Acting stupid

In the following months, Yixing got really good. He finally grasped the meaning of the game and, to his surprise, he really enjoyed it.

It wasn't just because when he was playing he could enjoy the most pleasant voice he ever heard and talk to the person who now snatched his attention.

Okay, it was partly because of that, but at the same time, he somehow finally found his place. He was playing together with Yitian and Chao. Eating with them, talking about the same problems, SoL, and school.

While playing with Chao, he quickly rose in the leaderboard. He was used to being belittled by his father and now, when others looked up to him, it made him work even harder.

As if gaining more followers and someone who understood the hard work in everything they did had given him more courage.

His father contacted him only two times. Two occasions. The first one was something like an engagement celebratory dinner, and the second one was him being shown off in front of some investors.

The funniest thing was that he was seated next to Jin Lei. So when he pulled out his phone and played a game for quicker reactions and attention improvement, he was given a thumbs up. And covered if someone said something bad about it.

After that, when his father was a bit humiliated by his behavior. He kicked him out, froze his bank account that his father managed, and didn't contact him again.

"What are you doing?" Chao came from behind him and woke him up from his daze. He grabbed the mouse and pressed two keys, unlocking manual control.

"I'm getting tired," he said, shrugged, and pressed those keys back. It made his character run around automatically doing those quests. But he was getting fewer experience points for that, so Chao forbade him to do it.

"Then leave it on and go to sleep…" he said, surprising Yixing so that he looked at him with his mouth open. Chao changed a bit but somehow became a better him.

After they had a big fight with Yitian, and Yixing told him honestly he is an idiot, Chao thought more about others and himself at the same time. Trying to balance his attention between his friends and the game.

"Yitian is sleeping already?" Yixing asked, concerned about this, now, bigger fella, but for Yixing, he would always be a little fella because he was working while being in university and playing the game together with Chao.

"Yes, I forced him to go. He had work today, so I don't want him to be tired in school yesterday," Chao said as he sat down in front of Yitian's computer and played as his character.

"Have you decided about everything?" Yixing dealt the last blow to the opponent in the quest and turned around to have a better look at Chao.

"Yes, but we need two things. People and money," he sighed as if it was an enormous problem. Yixing just frowned and picked up his phone from the table.

"How much do you need?" he asked, opening his bank app. Chao scratched his head and with one attack, he killed the monster in front of him.

"Money isn't that big of a problem. Just around two million, for now." Chao said, and Yixing almost choked on the air as he breathed in.

"What?!" he shouted, earning disapproving looks from Chao, who automatically looked to Yitian's door, worried if he hadn't woken up.

"He is too tired to wake up. He will sleep the entire night." Yixing brushed it off and put his phone down.

"Why do you need two million? This early? You don't even have players…. I did some research and you need at least six players to be an official team." Yixing shook his head. It was weird to need so much money in the beginning.

"I'm thinking about MoSHU and HNYG, to ask them to join us. They are both good and they fit our criteria." When Yixing heard the magician's name, he tried to cover his excitement for that.

He hadn't seen this person without a mask. And it was bugging him a bit. But he got so attracted to his voice that he didn't care what would his face look like. Even though Yixing knew this person was really handsome. He had to be because his voice was too nice to belong to someone ugly.

"I know this face and I don't like it at all. Keep your hands away from him…" Chao shivered and jokingly slapped Yixing over his shoulder.

"Have you seen how he looks?" Yixing asked, curious. But Chao shook his head.

"I don't care. I'm not as shallow as you are. All that matters to me is their skills," he said and Yixing had to admit you sounded really cute. But then it occurred to him what Chao said. He smacked him back.

"Did you just call me shallow? Should I kick your ass up to your face? So we will see who is shallow, mister spends-half-an-hour-in-the-bathroom-every-day." Yixing enjoyed their exchanges because he knew he could say everything to Chao and he wouldn't get offended.

Their relationship became so weird and close that it was normal for them to curse at each other and sometimes even fight. Not seriously, of course, but a slap there and a light punch over the shoulder or back could really make people listen.

"Let's stop this. I was told to spare you..." Chao said, and earned a deserved slap on his back.

"Back to the topic. Why that much money? It will take me some time to gather that much." Yixing was the one who had more brain now, leaving the battlefield. And he was thrilled about the upper hand he had.

"We need a building to be in, equipment and staff. We need to pay players too, so before we start winning money, we will be in red numbers." Chao simply stated, and Yixing sighed. Then Chao stopped and squinted his eyes, scanning Yixing.

"Wait… how can you have that much money? Your father froze all your bank accounts, didn't he?" he asked suspiciously, and Yixing didn't know whether to be offended or honored that Chao bought his acting.

"So… I guess my image of a frivolous, spoiled, rich young master is pretty convincing, huh?" Yixing turned off the game and computer and stood up from his chair, stretching.

He watched as Chao's mouth fell open, surprise appeared in his eyes, and then a slight smirk took over.

"I knew you were playing stupid since the first night, but I never guess how much you are playing. I have to say you are great. Now, I'm curious about what you wrote in those messages about me. I always thought you wrote about what really happened. Being daddy's good boy. But I guess I wasn't right about that either…" Yixing just grinned and walked away without a word.

What he wrote in those messages was a secret only he and his father knew. And he won't be that easy to tell. It would break his, up until now, perfect acting.