CH 22

Recently, SUS has been as strong as ever, and major sponsors have come knocking on their door one after another. The one in charge of all this is the team manager, Chen Xiao.

In the past few days, they had just finalized a sponsorship deal, and Manager Chen traveled all the way from the capital to city C to handle it.

Unexpectedly, they encountered a heavy rainstorm and couldn’t go back for the time being.

“Excuse me, I am the manager of the SUS team, not a worker under your command. My legs are for running errands for the sponsor. Are you telling me to go and pick up internet users for you now?” Manager Chen sat in the cafe, his tone extremely irritable.

Jiang Song on the other end was very calm: “SUS now belongs to me half of the time. Before retiring, I was your player, and after retiring, I am your boss. Is this how you talk to your boss?”

Manager Chen’s face was expressionless as he told him to get lost.

Jiang Song chuckled: “I’m not kidding with you. He’s just a kid, very close to you. Just consider it an act of kindness to help a poor child who can’t go home. I’ll treat you to a meal next time.”

“Do you think I care about your meal?” Manager Chen sneered in response.

“There’s no need to bother with a kid. I have a psychological shadow towards children for the rest of my life,” Chen Xiao said, and everyone knew who he was referring to.

Jiang Song sneered, “He’s different from Genius. This kid is well-behaved.”

Manager Chen didn’t listen to him and Jiang Song had to work on him for a long time, promising a bunch of benefits, even agreeing to attend the World Championship Exhibition Match as a guest before finally convincing him.

Manager Chen snorted into the phone, “Remember to keep your promises, Boss. I’ve recorded this conversation. If you dare to go back on your word, I’ll report it online that you’re dating someone underage.”

Jiang Song laughed, “Who said it’s underage?”

Manager Chen: “?…Are you really dating online?”

Xie Yao waited for about ten minutes, and finally, Jiang Song sent him a license plate number on WeChat.

“SHOU-A25888. That’s the license plate number.”

“My friend’s car is black. It’ll be here in a few minutes. Stand still and don’t move ”

Xie Yao obediently replied “okay”

He blinked his eyes and stared at the license plate number sent by his boss, feeling like he had seen it somewhere before but couldn’t quite remember.

Chen Xiao drove to the address designated by Jiang Song, and according to his description, he looked around the direction of the courier station in the car for a long time.

It wasn’t until his eyes were sore that he finally saw a child with autism, wearing all black and a duck-billed cap, facing the wall and doing something next to a large box.

He didn’t look like a minor in height, but he was slim and slender, which was quite characteristic of a teenager.

Jiang Song kept asking if he had arrived on WeChat, which annoyed Chen Xiao.

“We’re here. I met your online lover,” Chen Xiao said.

Jiang Song: “…”.

“Let’s just joke around, don’t say it in front of the kid, and don’t reveal my identity. He doesn’t even know who I am yet.”

Chen Xiao laughed, “What, are you still pretending to be a poor boy and deceiving innocent kids for love?”

Jiang Song rolled his eyes.

Chen Xiao threw his phone aside and honked the horn. The sound was still piercing in the rain.

As soon as Xie Yao received Jiang Song’s message that the person had arrived, he heard the sound of the car horn the next second. He looked up, saw the black car at the entrance, and then struggled to identify the license plate number in the rain.

It was “SHOU-A25888”

Feeling embarrassed for making them wait, he stood up, greeted the staff, and turned around to pick up the box.

Chen Xiao watched from the car and saw the poor, shabby child carrying the box, like a pitiful child laborer hired by a heartless boss.

He clicked his tongue, turned his head, and got out of the car with an umbrella.

“Are you Yao Yao? I’m Jiang’s friend,” Manager Chen said as he approached him and moved the umbrella over the boy’s head.

“Hello, my name is Xie Yao,” Xie Yao replied, pursing his lips. He looked up to thank Manager Chen, and their eyes met.

Both of them were stunned.

Suddenly, all sound around them seemed to fade away, even the sound of the rain became almost indistinct. Xie Yao only heard Manager Chen squinting at him, letting out a cold laugh from his throat.

“It’s you, genius.”

Manager Chen suddenly remembered what Jiang Song had said before.

“He’s a genius, not like the other kids. He’s special.”

God damn, he really was a genius!

“Long time no see,” Manager Chen said.

Xie Yao blinked and didn’t move. He felt that Manager Chen’s tone of “long time no see” was like “why aren’t you dead yet?” He was scared.

Xie Yao always felt the greatest guilt towards Manager Chen and Sus. He didn’t even dare to answer, just lowered his head, trying to pretend he hadn’t heard it.

The little boy didn’t care about the occasion, and he felt overwhelmed with guilt and sadness. He turned and tried to rush into the rain, holding the box.

Then, in the next second, Manager Chen grabbed the back of his collar, lifted him up like a little chick, and pushed him backwards towards the car.

The car door opened in front of him, and Manager Chen’s tone was like sharpening a knife towards pigs and sheep: “What are you doing standing there? Get in.”

Xie Yao felt like a kidnapped child and was forcibly shoved into the car by Manager Chen.

After getting in the car, Xie Yao remained motionless in his seat, his head down and his face almost completely hidden by the brim of his cap.

Chen Manager glanced at him in the rearview mirror, raised his eyelids, but said nothing.

He sighed.

If it weren’t for the face and the little red mole on his forehead, Chen Manager wouldn’t have been able to recognize him as genius at first glance.

The difference between the two was too great.

The old genius was small in stature, only thirteen years old, and fearless like a demon king. But you could tell he was well-educated and a pampered little gentleman.

As an adult, Xie Yao became reticent and even lowered his head when facing old acquaintances.

Chen Manager drove the car in silence, giving Xie Yao time to prepare himself before he spoke up, “How have these years been for you?”

Xie Yao answered dully, “Not bad.”

Chen Manager couldn’t help but curse, “What do you mean, not bad? At thirteen, what can you do with an elementary school graduation certificate? Have you been scavenging for food these past few years?”

He looked Xie Yao up and down in the rearview mirror and sneered, “You’re as skinny as a monkey, and you call that ‘not bad’?”

Xie Yao lifted his head, opened his mouth to speak, but didn’t know what to say. In the end, he lowered his eyes and said, “My grandma had savings, so we can live.”

Chen Manager didn’t say anything more. Xie Yao opened his phone in the back seat, scrolling through apps absentmindedly. He should have realized that Brother Jiang was SUS’s sponsor, and even recognized Genius. The fact that his friend was the manager of the SUS team wasn’t surprising either. He could sense the concern hidden behind Chen Manager’s mockery, but encountering people who were intimately connected to his past made him instinctively want to escape. This was an illness that had left behind its aftermath.

Xie Yao’s rented apartment was not far away and they arrived in just a few minutes, but neither of them moved once the car stopped.

Chen manager turned to face him, “What are you doing now?”

“Streaming,” Xie Yao replied.

Chen manager stared at him without blinking, his frustration evident, “You were a prodigy when you were young, but now you’re wasting your talent like this?”

Xie Yao remained silent.

Chen manager became even more irritated when he saw Xie Yao’s stubborn expression, and his frown remained tight.

“Why did you delete all our contact information back then?”

Chen manager frowned. Xie Yao’s parents had been in a car accident, which had forced him to retire, and they couldn’t stop him. However, Xie Yao was just a thirteen-year-old child at the time, with no money or education. What could he do?

Chen manager had tried to find him by using the information Xie Yao had provided, but he discovered that the villa had been repossessed by the bank.

Xie Yao had disappeared completely, and no one could find him.

This time, Xie Yao remained silent.

After reuniting with Xie Yao whom Chen manager used to adore the most, he still couldn’t bring himself to force him. After asking if Xie Yao has money to spend and getting his live streaming address, he followed and added him as a friend on various social media platforms, inputted his own phone number and address into Xie Yao’s phone, then returned it to him.

“Alright, it’s raining too heavily. You go in first, I’ll come find you after finishing work.” Chen manager said.

As Xie Yao opened the car door, he hesitated and turned back to ask, “I just wanted to ask, how is Praise doing?”

Chen Jingliang snorted, “He’s doing much better than you, that’s for sure.”

He was so annoyed and said, “Just go away.”

Chen Manager watched as Xie Yao carried the large suitcase away without an umbrella, and he covered the suitcase with his own umbrella like a treasure.

After a while, he took out a lighter, lit a cigarette, and muttered, “Fuck.”

Xie Yao felt uneasy after returning home, and he hung a sick leave note and lay down on his bed, not in the mood to make an unboxing video or livestream for his fans. He opened his phone and clicked on Weibo, intending to look at Praise’s Weibo to alleviate his sour mood. However, he accidentally clicked on the homepage of “The Cat Who Doesn’t Eat Fish.”

He scrolled down and was immediately shocked by the title.

–Domineering Gold Owner and Beautiful Broadcaster: Saying “I Love You” for the 99th Time.

Xie Yao: …?

The young anchor had never encountered such greasy literature before, and when he clicked on it, his confusion overshadowed his bitterness, and then his worldview was shattered.

“Man, you’ve caught my attention.”

“You’re making me hot.”

“Damn, I’m actually moved.”

“Give you a million, be my man.”

…

Xie Yao: ?

He had never read fan fiction before, but he could tell that something was off. The writing was so greasy and the comment section was all laughs, like it leaned more towards humorous literature.

After reading for a while, while feeling perplexed and sleepy, he accidentally hit himself in the face with his phone. Squinting his eyes, he sent the unfinished fan fiction to Zhou Tian with a sentence attached, then fell into a deep sleep.

So when Jiang Songgang picked up his phone, he saw that the little anchor had sent him a link with a very eye-catching title:

“The Puppy-like Young Anchor of the Gold Daddy.”

Little Anchor: These fanfics are not good at all. Why doesn’t anyone write about me and Praise?

The preface didn’t match the context, but it didn’t stop Jiang Song from being surprised.