Chapter 7

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

Shi Jihan nodded heavily, recalling the eighty-eight-yuan taxi fare he had enjoyed first and paid for later, his face filled with anguish.

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 was unusually anxious. "But if he backs out midway, all our plans will be disrupted! ...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 watermelon seeds everywhere, and asked, "Third Brother, do you have any ideas?"

Shi Jihan was dumbfounded. "Huh?"

Me? What ideas could I possibly have? You people playing business warfare have some real nerve.

000: [Host, let Dianjia Bro witness the cruelty of society!]

...Wait a second.

He seemed to have learned this trick online before.

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

Shi Bochuan and Shen Qinghuai said, "What?"

Shi Jihan was completely confident. "Change the banquet menu to ten plates of smashed cucumber salad!"

When it came to real business warfare, a college student like him had to step in!

Outside 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. The hem of his trench coat fell smoothly as he rose, without a single wrinkle. Zhou Jingcheng dusted imaginary dirt from his cuff and smiled at Xia Jun. "Boss Xia, you've put thought into this, booking a place like this. I heard reservations are hard to get."

Xia Jun ushered him inside. "Going to a little trouble for President Zhou is nothing. Today's dishes are not something you get every day. The seafood was all flown in fresh during its season, and we specially invited a five-star chef to prepare it personally. We'll make sure President Zhou isn't disappointed."

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

Eating always put him in a good mood.

Chapter 7

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 arranged? They should be served by now."

On the other side of the door, a pair of eyes was secretly watching.

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

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

The person being tugged refused to move, covering his eyes with one hand in despair.

Shen Qinghuai felt as if he could see the end of his career.

He had no face left.

Shi Bochuan had also been dragged along. He was currently sitting in his seat, using a drink of water to conceal his embarrassment.

It wasn't that he wanted to come. He didn't want to be here. He didn't even know how he had been bewitched into coming.

"Glug, glug, glug."

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

Shi Bochuan gripped the glass tightly. "Mm."

"Glug, glug, glug."

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

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

The dishes were covered with cloches, arranged one after another in neat rows, and wheeled in by the waiter.

Xia Jun poured the two men glasses of red wine and enthusiastically introduced the dishes. "Not to mention the dragon-whisker mandarin fish. The broth is fresh, and the meat is tender, smooth, and springy."

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

The waiter looked strange and could not help glancing down at the menu several times.

This was the right room, wasn't it? Where was this mandarin fish, where was this springy texture? You city people really came up with all sorts of things, giving one dish seven or eight names. What was this, Calabash Brothers calling Grandpa?

Zhou Jingcheng remained unaware, looking forward to it greatly. "Really? President Xia has been so thoughtful."

Recently, he had been strictly watching his diet. His personal trainer had insisted he had gained five pounds 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. Living no longer seemed all that worthwhile.

His phone started beeping. It was his trainer kindly asking what he had eaten for dinner.

Zhou Jingcheng pretended to be deaf and only watched the dish that was about to be uncovered.

A plate of bright green smashed cucumber salad, arranged with meticulous neatness, appeared before his eyes.

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

Stop fooling around and let him eat already.

Xia Jun hurriedly said, "It's the next dish."

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

Zhou Jingcheng said, "..."

Individual servings were good. One portion per person, quite refined.

Another cloche was lifted, revealing bright green smashed cucumber salad.

Zhou Jingcheng:?

Another, then another. All the covers were lifted in succession.

Bright green smashed cucumber salad.

Zhou Jingcheng:???

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

Sensing the increasingly strange atmosphere in the room, the waiter quickly said, "Please enjoy," then fled the scene, not forgetting to shut the door behind him.

Next door, Shi Jihan kept hearing system notifications.

[Ding, Malice Points +2]

[Ding, Malice Points +4]

[Ding, Malice Points +3]

Shi Jihan shrank his neck.

Holy crap, that was some serious resentment.

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

There was nothing. Other than cucumber, it was still cucumber.

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

Xia Jun had no idea what had happened or how things had turned out like this. He was so anxious that sweat covered his forehead despite the climate-controlled private room. Wiping 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, thinking he might as well go home and eat protein powder mixed with mashed banana. As soon as he answered a call, he stood up. "President Xia, enjoy your meal. I have something to take care of, so I'll be leaving."

Zhou Jingcheng put on his trench coat and left directly.

Xia Jun hurried after him. "President Zhou! President Zhou! We haven't discussed our collaboration 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 would chase after him.

They were too green. So green that it made him panic.

"President Zhou, President Zhou!" Xia Jun stretched out a hand after him.

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

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

Could someone tell him what "emerald cold-brew frosted slices" meant? And what was "Eastern secret-recipe green glazed cubes"?

Who changed his menu?

Who was it?!

While Xia Jun raged helplessly on this side, in the private room next door, Shi Jihan happily ate lobster in one hand and mandarin fish in the other. His cheeks were puffed out as he chewed, yet he did not forget to claim credit before the other two. "See? I told you, there was absolutely no problem! Their collaboration is over before it even began."

Never mind the method. The only question was whether the job got done.

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

Shi Jihan waved a hand. "How could that happen? If anyone ends up on the news, 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 devotion.

Shen Qinghuai hurriedly helped him catch his breath. The two exchanged a look 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 face together. Neither of them could abandon the other.

Shi Jihan stuffed the 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, zero wasn't far away now ^-^

That scammer system trying to fool a money-grubber into joining the army—haha, get lost.

[By the way,] 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? Has the result come out?]

This concerned whether he could sit back and collect money in the future, hehe.

000: [It has.]

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

000 imitated its superior, speaking in a cold, mechanical voice. "What a dreamer. It is recommended that human society classify self-fraud as a criminal offense."

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

It did not matter if this project had fallen through. He could still get pregnant with the squid burger lobster project!

...

The next day at work.

Shi Bochuan and Shen Qinghuai entered wearing masks. Neither used the main entrance, instead sneaking from the underground parking garage to the office.

As they passed the break room, they heard people discussing something.

"Did you hear? Our sworn enemy Xia Jun got pranked last night?"

"I heard too, hahahahaha. He wanted to steal our project and invited President Zhou to dinner. He found out President Zhou had been watching his diet for fitness 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 and honestly. Who would be shameless enough to do something like that?"

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

How did everyone find out overnight?!

Shen Qinghuai's face burned. He pulled his mask higher, temporarily failing to notice that his hand was being held.

[Ding, Malice Points +9] ```

The moment Shen Qinghuai stepped into the project team's office, a pleasant sound rang beside Shi Jihan's ear.