July 16, 2024
Qiao Sang’s heart was still racing.
The fierce Arrow Fire Owl that had carried her away turned with a flourish and left, truly embodying the saying, "Complete the task and depart, leaving behind both fame and accomplishments."
In the audience area, Hou Xiangyu stared blankly at Qiao Sang and Wei Wenya, who had both been whisked away by the Arrow Fire Owl and the Four-way Swallow, respectively.
Had the award ceremony already begun?
What about him?
He had placed third, after all!
Why didn’t anyone come to carry him up?
Not a bit of respect!
Did they expect him to walk up himself?!
Before he could mentally complain any further, his body suddenly lost balance and he found himself soaring through the air.
“Ahhhhh!”
Qiao Sang watched as Hou Xiangyu was lifted onto the stage by the Mighty Eagle Owl, his expression dazed.
So this is what it feels like to watch someone being carried onto the stage...
How embarrassing...
Qiao Sang made a decision.
If the organizers let her give an acceptance speech for winning first place, she definitely had to scold a few times in front of so many people.
The awards were given out starting from third place, and soon it would be her turn.
The first place prize was 200,000 Alliance Coins along with a beast egg.
But what was handed to Qiao Sang wasn’t a beast egg, but a voucher that allowed her to pick any beast egg from the beast center.
The organizers were generous!
Only then did Qiao Sang remember that the platform had announced that the prize for first place was a random beast egg.
She had thought that the organizers had withheld the type of egg to create suspense; she hadn’t expected that it meant she could choose one directly from the beast center.
Although this voucher could only be used to select a beast egg worth up to 500,000 coins, it was much better than being handed a random egg without any choice.
The contract slots for Beast Masters were limited, and each choice needed careful consideration.
If options were limited due to conditions, there was nothing that could be done, but if choices were available, one would definitely choose the beast they favored.
For her second contract, Qiao Sang wanted a water system, plant system, or flying system beast.
With this amount of money, her choices would increase considerably.
“Qiao Sang, do you have anything to say about your victory?” the host asked.
“First, I want to thank my mom. It’s her support that allowed me to contract with the Fire Tooth Dog. Secondly, I want to thank my Fire Tooth Dog for always being by my side; I couldn’t have won this competition without it. Lastly, I want to thank the organizers...”
After the group photo session of the awards ceremony ended, Qiao Sang stopped the nearby Sha Duo, “Mr. Sha Duo, I have a friend who is yourfan.”
...
Qiao Sang returned to the audience.
The last part of the Baixin competition was the drawing of five lucky winners, but Bai Yunmiao was not selected.
“Genius Qiao, are you going to check out your beast egg right away, or wait until the Beastmaster Codex has the second page before going?” Bai Yunmiao asked, smiling, showing no sign of disappointment.
“I should go to the beast center tomorrow,” Qiao Sang replied.
Bai Yunmiao wanted to ask more, but saw Qiao Sang pull out a piece of paper from her bag and hand it to her.
“I just got a signature from Sha Duo. Here you go.”
Bai Yunmiao stared blankly for a moment before taking the paper and looking down in disbelief.
After a moment, she exclaimed, “Ah! Genius Qiao, I love you!” and leaped towards Qiao Sang.
“Yah!”
The Fire Tooth Dog trapped in the middle barked out a protest.
Bai Yunmiao quickly let go, fearing that the Fire Tooth Dog might retaliate.
...
At a café near the Shouke Garden.
The warm-colored lights inside created a cozy and tranquil atmosphere on the walls.
A pink beast using its hands to carry a tray with three cups of coffee made its way to a table where some female customers sat by the glass window. “Here.”
It placed the coffees one by one on the table, its long brown eyes squinting in a smile.
“Who is this?” Song Yuan asked.
“This is my friend, Bai Yunmiao,” Qiao Sang introduced.
“Hello.” Bai Yunmiao put on a serious face, pretending to be mature and composed.
Qiao Sang felt a bit helpless; ever since she had given away Sha Duo's signature, Bai Yunmiao had clearly taken their friendship to a different level.
Topics they had previously never discussed were now freely spoken about.
The two of them took different buses home; just the other day, they had parted ways after leaving the beast competition arena.
But this time, when it casually came up that they were going to negotiate a collaboration, Bai Yunmiao insisted on coming along, saying that the world was dangerous, and since she was only 15, she was easily tricked.
“Your friend is really beautiful. It's true that beautiful people have beautiful friends,” Song Yuan praised.
“Not really.” Bai Yunmiao blushed immediately and turned her head down shyly.
Qiao Sang: “...”
A little praise, and she’s like this; she’s the one who could easily get tricked.
After some small talk, Song Yuan got down to business.
“This is the draft contract I’ve written. Take a look, and if there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, feel free to tell me.”
Qiao Sang took the contract and examined it closely.
Three minutes later.
“My endorsement can only be for half a year,” Qiao Sang said, looking up.
“Why? Are you not satisfied with the conditions I offered?” Song Yuan frowned.
The conditions she provided were already quite good; Qiao Sang had just won first place in the Baixin contest.
But that first place has a short shelf life, and soon it wouldn’t attract customers anymore.
The follow-up would need her to promote and package.
The endorsement fee of 600,000 for a year was given simply because she valued Qiao Sang’s potential and wanted to build a good relationship.
“It’s because the Fire Tooth Dog will evolve in half a year, and the contract specifies the Fire Tooth Dog, not the Fire Burning Dog. If the image that appears in half a year isn’t that of the Fire Tooth Dog, I would be in breach of contract,” Qiao Sang explained seriously.
For her endorsement of sunglasses, there would be a hot-selling product every quarter; after half a year, the Fire Tooth Dog likely wouldn’t be suitable for the advertisement anymore.
Song Yuan: “…”
Evolve in half a year?
Where did she get her confidence…
From winning the Baixin contest?
This contract is for the Fire Tooth Dog and not some Cotton Segment Bug...
For a moment, Song Yuan regretted approaching Qiao Sang for the endorsement collaboration.
Newbie Beast Masters often lost touch with reality after winning a few matches and achieving a bit of success, only to wake up after a while.
She hadn’t expected Qiao Sang to be one of those people.
“Fine, half a year it is. If there are no other problems, I’ll officially print the contract according to this draft,” Song Yuan nodded.
Although she harbored some biases against Qiao Sang in her heart, she still wore a smile on the surface, as usual.
However, Qiao Sang was sensitive enough to notice that Song Yuan’s tone had lost much enthusiasm.
But she didn’t think much of it.
She simply assumed it was her dissatisfaction with the half-year contract.
Once the contract was finalized, the three chatted a little more. Then, Song Yuan suddenly asked, “By the way, what’s the name of the Fire Tooth Dog?”
Qiao Sang was momentarily stunned before hesitantly replying, “Name?”
Song Yuan: “…”
Bai Yunmiao turned and smiled, “She means what you decided to name your Fire Tooth Dog, but you probably haven't named it yet, right?”
Song Yuan added, “That won’t do. When it comes time for promotion, we can’t just keep calling it Fire Tooth Dog. We need a different name to distinguish it from other Fire Tooth Dogs. How about calling it Hanggang’s First Handsome Tooth?”
(End of Chapter)