【Zhou Xiang】The Tropic

1.

Zhou Zekai's request for a QQ account is not a whim.

During dinner, Sun Xiang almost extended his chopsticks into the soup bowl twice.Although the other behaviors of this person were normal, Zhou Zekai was keenly aware that Sun Xiang was worrying about something, so he was absent-minded. It was just because he grew older and his emotional control became stronger, so he hid it well.

Zhou Zekai didn't point it out, but observed quietly.Now, Sun Xiang's confession, all the clues have been explained.He felt he had to do something.

2.

Regarding the content of the chat, Zhou Zekai lied to Sun Xiang.

He also experienced 15 years old, 15 years old with unlimited dreams and courage.A 15-year-old who can stand on a high place without pressure, loudly declare his conquest to the distance and the future, and worry about why people around him don't trust his ability.

However, as he and Sun Xiang said - people change.People's thoughts, encounters, and surrounding environment are constantly changing. Under the influence of various subjective and objective factors, at the age of 30, looking back at the vigorous self at the age of 15, he only feels that everything is full of absurdity and uncertainty.

A 15-year-old junior high school student, no matter how determined his will and how careful his thinking is, his so-called "I do" is not 100% convincing.

So, how can we solve the problems that bother Sun Xiang in the most realistic and efficient way?

"A project, interested?"

3.

Zhou Zekai didn't turn on the camera, didn't do anything to reveal his identity, but passed a document straight to the point.

"I participate in the sponsorship of your fund. During the professional competition, not only can I get material support every year, but also professional accident medical insurance? In exchange, I must ensure that my personal performance ranks in the league. If you don’t get it… just retire immediately and go to an overseas university designated by the fund to study?”

On the other side of the computer, He Xi was puzzled.With an IQ far superior to those of his peers, he read this document several times, checked the details involving key figures and limited terms, and finally came to the conclusion that this is an agreement that benefits him and does not harm him——

As we all know, the country has already introduced policies to include e-sports in the scope of sports and enjoy corresponding policy benefits.If you can guarantee that your personal ranking is even higher than the position specified in the agreement, after you retire normally, it is by no means a problem to get the qualification for admission to TOP3 colleges and universities without examination.On the contrary, if they fail to meet the standards, they will be forced to retire according to the agreement, and the overseas universities they will go to... are also well-known ones.

In other words, the other party has invested time, money and resources, but there is no substantial return. On the other hand, once I sign this agreement, it is equivalent to obtaining an absolute guarantee of retreat. Not only can I play the game without distraction, I can even persuade There are good reasons for stubborn elders in the family.

...What kind of idea is this guy who calls himself "Sun Xiang's friend" doing charity when he has money but nowhere to spend it?

He thought so, so he asked directly.

Zhou Zekai seemed to have expected this question from the other side, and immediately replied: "Don't worry. The annual income of the fund is enough to support the operation of the project."

He Xi was silent for a few seconds, then asked again: "If I refuse, you will prevent Mercury from signing me, right?"

At this moment, Zhou Zekai seemed to have the illusion of talking to his 15-year-old self.

His eyes flashed, he didn't know what he was thinking, and typed: "Of course."

The dialog box is silent for 3 minutes.

Zhou Zekai continued to wait patiently.

Another 3 minutes later.The dialog box suddenly flashed, and a question box popped up asking whether to accept the file.

Almost at the same time, two lines of words appeared in the chat area.

He Xi: I'm sorry, I just went to my brother's house next door and took a little effort to print. I scanned the scanned copy with my mobile phone. I was afraid that it would be slow and take a while because it was not clear. Can you see if this works?

He Xi: I'm serious.Mercury, I'm going to fix it.

4.

"Mail it to xxxxxx (address)?" Zhou Zekai asked.

"Yes. The canteen next door to my school is the most convenient." He Xi thought very clearly. Just looking at the confrontation between him and Zhou Zekai, he couldn't tell that this was a 15-year-old boy. "Then I will hide the original and get a copy You’d better give me a contact information, yours or a lawyer’s, anyway, I need to be familiar with this project. In case there is a need for verification, the kind that can call the adults immediately.”

"Okay." Zhou Zekai agreed without hesitation.

"The last two questions."

"You said."

"First, brother Xiang doesn't know about the fund, right?"

"Second, what is your relationship with Zhou Zekai?"

5.

The direction of the conversation did not deviate too much from what Zhou Zekai expected, and it was resolved smoothly and efficiently.

The fact of the fund is a coincidence - he has been preparing behind his mother's back for two years, and now everything is ready, only a suitable start is needed, and the timing of He Xi's appearance is just right.

This young man named He Xi has many similarities with himself in terms of mentality and personality, but what he didn't take into account is... the deeply hidden gossip attribute.

"You and Brother Xiang's sister-in-law are the same person?" "No? Oh, oh, do you know her? She is a fan of Zhou Zekai? Otherwise, why did you choose this name. It's so special."

Zhou Zekai: ...

6.

Of course, Sun Xiang didn't know what Zhou Zekai and He Xi were talking about, and it was even more impossible for him to know the real reason why Zhou Zekai showed that headache expression at the end.In a strange avoidance state of mind - he was afraid that Zhou Zekai would suddenly turn on the camera to take pictures of him - as soon as he gave Zhou Zekai his QQ number, he immediately got up and went for a walk in other places in the house.

However, he couldn't help being curious about leaving the stage.In order to kill this anxiety, Sun Xiang kept finding things for himself to do during the long 10-[-] minutes: cutting fruit, going to the bathroom, playing mobile games, chatting with Zhao Yaoyao, and even going to the gym to do a few sets of push-ups.

After coming to the space without Zhou Zekai, Sun Xiang only realized how abnormal the emotions he had just revealed in front of Zhou Zekai.

It's a bit embarrassing and uncomfortable, Sun Xiang thought, but it's not as unacceptable as he imagined...

Because he was concerned about He Xi, this thought flashed through his mind, but he didn't go deep into it.Otherwise, he would realize that after a few days of getting along with each other, the state he showed in front of Zhou Zekai was getting farther and farther away from the politeness of the reunion, and his personal boundaries became more and more blurred.

When they first started dealing with each other again, influenced by Toutiao and Fang Minghua's revelations, Sun Xiang subconsciously put some labels on Zhou Zekai, which invisibly affected his subsequent coping patterns.

Zhou Zekai was polite, and he was also polite.Zhou Zekai had reservations, and he did the same.

Gradually, however, those labels peel off imperceptibly.Such as ex-friends, ex-partners, peers and the like.

The prefixes were cleaned up, leaving only the simple "Zhou Zekai" three characters.

6.

Sun Xiang sat on the cushion, in a daze with restlessness, not knowing that Zhou Zekai had been watching him at the door for a while.

"Boom." In desperation, Zhou Zekai knocked on the door frame to remind Sun Xiang of his existence.

Sun Xiang was taken aback for a moment, and subconsciously went to the clock: "...So soon, the talk is over?"

"Ah."

"How?!" Sun Xiang couldn't wait to get up.

Zhou Zekai took a step forward and gave him a tug: "Prepare the contract."

Sun Xiang opened his mouth, the words came to his lips, and swallowed them back.

Strictly speaking, he still has many things that he doesn't understand, such as "the most important thing, the other party's thoughts" in Zhou Zekai's mouth, whether He Xi himself recognized Zhou Zekai, etc., etc., but for some reason, when he heard Zhou Zekai After that slight "um", the anxiety accumulated in my heart disappeared for no reason.

He smiled gratefully from the bottom of his heart: "I owe you a favor. I will remember it!"

"polite."

Zhou Zekai replied lightly.

When he was talking, he leaned against the door, tilted his head slightly, and just looked at himself like that.

Sun Xiang discovered that Zhou Zekai really liked the little trick of tilting his head recently, and he didn't know why.The problem is, every time Zhou Zekai looks over like this, he will have a strange urge to look away from the bottom of his heart.

A few times ago, it happened that he had played some pranks, which could be logically explained as a guilty conscience, but in a situation like today, it seems that the word guilty conscience is not very tenable.How should I put it, it's definitely not a guilty conscience, he is actually a little happy, but it's different from being happy... maybe it's mixed with surprise, I'm sorry... wait, why should I be embarrassed...

Fortunately, before the CPU of Sun Xiang's brain overheated and exploded due to the unprecedented calculation problem, Zhou Zekai turned away from his sight and left a sentence: "If you're okay, go to bed early."

Sun Xiang paused on the spot for a while, then laughed inexplicably, his whole body was enveloped by relaxation and happiness.

Before returning to the guest room, he deliberately walked to Zhou Zekai's desk, reminding him that he was the one who needed to go to bed early.

"En. Thank you." Zhou Zekai replied formulaically.

Sun Xiang was silent: "That's enough, you. If you want to say thank you, I am the most qualified person to say thank you today. I won't disturb your work, good night!"

"Good night." Zhou Zekai propped his head on one hand, and cast a very soft look.

7.

Perhaps it was because of solving an annoying matter, Sun Xiang was so relaxed that he woke up an hour later than normal.

He rubbed the pillow reluctantly, turned over and wanted to continue to sleep, but his eyes just happened to glance at the ten-year certificate on the bedside, everything that happened last night gradually came back to his mind, and Sun Xiang suddenly woke up!

"Mobile phone, mobile phone..." Sun Xiang jumped out of bed excitedly, found the mobile phone from beside the pillow, and called Zhao Yaoyao: "Sister Yao! Hurry up and book the plane ticket! Fly to Changsha tomorrow, the sooner the better!"

8.

Zhou Zekai left a note saying that he would not come back for dinner tonight due to business.Considering how busy this person was, Sun Xiang thought it was normal and didn't take it to heart.

Today is also a busy day for him.

In the morning, he prepared the contract with Zhao Yaoyao, and at noon he had to attend the dinner of the peripheral company in which he was a shareholder. After taking a break for less than half an hour after the meal, Fang Minghua called.

"I'll give you 10 minutes, see you at parking lot A105 in the basement."

Sun Xiang put down his phone, washed his face hastily, brushed his hair in front of the mirror, and changed into the usual suit and leather shoes in the office—it is better to dress formally to attend an industry forum where bigwigs gather.

9.

The industry forum in the afternoon was hosted by the Municipal Bureau of Culture, and Sun Xiang was invited as a guest, which was also an affirmation of his status in the world that he had built in the past few years.

When it came to what to do, Sun Xiang wanted to scratch his head.

"The launching ceremony of the e-sports major? I can cut the ribbon on the platform. Isn't it just smiling and looking at the camera." Sun Xiang was holding Fang Minghua's computer research in the car.

Fang Minghua stared at the front, "Hmm", "This matter is quite interesting."

It turned out that the educational project that Sun Xiang needed to participate in the ribbon-cutting broke the funding chain last month, and it was basically a waste. In the end, he didn't know what kind of channel he took. Suddenly, it was rumored that a big donor injected capital and succeeded in renewing his life.

"It's good that this unreliable project has gone wrong. The big funder you're talking about, isn't it the coal boss who was fooled?" Sun Xiang said.

Fang Minghua: "Tsk tsk, no. He is much richer than the coal boss. Hongyuan, have you heard?"

"Hong... Yuan?" Sun Xiang pondered for a while, "Wait, the community next door to my house seems to be called Hong Yuan... the same family?!"

"Should be right." Fang Minghua smiled, "However, their stall is very large. You can know from Baidu that real estate is only one of the directions of Hongyuan Group's business. Culture, education, media, Internet... Anyway, it covers a lot. Headquarters In Shanghai, it belongs to the old-fashioned capital that many locals have heard of."

"Oh." Sun Xiang was not interested, "E-sports education is also within the scope of cultural education. If you are interested, vote for it, it's understandable."

Unlike Sun Xiang, Fang Minghua obviously knew a lot of gossip: "No, no, everyone privately said that this is part of the Gongdou drama. XX vocational high school was able to get the investment, it was purely a coincidence, good luck."

"Gong Dou Xi?" Sun Xiang was very puzzled, where did this come from.

"I heard that the old chairman wants to retire, but the successor has not been determined yet."

"and then?"

"He has three sons and one daughter. At first he wanted the elder son to take over, but the elder son has been in poor health for the past two years. , avant-garde thinking, it is said that if you are not married, you will not have children, and it is even more impossible to inherit the family business..."

"The remaining daughter and younger son are fighting?" Sun Xiang understood.

"It's about the same. His daughter is super powerful and capable. Most of the property is in his hands, but she is a daughter after all. You understand the traditional family."

"Where's the younger son?"

"Little son," Fang Minghua turned his head and blinked at Sun Xiang after stepping on the brakes at a red light, "You can see a real person later. I just started taking over the business in the past few years, but it's different from his sister's philosophy Huge, investing in cutting-edge fields such as the Internet of Things, autonomous driving, and Bitcoin AI, it is not clear whether it is reliable or not, but it is well-known in the industry for being generous.”

"So this time the investment is made by the youngest son?" Sun Xiang recalled.

"Yes."

When Fang Minghua said this, an image similar to Wang Sicong immediately appeared in Sun Xiang's mind, and he was prepared for how to deal with that rich and noble son.

These guys who were born with golden keys in their mouths have strong parental relationships and a lot of friends. There is no harm in getting acquainted with them, but deep friendship is indispensable.Because they are extremely lacking in professionalism and experience, their ideas are often mirages. At most, they can invest money and sign a signature.

10.

However, Sun Xiang forgot one thing - there are "surprises" hidden everywhere in life.

The moment Sun Xiang stepped into the ribbon-cutting moment with the above-mentioned preconceived impressions, Sun Xiang couldn't help being stunned for a few seconds.

No wonder he couldn't hold his breath, it's really Ye Mingkang...he looks too much like Zhou Zekai!

The same high nose bridge, clear outline, and the same pair of beautiful phoenix eyes that even celebrities are jealous of. If there is a difference, apart from Zhou Zekai's height, it may be the temperament revealed in his gestures - lazy and casual , completely different from Zhou Zekai's calm and restrained feeling.

Sun Xiang was well-educated and did not have the habit of staring at people, but at this moment, facing this similar appearance, he thought of Zhou Zekai's mysterious background and the same surname as Zhou's mother... Driven by instinct, Sun Xiang couldn't help looking more Ye Mingkang has two eyes.

In conclusion, even if the two were really related, Zhou Zekai would be more pleasing to the eye and calmer than this person.

The latter noticed his gaze, turned his head slightly, and smiled in his direction.That smile was very formulaic, easy-going, and unmistakable, but it seemed to have no deep meaning.

After coming and going, Sun Xiang's gaze involuntarily slipped to Ye Mingkang again.

This time, his attention shifted from Ye Mingkang's appearance to his clothes.

In all fairness, Zhou Zekai is actually quite low-key.Sun Xiang believed that he had a strong background, more because of his guesses about his car and river view house.

But Ye Mingkang is not.

This friend's outfit from head to toe is the kind that can tell the price tag at a glance. Watches, rings, and necklaces are worn unabashedly, and they are really flamboyant.One can tell at a glance that he is a son of a big family who has been pampered since childhood.

The launching ceremony was not too long. The host introduced the guests, cut the ribbon and took a group photo together.During this period, Sun Xiang was arranged to stand with Ye Mingkang, and the other party unceremoniously put a hand on Sun Xiang's shoulder, looking very intimate, which made him a little uncomfortable.However, considering that it was only a few seconds, Sun Xiang resisted the urge to throw it away immediately.

After that, everyone got off the stage and sat down, and listened to several rounds of boring PPT readings. After a short coffee break, the round table meeting began.

This time, whether it was intentional by the organizer, Sun Xiang was arranged to sit next to Ye Mingkang again.

The other party took the initiative to shake hands with him and called him Boss Sun. After the host started the topic, he immediately started talking with Sun Xiang very naturally and warmly.

After being introduced by the host, Sun Xiang learned that he not only opened a company related to game market planning, but also took the position of the Asian E-sports Association in Greater China, leading the work of introducing games.

Sun Xiang didn't take him seriously at first.With the addition of e-sports and the Internet, many people have taken a fancy to its fashionable and avant-garde concept, and jumped into it for swimming.Sun Xiang had contact with guys like Ye Mingkang, not to mention hundreds, dozens.According to his observation, as time goes on, very few people get down to doing things seriously, and most of them are cockfighting and lackeys who play games. Companies with rotten buttocks and bankruptcies are running away without any sense of responsibility.

This friend made him feel no differently.

But slowly, some of the concepts he put forward began to impress Sun Xiang, and even a certain concept coincided with Sun Xiang's previous ideas-Ye Mingkang talked about NFC products with mature technology, and thought that the new glory and other products For games where it is common for contestants to star, you can consider launching targeted account doll peripherals, allowing players to temporarily obtain the benefit of "the great god helps you fight the BOSS" in the game after using it.

This kind of benefit is not only welcomed by players, but also by clubs. It can promote players in disguise, increase commercial popularity, and increase advertising quotations. What they need to do is very simple, sign a letter of authorization, and provide a role Why not let the contestants take two promotional posters for the public value attribute?

Great idea, but hard to implement.To get through multiple links such as game development authorization, channels, factories, etc., without a certain amount of funds and connections for endorsement, Sun Xiang, the club owner alone, would never be able to do it.If Ye Mingkang is interested, Sun Xiang is of course willing to cooperate, and let Mercury play a role to achieve a win-win situation.

Sun Xiang exchanged a few more words with him, gradually put aside his prejudices, and began to seriously consider the possibility of cooperating with this person back.

"This is the end of today's roundtable meeting. Thank you for your wonderful speeches." With the conclusion of the host, the half-day summit forum came to an end.

After stepping off the stage, Sun Xiang was about to meet Fang Minghua, but after walking a few steps, someone patted his shoulder lightly.

When he turned his head, Ye Mingkang put his hands in his pockets and looked at him with a suave and lazy look.

"Boss Sun, leave a WeChat message?"

Sun Xiang had no reason to refuse, so he called up the WeChat QR code and asked Ye Mingkang to scan it.

"OK." The interface prompts that the friend has been successfully added, and Sun Xiang smiled politely, "I just want to chat with Mr. Ye about NFC, how about an appointment?"

"Of course there is time, but." Ye Mingkang suddenly curled his lips, and at this moment, his eyes seemed to have a subtle change in sizing up Sun Xiang—even though he was still polite and easy-going, it seemed more like he was examining something, "Better Speaking of work, I have some personal matters and want to talk to Boss Sun first."

Under the influence of intuition, Sun Xiang's expression was slightly vigilant: "Private matter? This seems to be the first meeting between Mr. Ye and I. I really don't know if there is any personal matter to talk about..."

"Of course." Ye Mingkang interrupted him, the deep meaning in his eyes became more and more obvious, "For example, as my brother-in-law, and the former best partner who taught my nephew to refuse a blind date, um, how about chatting?"

Sun Xiang's eyes widened slightly, as the excessive amount of information washed over him.

The word "best partner" was bitten by Ye Mingkang very slowly, no matter how slow he was at the moment, he had already realized what the situation was.

——Has the Ye family misunderstood his relationship with Zhou Zekai? !

TBC