Chapter Seven: Is Being Skilled at Operating DOS Really Impressive?

Gong Xiang spent the entire afternoon feeling terribly bored. Usually, Jiang Xiwen would joke around with him after class, talking about comics or games. But this afternoon, Jiang Xiwen was either lost in thought or buried in his writing, making Gong Xiang too embarrassed to disturb him.

At last, when school ended, Gong Xiang dragged Jiang Xiwen out of the classroom, saying they should go to the game arcade to blow off some steam.

“Wouldn’t it be better to play a few rounds of basketball? Maybe attract some shrieks of surprise from the girls.”

“You’re really different today,” Gong Xiang said, looking Jiang Xiwen up and down, shaking his head. “You’ve changed—completely changed.”

“For better or worse?”

“At first you were mature, then humorous, and now you seem a bit sly.”

“As long as you know. Learn from your big brother—try some royal jelly or something…”

“Cut it out!” Gong Xiang snapped, but then as if remembering something, quickly said, “I heard there’s a new computer arcade near Yangjiang Teachers’ College. It’s all games. Not sure if it’s any good.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xiwen’s heart leaped with joy. “Really? Let’s go! Didn’t you say you wanted to play games to vent?”

“Of course, but it’s six yuan an hour. Pretty expensive.” Gong Xiang’s tone dimmed.

“No problem, I’ll pay. Let’s go.” As long as there were computers, everything else could be managed. Jiang Xiwen was willing to spend all his pocket money. At worst, he’d tell his parents he was learning computers—surely, they’d support that.

Gong Xiang exclaimed, “That’s twelve yuan for both of us! Don’t tell me you’re skipping lunch again to save money.”

“A friend’s treat, why so much fuss? Are you coming or not?”

“Heh, of course I’m coming.” Gong Xiang chuckled, throwing an arm around Jiang Xiwen’s shoulder. “But I’ve never played computer games before…”

Jiang Xiwen put on a stern face. “See? That’s what happens when you don’t have enough royal jelly. I haven’t played either, but I can learn anything fast.”

“I’ll—” Gong Xiang leapt up, pretending to throw a martial arts punch.

“See? No royal jelly, and you get wild,” Jiang Xiwen retorted.

The two of them joked and jostled all the way to the north gate of Yangjiang Teachers’ College. A large sign reading “Tianxing Computer School” hung from the side of a five-story building in the most prominent spot.

At the sight, Jiang Xiwen remembered: this was one of the oldest computer schools in China. Later, it expanded to English and overseas test prep, and after 2000 became the largest social training institution in the country. He recalled that, as a senior programmer at SSUN, he had once overseen the launch of Tianxing's nationwide school network management system on SSUN servers.

He hadn’t expected that as early as 1993, they’d already opened a branch in Yangjiang. A computer school with a game arcade—how characteristically of the era. Gong Xiang was a little stunned. He’d heard there was a computer game room, but didn’t know it was inside a computer school. Before he could figure it out, Jiang Xiwen pulled him inside and they hurried up to the fifth floor.

The game room was next to a classroom. There were about fifteen computers, with eleven people inside, most looking like college students, and two young men in their late twenties who looked like teachers.

All the screens displayed early DOS games. Closest to the door, a chubby man in his twenties was playing “The Legend of Xuan Yuan Sword.” Jiang Xiwen had played it too, but much later, during a nostalgic revisit of classics. Watching the character Ning Caichen being skillfully controlled by the chubby man, he felt a peculiar nostalgia.

“Kids, what are you here for?” A man in his thirties stood up from a computer, peering at them through thick glasses. He was clearly the owner.

Gong Xiang straightened up and replied, “To play on the computers.”

“Heh, you two kids—do you even know how?” A college student put aside his “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” game and turned to laugh.

Gong Xiang hesitated, then said, “Can’t I learn if I don’t? It’s just a game.”

The owner looked Gong Xiang over again. “Learn? It’s expensive—six yuan an hour.”

Without another word, Jiang Xiwen took twelve yuan from his pocket and handed it over. “We’ll take two computers. Do you have…?”

Before Jiang Xiwen could finish, the owner grinned and took the money. “We’ve got everything. I’m the only public computer game room in Yangjiang—play anything you like.”

“These little kids—what do you even know about games?” the college student playing “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” laughed again.

“You’re playing the first ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms.’ The sequel’s been out for nearly two years now,” Jiang Xiwen replied offhandedly, then turned to the owner. “What I meant to ask was, do you have Turbo—”

“Hmm?” That single word caused everyone to turn and look at him. The fat man playing “Xuan Yuan Sword” glanced over but quickly returned to his game.

What’s wrong? It was just “Turbo C,” but Jiang Xiwen paused, suddenly realizing he’d forgotten about the era and his own identity.

He quickly forced a smile. “That’s just something my uncle mentioned. I was curious. My uncle is a computer science professor at Modu University.”

Hearing this, the surprise on everyone’s faces faded and they returned to their games. The “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” player sneered, “So that’s it. Big words for a kid. That’s college-level stuff, little guy. Wait until you’re older.”

Gong Xiang tugged Jiang Xiwen’s sleeve and whispered, “What’s this Turbo C? Let’s not waste time—let’s play games.” With that, he dragged Jiang Xiwen over to two connected computers and sat down, fumbling with the machine for a while but failing to turn it on.

“Boss, these two kids can’t turn on the computers—come help them get to the game menu,” called the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” guy, smug as ever.

If this guy ever went back to the Three Kingdoms era, Jiang Xiwen thought, he’d probably get himself killed in the chaos with that personality. Jiang Xiwen reached over and powered on the machine for Gong Xiang, navigated a few simple options to the game screen, and showed him how to select a game—the rest anyone could figure out.

He then started up his own computer, bypassed the game menu, and switched to the DOS interface, the familiar prompt blinking on the screen. He didn’t notice that his actions had left two people around him utterly stunned.

One was the owner, who’d been about to help them but now saw Jiang Xiwen’s adept operations. He was sure that even most college students here couldn’t bypass his preset game menu and directly enter DOS.

The other was the bored “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” guy, jaw-dropped, his beady eyes wide with disbelief.

Jiang Xiwen continued typing, recalling several DOS commands, but found no sign of Turbo C—only games and a small Wubi input method practice program.

Shaking his head helplessly, he called out, “Boss, do none of your machines have Turbo C?”

Gong Xiang, deeply engrossed in a dating sim, was grinning foolishly when Jiang Xiwen’s sudden question startled him. He looked over and, seeing the dark screen, whispered anxiously, “Man, did you break it? Let’s sneak out to the bathroom!”