A man suddenly came behind him, wearing glasses and a suit. He looked like how Nobita from Doraemon would look like if he grew up to be an office worker or a secretary. His hair was shiny and slick with gel, lips shaped like a smiling cat's.
"Who the hell are you!?" He groggily turned to the Nobita man with a grouchy expression like a wasted uncle would.
"An unemployed man, just like you." He cleared up the space littered with beer cans on the bench and sat beside Mo Aini. "Except I don't lodge with my parents, I have my own personal penthouse."
"You a rich heir or something? That doesn't matter. Stop judging a poor guy like me and get the fuck away!" Mo Aini finished another can of beer.
"Rich heir?" The Nobita man laughed and took one of Mo Aini's beer, and opened it. "I'm just a college undergraduate from a family with a five-digit income. Now I have a balance of twelve digits and settled for life."
"Hey, who told you to grab one of my beers!" He snatched it back from the man. "Buy your own if you're so rich!"
"Tell you what, I'll teach you how to be rich like me without applying for any job in exchange for that can of beer." Nobita said in a salesman's voice.
Mo Aini thought: (Bro, do you think I'm an easy target to scam? I may be drunk but there's no way I'm falling for that shit!)
"Not interested. If you really like this spot, you can have it." He took his plastic bag with only three cans left and stood up. "I'm going home."
As he walked, the Nobita man did not give up and called out.
"I'm serious, Mr. Mo Aini. You're missing a chance of a lifetime."
Mo Aini stopped dead in his tracks. Then, he picked a large stone from the side of the road.
"How did you know my name?" He glared daggers at the Nobita man. "If you try anything funny, I will not hesitate to bash your head with this stone."
"Relax, sir. As you know, it's a priority for us to know our clients." Nobita man raised his both hands in the air. "You really have a strange name, it sounds a lot like 'I love you'."
"That's none of your shitty business." He gave a fierce and defiant face. "What do you want from me?"
"Your sister has a strange name too. Jiagei, it sounds a lot like marriage. But who am I to judge, my name is literally 'quicksand'. " The Nobita man took something from his coat pocket.
It was a business card. "Liu Sha, at your service. I work with the Shuaige Dev Corporation."
Mo Aini warily took the business card, but kept his distance, still holding the rock. Shuaige? That sounds familiar....
Then he saw the logo of a purple silhouette of a man and a woman facing each other, forming a heart.
This was his sister's favorite Chinese otome developing company!
"You're from Shuaige? You know my sister plays your games?" He raised an eyebrow, feeling that something was still off.
This reminded him of his joke conspiracy theory he had long ago that otome game companies dig into each of their individual player's personal lives to know their personal preferences.
He just posted that in the forum as a joke, but he doesn't think it's a joke anymore.
"Why is your company interested in her?" Mo Aini asked.
"Not only her. We're also interested in you, that's why I have come to talk to you." Liu Sha calmly arranged the cans in an orderly fashion. "You should really stop littering, you might get caught."
"You should really stop tailing your customers and talking to them like an amateur scammer, it's creepy." Mo Aini retorted.
"Were you creeped out? That was not my intention. I thought you would be more amicable to talk to me if I took an informal approach since you're under the influence." Liu Sha put his hands together as an apology. "Sorry. I'm more used to dealing with fictional characters than in real life."
"Just go straight to the point, Mr. Liu Sha." Mo Aini was regaining his senses and his movements were not as sluggish anymore. If this Shuaige representative was up to something no good, he will throw the rock and make a run for it.
"I've come to make an offer. Something that will be of financial assistance." He took out his briefcase and popped it open. "Please do sit down and I will explain it to you."
Mo Aini took a while before sitting down, still holding the rock up to Liu Sha's face.
"Your sister only plays one route per game, correct? She only gets mediocre or bad endings and then moves on to another game." Liu Sha took out a piece of paper and a black pen. "Can you tell me if she has a pattern when it comes to choosing routes?"
"You probably already know that, so why ask me?" Mo Aini was still cranky and impatient even though his guard has loosened for just a tiny bit.
"I just want to hear it from you, Mr. Mo Aini. You know her better than we do."
Mo Aini gritted his teeth, feeling protective whenever his sister was mentioned by this man. "She likes antagonistic characters, anyone who exerts an evil or mischievous aura. If there was more than one option that fits that criteria, she will choose the one that seems the baddest."
"Thank you." Liu Sha wrote that down. "And how about you? What's your type?"
"I don't like men." He answered plainly.
"From my experience, most people who claim they are straight are actually some degree of bisexual, or at least biromantic. They just haven't met their match yet." Liu Sha said, smiling like a Cheshire Cat. "Of course, that's just my personal opinion."
Mo Aini thought, rolling his eyes: (Well, I know for sure you ain't my match.)
"How about this?" Liu Sha offered. "What is your type on a person in general? More focusing on personality and characteristics that can be of any gender."
"Do I really have to?" Mo Aini complained.
"There's nothing to lose anyway just from telling us your type, is there?"
He sighed. "I don't know.... I guess someone who's doting to me than they are with anyone else. Someone who mostly agrees with me but still speaks their mind. Even if we don't share the same interest, they're willing to try them out just for my sake. And...."
"Go on." Liu Sha prodded, eyes glinting with interest.
"I like someone with a nice ass....ets. Nice assets." He corrected himself, the alcohol getting to him. "They're warm and soft and nice to cuddle with. They smell nice too like some kind of flower or something. Their voice and way of talking is good to hear, like you'll never get sick of them talking for hours. It would be great if their hair is fluffy too, and they don't mind me petting it all the time."
"I see. Anything else?" Liu Sha was writing at a speed that Mo Aini's dazed eyes couldn't catch up to. He's not even looking at the paper, it probably looks like scribbles by now!
"Um.... They take the lead in the relationship? And no matter what I do, they never find me boring and like staying beside me. Compliments would be great too, I have low self-esteem."
Liu Shan tapped the pen on his chin. "What about the specifics? Their status in life, their jobs, hobbies, hair color, eye color.... Do you not have a preference for those things?"
"Not really. Of course it's a plus if they're fit, and would convince me to finally work out. I don't really mind what job they have or how high their income is, I want us to be equals, and I want them to respect that. I don't want to be someone's sugar baby. "
"That is very interesting indeed. And you seem to be very honest with your type. Thank you for your answers."
Mo Aini sneezed. The park is getting cold as the night gets deeper. He sniffed. "It's just like you said, I have nothing to lose anyway. Except my time, but I've got plenty."
"I will be getting to the gist of my offer now." Liu Sha took another piece of paper, and this time it has printed text all over it. "As you know, Shuaige had put a tremendous amount of work for each of their game projects. We release faster than any female-oriented game developers here in China. Thus, we must ensure that our work effort and our player's reception is balanced."
He added: "However, there has been an influx of one-time only players. The replayability of our games according to our own evaluation is high, yet many players only play through one route and delete the game. Your sister is a proof of this. All the efforts that had been put on the other routes would go to waste if this was not settled."
"That makes sense. It must be frustrating for the staff to see all their other boys become overshadowed by one character." Mo Aini rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "As an artist, I can relate to the feeling when one of your work gets more popular than your other one even though you have put equal effort on them."
"It's nice to know that you understand the company's sentiments." Liu Sha nodded. "And so, we came up with the idea of a third-party system to convince players to choose other routes. You will be a mediator, or what we call as Cupids. Now the best part is..."
"We will pay you a minimum of 10,000 yuan* for every route the customer takes."
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Read The Mafia Boys' Contract Marriage which is joining WPC right now XD
I know it's shameless of me to advertise like this but I'm desperate :)))) Plus it'll be a pretty fun book, I guarantee you.
If you're a fan of mafia, criminal investigations and detective stories, please check it out and support it.
PS: It will also be a whole lot more spicier than any of my books so far cough cough How much spice? You'll see.