Zero-Zero-Zero was thrilled: [Host, you're incredible! Not only did you earn Malice Points beautifully, you didn't miss a single main storyline mission!]
[An all-powerful host—who else could compare to you!]
Shi Jihan lost himself amid the endless praise, his chin lifting higher and higher.
As expected of me.
He generously gave Zero-Zero-Zero some spending money, tossing it a check and telling it to spend freely.
The two of them were excited all night. Zero-Zero-Zero said that since the phase mission had been completed so well, it needed to return to the Unified Realm to show off.
Shi Jihan waved a hand. [Go on, go on. Remember to come back tomorrow morning.]
-
But when Shi Jihan woke up the next day, he saw a gloomy-looking Lurdan.
"What's wrong with you?"
Zero-Zero-Zero fidgeted. [Host...]
A bad feeling rose in Shi Jihan's heart. The last time his Malice Points had suddenly dropped to -184.67, this guy had looked exactly like this.
[Host, I think I told you before that the fashion show was an important plot point in the original book. It crushed Shen Qinghuai's hopes in one blow and forced him to resign and divorce, but now...]
Not only were the two of them perfectly fine now, they had even found true feelings through hardship. Under Shi Jihan's torment, their bond had only grown stronger. Shen Qinghuai's leap into Shi Bochuan's arms last night had instantly earned them countless CP fans, all shouting, "Real husbands are the sweetest ship!" as they feasted on a state banquet.
[The plot has seriously deviated now. The Main System has issued us a major error penalty notice and told us to get the plot back on track as soon as possible. Otherwise, otherwise...] Zero-Zero-Zero's eyes darted around as it spoke, too afraid to look at Shi Jihan. In a tiny voice, it said, [Otherwise, they'll deduct your money.]
"That's not allowed—! You can take my life, but you can't take my money!"
Shi Jihan let out a piercing shriek and shook Lurdan hard. "How do we get it back on track? Tell me now!"
Zero-Zero-Zero was shaken until it felt like vomiting yolk. [Based on the characteristics of Jinjiang Literature, a crematorium novel always needs a White Moonlight to make things difficult for the protagonist shou. Same role as you—a tool character.]
Shi Jihan understood immediately and answered at once. "Fine, then where's my big brother's White Moonlight right now? Abroad? Do you want me to drag him back immediately?"
[Your big brother... doesn't have a White Moonlight. Shen Qinghuai is his first love.] Zero-Zero-Zero was even less willing to look at him.
Shi Jihan said, "? Then what are you even telling me this for?"
Zero-Zero-Zero hesitated. [The Main System means that since your professional ability is so strong, you can create a White Moonlight out of thin air.]
Shi Jihan said, "..."
What? Want me to pop out a fresh, warm one for you?
Shi Jihan brushed his teeth in front of the mirror. Looking closely, one could see that his pupils were unfocused and his soul had practically left his body.
Zero-Zero-Zero anxiously flew around beside him. [Host, you can definitely mold a White Moonlight, right? The plot can get back on track, right? You won't take back my spending money, right?]
Shi Jihan gave it an OK gesture.
Zero-Zero-Zero breathed a sigh of relief.
The next second, that hand flicked it on the forehead, sending Lurdan flying.
[Host! That hurt!]
Shi Jihan spat out the foam in his mouth. "Mold a White Moonlight? You make it sound so easy. What am I, Nuwa creating humans or Adam eating fruit?"
Zero-Zero-Zero drooped. [Then what do we do...]
"There's a way," Shi Jihan said. "I can just return you. How do I apply for after-sales service?"
[Host, you can't abandon me! I saved your life!] Zero-Zero-Zero launched itself like a missile and rammed Shi Jihan in the head.
"So what? I'm the kind of person who likes to eat and take everything. Before you leave, cash out my Malice Points for me."
One person and one egg bickered noisily for quite a while. Neither had any ideas; they only had complaints about each other.
Shi Jihan got dressed and headed out for work. The moment he plopped into the car, he was still arguing with Zero-Zero-Zero. "Just wait. I'm putting you up for sale on Xianyu."
The driver turned around in alarm. "Huh? Me?"
"...I wasn't talking to you."
Seeing the Shi Family's third young master baring his teeth at thin air, the driver found it even more frightening and silently raised the partition.
Sitting in the spacious, comfortable car seat, Shi Jihan opened a can of iced cola to cool himself down. Looking over his Malice Points, which were about to break a hundred, he felt that Zero-Zero-Zero wasn't completely useless after all.
[Fine. Death sentence with a reprieve. I'll sell you another day.]
Zero-Zero-Zero quietly threw a set of military boxing moves at the air, furious but unable to say anything.
Shi Jihan ignored it, elegantly crossing his legs. He held his cola with the flair of swirling red wine. [Not bad. I'm a man with three cars now.]
Zero-Zero-Zero was silent for a long while before it could not help asking, [Host had two cars before this?]
[A Rolls-Royce illusion, and a Jeep workhorse.]
Shi Jihan swung his crossed leg, utterly proud.
Zero-Zero-Zero looked thoroughly unlucky. It should never have asked.
It turned its head to look out the window, then suddenly made a sound of surprise. [Is that you on the mall's big screen?]
[I'm that famous? I even made it onto a big screen?] Shi Jihan's eyes curved into crescents as he looked over.
He saw his own head photoshopped onto a lump of instant noodles, smiling and crooking a finger. The caption read: Love me, and you never need feel inferior.
The display scrolled to the next image. He had been photoshopped into a mermaid, dressed in a lobster-tail tuxedo and hooked on a fishing line: Wear Shi Corporation's new designs, become a top-tier
catch
Beside the bustling commercial street, a crowd had gathered around the big screen to take photos, and loud bursts of laughter rang out.
Shi Jihan nearly sprayed cola from his nose. Furious, he said, "What the hell is this?!"
He stormed all the way to the company, burst into the CEO's office, interrupted Shi Bochuan and Shen Qinghuai's conversation, and shoved the two images in front of them. "Big Brother! Look at these ads! They're indecent and vulgar! Take them down now."
Shi Bochuan found those words oddly familiar. It seemed that not long ago, the shareholders had used the same words to scold his third brother. "No. The promotional effect is very good."
Shi Jihan could not imagine what he had just heard. "Whose idea was this? Was there OA approval? Was it filed and reported?"
The two of them looked at him in unison.
So you know things need to be reported too!
Shi Bochuan said nothing. He merely turned his laptop screen toward Shi Jihan.
On it was a chat log between two people.
[Shi Bochuan: I'd like to borrow someone from your PR department. We need follow-up promotion.]
[z: No need to make it so troublesome. I'll provide free promotion for your company. [smile]]
A while later.
[Shi Bochuan: Thank you. I saw the finished images. The results are very good.]
[z: It's nothing, just helping others. Come find me again if you need anything next time. [smile]]
Shi Jihan's gaze shifted from that passive-aggressive yellow bean smiley to the familiar profile picture.
A well-proportioned, clean hand with neatly trimmed nails was holding a chubby dog paw.
Just yesterday, he had discussed business pain points with the owner of that hand.
He knew it! He knew it! How could Dianjia Bro, with his tiny little heart, possibly take a loss without retaliating?
Damn it, that guy had still managed to get his revenge!
Shi Jihan retained a sliver of rationality. "And you and Brother Huai just agreed to this?"
Shen Qinghuai coughed.
"Let's not talk about that first," Shi Bochuan said, turning the computer back and changing the subject. "Someone online is claiming that your and A-Huai's work plagiarized multiple designers."
Shi Jihan was quickly led off track. "Huh? These days, are there people fighting to eat shit?"
Accusing Shen Qinghuai was one thing, but someone was actually trying to pin that pile of stuff he designed onto themselves?
How desperate did they have to be?
Shen Qinghuai held back a laugh. There was not even a hint of anger on his face at being slandered. He might have been angry and upset before, but now he felt it was nothing much. It still did not make him want to die as badly as Shi Jihan's killing blow last night.
People only knew happiness through comparison.
He even kindly reminded Shi Jihan, "You can't blame those designers. Xia Jun did it."
Shi Jihan was even more confused. "Him? What did he do?"
Xia Jun had done quite a lot.
Ever since he had been set up last time, he had not only lost Zhou Jingcheng, a major client, but had also become a joke in the industry. No matter how he explained it, it sounded like he was trying to save face. No one believed a business war could be that absurd. So he had resolved to get revenge.
Now that he saw the fashion show explode beyond its original circle, Xia Jun hated them so much he nearly passed out. The QR code on his tombstone would probably scan to nothing but furious telegraphs sent to the Shi Family.
So he bought publicity posts overnight and relentlessly smeared Shen Qinghuai and Shi Jihan, claiming they had plagiarized and stitched together drafts. He even fabricated plenty of ambiguous evidence that was extremely convincing to laymen.
Nothing else mattered. As long as he ruined those two men's reputations, that was enough.
After learning the whole story, Shi Jihan asked, "What did those designers say? Are they going to sue us?"
Shen Qinghuai said, "No. They jointly sued Xia Jun."
Shi Jihan: What?
Shen Qinghuai showed him his phone.
The "plagiarized" designers were losing their minds on Weibo: [What the hell is this nonsense? I don't accept it! Fuck, did you hear me? I don't accept it! Shi Jihan has his own complete source of inspiration. It has absolutely nothing to do with me!]
[Whoever released this publicity post, you're finished. You're taking subtle shots at me, aren't you? I'm suing you for damaging my reputation!]
Shen Qinghuai also showed him the trending searches.
After one night, the fashion show's popularity had originally fallen slightly, but Xia Jun's instigation had pushed it back up again.
Related trending topic: #ShiJihanDontComeNearMe
Shi Jihan said, "..."
He said, "That's what I'm saying. How could something with a plagiarism detection rate of zero have anyone accusing it of plagiarism? If they even ran it through their brains once, I'd count that as strong environmental awareness—letting trash circulate for reuse."
"Little brother," Shi Bochuan said worriedly, frowning, "I only have one third brother. Don't curse yourself to death."
Shi Jihan pinched two fingers together to make a heart at him. "It's fine. I've been half-dead while alive for many years already."
Shi Bochuan choked, then started ushering them out. "All right, there's nothing else. Go work. Stay busy these next few days and catch this wave of traffic."
Only after leaving the office did Shi Jihan remember that he seemed to have come to settle accounts with his big brother.
Why had they made such idiotic ads with his face?!
Shi Jihan punched toward the office door from a distance, pretending it was Zhou Jingcheng's face.
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