Chapter 8

000 lavished praise: [Host, last night's battle earned us a full 34 Malice Points!]

[Oh my god, Host, you're truly so malicious.]

Shi Jihan was exhausted. He yawned. [If you don't know how to compliment someone, then don't. Otherwise, watch out—I'll eat you in one bite and stuff you between my teeth.]

Lurdan trembled.

So malicious.

And those teeth gaps were pretty huge, too.

Xu Zhiman shot Shi Jihan a fierce look as he lay facedown on the desk, unable to keep his eyes open, then complained to Shen Qinghuai. "Brother Huai, with certain people in our group looking this spirited, how are we supposed to welcome President Zhou later?"

Shen Qinghuai was still dazed. "Huh? Oh... right, President Zhou is coming later."

Their clothing designs had been finalized and sample garments made. They had arranged for models from Zhou Jingcheng's company to try them on today so they could discuss later adjustments more easily. Zhou Jingcheng would also come along to check on their progress.

...Why did it have to be today?

How was he supposed to face Zhou Jingcheng's face?

Xu Zhiman worried, "Brother, what's wrong? Your complexion looks strange."

Shen Qinghuai shook his head and sat at his workstation, staring blankly at the silhouettes in his sketchbook.

Xu Zhiman turned around, saw that Shi Jihan was practically about to fall asleep, and challenged him, "Didn't sleep last night? What shady business were you up to?"

A thunderous coughing fit erupted from Shen Qinghuai's workstation.

Shi Jihan straightened up bonelessly and retorted, "Don't talk nonsense. I was very busy last night—I helped the company solve an extremely thorny problem."

Xu Zhiman did not believe him. "I'd sooner believe I'm Qin Shi Huang... Oh, right, where's Yan Bo? I heard your concept project only has him working on it. Can it even be finished on time? Why don't you look worried at all?"

Everyone knew that although the Shi Family's third young master had graduated in design, his designs could be summed up in one phrase—

—polishing a turd.

Shi Jihan himself had not majored in design, but the two of them were both quite skilled at polishing things.

"Want to know?" Shi Jihan crooked a finger at Xu Zhiman. "Send me fifty and I'll tell you the full plan."

Xu Zhiman pulled a long face and turned to leave. "Fine, don't tell me."

After taking a few steps, he looked back. "Hey, if you're short-handed on that project of yours, remember to tell me. Don't get any weird ideas! It's not like I'm helping you. Yan Bo is alone—don't work him to death."

"You talk too much," Shi Jihan complained to Shen Qinghuai. "Brother Huai, he's slacking off! Do something about him."

Xu Zhiman swore furiously that if he ever spoke to Shi Jihan again, he would be a dog.

As he wished, Shi Jihan harvested another small wave of Malice Points from him.

Shen Qinghuai had no mood to deal with their elementary-school squabbling. He saw the company group chat was still discussing last night's grand spectacle of ten dishes of smashed cucumber salad, and he closed his eyes.

Wonderful. He was dead.

000 was still very concerned about the project Shi Jihan had taken over. They could not take on any more debt; its performance was nearly dead last in the entire Unified Realm.

[Host, in the original plot, Shi Jihan plagiarized other people's ideas and bought promotional articles to praise himself to the skies as a "genius designer seen once in a century." A fashion blogger later thoroughly exposed the truth, causing him to crash and burn and sparking a massive online controversy. Are you planning to do the same?]

Shi Jihan shook his head repeatedly. [I wouldn't dare. I'm too fragile. If netizens curse at me, I'll want to hang myself outside their front doors.]

000 said, [But I saw that you had Yan Bo find an outsourcing company.]

Shi Jihan said, [I hired them to refine my design drafts. Those are all my ideas, and I guarantee they'll make a splash on the runway.]

As for why he had not looked within the company? He was isolated and powerless right now. No one would listen if he assigned work.

But hiring a contractor was different. Money could always buy obedient lackeys. Shi Jihan had experienced that himself, and it had instantly made him feel years younger.

000 was surprised. [You can draw design sketches too?]

Shi Jihan answered decisively, [Of course.]

[An all-powerful Host, how amazing!] 000 seemed to see the dawn of them completing their mission.

Meanwhile.

An outsourced designer looked at the first draft Yan Bo had sent over and cheerfully praised the client:

[Is this an octopus that got run over by a car? These tentacles are incredibly dynamic.]

[Yan Bo: ...]

[Yan Bo: That's a combination of tuxedo tails and crayfish tails.]

[Yan Bo: [Crayfish-Tail Tuxedo Three-View Drawing.ZIP]]

The outsourced designer stared at it in disbelief several times. [Then what are these snakes that failed to hang themselves?]

[Yan Bo: Iron-plate squid scarves. The boss said every squid curl can have a badge chain threaded through it. A new type of ita fashion.]

[...Whirlpools flowing like ocean tides?]

[Yan Bo: Oh, you mean the lettuce leaves on the hamburger pajamas.]

The outsourced designer fell silent for a full five minutes, unsure whether to curse the draft first or curse himself for taking it on.

[Outsourced Designer (Roaring Version): Are you insane?! Did your boss get these ideas while eating?!]

[The outsourced designer withdrew a message.]

[Outsourced Designer: Sure thing, dear. When does our boss need it? [Rose]]

Yan Bo saw that things had been settled and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

It was his first time being a client, and he was inexperienced. He was afraid the outsourced designer would grab him by the collar and curse him out.

Speaking of which, did President Shi know his money was being used to draw these things?

Yan Bo was feeling guilty when he turned and ran straight into Shi Bochuan, who was walking this way.

He immediately ducked behind a plant in the lounge area and pretended to busily type on his keyboard.

Mm-hmm, he was working. Nobody could see him.

Shi Bochuan also wanted to find somewhere to shut himself away, but he still had to grit his teeth and receive Zhou Jingcheng—

—the victim of last night's smashed cucumber salad.

"President Zhou, the sample room is up ahead." While avoiding Zhou Jingcheng's gaze, Shi Bochuan led the models he had brought inside.

Zhou Jingcheng nodded. "Sorry for the trouble. President Shi can get back to work. I don't need anything else here."

For some reason, Shi Bochuan's gaze today was giving him a scalp massage.

It kept making his scalp tingle.

That discomfort peaked when he encountered Shen Qinghuai.

"President Zhou." Shen Qinghuai hurriedly nodded at him, slipped past along the wall without pausing for even a moment, and entered the sample room to inspect how the clothes looked on the models.

The glance they exchanged in front of Shi Bochuan was full of countless emotions, too complicated to describe.

Zhou Jingcheng raised an eyebrow high. "..."

Don't do this. It felt morally wrong.

Zhou Jingcheng turned and left this place of trouble. "I'll take a look around elsewhere. President Shi doesn't mind, does he?"

How could Shi Bochuan mind? He quickly nodded and had his secretary accompany him.

It was not Zhou Jingcheng's first time at Shi Group, and he was not particularly curious about anything. He was just wandering around when he passed the project team's temporary office and stopped.

The high-transparency glass gave him a full view of the room. There were not many people inside; they had all gone to the sample room. The huge office was not very tidy. Design drafts, color cards, and spools of thread were piled everywhere, leaving barely any room to walk. Zhou Jingcheng saw someone standing on tiptoe and straining to pull a reference book from a high shelf, while an entire stack of things began to wobble dangerously.

Shi Jihan held his breath and stretched as hard as he could. "Why put it so high? I refuse to believe I can't reach it!"

"Maybe everyone else only considered the average height," a hand reached over from behind him and pulled out the reference book for him. "This one?"

Shi Jihan jumped in fright and nearly fell into the other man's arms as he turned around.

Zhou Jingcheng lightly steadied him by the shoulder, then withdrew his hand with restrained politeness. He waved the reference book in his hand. "Do you want it?"

Shi Jihan eyed him suspiciously several times.

000 said, [Dianjia Bro isn't such a bad person. You really can't tell that he'll be ruthless enough to throw you into the desert later.]

Shi Jihan muttered, [What Dianjia Bro? His codename with me now is 88 Carpool Bro.]

Still muttering under his breath, he warily took the book from Zhou Jingcheng. "Thanks, 88 Carp—!"

[Ahhh, Host, what are you calling the terrifying male lead from that Qidian novel?!]

Shi Jihan slammed on the brakes and nearly bit his tongue.

Zhou Jingcheng looked him up and down carefully with an expression that said, "You have that kind of hobby?" The smile at the corner of his lips deepened. "You're welcome."

He said, "Good Boy."

[Ahhhhhhhhhhh!]

[Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!]

Shi Jihan and 000 both erupted into piercing rooster-like shrieks.

Shi Jihan's face turned bright red, and he instantly broke. [Can I scratch him? Can I, can I, can I?!]

Of course he could not.

000 held him back with all its might. [Calm down, calm down, calm down!!!]

Shi Jihan was expressionless as he coolly squeezed out an exaggeratedly melodramatic line through his teeth. "Good afternoon, President Zhou. President Zhou is so amazing, so useful. How would I have gotten this book without you?"

Seeing his expression, Zhou Jingcheng chose to shut up. He knew he could not say anything more, or Shi Jihan would truly get angry enough to jump up and punch him in the knees.

But...

He watched Shi Jihan return to his workstation, flip through the book, and seriously look up information. He wondered whether the old Shi Jihan had been this interesting too.

It seemed that after going abroad, someone had become kinder.

Just as he was thinking that, the phone in his suit jacket chimed with a message notification. Zhou Jingcheng took it out and saw it was Xia Jun, whom he had blocked. The other man had changed phone numbers and returned.

[President Zhou, listen to my explanation! Those ten dishes of smashed cucumber salad really had nothing to do with me!]

Zhou Jingcheng swiped left with practiced ease, ready to block him again, when another message popped up. [I investigated it. The Shi Bochuan family was next door that night—it was them who switched the menu!]

Zhou Jingcheng paused. His fingertip rested on the words "Shi Bochuan family" as he slowly raised his head and looked at Shi Jihan, who was biting his pen with a troubled expression.

[z: Are you sure?]

Xia Jun had finally received a reply. Delighted, he hurriedly typed back by hand. [Absolutely certain! It was that family's doing, damn it! Shi Bochuan looks like an upright gentleman, but I never expected him to be so shameless!]

[President Zhou, don't worry. I've already gotten revenge.]

Zhou Jingcheng listened attentively, waiting to see what high-level business warfare tactic it was.