139: club

Ye Bai caressed the flute. "Love in Every Life."

"Love in Every Life?" Zhong Yan frowned. "A love song, but why do I feel a hint of loneliness and sorrow in it?"

She was indeed a singer; she was much more sensitive to music than most people.

Ye Bai didn't answer directly, only smiling. "That's just how the flute is played."

He hadn't expected that even the art of playing the flute had been lost in this world.

"Awesome!" Green Hair, Pink Hair, and Li Ce clapped incessantly.

Vilan, however, was lost in thought.

"When did you learn to play this?"

Ye Bai smiled. "When I was quite young. Back then, I lived in the countryside with my parents. I used to run all over the mountains, and they taught me how to make flutes out of bamboo to play with."

"Unfortunately, they passed away when I was ten."

As soon as he said this, Vilan was instantly overcome with guilt.

He knew Ye Bai was an orphan; it wasn't a secret.

He just hadn't realized that Ye Bai's parents had passed away later on.

Having poked at someone's scar, he became a bit flustered.

"I'm sorry."

Ye Bai took a sip of tea. "It's fine. It's been a long time."

With that, he smiled at Zhong Yan again. "Thank you for the gift. I really like it."

What he just said was half-true; the original owner had indeed lived in the countryside with his parents as a child.

However, his parents had never taught him how to play the flute.

Later, when he was six or seven, the original owner moved to the city with his parents.

Unfortunately, in the year he turned ten, his parents died in a car accident.

He then lived with his grandmother, but she also passed away during his senior year of high school.

One could only say the original owner's life was truly tragic.

Unlike Ye Bai's previous life, where he grew up in an orphanage from birth and never experienced the grief of losing loved ones.

Likewise, he had never enjoyed the happiness of being with family.

At this moment, Zhong Yan finally understood where the loneliness and sorrow in that piece of music had come from.

"Alright," Li Ce patted Ye Bai on the shoulder. "Don't dwell on the past. Buddy, I have another gift for you."

"This is a collective gift from all of us," he said. "No need for many words—thanks, President Ye, for leading us to make money!"

He took out a document and handed it to Ye Bai.

Ye Bai took a look. "A villa?"

Li Ce laughed. "Yeah, it's not far from the school, only about a twenty-minute drive. I figured since you've already bought a car but haven't settled on a house yet, and this happens to be developed by Raphael's family, we all chipped in to buy one for you."

"We can even be neighbors then!"

Pink Hair, who was Raphael, raised his teacup and smiled at Ye Bai.

"Renovations haven't started yet. If you're busy, just tell me your preferred style, and I'll handle it for you."

Green Hair also spoke up. "We originally thought about giving you a villa each, but we figured you probably couldn't live in that many."

"So we converted the rest into cash. It's just a small token of our appreciation."

He pushed over a bank card.

Ye Bai gave a helpless laugh but accepted it anyway.

"Thanks. Now I'm finally someone with a house, a car, and savings, haha."

The group laughed heartily, chatting enthusiastically.

It wasn't until the latter half that they slowly began to discuss business. Li Ce said, "During our trip to other continents, we saw that people are already working on streaming software."

As soon as he spoke, Green Hair frowned and asked, "They dare to copy that too?"

Li Ce shook his head. "Streaming is just a concept; of course they dare."

"As long as they don't rip off our gift effects or directly copy our source code, it's not considered plagiarism," Vilan added.

This was unavoidable. If the definition of software plagiarism were too simplistic, it would lead to severe monopolies.

The reason no other streaming software had emerged in the Central Continent yet was also because these Second-generation rich kids had strong family connections.

When their elders went out, they only had to say, 'This is just something my worthless son made for fun.'

People would more or less give them face.

"As long as the potential profit is large enough, there will always be someone willing to take the risk," Vilan looked at Ye Bai. "What do you think we should do?"

Ye Bai ate some fish. "Let them do it."

"Streaming isn't the finish line; it's the starting point. Besides, we've already attracted many viewers and Streamers, so we'll have the advantage in the subsequent competition."

"Sometimes you can't swallow the whole fish by yourself; you have to leave a bowl of soup for everyone else."

"Good," Vilan said. "Since you put it that way, we're relieved."

"Speaking of which, your tournament is quite a grand undertaking. Have you thought about getting some sponsors?"

At his words, Li Ce chimed in, "Yeah, the attention your tournament is getting is incredible! It would be great if we could advertise during your matches. Brother, do you have any interest in that?"

Hearing them, Ye Bai knew they were looking for an excuse to give him money.

After all, their families owned massive industries; they had no real need to advertise at a fledgling Esports tournament.

This was purely to support him and give him money.

However, advertising was indeed a good idea; there are plenty of ads in Honor of Kings tournaments.

"Alright," Ye Bai smiled. "Thanks for the support, brothers."

"Aw, it's nothing!"

"Exactly, exactly. By the way, Vilan said we could start clubs for fun. How does that work?"

Ye Bai's brow furrowed. He had only mentioned it casually to Vilan last time, and he hadn't expected him to tell the others.

Since they were on the topic, he had to explain it to them seriously. "Starting an Esports club—that is, starting a team—is fine to do for fun, but it won't make much money. You might even lose some."

"Of course, to some extent, it can increase the exposure of your industries, serving as a form of advertising."

"Lose money?" Green Hair was puzzled. "Tell us how this thing works—how do you make money, and where do we need to spend it?"

"And I was thinking, can't anyone play in this tournament? So why would they want to work for us? Who would want to find themselves a boss for no reason?"

Ye Bai was a bit amused. "It's not like that. You have to understand that the tournament rules won't stay this way forever. Starting from next season or the one after, I'll establish 16 fixed teams for the competition. If players want to compete, they'll have to join one of these 16 teams."

"And these sixteen fixed teams will need to pay a certain franchise fee to the League."

"Also, players might compete this season, but they eventually have to work or go to school. How can they manage without professional practice if they only rely on their spare time? And if they practice full-time, no one is paying them."

"So, the club pays them a salary to play games and compete professionally, and they take the prize money. Then, you make money through the buying and selling of players."

Li Ce: "Human trafficking?"

Ye Bai: ...