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Chen Xu listened to the applause surrounding him, took off the blindfold, and looked at the astonished expressions of those around him. He finally understood why so many people liked to grab the spotlight.
This feeling wasn't bad at all.
He held it together.
He silently told himself, trying hard to control his expression. He couldn't smile, and he definitely couldn't look smug. At this moment, the more indifferent and unconcerned you appeared, the more impressive you seemed in others' eyes.
Of course, he couldn't just stand there like a fool; he walked over to the waitress and handed her the blindfold, "Thanks for the blindfold."
"You're welcome." The girl looked a bit excited, and the way she looked at him was completely different from before; it was as if she was glowing.
A tingly and refreshing feeling welled up in Chen Xu's heart.
To be honest, the girl's looks were average, just at passerby level. But when her face turned red and she looked at him with a slightly admiring gaze, it indeed gave him a unique feeling.
It was the first time he had received such a look from a woman, which was quite memorable for him.
"Chen Xu, they want you to perform again."
Suddenly, Dai Zixin shouted excitedly, "They've sent a lot of gifts!"
Chen Xu shook his head and said, "No, I haven't even had breakfast yet."
He knew that at this time, it's best to hold back. He couldn't perform casually; otherwise, it wouldn't be valuable.
"Oh. Then, Jiajia, you guys help me take care of him, ask him what he wants to eat, and I'll pay the bill later."
Dai Zixin seemed a bit disappointed but still instructed her friends.
The waitress warmly invited Chen Xu, "Come sit over here."
...
"What do you want to eat?" the girl named Jiajia asked while holding the menu.
"What about you?" Chen Xu politely asked the other two girls.
The two girls ordered drinks, and Chen Xu asked for a sandwich.
After Jiajia placed the order, she left.
Chen Xu chatted with the other two girls for a while and learned that they had a good relationship with Dai Zixin, probably as best friends.
When Dai Zixin was in college, she had worked here during the summer, and that's how they met.
He wasn't surprised. With Dai Zixin's personality, she surely had a lot of friends. In the half month since joining the new department, she had gotten along with everyone the best, even Luo Xiyun was particularly kind to her.
After chatting for a while, Jiajia came over with the items, put them down, and then sat down out of curiosity, "You must be a professional darts player, right?"
Chen Xu laughed, "I'm not, actually."
"How did you practice? You hit the target with your eyes covered; that's really amazing." Jiajia said with a face full of admiration, "I've been practicing for months, and even with my eyes open, I still miss a lot."
"It's probably a talent," Chen Xu spoke honestly. Without that talent card, he definitely couldn't do it.
"You acted so well. At the start, you had me fooled. You pretended not to know where the triple area was; I really thought you were a newbie and was worried about you."
Chen Xu just smiled and said nothing. He didn't mention that it was indeed his first time playing darts; no one would believe it anyway, and they'd think he was just bragging.
He picked up the sandwich, took a bite, and found that it tasted pretty good.
"By the way, you're so amazing, why don't you participate in competitions?" Jiajia seemed to be someone who talked a lot and couldn't stop once she started.
Hearing the word "competition," Chen Xu paused his eating and asked, "Darts also have competitions?"
"Of course," Jiajia said, seeing that he seemed genuinely unaware, "Darts is an indoor sport that's very popular abroad, with many competitions. But nowadays, more and more people play it here too, with quite a few tournaments held annually, both professional and amateur."
Chen Xu asked again, "So, in these competitions, if you win, there's prize money, right?"
Jiajia, unsurprisedly, said, "Of course, the highest international prize can be millions. The usual prize in the country is tens of thousands. Oh, last week there was an amateur tournament, and the first prize was fifty thousand."
Chen Xu fell silent.
He thought he was truly foolish; discovering his talent yet he hadn't thought about darts as a sport. Wasn't this the sport that best matched his talent?
If he had thought about it earlier, he could have participated in that amateur tournament Jiajia mentioned. The fifty thousand prize would have been within easy reach, and maybe there were other competitions, too.
Thinking of this, it felt like his heart was bleeding, as if he missed out on a million.
"What's wrong?" Jiajia found it strange when he suddenly went silent.
"Are there any other amateur tournaments coming up?"
"You want to participate?" Jiajia asked with some excitement, pulling out her phone, "I'll ask in the group."
Chen Xu patiently waited until he finished a sandwich. Jiajia then checked and said, "The group members said that now it's the end of the year, there aren't many competitions domestically. The soonest would be after the Spring Festival. There are abroad ones, but the qualifications are pretty hard to obtain."
"Oh." Chen Xu felt very disappointed that he had to wait until after New Year. He initially thought of entering a few competitions before the year's end to earn some money.
"Let's add each other on WeChat. If there's any news about darts competitions, let me know right away."
"No problem."
...
Lunch was on Dai Zixin, and she was generous, choosing a rather upscale restaurant.
It was just the two of them at the meal, as the other two girls were meeting their boyfriends and Jiajia had to work.
Chen Xu didn't hold back with her, ordering three dishes and a soup, as he could pack up anything he couldn't finish.
"Chen Xu, why don't we partner up?" Halfway through the meal, Dai Zixin suddenly suggested, "You handle the performances, and we split all the earnings from this account half and half."
"Forget it, live streaming is tiring after just doing it once. It's not my thing." Chen Xu didn't even lift his head, showing more interest in the dishes on the table.
Seeing him refuse without hesitation, Dai Zixin seemed a bit regretful, took a few more bites, and said, "No matter what, today we received a lot of gifts, mainly thanks to you. I think you deserve half of the money."
Chen Xu was a principled person; he shook his head and said, "Forget it, you've already treated me to a meal; how can I still take your money?"
"That won't do, they are two different matters," Dai Zixin said firmly, "I calculated: the gifts received today should be worth more than two thousand yuan. I can get thirty percent of that, which is six hundred. I'll WeChat transfer you three hundred in a bit."
Suddenly, Chen Xu stopped his chopsticks, raised his head, and looked at her, "What did you just say?"
Dai Zixin seemed puzzled, thought for a moment, and said, "That I'll transfer you three hundred on WeChat?"
"Go a little further back."
"You deserve half of the money?"
"A bit further."
"Let's, partner up?"
Chen Xu extended his hand and said, "Pleasure working with you."
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