Stuck in a repetitive daily routine, Ji Yunsheng spent his days streaming League of Legends. Watching his follower count on Kuaishou tick up—even if only by a few each day—he didn't feel too bothered; at least the numbers were growing. This went on until October. As the domestic pandemic worsened, entertainment venues across the country began shutting down one after another, and the internet cafes closed their doors once again!
This dealt a blow to Ji Yunsheng's otherwise cheerful mood, plunging him back into frustration. Just as his daily-increasing follower count had finally crossed the one-thousand mark, he was forced to return to a life without a computer, unable to go online to stream League of Legends. A few days later, Ji Yunsheng slowly settled back into a routine devoid of League of Legends. Gradually, he slipped back into his old ways: scrolling through short videos, reading novels, and hoarding reward coins to exchange for cash.
Thus the days trickled by, one by one, for over three months. As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. In January 2022, Ji Yunsheng's mobile phone broke, leaving him with no choice but to spend several hundred yuan—hard-earned through those mobile apps—to buy a secondhand mobile phone. Ji Yunsheng thought to himself: "This won't do! My zodiac year has only just begun, so why is this bad luck hitting so fast? The phone breaks right at the start of the month." No, he decided, it looked like he had no choice but to get a job so he could buy a computer and resume streaming League of Legends.
And so, taking his mother's advice, Ji Yunsheng went to work at a checkpoint. On January 13, fueled by the desire to buy a computer, Ji Yunsheng started his new job. As soon as he arrived at the checkpoint, the militia captain in charge treated him very warmly upon hearing of his arrival. At first, Ji Yunsheng was no different from any of the other newly arrived militiamen. After working there for a few days, he did make some mistakes, but as he grew more accustomed to the daily routine of guarding the checkpoint, the mistakes happened less and less frequently.
Days passed. Although guarding the checkpoint was neither particularly easy nor terribly difficult, Ji Yunsheng grew used to this lifestyle. Deep down, a sense of patriotism welled up inside him. After all, his mother had told him that his grandfather used to be a soldier in the army—an officer, even, though whether he was truly an officer and what exact rank he held was never specified by his mother. His maternal grandfather had also been a soldier, serving as an artillery platoon leader; his maternal grand-uncle had been a soldier, and his uncle had been a soldier too. Perhaps it was simply the bloodline of a soldier running through him!
By late March, Ji Yunsheng received his salary, and the computer he had ordered arrived. In high spirits, he went to settle the remaining balance for the computer and asked the owner of the computer shop to help assemble it. He had been introduced to the computer store owner by a friend. Back when he first went to buy the computer, Ji Yunsheng had only managed to save a little over two thousand yuan, so he had simply gone to check out the specifications. Initially, Ji Yunsheng told the owner what he was looking for and asked roughly how much it would cost. After listening to his requirements, the owner had given him a lot of helpful advice.
A few days later, Ji Yunsheng finally made up his mind and returned to the computer shop. Once there, he finalized the computer configuration he wanted and then timidly asked the owner: "Look, I'm working at the checkpoint now, but I only have a little over two thousand yuan on me. Can I pay a deposit first and pay off the rest when I get my salary?" The owner quickly replied: "Don't you worry about it. Old Ming was short on cash when he bought his computer here, and it's the exact same deal. Just pay the rest when your salary comes in." Hearing the owner's words, Ji Yunsheng was thrilled. He instantly felt that the owner was a great guy, so he paid a portion of the money and went home happily.
Back to the present: with the computer fully assembled, Ji Yunsheng wasted no time turning it on and resumed streaming League of Legends. During this period, he had visited the computer shop many times to ask when the parts would arrive, and through these interactions, he realized the computer store owner was a genuinely good person. Not only he, but several other people still hadn't fully paid for the items they bought at the shop, yet the owner never acted like other bosses and hounded them for the money.
In early April, after a few days of streaming, Ji Yunsheng managed to get back into his gaming groove with League of Legends. And so it went: working when it was his shift, and coming back to stream League of Legends when he was off. Another month passed in this fashion. In early May, coming home from work as usual, Ji Yunsheng had something truly joyful to celebrate—some friends he hadn't played League of Legends with for a very long time finally had time to drop by. That evening, Ji Yunsheng and four of his friends formed a rare full-squad team of five to play League of Legends, laughing and chatting all through the night.