Chapter 21

The veins at Zhou Jingcheng's temple throbbed as he grabbed his hand and forced it down. "I think a door crushed your brain, you screaming chicken."

He pointed at the stage. "Who's that?"

Shi Jihan was pretty depressed too. A perfectly good little actor had somehow gone crooked and become his company's employee.

His hand had been pinned down, but his mouth could still move. What he said made Zhou Jingcheng feel terrible. "Zhou Zeyang. Didn't you watch the promotional video he and I created together?"

Zhou Jingcheng sucked in a breath of cold noodles, and his vision went dark.

The scourge was actually in my house.

Onstage, Zhou Zeyang stood beside the head of marketing, flashing his big white teeth as he generously spoke on behalf of the introverted department head and looked ahead to the company's grand future. "Our company will establish deep cooperation with industry-leading enterprises, integrate resources, and jointly develop the high-end market."

For the sake of his paycheck, he diligently sang the company's praises. "Our company can provide the most complete industrial chain, the best designers, and the widest variety of—Brother?!!"

The last word cracked straight into a dolphin squeal.

He looked at the man seated in the central VIP spot below the stage, his soul nearly leaving his body.

Everyone below the stage: Huh? Say that again. The widest variety of what?

So many varieties of brothers? That didn't seem right.

Three thousand male models in the harem—an iron pestle ground into an embroidery needle.

Zhou Jingcheng rested his elbow on the armrest and covered his face with one hand. Only his weak, powerless voice leaked out. "Shi Jihan, Young Master Shi, President Shi, when did my younger brother become an employee of your company?"

Shi Jihan abruptly rose to his feet, knocking over the table in front of him.

He shouted, "Brother?!!"

Zhou Jingcheng's head buzzed.

One called brother, the other called little brother. Were they taking turns singing mountain songs here?

[ Ding, Malice Points +7 ]

Shi Jihan desperately shouted at 000, [Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Zhou Zeyang is his younger brother?? Dianjia Bro's younger brother?!]

Why was this world so small? He had only casually picked up a little actor online.

000 lit a cyber cigarette. As it blew out a smoke ring, it sounded unusually world-weary. [Host, stop trying to cling on. We can't make it ashore.]

[Who told you that? No, wait, I finally know why the plot went off track!] Shi Jihan found the reason and became absolutely certain. [It definitely has to do with them being brothers. Dianjia Bro screwed me over!]

[Damn it, 6888 still charged too little.]

This enormous pile of shit landed on Zhou Jingcheng with a thud.

Zhou Jingcheng could not stay at this launch event for another minute. He looked at his younger brother onstage, his eyes narrowing with immense pressure.

Fine. After only a few days apart, that brat had really managed to worm his way into Shi Corporation.

Was Shi Bochuan planning to exchange hostages next? Was he going to send Shi Jihan to Zhou Jingcheng's company to torment him?

Zhou Zeyang cried tears like wide noodles inside, pretending nothing had happened as he hurriedly wrapped up this segment and darted backstage.

"I'll go take a look." Zhou Jingcheng immediately stood up.

"Hiss—Aah—!" A scream suddenly came from beside him.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Jingcheng jumped in fright and hurriedly checked on Shi Jihan.

Seeing him clutching his head and staring at him resentfully, Zhou Jingcheng looked himself over but found nothing wrong.

Other than a single hair, so tiny that he would need a magnifying glass to see it, caught on his glasses chain.

Zhou Jingcheng: "..."

Speechless, he pulled it out and threw it away.

Seeing his expression, Shi Jihan accused, "You yanked out my hair? That was my precious hair! Even if it was just one tiny strand, I can't bear to see it leave me!"

"Then after you wash your hair tonight, play the Great Compassion Mantra for it and its brothers so they can be reborn. That'll count as a good deed." After Zhou Jingcheng finished speaking, Shi Jihan looked even more grief-stricken and had absolutely no intention of moving aside to make room for him.

The way he flailed around looked exactly like a milk cow cat baring its claws.

If they delayed any longer, Zhou Zeyang knew where that guy might run off to.

Zhou Jingcheng pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and softly said, "Sorry for the trouble." He grabbed the evil milk cow cat by the scruff and brought him along backstage.

The secretary reciting the stage script watched the scene unfold with her own eyes and gave President Shi a meaningful look.

What should they do? Young Master Shi, who was supposed to go onstage soon and explain the inspiration behind the clothing designs, had been dragged away!

Shi Bochuan gave her a look telling her not to panic, then quietly stood up with Shen Qinghuai and headed backstage.

Though there was no real need to be so quiet. Who would notice people sitting beside the fire exit?

The couple had barely arrived backstage when they witnessed a large-scale interrogation.

Zhou Jingcheng grabbed an employee trying to flee. "Zhou Zeyang, you've got some nerve. I was wondering why you kept taking leave and skipping work every day. Turns out you were moonlighting at someone else's company too, huh?"

His final tone rose, and his emotions were unclear.

Zhou Zeyang immediately hugged his head and begged for mercy. "Brother! I was wrong!"

Shi Bochuan was shocked.

His first thought was that the "brother" Zhou Zeyang had shouted onstage had been directed at Zhou Jingcheng.

His second thought was that Zhou Jingcheng was that morally bankrupt superior who docked employees' pay.

What shocked him even more was that when Zhou Jingcheng asked what exactly was going on, Zhou Zeyang bashfully glanced at his former boss and said, "It's a long story. At first, I was only hired as a relationship consultant to test the love between President Shi and his husband."

Shi Jihan had already had a bad feeling before he could even finish speaking. Now, he lunged over and covered Zhou Zeyang's mouth. "You're really stabbing your former boss in the back like this?!"

"Testing their love?" Zhou Jingcheng raised an eyebrow, looking with great interest at someone whose face had turned red from anger at his younger brother. "Tell me the details. I'd love to hear them."

"Listen to your big-headed ghost!" Shi Jihan blurted out. Just as he was about to teach Zhou Zeyang another lesson, he caught sight of the two people standing there from the corner of his eye.

He immediately crashed.

Shi Bochuan, meanwhile, had already understood everything.

Thinking back on everything he had experienced lately, he spoke in an imploring, utterly humble tone. "Little brother, stop testing us. Your brother can't take it."

He was so helpless...

Shi Bochuan thought that he was such a fragile man.

Chapter 21

When Shi Bochuan thought of how he had been photoshopped into a long-beaked birdman these past few days, chased by ghosts in an underground parking garage, and publicly humiliated at his own birthday party, he felt desperate, lost, small, and helpless.

"Third brother, you're not here to test A-Huai's and my love." He weakly held himself up against the wall. "You're here to test your brother's survival rate."

Even a garlic sprout would have been tortured to death by this. Shi Bochuan was more fragile than garlic that had given birth to eighteen babies in one litter.

Seeing him tortured to this extent, Shi Jihan scratched his cheek. "Was it really that excessive?"

The moment he said that, everyone present, including Zhou Zeyang, nodded vigorously.

Exactly. You only noticed now?

Shi Jihan quietly said, [Oh no, even my nonexistent conscience is starting to ache faintly.]

000 absolutely could not allow this to happen. It was a malicious cannon fodder system. [Host, don't think like that. Scourges live for a thousand years. You'll live a long life. Having too much conscience makes it easy for people to stab you in the heart and kill you.]

Shi Jihan said gloomily, [I won't. There's no heart in my chest, so I won't die if someone stabs it.]

[Because my heart is in my throat.]

000 suddenly understood. [So that's how it is. No wonder the Main System said humans have their own medical miracles.]

The silent Shen Qinghuai finally spoke.

He looked at his husband, who had been shattered into scraps, then at Shi Jihan. He smiled, but the smile made Shi Jihan's scalp prickle. "Xiaohan, so you were the one who's been tormenting us all along."

"Ahahaha, you can't really... put it that way..." Shi Jihan waved his hands as he backed away.

Out of nowhere, he tripped over Zhou Jingcheng's foot. In his panic, he clutched Zhou Jingcheng's clothes tightly and hid behind him, only poking out his little curly-haired head. The stray hair on top of his head stood straight up in fright. "Wasn't it just to add a little more twist and excitement to our peaceful lives?"

Zhou Jingcheng looked at the footprint on his handmade leather shoe, then at the wrinkles Shi Jihan had grabbed into his custom-made suit. His tone was unreadable. "Twists and turns, huh? That's quite cheap. Cheaper than my custom-made suit."

Shi Jihan was immediately threatened fiercely.

Shut up. Stop making trouble.

Zhou Jingcheng clearly saw those words in his round eyes.

Shen Qinghuai stood at the door, half his face hidden in the shadows as he smiled softly. "Really? Then I should thank Xiaohan."

Shi Jihan politely replied in a tiny voice, "N-no need to thank me."

The door that had just closed opened again. A staff member rushed in anxiously. "Young Master Shi, why aren't you onstage yet? It's time for you to go on. Secretary Wu sent me to hurry you!"

Shi Jihan instantly came back to life. "I'm coming right away!"

Shen Qinghuai stopped him before he could slip away. "No rush. I have an idea."

"Don't the new clothing lines still need magazine shoots for promotion afterward? I think there's no need to hire models. If the designer goes on himself, he should be able to interpret the design concept better."

"Right, Xiaohan?"

The world went silent.

Listening to the devil's whisper.

Shi Jihan trembled as he asked 000, [Do the protagonists in crematorium stories all turn this evil after they blacken in the later stages??]

[Congratulations, Host. You drew a hidden edition.]

Shi Jihan let out a "quack" and shouted, [Get lost!!!]

Shi Bochuan's eyes brightened as he muttered to himself, "That's a really good idea."

Shi Jihan immediately slid to his knees with a whoosh. "Big Brother! I'm sorry, Big Brother, I was wrong! I really was wrong!"

"Since that's the case, I have fashion industry connections. The editor-in-chief of NEXUS magazine contacted me not long ago. I can introduce him to President Shi."

Let him hear who was talking such nonsense.

Shi Jihan glared furiously. Oh, so it was Dianjia Bro, that inhuman bastard.

What a complete lack of surprise.

More Pizza than Pizza.

Shi Bochuan immediately shook his hand. "That's wonderful. Thank you for President Zhou's generosity."

Shi Jihan: ...

The ignored staff member cautiously reminded him, "Young Master Shi, let's go. It's time for you to talk about your design inspiration."

Shi Jihan: ...

The bullet holes life had punched into him were growing more numerous.

After the fashion show, Shi Group shot to fame and became a newly trending sensation. Any related topic drew terrifying amounts of traffic.