Chapter 28

"Such a good relationship..." Shi Jihan rubbed his chin and went to message the helpful netizen, 707.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Are you asleep?]

[z: Asleep.]

"Instant reply," Shi Jihan commented. "Could Dianjia Bro be like me, with nothing to do at night except stay home?"

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Let me ask you something. What do you think of my second brother? What does he usually like?]

The other side was clearly interested.

[z: Shi Zhongye?]

[z: What, did your conscience finally wake up? Are you going to burn him some paper money?]

No, he had more conscience than that.

Shi Jihan wanted to clear away the other party's negative impression of him and show his friendliness.

That would help their powerful alliance later, when they worked together.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: I've decided to throw Second Brother a grand and magnificent welcome party. [throws flowers]]

Standing beneath a streetlamp, Zhou Jingcheng ignored the joyous werwerwerwer sounds of his own Beagle and Bestie Dog's Beagle playing beside him and silently thought:

Nice. The next victim had appeared.

Chapter 28

Shi Jihan was still digging for information.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: What does Second Brother like best? Hurry up and tell me.]

Zhou Jingcheng remembered how arrogant Shi Zhongye had looked when he came asking him for money last time, all, "If you don't invest, you don't understand art," then, "Fine, you invested, so you understand a little." The thought made his teeth itch with hatred.

Since that was the case, no one could blame him for selling out his brother.

[z: He loves his own face the most.]

[Why Are You Still Awake?: No way, he's that narcissistic?]

["Why Are You Still Awake?" withdrew a message.]

[Why Are You Still Awake? (Friendly Version): Tell me more, tell me more.]

Zhou Jingcheng handed the dog leash in his hand to Bestie Dog's owner. "I'm replying to a message. Hold this for me for a moment."

Bestie Dog's owner immediately became wary. "What are you doing? Just for a moment, okay? Don't even think about running away."

He couldn't handle the weight of two Beagles by himself.

Pizza: "Werwerwerwerwerwer!"

Bestie Dog: "Werwerwerwerwerwer!"

Neither of Zhou Jingcheng's ears got any peace. "...I'm just replying right here."

Under Bestie Dog's owner's close surveillance, he quickly typed out a reply to Shi Jihan, explaining in detail exactly how much Shi Zhongye loved his own face. Finally, he added, "That's how it is. He even insured his face."

He was absurdly, invincibly narcissistic. Aside from celebrities with special needs, no normal person would do something like that.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Which company? Do you have the insurance link?]

Zhou Jingcheng slowly typed: [?]

"There isn't one?" Shi Jihan was disappointed.

Still, he now knew what to do to make the welcome party grand enough to win Second Brother's heart.

He would handle this himself. Done.

After finishing the serious matter, he started merrily pestering 707 again. He was having a great time chatting. [I just thought of a joke, hahahaha. Do you want to hear it?]

Zhou Jingcheng had been reaching for his leash, but the moment he saw the message, he pulled his hand back. [What?]

Bestie Dog's owner: ?

He became even more wary and quietly blocked Zhou Jingcheng's escape route.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Once upon a time, there was a very narcissistic handsome guy. Then he got disfigured, and from then on, he finally lived a life where he didn't get awakened by his own handsomeness.]

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Hahahahahahaha!]

So lame.

Zhou Jingcheng wanted to send another question mark. He felt like he had been a question mark generator in his past life.

[z: Don't tell that joke to your second brother.]

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Is his bar for humor too high? He won't get it?]

[z: No. He'll beat you into bouncy shrimp paste.]

Shi Jihan: Not hee-hee.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Okay.]

[Why Are You Still Awake?: I'm going online to start buying things for the welcome party. Good night in advance!]

Once it saw that he had finished chatting, Zero-Zero-Zero finally got a chance to speak. [Host, you have to keep your second brother's route on track. If it collapses any further, I won't be able to send you back to your original world.]

Shi Jihan scratched the skin beneath his eye. After a long while, he squeezed out, "...Oh."

Zero-Zero-Zero said, [Also, also, the Main System upgraded me again! You can now randomly choose daily mini-tasks to complete, like a game's daily activity. It's a reward for us, and there's no punishment if you fail.]

Shi Jihan clicked his tongue. A stick followed by a carrot—this Main System was a master of workplace PUA.

He opened the daily tasks and gave them a glance.

[Randomly Ruin Shi Bochuan: 7/1, completed]

[Randomly Ruin Shen Qinghuai: 0/1, incomplete]

[Randomly Ruin Zhou Jingcheng: 2/1, completed]

...

"Do I have to ruin this many people every day?" Shi Jihan pointed at the list. "Then I shouldn't be doing design. I should open a funeral home and offer a one-stop ruin-and-cremate service, then run a promotion where the second tombstone is half-price."

After saying that, he felt like an absolute genius. He wished he could undergo mitosis and create another version of himself to pat himself on the shoulder and praise him: As expected of you, Shi Jihan!

"Since that's the case," he said, rubbing his chin as another idea came to him, "let's have Dianjia Bro attend the welcome party too."

Gather the protagonists together and ruin them all at once.

Efficient and effortless.

Turn his vicious cannon fodder career into an industrialized assembly-line project.

Over here, Zhou Jingcheng had just said "good night" and was about to take the leash from Bestie Dog's owner when another message arrived.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: One last question before bed. Will you come to the welcome party? [expectant] [cat peeking out]]

Zhou Jingcheng looked at the adorable animated cat. He first long-pressed it to save the sticker, then replied: [I have to.]

How could he miss witnessing the next victim's entrance?

Bestie Dog's owner had just been about to hand over the leash when he saw Zhou Jingcheng pull back again. Unable to endure it any longer, he said, "Tell me the truth. Do you just not want to be a human anymore?"

Pizza: "Werwerwerwerwer!"

Little Beagle punched you twice!

-

Just as the person and system had expected, after Shi Bochuan came up with the idea of holding a belated wedding, he immediately found a fortune-teller to pick an auspicious date. Impatiently, he selected the nearest date suitable for marriage and began sending invitations far and wide.

It didn't matter whether they knew each other or not. As long as they came, that was enough.

People in the same circle who knew the inside story had never expected a contractual marriage to turn into true love. Half a year ago, the two had barely even known each other, but now they were thoroughly cooked. What? Was the bed in their bedroom a steak pan specially made to heat the two of them up?

It had originally been a joke, but every time Shi Bochuan heard it, he would look at his third brother with a strange expression.

No, it was even scarier than that.

Naturally, a wedding invitation was sent to Shi Zhongye, who was deep in the mountains.

Ten days later, Shi Zhongye came down the mountain, planning to buy all the supplies at once and hurry up and wrap filming. At the post office, he received that gilded invitation.

There were only five days left until the wedding.

Shi Zhongye thought, Love after marriage? A contract turning into true love?

He didn't believe a single word of it.

Shi Jihan had probably thought up another scheme, this time even joining forces with Shen Qinghuai, while that dimwit Shi Bochuan had foolishly taken the bait.

The assistant director observed Shi Zhongye's expression. He knew about Shi Zhongye's conflict with the Shi Family and asked, "It's a major event in your brother's life. Are you going? Actually, it'd be fine if you went. Filming here is almost wrapped up, and I can handle things."

Shi Zhongye said, "Not going. Bad luck."

Assistant director: "...Then why are you looking at flights back to City A?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I've never even bought a phone in my life. How would I look? Look at what?" Shi Zhongye snapped in embarrassment, turning the accusation back on him. "Shut up. Say one more word and I'll throw you up a tree to pick bananas."

The assistant director was used to it. "Got it. As long as you're happy."

The Shi Family received the news that very day: Shi Zhongye would land in City A the following afternoon.

Shi Jihan cheered. "Great! I'll start decorating the house right away!"

The friendly forces were here, haha!

Shi Bochuan inched sideways until he was beside Shen Qinghuai, then whispered, "Should we give Second Brother a warning?"

He had seen the welcome party's supply list. It was festive, sure, but it also looked like they were sending Second Brother off.

Shen Qinghuai smiled. "Why tell him? It wouldn't be a surprise if we did."

Shi Bochuan shuddered at the smile at the corner of his mouth and obediently shut up.

There were too many things for Shi Jihan to handle alone. Even after pulling in the housekeeper and the auntie, it still wasn't enough, so he set his sights on the extra staff.

One phone call summoned Da Zhou and Xiao Zhou over.

Shi Bochuan and Shen Qinghuai had just been about to leave for work when they ran into Zhou Jingcheng and Zhou Zeyang entering the house.

When Zhou Jingcheng saw them, he calmly nodded in greeting. "Going to work? Go on, get busy."

Then he walked straight through the Shi Family's front door.

Shi Bochuan: ?

He turned his head to watch the Zhou brothers enter, then turned back to Shen Qinghuai and said, "Isn't this my house? Why did he say that like he was strolling around his own garden?"

His skin was way too thick. Stop acting so possessive over other people's property!

Also, when was Universe going bankrupt? He couldn't stand seeing someone skip work every day while their company still developed so well.

After being scorched by the blazing sun outside, Shi Bochuan suddenly felt that the sweat rolling down his body was all lemon juice.

The moment the Zhou brothers entered, they received Shi Jihan's enthusiastic welcome.

"Quick." He pointed at the pile of balloons. "Come help me blow them up."

The Zhou brothers looked in perfect unison toward where he pointed, then raised their heads in perfect unison, slowly scanning the enormous pile of supplies from bottom to top.

"...This much? We're finishing it all today?"

Zhou Zeyang was starting to back out. He figured fieldwork was worse than staying at the company. At least President Shi had a conscience and wouldn't work him to death at his desk.

He wanted to drag his brother away immediately, but he saw Zhou Jingcheng already rummaging through the supplies as he asked, "Where's the balloon pump?"

Zhou Zeyang: ?

Brother, tell me the truth. When did you become such a premium bargain-basement laborer?