Chapter 6

Shi Jihan was so furious he wanted to claw someone. He stomped hard on Zhou Jingcheng's foot and strode away.

Zhou Jingcheng stood with his hands in his pockets, watching him leave.

Only after he had completely disappeared from view did Zhou Jingcheng finally drop the act. He hopped on one foot to brace himself against the wall, his composed expression cracking bit by bit as his brows furrowed in pain.

"Damn... that hard?"

He looked down to find a clear footprint on the top of his shoe.

After stepping on him, Shi Jihan had even ground his foot in, apparently afraid he had not used enough force.

Small guy, plenty of strength.

Who was supposed to be angry here, anyway?

Zhou Jingcheng thought that he had not even called him out for acting like a hooligan yet.

-

Only after Shi Jihan entered the changing room and shut the door did it belatedly hit him: had he just laid hands on Dianjia Bro?

"Zero-Zero-Zero," he swallowed, "will he throw me abroad tomorrow and leave me to fend for myself?"

Zero-Zero-Zero: [It should be fine.]

Shi Jihan let out a sigh of relief.

[Wasn't that bound to happen sooner or later?]

The breath caught in his throat again.

Shi Jihan silently checked his Malice Points. When he saw that they had risen by another two points, he fell into even deeper despair.

He comforted himself. It was fine, it was fine. He had not even caused his biggest disaster yet, so how could he possibly be sent abroad already?

That was what he said, but when he saw Zhou Jingcheng outside, he silently detoured around him and slipped away along the wall as fast as he could, terrified of being spotted.

Only at the entrance did he realize Uncle Wang, the driver, had not arrived yet. He had forgotten to say he was leaving early, so Uncle Wang was probably having the car serviced at this hour.

By the time he drove over, the sun would probably have set.

He opened the ride-hailing app again, then was jolted by the "214 yuan" beside the fixed price and covered it with his hand.

Do not look at the wallet. It was a horror movie.

Shi Jihan asked the Lip-Piercing Bro Club whether they offered pickup and drop-off services.

[Of course. I'll find one for you.]

Shi Jihan was delighted.

So this was the premium service rich people enjoyed. It even came with after-sales support.

He waited for a while, then saw a Bugatti drive over.

Shi Jihan recognized the car. Boss Gou from the company where he interned had dreamed of buying this Voice of the Night, which cost 120 million yuan.

He eagerly opened the passenger-side door and told Zero-Zero-Zero, [Lip-Piercing Bro, you're such a good guy!]

After stepping in with one foot, he met a familiar face in the driver's seat.

Zhou Jingcheng had one hand on the steering wheel. "Give me the address."

Shi Jihan's brain immediately crashed. After a long pause, he said, "...Huh?"

Zhou Jingcheng said, "Tang Huiming asked me to take you home. He said it was on the way."

"Who?" Shi Jihan was slow to react. "Oh... Lip-Piercing Bro."

Lip-Piercing Bro, you had committed every evil under the sun!

Zhou Jingcheng raised a brow and praised him, "Very flattering."

Then he added, "Getting in or not? If not, I'm leaving."

After weighing the pros and cons, Shi Jihan reluctantly brought in his other leg and slowly shut the door. Zhou Jingcheng asked for the address again, and Shi Jihan obediently gave it to him. He sat quietly in the passenger seat with both hands on his knees, watching the car drive away.

He was absurdly well-behaved.

Inside, he frantically pounded out, [Help!! He isn't holding a grudge so badly that he'll just abduct me overseas, is he?]

Zero-Zero-Zero: [How could that be? This car can't cross the ocean.]

Shi Jihan replied resentfully, [What if he's a birdman?]

He could grab Shi Jihan by the back of the neck and toss him straight into the Southern Hemisphere.

Zero-Zero-Zero: [This novel doesn't involve fantasy. Even if he has a huge bird, he can't be a birdman.]

[Who said his was huge?] Shi Jihan snapped. [Tiny bird, tiny bird! Mine's the huge bird!]

Zero-Zero-Zero: [...]

Good grief, why was he getting so worked up?

The tip of Zhou Jingcheng's nose itched.

Strange. Why had he been wanting to sneeze so often lately?

Maybe showering twice had given him a cold. He would stop by the pharmacy later to buy some medicine.

He first dropped Shi Jihan off at the entrance to his residential complex.

Shi Jihan had been on edge the entire ride and immediately sprang out of his seat. "Thank you so much, I can walk the rest of the way myself, sorry for the trouble!"

"Sure." Zhou Jingcheng parked the car steadily and nodded.

"Settle the fare."

Shi Jihan turned around in disbelief. "What?!"

"The fare." To accommodate the other man's intelligence, Zhou Jingcheng thoughtfully slowed down. "How should I explain what a fare is to you?"

"I know what a fare is!" Shi Jihan said. "But you never told me you were charging me!"

Zhou Jingcheng smiled. "You didn't say you wanted to look before I got out of the shower, either. Enjoy first, pay later. Wasn't that what Young Master Shi taught me?"

Shi Jihan was furious but helpless. He wanted to give Zhou Jingcheng the middle finger, but was afraid it would turn him on.

"How much?"

"Eighty-eight. It's auspicious."

After transferring the money, Shi Jihan plopped back into the car, clicked his seat belt into place, and put on the air of a demanding client. "Take me to my front door."

Zhou Jingcheng neither agreed nor objected.

After being registered, the Bugatti slowly drove toward the Shi Family Villa and stopped at the entrance.

Shi Jihan opened the door and was about to leave.

Then the seat belt yanked him back into his seat, leaving him blankly stunned for a moment.

Zhou Jingcheng clicked his tongue. "Young Master Shi, you plan to carry my car home for eighty-eight yuan?"

The only response was the thunderous slam of the car door.

-

Having tragically lost eighty-eight yuan, Shi Jihan strode forward aggressively and charged straight into the villa.

He ran headlong into Shi Bochuan and Shen Qinghuai, who were having dinner in the dining room.

"Third Brother." Shi Bochuan called to him, dark circles beneath his eyes.

Like a balloon punctured by a needle, Shi Jihan's momentum instantly deflated.

Shi Jihan awkwardly greeted them, afraid the two would make trouble for him over what had happened at the banquet. "Big Brother, Brother Huai, good evening."

Look, his brother even had dark circles. He must have been so angry that he had not slept all night.

There were faint dark circles beneath Shen Qinghuai's eyes as well. He said, "Hungry? Want to eat?"

"...Yes." Shi Jihan despised himself for having no backbone and being unable to resist the temptation of food, but still inched his way toward his seat.

[My brother won't get angry and hit me, will he?]

Zero-Zero-Zero: [Probably not? Didn't you help the company gain prestige?]

[...By telling the entire internet who the big and little kings of the Shi Family are? You can have that blessing. Want it?]

Shi Bochuan raised his hand, but Shi Jihan shrank back and dodged. Shi Bochuan instead touched the little curl sticking up from the top of his head.

"I'm sorry, Third Brother. I was wrong." Shi Bochuan tried to soothe him in the gentlest voice he could manage, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. The body beneath his hand had gone rigid. He simply stopped speaking, placed three eggs on Shi Jihan's plate, and said, "I'm done eating. Take your time."

[Malice Points +8]

Zero-Zero-Zero was confused. [That much? Why did the Malice Points increase?]

After Shi Bochuan left, Shi Jihan looked at the goose egg, chicken egg, and quail egg lined up in order on his plate.

O, o, .

What was that supposed to mean? Was Shi Bochuan telling him who the big, medium, and little egg among the three Shi brothers was, warning him to behave himself?

Shi Jihan indignantly bit into the goose egg.

Wow. Delicious.

Shi Bochuan returned to the bedroom full of guilt. He felt that his third brother was nothing like what the others at the company claimed—ambitious and single-mindedly fighting for power and profit. Look, his most malicious scheme had merely been making Shi Bochuan help reduce the similarity score on his paper.

Third Brother truly had no ill intentions.

Shi Bochuan said to Shen Qinghuai, who walked in looking exhausted, "I'm planning to give Third Brother the shares our parents left behind ahead of time. I don't want him to be bound by marriage like we are. It's just that the board will be difficult to explain."

He failed to notice Shen Qinghuai's expression gradually darkening and continued talking to himself. "He needs to build up his résumé... I've got it. Starting tomorrow, Third Brother will clock in at work at eight every morning. He must also really want to shine in his position and create value."

When he turned around after speaking, he found Shen Qinghuai silently gathering his pillow and blanket. He panicked. "Where are you going? You aren't sleeping here tonight?"

Shen Qinghuai picked up his things and left. "Of course not. I have nothing to sleep with President Shi about when he likes bondage play so much."

Shi Bochuan chased after him. "That's not what I meant. Listen to me explain!"

"I won't," Shen Qinghuai said, walking quickly. "Don't come looking for me."

Shi Jihan, who had just come upstairs, watched the two men run off one after the other and slowly swallowed the quail egg in his mouth. "What? Playing hawk catches chicks?"

Pretty childlike, huh.

-

Early the next morning, Shi Jihan was dragged out of bed by the butler.

The butler lifted him up and shook him, attempting to shake every last bit of sleepiness out of him.

"Stop shaking me," Shi Jihan said without being able to open his eyes. "I'll drop a punchline."

The butler said seriously, "Young Master Shi, you jest. You are going to work today. Eldest Young Master told me to wake you early."

Shi Jihan collapsed.

He had stayed up all night gaming and had not gone to sleep until three in the morning.

The kind of thing that could spring awake the moment it was called was toast in a toaster.

[Give me one reason I absolutely have to go to work today,] he poked Lurdan, who was floating in the air spread-eagled, [or I'm taking leave.]

Zero-Zero-Zero flipped through the original novel. [You have to go. There's a regular meeting today. Since Shen Qinghuai failed to secure President Wang's investment, employees from your faction use that to mock Shen Qinghuai, force him to hand over the projects in his hands, sideline him, and help you take his place.]

[I have a career storyline now?] Shi Jihan immediately perked up and rolled out of bed. [Come on, come on. Let me show you what a high-energy career man does in a day.]

Wasn't President Wang that bald

uncle

from the banquet? Shi Jihan had very maliciously persuaded him not to invest and ruined Shen Qinghuai's reputation.

Shi Jihan straightened his suit and tie in front of the mirror, imagining himself harvesting Malice Points and stepping into Shi Aotian's path to the pinnacle of life.

How could this possibly go wrong? This round was in the bag!

The automatic doors of Shi Group slowly opened to either side, and a tall, slender figure approached from the other end of the carpet.

His back was straight as he strolled over at an unhurried pace, sunlight spilling behind him and stretching his shadow long.

A light breeze fluttered the hem of his clothes, lifted his hair, then brushed over his cheek and left behind a kiss.

[The malicious cannon-fodder villain Shi Aotian makes his entrance!]

[Lighting, okay.]

[BGM, okay.]

[Entrance speed, okay.]