Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The male archer from the game was at the gathering as well.
As opposed to Jiu’s suit, he placed more effort in his outfit. He wore an English style swallow-tailed coat tailored to perfection. It helped making him appear firm and upright.
The male archer wasn’t anyone foreign. He was Yi Sihuo, the ‘celebrity’ son of Guo Rong, the woman who had made mocking remarks when she found out He Honghua was also attending the gathering.
When he found out Movie Queen An was also attending the gathering, he was sure he had found his chance.
Since they were from the same industry, he managed to get hold of news about Movie Queen An. She had recently agreed to participate in a huge film directed by an internationally renowned director. The director was currently in China seeking out an asian youngster with a mysterious vibe to star in his film.
If he managed to receive Movie Queen An’s recommendation, he could potentially enter the huge film.
When that happened, he wouldn’t just be a third class actor.
Those who weren’t in the industry probably weren’t aware that only actors who had participated in big overseas films were able to secure a continuous stream of resource and support within the country. That wasn’t all, he would also be known as an actor with recognized abilities.
The gathering today was considered a chance for Yi Sihuo to climb through the ranks.
As for his acting skills, did they really matter?
They lived in an era where only looks mattered. As long as his skills were alright, there wouldn’t be an issue.
There were colleagues who had advised him to hone his skills, but that was completely hilarious. He had to squeeze time out just to attend his classes so that the paparazzi wouldn’t blame acting for affecting his studies. In order to build a role model image, he didn’t have time to learn acting.
Besides, he could always have a substitute in some scenes.
As long as he had connections, he wasn’t the least bit worried about his popularity and the chance in front of him was the best opportunity.
In terms of looks, he was confident there wasn’t anyone who could beat him, but Yi Sihuo was worried that his attention would be stripped away.
The crowd who had been speaking to him all paused, their attention steering towards the youngster who had overshadowed him in the game earlier today.
Yi Sihuo was still in the WeChat group. Hence, he knew Spade Z was the player who had replaced the burden.
But the youngster didn’t know he was the archer.
Yi Sihuo would never expose personal information, regardless of whether it was in the game or in reality. The extent of the information he gave out was his school, the No.1 Middle School.
He was a celebrity after all.
But today was the first time he had such an experience.
He could disregard being overshadowed in the game, but this nouveau riche came from the outskirts. Who gave him the rights to overshadow him here?
Guo Rong wasn’t welcoming as well.
It wasn’t all that weird since the ladies who came out to socialize often all knew about the close ties between Guo Rong and Su Mei. Guo Rong had never fancied He Honghua and had once remarked about how she was a fat and unsophisticated woman who was persisting for nothing. Couldn’t she tell how inadequate she was compared to Su Mei? If she had known any better, she would just have stepped aside and given up her position.
She pouted when she saw Bo Jiu coming with He Honghua.
However, such people would never put their emotions on their sleeves because that was the symbol of elegance they believed in.
Guo Rong saw herself higher than the others and had never saw He Honghua as an equal because of her lowly upbringing. With her status, it wasn’t possible for her to join their ranks.
She didn’t have to say much about her son either because he wasn’t just boy-crazy, he had even ruthlessly went against his father.
Guo Rong had heard Su Mei talk about him before.
Other than being a professional esports player, there wasn’t anything else good about him.
Calling him an esports player was just a nicer way of calling it, honestly speaking, wasn’t he just someone who gamed? Those lowly people were just grabbing onto any opportunity to use against others.
Guo Rong retracted her gaze. She held onto the glass and smiled, refusing to give such a person another glance.
“Come, Sihuo, you should follow Auntie Yang Huan more often, get her to give you some support. I remember you mentioning your ties with Movie Queen An, right?”
Guo Rong was just trying to make her son look better.
Yi Sihuo had indeed met Movie Queen An before, but he was just in the audience while she was the goddess of the movie industry who went on stage to collect her award.
That didn’t stop him from using it to his advantage though. “We met before overseas.”
“Oh?” Yang Huan was the organizer of the entire gathering. She arched a brow and chuckled. “Sihuo has been doing well.”
Yi Sihuo pretended to be humble. “That wasn’t much, it was just a coincidental meeting at an award show. I was simply learning from a senior from the industry.”
“You aren’t doing too bad, there were many enquires about you when people saw our photo together. You will definitely become famous in the future.” Yang Huan smiled. “Don’t forget about your Auntie Yang Huan when the time comes.”
Yi Sihuo replied confidently, “I definitely won’t.”
However, this conversation hadn’t managed to garner the intention he had desired as the other madams near him weren’t talking about him, but instead discussing the nouveau riche who didn’t even deserve to lift his shoes.
“He should be the one. Is he called Spade Z? My daughter really loves him… And my daughter is someone who buries her nose in books. She doesn’t have many interests, but this time, she was determined to surpass the school hunk in order to be worthy as a fan. What exactly is she thinking?”
“My son was even more interesting, he recently cut off all his hair and said he was going to join the army. He had even said it was humiliating how he couldn’t even defeat a pretty boy. Now that he is willing to join the army, me and his dad are finally at ease. In the past, he always felt as though he was the best in the world and acted arrogantly, not looking up to anyone. But I got to say, he is indeed impressive for being able to defeat my son.”
“It is good to have such a kid.”
“He looks rather sensible and seems completely unlike how Su Mei had described him…”
Gossip ran wild throughout the gathering.
Yi Sihuo wanted to be the center of their gossip and his mother had the same thoughts.
Guo Rong couldn’t just accept what was happening. In the past, whenever her son accompanied her to an event, she would always end up being the star everyone envied.
Today’s gathering wasn’t going as she planned.
Guo Rong narrowed her eyes…
As a guest, it was basic courtesy to greet the host.
After they entered, Bo Jiu brought He Honghua over to Yang Huan.
If He Honghua had come alone, she wouldn’t be as confident, but it was different with Bo Jiu around.
He Honghua greeted Yang Huan naturally.
To Yang Huan, it was considered basic courtesy to maintain a harmonious relationship.
Even though it didn’t make a difference whether or not she invited He Honghua, she would engage in social pleasantries.
Before today, Guo Rong was still able to maintain such a front, but now, she couldn’t. He Honghua wasn’t someone worthy of the gathering so why should she bother about maintaining harmony?
“Boss He, it’s been a while.” Guo Rong smiled. “Your son is getting more ravishing by the day. From the looks of it, we have rather similar profiles, with just one son in the household. But Sihuo has always been a sensible child, he is humble as well and has never caused me any trouble. Even though he is starting to get popular, it hasn’t gotten to his head. Your son on the other hand…” With that, she paused slightly and arched her brows before continuing, “He has been plagued with a continuous stream of bad press. As parents, we have to consider the factors holistically. It’d be good if he managed to make it big, but if he doesn’t, he would be jaded and that could potentially lead him down the wrong path. His parents have to pay more attention, both the inner and outer teachings are critical. I remember your son wasn’t very used to such events in the past, how is he coping today? Has he mastered the art of drinking wine?”
Bo Jiu still had an impression of Guo Rong, but not of her son.
Guo Rong brought up the art of wine drinking to mock the original owner of the body because the very first time she had participated in an event with Su Mei, she had downed the entire glass of wine after a toast and wasn’t familiar with social etiquette.
At that time, the original body’s owner had sincerely trusted Su Mei and wasn’t aware Su Mei had brought her out just to humiliate her and to make herself look better.
Guo Rong was one of the perpetrators.
He Honghua understood what she meant, her eyes dimming. She told herself not to be rash and not to act recklessly. If she gave in to her impulses, it would be akin to falling into their trap. She had to suppress herself as it wouldn’t be worth it if she blew up.
Based on Bo Jiu’s personality, she wouldn’t think much of the remark, but He Honghua was present today and in this world, there would always be that one person who wasn’t willing for her to be even the slightest bit upset.
For Fu Jiu, He Honghua was such a person.
“Coincidentally, I have been researching on red wine recently.” Bo Jiu stuffed a hand into her pocket, her smile devilish. “Thanks for your concern, Boss Guo.”
From Guo Rong’s memory, the youngster was still the weak and useless nouveau riche.
Guo Rong was caught off guard by the youngster’s reply so she took a moment before smiling. “It’s good that you know about it. I was planning on getting Sihuo to teach you some tips. You guys aren’t that far off in terms of age and even though there are differences in some areas, I’m sure that would make communicating more convenient. Of course, other than gaming, you don’t do much unlike my Sihuo, who spends his time reading scripts or studying. You have to learn from that.”
Bo Jiu lifted her lips. “Boss Guo, what makes you think I haven’t been doing anything?”
“As esports players, gaming is all you do.” Even though there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with her words, everyone could tell the underlying meaning.
Bo Jiu glanced at her, her voice calm and leveled. “Boss Guo seems to have misunderstood my profession, we don’t just game. As a professional esports player, we spend at least eight hours online and the other four is spent on training the basics such as reaction, hand speed, maneuvering and the chemistry between teammates, all of which has to be revisited constantly. Moreover, Boss Guo, I believe it is the basic of a boss to respect everyone’s profession. What do you think?”
Guo Rong was stumped. She would never have expected a tiny country bumpkin to have turned into such a formidable opponent.
He so seamlessly pulled her into a trap.
There were many people around that dabbled in a variety of industries, hence, she knew what sort of mistake she had made.
Yang Huan didn’t wish for any unhappiness to happen since her Sister An would be arriving shortly.
Hence, when she detected the spark, she immediately came forward. “Kids these days are more intelligent than us, Boss Guo means no harm. Come and have a toast.”
Yang Huan wasn’t very fair, but she had frequent interactions with Guo Rong after all while He Honghua was just an outsider.
She had only invited her to boost the attendance. Between the both of them, she would definitely side with Guo Rong.
“Hey, there seems to be something missing,” Yang Huan remarked, she turned towards Yi Sihuo. “I don’t think the music had been chosen well. Sihuo, could you honor me with a piece on the piano?”
Their pleasantries were just a way to disregard He Honghua and Bo Jiu.
Bo Jiu had never participated in such events with He Honghua, but when she saw how resigned He Honghua was from the treatment, her eyes dimmed.
How many times had she been ostracised to have gotten used to it?
She knew exactly how much effort He Honghua had placed into the gathering today and perhaps, she really didn’t mind.
But even if it didn’t matter, this shouldn’t be her reaction.
Such an event wasn’t worth attending , Bo Jiu wanted to comment.
She turned and was met with a familiar voice. “Auntie Yang, I can do that, but from what I heard, Young Master Fu sounds rather impressive. Why don’t we both play a segment? It doesn’t have to be a famous piece, just a basic one will do. I’m sure Young Master Fu can handle that?”
Bo Jiu lifted her lids, glancing over at Yi Sihuo with a raised brow.
He… was the burdensome archer from this morning?
Yi Sihuo wasn’t aware of Bo Jiu’s talent for disguise and sensitivity towards tones. Moreover, the arrogance and mockery in Yi Sihuo’s tone was still as thick as this morning.
Naturally, Bo Jiu could tell who he was.
“Or does Young Master Fu not even know the basics?” Yi Sihuo pressed, obviously not giving her any way out. Even though he wasn’t well acquainted with this worthless guy, he knew of some details. For instance that he had never played the piano or even touched one before.
He acted so arrogantly in the game and had even overshadowed him? He was going to let him pay now that they were in real life!
Even though they had a piano at home, He Honghua has never heard her Jiu play it before, hence, she had always treated it as a decoration since Jiu had always enjoyed flaunting such things.
Yi Sihuo was doing it deliberately so that Jiu would humiliate herself.
He Honghua tightened her fists, prepared to intercept, but Bo Jiu replied before she could speak. “Who’s going to start?”
He Honghua took a moment. Then she looked up, her gaze heavy with worry.
Yi Sihuo laughed. “You can start, I’m afraid you wouldn’t have the mood after I’m done since I’m a professional after all.”
His words were laced with mockery, it was obvious that he was trying to push her down.
“Oh? You are a professional?” Bo Jiu walked forward casually, standing in front of the piano. With a glance over, her lips curved into a devilish smile. “It’s going to be embarrassing if you don’t play as well as a novice like me.”
Yi Sihuo scoffed. “You should save those words till after you are done.”
This worthless youngster was too much. It wasn’t possible for him to play better than him. Who exactly did he think he was?
Bo Jiu wasn’t the least bit bothered.
Everyone glanced over at the silver-haired youngster dressed in a suit as he sat in the brightest and most eye catching spot.
But at this moment…
