Chapter 22

But tonight was especially terrifying.

What spread widely was a video recorded by the media at a press conference.

Shi Jihan stood onstage before the microphone, a vague smile at the corners of his mouth, looking half-dead. "Next, please support Shi Corporation's upcoming promotions. We'll be collaborating with various fashion magazines to unlock more outfits and the inspiration behind them... You're asking who'd be willing to model? Haha, you hit my funny bone."

"—Me."

The comments beneath the video were filled with "hahahaha."

[Hahahaha, little bro, so you have a day like this too!]

[Shi Jihan, blink if you're being threatened!]

[Press 1 on your keyboard and laugh with me. If you break it, I'll call the police for you.]

[Shi Jihan: I have walked on thin ice all my life.jpg]

[Shi Jihan, go ahead and do it. Leave the rest to karma.]

[Not gonna lie, my urge to buy the magazine just got scratched awake.]

Zhou Jingcheng had only contacted NEXUS magazine's editor-in-chief that afternoon, yet by evening, she had already seen the trending topic.

Editor-in-chief: ￥o￥! Money!

Seeing that monstrous wave of traffic crashing in, she thought, how could sales possibly not soar? How could it possibly not break out of the circle?

Wasn't her year-end bonus practically secured now?

She immediately contacted Shi Corporation and swiftly finalized the shooting details. She could not wait even a day—Shi Jihan had to shoot the next day. That evening, the official media account released the news and added a preorder link. It was cooperation at lightning speed.

[NEXUS: Preorder participants can also receive digital behind-the-scenes footage, an exclusive bonus~]

The moment netizens saw that the fun had arrived, they immediately rushed to preorder, and presales shot up.

"Buy it, I have to buy it! I'll be sad if anyone doesn't get to see Shi Jihan wearing his fashionable new clothes, okay?"

"Shi Jihan, don't worry. Not only will your embarrassing history be in high definition, everyone will have a copy."

After reviewing the preorder data backstage, the editor-in-chief happily went on Taobao and ordered a custom acrylic shaking stand featuring Shi Jihan's headshot, intending to place it beside the God of Wealth she worshipped.

With both approaches working together, she was bound to strike it rich!

Sorry, Young Master Shi. Your social death was my sales volume.

Shi Jihan, who had watched the entire thing unfold online: "..."

I'm going to quietly assassinate every last one of you!

He viciously punched his pillow on the bed, kicked over his blanket, and let out an unyielding cry at the ceiling:

"I am a celestial hound! I swallowed the moon, I swallowed the sun, I swallowed every planet, I swallowed the entire universe! Then I became myself—woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof! I am a celestial hound!"

000: [...]

So scary. So unhinged.

It carefully asked, [Then, Host, are you still going tomorrow?]

Shi Jihan sniffled. "I'm going."

"My brother said Zhou Jingcheng negotiated the best contract for me. It's 120,000 per shoot."

For the money!

The next day, that belief alone supported him as he dragged himself out of bed.

When he arrived at the shooting location, he spotted the culprit who had interfered yesterday at first glance.

How did this guy have the nerve to show up?

Zhou Jingcheng was turned toward the editor-in-chief, chatting and smiling about the upcoming shoot. His head seemed full of ideas, one after another spilling out.

"It'd be best to capture a sense of brokenness. How do we get that effect? Don't worry, the instant he puts the clothes on, he'll break."

"...Mm, add a little beauty ravaged by life. I think it'd be great if the tie were crooked like a noose."

Just as he was talking happily, a gust of wind suddenly swept past him.

An unidentified object moved at high speed and launched itself at him.

"Zhou Jingcheng—!"

Zhou Jingcheng instinctively sidestepped.

The unidentified object could not stop in time and plunged headfirst into a pile of clothes.

Then it turned and glared furiously at him.

Oh no, it was a kitty cannonball.

Zhou Jingcheng quickly brushed his fingertips across the bridge of his nose, gave a false cough, and reached out to help the cannonball up. "Sorry, I didn't realize it was you."

Shi Jihan slapped his hand away with great backbone. "Move. I'll get up myself."

But the position made it terribly hard to find leverage. He pushed himself up a little, then slid back down at once and landed with a solid thud.

Shi Jihan: ?

What kind of floor was this? Why was it so good at faking an injury?

He immediately fired off five questions in a row. "How could you actually let me get up by myself? Where's your conscience? Your morals? Your manners?"

"Where are your hands??"

Zhou Jingcheng offered his hand again.

The back of his hand still bore the red mark from where it had been slapped. He deliberately adjusted its position and held it right before Shi Jihan's eyes, making it impossible to be more obvious.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated the thickness of Shi Jihan's skin. Shi Jihan selectively went blind, grabbed all five fingertips at once, and yanked himself free with all his strength.

He pulled so hard that he nearly dragged Zhou Jingcheng into the pile of clothes with him.

Zhou Jingcheng was speechless. "Someone who didn't know better would think a radish had been planted in the ground."

Soon, another red mark appeared on the back of his hand, creating a sort of symmetrical beauty with the first.

He silently withdrew his hand and never mentioned radishes again.

The editor-in-chief had watched the entire scene from the side, and her smile had never faded. She thought that if they released this segment as behind-the-scenes footage, it would definitely be amazing.

As expected of a relationship worth Wu Bai—ah, no, an illness worth Wu Bai.

She said, "All right, everyone's here. Let's get to work."

Shi Jihan looked despairingly at the funeral-themed collection he had designed, then closed his eyes in even greater despair.

With one clack, he was dead.

The editor-in-chief praised him enthusiastically. "Yes! That's exactly the emotion! Xiaohan, you captured it so well. You have real spirit!"

...She could actually praise that?

The assistant dressed him in that shroud-like suit, and Shi Jihan shattered even further, breaking into pieces scattered across the floor beyond all repair.

The editor-in-chief was even more impressed. "Come, look at the photographer's camera. Perfect, absolutely perfect! President Zhou was right after all—you've nailed that sense of brokenness."

"Quick, hang up that tie President Zhou mentioned earlier."

Why were you involved in this too?

Shi Jihan gave Zhou Jingcheng a death glare from across the set. You'd better sleep with your eyes open tonight.

This time, Zhou Jingcheng also chose selective blindness. He lowered his head and looked at the red marks on the back of his hand.

"It hurts so much," he sighed lazily. "And no one's even coming to show concern. They only know how to glare at me."

Shi Jihan: ???

He said, [If someone like Dianjia Bro jumped into West Lake, the surrounding cities could renew their free drinks of 1982 Longjing green tea for ten years.]

After a while, seeing him still cradling his hand—

[Did I use too much force? Did it really hurt that much?]

Once he finished shooting that set and came down to look, it truly did not hurt that much. If Shi Jihan had been a few minutes later, there would not even have been a trace of redness.

He said, "That serious, huh? Should I call President Zhou a funeral van?"

Zhou Jingcheng's values were very upright. "No. We can't casually occupy public resources."

Shi Jihan said, "It's fine. I already got the group-buy deal. It's just a shame I missed the Qingming Festival promotion."

000 suddenly spoke up. [Host, I received another task.]

Shi Jihan: ?

Grief welled up inside him. [Why are there more tasks? A side job within a side job—how many side jobs am I supposed to do?]

Damn it, no nesting dolls allowed!

000 counted. [There are plenty. There are still several hundred plot points ahead.]

[We're currently at the stage where Shen Qinghuai has been abandoned by everyone. You need to stomp on him again and humiliate him into the dust.]

[Ding, task issued: Guide nuclear-level public opinion online and inflict humiliating pressure on Shen Qinghuai. Reward: Malice Points +18.]

A public-use cannon fodder without compensatory leave did not deserve to complain about being tired. Shi Jihan asked, [What abandonment by everyone? Did your system fail to update?]

[Wait, didn't I tell you to go back for maintenance last time? You didn't go?]

[I'm scared, QAQ. The Main System will scold me to death.]

At that moment, the assistants wheeled over the next outfit: the laser scrolling-screen PPT suit, whose text could be customized.

The editor-in-chief was saying, "Oh, right. We also need to release one look as the main promotional image. It'll most likely be displayed on your company's official website too. Which set does Xiaohan want to choose?"

Shi Jihan stared at the scrolling screen and smiled. "This one. I know how to shoot it now."

[000, don't update yet. Let's earn this first!]

Make a killing!

The official website's main image, with heavy promotion, right?

He lowered his head and took out his phone.

Zhou Jingcheng asked, "What are you looking for?"

Shi Jihan smiled. "Explicit fanfiction about my older brother and sister-in-law."

Go scroll it for me!

Chapter 22

Shi Jihan effortlessly entered the CP supertopic for his older brother and sister-in-law and began browsing for fanworks.

Whenever Shi Corporation made the trending topics, clips from the livestream of that fashion show would be replayed and publicly executed over and over. Naturally, that included the moment Shen Qinghuai threw himself into Shi Bochuan's arms.

So, thanks to the new wave of popularity Shi Jihan had brought over the past two days, the CP supertopic was bustling with fanworks.

He picked carefully. "Let's see, this one, 'Low-Temperature Color Chart,' is really popular... No, it's too serious and artsy."

"'Why Is the Cold Sword Cultivator Getting Used as the Hehuan Sect's Graduation Project Again?' It's kind of ridiculous. Put it on the shortlist."

A hand reached over and tapped the one at the very bottom. "This one. I think it's good."

"After the Cold Beauty Was Forcefully Loved by a Madman."

Shi Jihan's eyes lit up. He immediately clicked in, read for a few seconds, and praised it extravagantly. "You've got taste!"

Divine taste. Absolutely divine.

He told 000, [Half a chapter is just moaning and gasping. With a mouth that good at playing the suona, this is definitely a sure thing.]

Visible steam rose from the top of 000's head. The entire egg looked as though it had been pressed into a pot of spicy braised stew and boiled all over again. [If you say it works, then... it works.]

The NEXUS editor-in-chief glanced at the cameraman diligently recording behind-the-scenes footage, then at the two people standing before the glass window. The brilliant midday sunlight seemed to cast a soft-focus filter over them. Tiny motes of dust floated in the light, while their shadows on the wooden floor nearly melded into one, as though a hidden longing were quietly growing.

They were so good together. The editor-in-chief wiped her face. If she were deaf and could not hear what the two of them were plotting, they would be even better together.