Chapter 20

Then he turned and shot out of frame at twice the previous speed, leaving an afterimage behind.

Zhou Jingcheng:?

He tapped on the next one.

It was a workplace mini-drama. After suffering suppression from his boss and ostracism from his coworkers, the protagonist tore open his body-bag suit, flung the scraps into the sky, and shouted, "When others throw mud at me, I say this mud came from Yellow Earth Heights." Then he immediately flashed to the Loess Plateau, charging through rapids on a sheepskin raft and performing the Ansai Waist Drum on the yellow earth.

The narrator recited passionately, "There is more than one way to live life; you have read a few more pages of the book called the world."

Zhou Jingcheng:???

"What the hell is wrong with this?" he said, tapping into the next one.

A sleep-aid ASMR streamer sat cross-legged on the floor wearing a Merit Fish-Drum Hat, while someone knocked on his head again and again. The little LED screen on the hat displayed the words "Merit +1 +1." The livestream title read: Knock once to forgive your boss, knock twice to let yourself go.

Next came a mukbang streamer, shouting, "Babies, let's try this canned herring flavor," while tearing a sheet of edible paper from her huge European-style skirt and stuffing it into her mouth. "Wow, this flavor is so special—blegh, unexpectedly blegh blegh... delicious, blegh! Babies... blegh."

The screen went black as the streamer urgently ended the broadcast.

Watching the disaster video, Zhou Jingcheng laughed. "What kind of marketing genius is this? Good thing he isn't from my company. With him and Shi Jihan around, Shi Bochuan is really unfortunate."

He casually forwarded Shi Bochuan a link titled "Work Injury Insurance Guide," seemingly showing concern for a business rival while actually mocking him to his face.

After laughing for a while, he realized something was off. "Wait, what does this have to do with me?"

Secretary Sun pointed to the second-ranked comment under the top trending topic, #ShiJihanWhoProvokedYouAgain#, which read #SpecialThanksToZhouJingcheng#.

[With such bold design and avant-garde promotion, I refuse to believe President Zhou wasn't behind this.]

[I'm shipping it. Their love is worth Wu Bai.]

[Similar conditions collided and sparked the flames of love. Look, even their trending topics are right next to each other.]

[The person above, are you two serving up a meal or what?]

Secretary Sun said, "Ever since your collaboration series with Young Master Shi became famous last time, everyone thinks these are your personal masterpieces too."

The smile vanished entirely from Zhou Jingcheng's fox-like eyes. In disbelief, he repeatedly confirmed, "My masterpieces? Why would they say that?"

Secretary Sun had already retreated to the door. "Madam just called. She said the psychiatrist needs to schedule regular follow-up appointments, so don't bottle things up until you go crazy."

With a snap, Zhou Jingcheng flicked away the cap of the gel pen in his hand.

Just then, a message from Shi Jihan came in, asking whether he would attend Shi Corporation's new product launch in a few days.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: I saved you a C-seat.]

Zhou Jingcheng did not even ask why Shi Jihan had suddenly invited him. He firmly typed two words.

[Z: I'll attend.]

Not only did he want to see this new marketing genius for himself, so HR could memorize his face and avoid him during recruitment.

He also wanted to publicly clarify at the launch that Shi Jihan's new clothing collection had absolutely, nothing, to do with him.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Nice!]

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Entry fee is 1888, VIP seating is 3888. We accept WeChat and Alipay, dear~]

Zhou Jingcheng:?

An outrageously priced ticket scalper?

Chapter 20

A hint of absurdity flashed through Zhou Jingcheng's eyes. He read that sentence several times, wondering whether it was even Chinese.

[Z: What are you talking about?]

The other side clicked his tongue at him loudly in disdain. [Tsk tsk tsk.]

[You don't understand? How should I explain what an entry fee is to you?]

A familiar feeling rose within him. Zhou Jingcheng felt as if he had been struck by a boomerang.

[Ding, Malice Points +2]

When he looked again, even the 88s at the end of 1888 and 3888 seemed to carry some special meaning.

He tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Seriously? You hold grudges that much?"

He sounded rather helpless, but not particularly angry.

Shi Jihan watched the chat box on the other end display "The other party is typing..." for a while, then received a transfer from him.

[The other party transferred 6888 yuan.]

[Note: Voluntary gift. I want the very center C-seat.]

Shi Jihan:!!!

He sprang up from the sofa like a carp flipping out of water, his fingers dancing across the screen in afterimages.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Yes, President Zhou! Rest assured, even if my brother wants to sit there, I'll kick him away.]

[Why Are You Still Awake?: This is your invincible, supreme, gold-plated holy seat [Crown]]

Zhou Jingcheng thought this guy really had two faces.

A tiny middleman making astronomical profits.

-

Shi Corporation's new product launch.

After Shi Bochuan confirmed that the procedures were correct with his secretary and the rehearsal went smoothly, he took Shen Qinghuai to their seats.

Every seat had a name label on it to prevent anyone from sitting in the wrong place. Confidently, he headed straight for the center C-seat, only to discover—

Hm? His name was not on it?

Shi Bochuan pointed to the blank seat and asked, "I'm not sitting here?"

The secretary checked the seating chart. "Young Master Shi has arranged for you to sit here. Please follow me."

He was led to a spot near the emergency exit.

Shi Bochuan:?

Wait, something was wrong here, wasn't it?

Just before the launch began, he saw Zhou Jingcheng in a smoky gray suit layered over a wine-red silk shirt, brazenly and purposefully walking toward the center seat that had originally been his.

It caused an uproar.

Shen Qinghuai asked, "What are you looking up?"

Staring at the information in the Qichacha app, Shi Bochuan said with complete seriousness, "I'm checking whether the company shares have changed."

Listening to the notifications of Malice Points rising, Shi Jihan felt terribly guilty. He lowered his head, not daring to meet his eldest brother's eyes, and pretended to be busy playing Happy Match. Then a sweet, mellow scent of rum suddenly reached his nose, faintly mixed with vanilla and warm incense.

A massive cream cake drifted through his mind. He swallowed and looked toward the source.

Zhou Jingcheng approached at an unhurried pace. Two buttons of his wine-red shirt were casually undone, and the fine chain of his gold-rimmed glasses hung against his pale collarbone. As he bent down, it swayed beneath the lights, reflecting scattered flecks of gold like fallen stardust, impossible to look away from.

Behind the cold lenses were a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes, slightly curved with amusement as he looked immensely pleased with the luxurious holy seat his 6888 had bought.

He bent down and patted Shi Jihan's shoulder. "Young Master Shi, move your esteemed legs. You're blocking the way."

Now that they were closer, the faint fragrance became clearer.

The scents of tobacco and leather curled around him, their bitterness slowly seeping out and giving the faintly intoxicating aroma of liquor more depth.

Now he smelled like a layer cake.

Shi Jihan said to Zero-Zero-Zero: [I've never seen him wear the same suit style twice.]

That was just how a peacock showing off was.

He was a few seconds late in pulling back his legs, and Zhou Jingcheng mistook it for unwillingness to cooperate.

Imitating the way Shi Jihan had done it in their chat, Zhou Jingcheng made a "tsk" sound for him to hear, then stepped past while brushing against Shi Jihan's knee.

Summer suits were made thinner and lighter. As their suit pants rubbed together, they could practically feel each other's warmth through the fabric. The casual contact stirred a subtle, tingling itch, like tiny currents brushing across their skin.

Shi Jihan's scalp practically exploded. He hurriedly pulled his legs back and let Zhou Jingcheng pass.

"Tsk, wouldn't it have been fine if you'd done that earlier?" Zhou Jingcheng sat down with satisfaction in the C-seat he had paid for, smiling as he teased the little runt beside him.

But by accident, he caught sight of the skin behind Shi Jihan's ear beneath his messy hair, flushed bright red.

Shi Jihan scratched his hair and glared at him. "What are you tsking for? Don't suck your gums out."

Zhou Jingcheng responded with an even louder, "Tsk."

He said, "Am I not your honored President Zhou anymore?"

"...You are," Shi Jihan ground his teeth and endured it for the money. "Honored President Zhou, please sit properly. It's about to begin."

But secretly, he exchanged Malice Points and had Zero-Zero-Zero control the air conditioner, blasting Zhou Jingcheng directly.

Zhou Jingcheng, suddenly feeling a chill sweep over him:?

Silently, he refastened the buttons of his shirt, all the way to the top.

[Ding, Malice Points +1]

Shi Jihan was satisfied.

Keep showing off. Freeze to death, why don't you.

The gossiping crowd in the back rows murmured among themselves.

"Is this an elementary school argument?"

"You don't get it, do you? This is mutual appreciation between two god-tier designers."

The first person suddenly understood. "So that's how it is!"

Zhou Jingcheng, who had overheard every word, looked calm and faintly smiling on the surface. In reality, he wanted to travel back a few months to when he had been drawing design drafts and slap his past self across the face, telling himself not to lose his mind.

[Ding, Malice Points +5]

Now that Zero-Zero-Zero had money, it turned the air conditioning up even stronger.

Soon, everyone quieted down, and the launch began.

The first thing projected on the screen was the series of advertisements Zhou Jingcheng had watched.

Even seeing them a second time... he still thought they were utterly insane.

He did not even have the courage to watch them through again. Turning his head, he grabbed Shi Jihan to talk, easing his own embarrassment. "I heard you made these with a new marketing hire?"

Shi Jihan was deeply immersed in admiring the pile of art he and Zhou Zeyang had created together. He casually replied, "Mm-hm, mm-hm. He'll be going onstage later too."

Zhou Jingcheng nodded and took out his phone, zooming in to 10.0 as he prepared to take pictures for the record.

Such an outstanding newcomer absolutely could not accidentally enter the market, then accidentally enter his company.

Better to leave him to torment Shi Bochuan.

As they spoke, the secretary went onstage to introduce the next segment. "Next, please welcome the Marketing Department to introduce Shi Corporation's product partner for next quarter."

The first thing Zhou Jingcheng saw was a familiar mouthful of gleaming white teeth, followed by Zhou Zeyang's punchable smiling face.

The hand holding his phone trembled, and the photo came out blurry.

[Ding, Malice Points +3]

For once, Zhou Jingcheng did not call him Young Master Shi in that lazy, teasing tone. His voice tightened. "Shi Jihan, did I get poisoned from eating mushrooms?"

"Huh? Seriously?" Shi Jihan immediately leaned closer, waved a hand in front of his eyes, then twisted his body. "Then what do I look like right now? Shaking bubble tea? Or a dancing strip of kelp?"