Page 21

Shi Jihan blinked, then turned to Zhou Jingcheng, who was still laughing. "Translate for me. Is he acting cute at me?"

Otherwise, who could explain how such a harmless sentence was supposed to be an insult?

After laughing enough, Zhou Jingcheng cleared his throat. "No, Mr. Harlan is hungry. Order him a plate of fried potatoes, and he'll thank you very happily."

The blond foreigner was so angered by their back-and-forth that he spewed out a stream of foreign words, speaking so quickly and with such a rich vocabulary that it surpassed everything he had said in the past forty years combined. It was as if every kind of fruit and vegetable were holding a meeting in his mouth.

[Ding, Malice Points +0.64]

After listening for a while, Shi Jihan took out his phone, tapped it a few times, and aimed it at the blond foreigner's mouth. "I don't understand. Say it again. I just downloaded a real-time translator."

He was certainly eager to learn.

The blond foreigner went red with rage and pointed at him. "You—you're going too far!"

Shi Jihan looked innocent. "I really don't understand. I only barely passed CET-6 after taking it twice."

The blond foreigner's punch landed on cotton. He took three deep breaths, inhaling nothing but fury and nearly combusting on the spot.

[Ding, Malice Points +1.37]

000 simply turned off the notification sound, lest it affect its host's performance.

This little drizzle was beneath his notice.

The blond foreigner looked at Zhou Jingcheng. He had expected to see him trembling as he considered how to apologize, only to discover that Zhou Jingcheng had actually started arranging mahjong tiles. He even turned to seek Shi Jihan's opinion, asking politely, "Can I play another One Bamboo with One Dot? This counts as Spring Festival, so you'll be forced to rest for eight rounds."

Shi Jihan was shocked. "How can you be so greedy?"

The blond foreigner: Was no one going to speak up for him?

He fought for his own sense of presence and threatened Zhou Jingcheng. "Mr. Zhou, I thought your coming here today meant you had recognized your current situation. But now, is this the attitude you're giving me? Don't do something you'll regret."

The Shi Family was merely an observer in this matter, watching from the sidelines. Still, Shi Bochuan more or less understood Zhou Jingcheng's current predicament. He was clearly deliberately showing weakness in hopes of future development; otherwise, he would not have attended this banquet with hostile intent.

After a long silence.

"I heard Mr. Harlan's conduct at the card table isn't that bad." The crystal chandelier cast the shadows beneath Zhou Jingcheng's brow bone especially deep. Amid Shi Jihan's condemning look that said, "You have no shame," Zhou Jingcheng pushed out the One Bamboo and One Dot. "But today is really strange—"

His gaze scraped inch by inch over Harlan's angry face, scrutinizing and assessing, more like a provocation.

"How did you become so..." He slowed his words, leisurely drawing out the final syllable as each word crushed through the air.

"Unable. To. Lose."

The entire room fell silent.

Someone who had become too absorbed in the show burned his hand with a cigar. He hurriedly swallowed his cry of surprise, unwilling to be the first fool to break the silence.

Shi Bochuan closed his eyes. He thought that when trouble came, it had better not drag the Shi Corporation into it. If someone had to die, Zhou Jingcheng could die alone.

He already regretted bringing his third brother here.

Bang—

With a crisp sound, the mahjong tiles collapsed, their piercing echo exploding through the dead silence.

"Mahjong."

Zhou Jingcheng slumped back into the high-backed leather chair as though boneless. His long fingers tapped the tabletop as he smiled. "Young Master Shi, I won. Do I get a reward?"

He was completely disregarding Harlan now.

The blond foreigner's rage meter instantly exploded.

If anger were visible, the smoke above his head could have grilled sausages.

Harlan stormed away from the table. "Fine, fine, Zhou Jingcheng. Don't regret your choice!"

Harlan and his secretary had intended to slam the door on their way out, but the club was too upscale. The doors were automatic.

The two of them stood side by side, waiting for the door to slowly open.

Behind them, everyone in the club was watching.

[Ding, "Ruin Zhou Jingcheng's Texas Hold'em game" completed. Reward: Malice Points +13]

Another profit!

Shi Jihan looked at his personal ATM with benevolent eyes. "Your reward is one word of encouragement. You even know how to win at mahjong. You're so amazing."

Zhou Jingcheng's mouth twitched.

After speaking, Shi Jihan glanced toward the door in surprise. "Huh? Mr. Blond, you haven't left yet?"

Harlan responded by stomping away.

"With that force, it's a waste of talent not to drive piles at a construction site," he muttered under his breath, only for Shi Bochuan to glance at him.

"Little brother," Shi Bochuan said wearily, "give your mouth a rest. Aren't you tired?"

[Ding, Malice Points +3]

With the leading actors gone, there was no point in keeping the stage up. The people in the club left one after another.

Zhou Jingcheng stood up. "Come on. I'll treat you to dinner."

[I've mooched two meals off Dianjia Bro.] Shi Jihan bragged to 000.

The moment they left the club, even the sky seemed brighter.

Shi Bochuan said, "What happened today was sudden. I was actually planning to take A-Huai and my third brother out for Western food tonight."

Zhou Jingcheng went along with it smoothly. "Fine, then you can treat me to dinner."

Shi Bochuan: ?

Shi Bochuan said, "Is it just me, President Zhou, or have you recently stopped putting any effort at all into keeping up appearances with me?"

Zhou Jingcheng rubbed his chin. "Have I? I don't think so. As expected, it must be President Shi's illusion."

Shi Jihan looked at him with contempt.

As expected of Dianjia Bro. His face was as big as a basin.

Shi Bochuan fell silent, dried out by the sun.

Resigned, he took out his phone and called Shen Qinghuai. After explaining the situation, he said, "A-Huai, just go straight to the restaurant later."

Shen Qinghuai said from the other end, "Okay. I happen to have a gift for you."

Shi Bochuan looked around and lowered his voice, afraid of being overheard. "You're giving me a gift? Is today some special day?"

"You forgot even this?" Shen Qinghuai said. "Keep it secret. Wait until I get there."

[Ding, mission issued: During dinner, make Shi Bochuan unable to forget his white moonlight. Reward: Malice Points +20]

[Countdown 03:00]

Shi Jihan complained, [The moment these two appear in the same frame, you issue a mission. System, are you actually their obsessive solo fan?]

000 pretended not to hear and flipped through its work memo. [Host, I know why Shen Qinghuai prepared a gift. Today is your eldest brother's birthday.]

[His birthday? No wonder he's giving a gift. Perfect, I'll have the little actor deliver the scarf I bought.]

But such a gift was not enough to make someone "unable to forget." An outstanding vicious cannon fodder had to control every aspect of the situation and ensure the mission passed with impeccable quality.

As Shi Jihan contacted Zhou Zeyang, he said, [A small problem. Leave it to me!]

With the mission in his hands, 000 felt completely at ease.

By the time they arrived at the Western restaurant, Shen Qinghuai was already waiting at the table, with someone seated beside him.

Zhou Jingcheng looked several times in disbelief before confirming that his eyes were not playing tricks on him.

That young man chatting happily with Shen Qinghuai, foolishly rubbing the back of his head and grinning widely, was his own younger brother.

He had the urge to turn around and leave.

[Ding, Malice Points +2]

Shi Jihan asked, [Where did he come from?]

000 shook its head. [I don't know.]

Seeing the three of them approach, Shen Qinghuai even stood to greet them. "You're here? Sit over here."

He then explained, "I happened to run into Zeyang, so I asked him to come along. More people means more fun tonight."

Shi Bochuan gave an "Mm," then squeezed into the seat between Shen Qinghuai and Zhou Zeyang, shoving Zhou Zeyang aside.

Even then, Zhou Zeyang remained cheerful. He was thinking that double doors took up a lot of space, and if he kept working out, he would probably start bumping into doorframes when he walked. Then he turned his head—

Holy shit, wasn't that his brother?!

Zhou Jingcheng: "..."

Zhou Zeyang: "..."

The brothers stared at each other in silence.

It was as though someone had pressed mute on the world.

Zhou Jingcheng wanted to say, "You..." How had he so successfully infiltrated the Shi Family?

They even brought him to family dinners?

"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you." Shen Qinghuai thought Zhou Jingcheng did not know him. "This is Zeyang, a very motivated young man. Zeyang, this is the owner of Universe Era, President Zhou, Zhou Jingcheng."

The Zhou brothers' expressions were a spectacular sight.

"I was introduced to my brother," how fresh. They were unsure, so they listened some more.

Zhou Jingcheng nearly lost control of his expression entirely. His sleep-deprived brain was even more of a mess, like a computer suddenly forced to boot up before being flooded with viruses that began killing one another, crashing the CPU outright.

His first instinct was even to look at Shi Jihan, suspecting that this guy had set him up again.

Shi Jihan had been eating the last crème brûlée on his plate. Noticing Zhou Jingcheng's gaze, he abruptly sped up.

Zhou Jingcheng fell silent.

What, was he going to snatch it out of his mouth?

In that brief moment, he had already missed the chance to explain. While the waiters served the dishes, Shen Qinghuai took out the gift he had prepared long ago. Completely disregarding everyone else, he directly moved the evening along to its next phase.

He said, "A-Chuan, I made you a gift. Open it and see if you like it."

When Shi Bochuan opened it, he found a platinum brooch lying quietly on red velvet. The sapphire had been intricately cut, making every movement of light across its surface resemble layers of waves rolling through the deep sea.

Perhaps it was not the most expensive accessory Shen Qinghuai had designed as a designer, but it was the one into which he had put the most care.

000 poked its head over for a look. [It's over. We lost.]

[Not necessarily.]

Under the table, Shi Jihan kicked Zhou Zeyang and signaled with his eyes: Hurry up, do what I told you.

Zhou Jingcheng noticed their little movement beneath the table and raised his brows high.

Come on, let him see just how presentable this respectable job was.

Under his brother's loving gaze, Zhou Zeyang awkwardly said that he needed to use the restroom, then slipped out one after the other with Shi Jihan.

Zhou Jingcheng was the only outsider left at the table.

The couple did not notice their departure at all. They could only see each other.

Holding the brooch, Shi Bochuan clearly liked it very much. "A-Huai, why are you giving me a gift?"

Shen Qinghuai smiled beneath the lights, his gaze full of affection. "A-Chuan, it's your birthday today. Did you forget?"