Chen Xiao tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, until three in the morning when he finally fell into a drowsy sleep.

In the dream, I went back to the day when my brother left. Chen Qianlin looked at me as if he was looking at a stranger he had never met. He looked at me coldly and said calmly, "Since you are already 18 years old and have become an adult, I will no longer care about you and I don't want to see you again. This house and the money in the card are my adult gift to you."

He left the house keys and a bank card with millions in deposits, picked up his luggage and left.

Chen Xiao quickly chased after him and grabbed his arm. He was so nervous that his face turned pale and his voice was trembling: "Brother, I was wrong. I was drunk and unconscious last night. Don't take the nonsense I said to heart. Don't ignore me. I was really wrong..."

Chen Qianlin interrupted him: "Over the years, I have always treated you as my own brother, but I never thought you would have such thoughts. I have raised you until you were 18 years old, and I have fulfilled my responsibilities as an older brother. Chen Xiao, from today on, we will each live our own lives and have no contact anymore."

His eyes were like a layer of ice on a lake in winter. Chen Xiao froze in place, his Adam's apple moving up and down, but he couldn't utter a word.

Chen Qianlin left just like that.

If losing the lawsuit was a huge blow to him, then the confession of love from his always-loving brother was the last straw that broke the camel's back, leaving him completely disheartened.

Chen Xiao didn't dare to do that at first, but he was in a bad mood and drank a little wine, which made his head hot. Seeing his brother was sad, he hugged him and said that he liked him...

Indeed, he had liked her for many years. Ever since the day he was adopted by the Chen family, Chen Qianlin squatted in front of him and said softly, "Don't be afraid. This is your home from now on. I am your brother. You can take my last name and be called Chen Xiao, okay?"

The dirty boy was stunned when he saw such a beautiful person for the first time.

At that time, he was only seven years old and Chen Qianlin was fifteen years old.

The clean boy took the dirty child to the bathroom, gave him a bath, and changed him into new clothes. He blinked at the pretty boy in front of him and called out tentatively, "Brother?" Chen Qianlin smiled and touched his head, "Be good, with your brother here, no one will bully you in the future."

When I was little, I always liked my brother. As I grew older, this liking slowly changed into a secret crush. Chen Xiao secretly hid his admiration for his brother in his heart and never dared to say it out loud. When he said it out loud when drunk, he regretted it so much that he wanted to slap himself. Chen Qianlin really treated him as his own brother. If anyone else had confessed his love to him suddenly, no one would have accepted it. Instead, he angered his brother and left. What a fool.

Chen Xiao woke up and wiped his face roughly, went to the bathroom, took a cold shower, shaved his beard carefully in front of the mirror, and then combed his hair neatly.

Sure enough, after tidying up, his features were revealed and he looked much more energetic.

Chen Xiao turned around and went to the balcony. It was still dark outside the window. It was only five o'clock in the morning. He had only slept for two hours when he was awakened by a nightmare.

There is a pot of succulent plants on the balcony, and a small sprout has grown at the root, which looks very cute.

In the past, he didn't know how to grow flowers and always felt that watering them regularly was a hassle. After his brother left, Chen Xiao specifically looked up the growth guides for each type of plant, watered the flowers on time, and took extra good care of these little things.

Almost five years have passed, and none of the ten pots of succulents that Chen Qianlin left on the flower stand have died. Instead, they are growing more and more vigorously.

Chen Xiao originally wanted to build a studio to accumulate resources, and then compete in the next season. When he had some achievements, maybe his brother would be willing to meet him, and then he would apologize and maybe he could ease the relationship between the two. However, plans are not as good as changes. Xie Mingzhe happened to come to the studio. The talent of this young man is not inferior to that of Tang Muzhou. He moved up the plan, not only for Xie Mingzhe's consideration, but also to find an excuse for himself to meet Chen Qianlin in advance.

***

The next morning, Xie Mingzhe got up at eight o'clock, washed his face and went to the living room.

He saw a young man coming down the stairs.

What caught my eye was a pair of straight long legs. The man was tall and straight, estimated to be over 1.85 meters tall, wearing slim-fitting trousers and spotless black leather shoes. His shirt was ironed as if he had just bought it, with one button undone at the collar, revealing a healthy complexion. Looking up, he had neat short hair, a clean-shaven beard, handsome and strong facial features, especially a pair of thick eyebrows, which made him look particularly manly.

How did this person come down from the second floor?

Xie Mingzhe was stunned: "Excuse me, who are you?"

The other party looked at Xie Mingzhe unhappily: "Don't you recognize me? I'm Chen Xiao."

Xie Mingzhe looked incredulous: "Brother Chen?"

It is said that "clothes make the man", but the difference is too big, isn't it? Before, Chen had messy hair, dark circles under his eyes, and looked sleepy. He loved smoking, and his clothes were wrinkled like rags, which was completely unsightly. He was simply a decadent young man who had given up treatment. However, the man in front of him was radiant, handsome, and tall. He seemed to have been reborn!

Xie Mingzhe rubbed his eyes, completely unable to connect the handsome man in front of him with the decadent young man in his memory.

At this time, Xiaopang and Jinyue also went downstairs. They had a headache from drinking too much yesterday, and they kept pressing their temples while walking. As soon as they reached the stairs, they suddenly saw a strange man in a suit in the hall. Xiaopang almost fell down. Jinyue hurriedly supported him. Xiaopang stood up, rubbed his eyes and asked: "Who is this gentleman? Are you looking for someone so early in the morning?" Jinyue also said: "Xiao Xie, is this your friend?"

Chen Xiao said unhappily, "I am Chen Xiao! Did all of you lose your memory after sleeping?"

Jin Yue pushed his glasses and quickly ran downstairs to observe him carefully: "Brother Chen?" The voice was similar, but the clothes were completely different. Pang Yu also ran downstairs and said excitedly: "It's really Brother Chen?"

Xie Mingzhe, Pang Yu, and Jin Yue stood side by side, watching Chen Xiao as if they were watching a gorilla released from a zoo.

Facing the three people's gazes observing the rare animals, Chen Xiao coughed awkwardly and explained, "Well, I usually... don't pay much attention to my appearance. I got up this morning, changed my clothes, and shaved. Do you have to be so surprised?"

You call that "not paying much attention to appearance"? You call that "completely giving up treatment", okay? Xie Mingzhe complained in his heart.

"Brother Chen is dressed so handsomely, are you going on a date?" Pang Yu asked curiously.

"I'm going to meet someone." Chen Xiao's ears turned slightly red, but he quickly kept his composure and said, "Ah Qing and Yingying will be here in a while. I have something to do today so I need to take Xiao Xie out. The four of you stay in the studio and help Xiao Xie look after the store."

"Don't worry, Brother Chen." Jin Yue was obviously much more reliable than the fat man, and he didn't ask who Chen Xiao was going to see. Pang Yu opened his mouth to ask, but Jin Yue poked him hard in the back, so he had to shut up and said no more.

The four of them had a simple breakfast around the dining table. Chi Qing and Chi Yingying just happened to come back. Seeing Chen Xiao dressed up, Chi Qing asked in confusion, "You are dressed so neatly. Did you go out for something?"

Chen Xiao nodded: "Well, Xiao Xie and I will go out for a while."

After the two men left, Pang Yu immediately exclaimed: "I've known him for two years, and I've never seen him dressed so formally!"

Jin Yue also sighed: "It turns out that Brother Chen is a potential stock. He doesn't dress up normally, but once he dresses up, he is quite handsome. I almost didn't recognize him."

Chi Qing said calmly: "Stop gossiping and go online to help Xiao Xie tidy up the store!"

***

Chen Xiao drove a sports car out of the underground garage. The silver-white suspended sports car sped along the suspended track in the air, just like flying in the sky. Xie Mingzhe opened the car window and excitedly felt the thrill of being a flying man.

Chen Xiao, who was sitting in the driver's seat, wore a pair of sunglasses and looked quite cool while driving.

Xie Mingzhe really thinks that he looks much better after this tidy up. His previous messy hair really ruined his looks. He doesn’t know what he was thinking. Even if he was a game power leveler, he wouldn’t make himself look so decadent…

Chen Xiao knew that Xie Mingzhe was definitely complaining about him, so he ignored him and went straight to the point. "You should have known about my brother Chen Qianlin's story, right? You didn't ask me last night, so I thought you might have looked it up yourself."

Xie Mingzhe smiled and said, "I'm afraid that if I ask you face to face, you may not be able to say some things. So I checked online. The news said that Lin Shen left because he lost the lawsuit and was frustrated. What exactly happened in the lawsuit? Can you tell me?"

"I was just about to tell you." Chen Xiao took a deep breath, sorted out his thoughts, and whispered, "Ten years ago, in the first season of the Star Card League, my brother and Shao Bo founded the Holy Land Club together. My brother organized the card competition, and Shao Bo was responsible for the management and operation of the club. Shao Bo was his childhood friend. They grew up together and later became college classmates. My brother especially trusted the guy named Shao."

"My brother is a gifted man. His original plant cards are very powerful. He won awards in the individual competitions for three consecutive seasons. Many investors came to us, and the club made a lot of money. Everything went smoothly, but at the beginning of the fourth season, Shao Bo saw that my brother's popularity was getting higher and higher, so he privately auctioned many of my brother's cards. A single card could easily sell for tens of thousands of crystals, and hundreds of copies could be made. The income from selling cards alone could make several million a day..."

"My brother was busy playing in the game at the time and didn't know about these things. By the time he found out, his cards had been copied and sold to the club in private by the hundreds. My brother disagreed and wanted to take back the copyright of the cards. However, the contract did not clearly stipulate that the copyright of the cards belonged to him. Instead, there was a clause that said 'all profits of the players during their time in the club will be divided according to the ratio of 30% to the club and 70% to the players'. Shao Bo made a big fuss about this, saying that my brother's behavior of creating original cards also counted as profits during the contract period..."

"When we first founded the club, Shao promised my brother verbally that he could dispose of the cards himself. But because my brother trusted him very much and the verbal promises were not recorded, they could not be used as evidence in court. According to the contract, my brother was not in the right. As the club manager, it was legal for Shao Bo to sell his cards." Chen Xiao frowned and said unwillingly, "Shao insisted on this point, and he didn't win the lawsuit in the end."

"…………" This is a stab in the back by a good brother, right? Xie Mingzhe could imagine Chen Qianlin's anger and heartbreak at that time. The childhood friend he grew up with and trusted had dug a big hole for him. If it were Xie Mingzhe, he would probably want to beat him to death. Xie Mingzhe felt sorry for Chen Qianlin's experience and couldn't help asking: "Lin Shen was the originator of the wood card. He should have a very high status in the alliance, right? Is there no one in the alliance to help him?"

"Nie Yuandao, Zheng Feng and other great people who have a good personal relationship with him are trying to find ways to help him, but the law and human relations are two different things. That's what the contract says. My brother can't provide strong evidence, so there's nothing they can do."

Xie Mingzhe's mood was very complicated. As a non-legal person, he would face the risk of being cheated when signing a contract. He had heard of countless copyright disputes as early as the Earth era. Chen Qianlin was wrong in trusting his childhood friend too much, and that Shao was really a piece of shit.

It is no wonder that Chen Qianlin retired after being devastated by the betrayal of his childhood friend and losing the lawsuit and being unable to recover the copyright of the card games.

Xie Mingzhe didn't know what to say. After a long while, he sighed in his heart and said, "Ah...your brother's experience is really sad. Did he lose the lawsuit and pay a lot of penalty?"

Chen Xiao said: "Yes. And the copyright of the cards cannot be taken back. Many of the good cards made by my brother still have the copyright in the Holy Land Club."

Xie Mingzhe couldn't help but swear: "Fuck! That sanctuary hasn't closed down yet?"

Chen Xiao shrugged, "As long as there's money, there are a lot of players willing to sign with them. However, the fallout between my brother and the club has had a huge impact, and truly capable players won't go to the Sanctuary Club. The Sanctuary has been going downhill in recent years, and now it's just relying on the decks my brother made to train a few second- and third-rate players who were beaten by Tang Muzhou and couldn't even survive a minute on the field."

Xie Mingzhe praised: "Tang Muzhou is very impressive! Even if the Holy Land retains the copyright of your brother's wood-type cards, the best players of the wood-type cards are now in the Fenghua Club founded by Tang Muzhou. It's really embarrassing. That Shao guy is really shameless. He still continues to use your brother's cards?"

Chen Xiao sneered: "The players in their club don't have the ability to make their own cards. They can only rely on their old cards and have been using my brother's deck. Unfortunately, the Star Card official keeps updating the data, and many of my brother's cards are no longer useful. They are standing still and can only be surpassed by others. Last season, Sanctuary didn't even make it to the finals, let alone win a prize. It's really embarrassing."

This is karma. The man named Shao Bo was actually very short-sighted. If he had taken a step back and returned the copyright to Chen Qianlin, and stopped selling Chen Qianlin's cards everywhere, and kept Chen Qianlin, the great god, maybe Tang Muzhou would have followed his master and signed in with their club. With these two talented players, Chen and Tang, the Holy Land can stand at the top of the alliance pyramid for many years.

As a result, Shao Bo was greedy for the small profits in front of him, forced Chen Qianlin to leave, lost the support of the people, and established such a terrible enemy as Tang Muzhou. No matter how much money you make in the short term, it is not as good as keeping a money tree, right? It's really stupid.

Xie Mingzhe cursed in his heart and changed the subject, "Brother Chen, I cooperate with you because I admire your frankness and open-mindedness. At the beginning, I was still a novice who knew nothing, and you were willing to give me the opportunity to be an intern. The salary was originally agreed to be 1,500 yuan a month, but when signing the contract, you took the initiative to ask for 3,000 yuan a month, as if you were a regular employee. It is very rare for a boss to take the initiative to increase the salary. Just for this reason, I think you are not a person who is greedy for small profits. If it were an ordinary boss, he would definitely save as much as possible, and it would be best to find people to work for him for free. You are different. You are very nice to everyone. When you make money, you treat everyone to dinner. The atmosphere in the studio is also very harmonious."

Chen Xiao smiled and said, "It seems that I was right to give you a raise at that time?"

Xie Mingzhe also laughed and continued, "Let's not become enemies like your brother and Shao Bo. To avoid this, if we set up a club in the future, we should write all the terms into the contract, including rights, responsibilities, and profit sharing. We should carefully consider each one and find a professional lawyer to review it. With a contract, everyone will feel more at ease."

Chen Xiao nodded decisively, "That's for sure. Brothers should settle accounts clearly. I don't want to quarrel with you. Unity is the most important thing. When you meet my brother later, don't mention the copyright issue again. I introduced you to him mainly because I want him to teach you so that you can make a deck suitable for competitions as soon as possible. If he is willing to accept you as his apprentice, are you willing to recognize this master?"

Xie Mingzhe said: "Of course. It is definitely my honor that he is willing to accept my words!"

Although he had played some games in his previous life, they were not card games. Xie Mingzhe was still confused about the design of the deck. If a great player like Chen Qianlin was willing to personally guide him, Xie Mingzhe would certainly be more than happy. More importantly, Chen Qianlin had retired and was considered a free agent, so there would be no sensitive issues such as clubs and card copyrights involved, and there would be no conflict with Xie Mingzhe establishing his own club.