Chapter 21

The veins at Zhou Jingcheng's temple throbbed as he grabbed Shi Jihan's hand and forced it down. "I think your head got caught in a door, you screaming chicken."

He pointed at the stage. "Who's that?"

Shi Jihan was equally frustrated. A perfectly good young actor had somehow gone crooked and become one of his company's employees.

His hand was restrained, but his mouth could still move. What he said made Zhou Jingcheng feel downright terrified. "Zhou Zeyang. Didn't you watch the promotional video he and I created together?"

Zhou Jingcheng sucked in a breath of cold noodles, and his vision went dark.

That menace was actually in my house.

Onstage, Zhou Zeyang stood beside the marketing director with his big white teeth on display, generously speaking on behalf of the introverted director and looking ahead to the company's grand future. "Our company will establish in-depth partnerships with industry-leading enterprises, integrate resources, and jointly develop the high-end market."

For the sake of his paycheck, he spared no effort in singing the company's praises. "Our company can provide the most complete industrial chain, the finest designers, and the widest variety of—Brother?!!"

The final word cracked straight into a dolphin-pitched shriek.

Seeing the man seated in the center of the front row, his soul practically fled his body.

Everyone below the stage: Huh? Say that again. The widest variety of what?

So many varieties of brothers? That didn't seem right.

Three thousand male models in the harem—an iron rod would get ground into an embroidery needle.

Zhou Jingcheng propped his elbow on the armrest and covered his face, only his weak, powerless voice slipping out. "Shi Jihan, Young Master Shi, President Shi—when did my little brother become your employee?"

Shi Jihan abruptly shot to his feet, knocking over the table in front of him.

He shouted, "Brother?!!"

Zhou Jingcheng's head buzzed.

One called him brother, the other called him little brother. Were they taking turns singing mountain songs here?

[Ding, Malice Points +7]

Shi Jihan desperately shouted at Zero-Zero-Zero, [Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! Zhou Zeyang is his little brother?? Dianjia Bro's little brother?!]

Why was this world so small? He had only casually picked up a young actor online.

Zero-Zero-Zero lit up a cyber cigarette. When it exhaled a smoke ring, it sounded unusually weathered. [Host, stop trying to cling on. We're not making it ashore.]

[Who told you to talk about that? No, I finally know why the plot went off the rails!] Shi Jihan had found the reason and was absolutely certain. [It's definitely because they're brothers. Dianjia Bro screwed me over!]

[Damn it, 6888 was still too little.]

This massive shit pot landed on Zhou Jingcheng's head with a resounding clunk.

Zhou Jingcheng could not stay at this launch event for another minute. He looked at his little brother onstage, narrowing his eyes with immense pressure.

Well, well. After just a few days apart, he had actually wormed his way into Shi Corporation.

Was Shi Bochuan planning to exchange hostages next? Send Shi Jihan to his company to torment him?

Inside, Zhou Zeyang wept tears like wide noodles. Pretending nothing had happened, he hurriedly wrapped up this segment and darted backstage.

"I'll go take a look." Zhou Jingcheng immediately stood.

"Gah—ow—!" A miserable cry came from beside him.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Jingcheng jumped in alarm and hurried to check on Shi Jihan.

Shi Jihan clutched his head and glared at him resentfully. Zhou Jingcheng looked himself over but found nothing amiss.

Other than a single strand of hair, so tiny it would need a magnifying glass to spot, caught on his glasses chain.

Zhou Jingcheng: "..."

Speechless, he pulled it out and threw it away.

Seeing his expression, Shi Jihan accused him, "You pulled out my hair? That was my precious hair! Even if it was just one tiny strand, I can't bear to see it leave!"

"Then tonight, after you wash your hair, play the Great Compassion Mantra for it and its brothers to send them on their way. You can count it as a good deed." Zhou Jingcheng finished speaking and saw Shi Jihan grow even more grief-stricken, with absolutely no intention of moving aside to clear the way.

The way he flailed around looked exactly like a little cow cat baring its claws.

If they delayed any longer, who knew where Zhou Zeyang would run off to.

Zhou Jingcheng pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth and softly said, "Sorry for the trouble." Then he grabbed the evil little cow cat by the back of the neck and took him backstage along with him.

The secretary delivering the transitions onstage watched the entire scene unfold and desperately signaled President Shi with his eyes.

What now? Young Master Shi, who was supposed to go onstage and explain the inspiration behind the clothing designs, had been dragged away!

Shi Bochuan gave him a look telling him not to panic, then quietly rose with Shen Qinghuai and headed backstage.

Though there was really no need to be so quiet. Who would pay attention to people sitting beside the fire exit?

The moment the couple reached backstage, they witnessed a large-scale interrogation.

Zhou Jingcheng grabbed an employee trying to run away. "Zhou Zeyang, you've got some nerve. I was wondering why you kept taking leave and skipping work every day. So you were moonlighting at someone else's company, huh?"

His tone rose at the end, his emotions impossible to read.

Zhou Zeyang immediately held his head and begged for mercy. "Brother! I was wrong!"

Shi Bochuan was stunned.

His first thought was that the "brother" shouted onstage had been directed at Zhou Jingcheng.

His second thought was that Zhou Jingcheng was the morally bankrupt superior who docked people's pay.

What shocked him even more was that when Zhou Jingcheng demanded to know what was going on, Zhou Zeyang awkwardly glanced at his former boss and said, "It's a long story. At first, I was only hired as a relationship resource consultant to test President Shi and his husband's love."

Shi Jihan had felt something was wrong before Zhou Zeyang even spoke, and now he pounced on him and covered his mouth. "You're really going to stab your former boss in the back like this? Aaaah!"

"Test their love?" Zhou Jingcheng raised a brow and looked at the person whose face had turned red with fury at his little brother. "Tell me in detail. I'd love to hear it."

"Listen to your big fat head!" Shi Jihan snapped without thinking. Just as he was about to teach Zhou Zeyang another lesson, he caught sight of the two people standing there from the corner of his eye.

He instantly crashed.

Meanwhile, Shi Bochuan had already understood everything.

Thinking back on all he had experienced recently, he pleaded in an extremely humble voice, "Little brother, stop testing it. Your brother can't take it anymore."

He was too helpless...

Shi Bochuan thought that he was such a fragile man.

Shi Bochuan thought about how he had been photoshopped into a long-beaked birdman over the past few days, chased by ghosts in an underground garage, and publicly humiliated at his own birthday party. He felt despairing, confused, small, weak, and helpless.

"Third brother, you weren't here to test A-Huai's and my love." He weakly leaned against the wall. "You were here to test your brother's survival rate."

Even a garlic sprout would have been tormented to death by this. Shi Bochuan was more fragile than a garlic plant that bore eighteen babies in one litter.

Seeing how badly he had been ravaged, Shi Jihan scratched his cheek. "Was it really that excessive?"

The moment he said that, everyone present, including Zhou Zeyang, nodded vigorously.

Yes! You only noticed now?

Shi Jihan quietly said, [It's over. Even my nonexistent conscience is starting to ache faintly.]

Zero-Zero-Zero absolutely could not allow that to happen. It was the Malicious Cannon Fodder System. [Host, don't think like that. A scourge lives a thousand years. You'll live a long life. Having too much conscience makes it easy for someone to stab you in the heart and kill you.]

Shi Jihan said gloomily, [I won't. There's no heart in my chest. Stab it and I won't die.]

[Because my heart is lodged in my throat.]

Zero-Zero-Zero suddenly understood. [So that's why. No wonder the Main System said humans have their own medical miracles.]

Shen Qinghuai, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke.

He looked at his husband, shattered into pieces, then at Shi Jihan. He smiled, though the smile made Shi Jihan's scalp prickle. "Xiaohan, so you were the one who had been tormenting him all along."

"Ahahaha, you can't really... put it like that..." Shi Jihan waved his hands as he backed away.

Out of nowhere, he tripped over Zhou Jingcheng's foot. In his panic, he desperately grabbed Zhou Jingcheng's clothes and hid behind him, only poking out his little curly-haired head. The stray hair atop his head stood up in fright. "Wasn't it just to add a few twists and turns to our peaceful lives?"

Zhou Jingcheng looked at the footprint on his handmade leather shoe, then at the wrinkles Shi Jihan had grabbed into his custom suit. His tone was unreadable. "Twists and turns, huh? That's pretty cheap. Cheaper than my custom suit."

Shi Jihan immediately gave him a vicious threat.

Shut up. Stop making trouble.

Zhou Jingcheng clearly saw those words in his round eyes.

Standing in the doorway, half his face hidden in shadow, Shen Qinghuai smiled softly. "Is that so? Then I should thank Xiaohan."

Shi Jihan politely replied in a tiny voice, "N-no need to thank me."

The door that had just closed opened again, and a staff member rushed in anxiously. "Young Master Shi, why aren't you onstage yet? It's your turn. Secretary Wu sent me to hurry you!"

Shi Jihan instantly came back to life. "I'm coming right away!"

Shen Qinghuai stopped him before he could slip away. "No rush. I have an idea."

"Don't the new clothing lines still need magazine shoots for promotion? I think there's no need to hire models. If the designer goes on personally, he should be able to interpret the design concepts even better."

"Right, Xiaohan?"

The world went silent.

Listen to the demon's whispers.

Shi Jihan trembled as he asked Zero-Zero-Zero, [Do all crematorium-novel protagonists get this terrifyingly dark after their later blackening??]

[Congratulations, Host. You've pulled a hidden edition.]

Shi Jihan let out a loud "Quack!" [Get lost!!!]

Shi Bochuan's eyes lit up as he muttered to himself, "That's actually a great idea."

Shi Jihan nearly dropped to his knees in a slide. "Big brother! I'm sorry, big brother! I was wrong, I really was!"

"Since that's the case, I have fashion industry connections. The editor-in-chief of NEXUS magazine contacted me not long ago. I can introduce President Shi to them."

Let him see whose dog mouth couldn't spit out anything decent.

Shi Jihan glared furiously. Oh, so it was Dianjia Bro, that inhuman bastard.

What a complete lack of surprise.

More Pizza than Pizza.

Shi Bochuan immediately shook his hand. "That would be wonderful. Thank you for President Zhou's generosity."

Shi Jihan: ...

The ignored staff member cautiously reminded him, "Young Master Shi, let's go. It's time for you to explain your design inspiration."

Shi Jihan: ...

The bullet holes life had punched into him were growing more numerous by the second.

After the fashion show, Shi Group became an overnight sensation and a rising internet darling. Any topic related to it drew terrifying amounts of traffic.