Chapter 53: The Poor Kid From the Countryside

Wang Zhuo: “…”

He said, “No… no thanks.”

And so, with a rustle, Cheng Ye poured the candies in as well.

When the staff member returned, the corners of her mouth twitched as she looked at the two empty dishes. She placed the tea cup in front of Cheng Ye. Since he wanted to brew it himself, she brought individually wrapped tea bags and a kettle.

“The tea leaves we’ve selected are the most tender buds from before the Qingming rains, picked from the high mountains of Wuyi. The water is also mountain spring water from the high mountains, with a clear, sweet fragrance upon tasting.”

The staff member turned on the kettle. “Have you brewed tea before, sir? Do you need any help?”

Cheng Ye said, “No need. you may leave.”

The staff member gave him an imperceptible glance, said nothing, and left.

As soon as she was gone, Cheng Ye tossed the tea bags into his backpack too.

Wang Zhuo looked on, wanting to speak but hesitating, then wanting to speak again.

“Cheng…” He paused. “Little brother Cheng, what are you…”

Cheng Ye poured the boiled water into the teacup and said concisely, “Taking it home to drink.”

Wang Zhuo drank a mouthful of tea without appreciating its fineness. In just a few short hours, he felt physically and mentally exhausted.

He thought that no matter what Cheng Ye did next, he would no longer be surprised.

After waiting for half an hour, the door was finally pushed open.

Cheng Ye and Wang Zhuo stood up.

The first to enter was the staff member. Following her was a man in his twenties. The man was refined and proper-looking, and seemed to have rushed over from somewhere, dressed in a suit.

Comparing the custom-tailored suit with his own off-the-rack one, Wang Zhuo felt like a salesman handing out flyers on the street.

Huang Xuyao paused for a moment when he saw the two young men in the private room. A few seconds later, he extended his hand toward Wang Zhuo. “Hello, you must be Mr. Cheng?”

Wang Zhuo didn’t move. The young man beside him extended a hand and shook his. “Hello, I’m Cheng Ye.”

Huang Xuyao was stunned. Even though he knew it was very impolite, he couldn’t stop his eyes from scanning Cheng Ye up and down. “You’re the one in charge?”

Cheng Ye said, “Is there a problem?”

Is there a problem? The problem was huge.

Huang Xuyao coughed. His assistant behind him asked the staff member to leave and closed the door.

Cheng Ye and Wang Zhuo sat on one side, while Huang Xuyao and his assistant sat on the other.

Huang Xuyao gave a dry laugh. “I really didn’t expect the person in charge of developing such a game to be so young. If I may be so bold, how old are you, little brother?”

Cheng Ye drank a sip of plain water. “Twenty-five.”

Wang Zhuo: “…”

Cheng Ye sat there, tall and well-built, with no trace of youthful immaturity on his face. If he said he was twenty-five, people would believe him.

For some reason, upon hearing this number, Huang Xuyao fell suspiciously silent for a moment. A few seconds later, he laughed. “I couldn’t tell. You’re quite young and promising, brother.”

He looked at the plain water in front of Cheng Ye and asked, “Mr. Cheng doesn’t drink tea? Their Dancong is very famous. How about I order a cup for you?”

Cheng Ye said, “Can I brew it myself?”

“Of course…”

And so, the staff member brought another tea bag.

Cheng Ye tossed the tea bag into his backpack. Under the slightly astonished gazes from the opposite side, he added, “I’ll brew it at home. I’m not used to drinking it here.”

The assistant’s mouth twitched.

Huang Xuyao was quiet for two seconds, then actually broke into a smile. “Little brother Cheng is very interesting. If you like tea, I’ll have someone send you a pack.”

Cheng Ye nodded. “Thank you.”

Not polite at all.

Under the assistant’s speechless gaze, Huang Xuyao was quite generous. With a wave of his hand, he really had someone bring a pack of tea leaves for Cheng Ye.

Cheng Ye packed it into his school bag with a calm expression.

Wang Zhuo thought that with Cheng Ye’s mindset, he would succeed at whatever he did.

With the freebies more or less collected, the group began to talk business.

Huang Xuyao was from Beijing. A small matter like meeting Cheng Ye wouldn’t normally require his personal attention. He just happened to be in Jiangcheng for business today with some free time, so he came by.

His appearance was not aggressive, and he gave off a very amiable and refined feeling. The brand of his suit was not obvious, but the watch revealed at his wrist was enough to hint at his extraordinary status.

The aroma of tea filled the air. He lowered his head and took a light sip, speaking slowly and methodically. “A friend of mine recommended the game to me, and I also tried playing it for a few days. When he recommended it, I thought it was some kind of masterpiece. But after playing it, the experience wasn’t as good as I imagined.”

“Most games on the market today are just simple level-based competitions. You have integrated a storyline with the competition, which is equivalent to creating a whole new game world. It’s very novel, but it’s only novel.”

Cheng Ye’s face was expressionless. Compared to the gentle Huang Xuyao, even his eyebrows carried an aggressive edge. They shot up quickly, then lowered.

“Novelty is enough.”

Huang Xuyao’s movements paused slightly. He glanced at Cheng Ye. “Little brother Cheng, novelty alone doesn’t make money. Your graphics are poor, the character animations are stiff, and even the plot is a mess.”

“It looks popular now, but it won’t be long before the audience’s enthusiasm fades. When other companies launch new games, what will you use to keep them?”

“But for you, isn’t novelty what you need?” Cheng Ye said. “I looked up your background before I came. The Huang family is very famous in Beijing, but they’ve always been in the trade industry. Mr. Huang, you’re only in your twenties, just graduated. You’ve started your own new company instead of following your family’s business. You can’t be just playing around, can you?”

“With so many companies, so many game products, you should need this novelty more than anyone.”

Huang Xuyao stroked his teacup, saying nothing.

After a while, he let out a laugh. “It’s true that I want it, but you also know the shortcomings of your game. The most I can give is one hundred thousand.”

“One hundred and fifty,” Cheng Ye said.

“Little brother Cheng, you’re really asking for an exorbitant price. Do you know what one hundred and fifty thousand means these days?”

Cheng Ye let out a laugh, meeting his gaze without a trace of fear. “It means you can use this novelty to earn many more one hundred and fifties.”

…

The tea in the cup grew cold. The assistant saw the other party off and returned, asking the staff to serve a new cup of tea.

Steam rose. Huang Xuyao lowered his brows, watching the tea leaves unfurl in the cup.

The staff member placed new cookies and candies on the table, then bowed and exited the room.

The assistant, unsure of Huang Xuyao’s thoughts, leaned in and asked, “Mr. Huang…”

Huang Xuyao leaned back, his posture lazy. “What’s the background of this Cheng fellow?”

The assistant said, “According to the background check, he’s just a poor kid from a rural village in Lincheng. His father is dead, his mother ran off. He has no one to rely on.”

He was very poor. The only expensive thing on him was the watch he protected on his wrist. His clothes were shabby, but that didn’t mean the person was shabby.

“Giving him one hundred thousand was already giving him immense face. For him to ask for such a high price, he’s truly overestimating himself. In my opinion, we should just let him hang for two days, knock him down a peg. How dare a poor kid from the countryside challenge you?”

“Let him hang for two days?” Huang Xuyao chuckled. “He knows better than you that I’m the one who can’t afford to wait. Who knows how many people are waiting to laugh at me right now.”

“You may leave. I need to make a call.”

The door opened and closed again. Only then did a real touch of warmth color Huang Xuyao’s eyes.

“What kind of troublemaker did you find for me? He’s really put me in a tough spot.”

The other end was quiet for a moment before a cool voice came through.

“Don’t talk nonsense. He’s very honest.”

“Honest? Jiang Shi, I’ve heard your schoolwork isn’t great, but now it seems your judgment isn’t great either.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

The city-wide unified exam had just finished its last subject on the second day. The surroundings were filled with students. Jiang Shi leaned against the wall at the end of the corridor.

The setting sun spread across the horizon, its golden light blinding.

He let out a laugh. “What? Did the talks not go smoothly?”

Huang Xuyao sounded helpless. “What did you tell me before? A country boy, honest, heard about a project, and on a whim, invested his entire life savings. He was crying on the phone to me, telling me how hard it was for him. Seeing him today, he’s truly ‘lived up to his reputation’.”

His tone was still warm and gentle. If Jiang Shi wasn’t so familiar with him, he might not have understood his sarcasm.

Jiang Shi said, “I didn’t cry to you. I just made an introduction, get it? An introduction. That guy of yours would do anything for money. If you weren’t interested, would you have agreed?”

Huang Xuyao: “Maybe I did it for your sake?”

“Is my face worth that much?”

A lazy laugh came through the phone.

After laughing, Huang Xuyao finally asked, “What’s your relationship with him?”

Jiang Shi was vague. “Just friends…”

“Jiang Shi, stay away from him. You two aren’t suited to be friends.”

Everyone had left. Jiang Shi walked down the empty staircase. “Why do you say that?”

“This person is so young, yet his mind is terrifyingly meticulous. The ambition in his eyes startled even me. He’s too aggressive, too goal-oriented. He’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Don’t get too close to him.”

Jiang Shi had already experienced Cheng Ye’s methods firsthand. What Huang Xuyao said wasn’t wrong, but the bond between him and Cheng Ye couldn’t be explained in just a few words. He didn’t brush off his good intentions. “I know. Thanks for the reminder.”

He had said his piece. As for anything else, Huang Xuyao wouldn’t interfere further.

He took a light sip of tea and unbuttoned his suit with one hand. “Little Jiang Shi, you haven’t contacted me for so long, and when you do, it’s for someone else. That really hurts.”

“You’re a big shot, busy expanding your new business and inheriting the family enterprise. How would a small character like me dare to bother you?”

“It’s not that you don’t dare, you don’t want to.” Huang Xuyao asked him, “After such a big incident, why didn’t you tell me?”

More than half a year had passed, and Jiang Shi had long since let it go. He smiled. “At first, I felt it wouldn’t make a difference whether I said it or not. Later, I just forgot.”

“You…” Huang Xuyao sighed slowly. “Leaving the Song family probably isn’t a bad thing for you. In terms of our friendship, I can be considered an older brother to you. If you have any difficulties in the future, just come to me. Don’t overthink it.”

Jiang Shi wasn’t one to spoil the mood. Regardless of what he would actually do, he agreed to everything Huang Xuyao said.

After some more small talk, Huang Xuyao asked him, “So what are your plans now?”

“Brother…” Jiang Shi said helplessly, “I’m still a student, only in my third year of high school. I’m not a freak like Cheng Ye. What can I do? I can only memorize vocabulary in the morning and math formulas at night. Just winging it.”

Huang Xuyao laughed. “Quite diligent. Come to Beijing for university. I’ll treat you to a meal.”

Jiang Shi’s face was blank. “Do you think I don’t want to get in?”

With his terrible grades, he’d be lucky to get into a second-tier university.

Jiang Shi had reached the cafeteria before hanging up the phone. He looked and saw several missed calls on his phone, all from Cheng Ye.

He called back. The other end picked up instantly. The tone was serious.

“Jiang Shi, who were you just talking to on the phone?”

Jiang Shi opened his mouth, about to say his mom, when Cheng Ye immediately cut in, “I just called Auntie Jiang.”

He accused.

“You two talked for at least twenty minutes.”

“You promised me you would call me first after the exam.”