Whether or not to go the professional route was a big choice after all, so Lin Xiao didn’t contact Laughing Sky again for a few days, giving him time to think about the recent events. It’s just that ever since he bought the expensive Malatang, his life has taken an unfortunate turn of poverty and helplessness. Fortunately, at this point, Little Monkey Master gave him a helping hand, bringing him the good news that two videos were accepted, which finally solved his urgent need for food and clothing.
To express his sincere gratitude, Lin Xiao specially sent him a 5 yuan red envelope after the remuneration arrived.
Little Monkey Master looked at the three bright letters that said “Big Red Packet”, and after receiving it, he sent over a row of crestfallen emojis: “This red envelope is really ‘big’!”
Lin Xiao replied very calmly, “Don’t make such a fuss over a small matter. As a big anchorman, are you short of that small amount? After all, I’ve been short of money recently, so it’s not the gift that counts, but the thought behind it.”
Little Monkey Master was displeased: “Recently? Aren’t you always short of money?”
Lin Xiao answered, “Don’t worry, you’ll get more money soon.”
Little Monkey Master kept silent, obviously reserved on this statement, and turned around to tinker with the equipment, preparing for the live broadcast.
For this show of distrust, Lin Xiao no longer revealed the news that he was going to enter the professional circle to prove that he was trustworthy. He checked the balance on the card and texted to Hello Kitty, “The video fee has arrived.”
You Jing had just logged in, and after seeing the news, he only replied, “Oh.”
Lin Xiao looked at the screen and laughed meaningfully. While eating instant noodles, he used one finger to type: “Girl, how do you want me to send you your share? Will you send me your bank account, or do I deduct it from the full amount and send you a red envelope?”
You Jing saw that Adorable Ghost was promoted to the first level and changed the subject, “The club’s recruitment campaign for the training camp will start soon, how is it going with the recommended quota?”
Lin Xiao looked at the date and guessed that it was about time for Laughing Sky to show himself online and give him an answer, so he replied: “Don’t worry, unless something unexpected happens, it should be done in the next two days.”
You Jing didn’t ask what the so-called “unexpected” was and smoothly returned to the original topic: “Send a red envelope.”
Lin Xiao smiled lightly, seeing the string of numbers texted by his friend.
To avoid trouble when transferring red envelopes, most professional players used nicknames that were usually not ostensibly related to the person in question. The same was true for You Jing. After clicking on the info, there was a blank area, and only the ID column said “Meditation,” which somehow gave a Zen feeling that was completely different from his quiet but domineering personality. It was as different as black from white.
Compared to the little money he had sent to Little Monkey Master before, Lin Xiao was not as stingy this time. There was a total of 3,000 yuan in royalties, plus another 1,000 yuan sent directly, and the uniform red lines on the screen looked particularly eye-catching.
Looking at the message asking the other party to open the red envelopes one by one with a faint sense of satisfaction, he raised his brows and asked seemingly casually but pointedly, “Girl, are you part of the club’s internal staff? Why do I feel like you’re very familiar with the team operations?”
Seeing the question on the screen, You Jing had a light smile, “You will know when you join the club.”
Lin Xiao originally wanted to take advantage of his knowledge to have some fun, but he became depressed after this calm response.
Judging by the situation, it seems that he had no intention of continuing to hide? But if the time comes when a face-to-face discussion is truly necessary, he’ll have to think about it more carefully. After all, You Jing was different from Laughing Sky. Remembering the last time they met, he suddenly felt a little uncertain about his initially very determined strategy of returning to the team.
In order to avoid being kicked out on the first day of entering the club, Lin Xiao made a silent resolution.
~No matter what, I must never take the initiative to meet You Jing! I will wait for him to find out himself!~
…
Laughing Sky showed up three days later and sent Lin Xiao several laughing emojis as soon as he went online, yelling out loud, “Okay, okay, I’m in!”
Very satisfied with the result, Lin Xiao was still curious to know, “Have you thought this through? What about your company?”
Laughing Sky replied, “It’s very simple, my old man will call a capable person to help me watch over it for now, and when I return, I’ll take over again.”
Lin Xiao was speechless: “You rich people are really… too funny! Wait, I’m going to find the president.” As he said that, he sent a message to Black Night in the friends’ list, “Is the president here? I have a friend who wants to join the gang. Can you approve it?”
Not long after, he received Black Night‘s very businesslike reply: “What’s his name, role play, and his rank on the leaderboard?”
Lin Xiao did not answer each point but directly threw him the ID: “Laughing Sky.”
Ye Chen, who was sitting quietly in the guild office, trembled when he saw the name and almost fell off his chair. He finally regained his composure and resolutely replied, “Bring him!”
When Laughing Sky joined the club, it caused a particularly intense reaction, almost everyone in the guild that was online exploded. Some were demanding a group photo, some were buttering him up; in short, it was very lively. At this time he showed his excellent conduct and the cunning attributes of an upper-class elite. Faced with such a chaotic scene, he could remain completely calm, responding in a remarkably natural and decent manner, and many girls who were still hostile due to their previous enmity turned into fans in an instant.
Lin Xiao laughed at this pretentious social artistry, and after closing the public chat room, he focused on the familiar avatar icon.
After clicking on it, the content sent by Shen Changyu was very simple: “In three days, the recruitment of new members will begin. When will you come to the club, brother Lin?”
Lin Xiao flipped through the calendar and replied, “If there are no accidents, I should be there on that day.”
Shen Changyu asked: “Should I pick you up?”
Lin Xiao refused: “No need. You are too conspicuous, and I don’t want to cause a commotion. Besides, I will bring someone with me this time, so I’d better go by myself.”
Shen Changyu was slightly stunned: “Who else is coming?”
Lin Xiao replied with a smile: “Laughing Sky.”
There was no reply for a long time before finally Shen Changyu replied, deeply moved, “Brother Lin, you are really… so amazing.”
Although he couldn’t see what kind of expression the person on the other side of the screen had, Lin Xiao could imagine the look of surprise on his face, and right now, he should be extremely happy.
Maybe Laughing Sky really was an excellent player worth pursuing by many teams, but that’s about it. However, for the Black Rose team, it was completely different. The team’s current situation made them urgently need individual competition experts. If Laughing Sky were to fill this vacancy, the team’s overall ranking would increase by more than one level.
It was precisely because Lin Xiao knew this all too well that he paid special attention to this solitary expert.
Fortunately, in that face-to-face meeting, he managed to exchange the Malatang for such a master.
After that, everything seemed a lot easier.
Knowing that the president of the Black Dawn Society must have received some hints, Lin Xiao went straight to the point that night and called Black Night privately to ask for a place recommended by the guild to live in the training camp.
Unsurprisingly, almost without consideration, he received the promise directly.
After all, after the teams’ battle at that time, Ye Chen had already silently reserved one of the quotas for Lin Xiao. The reason the other spots were still undecided was that there was no other particularly promising player. To put it simply – most of the current master players had no intention of entering the professional circle for now, while most of the players interested in becoming professional players were nothing more than dabblers.
This greatly troubled Ye Chen, whose family was closely related to the qualifications of the recommended contestants.
Therefore, Laughing Sky being automatically delivered to his door at this time, was a blessing in disguise for him.
The solitary expert, who had never been recruited before, first joined the team and then the club? He felt like his monthly income was doubling.
After Lin Xiao got the location, he made an appointment with Laughing Sky to report together. Compared to their previous meeting as netizens, the two were going to meet again as teammates, so eventually, they decided to exchange names.
Laughing Sky‘s real name was “Xiao Li1,” a name that suited his image very well.
… …
Three days later, Lin Xiao, carrying a large bag, took the train directly to H City.
After arriving at the destination, he pushed his luggage out of the station, took out his phone to dial the saved number, and looking around, he asked, “Hey, Boss Xiao, where are you?”
From the other end of the phone came the reply: “Where are you?”
Lin Xiao looked up at the huge number above his head and said, “I’m at Gate 3.”
“Okay, wait there.” Before he could answer, the phone was hung up.
Speechlessly listening to the busy tone, Lin Xiao put his phone away and waited on the spot with the bag in his arms.
Not long after, some distant noise seemed to be approaching.
Looking that way, he saw a red Ferrari approaching at high speed and finally stopping firmly in front of him with the screeching sound of brakes.
The car window rolled down, and there was that finely chiseled face.
In the driver’s seat, Xiao Li took off his sunglasses halfway, turned his head towards him, and waved, “We’ll be late, hurry up.”
Under the eyes of thousands of people, Lin Xiao threw his luggage in the back seat, opened the car door, and jumped into the passenger seat.
As the sports car started up again, he couldn’t help but mutter out of the corner of his mouth, “It’s too troublesome to drive a Ferrari to report!”
Xiao Li gave him a sideways glance, then shrugged helplessly and said with some resignation in his tone: “The old man’s only request was that I bring this little trifle, I actually didn’t want to.”
~Your little trifle is too expensive!~ Lin Xiao glanced at him in a daze and said honestly, “Watch out for the haters of rich people, don’t blame me when you get beaten up.”
Xiao Li laughed carelessly and drove, following the GPS along the bustling street to the Black Soul Club training base.
The characters for his name are: 萧励, which I’d liberally see it as, “Urging Motivation”