Chapter 722: Previously Invisible
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: – –
After the sunglasses flew out, one person frantically struggled out of the crowd. His clothes were crooked now and his hair had become disheveled. Once he stumbled his way through, he got up and heard a concerned voice from in front of him: “Boss Xuan, you okay?”
Tao Xuan looked up. The person asking was his competitor, Happy Internet Cafe’s owner and Ye Qiu’s supporter, Chen Guo. It was a pity that Chen Guo couldn’t keep up her act. She wasn’t a natural at taunting people like Ye Xiu was. When she asked if he was alright, her eyebrows were raised in delight, letting Tao Xuan know: she wasn’t really concerned about him, but rather laughing at him.
Even though Tao Xuan was the owner of Excellent Era and the senior, who provided the wages for his pro players, the fans didn’t care much about him. After Sun Xiang and Xiao Shiqin were recognized, they were immediately swarmed. Tao Xuan wasn’t as well known, so despite wearing sunglasses as well, the fans took a few glances at him and acted like he didn’t exist after determining that he wasn’t a pro player. The two pro players were being asked left and right with requests for signatures and photos. As for Tao Xuan, he had been squeezed out as if he were an obstacle.
Tao Xuan didn’t have the physique fitting for a security guard. He couldn’t protect those two. In the end, he was forced out like that pair of sunglasses.
Tao Xuan felt gloomy! The pro players receiving love and respect from their fans shouldn’t be a bad thing, right? However, his opponents were laughing at them. Tao Xuan really wanted to shout that Ye Qiu was here too. He was certain that there would be a similar effect, but why should he split Excellent Era’s fans? In truth, Tao Xuan didn’t want to regard Ye Qiu as his opponent. He knew how much Excellent Era fans cared for Ye Qiu. If the two became enemies, the fans would be split, so Ye Qiu quietly retiring was for the best, but Ye Qiu refused to go out quietly and started creating his own team. Tao Xuan wanted to minimize the damage the other side could bring to Excellent Era. How could he push Ye Qiu towards the fans?
Tao Xuan didn’t bother arguing with them. With a dark expression on his face, he tidied up his clothing and ran back to the Club. Not long afterwards, helpers arrived at Happy Internet Cafe. They weren’t going to force the two away. It would be too disrespectful to the fans. The fans should at least surround the pro players in an orderly fashion though. What if an accident happened and the crowd started to run amok?
When the helpers came, they brought a megaphone. After a few shouts, the crowd calmed down a bit and the scene gradually turned into a fan meet and greet for the pro players. Chen Guo walked over, laughing: “Boss Xuan, Happy Internet Cafe is my place. Don’t you think you should be paying to host an event here?”
“Is that so? It seems to me that bringing my pro players over here will help your business quite a bit. I think you should be the one paying me fees for their appearance.” Tao Xuan said.
“Did I ask for them to come over?” Chen Guo asked back.
“Then if you don’t want us to use your venue, then disperse the crowd!” Tao Xuan said.
In truth, neither of them cared about paying fees! The two were simply venting their anger on each other. In any case, the one to lose out today was Tao Xuan’s side. What he just said wasn’t false. Sun Xiang and Xiao Shiqin appearing at Happy Internet Cafe would certainly be a boon to Happy Internet Cafe’s business.
Ordinarily, with the status of these two pro players, Happy Internet Cafe didn’t have enough influence to invite them over. In business, it wasn’t all about earning profits from advertising fees! While celebrities made the advertised products more popular through their own fame, celebrities also relied on the product to make themselves more well known. Happy Internet Cafe wasn’t a chain brand that everyone in the country recognized. Its fame couldn’t compare to an All Star player. The two sides weren’t on the same playing field. For today’s events, if news spread, Excellent Era would explain it as the two pro players coming out for their own private matters and then inadvertently being recognized. If it became described as a business move, Happy Internet Cafe would profit greatly from it. It would lower the value of these two pro players as well.
In any case, Happy Internet Cafe could only gain from this occurrence. When Chen Guo bickered with Tao Xuan, she didn’t care about who won or lost in the end. Ye Xiu and Wei Chen chatted on the side, not caring about the situation. Tang Rou and Steamed Bun had joined the crowd. Qiao Yifan was still terrified after letting a storm loose from a slip of the tongue.
Excellent Era’s helpers arrived and organized the crowd into a more orderly fashion. After the fans calmed down, they would try and get the pro players out. If not, once the news started to spread, more and more fans would show up. If things went badly, the media would even come over and so on.
As a result, after satisfying all of the requests for signatures and pictures, the Excellent Era employees explained the situation to the fans, while slowly evacuating Sun Xiang and Xiao Shiqin.
Although the fans were sad, the pro players had indeed stayed for some time, showing their sincerity and interacting with them. When Excellent Era’s group left Happy Internet Cafe, they quickly escaped to Club Excellent Era. Tao Xuan didn’t come over and say a few departing words to them.
That Qiao Yifan left him an impression though.
His “Senior Xiao Shiqin? Senior Sun Xiang? Hi” had caused them quite the trouble. In addition, it even helped advertise for Happy Internet Cafe. That guy wasn’t a good person!
Tao Xuan didn’t think that he had been prompted to do so because it wasn’t necessary! Those other five could have shouted their names at any time and caused them trouble, but they didn’t do so. It was only that newcomer Qiao Yifan who said their names when he saw them. His actions were too despicable and shameless.
This person was still just a child too! They had to be wary of him!
Tao Xuan took his time to investigate his enemies. Qiao Yifan had been noticed by him. While they were under pressure, that guy set off a calamity with a nervous appearance. His acting skills were truly superb.
Qiao Yifan. I’ll remember you!
After Tao Xuan returned to the Club, the first thing he did was make a phone call. Finding out information about a player, who was part of a team in the Alliance, wasn’t difficult at all. He directly called Team Tiny Herb’s owner.
As owners, their relationship with each other was very subtle. This type of situation was similar to the politics between in-game guilds. When they needed to fight, they would be at each other’s throats. When they were sitting idle, they would chat with each other.
“Qiao Yifan?” Tiny Herb’s owner was very surprised at hearing Tao Xuan ask for this name in particular.
He knew this name because even though Qiao Yifan was a nobody, deciding not to renew his contract required his approval. It had only been three or four days since, so he still hadn’t forgotten about Qiao Yifan. When he saw that Excellent Era’s Tao Xuan was personally calling to ask about him, he immediately began to wonder whether their team had let some sort of talent go.
What was Team Excellent Era? Despite having been relegated, Team Excellent Era could still attract an All Star player like Xiao Shiqin. They weren’t some team that could be shopped around like a supermarket after being relegated. They didn’t need some free agent player that had been abandoned by another team.
“Qiao Yifan….. Ah, that player…” Tiny Herb’s boss wanted to act as if he wasn’t sure, but he discovered that he really didn’t know much about this player. A few days ago, Tiny Herb’s manager came over to talk about this matter a bit, but he hadn’t cared too much. An unfamiliar player meant that the player wasn’t very important one. As a result, he didn’t ask too much about him. If every decision had to be personally made by the boss, the Club wouldn’t need so many different departments!
It was just that when he heard Excellent Era’s boss unexpectedly ask for this particular player, he started to have some thoughts.
“Boss Xuan, I actually don’t know much about this Qiao Yifan. I’ll go ask around and when I find some more information on him, I’ll tell you.” Tiny Herb’s boss finally replied.
After hanging up the phone, Tiny Herb’s boss immediately called Tiny Herb’s manager. When the manager heard the question, he was also very surprised. His decision for Qiao Yifan hadn’t been made on the spur of the moment though. He had even asked for captain Wang Jiexi’s opinion. For a championship team like Team Tiny Herb, a player like Qiao Yifan wouldn’t be of much use. Whether it was signing a stronger player or raising a new rookie, it would be more worth it than funnelling resources into Qiao Yifan.
Since his boss was asking him, the manager didn’t dare to delay and naturally informed of what he knew. He didn’t forget to say that the decision hadn’t been made solely by him. He had also asked for Wang Jiexi’s opinion.
The team captain didn’t have any decision-making authority, but his opinions were of great importance. When the manager made these kinds of decisions, he mostly did what the team captain recommended. In some sense, it was the team captain who decided whether a player should stay and whether the team needed a new player. Tiny Herb’s manager shifted the responsibility to Wang Jiexi to explain to his boss: this was a decision that the team captain had proposed!
This was a matter that he had talked about with the boss just a few days ago. After being suddenly asked to explain, the boss must have some doubts! The manager was certain. As he explained, he thought of what Qiao Yifan might have done to make the boss suddenly ask about him.
No matter how hard Tiny Herb’s manager tried, he wouldn’t be able to think of Qiao Yifan seeing Sun Xiang and Xiao Shiqin and giving them a polite greeting. It was because of what that resulted in, which caused such a huge misunderstanding.
Tiny Herb didn’t have a clue about any of this. Tao Xuan didn’t know it was a misunderstanding. He thought that Qiao Yifan was a threat and immediately called Tiny Herb to ask, but in the eyes of Tiny herb, a powerful owner like Tao Xuan had personally come to ask about a nobody. Could they have made a mistake?
Qiao Yifan.
An hour earlier, Qiao Yifan had been a nobody, but because of this small accident, he had suddenly drawn the attention of two strong teams. If Qiao Yifan knew about it, he probably wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry. When all is said and done though, this mess stemmed from the pressure that Ye Xiu had put on Excellent Era.
