Chapter 6

His main task was to make the target understand love. As long as he achieved that, the so-called plot points along the way were optional.

At worst, he would miss out on energy and be unable to use the system's functions. That hardly mattered, either.

[Even if there is a way, that will be later!]

Realizing that its host had no idea how serious the situation was, the system was frantic. [Emergency Contingency Missions have time limits! If you don't complete the mission within the time limit, it's considered a failure, and energy points will be deducted! Once your energy points go negative, the mission will be deemed out of control, host!]

Hearing that, Qin You sat up a little. [What's the time limit?]

[It's really short,]

the system emphasized. [Only three days!]

Qin You settled back again. [Then what are you so worried about?]

[...] The system was speechless. [Host...]

It didn't stay speechless for long.

The intercom rang.

Qin You answered it, and his secretary's voice came through. "Young Mr. Qin, Manager Qi Xianghe would like to see you."

Qi Xianghe?

Qin You quickly remembered that it was the name of his nominal cousin.

"Let him in."

"All right."

Soon, there was a knock at the door.

Qin You put down his tablet. "Come in."

The secretary opened the door and gestured to the visitor. "Manager Qi, please come in."

At the title, Qi Xianghe's expression stiffened.

Manager?

They were both grandchildren of the Qin Group's family, yet just because he was a daughter's son, he had been reduced to a department manager. Meanwhile, trash like Qin You, who had not earned a penny for the company and had spent over twenty years abroad living off the family, became general manager the moment he returned?

Why?!

Even if his future lay in the entertainment industry rather than at the company, he couldn't tolerate such blatant favoritism from the old man.

Qi Xianghe dug his fingers into his palm and looked at Qin You's left arm, which hung in front of him.

Qin You was injured.

Heaven was helping him.

He understood that his father and older brother's analysis made sense. Regardless of why he had drunk the drug meant for Qin You last night, it showed that the matter wasn't simple. Someone might be helping Qin You, and he shouldn't act rashly again.

But he had suffered such a huge humiliation. How could he swallow his anger?

Since Qin You's arm was already injured, he didn't mind crippling it completely.

At the very least, he would leave Qin You in the hospital for a while, so he wouldn't be in the way at the company.

Thinking this, Qi Xianghe forced a warm smile. "You-ge, I wanted to ask you at the meeting. What happened? Are you all right?"

Qin You raised a brow.

His image had taken a devastating blow, yet he could pull himself together so quickly. It seemed this cousin wasn't completely useless.

He casually asked the system, [Has the public reaction to the video been suppressed already?]

The system was baffled. [Public reaction? What public reaction?]

Qin You fell silent for a second, then asked, [What was the response after the video was posted?]

The system opened its panel to check the statistics. [The data shows that the video currently has six reposts, thirteen comments, and seventy-three likes.]

The panel showed the post. Sure enough, it contained only a video, with Qi Xianghe's name as the caption.

There was nothing else.

No one in the comments had taken it seriously, either.

—You can edit videos now too?

—That's some high-tech stuff. You can't even see a trace of the face swap!

—Let me give you a tip, poster. Posting it like this is such a waste of your talent. Send it straight to a fan group, and it'll definitely go viral!

[...] Qin You raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. [Spread the video.]

The system said quietly, [...Sorry, there isn't enough energy in the system space to execute that command.]

Qin You fell silent.

Apparently sensing trouble, the system offered a suggestion. [According to the rules of this small world, the system can conduct untraceable financial transactions through the host's account. After purchasing the service, a specialized online company can spread the video.]

Qin You gave it two words. [Go ahead.]

So the system went.

Qi Xianghe had already reached the desk. "I came to see you this morning, but Assistant Cui was here the whole time. I thought, it's your first day reporting to the company, so it must be boring staying in the office. Now that Assistant Cui's gone, You-ge, how about I take you out for a look around?"

The system hurriedly took a moment to warn him. [Host, when someone offers unprompted favors, they're up to no good!]

Qin You was surprised. [You're learning fast.]

The moment that kid surnamed Qi showed up, he had known he was up to no good.

Still, rather than sit here gathering dust, he might as well find something to pass the time.

When Qi Xianghe saw Qin You stand, his smile grew even more heartfelt.

After they went out, he shot the secretary a sideways glance and said to Qin You with a smile, "This way, You-ge."

Qin You listened to him ramble boastfully all the way to the elevator, where he finally got to the point.

"Oh, right, You-ge,"

Qi Xianghe looked around and saw no one. After pressing the elevator's down button, he said as though something had just occurred to him, "We could go downstairs first. There's a bar there, so we can relax a little."

Qin You said, "Sure."

Qi Xianghe smiled. "Then let's skip the elevator and take the stairs. This way."

Qin You watched his retreating figure.

Even though he was holding himself back, his impatience was still plain to see.

It seemed the stairwell was his destination.

Qin You went in and said to the system, [Check if there's anything unusual around here.]

The system quickly returned a result. [The surveillance camera on this floor has been damaged and is not operational.]

Qin You understood and couldn't help shaking his head.

Having failed to drug him, he was trying to inflict bodily harm instead? Not a shred of creativity.

"You-ge—"

Qi Xianghe had moved up beside Qin You. As he spoke to draw Qin You's attention, he maliciously stuck out a foot.

Seeing Qin You continue forward on his own, he was just about to laugh when a sharp pain shot through his ankle, making him scream.

"Hmm? Did I step on you?"

In the dim stairwell, Qin You's unhurried voice sounded by his ear, inexplicably like mockery.

Furious, Qi Xianghe struggled to straighten up, only for the weight on his ankle to suddenly lift. With nothing to brace against, he lost his balance and instinctively reached for Qin You's clothes.

But his wildly flailing hands caught nothing.

"Wha—" His foot missed the step, and his hand grasped at Qin You in vain. Qi Xianghe's mind went blank. Unable to make another sound, he tumbled headfirst down the stairs.

Qin You didn't watch any further. He turned and went out, then called Cui Ling.

Cui Ling arrived as quickly as he could. After hearing what had led up

to

it, his expression changed several times, and his gaze grew somewhat grave.

He pressed for details. "Young Mr. Qin, did Manager Qi suggest taking the stairs? You said you kept your distance from him on the way down, but still accidentally stepped on his foot?"

"At least an arm's length."

"Otherwise," Qin You said, "he could have grabbed me to keep his balance and wouldn't have fallen."

Cui Ling frowned at him and thought for a moment. "I'll be right back."

Qin You watched him pick up his phone and assumed he was going to arrange for some people.

Unexpectedly, when Cui Ling returned, he brought news that Qin You was being sent away.

"Young Mr. Qin, I've reported the matter to the chairman. He wants you to return to the hospital and rest for a few days, so you can build up your energy and prepare the proposal."

Qin You paused. "There's no need. I can stay at the company—"

"The chairman gave those instructions himself. Young Mr. Qin, please don't make things difficult for me."

Cui Ling politely stood his ground. "The driver's downstairs. Young Mr. Qin, would you like me to escort you down?"

Qin You: "..."

Was it really necessary to be so jumpy?

The system, on the other hand, was delighted. [That's great, host! He said to rest for a few days, so you can stay in the hospital and continue the task for the next few days!]

Qin You didn't share its joy. He felt a headache coming on.

He looked at Cui Ling, who was still on the phone nearby.

Was it too late to change the reason for Qi Xianghe's fall to an accident?

Author's note:

Cui Ling: Too late.

System: Too late.

Qin You: ...

Yan Tingshen: Too late.

Qin You: ?

Chapter 6

Hospital.

Hospital room.

After watching the video on his phone, Pei Sheng looked at Yan Tingshen, who was dealing with emails in his hospital bed. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Old Qin's grandson Qi Xianghe fell down the stairs at the Qin Group not long ago."

Yan Tingshen said, "Why are you telling me?"

"It seems to have something to do with Young Mr. Qin."

Yan Tingshen's hands stopped on the keyboard.

He turned to look at Pei Sheng. "Explain."

Noticing that he treated Young Mr. Qin differently, Pei Sheng pressed his lips together and explained, "When it happened, Young Mr. Qin and Qi Xianghe were both in the stairwell."

Yan Tingshen's brows twitched. "Was he injured again?"

Pei Sheng could naturally tell who he meant by "he." "No, Qi Xianghe was the one who got hurt. He broke his leg."

Yan Tingshen looked away and opened the next email. "What are you trying to say?"

Pei Sheng put away his phone too. "I heard Old Qin immediately had someone send Young Mr. Qin back to the hospital. I think there might be more to this. Mr. Yan, should we transfer hospitals to avoid trouble?"

Yan Tingshen typed two characters, then rested his fingertips on the keyboard again.

Less than two seconds later, the sound of typing resumed. "No need."

Pei Sheng looked at him. "I'm worried you'll get caught up in his troubles."

Yan Tingshen said mildly, "He's already been caught up in mine."

Pei Sheng said, "All the more reason to be cautious, isn't it?"

Yan Tingshen replied to the email and glanced at him. "You think I wasn't cautious enough last night?"

Pei Sheng opened his mouth, at a loss for words.

He understood what Yan Tingshen meant.

Their enemy was hidden while they were out in the open. No matter how careful they had been, what happened last night couldn't have been avoided.

"But..."

"A hospital controlled by the Yan Family wouldn't be any safer than this one."

"If you think there's more to this," Yan Tingshen said, "look into it."