Military Order

"Yeah, what a coincidence!" Li Xun said awkwardly.

Dai Ying swore that she had only been bold once in her entire life.

Why did it have to be him?

Looking at the exceptionally handsome face in front of her, Dai Ying's mind went blank. All she could think about was what would happen if this got out. She had always maintained a serious, cool, and unsmiling image in front of her subordinates. From now on, one of them would know she was completely different behind closed doors—and he'd be around her all the time.

What if he told everyone what she was like when she was drunk?

She had always been so professional, and her coworkers already gossiped about her behind her back, calling her an old maid and a stone-faced nun. If her subordinates found out that their usually aloof boss had paid someone to kiss her—and paid a hundred yuan for each kiss—what would they say about her then?

Would they pity her?

What was the point of having such a high position?

She couldn't even find someone willing to kiss her. She had to pay someone to do it?

Would they feel sorry for her?

What was the point of earning so much? She still had to sleep alone in a cold bed at night, and when she wanted a man, she had to hire one?

Would everyone in the Screenwriting Department start ripping into her the moment she walked past their desks?

So the great leader who seemed so cool and aloof in public actually led such a disgraceful, depraved, and debauched private life?

Would she still have the nerve to criticize her subordinates?

And every bit of the awkwardness, embarrassment, humiliation, and mortification she felt today had been brought on by the man in front of her!

Dai Ying looked up at Li Xun. This genius she had been looking forward to meeting for weeks, this office catfish in her eyes, had barged into her life in the most unexpected way.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone about last night. Not a word—not even half a word. Understand?" Dai Ying said sternly, her face red.

Li Xun understood what his immediate superior was worried about, so he thumped his chest and promised, "Well, boss, I swear: what happened last night is known only to you, me, Heaven, and Earth. If anyone else in the company ever finds out, I'll resign and apologize on the spot. How's that?"

Dai Ying nodded, but the harder she tried not to think about last night, the more vividly the scenes crowded into her mind. To keep herself from dwelling on them, she turned to the documents in front of her, but she couldn't make sense of a single word.

Her face grew redder and redder.

"Is there anything else, boss?"

Dai Ying waved him away distractedly. "That's all. You can go."

"Then I'll head out, boss."

As soon as Li Xun left the office and closed the door, Dai Ying couldn't help getting to her feet. She paced back and forth, one thought after another leaving her flustered.

What is he thinking right now? What is he doing? Has he already started bragging to his coworkers?

"I kissed our big boss. Believe it or not?"

"Bragging? Who's bragging? I'm telling you, not only did I kiss her, she paid me to do it. Believe it or not?"

"Don't believe me? Come take a look! I still have the transfer record. Ten thousand yuan—one hundred for each kiss. I did her the favor of kissing her a hundred times."

"I'm telling you, our boss might seem cold and haughty, but you've never seen her in private. She was so seductive, so flirtatious, so alluring, so captivating, so sultry! Ever heard that a woman in her thirties is like a tiger? I saw it for myself!"

"What did she taste like? Was it strawberry?"

"What are you thinking, bro? Who ever heard of someone's mouth tasting like strawberries? I'm telling you, it was the real thing—braised pork, smooth and tender, too! One kiss and your mouth was covered in grease. It was amazing!"

"You want to try some too? Dream on! President Dai picked me because my parents gave me a handsome face. What have you got? Our President Dai's braised pork is mine and mine alone!"

"Why does the transfer record say five in the morning? Because I woke up at five! Why was I at President Dai's place at five in the morning? No, really, I only kissed her a hundred times. I definitely didn't provide any other services. We really didn't do anything else—we just slept. What? You don't believe me? Well, I can't help that!"

As Dai Ying's imagination ran wild, her face grew hotter and redder.

No!

She absolutely couldn't let the scene she'd just imagined come true.

If it really came to that, she'd... she'd... she'd castrate him first, then jump off a building!

He'd promised to keep it secret.

But she didn't trust him!

Dai Ying pressed the office extension on her desk phone and said, "Xiao Ting, call Li Xun back in."

A minute later, Li Xun returned to the office, looking puzzled.

Dai Ying hesitated, then took out her phone and said, "I'll transfer another hundred thousand yuan to you in a moment. Consider it a confidentiality fee. In exchange, you'll keep what happened last night absolutely secret. You can't tell anyone—not your parents, your friends, or even your partner. Understand? If even one other person finds out, you'll regret it!"

Li Xun smiled faintly. "That's all? You can put your money away. A gentleman loves money, but earns it honorably. I may be poor, but I don't take just any money. Don't worry, though. I'm very good at keeping secrets. My parents live far away in Xiang Province, so they definitely won't cause you any trouble. And I'm single, so you don't need to worry about my wife or girlfriend. Besides, I hardly ever drink, so I won't get drunk and blurt anything out. I also sleep soundly and don't talk in my sleep. You can rest completely easy—there's no way this will get out through me. You're the one who turns into a different person after one cup of liquor. The way you acted last night—well, it was quite a sight. I wish I'd recorded you. You'd never believe how different you were from the person you are now."

"So don't worry. There's no way a third person will ever find out about this from me!"

"If there's nothing else, boss, I'll head out."

Li Xun had smiled throughout the whole conversation, but to Dai Ying, who was already suspicious of everything, his smile seemed like mockery, teasing, ridicule, sarcasm, and a deliberate attempt to toy with her!

She was furious!

Where was the authority she was supposed to have over her subordinates?

"But seriously, if you can't handle alcohol, don't drink in the future. What you were like last night was really dangerous. Good thing you ran into me," Li Xun kindly reminded her.

"If you bring up last night again, I'll fire you on the spot. Just try me!" Dai Ying said, her face red.

"Please calm down, President Dai!" Li Xun immediately pressed his palms together and begged for mercy.

Watching Li Xun's cheeky grin only made Dai Ying feel more irritated, as if the entire office were conspiring against her.

"Come with me!" Dai Ying took a deep breath and stood up.

Li Xun followed Dai Ying. They stopped in the Screenwriting Department's work area, where Dai Ying clapped twice to get everyone's attention before speaking:

"Everyone, put your work aside for a moment. I have something to say."

Once the dozens of screenwriters had turned to look at them, Dai Ying continued:

"I'm sure you've all heard a little about the man standing beside me. But there's something you may not know: Li Xun, standing here behind me, only has a high school education, but he's actually a peerless screenwriting genius, especially when it comes to suspense."

Dai Ying paused.

The Screenwriting Department broke into whispers. A high school education? Every one of the dozens of people in the department had graduated from a prestigious university.

How had someone with only a high school education suddenly joined them?

Li Xun was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Dai Ying to praise him in front of so many coworkers.

Dai Ying continued, "Since he's especially good at suspense, I told him about the project our department has been stuck on for the past month. He immediately told me that the only reason it hadn't made any progress was that he hadn't joined the company yet. Now that he's here, everything will be easy. He guaranteed that he'd deliver an excellent script for the project everyone's been working on without progress for a month—and he'll do it within half a month!"

Most of the screenwriters' expressions changed.

A high school graduate and a peerless genius? Dozens of professional screenwriters from prestigious universities had spent a month getting nowhere with this project, and he thought he could breeze through it as soon as he arrived?

Who did he think he was?

An Oscar-winning screenwriter?

What arrogance!

Han Qiaoling and Zhou Hongsu, both new hires like Li Xun, stared at him in shock.

They hadn't noticed it during orientation. Was he really that cocky?

With just a few words, Dai Ying had made Li Xun the target of everyone's resentment.

He'd managed to anger the whole department.

Li Xun glanced at his frosty-faced boss, then at the dozens of future coworkers below. His head hurt, and his face felt stiff.

So the calculating, cold, and haughty vice president had been setting a trap for him!

Dai Ying glanced sideways at Li Xun. Seeing how thoroughly he'd been put on the spot, she felt much better. A fleeting smile tugged at her lips.

She was still his boss. If she wanted to, she could keep him in line!

This was the perfect chance to test him. Predestination really was clever and imaginative, but who knew how many years he'd spent refining it?

Now she was giving him half a month. If he pulled it off, everyone would be happy—and the veteran screenwriters in the department, the ones who gossiped about her behind her back, would see just how embarrassing they'd been.

If he failed—

She'd make him regret it!

But was half a month really enough?

It should be, right?!

She wasn't just trying to make things difficult for Li Xun.

A month ago, her archrival, iQIYI Video, had launched its own exclusive costume suspense drama, The Coroner. It had exploded in popularity. Not only had its online viewership hit record highs, it had also brought iQIYI Video countless trending topics and a flood of new subscribers, successfully kicking off a craze for costume suspense dramas.

As far as she knew, iQIYI Video would release a companion series to The Coroner next month, The Charity Cemetery, with the same production team but a different lead actor—one of the original show's highly popular supporting characters. Gua Video also had its own costume suspense drama in the works. All three major video platforms wanted to capitalize on the craze and grow their paid VIP subscriber bases.

As one of the three major video platforms, Penguin Video obviously couldn't pass up the opportunity.

That was why Penguin Video's own costume suspense project had been in the works for a full month already.

Dai Ying had insisted on pursuing two approaches. On the one hand, she reached out to talented authors of costume suspense novels, hoping to buy an established IP. On the other, she gathered the company's best screenwriters to meet and discuss the direction for an original script.

Unfortunately, neither approach was going very smoothly.

Gua Video had gotten to the IPs first. It had fallen behind in recent years and seemed to be hoping to turn things around in one fell swoop by riding the costume suspense wave, so it had offered a price no novelist could refuse.

The in-house writing approach gave Dai Ying an even bigger headache. She had clearly pointed her screenwriters toward a path that would bring something new to the table, yet every script they submitted bore some resemblance to the hit drama The Coroner.

It wasn't quite plagiarism, but no matter how well they imitated it, could they really surpass the original?

She wanted something with a character of its own!

She wanted to outdo The Coroner in popularity!

She didn't want to trail behind it, following every step it took!

This move would put the department's old hands under pressure, while also piling enormous pressure on Li Xun. Most importantly, it would knock him down a peg. She already felt she was on the verge of losing her authority over him.

And deep down, she was secretly hoping. His application script had shown that he truly had talent. If she put some pressure on him, what if he succeeded?

The odds weren't high, but... what if?

What made someone a genius?

If an ordinary person could measure up to them, how could they be called a genius?