Chapter 50

Zhou Jingcheng smiled. "Not important, not important, not important, not important, not important..."

On his main WeChat account, Zhou Zeyang sent over a video screenshot: [Bro, is that you—the person wearing a clown mask and crouching down while Xiaohan was singing The Lion King?]

Zhou Jingcheng stared at the clown mask, his smile permanently fixed. [It was me. So what?]

Yes, not only was he a clown, he was also a self-deluded clown. He had actually said something like "let's be brothers, let's be friends" to Shi Jihan.

Haha, Shi Jihan had gone to swear brotherhood with Pizza. What did that have to do with him?

As Shi Jihan looked at the remaining payment that still had not arrived, then saw his second brother asking whether there was "anyone else," he pondered for a long while before suddenly realizing, "Could Second Brother want to watch a threesome?!"

Oh my god, how could someone have such heavy tastes? Pointing and whispering loudly.

Zero-Zero-Zero interrupted his slander of Shi Zhongye's reputation: [Host, the remaining payment has arrived.]

Shi Jihan immediately tossed the threesome out of his mind: [Great, let's get out of here!]

Zhou Jingcheng had just sent the money one second ago, and the next, he was ready to demand an explanation.

[This Is a Small Account: Explain yourself. Who isn't important?]

Then a system notification popped up:

[Message sent, but rejected by the recipient.]

Zhou Jingcheng stared at the red exclamation mark before him in disbelief.

Shi Jihan had just blocked him directly? Deleted his account and run away?

The very second after he had paid the remaining balance?

How was this any different from a scumbag who pulled up his pants and left after getting laid?!

Zhou Jingcheng: Clown Plus.

Just then, Secretary Sun pushed open the door. "Boss, Pei Mingxuan is here. He says he knows he was wrong and is willing to wear that gaudy floral padded jacket and dance ten more times."

He had walked straight into Zhou Jingcheng's line of fire. "Why apologize? It's not like I intend to forgive him."

He still dared to come looking for him? Zhou Jingcheng sneered. Had that face of his been run over by a bulldozer? What nerve.

"Tell him this isn't over."

Outside, Pei Mingxuan was waiting anxiously. He had lost all his resources now. Zhou Jingcheng had been too ruthless, blacklisting him directly across every platform. He had thought there would be no problem steering public opinion, but then some people had appeared out of nowhere shouting, "He's just sick in the head, he's not a bad person," and started voluntarily clearing Zhou Jingcheng and Universe's names.

Now, every piece of dirt he had exposed had been debunked. Some people had even dug up how wholeheartedly Zhou Jingcheng had once worked to make Pei Mingxuan famous, as well as how skilled Pei Mingxuan was at stirring up trouble and abusing his fans—pretending the company had sidelined him and inciting his fans to fight for resources on his behalf.

Now Zhou Jingcheng's comment section was full of people pitying him.

[President Zhou, if you're sick, go get treatment. I know a hospital that's good at treating brain disorders. I sent it to you in DMs. [Heart]]

[With your brain this broken, there's definitely a problem. No wonder your mental state is so beautiful, President Zhou. Poor thing.]

There were also unhappy people.

[You can't let him get treatment! If he gets cured, my Wu Bai CP will really be reduced to just two-fifty!]

[Don't let Xiaohan be left alone. President Zhou, you have to stay sick for a long, long time. [Palms Together] [Sincere Prayer]]

Pei Mingxuan scrolled through Zhou Jingcheng's comments, then looked at his own, and finally broke down.

It was over. Those were the only two words in his heart. Starting from when he had dissed Shi Corporation's new outfits—no, starting from when he had met Shi Jihan on that reality show—everything had slipped out of his control.

When Secretary Sun came out, he saw Pei Mingxuan curled up in a corner and thought, So this is where all that bravado from when you came looking for trouble went. When Pei Mingxuan looked over, he spread his hands, helpless.

"President Zhou doesn't feel your apology is sincere. We'll continue pursuing legal measures to terminate your contract."

Tears streamed down Pei Mingxuan's face as he grabbed Secretary Sun and shook him hard. "How is that possible? Impossible! Did you tell President Zhou that I'm willing to wear that gaudy floral padded jacket and dance 'Drunken Butterfly' ten more times?"

If he listened to Clock Running Backward ten thousand times, could he avoid ever meeting Shi Jihan?

In the distance, a young man in a hat stood in the shadows of a corner, watching Pei Mingxuan's entanglement with Secretary Sun.

The agent who had led him there said, "Sorry you had to see that. He's an artist whose contract with our company is about to be terminated. Xiao Yuan, come this way. We're going to President Zhou's office to discuss the new project."

As he spoke, he started walking toward Pei Mingxuan.

Xiao Yuan stood there without moving. He merely raised a hand to lower the brim of his hat. His brows were gloomy, and his voice carried the rough rasp of someone who had not spoken in a long time. "Can we go around that ribbonfish that looks like it got run over by a car?"

He did not like things that flopped around too much.

The agent blinked. "Huh? What did you say?"

"Nothing." Xiao Yuan was stingy with words, but today he said a few extra. "There's no one else in President Zhou's office, right?"

"There is. His friend, Director Shi, is inside."

Upon hearing that, Xiao Yuan turned and left.

The agent called after him, "Hey? Hey! Where are you going?"

Xiao Yuan's tone was flat. "To stay alive."

He said seriously, "Believe it or not, the moment we enter that office, we'll immediately be thrown out the window to free-fall and die beyond saving."

He did not want to become another ribbonfish.

—

Meanwhile, Zero-Zero-Zero was checking their daily mission when it suddenly made a sound of surprise. [Host, come look. This is weird.]

Shi Jihan asked what was wrong, and Zero-Zero-Zero displayed the screen for him.

Written on it in stark letters was: [Randomly kill Zhou Jingcheng 8/1, completed.]

Zero-Zero-Zero could not make sense of it. [Did the system bug out? We clearly didn't even meet Dianjia Bro today. Could he be savoring the meal you made with your own hands last night? Or the amusement park day trip from a few days ago?]

Shi Jihan gave high praise upon hearing that: [Long-lasting endurance!]

It really had to be Dianjia Bro.

Thinking that, he sent Zhou Jingcheng a message to check in on his little treasury: [What are you doing? [Cat Peeking]]

[Remember to come to my brother's wedding in a few days.]

Zhou Jingcheng replied almost instantly.

[z: Coming, definitely coming. [Smile]]

[z: I have to come for you too. [Smile]]

Shi Jihan stared at the sarcastic little yellow smiley at the end and told Zero-Zero-Zero: [Dianjia Bro is getting old. He doesn't even know what a smiling face means.]

It was fine. He was generous and would not hold it against him.

Watching the continuously rising Malice Points in the backend, Zero-Zero-Zero felt that something was off.

Shi Jihan looked at Zhou Jingcheng on the other side of the chat and felt something was not quite right. He stared at the profile picture for a long while.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Huh? You changed your profile picture?]

Zhou Jingcheng's profile picture had changed from a dog resting its paws to a side-profile photo of himself.

In the profile picture, he stood before a floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the city nightscape. The backlight obscured his features, leaving only the silhouette of his side profile, like a calligraphy piece drawn in a single stroke, with smooth, striking bone structure.

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Where's Pizza?]

[z: Sent to the cold palace. [Smile]]

[Why Are You Still Awake?: Is your smile permanent or something?]

[z: [Smile]]

Shi Jihan pointed at the screen. "Why is it fully automated now too?"

Hearing that, Zero-Zero-Zero cackled away. Halfway through laughing, it could no longer laugh and began to tremble. [Host, the Main System is looking for me again.]

Shi Jihan was surprised by the Main System's persistence. [What perseverance. The main plot has been wrecked like this, and it still wants to save it. No wonder it's someone who does big things.]

[No, something's not right,] Zero-Zero-Zero said as it looked at the newly issued mission. [The Main System seems to have given up.]

[Ding. Mission issued: Cooperate with your awful relatives. Reward: Malice Points +10.]

The air of giving up was practically overflowing from the screen.

"My relatives?" Shi Jihan finally remembered this matter.

As two people of vastly unequal status who had initially entered into a contractual marriage to inherit Father Shi's will, they naturally received no kind looks from the Shi Family relatives. They all believed Shen Qinghuai was exceptionally calculating, that he had seduced Shi Bochuan just to climb the social ladder and scheme for the Shi Family's assets.

In the original novel, the two had hosted a family banquet before their wedding and invited the Shi Family members. Their original intention was to have them acknowledge Shen Qinghuai's status, but Shen Qinghuai instead endured endless ridicule and sarcasm, creating another round of heart-wrenching drama.

But wasn't this precisely why the Main System was on the verge of collapse? Shi Bochuan had skipped this entire scene too and directly sent wedding invitations to all the aunts and uncles.

Shi Jihan asked, "But the awful relatives' attempt to make things difficult should be the same, right?"

Zero-Zero-Zero replied: [The same. They want Shen Qinghuai to sign a prenuptial agreement so that even in a normal divorce, he won't receive a single cent.]

Then that settled it.

Shi Jihan pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing furiously.

Zero-Zero-Zero said: [Oh, right. The wedding venue needs decorating. Your eldest brother hired a professional curator to plan it, and the quote was incredibly high.]

What?

Shi Jihan said: [Rather than give that money to outsiders, our own brothers might as well earn it. I'll plan it for him!]

At the same time, Shi Zhongye, who had received the same message, recalled his own welcome party and gritted his teeth. "What could Shi Jihan possibly plan? Hurry up and stop embarrassing the Shi Family!"

When Zhou Jingcheng saw him turn to leave, he asked, "What are you doing?"

Without looking back, Shi Zhongye said, "Curating!"

—

On the day of the wedding.

The Shi Family relative Shi Geren and his family made a grand entrance.

As the second uncle of the three Shi brothers and a shareholder of Shi Corporation, Shi Geren naturally held high seniority. Today, he wore a proper Tang-style suit and fingered a string of prayer beads as he put on the airs of an elder and asked Shi Bochuan's secretary, "Secretary Wu, Xiaochuan may be busy and forgetful, but couldn't you remind him? A wedding that has already happened—who holds another one afterward? Isn't that just making a joke of yourselves?"

Secretary Wu smiled and agreed aloud, all the while thinking about kicking the old fool.

Shi Geren said, "Forget it. Who planned this wedding? They didn't go over budget and pocket extra money, did they?"

Secretary Wu replied, "Third Young Master planned it, and Second Young Master participated as well."

"Those two?" Shi Geren nodded. "Not bad. The brothers are harmonious and respectful."

Secretary Wu thought, If you saw President Shi's despairing expression when he arrived at the venue, you wouldn't be saying that.

Shi Geren had no idea how formidable those two were and gestured for the secretary to lead the way.

Shi Bochuan had gone all out, booking an entire manor hotel modeled after medieval Europe. The entrance was already packed with flowers and luxury cars.

The first thing Shi Geren saw upon entering was the large promotional standee carefully made by the Shi brothers for the married couple.