Chapter 8

Zero-Zero-Zero lavishly praised him: [Host, last night's battle earned us a full 34 Malice Points!]

[Oh my God, Host, you're really so malicious.]

Shi Jihan was sleepy to death. He yawned. [If you don't know how to compliment people, then don't. Otherwise, be careful or I'll swallow you whole and stuff you in my teeth.]

Lurdan trembled.

So malicious.

And those gaps between his teeth were huge, too.

Xu Zhiman shot a fierce look at Shi Jihan, who was slumped over the desk and could barely keep his eyes open, then complained to Shen Qinghuai. "Brother Huai, with certain people in our group looking like this, how are we supposed to welcome President Zhou later?"

Shen Qinghuai was still in a daze. "Huh? Oh... right, President Zhou is coming later."

Their clothing designs had been finalized and prototype samples made. They had arranged for models from Zhou Jingcheng's company to try them on today, so they could discuss later revisions more easily. Zhou Jingcheng would also come by to check their specific progress.

...Why did it have to be today?

How was he supposed to face Zhou Jingcheng's face?

Xu Zhiman worriedly asked, "What's wrong, Brother? Your complexion looks strange."

Shen Qinghuai shook his head and sat at his workstation, staring blankly at the silhouettes in his sketchbook.

Xu Zhiman turned around, saw Shi Jihan nearly falling asleep, and interrogated him. "Didn't you sleep last night? What shady business were you up to?"

A heaven-shaking coughing fit erupted from Shen Qinghuai's workstation.

Shi Jihan straightened up bonelessly and retorted, "Don't talk nonsense. I was very busy last night. I helped the company solve an extremely thorny problem."

Xu Zhiman didn't believe him. "I'd sooner believe I'm Qin Shi Huang... Oh, right, where's Yan Bo? I heard you only recruited him for that concept project of yours. Can it be finished on time? Why do you look like you're not worried at all?"

Everyone knew that although the Shi Family's third young master had graduated in design, his designs could be summed up in one phrase—

—polishing a turd.

Shi Jihan himself hadn't studied design, but both of them were quite good at polishing things.

"Want to know?" Shi Jihan crooked a finger at Xu Zhiman. "Send me fifty, and I'll tell you the full plan."

Xu Zhiman put on a stern face and turned to leave. "Fine, don't tell me."

After taking a few steps, he turned back. "Hey, if you're short on manpower for that project of yours, remember to tell me. Don't get any ideas! It's not like I'm helping you. Yan Bo's all alone—don't work him to death."

"You sure talk a lot," Shi Jihan complained to Shen Qinghuai. "Brother Huai, he's slacking off! Do something about him."

Xu Zhiman swore furiously that if he ever spoke to Shi Jihan again, he'd be a dog.

As he wished, Shi Jihan harvested a small wave of Malice Points from him.

Shen Qinghuai had no mood to deal with those two acting like quarreling elementary schoolers. Seeing the company group chat still discussing last night's grand spectacle of ten plates of smashed cucumber salad, he closed his eyes.

Wonderful. He was dead.

Zero-Zero-Zero was still very concerned about the project Shi Jihan had taken over. They couldn't take on any more debt; its performance was about to become the worst in the entire Unified Realm.

[Host, in the original plot, Shi Jihan plagiarized someone else's ideas and bought promotional articles to hype himself up as a "once-in-a-century genius designer." Then a fashion blogger thoroughly exposed the truth, causing him to crash and burn and sparking a massive online controversy. Are you planning to do the same?]

Shi Jihan repeatedly shook his head. [I wouldn't dare. I'm too fragile. If netizens curse me out, I'll want to hang myself outside their front doors.]

Zero-Zero-Zero said, [But I saw that you had Yan Bo find an outsourcing company.]

Shi Jihan said, [The outsourcing company is just refining my design drafts. Those are all my ideas. I guarantee they'll make a splash on the runway.]

As for why he wasn't looking within the company? He was currently alone and powerless. No one would listen if he assigned them work.

But hiring contractors was different. As long as he spent money, he could always find someone willing to be his grandson. Shi Jihan had personally tested this theory and instantly felt years younger.

Zero-Zero-Zero asked in surprise, [You can draw design drafts, too?]

Shi Jihan answered decisively, [Of course.]

[An omnipotent Host—so amazing!] Zero-Zero-Zero seemed to see the dawn of their mission's success.

Meanwhile.

One contractor looked at the initial design draft Yan Bo had sent over and cheerfully praised the client.

[Is this an octopus that got run over by a car? These tentacles are incredibly dynamic.]

[Yan Bo: ...]

[Yan Bo: It's a combination of tuxedo tails and crayfish tails.]

[Yan Bo: [Lobster-Tail Tuxedo Three-View Drawing.ZIP]]

The contractor stared at it in disbelief several times. [Then what are these snakes that failed to hang themselves?]

[Yan Bo: Grilled squid scarves. The boss said each curled squid strip can have a badge chain threaded through it. A new kind of ita fashion.]

[...A swirling vortex flowing like ocean tides?]

[Yan Bo: Oh, you mean the lettuce leaves on the hamburger pajamas.]

The contractor fell silent for a full five minutes, unsure whether to curse the sketch first or himself for taking the job.

[Contractor, roaring version: Psycho! Did your boss get his inspiration from eating?!]

[The contractor withdrew a message.]

[Contractor: Sure, sweetheart. When does your boss need it by? [Rose]]

Chapter 8

Seeing that the matter had been settled, Yan Bo quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

It was his first time being the client, and he wasn't familiar with it. He was afraid the contractor would grab him by the collar and curse him out.

Did President Shi know his money was being used to draw this stuff?

Yan Bo was feeling guilty when he turned and ran straight into Shi Bochuan, who was walking this way.

He immediately ducked behind the greenery in the lounge area and pretended to be busily typing on his keyboard.

Mm-hm, mm-hm. He was working. No one could see him.

Shi Bochuan also wanted to find somewhere to shut himself away, but he still had to grit his teeth and receive Zhou Jingcheng—

—the victim of last night's smashed cucumber salad.

"President Zhou, the sample room is up ahead." Avoiding Zhou Jingcheng's gaze, Shi Bochuan led the models he had brought inside.

Zhou Jingcheng nodded. "Sorry for the trouble. President Shi can get back to work. There's nothing else I need here."

For some reason, Shi Bochuan's gaze today was giving him a scalp massage.

It kept making his scalp tingle.

That discomfort reached its peak when he encountered Shen Qinghuai.

"President Zhou." Shen Qinghuai gave him a hasty nod and slipped past along the wall without pausing, entering the sample room to inspect how the clothes looked on the models.

That one glance they exchanged in front of Shi Bochuan held countless emotions, too complicated to put into words.

Zhou Jingcheng raised his brows high. "..."

Don't do this. He felt immoral.

Zhou Jingcheng turned to leave this troublesome place. "I'll take a look around elsewhere. President Shi doesn't mind, does he?"

How could Shi Bochuan mind? He hurriedly nodded and had his secretary accompany him.

It wasn't Zhou Jingcheng's first time at Shi Group, and he wasn't particularly curious about anything. He merely wandered around, but when he passed the project's temporary office, he stopped.

The high-transparency glass offered a complete view of the room. There weren't many people inside; they had all gone to the sample room. The huge office was far from tidy. Design samples, color cards, and spools of thread were piled everywhere, leaving barely any space to walk. Zhou Jingcheng saw someone standing on tiptoe, struggling to pull a reference book down from a high shelf. The entire stack had begun to wobble precariously.

Shi Jihan held his breath and stretched out with all his might. "Why put it so high? I refuse to believe I can't reach it!"

"Maybe everyone else only considered average height," a hand reached out from behind him and pulled the reference book free for him. "This one?"

Shi Jihan jumped in fright and nearly fell into the other man's arms when he turned around.

Zhou Jingcheng lightly steadied him by the shoulder, then politely and restrainedly withdrew his hand. He waved the book in his hand. "Do you want it?"

Shi Jihan eyed him suspiciously several times.

Zero-Zero-Zero said, [Dianjia Bro isn't that bad. You'd never guess from this that he'd ruthlessly throw you into the desert later.]

Shi Jihan muttered, [What Dianjia Bro? His codename with me now is 88 Carpool Bro.]

Still muttering under his breath, he warily took the book from Zhou Jingcheng. "Thanks, 88 Carp—!"

[Ahhh, Host, what are you calling the terrifying male lead of a Qidian novel?!]

Shi Jihan slammed on the brakes and nearly bit his tongue.

Zhou Jingcheng studied Shi Jihan from head to toe with an expression that said, "You have that kind of hobby?" The smile at the corner of his mouth deepened. "You're welcome."

He said, "Good Boy."

[Ahhhhhhhhh!]

[Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!]

Shi Jihan and Zero-Zero-Zero let out shrill rooster-like screams together.

Shi Jihan's face turned bright red, and his defenses shattered in an instant. [Can I scratch him? Can I, can I, can I?!]

Of course not.

Zero-Zero-Zero desperately held him back. [Calm down, calm down, calm down!!!]

With a completely expressionless face, Shi Jihan very calmly squeezed out an exaggeratedly lilting line through clenched teeth. "Good afternoon, President Zhou. President Zhou is really amazing, really useful. How could I possibly have gotten this book without you?"

Seeing his expression, Zhou Jingcheng chose to shut up. He knew he couldn't continue, or Shi Jihan would really get angry and jump up to punch his knees.

But...

Watching Shi Jihan return to his workstation and seriously flip through the book for information, Zhou Jingcheng wondered whether the old Shi Jihan had been this interesting, too.

It seemed that after going abroad, someone had become kinder.

Just as he was thinking that, the phone in his suit jacket chimed with a new message. Zhou Jingcheng took it out and saw that Xia Jun, whom he had blocked, had returned with a new number.

[President Zhou, listen to my explanation! Those ten plates of smashed cucumber salad really had nothing to do with me!]

Zhou Jingcheng swiped left with practiced ease, preparing to block him, when another message popped up. [I investigated it. Shi Bochuan's family was next door that night—they switched the menu!]

Zhou Jingcheng paused, his fingertip resting on the words "Shi Bochuan's family." Slowly, he looked up at Shi Jihan, who was biting a pen with a troubled expression.

[Z: Are you sure?]

Xia Jun had finally received a reply and happily hurried to type back by hand. [Absolutely certain! It was that family's doing, damn it! Shi Bochuan looks like a righteous gentleman, but who knew he was this shameless!]

[President Zhou, don't worry. I've already gotten revenge.]

Zhou Jingcheng listened attentively, curious to see what kind of high-level corporate warfare operation this was.