Chapter 167
Xuan Mo's mother glanced at the clothes Ai Er Ge had on before gasping in surprise, "My goodness Ai Er Ge, that's some big brands you have on!"
The two of them were confused.
"This shirt, and this pants... this is a new brand that was just recently brought in, you can only get these from the capital or their only boutique in City S, and it's not something you can get your hands on just because you have the money, you need to pre-order, and need to be qualified as a member... Mo Mo, do you remember the dress your Uncle Lu gave you? It's from the same brand."
"...even so, this can't be that recognisable can it." Ai Er Ge asked innocently.
"My dear, the ads for this brand are rolling across all major platforms. There was a huge hoo-haa about several male celebrities vying to be the brand ambassador a while back, it lasted for quite a while even. At this rate, there's no way this brand would be unrecognisable. Any employer would think you're trolling them if you dress like this to apply for a job."
Stunned by Xuan Mo's mother's explanation, the two noobs finally figured it out. When her mother turned around to find some clothes for Ai Er Ge, the latter gave Xuan Mo a thumbs up: "As expected of the military goddess, your observation skills are top notch!"
Xuan Mo's lips twitched. She'd really just been hazarding guesses earlier.
Xuan Mo's mother worked in the line of premium clothing for both ladies and gentlemen. She'd been working hard in this industry for several decades now, the brand that she'd built had several outlets across the country, and gained sufficient traction as a celebrity brand. It's just that her mother was not a profit-centric business woman, so every step was taken with adequate consideration. Hence even though her current business was not particularly large, it was growing steadily.
After changing into the clothes that Xuan Mo's mother had selected, Ai Er Ge's appearance seemed to have instantly lightened up. With the new attire, he looked less like a person swimming in money and authority, and a little bit more like a student. While Ai Er Ge was trying out the different clothes, every single conversation topic Xuan Mo's mother brought up was related to his background; like every other parent, she was trying to figure out what kind of person this chap was. Even though Ai Er Ge was still a piping new Blue Planet being, he was definitely much more well-versed in his way of words. Up against Xuan Mo's mother's questions, he remained unfazed and collected.
In the end, when it was time to leave, Xuan Mo's mother silently communicated her approval of Ai Er Ge to Xuan Mo: "This chap's not too bad, quite tight-lipped, he must have been taught well, and he's probably figured out what I like, how thoughtful of him. If our families are not too far apart in terms of status, you can really consider him!"
Xuan Mo automatically filtered out the words her mother was sprouting. Only the remark about Ai Er Ge figuring out what she liked made her want to laugh. After all, he did inherit Xuan Mo's memories. In fact, given how meticulous and social he was, he probably could outperform the careless Xuan Mo any day.
After changing his attire, it was already evening by the time they left the shopping mall. The two of them briefly discussed before Xuan Mo decided to bring Ai Er Ge to the Thunder LAN shop to take a look. She hadn't heard from Ah La Lei for a long while now.
Very coincidentally, there was a recruitment poster pasted at the entrance of Thunder LAN shop. They were recruiting a shop manager; the requirements weren't strict, the only prerequisite was that the manager would need to work through public holidays, preferably even on Chinese New Year's Eve, of course his pay would be doubled accordingly.
This job was literally made for Ai Er Ge. He didn't celebrate Chinese New Year, he wasn't in an urgent need for cash, and he had no preferences...
When they entered, the LAN shop owner Ah La Lei, who was often only spotted gaming inside, was surprisingly seated at the counter, dozing off. Xuan Mo went over and knocked on the counter table.
Ah La Lei's hand reached out as he mumbled sleepily: "ID, money."
Xuan Mo glanced at Ai Er Ge. Ai Er Ge understood the assignment, and cleared his throat: "Ahem, I'm here to apply for a job."
"Oh..." Ah La Lei gave a small yawn before he suddenly zipped up, his eyes glowing: "What!? You're here to apply for a job?!"
When he saw Ai Er Ge, he instinctively glanced behind him, there as no one there, when he looked to the side, his eyes instantly lit up: "Mo Mo Mo Mo Mo Mo Mo Mo Mo...."
Xuan Mo squinted her eyes and took a step back: "What do you want?"
"Goddess of war! Mars! I've missed you!" Ah La Lei stood and walked out from behind the counter. He ran over to the other counter and pointed at the entire wall, "look! The Global StarCraft Association did this up for you!"
Xuan Mo looked up. Under the dim lighting, a huge image covered the entire wall. Her name was printed on the image: abu, followed by a chart that noted down all her matches, the duration of her battles, her opponents and a variety of other information.
The sentence at the end of the chart wrote: "Abu — the one and only god of military."
The wording was written in a mechanical font. The entire poster was electrifying.
Xuan Mo had started gaining a following during the tournament prelims. After the finals, she disappeared completely from all social media and other platforms. Even though there were a number of imposters, they were quickly identified as a fake when the battle began. Gradually, the name abu became a peerless identity, and people no longer dared to assume this name.
"Abu — the one and only god of military." Ai Er Ge softly read the line, before giving a bitter smile, "c'mon, you're really gonna dominate the galaxy at this rate..." he turned and mumbled to himself, "to have an enemy like her, pressurising much..."
Ah La Lei continued on and on about how famous and majestic their team Thunder became because of her, and went on about how sad everyone became when she left. But because of her rapid-fire commands, everyone was now much quicker on their feet and rarely lost to others in terms of speed. Because of her, there were also quite a number of skilled players that applied to join their team...
Xuan Mo glanced at the phrase again, unmoving. Afterwhich, she pushed Ai Er Ge forward: "He's here to apply for the LAN shop manager."
Ah La Lei knew what kind of person Xuan Mo was, at that, he minced his lips, crestfallen, and turned to Ai Er Ge, his previous sincerity disappearing in a blink of an eye, and in its place returned his previous laze: "You're applying for the LAN shop manager? This is not an easy job, Mo Mo, not that I want to nag but I'd originally intended to recruit those that come into this city for work, in particular those that can work through Chinese New Year (CNY), why because there are lots of customers who would turn to the internet during the CNY period when they are lonely... but to be frank your friend looks nothing like that... I need someone that works hard."
Xuan Mo smiled: "Why don't you ask him."
Ai Er Ge immediately puffed up: "I'm very hardworking! I definitely can take it! I can do whatever you need me to do!"
Ah La Lei was still doubtful. Given Ai Er Ge's delicate looks, even his sexual orientation seemed blurry. Ah Le Lei really couldn't imagine him working his ass off as a LAN shop manager, he better not receive a call in the middle of the night from him wanting to quit the job...
Ai Er Ge popped his head out, there was a curtain behind the counter, he could vaguely make out the outline of a bed, at that, he immediately smiled: "Can the LAN shop manager sleep here?"
"As long as there's someone looking after this place, I don't care what you do 24/7..."
"Fantastic! I love this job!"
"Don't think the LAN manager will get to surf the net, it's a troublesome job, there's a million and one things you gotta settle, and you need to endure the customers too..."
"That's not a problem, I won't see them as humans."
Ah La Lei was speechless. He couldn't tell if Ai Er Ge was joking or not... it really was going to be a bit too much if he didn't see them as people. But honestly speaking, given that he was Xuan Mo's friend, Ah La Lei really wasn't too surprised that he was a little eccentric.
But he must say he was still a little worried.
As they were speaking, two chattering girls walked in. When they saw the three of them gathered at the counter, they were a little confused. Before Ah La Lei reacted, Ai Er Ge had walked into the counter and smiled: "Please present your identification card and security deposit."
"..."
The two girls walked off to their seats with great reluctance, their mesmerised eyes full of the person behind the counter. Meanwhile Ai Er Ge sent them off with a polite smile. Ah La Lei was floored: "How d'you know what to do?"
"I've been to LAN shops before, so I've seen how they do it." Ai Er Ge's smile remained polite.
"But why am I getting strange vibes from you, have you worked in a place that offers special services or something like that..."
Xuan Mo was getting annoyed: "So do you want him or no, decide quickly now, if not I'll dump him elsewhere."
"Yes!" Ah La Lei hollered, "no way I'd reject him!? Just look at his face, he'll definitely be a crowd-puller!"
"..."