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Shi Jihan blinked, then turned to ask Zhou Jingcheng, who was still laughing, "Translate that for me. Is he acting cute at me?"

Otherwise, who could explain how a sentence with absolutely no bite was supposed to be insulting someone?

After laughing enough, Zhou Jingcheng cleared his throat. "No, Mr. Harlan is hungry. Order him a plate of fried potatoes, and he'll thank you very happily."

The blond foreigner was so angered by their back-and-forth that he burst into a string of foreign gibberish. He spoke so quickly, and his vocabulary was so extensive that it surpassed the combined total of the past forty years, practically holding a conference of fruits and vegetables in his mouth.

[Ding, Malice Points +0.64]

After listening for a while, Shi Jihan took out his phone, tapped it a few times, and pointed it at the blond man's mouth. "I don't understand. Say it again. I just downloaded real-time translation."

He was quite studious, really.

The blond man went red with rage and pointed at him. "You, don't go too far!"

Shi Jihan looked innocent. "I really don't understand. I only barely passed CET-6 after taking it twice."

The blond man's punch landed on cotton. He took three deep breaths, inhaling nothing but fury, and nearly spontaneously combusted.

[Ding, Malice Points +1.37]

Zero-Zero-Zero simply turned off the notification sound so it would not affect its host's performance.

Such a drizzle was beneath its notice.

The blond man looked toward Zhou Jingcheng. He had expected to see the other man trembling, wondering how to word an apology, but instead found him arranging mahjong tiles. He even tilted his head to solicit Shi Jihan's opinion and politely asked, "Can I play a One Bamboo with a One Dot? This counts as Spring Festival, so you'll be forced to take eight turns off."

Shi Jihan was stunned. "How could you be so greedy?"

The blond man: Was no one going to speak up for him?

He fought for a sense of existence and threatened Zhou Jingcheng, "Mr. Zhou, I thought you attended today's gathering because you had recognized your current situation. But now, is this the attitude you're giving me? Don't do something you'll regret."

The Shi Family was merely an observer in this matter, watching from the sidelines. However, Shi Bochuan more or less understood Zhou Jingcheng's current predicament. Zhou Jingcheng was clearly deliberately showing weakness in pursuit of future development, or he would not have attended this banquet with hostile intent.

After a long silence.

"I heard Mr. Harlan isn't a particularly bad loser." The crystal chandelier cast the shadows beneath Zhou Jingcheng's brow bones especially deep. Amid Shi Jihan's accusatory look of You shameless bastard, Zhou Jingcheng pushed out the One Bamboo and One Dot. "But today is really strange—"

His gaze scraped inch by inch across Harlan's furious face, assessing and examining him, more like a provocation.

"How did you become so..." He slowed his words, unhurriedly drawing out the final syllable, each word grinding through the air.

"Unable. To. Lose."

The entire room fell silent.

Someone became so engrossed in watching the show that a cigar burned his hand. He hastily swallowed the cry that had reached his lips, unwilling to be the first fool to break the silence.

Shi Bochuan closed his eyes. When things go wrong, just don't let it drag the Shi Corporation down. If someone has to die, let Zhou Jingcheng die alone.

He already regretted bringing his third brother here.

Bang—

A crisp sound rang out as the mahjong tiles collapsed, exploding into a piercing echo amid the deathly silence.

"Mahjong."

Zhou Jingcheng slumped back into the high-backed leather chair as though boneless. His long fingers tapped the tabletop as he smiled and said, "Young Master Shi, I won. Is there a reward?"

He was completely disregarding Harlan now.

The blond man's anger meter instantly exploded.

If rage could be seen, the smoke over his head could have grilled sausages.

Harlan stormed away from the table. "Fine, fine, Zhou Jingcheng. Don't regret your choice!"

Harlan and his secretary had intended to slam the door as they left, but the club was too upscale. It had automatic doors.

The two stood side by side, waiting for the doors to slowly open.

Behind them, everyone in the club was watching.

[Ding, "Ruin Zhou Jingcheng's Texas Hold'em game" completed. Reward: Malice Points +13]

Another profit!

Shi Jihan looked at his personal ATM with kindly eyes. "Your reward is one word of encouragement. You even know how to win at mahjong. Good job, good job."

Zhou Jingcheng's mouth twitched.

After speaking, Shi Jihan glanced toward the entrance in surprise. "Huh? Mr. Blond, you haven't left yet?"

Harlan answered only with the sound of his feet stomping away.

"With that kind of force, it's a waste of talent not to drive piles at a construction site," he muttered quietly, earning a look from Shi Bochuan.

"Little brother," Shi Bochuan said tiredly, "can your mouth take a break? Aren't you tired?"

[Ding, Malice Points +3]

With the lead actor gone, there was no point keeping the stage up. The people in the club left one after another.

Zhou Jingcheng stood and said, "Come on. I'll treat you to dinner."

I mooched two meals off Dianjia Bro, Shi Jihan bragged to Zero-Zero-Zero.

The moment they stepped out of the club, even the sky seemed brighter.

Shi Bochuan said, "This happened suddenly. I was actually planning to take A-Huai and my third brother out for Western food tonight."

Zhou Jingcheng went along with it smoothly. "Fine, then you can treat me to dinner."

Shi Bochuan: ?

Shi Bochuan said, "Is it just me, President Zhou, or have you completely stopped putting on a polite front with me lately?"

Zhou Jingcheng rubbed his chin. "Have I? No, I don't think so. It must be President Shi's imagination."

Shi Jihan looked at him disdainfully.

As expected of Dianjia Bro. His face was as big as a basin.

Shi Bochuan fell into sun-dried silence.

Resigned, he picked up his phone and called Shen Qinghuai. After explaining the situation, he said, "A-Huai, just go directly to the restaurant later."

Shen Qinghuai said from the other end, "All right. I happen to have a gift for you."

Shi Bochuan looked around, then lowered his voice for fear of being overheard. "You're giving me a gift? Is today some special day?"

"You even forgot that?" Shen Qinghuai said. "It's a secret. Wait until I get there."

[Ding, Mission issued: During dinner, make Shi Bochuan unable to forget his White Moonlight. Reward: Malice Points +20]

[Countdown 03:00]

Shi Jihan complained, A mission pops up every time these two share a scene. System, are you secretly their obsessive solo stan?

Zero-Zero-Zero pretended not to hear and flipped through its work memo. Host, I know why Shen Qinghuai prepared a gift. Today is your eldest brother's birthday.

His birthday? No wonder he's giving him a gift. Perfect, I'll have the little actor deliver the scarf I bought.

But such a gift was not enough to make someone "unable to forget." An outstanding vicious cannon fodder had to control every aspect of the situation and make sure the mission was passed with quality assured.

As Shi Jihan contacted Zhou Zeyang, he said, Small problem. Leave it to me!

With the mission in his hands, Zero-Zero-Zero was very reassured.

By the time they arrived at the Western restaurant, Shen Qinghuai was already waiting at the table, with someone sitting beside him.

Zhou Jingcheng looked several times in disbelief before confirming that he was not seeing things.

The boy chatting merrily with Shen Qinghuai, stupidly scratching the back of his head and grinning widely, was his younger brother.

He had the urge to turn around and leave.

[Ding, Malice Points +2]

Shi Jihan asked, Where did he come from?

Zero-Zero-Zero shook its head. No idea.

Seeing the three of them approach, Shen Qinghuai stood to greet them. "You're here? Sit over here."

Then he explained, "I happened to run into Zeyang, so I invited him to join us. More people means more fun tonight."

Shi Bochuan gave a hum and squeezed into the seat between Shen Qinghuai and Zhou Zeyang, shoving Zhou Zeyang aside.

Even then, Zhou Zeyang was still grinning, thinking that double doors really did take up a lot of space. If he trained a little more, he would probably start hitting doorframes when he walked. Then he turned his head—

Holy shit, wasn't that his brother?!

Zhou Jingcheng: "..."

Zhou Zeyang: "..."

The brothers stared at each other, speechless.

It was as though the world had been muted.

Zhou Jingcheng wanted to say, "You..." How had he so successfully infiltrated the Shi Family?

And he was even included in a family dinner?

"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you." Shen Qinghuai thought Zhou Jingcheng did not know him. "This is Zeyang, a very motivated young man. Zeyang, this is the owner of Universe Era, President Zhou, Zhou Jingcheng."

The Zhou brothers' expressions were spectacular.

I was introduced to my own brother. How fresh. How uncertain. Better listen some more.

Zhou Jingcheng nearly lost control of his expression. His sleep-deprived brain was an utter mess, like it had been forcibly booted up and flooded with viruses killing each other, crashing his CPU on the spot.

His first instinct was even to look at Shi Jihan, suspecting that this guy had set him up again.

Shi Jihan had been eating the last caramel pudding on his plate. When he noticed Zhou Jingcheng's gaze, he abruptly sped up.

Zhou Jingcheng fell silent.

What? Did he think Zhou Jingcheng was going to snatch it from his mouth?

In that brief moment, the chance to explain had already passed. While the servers brought out the dishes, Shen Qinghuai took out the gift he had prepared long ago. Completely unconcerned with anyone else, he pushed the evening's pace straight into its next stage.

He said, "A-Chuan, I made you a gift. Open it and see if you like it."

When Shi Bochuan opened it, he found a platinum brooch resting quietly on red velvet. The sapphire had been intricately cut, so every movement of light across it resembled waves rising layer upon layer in the deep sea.

Perhaps this was not the most expensive accessory Shen Qinghuai had designed as a designer, but it was the one into which he had put the most care.

Zero-Zero-Zero craned its head for a look. It's over. We lost.

Not necessarily.

Under the table, Shi Jihan kicked Zhou Zeyang and signaled with his eyes: Hurry up. Do what I told you.

Zhou Jingcheng noticed their little movements beneath the table and raised an eyebrow high.

Come on, then. Let him see just how dignified this so-called respectable job was.

Under his brother's loving gaze, Zhou Zeyang awkwardly announced that he needed to use the restroom, then slipped out after Shi Jihan.

Only Zhou Jingcheng remained as an outsider at the table.

The couple did not notice their departure at all. Their eyes held only each other.

Holding the brooch, Shi Bochuan liked it very much. "A-Huai, why are you giving me a gift?"

Shen Qinghuai smiled beneath the lights, his gaze full of affection. "A-Chuan, today is your birthday. Did you forget?"