106: Joining the national team

Gu Xiaoyue had originally intended to leave after collecting the star coins, but she was stopped by Manager Qin.

"Gu Xiaoyue, Gu Xiaoyue, why haven't you answered the calls I made to you over the past few days?"

Gu Xiaoyue scratched her head, suddenly remembering that Manager Qin had indeed called her recently.

However, she had always happened to miss the calls, and she assumed it wasn't anything urgent.

If it were urgent, she would have called again.

Gu Xiaoyue asked Chu Li, "Did Manager Qin call you?"

Chu Li said nonchalantly, "She did. She said she wanted to talk about renewing the contract, and I forgot to tell you."

Indeed, compared to matters regarding Gu Xiaoyue's mother and younger brother, the contract renewal was the most trivial thing.

However, to Manager Qin, it was a huge deal!

Previously, after Gu Xiaoyue took first place in the National Competition, followed by the networking party, Manager Qin hadn't been able to catch her.

Later came the Lianxin Waterfall training, and since Manager Qin had work to attend to, she wasn't in a rush.

With the renewal date approaching, she had been trying to contact Gu Xiaoyue for several days without success.

When she asked for Chu Li's opinion, he said everything depended on Gu Xiaoyue and didn't reveal a single extra word.

Manager Qin asked with a smile in her eyes, somewhat ingratiatingly, "Gu Xiaoyue, what is your opinion?"

Gu Xiaoyue scratched her head, recalling the time during the National Competition when other contestants were resting, but she still had to attend business events.

Her face couldn't help but darken a little.

Thinking Gu Xiaoyue was dissatisfied with the terms, Manager Qin immediately upped the ante, "Eighty million, that's eighty million for you and eighty million for Chu Li each!"

"I know you two are now the first and second place winners of the National Competition, and I have already applied to the company—your endorsement fees will be doubled!"

Gu Xiaoyue now had a pile of treasures in her Yu Beast Space.

It wasn't that she looked down on these tens of millions, but rather that she couldn't be bothered to show her face and attend various events.

Just as Gu Xiaoyue was still hesitating, her brain rang again, and an unknown number appeared on the screen.

She signaled to Manager Qin and answered the call.

On the other end of the line was Coach Huo from the National Team, who had previously asked Gu Xiaoyue if she wanted to join the National Team.

Gu Xiaoyue had been busy with many things and hadn't given him a definite answer.

Coach Huo really couldn't wait any longer, which was why he called her.

Gu Xiaoyue laughed inwardly; now she could rightfully turn down Manager Qin.

"Gu Xiaoyue, what are you still considering?"

"Once you join the National Team, the first batch of supplies, including information resources, will be prioritized for you national athletes."

"There's also top-tier technical guidance, and a coach as handsome as me—"

"Oh right, a subsidy of 20 million star coins per month, I forgot to mention that—"

Gu Xiaoyue's eyes lit up. She had thought it was just rewards for winning matches; if only he had mentioned the supplies and subsidy support earlier!

"Then I agree! But Coach Huo, I have things to take care of at home right now—"

Hearing her affirmative reply on the other end, he readily allowed her to take time off. The training time would need to be negotiated individually with the few confirmed team members.

Only after the dates were set would everyone be notified.

Gu Xiaoyue hung up the phone and said to Manager Qin in a pleasant mood, "I just agreed to join the National Team. Manager Qin, you know that the National Team has strict regulations and does not allow members to attend business events."

"Instead of wasting time on me, why don't you look at this year's top scorer?"

Manager Qin was a bit disappointed to hear this, but immediately looked at Chu Li with hope.

Chu Li couldn't help but chuckle, "Don't look at me, I've also joined the National Team."

Naturally, he had to be tied to his Xiao Yue, advancing and retreating together.

Gu Xiaoyue ordered 3 years of Celestial Rank Beast Food, 2 years of Devil Rank Beast Food, and 2000 bags of snacks from the sales assistant.

She asked her to deliver them to Gu Xiaoyue's home once they arrived.

After handling everything, Gu Xiaoyue and Chu Li said goodbye to Manager Qin and prepared to return home.

Before they had even walked out of Hualian Shopping Mall, her brain received a notification that the star coins had arrived.

The hua yu flower she had listed for sale had all been sold in less than half a day.

Did she sell them too cheaply?

After all, it seemed that no one had sold hua yu flower for several years.

Gu Xiaoyue called Ye Wanrou and asked her to book a restaurant; they would all eat together in a while, and she wanted to distribute the earnings.

Ye Wanrou readily agreed, and over an hour later, the seven of them gathered at a Sakura Country-style restaurant.

After entering the private room, Ye Wanrou skillfully ordered the dishes.

Having taken Shui Lingyu and the others sightseeing and out to eat over the past few days, Ye Wanrou knew their tastes and dietary restrictions clearly.

While waiting for the food to be served, Gu Xiaoyue explained to everyone that the transaction for the hua yu flower and the ferocious beast corpses had totaled 600 million.

Because it couldn't be divided evenly, she simply gave everyone 90 million star coins each.

"During this secret realm training, because of me, everyone had to come out early."

"I feel very sorry about that. This is just distributing a bit more star coins, and I have other thank-you gifts as well."

After saying this, Gu Xiaoyue took out 6 ripe hua yu fruits from her Yu Beast Space.

In fact, she hadn't expected that the yuanji stone and the Chenxing Stone, combined with her Immortal Tier talent, would have such an effect.

The tianling tree, the Soul Exchange Fruit tree, and the Hua Yu Tree not only survived but were also growing gratifyingly.

In less than a month, ten tianling fruits should be ripe, and about seven or eight Soul Exchange Fruits should also be ripe.

For this batch of hua yu fruits, apart from the 6 Gu Xiaoyue took out, there were 2 more ripe ones, and five or six that were not yet ripe.

Ye Wanrou's eyes went round, "I was the one who discovered the hua yu flower, but Xiao Yue, where did these hua yu fruits come from?"

Ye Wanrou knew that Gu Xiaoyue had a tianling tree in her Yu Beast Space, but Hua Yu Trees are divided into male and female.

She didn't even know if the one she discovered back then was a female or male tree, so how could there be hua yu fruits?

Gu Xiaoyue scratched her head and told them everything: how she had brought the female Hua Yu Tree into her space, and how it was later pulled to the underground treasure by the male tree.

Everyone exclaimed, wondering how Gu Xiaoyue's Yu Beast Space could be so awesome, actually being able to transplant spiritual plants.

Only Zhuang Yanxin felt a bit bitter; she had a Heaven Tier talent, but she had never tried to collect living spiritual plants or herbs into her Yu Beast Space.

Had she missed out on many heavenly treasures?

During the meal, Gu Xiaoyue told Shui Lingyu that she and Chu Li had already accepted Coach Huo's invitation.

Once the training dates were set, the three of them could go to the National Team together.

Ye Wanrou also said that they had nothing to do these past few days, so they went to the Beastmaster Association to book their Beastmaster assessments.

However, the levels each person booked were different: she and Chen Yixuan were for Beginner, Fang Xiaoyu and Zhuang Yanxin were for Advanced, and Shui Lingyu was for Master level.

"If I had passed the Beginner level earlier, I could have booked the Intermediate level now."

Ye Wanrou pouted, looking unwilling.

"Isn't your pet beast only at the early stage of the Mature First Rank? You wouldn't pass the Intermediate assessment, would you?"

Fang Xiaoyu was a bit confused and couldn't help but ask directly.

Ye Wanrou put her hands on her hips and glared fiercely at Fang Xiaoyu, "No one will think you're mute if you don't speak!"

Gu Xiaoyue chuckled and secretly slipped 4 pieces of qiu mu grass to Ye Wanrou.

After everyone finished their lively meal, Chen Yixuan saw Ye Wanrou home, while Shui Lingyu and the others returned to their hotel.

Chu Li walked Gu Xiaoyue home; they entered the military compound and reached Gu Xiaoyue's doorstep.

She politely asked Chu Li if he wanted to come inside for a sit-down, and Chu Li replied that of course he did, as he had never been there before.

What Gu Xiaoyue didn't expect was that the Gu Family had finally sent someone to see the eldest son and grandson—