Meng Zhixing looked at his second brother, then at Jiang Ze, torn.
Am I going to have to call Xiao Ze my sister-in-law now? Wait, would Xiao Ze call me Uncle Zhixing or his younger brother?
Jiang Ze looked at Meng Zhixing standing there with a conflicted expression, puzzled.
Had the poison been in his body so long that it reached his brain and made him stupid?
"What are you standing around for? Eat the pastry he gave you."
Meng Zhiyuan's expression was cold, his tone a little harsher than before. Meng Zhixing startled again and immediately snapped out of it.
"Ah... huh? Eat it now?"
Yes, yes, now's the best time! I just put that pill in, so it's still fresh. It'll definitely work best now! The boss really knows his stuff!
In the end, Meng Zhixing stiffly forced down the pastry under their watchful gazes.
The pastry tasted quite good. It was just that his second brother's stare was terrifying.
And without any water, it was a little hard to swallow.
After Meng Zhixing finished the pastry, his second brother shooed him out before he even had a chance to drink any water.
He even got a scolding before he left.
"Use your brain next time."
Seeing that Meng Zhiyuan still had work to handle in the study, Jiang Ze went out to the yard to check on the spirit fruit he had planted earlier.
He watered it with another two drops of Spirit Spring Water. Only after seeing that the sprouts were starting to grow taller did he leave, reassured.
"This spirit fruit cost me a lot of points. It had better grow."
"System, is this world about to end or something? Do you have to work overtime every day? What about your performance targets? Don't you care anymore? Why haven't you told me anything lately?"
The system spoke languidly. "Host, you seem pretty happy spending every day in the boss's arms~"
"Ahem, what do you know? As the boss's devoted lackey, of course I have to get along with him. It's all part of the plan!"
The system seemed to have been rendered speechless again. It did not respond to that, but it did give Jiang Ze an important piece of information.
"Host~ You'd better be careful. That Han Ke is about to lash out in desperation~"
Jiang Ze's gaze flickered. They really had been keeping that woman firmly at bay these past two days. It was bound to leave her frustrated and resentful.
She might well stir up trouble in the next couple of days.
"What did you say? Those aren't the terms you gave me before!"
Han Ke's expression was dark as she anxiously bit her nails, clearly unhappy with what the person on the other end was saying.
"You have the nerve to bring up our previous terms? I told you to seduce Meng Zhiyuan and steal the Meng Corporation's confidential information. Have you made any progress on either?"
Han Ke frowned, her expression sour.
These past few days, she had not been able to get between those two at all. Forget seducing him-she could barely exchange a couple of words with Meng Zhiyuan.
"Fine. Since you can't seduce Meng Zhiyuan, I won't make things difficult for you. Just do what I told you to do, and once it's done, you'll get three million."
Without waiting for her agreement, the person on the other end hung up.
Han Ke hesitated, but remembering how urgently she needed money, she silently made up her mind.
Over the next few days, everything in the villa seemed peaceful to Jiang Ze. Han Ke behaved herself, too.
Meng Zhiyuan also informed Grandpa Meng about the matter. Upon hearing it, Grandpa Meng went straight to Han Ke's father.
Back when Grandpa Meng was in the military, Han Ke's father had saved his life.
At the time, Meng Zhiyuan, Grandpa Meng's second son, was still an infant. The two older men had verbally arranged a marriage between their children.
Now, Grandpa Meng could no longer dictate his descendants' love lives, so he decided to discuss matters with Han Ke's father and settle that debt of gratitude.
Han Ke also understood that her days at the villa were numbered.
One afternoon, Jiang Ze had no classes, so he came home from school early.
"Elder Feng, is Han Ke out?"
Elder Feng was directing the servants as they tidied up. At the question, he shook his head.
"Oh, I believe I saw her leave early this morning. She seemed to be pulling a suitcase, too. She left in such a hurry that I didn't get a chance to ask."
Jiang Ze frowned. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Han Ke had gotten practically nothing out of these past few days, and she had simply left?
"System, this isn't right... Why do I feel like there's a huge trap waiting for me?"
"You should be careful, Host~ Han Ke won't just let this go~"
He nodded. True, he had seen Han Ke go into Meng Zhiyuan's study over the past few days, but she definitely had not found any useful information.
Even if she had found something, it would have been a smokescreen Meng Zhiyuan had deliberately left for her.
Unable to figure it out, Jiang Ze stopped trying. He sent Meng Zhiyuan a message asking him to bring home a little cake that evening, then curled up in the living room to watch TV.
"Still up?"
It was almost nine by the time Meng Zhiyuan returned. Both of them had already eaten dinner.
Jiang Ze made a point of checking his hands. Sure enough, he was carrying a box with a little cake inside.
"Uncle Zhiyuan, you're finally home!"
He eagerly went over, took the man's coat, and hung it on the coat rack. Then he made a beeline for the cake in the man's hand.
He had been craving it all afternoon.
Watching his greedy little display, Meng Zhiyuan shook his head indulgently.
Once they had both finished getting ready for bed, they returned to the bedroom on the Third Floor. Meng Zhiyuan sat on the edge of the bed and beckoned to the young man, who had already showered.
"Come here."
Drying his hair, Jiang Ze walked over to stand in front of him.
The man had impressively strong arms. With one casual sweep, he pulled Jiang Ze into his embrace.
To keep his balance, Jiang Ze had to loop his arms around the man's neck.
"Mmph... wait..."
"Open your mouth."
Jiang Ze obediently opened his mouth and tried his best to kiss him back.
Lost in their kiss, neither of them heard the phone by the bed ringing persistently.
The caller seemed to have tried several times, with no intention of stopping.
"Beep, beep, beep!"
The sound in Jiang Ze's mind startled him so badly that he nearly bit the man's tongue.
What's going on?!
"Host, I really hate to interrupt your fun, but... you and the boss are being broadcast live!"
Huh? What do you mean, broadcast live?
Seeing the youngster's panicked expression, Meng Zhiyuan frowned slightly.
Only then did he notice the phone that had been ringing beside them.
"Host, there's a camera! It's in the little box by the desk!"
Alarmed, Jiang Ze climbed out of the man's arms and hurried over to the desk. Sure enough, there was a little black box.
He pointed it out to Meng Zhiyuan and silently mouthed the word "camera."
By then, Meng Zhiyuan had answered the phone. The caller was Mu Shaoxuan.
"Zhiyuan, oh my God, stop kissing! You're already on Trending Search!"
Meng Zhiyuan's expression turned frighteningly cold. He got up and dealt with the camera before Mu Shaoxuan continued on the other end.
"Someone set you two up! Who could've installed a camera in your bedroom? They even put it on a timer-the stream started at ten on the dot."
"And they picked some tiny, obscure streamer's livestream room. If that streamer hadn't happened to be signed with my family's company, we wouldn't have caught it so quickly!"
Damn, they timed this for when we'd be going to bed! If Han Ke didn't do this, I'll eat that camera!
Jiang Ze was furious. For all his precautions, he had never expected Han Ke to be so underhanded that she would do something as disgusting as installing a camera.
At that thought, he suddenly remembered that he and the boss had just been kissing, and his face went pale.
Oh, come on! It really was broadcast live? My reputation!
He quickly opened his phone and went straight to Trending Search. Sure enough, a freshly posted video was rapidly climbing in popularity.
Before you continue