Chapter 25

You hadn't finished writing? Then how could you have the nerve to slack off?

Zhou Jingcheng had been dealt a major blow by one of his own artists. A few suggestion letters alone wouldn't be enough to let this slide.

At the meeting, as he listened to the legal team and PR department discuss their response strategy for the public backlash, his hand abruptly stopped spinning his pen.

The pen tip was sharp, as though a light stroke could draw blood.

His eyes, which always seemed to carry a hint of a smile when he looked at people, lowered slightly as he glanced at the phone screen still open to the chat list.

"No rush," he said with a smile. "Young Master Shi said he'd help me deal with it. Let's wait."

The elites: Huh? Who?

Boss, did you mean that Young Master Shi who sent you, President Shi, and Mr. Shen onto the trending searches one after another and utterly socially killed all of you?

Weren't we supposed to be fighting a high-end corporate war today?

-

Shi Jihan put down his phone and asked Zero-Zero-Zero, [What's this celebrity's recent schedule?]

Zero-Zero-Zero searched online. [He's recently filming a livestream reality show about going into the countryside and experiencing rural life.]

Universe wanted to elevate Pei Mingxuan's image, making him more popular and more specialized. The rural reality show was merely a stepping stone, so he could take on agricultural aid products or related charity work and cooperate with the government more often in the future.

Unfortunately, Pei Mingxuan couldn't grasp that at all. He felt like he had come here purely to suffer and was practically killing himself over the reality show.

Shi Jihan stroked his chin. "A rural reality show..."

Zero-Zero-Zero watched as he came up with another new idea after merely closing and opening his eyes, then picked up a pen and began drafting designs.

It hurriedly stopped him. [Host, wake up! You're the vicious cannon fodder! Helping the protagonists costs extra!]

[I'm not helping them.] Shi Jihan reread the posted mission. ['While making Shen Qinghuai's formalwear look cheap enough to be mocked across the internet, completely devalue the artist from Zhou Jingcheng's company.' That's my mission, right? Don't worry. I can definitely complete it.]

Zero-Zero-Zero wasn't very reassured. It always felt that something had been wrong since the very first day they bonded.

Otherwise, why had every mission been completed while the plot had charged wildly off course to this point?

So strange. It couldn't figure it out.

Shi Jihan flipped through the mission page, pointed at the mission objective related to Zhou Jingcheng, and asked, [I should be asking you. Zhou Jingcheng doesn't seem to care about this cash cow at all, so why does he count as a mission objective?]

Zero-Zero-Zero was stumped. [But if he loses this artist, his company's revenue will decrease.]

[But he doesn't care whether it decreases. He actually seems pretty eager to lose this artist.]

Zero-Zero-Zero was even more confused, its CPU instantly overloading. [But, but... the revenue still decreases!]

Shi Jihan looked at it with pity and patted its eggshell. [System, promise me you'll get your brain checked when you have time.]

Zero-Zero-Zero protested. [Nonsense. I'm very smart!]

Shi Jihan gave perfunctory nods of "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm" while finding the pattern maker, Yan Bo. "Come here. I've got a task for you."

Yan Bo immediately had a bad feeling. "Why do you have another new idea, Young Master Shi?"

Shi Jihan said gravely, "Because my ideas are like cockroaches. When you see a few in plain sight, it means there are already plenty hiding in the dark."

Yan Bo, who was drinking Kangfuxin Liquid: "..."

Damn. He could picture it.

Shi Jihan handed him his latest idea. "This time, our theme is 'Rural Stage, Come On Over If You've Got Love.'"

"We're doing a livestream this time. Alter the cuts of these clothes and give me some suggestions while you're at it."

After reading Shi Jihan's latest masterpiece, Yan Bo put down his medicine bottle with trembling hands and asked sincerely, "Young Master Shi, can I swear?"

Shi Jihan was stern. "No. Civilized company, civilized you, civilized me, civilized everyone."

Yan Bo said, "Oh. Then I don't have any suggestions."

Shi Jihan: .

Shi Jihan sadly laid an egg for him.

Someone didn't understand his art QAQ.

He left that heartbreaking place and turned around to contact the reality show's director. His first sentence was, "Director, does your team need investment?"

The bill would go on his brother's tab.

-

The public uproar Pei Mingxuan had stirred up was growing louder and louder. Some fans believed hatred lasted longer than love and continued to curse Zhou Jingcheng after all these years, but more of them attacked Shi Group's new product line, paying special attention to Shi Jihan's clothing designs.

[Does Shi Group even know our brother's commercial value? He's a sexy male god and king of sizzling singles, okay?]

[So what if we don't work with you? There are plenty of CEOs lining up to lick his feet.]

The netizens collectively went blegh blegh blegh, thinking they must have gotten up too violently. Was foot-fetish fiction about to invade the entertainment industry?

They didn't jump in or take sides. They simply watched the spectacle.

[Oh my god, someone's gone insane. They actually dared provoke Shi Jihan.]

[Kid, go home. You're still young. You can live for many more years.]

Someone was unconvinced. [What's wrong? Is he some untouchable big shot?]

[No idea whether he's big or not, but if you provoke him, you die very thoroughly.]

[For reference, see #SpecialThanksToZhouJingcheng and #ShiBochuanShenQinghuaiFanfic. There, I've listed the victims for you.]

[Holy shit, terrifying!]

At this critical moment, Shi Jihan, as an extravagantly generous sugar daddy investor, arrived at the rural reality show's filming site.

The moment the director saw him, he warmly came up to greet him. "Mr. Shi, you've finally arrived. We arranged everything according to your ideas. We were just waiting for you."

Shi Jihan became interested. "Really? Let me take a look."

A stage had been set up in the large square where villagers normally danced. The festive red banner behind it read: Rural Stage, Come On Over If You've Got Love.

Shi Jihan inspected the northeastern floral padded jackets Yan Bo had rushed to make overnight out of curtain fabric, then nodded in satisfaction.

Very good.

Pei Mingxuan, tonight, you'd better be sizzling enough to die.

Chapter 25

As the biggest celebrity in the entire reality show, Pei Mingxuan had his own private dressing room.

At that moment, he was enjoying the air conditioning and drinking an iced beverage.

The makeup artist said, "Teacher Pei, switch eyes."

Pei Mingxuan changed from having only his left eye open to having only his right eye open. His one open eye happily scanned the latest updates on social media.

Not bad. His name still hung among the top trending searches, and the traffic was terrifyingly huge. It would definitely intimidate Zhou Jingcheng and let him know that Pei Mingxuan wasn't someone to be easily pushed around.

He also hoped President Wang would be satisfied with his show of loyalty. The contract they had discussed couldn't come up short.

Pei Mingxuan imagined himself after terminating his contract: taking the massive severance payment from Zhou Jingcheng, sunbathing on the west coast of the United States first, then heading to Australia to see kangaroos.

Ah, life.

So close, so beautiful.

As for another trending topic, #ShiJihanHurryUpAndSayYoureNotACoward, its comments were all calling on Shi Jihan to strike back quickly. Pei Mingxuan laughed as soon as he saw it.

He had his assistant look into it. Shi Jihan was merely the younger brother of a group president. If he had been the president's son, there might have been some deterrence, since he would at least be an heir. But as it stood, he was just a brother living off his elder brother. Nothing worth worrying about.

Tonight's newly added performance was more important.

He had no idea where the director had found the budget for it, but anywhere there was a stage was his moment to gain fans.

Pei Mingxuan swept back his hair with one hand, so immersed in admiring himself that he barely knew where he was.

He called to his assistant, "Kian, where's the outfit I'm wearing for the stage performance? Bring it over so I can change."

He had specially borrowed that outfit after hearing there would be a stage. It would make him look sexy and handsome. Mm, he would add a little heavy breathing during the ending shot. It would definitely be incredibly alluring.

What? Could the uncles and aunties in the audience understand it?

What did that have to do with him?

After he called for a long time, his assistant finally entered hesitantly. "Teacher Pei, I begged for a long time, but the director wouldn't budge. He said all the outfits had already been arranged and couldn't be changed. He told you to go change in the fitting room after your makeup was done."

Pei Mingxuan was displeased. "Didn't you explain it properly to the director? Once my stage airs, does he think his show will still be afraid of lacking views?"

His assistant said, "But the director said your outfit is the most special one. It was custom-made especially for you and completely different from everyone else's."

"That's more like it." Once his makeup was done, Pei Mingxuan stood and headed toward the fitting room with a delighted expression.

-

Inside the fitting room, Shi Jihan wore sunglasses and stood on a half-meter-high stool, acting as the stage manager.

Holding a large loudspeaker, he announced, "Today's program was arranged so the uncles and aunties can have some entertainment after they finish their farm work, get a laugh, and receive some emotional value. Does everyone understand?"

The staff and other artists below raised their arms and shouted, "Understood!"

The netizens who had just entered the livestream were bewildered.

[??? Shi Jihan, don't think I won't recognize you just because you're wearing sunglasses.]

[Third brother, we finally found you! Did you see the trending searches? Hurry up and say you're not a coward!]

[Wearing sunglasses after dark? Don't mistake a roadside trash can for a puppy and start making kissing noises at it.]

[This guy is here? Is it because of that top star? Hahahahaha.]

[Now that you mention it, it really is possible! I'm suddenly looking forward to this.]

[Has someone finally come to straighten out that guy Pei Mingxuan, who acts like a huge shot despite being a nobody?]

Over a hundred comments erupted in an instant. Even Pei Mingxuan's fans, who were still controlling the comments, were dumbfounded. They couldn't understand where this guy had come from or why he had so many spontaneous supporters.

Shi Jihan was extremely satisfied with everyone's response. He pushed up his sunglasses. "Very good. Such passion. Now split into groups and get to work!"

Work mules, charge!

"Who are you?" someone called from behind him.

Shi Jihan looked down at the person on the ground and lowered his sunglasses. Oh ho, the sizzling dance king had made his entrance.

He jumped down from the stool in one motion, grabbed Pei Mingxuan's hand, and shook it vigorously. "Hello, hello. I've heard so much about you."

Pei Mingxuan's shoulder hurt from being shaken. Completely baffled, he asked, "Are you a new stagehand? Where's my custom performance outfit?"

[No, he isn't—! Brother, run!]

Those were Pei Mingxuan's fans after being enlightened.

[A new stagehand? No, he's your new nightmare.]

Those were the popcorn-eating netizens.