Chapter 32

Zhou Jingcheng felt the world spin, his reputation in ruins.

He slightly raised his hand to reveal a corner of the tablet, peeking at it cautiously, trying to confirm whether his eyes were playing tricks on him.

With a slap, the tablet was flipped facedown again.

Zhou Jingcheng looked utterly dead inside.

His eyes hadn't deceived him. It was the stunt he and Shi Jihan had pulled at the amusement park yesterday.

When was the Earth going to explode? He couldn't stay here for another minute.

Secretary Sun had had his tablet confiscated and was currently watching the video on his phone, grinning secretly.

Haha, the boss getting dragged around by a Beagle.

Hilarious.

The instant Zhou Jingcheng looked over, he immediately switched into work mode and offered a professional assessment. "Boss, I don't think there's any need to delete this video. The comments are all supporting you."

Hearing that, Zhou Jingcheng gathered his courage and flipped the tablet over again, beginning to read the comments.

[I knew they looked familiar! The people I ran into at the amusement park yesterday really were Shi Jihan and Zhou Jingcheng!]

[The two of them went to an amusement park together? If they don't come out and deny it, then I'm about to start making things up.]

[Come back to life! My Wu Bai CP!]

[Hahahahaha! This video will keep me laughing until retirement.]

[I saw today's trending topics, and I believe President Zhou. His mental state is simply beautiful. He's not a bad person.]

[Wait, so yesterday's announcement looking for Daddy...?]

[A little lovers' game? They really know how to have fun [face turns yellow]]

[@Zhou Jingcheng, kiddo, hurry up and get Shi Jihan to come out and say something for you.]

Zhou Jingcheng's temple throbbed. "Supporting me?"

He said, "Suppress this one too!"

Netizens soon discovered that the video uploader had deleted the post. Not only that, it was being removed across the entire internet.

[Tsk, tsk, tsk. Did someone get embarrassed and angry? Interesting.]

[President Zhou, stop trying to maintain that precarious persona of yours [shrug].]

After dealing with one issue after another, Zhou Jingcheng was exhausted. The fatigue rivaled the moment Shi Jihan had sat on him during yesterday's water ride.

He downed an entire glass of water before looking at Shi Zhongye, who had seemed like he wanted to say something for a while. "Were you going to ask about Xiao Yuan? I didn't tell you I signed him because you were still directing a film out in the middle of nowhere."

Like someone whose tail had been stepped on, Shi Zhongye bristled instantly. "Who asked? I didn't ask!"

Zhou Jingcheng said, "Oh."

If he didn't care, then Zhou Jingcheng had only asked casually.

Zhou Jingcheng picked up his phone and saw that Shi Jihan had sent him a message over half an hour ago. He tapped it open.

It was a photo of the two of them together.

Rainbow candy versus black coffee.

It was the first time he had seen a scene of himself and Shi Jihan interacting from a third-person perspective. He paused, then zoomed in on the photo with two fingers.

His gaze inadvertently fell on the sliver of Shi Jihan's exposed waist.

It was very pale, very slim, small enough to fit in one hand.

Wait, what was he thinking?!

Zhou Jingcheng suddenly snapped back to his senses. He had only hinted yesterday that Shi Jihan should see him as a younger brother. How could he be thinking this way today?

Still... had Shi Jihan found this photo online?

Had he deliberately looked for it? Then... he must have put in quite a bit of effort, searching for a long time.

What did it mean that he had sent it to him? How was he supposed to respond?

Zhou Jingcheng's fingertip hovered over the screen. For the first time, he had no idea how to reply to someone's message. He could only stare solemnly at the screen as if contemplating the truths of the universe.

Until an explosive "Fuck!" thundered beside his ear and startled him.

Zhou Jingcheng turned toward the sound. "Shi Zhongye, why are you still here?"

"I haven't gotten investment for my next project. Why would I leave?" Shi Zhongye said. "Forget that. Let me show you a world-shaking secret!"

As he spoke, he shoved a photo sent by an anonymous Good Samaritan right in front of Zhou Jingcheng.

"Look, intimate photos of Shen Qinghuai on a date with a mysterious woman! He really did have ulterior motives when he tricked Shi Bochuan into marriage," Shi Zhongye declared with absolute certainty.

Zhou Jingcheng thought that was impossible. Even if it really had been a sham marriage before, Shen Qinghuai and Shi Bochuan had now forged a precious bond through shared hardship.

He lowered his gaze to Shi Zhongye's phone screen.

Shi Zhongye had just been about to ask his brother how to handle Shen Qinghuai's marriage scam when he watched his brother's eyes widen bit by bit, shock filling them as though an absurd comedy were silently playing out.

Zhou Jingcheng first looked at Shi Zhongye's phone, then lowered his head to look at the photo on his own phone, then looked back up at Shi Zhongye's phone before lowering his head again.

Shi Zhongye thought Secretary Sun must have infected him. He knocked on the table to get Zhou Jingcheng's attention. "Hey, you're done looking at the photo, right? Tell me what you think."

You were your brother's external brain. He was counting on you to help solve his family troubles.

Zhou Jingcheng voiced his thoughts. Very loudly.

"What about me?!"

[Ding, task "Forge intimate photos to smear Shen Qinghuai for tricking someone into marriage" completed. Reward: Malice Points +15.]

Listening to the task completion notification finally refresh, Shi Jihan clicked his tongue. "Wonderful. Second Brother's internet speed is 0.5 times faster than a sloth's."

He looked again at his chat with Zhou Jingcheng. The other party still hadn't replied. "Why is Dianjia Bro still using a Little Tyrant Learning Console to dial up to the internet?"

[Ding, Malice Points +12.]

Oh my god, another high score!

He and 000 looked at each other and exclaimed in unison, [As expected of Second Brother!]

Could just a few photos really have such a huge impact on Shi Zhongye?

Shi Jihan's eyes sparkled as he designated Shi Zhongye a new generous benefactor, kicking Zhou Jingcheng down to second place.

Watching their savings grow larger and larger, 000 began whispering like a devil. [Host, aside from exchangeable items, I have other good things too. Want to take a look?]

Shi Jihan had learned nothing from his previous mistake and completely forgotten 000's shady one-stop scam involving red wine decomposition fluid. He was immediately interested. [What?]

000 said, [Holographic movies! They're currently on a limited-time discount. Ten movies for 9.9 Malice Points, practically dirt cheap.]

A discount!

Shi Jihan was instantly interested. [Okay, let's go on a spending spree!]

One person and one egg put on virtual glasses, lay on the bed, and began enjoying themselves. Neither noticed that the number after the daily task, "Randomly Ruin Zhou Jingcheng: 0/1," flickered and became "1/1 Completed."

And the reason Zhou Jingcheng hadn't replied was because he was completely immersed in a game of finding inconsistencies.

He carefully compared the roller coaster photo, staring at the expression of someone throwing back his head, opening his mouth, and screaming wildly. Something was wrong, wasn't it? That couldn't be possible, could it?

That mouth, those tonsils—he would recognize them even if they turned to ashes.

What had Shi Zhongye just said? He said this was Shen Qinghuai?

What a joke. Could Shen Qinghuai's mouth open as wide as a shoehorn?

But shouldn't he be standing beside him? Who was this gorgeous long-haired woman with big waves? She looked unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar.

Zhou Jingcheng was drowning in an ocean of question marks, unable to swim back to shore no matter how hard he tried.

Seeing him stare at the photo for so long that he seemed to be shutting down, Shi Zhongye snatched the phone and looked at it himself. "No, what does any of this have to do with you?"

Zhou Jingcheng's eyes were blank. "I want to know too."

Shi Zhongye was speechless. A thought suddenly surfaced: maybe his brother's intelligence wasn't all that impressive either.

He downloaded all the photo files in one go, opened the gallery, and froze in shock. "So Shen Qinghuai likes this type? A cold, delicate little wife and his tall, burly girlfriend?"

Zhou Jingcheng looked over at that.

Through a shop window, a man could be seen leaning birdlike against another woman's... uh, abdomen? The long-haired woman was a full two heads taller than the man. She stood there towering over him as they pressed tightly together.

It was an incredibly beautiful, hazy scene.

The only thing in clear focus was a mosquito in front of the camera.

Shi Zhongye said, "Come on, tell me. Which protagonist in this photo are you?"

The confusion in Zhou Jingcheng's eyes deepened. He recognized the shop window, and there had even been lion headpieces outside it. But this girlfriend over two meters tall...?

He carefully recalled last night, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't remember the existence of such an Attack on Titan.

Could it be... that he had really gotten it wrong?

He fell into deep self-doubt.

[Ding, Malice Points +2.]
[Ding, Malice Points +2.1.]
[Ding, Malice Points +2.2.]

Right as Shi Jihan was watching an exciting chase scene in the movie, he slapped the notification sound off. Too noisy.

Second Brother, he would forgive him this time, but next time he wasn't allowed to squeeze it out bit by bit.

In the office, Shi Zhongye suddenly sneezed for no reason. He had the strange feeling that he had been sneezing more and more lately.

Rubbing his nose, he felt he had caught Shen Qinghuai's major weakness. "He really did approach Shi Bochuan with other intentions. I'm going home right now to throw these photos in Shi Bochuan's face and make him see his bedmate's true colors!"

After speaking passionately for so long, he realized Zhou Jingcheng had not reacted and gave him a shove. "Hey, what do you think?"

Zhou Jingcheng looked at the photo of rainbow candy and black coffee on his phone, his tone deep and filled with strong self-assurance. "I think it's definitely not that."

Shi Zhongye:?

What the hell?

Zhou Jingcheng was completely immersed in his own thoughts. Shi Jihan had invited him to the amusement park, smiled so beautifully at him, bought him ice cream of his own accord, and even rushed over to hug him in front of other people.

Shi Jihan had expressed his feelings for him so proactively. How could he possibly edit him out of the photo?

Look, Shi Jihan had even found a photo of the two of them and specially sent it to him.

Zhou Jingcheng nodded as he affirmed this to himself, then added the photo to his favorites.

All right, he had successfully talked himself into feeling better.

Zhou Jingcheng looked at Shi Zhongye again and asked with a smile, "What did you just say? I didn't hear a single word."