Chapter 87: Pendant Qin Yun

"Qin Ye, this room comes with our hotel's top-tier service. Just pick up the phone and tell us whatever you need."

Qin Yun felt it was a waste to have such a huge room all to himself, but since it was a rare treat, he accepted it with equanimity.

"Thank you. Who would have thought that one day I'd get to stay in a Hilton presidential suite. Ha ha ha."

Zhong Li smiled and said: "Qin Ye really loves to joke. Um… may I take a photo with you?"

"Of course, no problem."

Hearing that, Zhong Li immediately shoved her phone into Xia Xiaoxing's hand: "Xiaoxing, take a photo of me with Qin Ye."

After saying that, she walked over to Qin Yun's side, looking all clingy and coquettish.

With Zhong Li's height, she usually stood out in any group photo, but standing next to Qin Yun now, she was completely overshadowed by him.

Xia Xiaoxing rarely saw her own cousin like this and thought to herself, could Brother Qin be a big Douyin streamer? But why haven't I heard of him? I must ask my cousin about it later.

After the photo was taken, Xia Xiaoxing and Zhong Li left the room.

"Brother Qin, I need to run over to my grandpa's place. I'll come find you for lunch—wait for me, okay?"

Qin Yun thought for a moment. He had nothing planned, so he nodded in agreement: "Sure, see you at noon then."

After Qin Yun closed the door, the two sisters walked down the corridor toward the elevator.

Xia Xiaoxing asked, unable to hold back: "Sis, what kind of streamer is Brother Qin? Why do you call him Qin Ye?"

Zhong Li shot her a sideways glance and reached out to vigorously ruffle her hair: "You didn't even know who the other person was and you dared to spend the night outside. You've got some nerve. No wonder Auntie doesn't let you run around on your own."

"Ugh, you've messed up my hair, I hate you, just tell me already."

Xia Xiaoxing tried to escape Zhong Li's clutches, but to no avail.

Zhong Li sighed, pulled out her phone, tapped open Qin Yun's profile page, and handed the phone over: "Take a look yourself."

Taking the phone, when she saw the number of followers on Qin Yun's profile, she was instantly shocked.

"Over twenty million… this…"

She also used Douyin. Although she only had a few thousand followers, she knew exactly what twenty million followers meant—absolutely top-tier across the entire platform.

Zhong Li chuckled lightly: "Qin Ye went from zero to over twenty million followers in less than a month."

*Gulp! *

Xia Xiaoxing was stunned by that statement. She immediately scrolled down and found that there weren't many videos in total—less than ten.

She tapped on the earliest video:

"Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun, an outdoor adventure enthusiast. I'm good at instrument repair, motor vehicle repair, photography, and rock climbing. This time, I'm going to challenge free soloing Shanziya cliff with no safety gear whatsoever…"

Listening to Qin Yun's self-introduction in the video, Xia Xiaoxing's little mouth never closed again.

As for Qin Yun, he took a selfie of the Qu River, posted it to his Moments, and then strolled around the room taking it easy.

To be fair, over three hundred square meters really was huge, giving him an experience he'd never had before.

There was no sense of visual oppression at all. It could easily accommodate a gathering or movement of several dozen people with no pressure whatsoever, complete freedom of activity. The decor went without saying—entirely high-end materials, paired with all sorts of artistic ornaments and custom furniture, exuding luxury and refinement everywhere.

And because it was on the top floor, the view was superb—you could overlook the entire Qu River.

Still, even though it was nice, Qin Yun remained unmoved by large flats. What he preferred were standalone buildings.

If he had the money, buying a villa wouldn't be bad.

Once the novelty wore off, Qin Yun simply lay down in the beanbag sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window, basking in the sun, lazily scrolling through his phone.

But not long after, Su Huan sent him a WeChat message.

"DJI is settled. Signed for one year—200k for livestreams, 150k for videos."

Qin Yun instantly perked up: "Awesome, you actually got them to sign for a whole year."

Su Huan: "Of course. Do you even know who I am?"

Qin Yun: "Worthy of Class Monitor Su, as outstanding as always."

"Why are you still in Quzhou? Didn't you say you were heading to Jingdezhen today?"

Qin Yun explained: "Met someone yesterday who said there's a Lankeshan Poetry Convention in Quzhou tomorrow. I'm quite interested, planning to go check it out, so I'll stay a few more days and leave the day after tomorrow."

"Is she pretty?"

"Believe it or not, she's only just a tiny bit behind you."

Seeing that message, the corners of Su Huan's mouth lifted uncontrollably.

Just as she was about to reply, someone called out not far away: "Su Huan, Conference Room 4-2, President Yang is looking for you."

Su Huan nodded: "Got it, I'll be right there."

After saying that, she sent Qin Yun a reply: I'm going into a meeting, then got up and headed toward the conference room.

After she left, some people in the office began whispering among themselves.

"What do you think HR wants with Su Huan?"

"Isn't it obvious? They must think her work attitude has been off lately."

"That doesn't require HR to come find her, does it? You think she might be getting laid off?"

"Uh… that doesn't seem very likely, does it?"

"Don't forget Hu Bo—he's very close with the higher-ups."

Arriving at the office door, Su Huan took a deep breath and pushed the door open. When she saw the figures inside, her heart couldn't help but sink.

Besides HR's President Yang, there was also her direct supervisor and the head of the entire major department. They meant business.

……

As it neared noon, a knock came at the door.

Qin Yun welcomed Xia Xiaoxing in, but Zhong Li wasn't there—she had to run such a big hotel, so she must be busy.

"Qin Ye."

Xia Xiaoxing's very first words left Qin Yun not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Let's just call me Brother Qin. Calling me Qin Ye or anything like that is too much."

"Hehe." Xia Xiaoxing laughed. "I think so too, but Brother Qin, what you showed in the video was really amazing. How are you so bold? You actually dared to free-climb a cliff with your bare hands."

Qin Yun had heard this kind of talk so many times that he no longer felt anything about it.

"Nothing special — just practice makes perfect!"

Xia Xiaoxing went back for a bit and changed her clothes. She had been in a cute cartoon style, but now she was in a retro, gentle look.

The top was a deep brown off-the-shoulder knit sweater, revealing her delicate collarbones, paired with a plaid pleated long skirt below, her fair calves faintly visible. The overall look carried a retro charm without losing a gentle, sweet temperament.

Although she wasn't tall, with this combination the cuteness was reduced and the elegance increased.

"Brother Qin, when are you going to start streaming? I'll send you gifts." Xia Xiaoxing put on a generous, domineering look, fully prepared to become Qin Yun's top-tipping big sister.

"I don't know, no streaming plans for now." Qin Yun was growing more cautious about streaming. Since he'd made his name in outdoor content, naturally he had to lean toward the extreme side.

Just casually chatting with netizens — he wasn't opposed to that, but he would definitely choose to close the gift channel. Accepting gifts went against his principles as a person.

As expected, the next stream would be the climb of Yaomei Peak.

Although the purpose was to help Han Wei, Han Wei absolutely could not reach the summit — even with his help it was useless.

Humans have their limits. When that limit arrives, one must break free from that state of limit, or death can descend at any moment.

And once he started streaming, unless conditions didn't allow, he was determined to attempt the summit of Yaomei Peak.

Hearing Qin Yun say this, Xia Xiaoxing was a little disappointed.

"Brother Qin, let's go have lunch then, or if you want to eat here that's fine too — just call and have them deliver."

Qin Yun thought for a moment: "Then you call, you haven't eaten yet, right?"

"Sure thing, I'll make the call."

Xia Xiaoxing bounced over to the phone excitedly and began rattling off dish names.

After listening for a full minute, Xia Xiaoxing still hadn't finished listing dishes, and Qin Yun was starting to lose it.

"I say, Xia Xiaoxing, can we actually finish that many dishes? It's just the two of us."

Xia Xiaoxing gave him a calm look, rattled off four or five more dishes, and only then stopped.

Putting down the phone she said: "Brother Qin, don't worry, the portions are really small — I'm actually worried you won't get enough to eat."

When the server pushed the cart in and set down dish after dish, Qin Yun finally understood what Xia Xiaoxing meant. Turns out each dish was only one-fifth of a normal portion — refined, yes, but indeed very small.

The upside was that you got to sample many different delicacies.

After the two ate and drank their fill, Xia Xiaoxing volunteered to take him on a stroll around the ancient city of Quzhou. Qin Yun was free anyway, so he let her have her way.

……

Tianyuan Dojo — the crowd flowed like a weave, cheers never ceasing.

"What is the line after 'Beneath the pines I ask the boy'?"

This was already the ninth group of contestants. The previous four groups had only answered one question correctly in the first round of the semifinals — the Poetry Sea Contest — and were brutally eliminated.

The line after 'Beneath the pines I ask the boy' — Qin Yun obediently turned his gaze to Xia Xiaoxing.

Xia Xiaoxing said confidently with a smile: "'The master went off to gather herbs.'"

The host nodded: "Correct. Next is the second question. As long as you answer the second question correctly, you'll advance to the second round. Please listen to the question."

"What is the line after 'The heavenly street's light rain moist as cream'…"

Qin Yun had a vague impression of this one, but for the moment still couldn't recall it. Of course, as the sidekick, he simply had to possess the mindset of a sidekick.

"'Grass color, seen afar, vanishes up close.'" Xia Xiaoxing blurted out.

With both questions answered correctly, advancing to the second round — the Poetry Cauldron Contest — was basically locked in. But the final spot in the finals was based on a composite score, so the better you answered, the easier it was to qualify.

The host continued: "The third question is still related to Lanke Mountain. Please tell me, what is the line after 'Wang Zhi returned from Lanke'?"

"'How many autumns have the mountains and rivers seen.'"

"Correct. Congratulations, you've entered the Poetry Cauldron Contest round. Please wait at your seats."

Qin Yun and Xia Xiaoxing returned to their seats and exchanged a smile.

Qin Yun praised in a low voice: "Impressive. I only had a vague impression of 'The heavenly street's light rain moist as cream.'"

"Hehe, my knowledge reserves in this area are pretty rich." Xia Xiaoxing had no idea what modesty was, and happily accepted Qin Yun's praise.

Over thirty teams in total were participating in the semifinals. Some were solo, some were pairs like them. The competition was actually quite interesting.

It was just a shame that Qin Yun really didn't know much about poetry — the little he'd learned in middle and high school had long since been returned to the teacher.

In the end, twenty-four teams remained for advancement from the first round of the semifinals.

The so-called Poetry Cauldron Contest was, put plainly, a poetry knowledge Q&A. Each team got five questions; answering three correctly was enough to advance to the third round of the semifinals — the Linked Pearls Verse, which was linking words into poetry, even harder.

This time, Xia Xiaoxing and Qin Yun were placed in the fifth group, because four teams ahead of them had been eliminated.

In no time at all, three of the four preceding groups in a row were stumped by the host and brutally eliminated.

"Welcome contestant number nine, Xia Xiaoxing, to the stage. Let's give her a round of applause."

After the applause, Qin Yun and Xia Xiaoxing stood before the answer table.

"Please — who is the author of 'Wines carried up Keshui, the chess path rising into the clouds'?"

Qin Yun was completely at a loss, his mind a blank. If you asked him about Du Fu or Li Bai he might know a thing or two, but this was obscure to the extreme. So he could only turn his gaze to Xia Xiaoxing.

Xia Xiaoxing didn't hesitate at all: "Zhu Xi."

Qin Yun suddenly understood — Zhu Xi he did know, but when had he ever written this poem?

"Congratulations. Second question, please listen: among the following lines of poetry, which one has nothing to do with Go? A: 'A guest was invited but didn't come past midnight; idly I tap chess pieces, scattering lamp-flowers.' B: 'On the board they idly contest battles; people see right and wrong as they please.' C: 'Spring wind has greened the southern shores again; when will the bright moon shine on my return?'"