Chapter 7

Shi Bochuan said, "Hard to say. His way of doing things is impossible to predict. No one knows what he'll do next."

Shi Jihan nodded heavily, recalling the 88-yuan cab fare he'd paid after the ride. A pained expression appeared on his face.

He liked imported red wine?

Shi Jihan viciously stuffed a huge bite of watermelon into his mouth.

Would he want some imported watermelon as a gift?

Shen Qinghuai rarely looked so anxious. "But if he breaks the contract halfway through, all our plans will be thrown into chaos! ...We can only find a way to stop this meeting. We can't let them reach an agreement."

Shi Bochuan looked at Shi Jihan, who was spitting out watermelon seeds with little puffs, and asked, "Third Brother, do you have any ideas?"

Shi Jihan was dumbfounded. "Huh?"

You're asking me? What ideas could I possibly have? You people who wage business wars have hearts of steel.

Zero-Zero-Zero: [Host, let Dianjia Bro see how cruel society can be!]

...Wait a second.

He seemed to have learned this lesson online before.

He beckoned the two of them over and lowered his voice. "Trust me. I have a brilliant plan."

Shi Bochuan and Shen Qinghuai said, "What?"

Shi Jihan looked completely confident. "Change this banquet's menu to ten plates of smashed cucumber salad!"

Real business wars required a college student like him to step in!

At the entrance of Heavenly Seal International Hotel, Xia Jun, the owner of the rival company, came forward to personally open the car door for Zhou Jingcheng.

"President Zhou, you're here. This way, please."

Polished leather shoes stepped onto the ground. As he rose, the hem of his trench coat fell smoothly without a single crease. Zhou Jingcheng dusted nonexistent dirt from his cuff and smiled at Xia Jun. "Boss Xia, you've put a lot of thought into this, booking a place like this. I heard reservations are hard to get."

Xia Jun led him inside. "Going to a little trouble for President Zhou is nothing. Today's dishes are not commonly available. The seafood was all flown in fresh and in season, and I even invited a five-star chef to prepare it personally. I guarantee you won't be disappointed, President Zhou."

Zhou Jingcheng was genuinely interested now. "Then I'll have to try it."

Eating always put people in a good mood.

Zhou Jingcheng followed Xia Jun all the way into the private room.

As the door closed, he could still hear Xia Jun instructing the lobby manager, "Where are the dishes I specially prepared? They should be served by now."

Separated by a single door, a pair of eyes was secretly watching.

Shi Jihan whispered, "They're inside, they're inside!"

He tugged at the hem of the other person's clothes to make him look.

The person whose clothes had been tugged refused to move, covering his eyes with one hand in utter despair.

Shen Qinghuai seemed to see the end of his career.

He had no face left.

Shi Bochuan had also been dragged along. At that moment, he sat in his seat, using a drink of water to hide his embarrassment.

It wasn't that he wanted to come. He didn't want to come. He had no idea why he'd been possessed into coming here.

"Glug glug glug."

Shi Jihan asked, "Brother, are you that thirsty?"

Shi Bochuan tightly gripped the cup. "Mm."

"Glug glug glug."

He needed water to wash away the lard clouding his mind.

Shen Qinghuai met his gaze and saw the same shared misery in the other man's eyes.

The dishes, each covered with a cloche and arranged neatly in order, were pushed in by the waiter.

Xia Jun poured each of them a glass of red wine and enthusiastically introduced the meal. "Not to mention the mandarin fish with dragon whiskers inside. The broth is fresh, the meat is delicious, and the texture is smooth and springy."

He then turned and hinted for the waiter to continue, asking him to explain just how much thought and money had gone into this meal.

The waiter looked strange and couldn't help lowering his head to look at the menu several times.

This was the right private room, wasn't it? Where was this mandarin fish and springy texture nonsense coming from? City people really had plenty of tricks, giving one dish seven or eight different names. What was this, the Calabash Brothers calling Grandpa?

Zhou Jingcheng knew nothing of this and looked forward to it eagerly. "Really? President Xia has gone to a lot of trouble."

He had been avoiding certain foods quite strictly lately. His personal trainer insisted he'd gained five jin and was no longer at his perfect weight. After half a month of fitness meals, Zhou Jingcheng suspected he was about to lose his sense of taste. Life hardly seemed worth living anymore.

His phone started beeping. It was his personal trainer warmly asking what he was having for dinner.

Zhou Jingcheng pretended to be deaf and focused only on the plates that were about to be uncovered.

A bright green plate of smashed cucumber salad, arranged in perfect order, came into view.

Zhou Jingcheng thought Xia Jun was considerate. Knowing he needed to fool his fitness coach, he had even specially served a cold appetizer. He took a picture and sent it to his trainer before asking Xia Jun, "All right, where's our mandarin fish?"

Stop messing around and let him eat already.

Xia Jun quickly said, "The next dish is it."

The waiter lifted another cloche, revealing another bright green plate of smashed cucumber salad.

Zhou Jingcheng said, "..."

Individual portions were nice. One serving per person. Very refined.

Another cloche was lifted, revealing yet another bright green plate of smashed cucumber salad.

Zhou Jingcheng: ?

Another cloche was lifted, then another, until all the covers had been removed.

Bright green smashed cucumber salad.

Zhou Jingcheng: ???

He took a deep breath, his hand holding the chopsticks trembling faintly.

The waiter sensed the increasingly strange atmosphere in the private room and quickly said, "Please enjoy," before fleeing the scene, not forgetting to close the door behind him.

Next door, Shi Jihan kept hearing system notifications in his ears.

[Ding, Malice Points +2]

[Ding, Malice Points +4]

[Ding, Malice Points +3]

...

Shi Jihan shrank his neck.

Good heavens, that was some serious resentment.

Zhou Jingcheng poked through the smashed cucumber salad, trying to find proof that jellyfish had somehow blended into it.

There was nothing. Other than cucumbers, there were still cucumbers.

He said to Xia Jun, "Air-freighted seafood? Personally prepared by a five-star chef? President Xia, why go through all that trouble? Next time, why not just bring up a washbasin?"

Xia Jun had no idea what had happened or how things had turned out this way. Sweat covered his forehead despite the climate-controlled private room. As he wiped it away, he gave an awkward laugh. "President Zhou, I'm truly sorry. I really did order a lot of dishes!"

Zhou Jingcheng said, "You're sorry for ordering me ten plates of smashed cucumber salad. If you weren't sorry, how many plates were you planning to order?"

He put down his chopsticks. He thought he might as well go home and eat protein powder mixed with mashed banana. After answering an alarm call, he got to his feet. "President Xia, enjoy your meal. I have something to do, so I'll be leaving first."

Zhou Jingcheng put on his trench coat and left directly.

Xia Jun hurried after him. "President Zhou! President Zhou! We haven't discussed our cooperation yet!"

"Don't you like red wine? I'll give you a bottle—no, ten bottles!"

Zhou Jingcheng quickened his pace, afraid the ten plates of smashed cucumber salad behind him would catch up.

They were too green. Green enough to make him panic.

"President Zhou, President Zhou!" Xia Jun reached out helplessly.

While running, he bumped into the table, and a paper order floated down.

Xia Jun picked it up and nearly had his nose twisted with rage.

Who could tell him what "Jade Cold-Brew Frosted Slices" meant? And what was "Eastern Secret-Recipe Emerald Glazed Cubes"?

Who had switched his menu?

Who was it?!

While Xia Jun raged helplessly outside, Shi Jihan was happily eating lobster in one hand and mandarin fish in the other in the private room next door. His cheeks puffed out as he chewed, but he still remembered to take credit before the two of them. "See? I told you there'd be absolutely no problem! Their cooperation is dead now."

Never mind the means. The important thing was whether the job got done.

Shen Qinghuai also picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks. He had nearly poked it to bits on his plate without taking a bite. Deeply worried, he frowned tightly. "Shi Jihan... Third Brother, I won't end up on the financial news and social news tomorrow, will I?"

Shi Jihan waved a hand. "How could that happen? If anyone gets on there, it'll be my brother."

And he could earn a nice batch of Malice Points while he was at it.

"Cough, cough cough!" Shi Bochuan choked on his water.

What filial piety.

Shen Qinghuai hurriedly helped him catch his breath. The two met each other's eyes and suddenly felt closer than ever before.

Shi Bochuan took the opportunity to reach out and tightly grab his hand.

If they were going to lose face, they would lose it together. Neither of them was allowed to abandon the other.

Shi Jihan stuffed one last bite of post-meal watermelon into his mouth, rubbed his stomach, and narrowed his eyes contentedly. "I'm full."

He checked his Malice Points: -124.6.

Awesome, he wasn't far from zero now ^-^

That scammer system that had tricked a money-grubber into joining the army—haha, get lost.

[Oh, right.] He remembered something. [Weren't you going to report to the Main System and apply to develop subordinates led by Dianjia Bro, turning our malice business into a global phenomenon? Did the results come out?]

This was related to whether he could sit around and collect money in the future. Hehe.

Zero-Zero-Zero: [They did.]

Shi Jihan asked excitedly, [What did the Main System say?]

Zero-Zero-Zero imitated its superior in a cold mechanical voice. [What a dreamer. It is recommended that human society add self-fraud to the criminal code.]

Shi Jihan fell silent for a while, then sat up with a snap and angrily stuffed several more bites of food into his mouth.

It was fine if this project had fallen through. He could still get pregnant with a project involving squid burgers and crayfish!

The next day at work.

Shi Bochuan and Shen Qinghuai came in wearing masks. The two didn't use the main entrance and instead quietly circled around from the underground parking lot to the office.

As they passed the break room, they heard people talking.

"Did you hear? Our archenemy Xia Jun got messed with last night?"

"I heard too, hahahahaha. He wanted to steal our project and invited President Zhou to dinner. He found out President Zhou was working out and avoiding certain foods lately, so he served him ten plates of smashed cucumber salad."

"If it wasn't staged, President Xia should hurry up and start a crowdfunding campaign to treat his brain. I'm willing to donate ten cents as a token of mockery."

"Do you think some genius from our company switched the menu?"

"How is that possible? Everyone in our company, from President Shi to Team Leader Shen, has noble character and acts openly. Who would be shameless enough to do something like that?"

Shi Bochuan pulled Shen Qinghuai along and lowered his head as he quickened his pace.

How did everyone know after just one night?!

Shen Qinghuai's face heated up. He pulled his mask higher, momentarily failing to notice the hand holding his.

[Ding, Malice Points +9]

The moment Shen Qinghuai stepped into the project team's office, Shi Jihan heard that delightful sound in his ears.