Chapter Ch27.1 - Getting Rid of that Bigshot (4.1)
Chapter Ch27.1 - Getting Rid of that Bigshot (4.1)
translator: baumkuchen editors: serefina, glitterypanda
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?
sere: story’s picking up now
baum: also, this chap’s been split into two because it’s over 5k~