"Xiao Xie, it's six o'clock, let's have dinner first." Brother Chen came over and patted Xie Mingzhe on the shoulder. After hearing this, Xie Mingzhe decisively took off his helmet and went offline, and followed Brother Chen to the living room. The other people in the power leveling studio also took off their helmets, and Xie Mingzhe saw their true faces for the first time.

Chi Qing is a beautiful girl, tall and thin, estimated to be over 1.75 meters tall. She has neat short hair and a fair face with no expression. She seems a little cold and difficult to get along with.

Pang Yu is a cute fat guy, about the same height as Chi Qing. But Chi Qing is slender and "growing vertically", while Pang Yu is round and "growing horizontally". Standing next to Chi Qing, the contrast between the fat and the thin is very obvious.

Jin Yue's appearance and figure are average, and he can be easily distinguished from other people in a crowd. He looks quite gentle and wears a pair of silver-rimmed glasses.

Xie Mingzhe walked over and took the initiative to greet them: "Hello, everyone."

Seeing the handsome boy in front of him, Pang Yu's eyes widened in disbelief: "Are you the...fat uncle in the game?"

Xie Mingzhe nodded: "Well, I just picked a random name in the game."

Pang Yu had a look on his face that looked like he was going to collapse: "Ahhh, I am the Fat Uncle, okay! You are so tall and thin, yet you named yourself Fat Uncle? Isn't this irritating to me?"

"Calm down, Fatty." Jin Yue pushed up his glasses and said, "In games, it's very common to change your gender, not to mention your body shape."

"..." Pang Yu had no way to refute.

Chi Qing's expression was very calm and he didn't like to talk. He just nodded to Xie Mingzhe as a greeting.

Brother Chen smiled and said, "Let's go! There are new people coming to the studio today, I will treat everyone to a big meal outside!"

It was a rare treat, and Xie Mingzhe really wanted to go. But when he was discharged from the hospital, the doctor told him that his gastrointestinal function had not yet recovered and he should not be careless. Although he wanted to eat chicken legs, roast duck, spare ribs, beef... unfortunately, his body only allowed him to drink porridge.

Xie Mingzhe swallowed his saliva and said, "Brother Chen, you don't have to spend money, just buy me two bowls of porridge."

Everyone: “???”

Who would treat someone to porridge?

Facing the strange looks from the crowd, Xie Mingzhe quickly explained: "Don't misunderstand me, I was just discharged from the hospital and my stomach is not feeling well. The doctor said I can only eat liquid food for three days. I can't digest anything else."

Brother Chen looked at him in confusion: "Have you ever been hospitalized before?"

"Yeah, I was just discharged from the hospital today."

"You came to work right after you were discharged from the hospital. Why don't you stay at home to rest for a few days? Don't your family members care about you?"

"I'm an adult now, and my family doesn't care much about me." Xie Mingzhe doesn't want people to know that he is an orphan, and he doesn't want to see everyone's sympathetic eyes.

Chi Qing and the other two looked at each other in bewilderment.

He rushed to work right after being discharged from the hospital. He is really hardworking. The conditions at home must be not good for this boy.

"Ah, it's not easy for you either." Brother Chen sighed and asked with concern, "You're working right after being discharged from the hospital. Can your body handle it?"

"It's okay, I've recovered. Besides, playing games doesn't consume much energy." Xie Mingzhe smiled and changed the subject, "By the way, Brother Chen, my level in the game is 15. I will reach level 35 tonight. Let's go and get materials with you guys."

"Okay." Brother Chen turned around and said to Chi Qing, "Since Xiao Xie can't eat a big meal, let's just eat something casually. Ah Qing, please go and cook a pot of porridge. When Xiao Xie is better in a couple of days, I will treat you again."

"Yeah." Chi Qing turned and went to the kitchen to cook porridge.

"Come here, little Xie. I'll help you unpack your luggage." Brother Chen took Xie Mingzhe upstairs.

Xie Mingzhe also took a look at the studio environment.

This house is a two-story duplex structure on the top floor of a residential building. The living room and side hall on the first floor are furnished with helmets and swivel chairs, and there are also a kitchen, dining room and bathroom. The second floor is a rest area with four rooms, of which the master bedroom has only one large bed, and the other three rooms have two single beds side by side.

"Originally, there was a girl living with Chi Qing in our studio. She got married some time ago and took a month off, so I hired someone to replace her. Many dungeons in the game require five people to enter." Brother Chen lit a cigarette and said as he smoked, "Currently, Chi Qing lives alone, and I live with Jin Yue. From now on, you can live in the same room with Xiao Pang. Is that okay?"

"No problem!" Xie Mingzhe followed Brother Chen and put the gifts into the bedroom.

He originally thought that the power leveling studio would be a dark little workshop, but the environment here was much better than he had imagined. Not only was the gaming hall on the first floor spacious and bright, but the living quarters on the second floor were also very clean. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the balcony, he could even see the lush garden downstairs.

Xie Mingzhe pushed open the French window and walked into the balcony. He found that the balcony was very large. There was a very comfortable lounge chair in the back, and a fluffy white carpet under the lounge chair. Next to the carpet was a flower stand with some succulents on it. These succulents were all as big as a child's fist, and the various colors looked very cute. In front of the flower stand was a wooden tea table with a set of tea sets. The four small cups were as white as jade and very delicate.

Seeing this scene, Xie Mingzhe could almost imagine a person lying on this comfortable lounge chair on a summer afternoon, picking up a delicate little cup, slowly sipping tea, and occasionally watering the succulents on the flower stand, living a comfortable and leisurely life.

The layout on the balcony is incompatible with the profession of "game power leveling". Looking more closely, the paintings on the wall, the white window screens, the warm-colored wallpaper... are completely unlike the style of a power leveling studio.

Xie Mingzhe couldn't help but ask, "Brother Chen, did you rent this house?" He thought, this must have been decorated by the original landlord? How could a game power leveler have the leisure to sit on the balcony and grow flowers and drink tea?

After hearing this question, Brother Chen suddenly fell silent, with a flash of pain in his eyes.

The man was smoking, and the smoke covered his face. Therefore, Xie Mingzhe did not see the expression on his face. It was only the other party's obvious silence that made Xie Mingzhe realize that he seemed to have asked a question that he should not have asked. He quickly changed the topic and said, "I'm just asking casually. It doesn't matter if it's inconvenient to say."

Brother Chen slowly blew out the smoke ring, and just when Xie Mingzhe thought he would not answer, a deep voice rang in his ears: "This is my brother's house."

Xie Mingzhe was stunned for a moment, then turned around and saw the man walking to the window, squinting his eyes and looking at the garden in the distance, while whispering: "People who come to the studio for the first time will wonder why a game leveling studio is arranged like this? In fact, this house used to be my brother's residence. After he left, I converted the first floor into a game hall and the second floor into a dormitory, but I have never changed the layout of the balcony, and it is still the same."

Brother Chen picked up the exquisite jade cup on the table and played with it in his palm.

That heavy look made Xie Mingzhe not know how to respond for a moment.

Xie Mingzhe's impression of Brother Chen was that he was a very decadent young man who liked to smoke, had messy hair, and wore a wrinkled shirt as if he had picked up some rags from a garbage dump. He also had stubble on his chin and it was unknown how long he hadn't shaved - a typical internet addict.

However, when he talked about his brother, the sadness on his face made Xie Mingzhe feel distressed.

The decadent man who spends all day playing games turns out to have a secret in his heart.

Could it be that his brother has passed away?

Xie Mingzhe didn't dare to ask, so he had to change the subject: "Well, what time do you usually go to bed?"

"Holographic games control the online time of players, so our schedule is very regular. We go to bed at 12 o'clock at night and start work at 8 o'clock in the morning." Brother Chen put down the cup, as if he had been freed from his memories. He put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray and turned to look at Xie Mingzhe. "If I'm not mistaken, you should be a college student, right? Working part-time during the summer vacation to earn some living expenses, right?"

"Yes." Xie Mingzhe said frankly, "I am a freshman at Imperial University across the street, and school will start on September 1st."

"This school is good. Study hard and you will definitely find a good job after graduation." Brother Chen patted the other person on the shoulder encouragingly and said, "After school starts, if you are free, you can come over. I will pay you by the hour." It is not easy for the boy to work alone, so he wanted to take care of him.

"Really?" Xie Mingzhe rubbed his hands excitedly.

"Yeah." Facing his bright eyes, Brother Chen couldn't help but laugh, "I think you're pretty smart, hurry up and level up to level 35 so you can help me."

"I understand!" If he could really work part-time in this studio near the school for a long time, he wouldn't have to worry about living expenses during his college years.

"To reassure you and me, let's sign a labor contract." Brother Chen took Xie Mingzhe to the side and took out a contract template. "The contract is a guarantee for both parties. You don't have to worry about me delaying your wages. I also know your background very well. I don't hire people with unknown backgrounds here."

Brother Chen took out the contract, which clearly meant that he wanted to formally hire her. Xie Mingzhe immediately took out his ID card, scanned it into the smart computer, and signed his name on the screen. He found that the salary column was written as 3,000, so he asked, "I'll be an intern for the first month, so I'll be paid half of the salary, right?"

"All for you." Brother Chen also signed his name and said readily, "With your comprehension, you can learn this game in two days, so you will be treated as a regular employee. The basic salary is 3,000, and there will be an additional 10% commission for the orders you take. If the business is good, there will be dividends at the end of the month."

"Thank you, Brother Chen!" Xie Mingzhe felt like he had won the lottery.

“You’re welcome.” The man’s handwriting was very elegant, and the name he signed on the contract was: Chen Xiao.

It turns out that his full name is Chen Xiao.

Xie Mingzhe silently memorized the name of the boss who helped him.

***

After packing up, I followed Chen Xiao downstairs and found Chi Qing had already cooked porridge. The vegetable and lean meat porridge looked very delicious. In addition to the porridge, she also made two vegetarian dishes, both of which were easy to digest. It was obvious that she was considerate of Xie Mingzhe who had just been discharged from the hospital and had a bad stomach.

Xie Mingzhe sat with everyone in the living room and had a simple dinner.

Pang Yu howled, "It's just vegetables and rice porridge. I can't feel full at all. You should know that fat people have bigger stomachs than you!" He then looked at Chen Xiao eagerly, "Boss, I want to take an hour off and go out to eat another pound of beef, okay?"

Chen Xiao punched the flesh on his belly and said with a smile: "What kind of meat are you eating? You should lose some weight. Look at Xiao Xie, he weighs less than half of you."

"..." Pang Yu was speechless and simply gave up: "I was born with obesity genes, and losing weight is useless."

Jin Yue adjusted his glasses on his nose, turned around and laughed at him: "I think you are lazy."

Pang Yu grabbed Xie Mingzhe's arm in a naughty way and said, "Xiao Xie, you are so thin. Let me share some of my meat with you."

"..." Xie Mingzhe didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Unexpectedly, the people in the studio got along quite well with each other, and they were not hostile to him, but rather very caring. He was an orphan in both lives, and he didn't have many friends around him. Seeing this group of people joking and being so close to each other, he felt a little warm in his heart.

Being able to find such a job after rebirth must be the blessing of the God of Luck.

All this is thanks to Chen Xiao, the tolerant boss.

But, what happened to Chen Xiao’s brother?

Xie Mingzhe was very confused. Judging from Chen Xiao's attitude, something serious might have happened to his brother. Maybe he died, or for some other reason, he left. Chen Xiao lived in his brother's house and kept the balcony that his brother had built on the second floor. This "missing someone" behavior made Xie Mingzhe a little worried.

I hope it’s not an irreversible result like death.

Xie Mingzhe collected his thoughts. The most important thing right now was to reach level 35, join everyone's team, and help everyone collect materials.

After all, from the moment he signed the contract, he became an official substitute coach.

The author has something to say: Brother Chen is an important person, not just a passerby boss :)