After the Bigshot Turned into a Gold-Digging Scumbag Alpha - Chapter 8

The Shengguang Group’s building wasn’t far, and they arrived in no time.

Jiang Shuiyun helped Yi Jinbai out of the car. She originally wanted to carry her on her back, but Yi Jinbai firmly refused. Besides, after two days of taking her medicine and applying treatment as instructed, her condition was no longer as severe as before, so Jiang Shuiyun let her have her way.

They climbed the steps one at a time. Jiang Shuiyun was led to the reception area first, where she helped Yi Jinbai settle down before heading off to prepare for the interview.

Lowering her head, she glanced at her clothes. Yesterday, while checking whether anything had survived the fire, she had gotten dirt all over herself. She hadn’t paid much attention then, but only now did she notice.

She raised a hand to brush off some of the dust, only to find that the more she wiped, the larger and more obvious the smudges became.

Jiang Shuiyun silently withdrew her hand.

Forget it. It is what it is.

The interview room was already set up, though it wasn’t quite nine yet, and the interviewers hadn’t arrived. The staff member who brought her over told her to wait for a moment before stepping out.

Sitting in the chair, Jiang Shuiyun looked around. This must be a room temporarily repurposed for interviews.

The room was spacious. One half was arranged for the interview: a desk and a computer in front of the interviewee, the interviewers’ seats opposite, and a large display mounted on the wall. The other half held a long table and rows of neatly arranged chairs—clearly, this was originally a meeting room.

Just as Jiang Shuiyun was assessing her surroundings, the door opened. She stood up and looked over—it seemed the interviewers had arrived.

“Let me introduce everyone,” the man in the lead said with an amiable smile. “I’m the team’s manager—surname Xi. This is Team Leader Zhang, who handles recruitment, and this is our coach, also named Zhang—Coach Zhang.”

Team manager Xi Rong introduced each interviewer enthusiastically. After the introductions and handshakes, everyone took their seats, and the interview began.

The process was simple and straightforward—they asked Jiang Shuiyun to play a match on the computer in front of her to assess her actual skill level. After all, according to their investigation, her performance in the past and her current level seemed to differ significantly.

Jiang Shuiyun didn’t make a fuss. She powered up the computer, and its display was mirrored to the large screen so the interviewers could clearly observe her gameplay.

The account was already logged in—ranked within the top two thousand in the entire server. With that kind of rating, climbing further would not be easy.

Flexing her fingers, Jiang Shuiyun clicked to queue for a match.

As she waited, she couldn’t help but yawn. She’d been awake the entire night, and the fatigue was catching up to her.

The starting chime of the match sounded. Jiang Shuiyun pinched the bridge of her nose and forced herself to focus.

The difficulty was indeed high. She didn’t underestimate the match, nor did she use the rushed, high-risk strategy she had once relied on to climb quickly. Instead, she proceeded steadily, taking careful, incremental steps.

Her situation was also being viewed clearly by Shen Yunyi on the other side. When she saw her yawn, she couldn’t help but frown.

“Why does she look like she just rolled out of bed? And what’s with her clothes?”

“President Shen,” her assistant—who had gone to pick up Jiang Shuiyun and Yi Jinbai earlier—replied quietly, “when we arrived, the neighbors told us that Ms. Jiang’s apartment caught fire last night. And since it’s a rental, the landlord showed up before dawn to make a fuss. When we got there, Ms. Jiang had just finished dealing with all the legal stuff and came straight here. Her partner hasn’t even been settled properly yet—she’s still waiting in the reception area.”

“Fire?” Shen Yunyi’s brows lifted slightly. “And everything’s been resolved?”

“All resolved. Ms. Jiang pawned some jewelry to compensate the landlord for the damages, so they’ve settled things. But it seems the landlord won’t be renting to them anymore.”

The assistant hadn’t pried for this information—the neighbors in that old alley had volunteered everything on their own. They all knew each other, and news of something as big as a fire spread fast.

Shen Yunyi listened, gave a short acknowledgement, and fell silent. But the look in her eyes grew more contemplative as she watched Jiang Shuiyun.

If her amnesia was truly real, could a single case of memory loss really change a person this drastically? None of this sounded like something the old Jiang Shuiyun would ever do.

While Shen Yunyi was still puzzling over her, Jiang Shuiyun’s match ended.

She had secured a solid win. The score wasn’t particularly high, but given how unhelpful her teammates had been, performing this steadily was already remarkable.

“There’s no doubt about Ms. Jiang’s skill,” one of them began. “But we still have a few questions. Would it be convenient for Ms. Jiang to answer them?”

Xi Rong could hardly hide his excitement. From what he had just witnessed—Jiang Shuiyun diving in as a forward to break open the enemy’s formation, carrying the entire match on her own, yet equally capable of holding the backline with steady, precise control—she had that natural, commanding presence that made people want to follow her. Talents like her were rare. Too rare. And her mechanics were that good on top of it. Seeing her in person far exceeded his expectations. He felt as if he had struck gold.

“Please, go ahead.”

Closing the laptop, Jiang Shuiyun leaned back, composed and ready for whatever came next.

“Ms. Jiang, may we ask your age?”

“Twenty-two.”

A little older than the average rookie. Xi Rong and the two beside him exchanged glances, but it was hardly a problem. Someone like her could be fielded immediately without much training.

“Do you currently have any game-related contracts with other parties?”

“No.”

Good—this was critical. Any prior contracts could easily interfere with their side’s agreements.

“Then may we ask what prompted you to consider becoming a professional esports player?”

Jiang Shuiyun paused. “I saw your recruitment ad. And I happen to need a job.”

They had heard countless lines about passion and dreams, but this was the first time someone had answered so honestly and directly. Oddly enough, it wasn’t a bad thing at all.

Xi Rong and the others continued asking a number of miscellaneous questions. Jiang Shuiyun barely slipped up. In fact, “meeting the requirements” was an understatement—her qualifications far exceeded anything they had hoped for.

By the end of the questions, the decision was essentially made.

Shen Yunyi took out her phone and called Xi Rong, asking him to come over. The delighted Xi Rong told the two interviewers to continue while he went to meet Shen Yunyi.

“President Shen, this Ms. Jiang is incredible. She’s bound to become a god-tier figure in professional esports.”

The moment he saw Shen Yunyi, Xi Rong began praising her nonstop.

“Do you remember what position you’re hiring for this time?” Shen Yunyi asked, cutting straight in.

The question made Xi Rong freeze.

“We’re recruiting for the rookie team, of course,” he said. And then he realized. “Ah—right, we’re supposed to be recruiting rookies. But with her skill level, putting Jiang into the rookie team is way too wasteful. Asking her to lead newcomers feels like burying her talent.”

Seeing that Xi Rong caught on quickly, Shen Yunyi nodded. “And why are we recruiting a new rookie team?”

“Because the old team,” Mid-sentence, Xi Rong’s eyes widened. “President Shen, don’t tell me you want Ms. Jiang to join the old team? That team has been in shambles ever since Shen Dao—the captain—retired. It’s practically falling apart. And Ms. Jiang is still a newcomer. She might not be able to integrate with them.”

“That depends on her. Just arrange it.” Shen Yunyi’s tone left no room for debate. “I heard her home caught fire and she has nowhere to stay. Send her to the team base. Let her familiarize herself with the environment early.”

While Xi Rong was still tangled up in concern, Shen Yunyi had already made the final decision.

She really wanted to see just how formidable this amnesiac Jiang Shuiyun still was.