“I am just curious! Jin Huaiqian’s aura, tsk tsk, even from ten meters away, that aura can scare people to death. No matter how you look at it, he is the one on top. As for you, although you are not someone easy to deal with either, in front of him, it is a bit.”
Although Shen Yi did not finish his sentence, Xie Sui understood it perfectly in his heart.
Before meeting Jin Huaiqian, he had never even considered the option of being on the bottom. But after meeting Jin Huaiqian, that man possessed an innate, almost domineering control and a steady aura. From their very first clash, Xie Sui clearly felt that sensation of being completely suppressed.
But could he say this to Shen Yi? Of course not.
“Nonsense,” Xie Sui said without changing his expression, “of course it is me.”
Shen Yi was half-believing and half-doubting. “Really? That is Jin Huaiqian we are talking about.”
“What is wrong with Jin Huaiqian?” Xie Sui interrupted him. “Alright, stop snooping around about these useless things. I will give you a proper task.”
“What task?”
“Help me look into something,” Xie Sui said. “What are Jin Huaiqian’s usual hobbies? What does he like? What does he hate? Especially when it comes to dining, what are his taste preferences?”
“Yo? Are you launching a general offensive? Preparing to cater to his preferences?”
“Get lost,” Xie Sui laughed and scolded.
After hanging up the phone, Xie Sui opened WeChat and only then saw the message Yan Shuzhi had sent him.
[Have you read Zhao Shang’s article?]
S: [I reviewed the original draft, but I haven’t looked at the newly published version yet.]
Seeing him ask this, Xie Sui suddenly had a bad premonition.
He found the public account and clicked open the newly published article.
The more he looked, the darker his expression became. Several paragraphs of the content had been modified, and they were completely different from the version shown to him.
A lot of out-of-context, eye-catching words had been added inside, along with descriptions that fabricated the subject’s background.
Yan Shuzhi replied to him at this time.
[He must have changed the content. The article has already gained traction, and it is too late to change it now.]
With a gloomy face, Xie Sui called Zhao Shang.
The ringtone sounded for a few seconds before it was picked up.
The other side was noisy and chaotic, and Zhao Shang’s tone was full of drunkenness.
“Hello, Brother Xie Sui, what is the matter? Are you coming over? We happen to be singing.”
Xie Sui’s voice carried a rare trace of anger. “Why did you modify the article’s content without authorization?”
Zhao Shang replied carelessly, “Brother Xie Sui, it is not that I want to lecture you, but our purpose is to gain traffic. If we published it according to how it was before, there wouldn’t be any impact at all. How would we attract people to read it?”
Xie Sui said coldly, “But you cannot just fabricate stories at will either.”
“I didn’t fabricate anything, I just used a bit of exaggeration. There are plenty of people who are more excessive than us, and in the end, I haven’t seen anything bad happen to them. On the contrary, they make so much money that their hands go soft.”
“Zhao Shang, you.”
“Alright, alright, they are calling me, I will hang up first.”
The phone rang with a busy tone.
Looking at the blacked-out screen, Xie Sui suddenly thought of Zhao Shang when he had just entered the company two years ago.
Because of his status as a returning student from abroad, it was inevitable for the young man to carry a bit of arrogance, but that could not hide his vibrant and energetic state.
Whenever he encountered something he did not understand, he would earnestly ask for guidance and seriously ponder the direction of his writing. His goal back then was to write good articles with profound content that could resonate with people.
After just a short span of two years, he had become so eager for quick success and instant benefits.
Xie Sui felt deeply that it was a pity.
Xie Sui had already not gone to the company for several days, so Yan Shuzhi had no choice but to call and ask him. “What is wrong? I haven’t seen a sign of you for the past few days.”
Xie Sui was currently lying sideways on the sofa at home, saying lazily, “Is this because you miss me?”
Yan Shuzhi laughed on the other end of the phone. “Be serious with me. Is it because of Zhao Shang’s matter?”
Xie Sui said, “Don’t think of him as being that important. Right now, in my heart and in my brain, there is no position for him yet.”
“Then why did you suddenly stop coming?”
Xie Sui stretched himself, looking at the bright sun outside the window. “Working from home is quite comfortable too. Going there too much is boring. If it really doesn’t work out, just deduct this month’s salary from me.”
“No need for me to say it, the people over at finance have probably already calculated your absence as truancy. Doing this will make people hate you.”
“I think I have already started to make people hate me.”
Yan Shuzhi sighed. “Regarding Zhao Shang’s matter, I have already sought him out.”
Xie Sui snorted. “He seems to treat me as an imaginary enemy. I don’t know where I provoked him.”
Yan Shuzhi also found it strange, not understanding why Zhao Shang suddenly started targeting Xie Sui.
Xie Sui: “Alright, let’s not talk about him. If there is nothing else, I will hang up. If you really miss me that much, you are welcome to come to my house as a guest.”
Xie Sui hung up the phone, and then his cell phone vibrated. It was a message sent by Shen Yi.
It was the summary of the information Shen Yi had investigated and compiled for him.
Xie Sui read it word by word, and then he sent a red packet to Shen Yi.
Xie Sui began to frequently send messages to Jin Huaiqian. He sent messages about every little thing, as small as a tree starting to drop its leaves or a bird pooping on his car; he would take a photo and send it over for Jin Huaiqian to see, not caring whether the other party replied or not, just focusing on sending them continuously by himself.
Another thing was that Xie Sui started cooking.
This person, whose ten fingers usually didn’t touch spring water and who normally relied on takeout or restaurants to keep himself alive, actually began to study recipes very seriously.
It scared Shen Yi into thinking that Xie Sui’s head had been broken from an impact.
This behavior could be described as exceedingly rare in the world.
According to Shen Yi’s words, the speed at which Xie Sui changed his little lovers was faster than the speed of certain men in that particular aspect.
He was virtually exceptional and gentle to every single ex, but he always maintained one philosophy: items that could be resolved with money would be resolved with money, and once certain levels were involved, then it was not far from the end either.
Shen Yi stood in Xie Sui’s kitchen, originally wanting to watch him make a fool of himself, but he unexpectedly discovered that Xie Sui’s movements while cooking were extremely skilled and efficient.
Shen Yi was dumbfounded. “When did you learn how to cook?”
Xie Sui turned off the fire, picked out a piece of meat from the pot, and gave it to Shen Yi. “Taste it?”
The appearance of the dish indeed looked enticing, but Shen Yi was still a bit hesitant. Xie Sui grew impatient and simply stuffed the meat directly into his mouth.
Shen Yi chewed subconsciously, and his eyes suddenly lit up. It was unexpectedly delicious.
“Wow, you are pretty good at this. I still want to eat more.”
Xie Sui said, “No more. Go make it yourself.”
Shen Yi pointed at the stir-fry pan. “Then what is this inside here?”
Xie Sui said, “That is not for you to eat.”
Hearing him say this, Shen Yi immediately associated it with one person. “It couldn’t be for Jin Huaiqian, right?”
Xie Sui took out an insulated lunch box from the cabinet, which he had specially bought just two days ago. He scooped the food into the lunch box. “It is exactly for him, otherwise why would I cook?”
Shen Yi: “…”
Could this be that to catch a man’s heart, one must first catch a man’s stomach?
Xie Sui had also baked some desserts. He had never imagined that someone who looked so cold and stern like Jin Huaiqian would actually like to eat sweets.
Shen Yi watched eagerly as Xie Sui packed all the baked small cookies into the lunch box, and then heard him say, “I am going to deliver the food now, make yourself at home. Bye-bye.”
The door was ruthlessly shut right in front of his eyes.
Shen Yi’s brow and eyes drooped down. “Bye, bye.”