Chen Xiaoyan thought back to Mu Qingxue’s behavior just now and couldn’t help but smile faintly at the corner of her mouth.
Only then did she suddenly realize the truth.
【Mu Qingxue: What are you smiling about?】
Eyes glaring.
【Chen Xiaoyan: Qingxue, are you afraid I’ll leave Xueyan Pavilion and join Sword Pavilion?】
【Mu Qingxue: You’re overthinking it. You’re not mine, so you’re free to go anywhere you want.】
She turned away, acting all tsundere.
【Chen Xiaoyan: Is that so? Qingxue doesn’t care about me at all, then fine, I’ll go to Sword Pavilion.】
【Mu Qingxue: ……….】
【Mu Qingxue: I was even thinking of giving you a raise, what a pity.】
【Chen Xiaoyan: Screw Sword Pavilion, I was born a Xueyan Pavilion member and I’ll die as a ghost of Xueyan Pavilion.】
She put on a serious face.
“Pfft.”
Seeing this message, Mu Qingxue couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Her laughter was strikingly clear in the quiet surroundings, and instantly over six hundred pairs of eyes turned sharply towards them.
She hurriedly closed her mouth but noticed staying silent wasn’t appropriate either, so she cleared her throat twice as a pretense.
“Ahem ahem, since you can’t manage the guild, I’ll take over. However, you can still serve as deputy leader.”
“Okay.”
Chen Xiaoyan nodded without hesitation.
Such a good deal, who would refuse?
“Congratulations to Sister Xiaoyan on becoming Deputy Leader.”
“Sister Xiaoyan is awesome, Canas style!”
“Looks like we should form a fixed team with Boss Xiaoyan. Grandma, I want a healer!”
“Alright, alright, now let’s talk about the morning’s battle between Rige and Wushuang Tower.”
Mu Qingxue’s words immediately made Rige perk up, looking at her expectantly.
“Xiaoyan, you were involved directly and should know better than me. Why don’t you tell us?”
Chen Xiaoyan nodded.
She indeed had a lot to say about the morning’s guild war.
“This morning, some brothers and sisters from Rige and Yue Pavilion witnessed the fight—over two hundred from Xueyan Pavilion against four to five hundred from Wushuang Tower. We lost nearly two hundred, while they had several dozen more people than us.”
“Some might think since the other side died more, doesn’t that mean we fought well? I’m here to tell you, that thinking is absolutely wrong.”
“Although we were outnumbered, if I hadn’t been there, you might have deserved praise. But do you even know how much damage my team absorbed, how much aggro they drew? Almost half the damage from Wushuang Tower was focused on my team’s Shence.”
“Of course, I’m not saying this to boast about myself, but to show how bad you all are.”
At this, Chen Xiaoyan glanced around, noting their reactions, then smiled slightly.
“We’re all intelligent and capable of thinking, so I’ll leave it to you to figure out. I won’t say more.”
“Qingxue, I propose Xueyan Pavilion should implement semi-militarized management.”
On the battlefield, if a leader can’t control guild members or give orders, what kind of guild war is that?
“Your decision is fine.”
Mu Qingxue pursed her lips with a smile.
“Also, Xiaoyan, I found out you’re not bad at managing—you’re just lazy.”
“Well…”
Chen Xiaoyan scratched her head, embarrassed and unable to refute.
She was just speaking from experience; on the battlefield that morning, nobody paid attention to anyone else—everyone fought individually.
If she hadn’t personally gathered some Shence members into a team, they might not have even formed a full group.
Mu Qingxue watched Chen Xiaoyan’s clueless, adorable expression and her eyes curved into crescent moons with a laugh.
“We’ll talk about this later, just between us.”
“Okay, I’ll listen to Boss Qingxue.”
“It’s Qingxue.”
“Yeah yeah yeah, Qingxue.”
Chen Xiaoyan’s indifferent tone almost made Mu Qingxue want to knock her on the head.
“Now, I’ll talk about the benefits for participating in the Ping’an Town guild war this morning. Honestly, I’m not satisfied with the outcome. If the deputy leader hadn’t come to help, more people would have died.”
“So the bonus this time is halved.”
“Huh?” The crowd erupted into groans.
“Please, Leader, have mercy!”
“Even if we didn’t contribute, we worked hard!”
“Right, right.”
Hearing this, Mu Qingxue smiled lightly and said, “I’ve decided that all members who participated will have their monthly salary doubled.”
Four thousand a month—meaning this month’s salary would be eight thousand.
Such a wage would be considered that of a junior white-collar worker outside.
“Long live Leader!”
“Knew the Leader wouldn’t cut our bonuses. She’s got money to spare.”
“Quiet!”
Mu Qingxue’s expression turned serious as she scanned the crowd.
“One more thing: everyone must supervise each other. If someone impersonates a participant to claim benefits, the whistleblower will get ten thousand, and the impersonator will be kicked out of Xueyan Pavilion.”
“Also, the semi-militarized management the deputy leader mentioned might be implemented in a few days. Be mentally prepared. If anyone objects, you can leave Xueyan Pavilion.”
“New members, remember to join the guild’s Penguin Group chat. That’s all. I’m done talking. Everyone, get back to what you were doing. Dismissed.”
Xueyan Pavilion already had six hundred members.
The base salary alone was 2.4 million, not counting bonuses.
Chen Xiaoyan couldn’t help but sigh; maintaining a guild was really expensive.
She had earned 400,000 recently, which was only a fraction of what Xueyan Pavilion spent on salaries, and that was just the base pay.
Sigh, after all, she was still a poor person.
“What are you thinking about?”
Seeing Chen Xiaoyan’s worried expression, Mu Qingxue walked over and asked.
“You’ve invested so much in the guild, is it worth it?”
“What was your male friend’s name again?”
“Male friend… ‘My Fate Is in My Own Hands’?”
Besides that dead otaku, there probably wasn’t anyone else.
“Right, right, that’s him. He has a saying I really agree with: value is determined by people. As long as I think it’s worth it, that’s enough.”
Chen Xiaoyan shrugged helplessly.
“Alright then, Qingxue, as long as you’re happy.”
“Let me give you an analogy—Xiaoyan, do you think you’re a priceless treasure?”
“Of course not.” Chen Xiaoyan shook her head.
“I think you are.”
“Uh…”
Chen Xiaoyan froze for a moment, looking at Mu Qingxue with a puzzled expression.
Mu Qingxue smiled and leaned close to her, her crimson lips parting slightly.
“You don’t need to look at me like that. Maybe you’re worthless in other people’s eyes, but in mine, you’re a priceless treasure. Do you understand now?”
Chen Xiaoyan looked at the face so close to hers, the elegant and cool fragrance of plum blossoms seemed to invade every pore, flooding her senses and completely overwhelming her thoughts.
“I understand.” She nodded dazedly.
“Xiaoyan, you seem to have been staring at me absentmindedly.”
Mu Qingxue laughed softly by her ear.
That sentence jolted Chen Xiaoyan awake.
She quickly walked to a window on the second floor and looked outside, changing the subject to cover her embarrassment.
“The view of the capital city is quite something.”
Little did she know her attempt to hide was completely transparent.
But Mu Qingxue didn’t call her out; she stood beside her and sighed, “Yeah, it really is beautiful.”
“Qingxue, have you noticed how quiet it is around us?”
“Seems a bit.”
They turned around, only to find the six hundred people who had been chattering just moments ago had all disappeared without a trace.
“Where did everyone go?”