High School Belle Fell in Love with Me-Chapter 163 - 125: That Guy Is Finally Getting Down to Business (Double-Length)
Song Xiaoli: "..."
She had read Li Yang’s exclusive interview before and knew that this guy was particularly fake.
Now interviewing him in person, indeed...
The vibe was almost unstoppable.
But she’s professional, so she doesn’t care about such things; these words will instead become highlights in her article.
So she continued to ask: "Did you ever think you’d win the championship?"
"Yes, I thought about it. But at the time, I was thinking, those opponents should at least win one or two rounds from us, right? In the end, all the way to the championship, I never tasted what failure was like."
Song Xiaoli pinched her thigh slightly and continued to ask: "When did you discover you had a talent for gaming?"
"Talent? Do I have it? Isn’t it enough to just have hands to be the strongest king? As for playing professionally... it was somewhat difficult. Before I played my first match, I trained for four days, for the second, I trained for six days, and for the third match, I trained for seven days! Almost as much as I prepared for the college entrance exams. Oh, I crammed for a month for the exams and became the provincial top scorer... from this, we can see that winning the gaming championship is only half as difficult as being the provincial top scorer."
Song Xiaoli saw Li Yang calmly say such things, even with a smile on his face, and she felt a bit... baffled.
Damn!
How can this guy be so pretentious!
She decisively switched topics, "Do you think the current market’s tinted view of e-sports is correct?"
"Of course, I also think e-sports isn’t a legitimate industry. Whatever a legitimate industry should have, e-sports completely lacks. As far as I know, our club is quite decent, but other clubs are a mess every day, and the players have no clear identity recognition. There’s no discipline; even practice matches are dealt with perfunctorily. From the match videos, it’s evident that players in the same team surprisingly lack any tacit understanding or coordination. There’s no strategy at all, they just charge heedlessly like brutes. In such an industry, frankly, success has nothing to do with effort; it’s all about talent and luck, making it hard to achieve results."
Song Xiaoli’s eyes lit up.
Li Yang, as a professional player, actually criticized his own industry?
Now there’s even more of a hot topic.
She continued to ask: "Does this mean you’re not planning to develop in the e-sports industry?"
"Honestly, I don’t want to. Because I don’t know if a teammate will suddenly try to steal my girlfriend, or if a teammate’s girlfriend might privately invite me for dinner or send me seductive photos. Of course, I absolutely believe my girlfriend won’t be stolen, and I absolutely believe I won’t be tempted by anyone else’s girlfriend."
Song Xiaoli: "Have you considered that after I publish this interview, you might be boycotted by the entire e-sports industry?"
"Let them boycott me. I scored as the provincial top in a month, won the LOL World Championship in half a month, my life won’t be limited to such a small place. I will continue to climb higher, to face more challenges. Perhaps my next success will be far away, maybe even risking a fall, but life is like that; without challenging oneself, you’ll never know how strong you are."
Never mind the advance preparation, I didn’t even know I could be this pretentious!
Li Yang said these things to give himself an excuse.
To avoid everyone constantly telling him to go play professionally.
He really can’t do it anymore!
Take the chance to make some money while the hype lasts, the main thing now is to expand the hype.
Anyway, perhaps after a year or so, the hype will fade away, and no one will pay attention to him anymore.
Even if someone will remember his pretentious antics forever, it can’t beat the erosion of time.
Song Xiaoli initially thought Li Yang was pretentious, but after hearing this, her heart unexpectedly ignited.
That indifference, that disdain for the world, that courage to challenge oneself, should only exist in theory.
So she asked: "Have you thought about what your next challenge will be?"
"Hmm... might consider making money, after all only with money can you have a distant future."
Song Xiaoli: "Oh? How much money do you think you need to support the distant future?"
"About... five hundred million?"
What else could Song Xiaoli say? Just wish Li Yang good luck.
Five hundred million right off the bat!
Even if he’d said fifty million, it would seem reasonable and believable.
Anyway, given Li Yang’s current situation, signing a million-dollar annual salary streaming contract wouldn’t be a problem; he already has the capital to earn tens of millions.
Finally, the two shook hands and said goodbye.
Li Yang noticed his teammates staring at Song Xiaoli from a distance.
"Li Yang, is she your girlfriend?"
"What’s up? Want to pursue her? Jing University’s talented girl, if you want to chase her, I’ll give you her contact info."
Among those present, there really were some who were interested.
Luckily, Edzhu came over and called Li Yang away, otherwise...
In the hotel room, Edzhu cheerfully said to Li Yang: "Li Yang, are you interested in continuing to sign with our club?"
"Hmm? Well..."
Edzhu: "Don’t be too quick to refuse, hear our offer first."
"Alright."
"First, we will tailor a contract for you, which will be the highest in the e-sports industry, with a starting salary roughly around twenty million. Secondly, we’ll negotiate ad endorsements worth no less than ten million for you, with our company only taking a 30% management fee. Thirdly, we’ll get you a larger streaming contract, no less than fifteen million a year. Plus there are some perks, like a single room, free choice of which matches to play, and adjustments based on your requests for the players."
Li Yang knew that this offer was quite good.
Though the streaming contract definitely wouldn’t amount to that much, nor would the endorsement fees be outrageously high, it would still be over twenty million a year for sure.
"President Zhu, I’ll consider it, after all, I still need to prioritize my studies; if studies allow, perhaps I’ll play a bit. If they don’t, I can still be an advisor to the club, helping with training."
Ultimately, it’s using their platform to showcase himself, so Li Yang didn’t want to give too absolute a response.
Moreover, they were holding his prize money.
Once Song Xiaoli’s article is published, Edzhu will naturally understand his intentions, and everyone can still maintain face.
Edzhu seemed a bit disappointed but still smiled and said: "Alright, you’re always welcome back when you’ve decided. The club’s doors are always open for you. Oh, by the way, in addition to the one million US Dollar prize from the game organizers for winning the championship, our club is giving you an extra seven million bonus, I’ll have finance deposit it to your account tomorrow. As for taxes, you can handle them yourself, or contact me if you’re not sure."
"Hmm? Wasn’t it two million?"
"I personally added another five million."
"Oh, thanks then, President Zhu."
Li Yang didn’t actually believe that Edzhu added extra bonus; he couldn’t be that kind-hearted.
Five million, even for a second-generation rich kid, isn’t something they’d easily give away.
Edzhu isn’t a top second-generation rich.
Even the principal’s extravagant gesture to buy bones with a thousand in gold only promised to distribute the prize money among players, maybe at best sending a large gift worth tens of thousands during the player’s wedding or moving.
No one knows how much of that one million US Dollar prize will truly reach him.
The skin bonus should be considerable, but it’ll be at least a year before seeing any real money from it.
He glanced at WeChat, plenty of professional players and LOL official hosts had sent friend requests.
He accepted them all.
But what he valued most were the inquiries from several streaming platforms.
That’s all money...
Meanwhile, Song Xiaoli also checked into the hotel, having just finished organizing her article.
Then she called her sister.
"Sis, thank you, without you, I wouldn’t have had such a good opportunity."
Song Yu on the other end asked: "Is that guy not beside you?"
"No, we parted ways after the interview."
"Oh? Turned over a new leaf?"
"Sis, what are you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing. What did that guy say? Tell me."
"Uh... that guy... a bit outrageous... what he said was really quite ridiculous. Said he crammed for a month and became the college entrance exam top scorer, played half a month’s worth of games and won the world championship, and said he’ll challenge more limits in the future."
"What limits?"
"He said the next challenge is earning five hundred million; I know all too well what five hundred million represents, I feel even if he’s a genius, it’s impossible to achieve in a short time, maybe even in a lifetime."
On the phone, Song Yu became excited: "That guy is finally going to do something serious, what’s so interesting about a silly game!"
