Unconventional Center

Chapter 45: The White Swordsman

Although there was a minor hiccup, Valentine’s Day didn’t really have much to do with Chu Yang. However, he couldn’t just brush off the Spring Festival. Since he wasn’t in the country, there weren’t really any special celebrations—it was just a matter of making a few extra phone calls to send New Year’s greetings. Just as he was getting ready to eat, he got a call from Li Jia, and only then did Chu Yang realize that today was the day *Green Field Magnifier* was airing. “Who scheduled this time slot? This is just asking for trouble. The Spring Festival Gala starts at 8:00, and you’re airing your show at 7:00?” “We’ve already moved it up by half an hour. It was originally scheduled for 7:30 every Friday—who knew it would coincide so perfectly with the last Friday of the year?” Li Jia’s voice sounded equally drained. “You could have pushed it back. It’s not like you’ve never let the audience down before.” The ads for *Green Field Magnifier* had been out for a while, and the artists under Nirvana Media had been promoting the show for quite some time. It was only because they needed to revise the content that the broadcast had been delayed by a week. “I checked with Xiao Dong, and he said it wasn’t necessary.” “Oh my god. If even the emperor isn’t worried, why should we be? That’s it then. Happy New Year! International roaming is ridiculously expensive.” No sooner had he hung up than Xiao Luo called again. “Boss, you’re already waking up from your love nest that fast?” Ignoring his teasing, Xiao Luo asked, “Is your whole family spending the New Year in Spain?” “Yeah, didn’t I already tell you?” “Send me the address.” “What for? Going on an undercover visit?” “I’m coming over to crash your dinner.” “Fine. I just got a raise anyway, so there’s plenty to go around.” “Mom, our chairman is coming over,” Chu Yang said, peeking into the kitchen to Mei Yun, who was preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner. Since it was the New Year’s Eve dinner, they naturally followed the schedule back home, so their so-called “New Year’s Eve dinner” was really just a slightly late lunch. “Your chairman is coming to our house for the New Year?” Mei Yun paused in her work. “Huh?” Chu Yu, who was making dumplings nearby, asked, “Doesn’t that mean Sister Shen is coming over too?” “Probably, but I didn’t ask.” “Do you know her too, Xiao Yu?” Mei Yun swatted away Chu Yang’s hand as he reached for a plate of food. “Who is Sister Shen?” Chu Yu hadn’t yet told Mei Yun about meeting Xiao Luo and Shen Qianwei, so she explained, “Shen Qianwei—she and Xiao Luo are dating.” “Really? Then we’ll have to make some special preparations.” Chu Cheng was in the living room sending New Year’s greetings via text message. As a renowned “homebody,” he naturally couldn’t just send out mass messages like everyone else; he had to carefully weigh every word and phrase in each message, and after writing them, he’d check them again for typos—he was incredibly fussy. The house wasn’t that big, so he’d naturally heard every word of the conversation between Chu Yang and the others. Curious, he asked, “Are you on good terms with your boss?” “It’s okay, I showed off a little of what I’m capable of and completely won him over. He’s now planning to groom me to be his vanguard general, expanding our territory in Spain and projecting our national prestige. You see, he’s worried my loyalty might not be steady enough, so he didn’t even pass up the chance to come over during New Year’s Eve dinner to win me over. Sigh, having a boss with such foresight is actually a headache—it’s a lot of pressure.” “I think he knows you’ve always had a rebellious streak and came specifically to test the waters—to make an example of you and intimidate the rabble.” “That’s possible. What do you say—should we strike first? We could set up an ambush with five hundred axemen. When the time comes, we’ll use the shattering of a cup as our signal to eliminate the昏君 and take his place. Then I’ll be the supreme ruler, and you’ll be the retired emperor. The two of us, father and son…” “To think that I, a man of the Chu clan who has lived a life of loyalty and filial piety, could have sired such a treacherous minister and rebellious son—what a misfortune for our family.” Chu Yu joined in the fun, poking his head out and deciding to give his father a scare. “Father, do you know who the owner of Ayang is?” “What kind of big shot? Is he a god or a demon, an immortal or a spirit?” “Neither immortal nor demon, but half-god, half-demon—the only son of the fabulously wealthy Xiao Yu.” “Pfft!” Oops—Old Chu was in the middle of sipping his tea. Old Chu realized he couldn’t use other people’s children to provoke Chu Yang anymore. If he did, Chu Yang could easily crush him with a single retort about “someone else’s father”—after all, the so-called “others” were all people he knew. It used to be fine; if you insulted him by saying, “Look at how so-and-so from the Wang family is,” he wouldn’t exactly counter by bringing up the father of the richest man in the country. But now, he really could. Not to mention that this richest man is a Five-time champion in Asia—how terrifying. “Thank goodness my little Ayang is such a good kid—he only competes with others on talent and character. He probably wouldn’t compete on whose dad is richer… right? Son, don’t go humiliating yourself.” Chu Yu chuckled to herself, ran back to the kitchen, and flashed a “yeah” gesture. Chu Yang retorted brazenly, “Comrade Old Chu, I have to call you out on this. As the father of the future King of Soccer, your mental toughness still needs some work.” “May I ask, Future Soccer King,” Chu Yu said, “are you satisfied with your older sister’s performance?” “Barely satisfied, I suppose. But she still has a lot to learn from Mother. Look how calm she is—thunder rages within her heart, yet her face is as still as a lake; even if Mount Tai were to collapse on her head, she wouldn’t bat an eye. Just looking at her… uh, Mom, it’s just some soup. You don’t need to be so tiptoeing around. The boss is human, too. Even if he gets diarrhea from drinking it, it’s not like he’s going to have our whole family executed.” Xiao Luo was as decisive as ever; less than half an hour after hanging up the phone, he was already knocking on the door. Shen Qianwei followed close behind, and the couple each carried a bottle of wine—one red, one white. “Teacher Chu, Teacher Mei, sorry to bother you,” Shen Qianwei greeted them first. “Uncle, Auntie, please don’t mind our unannounced visit,” Xiao Luo said, equally at ease. “Don’t be silly—we’re more than happy to have you here,” Mei Yun said as she brought out the dishes. “Please have a seat and wait a moment; there are just two more dishes to come.” “Ms. Mei, would you like some help?” Shen Qianwei had her reasons for winning Xiao Luo over, and the two elders immediately saw her as the perfect model for a daughter-in-law. “That rascal needs to find someone just like her when he gets married.” While Xiao Luo was enjoying a feast here and taking the opportunity to show off his future wife to Chu Yang, the entire staff at Nirvana Video back in China was working overtime, slaving away for this capitalist. Due to the time difference—it was only around 1:00 a. m. here in Chu Yang’s time zone, but already past 7:00 p. m. back in China—the first episode of *Green Field Magnifier* had officially aired. Everything that could be done had already been done; all that was left was to watch the view counts and read the comments. “Old Tian, this isn’t your first time making a show—what’s there to be nervous about?” Liu Huai'an, General Manager of Nirvana Media’s Online Video Department, said with a chuckle as he watched the fidgeting Tian Hong. “Don’t make fun of me, General Manager Liu. I’m not like the rest of you. You always say, ‘Stay calm in the face of major events,’ but you know very well what this show means to me,” Tian Hong said with a wry smile, shaking his head. Everyone at Nirvana knew their boss was a die-hard soccer fan. Two years ago, his reward for outstanding employees was a trip to Spain to watch El Clásico; last year, he went even further and bought a soccer club outright. Moreover, Xiao Luo had been following the filming in Spain the whole time—it was easy to imagine just how much importance he attached to this episode. If he messed this up, Tian Hong’s career at Nirvana would be pretty much over. Liu Huai'an kept a smile on his face and shook his head noncommittally; he actually didn’t think much of this show. The only reason he was taking it so seriously was to please Xiao Luo. Ordinary employees might not know Xiao Luo’s background, but for them in upper management, his identity was hardly a secret. Nirvana Video’s performance was indeed lackluster, but hoping to turn the company around with a single show—especially a soccer show—was nothing short of a pipe dream. “Still, that tagline is actually pretty good…” Liu Huai'an thought to himself as he watched the words slowly appear behind the Nirvana Video logo. “Nirvana Video—Making the Most of Every Moment. Hello, viewers! Welcome to *The Soccer Magnifier*. I’m Fang Wenyi, and I’ll be joining you every Friday at 7:30 p. m. This is our very first episode…” No sooner had the show begun than a comment floated across the screen above Fang Wenyi’s head. “First?” “Second?” “Making the Most of the Good Times? Nirvana’s come a long way, huh? Don’t you want to be our online home anymore?” “I haven’t even had my fill yet, but I just wanted to see what kind of crap this show is that dared to stand me up.” “+1 for not being full, though I’m an old man.” “Standen up +1, but I’m full—so stuffed.” “Wei’s family has answered Qian Wei’s call and is here to report for duty.” “Han Jiajun has arrived.” The video was projected onto the big screen. The initial comments were mostly meaningless, so the Nirvana members automatically skipped them. “Stats,” Liu Huai'an said. A technician immediately replied, “1. 02 million clicks, 860,000 views.” These were just the initial figures, which were constantly changing, so they were only giving a rough estimate. “Report again in ten minutes.” “Got it.” Fang Wenyi’s pointless rambling finally came to an end, and the first episode of *The Soccer Magnifier* officially began. Large characters appeared in the center of the screen: “Absolute Superstar: The White Swordsman.”