The Road to the Top, Walking with Shai

Readers can choose the direction of every plotline in all of this author’s books in the paragraph comments. The air was as thick as melted syrup. Cicadas shrieked outside the window, their cries mingling with the dull hum of the old air conditioner to create the drowsy soundtrack of a summer afternoon.

In a corner on the second floor of Fenghuo Internet Cafe, smoke hung in the air. Keyboards clattered, punctuated by players’ shouts of excitement and frustration.

Lin Chuan huddled at the very edge of the commotion...