Chapter 15

Shi Jihan took in the whole scene and felt certain they had it in the bag. He told Zero-Zero-Zero, [I don't understand the middle part of what they said, but the outcome's the same. Look, those two are already making eyes at each other.]

Zero-Zero-Zero took his words to heart. [...At least it didn't fall through right away like the previous missions. (°ー°〃)]

Shi Jihan protested, [What's wrong with falling through? Soaking in water is comfortable too! I like adding milk and kneading it.]

After the two of them left, he secretly gave Zhou Zeyang a thumbs-up. "Nicely done!"

Zhou Zeyang beamed brightly. "Hehe, the boss taught me well."

After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "But their relationship seems stable to me, and your brother doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd hold his partner back, like you said."

"How wouldn't he?" Shi Jihan said. "Don't be fooled by appearances."

He had read the original plot. It was a perfect blend of melodramatic, gut-wrenching,

abusive romance.

Shi Bochuan misunderstood Shen Qinghuai, believing he was vain and had ulterior motives for signing a marriage agreement with him. Because of that, he subjected Shen Qinghuai to years of cold violence and verbal humiliation.

After the fashion show ended, Shi Bochuan lost out in the struggle between the old and new factions. To secure his position as chairman, he dated heirs from other families while still married. Everyone said he was seeking a new business marriage and planned to kick his original spouse aside. Shen Qinghuai endured endless gossip and mockery, and was even slapped in public by one of Shi Bochuan's dates, suffering every kind of humiliation.

"My brother gets pretty inhuman later on. Let's hurry up and finish this part so we can go to the crematorium and scatter his ashes," Shi Jihan said, patting Zhou Zeyang's hand with the approachable warmth of a leader inspecting the countryside. "Little brother, I'm counting on you."

Zhou Zeyang did not understand, but that was fine. He could feel the weighty responsibility on his shoulders, and he nodded firmly. "All right. I definitely won't let everyone down."

After leaving the restaurant, he carried that heavy responsibility straight to his brother's company to freeload a meal.

Zhou Jingcheng was quite good at enjoying life. The chefs in the company cafeteria had all been hired at high salaries and were proficient in the eight major Chinese cuisines as well as Western cooking. From the delicate heat control and knife work of Huaiyang cuisine to the art of French sauces, there was nothing they could not handle.

But when he went to mooch a meal today, his brother's expression was extremely strange.

Zhou Jingcheng stared at him for a long time before speaking with indescribable difficulty. "You said a few days ago that you found a part-time job recently?"

Zhou Zeyang could not bear to take his eyes off the food. With his mouth full of rice, he nodded. "Mm-hm. The boss is even your friend—the guy you worked with last time. I recognized him the moment I saw him."

"Shi Jihan?" Zhou Jingcheng raised an eyebrow high, finding this development increasingly surreal. "Little brother, is this job respectable?"

"How is it not respectable? It's high-end emotional counseling!" Zhou Zeyang finally swallowed and patted his chest. "I'm helping lost travelers cut through the shackles of despair and guiding them back home."

Zhou Jingcheng: "..."

Chuunibyou really was a disease.

He scrutinized his airheaded younger brother for a long while and realized the other man did not seem to be lying. He was completely immersed in the holy radiance of a savior. Then Zhou Jingcheng thought that, with Shi Jihan's intelligence, he probably could not accomplish anything too bad.

So the Zhou Family probably would not end up on the social news.

Still, he found it deeply embarrassing.

He said, "Don't tell Shi Jihan you're my brother."

Zhou Zeyang looked aggrieved. "Am I that embarrassing?"

Like he was petting a dog, Zhou Jingcheng rubbed his head and murmured gently, "You don't even have that much self-awareness, little brother?"

Zhou Zeyang: "..."

He grumbled inwardly, No wonder you're single. With someone like you, what kind of partner could you possibly find? Go play some PvP and take the solo lane instead.

The tension eased. Looking at his gluttonous younger brother, Zhou Jingcheng began finding him annoying again. "You have time for a part-time job? You're clearly too idle. Go home and walk Pizza for me."

"No!" Zhou Zeyang shot upright in alarm, like a dying man rising from his sickbed.

What kind of domineering CEO kept a Beagle?!

-

When Shi Jihan contacted Zhou Zeyang again, he could clearly feel that the other man seemed as if his life force had been drained away.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Are you okay?]

[Yangzi Fried Rice: No. My life is full of holes...]

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Uh, then it's pretty breathable?]

[Yangzi Fried Rice: ...Boss, QAQ]

[Yangzi Fried Rice has changed his signature to "Endure hardship among hardship, serve dogs among dogs."]

Shi Jihan offered a little of the concern expected from a boss, though not much, and immediately asked whether he had time tonight.

[Yangzi Fried Rice: That urgent? Sure, I'm free.]

Of course it was urgent. Shi Jihan had just received a mission assignment titled "Old Flames Rekindled."

[Ding, mission issued. Successfully ignite Shi Bochuan's passion for White Moonlight. Mission reward: Malice Points +27]

[Completion countdown: 05:00]

He pointed at the timer and asked Zero-Zero-Zero why it had something like that.

Zero-Zero-Zero twisted shyly. [Didn't I have a system error last time? I went back to the Unified Realm for repairs, and the Main System even upgraded me.]

"This is an upgrade?" Shi Jihan nearly abandoned all sense of decorum. "Zero-Zero-Zero, can you kowtow to me?"

Zero-Zero-Zero said, [Hehe.]

Those two sounds nearly sent Shi Jihan straight to the grave.

Thirty seconds passed while they traded barbs, scaring him into hurriedly contacting Shi Bochuan to ask what he was doing.

Touched by his third brother's long-missing concern, Shi Bochuan replied, [I'm working overtime with A-Huai. We'll probably finish around ten tonight.]

"Born workhorses," Shi Jihan said, forwarding the message to Zhou Zeyang and telling him to get to the parking garage immediately.

[This mission is kind of subjective. How do you determine whether it's complete?]

[I can monitor Shi Bochuan's hormone levels. Love is essentially driven by biochemical reactions,] Zero-Zero-Zero said, worried. [But neither of them has any passion. How are they supposed to ignite it?]

Shi Jihan was brimming with confidence. [Relax. I've got plenty of methods and plenty of strength.]

That was a huge sum of money—enough to make his brain spin at top speed.

He sent Zhou Zeyang a message to prepare for their meeting later.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: This time, wear a loose white shirt to hide your muscles. Put some powder on your face too. Try to be as pale as my sister-in-law.]

[And soften your voice when you speak. Today, we're going for gentle and broken.]

Zhou Zeyang replied with several obedient "Mm-hms."

Then he looked at himself in the mirror.

He played basketball and got sunburned on the court every day. His skin was a healthy wheat color. To achieve Shen Qinghuai's complexion, he would have to turn the beauty filter all the way up.

Most importantly, "Where am I supposed to find foundation?" He scratched his head, his eyes vacant.

9:40 p.m.

Shen Qinghuai finished work early and looked at Shi Jihan, who had been keeping him company nearby. "I didn't pay attention to you when I got busy. Xiaohan, weren't you bored?"

"No, no," Shi Jihan said, shaking his head. He had recently downloaded a new game and was grinding day and night to pull a limited SSR. "Are we leaving now?"

Without looking up, Shi Bochuan said, "I still have some work to wrap up. You two go get the car first."

"Okay."

Shi Jihan synchronized the live update to Zhou Zeyang, who had been waiting for a long time.

The other man replied with an "OK."

By the time the work was completely finished, it was already past ten. Shi Bochuan drained the last sip of coffee from his cup, shut down his computer, and took the elevator directly to the parking garage.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes aching and dry. He must have been overworked, so he closed his eyes to ease the discomfort.

"Ding—" The elevator doors opened.

The dim lights of the underground garage shone in.

"A-Chuan—"

The instant Shi Bochuan opened his eyes, he saw a pale-faced ghost with flailing claws screaming his name as it lunged at him.

His pupils shrank sharply.

Zhou Zeyang had powdered his face and worn an oversized white shirt. With admirable professional dedication, he had even put on perfume.

He had just used too much. The scent was so strong it was like falling into a pool of floral water, making him sneeze nonstop.

"Achoo! A-Chuan, achoo! We haven't seen each other in days, you—" Did you miss me?!

Zhou Zeyang's vision suddenly spun, and a weightless sensation swept over him.

He screamed in terror. "Aaaaaah!!!"

Shi Bochuan gave him a clean over-the-shoulder throw, then screamed even louder, "Aaaaaah! A ghost!!"

"A-Huai! A-Huai!! A ghost!!"

[Ding, "Old Flames Rekindled" has been completed. Mission reward: Malice Points +27]

Zero-Zero-Zero looked at the soaring adrenaline data. [It... ignited?]

Chapter 15

Shi Jihan was wearing headphones and coordinating with Zhou Zeyang in real time.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

"Aaaaaah! A ghost!!"

Their alternating screams nearly blew the top off his skull and set off a level-ten tsunami in his mind.

He hurriedly reached to remove his headphones, but before he could take them off, Shen Qinghuai—who had heard the screams as well—slammed on the gas and sped toward the source.

The force pressed Shi Jihan hard against the seatback, and his head smacked into it with a bang.

"..."

Everything felt so hazy. It was like he had gone to heaven.

He did not even hear Zero-Zero-Zero say, "Host, you're incredible. You earned twenty-seven thousand today." He could only force out, "Brother Huai... slower..."

When the two of them drove to the scene, they saw a man holding a fire extinguisher and a ghost screaming wildly.

"Fuck, nobody's going to die, right? Nobody can die, right?!"

"I'm filing for workplace injury compensation! Aaaaaah!"

Shen Qinghuai immediately got out of the car. "What happened?!"

"A-Huai, d-don't come over," Shi Bochuan said, his voice trembling. "Stay back. I'll protect you."

Shen Qinghuai: "..."

He calmly said, "Then why are you standing behind me? And why are you clutching my clothes?"

Shi Bochuan followed his gaze to the hand desperately gripping the hem of Shen Qinghuai's clothes. He stiffly raised it, patted his wife on the shoulder, and spoke even more stiffly. "It's okay. I'll protect you." Then he raised the fire extinguisher again.

Zhou Zeyang screamed, "Boss!! Boss, save me!!!"

Shi Jihan jumped out of the car. Looking at the scene that had become a complete mess, he felt they might as well drink the soup while it was hot.

His original plan had been to make Zhou Zeyang pounce over, snatch Shi Bochuan's phone, and run.