Chapter 27 - Getting Rid of that Bigshot 4
Yi Song didn’t find anything wrong with what he said.
From his point of view, the two were just talking about some daily life matters, and Mister Shen was being very “sensible”, somewhat defending Mister Zhou with his words. Be it sincere or false, at least on the surface he was behaving appropriately.
On the other end of the line, Sam fell silent for a moment, as if he’d understood something but also as if he hadn’t understood anything. Because when he started speaking again, his tone was perfectly normal, “Mister Shen is really considerate.”
Chi Xiaochi replied, “As I should be.”
After exchanging a few more words, he hung up. Chi Xiaochi changed the channel and watched some entertainment news for a while, actually reaping some unexpected gains.
He saw the mouth that Zhou Kai was feeding on the outside in the news.
She had attended a charity event last night, and was currently being interviewed by a journalist.
She was also Asian and about 25 years old. Since her debut, she’d been involved few scandals. She was semi-retired from the modelling circle, but could be said to be an active new star in the charity world, especially for supporting children of colour. She was making quite the all-out effort and had an excellent reputation in the eyes of the public.
A good reputation, meant that she couldn’t afford to lose it.
Since entering the circle, this woman had been widely known for her diligence, and seldom known for negative news. Zhou Kai had also taken a fancy to her for this very reason and had hence chosen her. He supported her up from behind, taking her higher and higher with every push, holding her aloft and surrounding her with flowers and applause.
Over time, the halo on her head couldn’t be taken off nor removed.
Because she neither dared to remove it, nor could she bear to remove it.
As a result, she was even more proactive in hiding this extremely romantic love than Zhou Kai.
It had to be said that Zhou Kai really knew how to play with people’s hearts. But fortunately, while Zhou Kai was an expert at controlling others, he wasn’t at all good at controlling himself.
This was precisely Chi Xiaochi’s chance.
After his allotted television time was over, Yi Song punctually shut off the television, wheeled Chi Xiaochi back to his bedroom, and carried him onto the bed.
……After yesterday’s battle, this time he finally knew to be a little gentler.
Upon lying down in bed, Chi Xiaochi said to Yi Song, “I want some pudding.”
Yi Song replied, “Mister Shen, it is not dessert time now.”
Chi Xiaochi said, “I want it now.”
Yi Song was neither servile nor overbearing, “Then I’ll help you contact Mister Zhou and ask if I should give you some.”
Chi Xiaochi seemed to hesitate, “……No need then.”
Beating Yi Song yesterday was Chi Xiaochi letting him know that he wasn’t easy to mess with.
Going along with Yi Song today was showing weakness to his enemy, letting Yi Song think that he was still the weak Mister Shen. He didn’t plan on smashing the broken pot and acting crazy to the end.
As of yet, the only assets Chi Xiaochi had in his grasp were the “trust” points that Shen Changqing had accumulated from Zhou Kai for the past three years.
And now wasn’t yet the time to cash in.
After Yi Song left, Chi Xiaochi said, “Not letting me have even a single pudding. What a piece of shit.”
061 comforted him, “Don’t lower yourself to his level by fighting with him. He’s just a servant and can only follow Zhou Kai’s orders.”
Chi Xiaochi said, “They’re all dung beetles. Don’t bother dividing them into big, medium and small ones.”
061 thought, really, what even is this mouth of Chi Xiaochi’s.
Chi Xiaochi laid on the bed but still didn’t want to give up on his sweets, “I remember that there’s foodstuff in the shop. I want to exchange for an ice cream cone.”
061, “Exchange with what? ……Zhou Kai’s goodwill points?”
Chi Xiaochi shot back, “What else could I use?”
“But there are only 45 points left……”
“Those goodwill points of his are a steaming pile of shit. It doesn’t matter whether they’re there or not,” Chi Xiaochi said, “With a psychopath like Zhou Kai, his goodwill level towards Shen Changqing may even be linked to his adrenaline levels. The more he beats him, the more he loves him; the more miserable he looks, the more he loves him. At present, I only need his trust towards Shen Changqing. A physical ice cream cone is worth more than this disgusting person’s goodwill points.”
061 let out a helpless laugh, “……What flavour would you like?”
They didn’t need to consider the surveillance cameras in the bedroom. Even though they were on all year round, 061 had already used a recording of Shen Changqing sleeping to thoroughly cover up everything that shouldn’t appear.
Even if Zhou Kai were to pull up the remote, real-time footage to spy on Shen Changqing’s every move, he wouldn’t be able to find anything out of the ordinary.
A few minutes later, Chi Xiaochi pinched a chocolate ice cream cone between his fingers, licking and biting at it.
Chi Xiaochi sang softly, “Nothing to eat, nothing to wear? The enemy will supply us.”
061, “……”
He continued to sing, “No guns, no cannons? The enemy will forge them for us.”
Probably because Cheng Yuan’s ability covered it in the last world, only now did 061 finally discover Chi Xiaochi’s weakness.
……Out of the 22 words he sang, only two were in tune.
In order to keep Chi Xiaochi from singing any longer, 061 coughed, “What do you think about the current situation?”
Chi Xiaochi nibbled at his ice cream as he said, “For now don’t think about it, there are things to be done already.”
At Chi Xiaochi’s behest, 061 registered a new email address and effortlessly acquired Sam’s email address.
He sent out an email, “I can give you what you want. What can you give me.”
About ten minutes later, Sam replied, “You are?”
In those ten minutes, he’d probably already checked the IP address of the sender, but was doomed from the beginning to come up with nothing.
Chi Xiaochi said, “His physical condition, you’re very concerned about it. So am I.”
This could be considered an admission of his identity.
While Sam quickly caught on, he didn’t dare to declare his position so easily, “Yes, of course I’m concerned.”
Chi Xiaochi said, “Since you’re so concerned, I’ll give you an opportunity. Hope you can grasp onto it.”
Sam replied, “After you give me what I want, what do you want?”
Chi Xiaochi ignored Sam’s reply, going offline after sending his last message, devoting his attention to eating his ice cream cone.
061 asked, “You want to work together with Sam?”
“I suppose so,” Chi Xiaochi said, “After all, only I can give him what he needs.”
061 asked, “How can you be sure you’re not asking a tiger for its skin?”
Chi Xiaochi said, “Then I just have to prepare the muzzle and the cage first.”
Since Chi Xiaochi was well aware of the situation, 061 didn’t ask further.
From that bright-eyed, scheming mode, Chi Xiaochi reverted back to being that slightly childish brat.
As he watched Chi Xiaochi chomp into the waffle cone with relish, a focused look in his eyes, 061 couldn’t help but laugh, “Is it that delicious?”
“Nah, I just suddenly had a craving,” Chi Xiaochi licked his lips, “……Since I was a child, ice cream cones have always been my favourite.”
Just like Chi Xiaochi had said, most humans would have things they liked and cared about. Although Zhou Kai wasn’t qualified as a human, he still had his own hobbies. There were some abnormal ones, like being a pervert; but there were also normal ones, like stamp collecting.
In the two days before Zhou Kai was due to return, Chi Xiaochi kept a constant watch on the every move of Zhou Kai, Zhou Kai’s little lover and Sam. In his spare time, he would ask 061 to take out Zhou Kai’s treasured album, which he kept locked in a safe, to appreciate.
He asked 061, “Are these real?”
061 said, “The real thing.”
“Are they expensive?”
“Out of print.”
Chi Xiaochi pointed at one of them, “This one looks a little old, what’s its estimated value?”
061 gave him a number.
Chi Xiaochi, “……What? How much?”
061 repeated himself.
Chi Xiaochi pointed at the one below it, “Then how about this one?”
After 061 quoted his price, Chi Xiaochi was rather suspicious, “Liu-laoshi, don’t try to trick me.”
061 said, “What I’m giving you is their auction price. I didn’t take into account their rise in value since then.”
Chi Xiaochi, “……”
No wonder Zhou Kai treasured this stamp collection album so much.
Flipping through the album from beginning to end, Chi Xiaochi’s only thought was that he was holding more than twenty deeds to villas.
But compared to the monetary value of the stamps, to Zhou Kai, the emotional value of the dilapidated stamp album might be even greater.
When he was in a good mood previously, Zhou Kai had taken out this stamp album for Shen Changqing to look at, explaining that this stamp album had been left to him by his father. The first few pages of stamps had been his father’s collection and weren’t valuable, but he still kept them together with the other priceless stamps.
With regards to this, 061’s thoughts were that humans were truly complex creatures.
Meanwhile, Chi Xiaochi’s thoughts were, aiyo, you still know you have a father? If your father were to see you using Shen Changqing as a sandbag, what would he think?
Chi Xiaochi laid on the bed. Despite not having set a foot out the door, he knew what was happening in the outside world. He was diligently paying attention to everyone’s movements.
It was not until Zhou Kai pushed open the door to Shen Changqing’s room that he shut off the surveillance monitor 061 had given him, put down the book he was using as a prop, and looked up at him.
Zhou Kai sat down by the bed and said, “Are you feeling better?”
In the days after beating Shen Changqing, he was always abnormally gentle, as if that crazed person hadn’t been him.
Furthermore, because he had absolute control over Shen Changqing, he could even easily omit the bridge part where the average abusive husband would kneel on the ground and beg his wife and children for forgiveness.
On the bed, Shen Changqing’s hands were pressed to the book. His expression was calm, but his fingertips were unconsciously shaking slightly. “Much better.”
Noticing his subtle movements, Zhou Kai laughed.
Then Chi Xiaochi watched with wide eyes as the goodwill level of 40 points displayed on the dashboard rose by 7 points.
Chi Xiaochi, “……”
061, “……”
061 thought, this guy really is a pervert.
After Chi Xiaochi came back from his shock, he said happily, “Fuck, from now on, we can cash in our cards from Zhou Kai.”
061 didn’t know what to say. He could only correct Chi Xiaochi out of his sense of societal responsibility as a system, “……Don’t swear.”
Chi Xiaochi thought for a moment, “Fuck, we have cards to cash.”
061, “……” This batch’s student was the most playful he’d ever had.
Zhou Kai ran a hand through Chi XIaochi’s hair. Chi Xiaochi bore it obediently, but bit his lips so hard they turned white.
Zhou Kai asked happily, “……Are you scared of me?”
Chi Xiaochi shook his head, then lowered it.
He looked around and found that the clock was missing from the bedside table. He casually asked, “The clock?”
Chi Xiaochi whispered, “When I was turning over in the middle of the night, it fell to the ground and broke.”
Chi Xiaochi knew that Yi Song wouldn’t have dared to speak out about being beaten and Zhou Kai thought that the “Shen Changqing” in front of him was still that Shen Changqing that had never dared to lie to him. He let out a casual “en”, not paying much attention at all to this insignificant loss.
He raised his hand and patted Chi Xiaochi’s chest, which had been fastened with a thick layer of bandages, “Don’t be scared. It’s not like I’ll hurt you right now.”
Chi Xiaochi, “Thank you.” Thank your eight generations of ancestors.
Zhou Kai said, “Staying all alone at home to heal from your wounds, you’re probably really bored, aren’t you?”
Chi Xiaochi frowned slightly. He took a long time to reply, “It’s alright.”
The shrinking appearance of the person before him trying his best to deliberate on his words, fearful of provoking him, greatly delighted Zhou Kai.
In response, his goodwill towards Shen Changqing rose slowly.
Zhou Kai said, “Recover well. In twenty days, the company will be holding a mid-year party. I hope you’ll be able to attend.” This was an excellent opportunity to exhibit the deep conjugal love between the chairman of the board and his partner. Naturally, Zhou Kai wouldn’t let that chance slip by.
Shen Changqing was clearly startled. He rubbed the wounds on his chest, as if wanting to dispute something, but in the end, he still gave up.
“……Okay.”
The past Shen Changqing has also experienced such a choice, but in the end, he had compromised.
20 days later, he had endured the pain from his still dully aching chest and gone to play the role of Zhou Kai’s good partner.
And Chi Xiaochi had also compromised. The aim was to do something in 20 days.
As soon as Zhou Kai left the room, his goodwill level that had risen to a frightful “80” began to fall.
Chi Xiaochi didn’t hesitate at all, quickly announcing the name of the cards he wanted to exchange for. 061 also didn’t dare dawdle and immediately started exchanging points for cards.
In the end, he got five cards.
Two amnesia cards; their function was to eliminate specific memories, but could only eliminate fragments of memories shorter than ten minutes.
One item displacement card; its function was to move items to a specific location, provided that the items to be moved weren’t heavier than 10kg, and the range of movement couldn’t exceed 500m.
One hypnosis card, a new product that had just been released in the system shop. It had a very short effect, lasting only half an hour.
And lastly, one strength enhancement card, which lasted one minute. Within one minute of using the card, the strength of the body would soar rapidly, but it was followed with a serious side effect: one minute later, the user would have all the strength in their body exhausted, their four limbs powerless.
Simply put, it was “a minute of power, two hours of paralysis”.
After a series of exchanges, in the end, there were still 39 goodwill points left.
Chi Xiaochi refreshed his storage, then expressed his satisfaction, “Very good. Take from the citizens, use for the citizens.”
With Sam there, Zhou Kai couldn’t be considered very busy, as he left all the trivial things to Sam while he was only responsible for making decisions for the company’s major affairs.
Due to that evening party, coupled with the fact that Shen Changqing was currently injured, he couldn’t do anything to Shen Changqing in those 20 days.
Overcome with boredom, he remembered that he still had a safe haven.
It had to be said that he still had feelings towards women. Even though he couldn’t produce a physiological reaction, but at least on the psychological front, it was much more pleasant than doing it with a man.
He had never been violent to his young and beautiful little mistress. Firstly, he was worried about leaving marks on her body. Secondly, he really did like her a little.
But that like could only remain like. He would forever be unable to marry her and bring her to his home.
Meanwhile, that little lover was quite cooperative and “contented”.
She could take his money, do some charity, and live in a villa. Other than having to depend on props to resolve herself when paying her public grain, everything else was good.
Naturally, she was content.
As a result, the two hit it off right away, getting along rather well both on the bed and in conversations.
Listening to the real-time audio relayed by 061, Chi Xiaochi sighed, “Old but brimming with strength.”
061, “……Isn’t us doing this a little perverted.”
Chi Xiaochi said, “Don’t stick gold on our faces. It’s very perverted.”
061, “……And you’re still listening.”
Chi Xiaochi, “I’m collecting information.”
If it had been someone else saying this whilst eavesdropping on another person’s privacy, 061 would definitely think of that person as an extremely sanctimonious pretend gentleman.
But Chi Xiaochi saying this had a kind of inexplicable credibility.
Because from the very beginning, Chi Xiaochi had never tried to be anything like a gentleman.
After listening in for two nights, and recording many, many AVI files, 061 felt like both his ears and soul had been severely sullied.
061 bitterly complained, “……I’m about to grow a sty.”
Chi Xiaochi replied, as if he had really seen the world, “Young people, ah, really don’t have much resilience.”
061, “……”
Young 061-laoshi, without saying anything more, downloaded a《Heart Sutra》off the internet and played it all around him, giving his soul a break.
Having had a good two-day weekend over at his lover’s place, Zhou Kai returned to his company, refreshed.
On that Monday morning, they had a regular meeting. After it ended, he returned to his office to work on his paperwork.
There weren’t many things to do today, so Zhou Kai planned to play golf in the afternoon after finishing off some simple paperwork.
He called the golf course he usually frequented to make an appointment and told the secretary about it.
But at about 10, a male assistant from a subordinate department called Zhou Kai’s secretary to inform him that the Autumn Conference that had been scheduled for next Tuesday had received some last-minute changes.
The secretary conveyed the news to Zhou Kai.
It wasn’t a small matter and needed to be discussed in a meeting. Zhou Kai quickly made the decision to cancel his golf plans. An emergency last-minute meeting would be held at 3pm in the central conference room on the fifteenth floor, which all mid-level leaders of the company and above needed to attend.
Because this event involved many departments, Zhou Kai specially requested that department leaders who couldn’t attend the meeting needed to participate in the meeting in real time through a phone or video call.
This kind of unforeseen event happening was a common occurrence. When the secretary received the notice, he proceeded to inform them one by one.
Chi Xiaochi, who was constantly monitoring Zhou Kai’s every move, saw this and said, “Liu-laoshi, do it.”
After these few days, he finally had a serious task to do. 061 resolutely complied with Chi Xiaochi’s request.
At 3pm that afternoon, the company’s top and mid-level leaders, including Sam, and a group of people who’d started the video call and were waiting for the meeting to begin, stared at the empty seat left for the chairman. They looked at each other, at their wit’s end.
The secretary was going crazy with panic. He called Zhou Kai’s number, but no one picked up.
He contacted Shen Changqing, but Mister Shen replied, Isn’t Mister Zhou at the company?
The secretary wanted to contact the secret lover, but he had only ever heard of their name and had never seen said person. He didn’t at all know where to start.
At 3:30, upon seeing everyone clearly becoming deeply worried, Sam stood up and began to appease them, “Everyone, don’t worry. Frank and I will stay back to try to contact Mister Zhou. The rest of you can return to your respective departments and get back to work. If there’s any news, I’ll contact everyone.”
Sam stayed back and everyone else scattered.
The secretary was panicked to the point of wanting to call the police. He suspected that Zhou Kai had been kidnapped. Otherwise, how could he possibly not come for the meeting?
Sam asked, “Could it be that Mister Zhou forgot?”
The secretary didn’t even consider this before replying, “Mister Zhou has always been rigorous when it comes to his work……”
The moment the words left his mouth, the secretary thought of the oversleeping incident that had happened not long ago. His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately denied that idea to himself.
It wasn’t until 4:30 sharp that Zhou Kai answered the secretary’s calls.
The secretary was panicked to the point that his entire face was covered in a thin layer of sweat, “Mister Zhou, where have you been?”
Zhou Kai frowned, “I’m at the golf course. Didn’t I tell you about it this morning?”
The secretary was stupefied, “You…… did you forget that there was a meeting this afternoon?
Zhou Kai opened his mouth and asked, “What meeting?”