Chapter 41: Sweet

Listening to the applause coming from all around, Chen Xu took off the blindfold and looked at the people’s startled expressions. He finally understood why so many people liked to be in the limelight.

The feeling truly was awesome.

His expression was calm.

He secretly told himself that he had to strive to control his expression. He couldn’t smile or be perky. At this time, the more indifferent and less concerned he was, the smugger his image would be in the eyes of others.

Of course, however, he couldn’t just stand there like an idiot. He walked to the waitress and passed her the blindfold, “Thanks for the blindfold.”

“You’re welcome.” The girl was slightly flustered and was looking at him with entirely new eyes. It was like they were glowing.

A crisp sense of pleasure rose within Chen Xu’s heart.

To be frank, the girl looked kind of common just like any other passerby. But when she was blushing and all the while looking at him with admiration, it truly gave him a special feeling.

This was the first time a girl had looked at him in this way. For him, it was worthy to be remembered.

“Chen Xu, they are asking you to perform again.”

Abruptly, Dai Zixin shouted as her tone became somewhat flustered, “There are so many donations.”

Chen Xu shook his head and said, “Nah, I haven’t had breakfast.”

He knew that at this moment, he would have to steal away for a bit. He couldn’t just perform randomly, otherwise, his performance wouldn’t be worth much.

“Oh. Then, um, Jiajia, entertain him for me. Ask him what he wants to eat, and I’ll pay for it later.”

Dai Zixin was evidently a little disappointed but still went to join her friend.

The waitress greeted Chen Xu warmly, “Come here and have a seat.”

…

“What do you like to eat?” asked the girl by the name of Jiajia after bringing over the menu.

“What about you two?” Chen Xu asked the two other girls out of courtesy.

The two girls ordered drinks, and Chen Xu asked for a sandwich.

Jiajia left after taking their orders.

Chen Xu chatted with the two girls for a while and found out that they had quite a good relationship with Dai Zixin. They were probably best friends.

When Dai Zixin was still in college, she came here to work during summer break, and that was when they had all met each other.

He wasn’t surprised. With Dai Zixin’s personality, it made sense that she had a bunch of friends. Throughout his two weeks in the new department, she had definitely been the most sociable person. Even Luo Xiyun was particularly sweet and light with her.

After chattering for a while, Jiajia came with their orders. After setting them down, she conveniently sat down and asked curiously, “You must be a professional dart athlete, am I right?”

Chen Xu smiled and said, “I’m not.”

“Then how did you practice? It was amazing for you to shoot while blindfolded.” Jiajia said with adoration, “I’ve been practicing for a few months, and I still can’t shoot with my eyes open.”

“It’s a talent I perhaps,” Chen Xu said out of honesty. He wouldn’t have done it without that talent card.

“Your acting was truly impressive just now. Even I was fooled at the beginning. You acted like you didn’t know where the triple area is. I was really worried about you back there.”

Chen Xu laughed and said nothing, not mentioning that this was his first time with darts. Nobody would believe in him anyways. The others would only think that he was tryhard acting.

He grabbed the sandwich and had a bite. Mm, it’s tastes pretty good.

“Oh yeah, since you’re so good in the game, why not you go for some competitions?” Jiajia also seemed like a very talkative person. She couldn’t stop once she began.

Hearing the word competition, Chen Xu stopped eating and asked, “Darts has competitions?”

“Of course there is.” Seeing that he was genuinely oblivious, Jiajia said, “Dart throwing is an indoor sport. It is very popular abroad and thus there are more competitions out there. However, it is getting increasingly popular here in our country. Quite a number of competitions are held each year. There are the professional ones and the amateur ones.”

Chen Xu asked again, “Do the winners of these competitions get a cash prize?”

Jiajia said naturally, “Of course they do. Cash prizes are in the millions at the highest international level competition. In our country, the cash prizes are also generally more than a hundred thousand. Oh, by the way, there was an amateur competition last week. The first place winner walked away with 5-grand.”

Chen Xu fell into silence.

He thought that he couldn’t get any stupider. Even after realizing his talent, dart-throwing had never crossed his mind. Wasn’t dart-throwing the most compatible sport with this talent?

If he had thought of it earlier and had gone to the amateur competition that Jiajia had mentioned, wouldn’t he have been able to get the 50-grand with a snap of his fingers? And maybe, there would even be other competitions.

Thinking about this, it was like his heart was bleeding as he felt that he had lost a hundred million.

“What’s wrong?” Jiajia thought something was off when he suddenly became quiet.

“Are there any more amateur competitions like that that will happen soon?”

“Do you want to participate in one?” Jiajia asked in surprise as she took out her phone, “Let me ask around in the group.”

Chen Xu patiently waited. It was until he finished his sandwich that Jiajia got the replies and said, “The people in the group told me that there aren’t any competitions at home now that it is already the end of the year. The soonest will be after the Lunar New Year. There are some abroad, but it is quite difficult to get the qualifications.”

“Oh.” Chen Xu felt disappointed. He needed to wait at least after the Lunar New Year. He had been thinking about joining a few competitions before the Lunar New Year to earn himself some money.

“Let’s be friends on WeChat. If you come across any news about dart-throwing competitions, let me know.”

“Sure.”

…

Dai Zixin treated him to lunch. She was very generous, and they went to an upscale restaurant.

Only the two of them went for the meal. The two other girls went to see their boyfriends, and Jiajia still had to work.

Chen Xu wasn’t modest with her either. He ordered three dishes and one soup. He could pack them away if they couldn’t finish them anyway.

“Chen Xu, why don’t we do a collab,” Dai Zixin suggested out of the blue halfway through the meal. “You will be responsible for performing, and about the money earned through this account, we can each take half of it.”

“Forget it, I’m already outta gas after one time. I’m not made for this.” Chen Xu didn’t even lift his head as he was more interested in the dishes on the table.

Because he had refused without hesitation, regret flashed over her expression. She took a few more bites, and said, “Anyway, I received a lot of donations today, mainly because of you. I think I must give you half of the money.”

Chen Xu was a man of principle. He shook his head and said, “Forget it. You already treated me to a meal, so how can I still take your money?”

“No no, a yard is a yard.” Dai Zixin was resolute as she said, “I’ve done some calculations. The donations I’ve received should be over 2000 dollars. I can get 30 percent, which is 600 dollars. I’ll transfer to you 300 dollars on WeChat later.”

Suddenly, Chen Xu’s chopsticks halted in midair, and he looked up at her, “Why did you say?”

Dai Zixin was a little baffled. After some thought, she said, “I’ll transfer to you 300 dollars on WeChat?”

“Before that.”

“I’ll give you half of the money?”

“Before that.”

“Let’s do a collab?”

Chen Xu extended his hands and said, “Happy cooperation.”