Chapter 33

"Is everyone here?" Shen Qinghuai came out of the kitchen with the last dish and smiled at Shi Zhongye and Zhou Jingcheng. "Second Brother, President Zhou. Everyone, grab your chopsticks and eat."

The moment Shi Jihan heard it was time to eat, he perked up. "Yay! I'll go get the chopsticks!"

Shi Bochuan deliberately tried to bring his wife and second brother closer. "Second Brother, try A-Huai's cooking. He's a great cook."

Having just been poisoned by the green soup, Shi Zhongye tugged at the corner of his mouth. What could possibly be good about it? Besides, he hadn't come today just to eat.

What was Old Wang doing? His efficiency was terrible. Why hadn't the package arrived yet?

As he thought about it, he casually picked up a piece of Shen Qinghuai's stir-fried beef with pickled peppers.

His chopsticks froze in midair.

Holy shit, this was delicious!

The pickled peppers were numbing and spicy, while the beef was tender and smooth. One bite, and the sauce coated the tip of his tongue.

After Shi Jihan's devastation earlier, it tasted even better.

Under everyone's gaze, Shi Zhongye kept a straight face and said, "It's average."

No, he couldn't be so easily corrupted.

He couldn't waver. Tonight, he still had to expose the gold-digger's true colors!

Yet his chopsticks honestly picked up several more pieces and stuffed them into his rice.

"Ding-dong—"

The doorbell rang.

The butler went to answer it.

A few minutes later, he handed a package to Shi Zhongye. "The courier said it was for you."

The main event had arrived.

Shi Zhongye sneered. "It's not for me. It's for my eldest brother."

For this kind of dirt, naturally, the person involved had to open it himself.

That was the only way it would have a big enough impact.

Shi Bochuan asked curiously, "For me? Did you buy me a gift?"

"No, it was..." He paused before reluctantly calling out, "It was a gift from Sister-in-law."

Shen Qinghuai looked puzzled. "Me?"

Meeting Shi Zhongye's provocative gaze, his heart gave a jolt.

Zero-Zero-Zero grew excited. [It's here, it's here! The evidence we prepared has appeared!]

The holographic game, here he came!

Shi Jihan's finger hovered over the shopping cart, waiting only for the money to arrive so he could spend it happily.

Everyone at the table stared intently as Shi Bochuan opened the package.

Shi Bochuan first pulled out a card with writing on it. He read aloud, "Let you see what Shen Qinghuai has been doing behind your back. After seeing this, you'll know just how vain and money-loving a... person... he is?"

Shi Bochuan hesitated as he exchanged a look with Shen Qinghuai, then pulled out a book from underneath.

"How to Empty Your Rich Husband's Pockets."

Shi Zhongye, who had been about to mock them: ?

He said in disbelief, "What the hell is this?!"

[ Ding, Malice Points +8 ]

Shi Bochuan pulled out another book.

"How to Make Your Husband Earn Ten Million in Fifteen Seconds: The Man Behind a Successful Man."

Then another one: "The Cultivation of a Bait-Type Beauty."

Then yet another: "108 Positions for Eating Soft Rice the Hard Way [R18]."

The air fell silent for five minutes.

For Shi Zhongye, they were five minutes of questioning his life. For Shen Qinghuai, they were five minutes of feeling as though an old friend had returned.

For Shi Bochuan, they were five minutes of gradually becoming shy and bashful.

He turned his head away, too embarrassed to look at everyone's expressions, and softly said, "Bring more gifts like this next time."

So vain. So money-loving.

He loved it so much.

[ Ding, task "Build Shen Qinghuai's Gold-Digger Persona" completed. Reward: Malice Points +9 ]

Looking at this familiar style and familiar bizarre turn of events, Zhou Jingcheng felt that strange sense of unease rise again.

He glanced at Shi Jihan beside him, angled his phone so it couldn't be seen, and opened the chat history for his alt account.

Could it... really be this guy?

He tentatively initiated a transfer to AAA Detective Old Wang.

Transfers required real-name verification.

Chapter 33

As Zhou Jingcheng opened the transfer page, he felt the tension of a great secret about to be revealed.

There was also a hint of anger beneath it.

Let's see what was going on. How could a trip for two not even include his name?

They simply had no respect for Zhou.

There was no millet porridge, no Chinese yam porridge, no eight-treasure porridge, and no noble JingCheng either.

His gaze fixed tightly on the information in parentheses after AAA Detective Old Wang.

Zero.

Huh?

Zero?

Zhou Jingcheng let out a breath of relief. As long as it wasn't "Han."

Whether he was called Zero Performance, Zero-Calorie Sugar, or even Ringing Zero Roll, it had nothing to do with him.

Xiaohan still had him in his heart. How could Xiaohan have gone out with two people just to crop him out?

Seriously, he had been overthinking it. Hahaha.

He looked at Shi Jihan, who was eagerly stuffing his face beside him, and placed a huge braised pork knuckle in his bowl, his eyes full of apology.

Sorry, I misunderstood you.

He had said it before: someone as warm, cheerful, lively, and adorable as Shi Jihan could never do something so heinous, outrageously immoral, universally condemned, and unforgivable.

The butler stood frozen with a knife and fork in hand, watching helplessly as President Zhou used two chopsticks to spear the massive pork knuckle meant to be divided among five people and diverted it into Third Young Master's bowl.

Even if Third Young Master were a bottomless pit, he couldn't eat all that.

Shi Jihan stared blankly at the enormous pork knuckle that had fallen from the sky onto his rice and was wobbling precariously. Under Zhou Jingcheng's urging gaze of Hurry up and eat, aren't you eating?, he cautiously lowered his head, opened his mouth, and took a huge bite.

The pork knuckle's skin sustained minor injuries.

Watching him, Zhou Jingcheng thought, So cute.

Shi Zhongye looked at Shi Jihan's pair, one feeding and one eating pork knuckles, then at Shi Bochuan's pair with their shy, blushing faces, and abruptly broke down.

"What the hell are all of you doing?!"

Was there even one normal person in this house?!

And that damned AAA Detective Old Wang—how dare he play him?

When Shen Qinghuai saw that his roar had startled Shi Bochuan, he said with slight displeasure, "Second Brother, don't speak while eating or talk while sleeping."

Shi Zhongye finally found an opening and retorted, "But aren't you talking too?"

Shen Qinghuai remained perfectly calm. "I'm being a negative example for you."

Shi Zhongye: "..."

Shi Zhongye thought despairingly, What kind of people are these?

When Shi Bochuan got married a year ago, he had met Shen Qinghuai. Back then, Shen Qinghuai had clearly been a proud, aloof mute who never opened his mouth.

Amid his grief and indignation, he picked up three huge chopstickfuls of beef with pickled peppers and viciously stuffed them into his mouth.

This was so annoying. How could it smell so good?

After dinner, Shi Zhongye dragged Zhou Jingcheng away.

Once he had pulled him into his room, he began seeking help from his external brain. "What do you think about what happened tonight?"

"Me?" Zhou Jingcheng thought seriously for a moment. "I looked at it with my eyes."

Shi Zhongye was so angry he nearly gave him several hard punches and added a few more business pain points.

But when he remembered that his new drama still needed this man's investment, that this was his future esteemed financial backer, he forced himself to endure it.

He said, "Do you think Old Wang set us up?"

Zhou Jingcheng sneered. Only realizing it now? From the eight-person kissing photo onward, he had felt something was off. "Banana money can only hire monkeys." He paused, then asked, "But have you ever considered that spending more banana money can only hire more monkeys?"

Thinking of the 18,888 he had sunk into this, Shi Zhongye gritted his teeth. "I don't believe it... Wait, I get it! Do you think this is Old Wang mocking Shen Qinghuai? Calling him someone who eats soft rice the hard way, someone who climbed up through men and has no real ability of his own."

Zhou Jingcheng: ?

He slowly dug at his ear, wondering if he had misheard.

The more Shi Zhongye spoke, the more convinced he became. Feeling that he had touched upon the truth, he slammed his fist down. "Yes, that must be it! For a proud great designer like Shen Qinghuai, this kind of humiliation must bother him deeply, even if he didn't show it just now. Maybe he's suffering from internal conflict and secretly crying somewhere right now."

Zhou Jingcheng thought that whether Shen Qinghuai cried or not depended on Shi Bochuan's ability. Meeting his brother's foolishly clear gaze, he spread his hands in helpless resignation, as if saying, Even if you told me you were Ultraman, I'd accept it. He only said, "Shi Zhongye, we have to be good friends for the rest of our lives."

Shi Zhongye said, "? Why are you being so mushy?"

Zhou Jingcheng said, "That way, when you're old, I can sell you insurance."

He needed to find an income-generating project for his retirement.

Shi Zhongye: ?

Shi Zhongye said, "Get lost!"

Shi Jihan had assumed that Shi Zhongye had long since blocked and deleted his AAA Detective Old Wang alt account. Before blocking him, Shi Zhongye might even have demanded all the money back. Shi Jihan had waited anxiously for a long time.

Instead, he received Shi Zhongye's newest message.

[This Is a Small Account: Shen Qinghuai has no talent or ability. He got where he is today entirely because others opened back doors for him. Find evidence that he's occupying a position without doing his job and harming the company. Once I get it, I definitely won't short you on the money.]

At the same time, a new task prompt sounded.

[ Ding, task issued: Find a way to obtain evidence that satisfies Shi Zhongye. Reward: Malice Points +10 ]

Shi Jihan complained, [Why is this task name so half-assed this time?]

They were not even pretending anymore? It was just directly "satisfy Shi Zhongye"?

Zero-Zero-Zero, who had just returned from the Main System, hesitated before speaking. [Probably because the Main System has shut itself off emotionally.]

As far as it knew, the Main System showed that Shi Bochuan and Shen Qinghuai's relationship progress bar was steadily rising. Tonight, it had jumped by a huge amount, leaving only a critical point before the final ending could be triggered.

In short, even after activating the automatic correction mechanism and dropping Shi Zhongye into the story, the main plot had nearly collapsed.

Zero-Zero-Zero told Shi Jihan that the Main System had been so upset by the outcome that it had become depressed, curled up in the hall and refused to see the light. When Zero-Zero-Zero saw how dark it was and asked why it did not turn on the lights, [the Main System said, "Why turn on the lights? This is the darkest moment of my life."]

"Ahem." Shi Jihan rarely felt guilty. He rubbed his nose.

The Main System was truly blessed to have recruited him to work and do tasks.

His former boss had once begged him not to list the company on his internship report, afraid that its reputation would be ruined.

But Shi Jihan never suffered from internal conflict. He struck hard at the outside world instead. "Looks like your Higher-Dimensional Machine Intelligence isn't all that impressive either. You can't even correct a tiny deviation like this."