Rebirth Of A Cannon Fodder From A Novel CHAPTER 37

Chapter 37

The Mo family’s shares fell again, and Mo San Zhi…

He was completely left in the dust.

Known as a passionate and gentleman in his previous life, touching countless women’s hearts countrywide and Hua Xia’s visionary designer Mo San Zhi, was never to rise again.

Truly a delightful event.

Mo Di was in such a good mood that even Lai De Si could tell by just looking. He asked curiously: “Little Mo Di, what are you so happy about?”

“Oh, the results of the first elimination round in the game competition are to be announced soon. Of course, I’m happy.” Mo Di replied with a poker-face.

“Ok then….can you lend Suan Suan to me for a while? “ Lai De Si was coveting the white fluffy Suan Suan in Mo Di’s embrace.

“I’m afraid for now it’s not possible. Suan Suan is still not familiar with you, he’ll be scared if you hold him.”

“No that won’t happen. I’m just going to hug him for a little while. Just a short while!” Lai De Si came to Mo Di’s side.

“You just don’t believe me…” Mo Di sighed and tried to put Suan Suan next to Lai De Si. As it turned out before he even let go, Suan Suan’s tiny body shook and the furry little paws scratched his arms frenziedly, trying to drill back into his body.

Mo Di was quite touched. He quickly took Suan Suan back and rubbed his small head. He coaxed: “good Suan Suan, good boy, don’t be afraid. There’s nothing to be scared….” 

Then he turned to Lai De Si and said: “See, I wasn’t lying to you. Let’s give it a couple more days. After two days, when he’s familiar with you, you can try to hold him again.”

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When Lai De Si wanted to say something else, Mu Tian Heng came over with a cup of fresh grape juice and passed it to Mo Di. He then fished Suan Suan up with his long arm and said: “I’ll hold him for a bit while you drink the juice.”

“!” Lai De Si was provoked. “Wait! Why isn’t Suan Suan afraid of him?!”

“Because Suan Suan is already familiar with me. Too bad he’s just unfamiliar with you.” Mu Tian Heng smiled and said.

Lai De Si was pissed. He pounded his head on the sofa.

“I can’t live out my days anymore. Everyone, including the dog, is bullying me!”

Mo Di finished his sweet and sour grape juice finally comforted him with some humane words: “He’ll open up to you sooner or later. It might even be tomorrow.”

“Wan woo~”

Suan Suan felt the familiar scent as he laid in Mu Tian Heng’s embrace comfortably. His paws curled up and his eyes narrowed, then he made a baby whimper.

“Look, Suan Suan is also comforting you.” Mo Di smiled.

Lai De Si raised his brows and sulked at Mo Di and Suan Suan: “Although I’m a big-hearted man, now I’m hurt. I don’t want to talk to you people anymore.”

“Ignore him.” Mu Tian Heng rubbed Mo Di’s hair lightly: “The host already started to announce the name list, let’s watch.” He then picked up the remote control and turned up the volume.

Mo Di quickly shifted his focus. The host on the stage was opening the envelope handed over by the staff. He then began to introduce the games that had passed the test one by one. Just like in the audition round, the HD screen behind the hosts will broadcast a short trailer for the game at the same time its title was introduced. 

But this time, the games received a better treatment with almost a minute of allocated introduction time.

Mo Di’s Xin Wei Dao passed without incident. It even received ninety seconds of screen time which could be considered a luxury treatment. In the one hundred games that passed, only eighteen games received such an honor.

“Brother, in your opinion, do you think that our game is safe from elimination even in the next round?” Mo Di asked Mu Tian Heng as he noted down the numbers of the other outstanding games along with their strengths and weaknesses. 

“If everything goes well, this should be the case. But it’s still hard to say. After the broadcast, the other competitors most likely won’t be sitting ducks. If they see that the other games are way ahead of them, they may make dramatic improvements. If you guys relied too much on your past achievements, it could be risky.”

Mu Tian Heng took a pen and jotted down several numbers on Mo Di’s notebook, “The elimination rate for this competition is particularly high. The audition alone only accepted less than one percent of the applicants which was two hundred titles. And this first elimination had knocked out another fifty percent with only one hundred teams remaining. The next round should cut off another forty to fifty percent which will result in roughly fifty to sixty teams left. And the one after that might only leave thirty teams around. Therefore, you have to constantly stay in the lead.”

“Isn’t the elimination a little too severe?” Lai De Si was lying on his back and snacking from the tea-table. “What are they planning? Leave behind a dozen or fewer teams then film a live broadcast of game making? Otherwise, this competition won’t last long.”

Mo Di glanced at Lai De Si and thought: You’re absolutely right.

In every Hua Xia Innovative game competition that was held, after the third knockout round, the remaining teams were invited to stay in a castle-styled villa where they would carry out their game making routines. From time to time, a camera crew would come in to film their everyday activities to broadcast, quite alike a variety show.

And thanks to this, there was a new wave of fans admiring the game makers for their appearance, character, or talent. This would also help to promote the game and competition as a whole.

Although the fandom alone would not be able to determine the team’s victory, it could sway the investors and the competition’s judging committee. After all, games were made for the masses and popularity is never a bad thing.

Mo Di closed his laptop and said to Mu Tian Heng: “I will continue to improvise the upcoming version of Xin Wei Dao and it has to be done by this month. We’ll start to work on the new game next month.”

“Good plan.” Mu Tian Heng looked at him with gentle eyes. He was very fond of the focused and enthusiastic Mo Di. The brilliance and passion in his eyes were truly alluring.

“But you have to pay attention to your health. You can’t stay up late like before.”

“En.” Mo Di smiled and nodded.

“Also, I have something important to tell you.” Mu Tian Heng said suddenly.

“What is it, brother?” Mo Di looked at Mu Tian Heng.

“It’s about Suan Suan’s name.” Mu Tian Heng rubbed Suan Suan’s tender belly and raised his tiny head towards Mo Di, “Don’t you think it’s missing something?”

“What’s missing?” Mo Di smiled at the round and glistening eyes of the puppy and the little legs that were waving at him. He reached out and hugged him. “Isn’t the name Suan Suan good enough?”

“No. The name itself is good but he doesn’t have a surname yet. Do you think he should be Mo or Mu?” Mu Tian Heng asked with a gentle smile.

“Mo…. Mu?” Mo Di gazed into Mu Tian Heng’s teasing eyes and somehow, there was ‘buzzing’ in his head and he blushed.

“What the hell?!” Lai De Si who was laying dormant all this time suddenly flopped like a fish and stood up. He grabbed Mu Tian Heng’s clothes: “Please have some dignity even if you’re a beast. Quickly get out of the kid’s sight!”

Mu Tian Heng did not retaliate Lai De Si’s tackle and let him drag him upstairs. As he was leaving, he smiled and said: “Truth is I saw that you were too uptight so I just wanted you to relax a little. Don’t bury your head in the competition all the time. Little one, don’t worry too much.” 

“…” Mo Di’s face turned a darker shade of red.

The following day, Mo Di returned to Jing Da.

Arriving at the classroom, Mo Di received several complaints from Xian Yu Chao and the gang.

“Xiao Di, did something happen? You didn’t come back last night. Did you have too much fun outside and forgot about us?” Xian Yu Chao put his arm around Mo Di’s shoulder.

“Exactly. This father is very upset. The child is all grown up, he doesn’t think about home anymore.” Lin Jun Feng shed invisible tears for the vicissitudes of life.

“My little uncle wanted to invite you for dinner yesterday but you never came back.” Chen Zhao interrupted: “Did you know my uncle came to the dorm yesterday?”

“Uncle Song came to our dorm?” Mo Di was a little surprised.

“Yes. One was to visit me, two was to see you so we could go out for a meal but it turned out to be an empty trip.” Chen Zhao shrugged.

“I’d like to treat Uncle Song to a meal whenever he’s available.” Mo Di said apologetically: “but in the next half month, I might not have the time.”

“Why? Didn’t your game pass the elimination round? The next round is in another half month.”

“I can’t be complacent. I have to constantly update and enrich the game. And also…” Mo Di’s voice was cut off and he cast an unobtrusive glance at the back door. 

“And what?” Xian Yu Chao patted Mo Di on the shoulder: “Xiao Di, don’t make me nervous, why did you stop halfway?”

“Nothing. I just had a sudden thought.” Mo Di smiled but his heart was heavy.

He certainly felt someone eyeing him and that the look was definitely ill-intended.

“Then go on.” the simple Xian Yu Chao did not sense anything wrong with Mo Di.

“Anyway, I’m very busy lately.” Mo Di did not explain much and took out his textbook, “I have to study, to make games, I even have to go home and raise a puppy.”

“Che….” Xian Yu Chao was speechless. “I thought you were going to say something out of the ordinary like dating or something.”

“You bad child stay away” Lin Jun Feng gave Xian Yu Chao a push. He pinched his throat and spoke in a shrill voice: “If you want to do bad things, do it yourself. Don’t drag our Xiao Di into it. Our Xiao Di is still a baby!”

Immediately after, Xian Yu Chao pulled up his collar and acted like a tyrant speaking to the common people: “Today I just have to make this baby do bad things!”

Mo Di: “…”

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Thanks to the gang’s gags, Mo Di was a lot more at ease. However, when they went to the cafeteria after class, Mo Di once again noticed several watchful eyes on him.

This caused Mo Di to be in a very bad mood.

But he did not tell Mu Tian Heng about this. He was not certain whether the glare was from someone who simply did not like him or someone else was keeping tabs on him

He did not want to be paranoid and make a fuss over every little thing.

That said, he still had to keep his vigilance up.

Mo Di began to take Chen Zhao and the others to the self-study class, the library, then back to their dorm to make games and taught them some programming. Basically, he was never alone.

On the other hand, Chen Zhao and the others were in tears. School had only started and they had not had enough fun. But seeing Mo Di’s gaze towards them, they did not dare to refuse. After all, Mo Di was doing them a favor. He not only urged them to study but also taught them how to make games and allowed them to join his team.

If they were to refuse him, then they were too ignorant of his kindness.

With this, several days passed and Mo Di noticed that the watchful eyes had disappeared. 

Mo Di was relieved. He continued to wholeheartedly focus on his studies and game production, not daring to slack off.

…

This was Mo Di’s routine for the following two weeks. Other than going home on the weekends to accompany Mu Tian Heng and Suan Suan, the rest of his time was mostly spent on the computer.

And his efforts were not in vain. The game’s background was improved, more NPCs were added, and a new batch of playable characters was also introduced. On the day before the submission deadline, Mo Di uploaded the perfected new update for Xin Wei Dao on the competition’s official webpage. 

At the same time, Xian Yu Chao urged Mo Di to get out and have fun, and more importantly, stop staying in to supervise their studies.

Mo Di couldn’t help smiling: “Of course I’ll be leaving, but before that…” Mo Di fidgeted with his phone, “I have to send you guys some red packets to spend on snacks.”

“Woo! Red packets!” Xian Yu Chao released Mo Di immediately and went to grab his phone. “Forty!!” Chen Zhao screamed.

“Damn it! I only got ten! Why?! Why is it only a quarter of the Salted Fish.” Chen Zhao exclaimed.

“Hahaha … This father got fifty! The king of gambling!” Lin Jun Feng touched his stomach and chortled.

“Anyone in?” At this time, a sudden knock came from the door. “Excuse me, can I come in?”

“Come in.” Mo Di opened the door and standing outside was Zhao Chun Cheng whom Mo Di had previously spoken to.

“Sorry for the trouble but our dorm’s toilet is out of order, can I use yours?” Zhao Chun Cheng asked shyly.

“No problem.” Mo Di knew that Xian Yu Chao and the others wouldn’t mind and so he replied on everyone’s behalf. He then turned to his roommates and said: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving now. You guys have a good rest for the next two days.”

“Go ahead and go. Xiao Di, you have a good break as well.” Xian Yu Chao waved.

Lin Jun Feng: “Son, remember to come back early. Don’t wait till Monday morning to come back like last time, this father will worry!”

“Xiao Di, if you’re free tomorrow, we can go visit my uncle.” Chen Zhao said: “We have to empty his wallet with an expensive meal!”

“You’re leaving school?” Zhao Chun Cheng saw Mo Di about to leave and asked with a smile: “Mo Di, where are you returning to?”

“I’m just going out to play, not returning anywhere.” Mo Di answered casually. “You should quickly use the bathroom.”

“Okay. I’ll get to it. Can someone give me some hot water? I want to wash my hair but there is no more hot water, and the heater in the water room is also broken.”

“You’re a big boy and still have to use hot water to wash your hair?” Xian Yu Chao was surprised.

“I currently have a cold.” Zhao Chun Cheng smiled. “I only need a small amount.”