly. Now, with two extra mouths, she'd have to whip up two more dishes.
"Wow! The boss lives in a villa!" Marcus exclaimed, stepping out of the car with the look of someone seeing a grand estate for the first time.
"I need to see for myself the ugly face of capitalism," Claire said, clearly much more familiar with everyone after the game.
William looked to Cynthia for help — after all, she was one of the guests staying there.
But Cynthia pretended not to notice and said, "Come on in, the food's ready."
Marcus muttered, "Manager Cynthia really looks like the lady of the house…"
In an instant, six eyes locked onto him. Claire's gaze bounced back and forth between William and Cynthia.
"Careful, or tomorrow you'll be fired for stepping into the office with your left foot first," Cynthia threatened.
That one line froze Marcus in place. He stood there beside the car, still dazed even after Cynthia had gone into the villa.
"Come in."
William stood at the door and called out.
Aunt Oliver knew right away that guests were coming. William just wanted her to make a couple of extra side dishes, but she even went to the supermarket to cut up two big ribs and made a plate of salt-and-pepper spare ribs.
"Mmm… Aunt Oliver, your cooking is amazing!" Marcus said with his mouth full, tearing at the ribs.
"Hey, slow down, no need to rush. There's plenty." Aunt Oliver beamed.
Claire looked a little shy, but that didn't slow down her chopsticks. It seemed that in the past two days since they arrived in Riverdale, they had been making do with simple meals.
Aunt Oliver didn't eat, just watched the others at the table. "Being with you young people makes me feel years younger."
"What are you talking about? You're not old at all." Cynthia's tone was clearly warmer when speaking to people she was close to.
"I am old. My grandson is about to start high school." Aunt Oliver's voice carried more sadness than joy.
Claire asked softly, "You're not happy about it?"
Aunt Oliver gave a faint smile. "I'm happy, just…"
"Oh right, Aunt Oliver, do you play mahjong?" Cynthia quickly changed the subject when she felt the mood turning heavy.
At the mention of mahjong, Aunt Oliver's gloom vanished. "Of course! Mahjong is a national treasure!"
"Then how about we play a few rounds after dinner?" Cynthia suggested.
"No problem," William nodded.
"I'm in," Marcus raised his hand.
The only one left was Claire.
With everyone looking at her, Claire became shy again, lowering her head. "You guys play, I need to head back and tidy up."
"Alright, I'll walk you back later then."
Claire waved her hand. "No need, I'll just grab a taxi."
"Let her walk you back. Otherwise, we won't feel at ease."
If it were the more assertive side of Claire, William wouldn't worry. But knowing that she turned into an ostrich around strangers, letting her wander around a strange city late at night didn't sit right with him.
Dinner lasted about an hour. Marcus would grab his phone to play games whenever he had a free moment. In the past, gaming was just to kill time, but now he had a legitimate reason—work.
His job was something new to Aunt Oliver, and when she heard that playing games every day could earn over ten thousand a month, she was doubtful.
"I might just be playing games, but not everyone can do this job. You have to be really good at it." Marcus spoke proudly.
"Is that so?"
Aunt Oliver squinted. She didn't understand what Marcus was playing, but she could read the big "FAIL" on the screen, which didn't match what he just said.
"Ahem, that was just an accident." Marcus quickly turned off the screen. He had missed a tile because he was talking to Aunt Oliver.
Piano Tiles was one of the most playable games on the market, especially after the new mode came out. The new mode had raised the difficulty another notch. Even someone like Marcus, who had cleared all the earlier songs, still found it hard.
William guessed that with the new mode, Marcus probably wouldn't even be able to finish the earlier songs. Knowing his personality, the days ahead wouldn't be easy.
A tester's job was supposed to be finding bugs in games, but William's code was flawless. None of their games had any bugs so far. The only recurring problems were in the leaderboards—updates lagging or data glitches—but that was on the WeChat Games side, not William.
That evening, during mahjong, Cynthia used her insider tools to get some news early.
A new Piano Tiles–style game would launch at midnight. Like most free games these days, it wouldn't be in the app store but would be a WeChat widget exclusive.
As for the developer—it was their old friend, WeChat Games.
---
Read +30 advanced chapters on my patre*n
patr eon.com/GustinaKamiya
Free Tier can read 3 advanced chapters
---