「The early morning in City A shed the vibrant lights of the night, revealing the desolate coldness unique to the steel forest. In a towering castle of two hundred and ninety-nine floors, a man lying at the pinnacle of the world slowly opened his gem-like eyes.」
「This perfect man is the ruler who controls the economic lifeline of the world, possessing immense wealth and noble blood, excellent character, and outstanding temperament, drawing the world’s attention.」
The perfect man, Song Shenxue, opened his eyes, lying quietly in bed, feeling for a moment, without the familiar suffocating sensation.
As an overbearing CEO in a Mary Sue novel, Song Shenxue, like all his peers, suffered from some medically difficult-to-cure ailments to varying degrees.
For example, the claustrophobia and stomach issues common among other overbearing CEOs, while he often felt cold all over and had difficulty breathing upon waking.
Song Shenxue let out a gentle breath.
It turned out he wasn’t sick; it was simply because he had been sleeping at too high an altitude before, leading to oxygen deprivation.
Now, sleeping in this first-floor rental, the problem that had troubled him for over twenty years had miraculously resolved itself.
Oh, Snow King, you’ve been trapped by the Mary Sue world.
Song Shenxue sat up, threw off the covers, and calmly surveyed his surroundings.
Before him were gray-white walls, and the room was sparsely furnished.
The entire room contained only a set of table and chairs, a sliding door wardrobe, a bed, and the noble and aloof him on the bed.
After waking up, he still hadn’t changed back.
Song Shenxue maintained a calm expression, yet a low chuckle escaped from the corner of his mouth.
“——Interesting.”
At that moment, his roommate, Li Guanjia, happened to pass by his room. Hearing the derisive laugh from inside, he displayed an expression of ‘as expected, it’s like this again.’
Ever since this down-and-out young master had his head caught in the door a week ago, he had been acting strangely.
Li Guanjia sighed; truly, heaven had eyes!
This young master Song had previously relied on his wealthy and powerful family to run rampant in City A, not knowing how many luxury cars he had wrecked.
But ever since the Song family went bankrupt, and his parents died in a car accident shortly thereafter, the once despised young master had fallen from heaven to hell, now forced to share a rental with Li Guanjia in this modest two-bedroom apartment.
At first, their interactions were minimal, but in recent days, Song Shenxue often stood alone in a corner, revealing a meaningful expression towards the shabby environment, occasionally envisioning pie charts in his eyes.
This sent chills down Li Guanjia’s spine.
His mind uncontrollably paired a BGM for the young master—“I have been reborn, back to the first day of bankruptcy…”
Li Guanjia shook his head; his current priority was to uninstall the Green River novel.
As he lamented the unpredictability of life, he walked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for himself.
Fifteen minutes later, accompanied by a light click, footsteps sounded as someone opened the door and stepped out.
Though he knew what he was about to see, Li Guanjia instinctively glanced over.
What he first saw was a face.
The young man who opened the door had pale skin, and his slightly long bangs seemed to have been carefully styled, revealing a clean and smooth forehead. His eyebrows and eyes resembled a delicate ink painting, perfectly balancing his overly cold demeanor.
He looked like the embodiment of early spring, exuding a refreshing and upright aura.
A glance downward showed that the shirt’s buttons were meticulously fastened to the top, and the crimson tie accentuated his slender and fair neck.
The bent elbows rested on a coat he hadn’t yet put on, and his long legs, wrapped in suit pants, took steady steps, making him appear like a top model stepping out of a poster.
“Good morning, Li butler.”
Noticing Li Guanjia looking at him, Song Shenxue nodded gently, greeting him politely and warmly.
Li Guanjia: “……”
Li Guanjia: “I’m Li Guanjia!”
Upon hearing this, Song Shenxue displayed a look of realization: “Sorry, you remind me of an old acquaintance.”
Li Guanjia: “…………”
He looked at Song Shenxue with a resentful expression; what was this, Guanjia the same as Qing?
Seeing that Song Shenxue was about to leave, and recalling his current miserable situation, Li Guanjia hesitated for a moment and tentatively spoke up: “Um, would you like to have breakfast together?”
“Hmm? No.” Song Shenxue raised his hand to glance at his electronic watch, which was worth no more than twenty yuan, and succinctly replied, “I’m going to work.”
Li Guanjia: “……”
He couldn’t help but say, “Are you really going to work dressed like that?”
He looked at the impeccably tailored suit Song Shenxue was wearing with a complicated expression.
Strange, it wasn’t made of particularly expensive fabric, yet on him, it looked like a custom high-end brand?
While Li Guanjia silently complained, Song Shenxue turned his head, showing a puzzled expression: “What’s wrong? I’ve always dressed like this for work.”
Li Guanjia was momentarily choked by the implication in his words.
That may be true… but who wears a suit to work at a convenience store! You’re not an overbearing CEO!!!
After saying this, Song Shenxue calmly nodded at him and stepped out.
Li Guanjia watched Song Shenxue’s resolute figure leave, his gaze lingering on his thick hair, thinking affectionately, something must be wrong in there.
*
——Song Shenxue was indeed an overbearing CEO.
This was his third day since crossing over from the Mary Sue world to this unfamiliar world.
Three days ago, Song Shenxue was just like any other day.
In the morning, he discussed the correlation between the cooling weather and the Wang family’s bankruptcy with his subordinates at the company.
In the afternoon, he went to the golf course to chat and laugh with partners.
In the evening, he enjoyed the riverside night view with friends on a cruise, indulging in a luxurious seafood feast and a rose milk bath before lying down on his several hundred square meter big bed and slowly falling asleep.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange world.
More accurately, he had crossed from one book to another.
Song Shenxue had long known that he was the overbearing CEO protagonist in a Mary Sue novel.
As is well known, every overbearing CEO, despite being worth billions and possessing the majority of the world’s wealth, feels lonely at the top. They appear cold and ruthless on the surface, yet deep down, they yearn for a sincere relationship.
According to the trope, one day he would fall in love at first sight with a poor little white flower by the roadside and propose to support her.
And the little white flower would be steadfast and refuse to yield, but he, being in a high position, would take her by force.
If the plot were richer, the little white flower would run away with a child, and he would suddenly realize he was in a chase to reclaim his wife…
Song Shenxue was very clear about his role, so for the past twenty-two years, he had been diligently following the storyline, but he had not yet met his destined little white flower when he inexplicably crossed over.
He had become a minor character with the same name as his, from a business war novel he had casually read.
He couldn’t recall the specific content of this no-CP business war novel, only that it was filled with various business tactics, and his timing of crossing over was quite unfortunate.
The Song family had messed up a project, leading to a broken capital chain and a stock market crash overnight. Under the pressure, Song Shenxue’s parents died in a car accident due to fatigue while driving. The original character had nearly fallen to the point of filming adult films to pay off the overwhelming debts.
This forced Song Shenxue, upon his arrival, to take over all the mess left by the original character.
However, Song Shenxue didn’t mind; he still decided to domineeringly follow his own storyline.
After all, he—was just too overbearing.
*
At seven in the morning, Song Shenxue arrived punctually at his workplace, the convenience store.
This was the job the original character found after the bankruptcy, and as part of the mess, it was inherited by Song Shenxue.
Song Shenxue was adaptable and had a strong learning ability; in just a few days, he had learned enough to manage the convenience store’s affairs.
The work at the convenience store was simple yet fulfilling, and the smoothness of it made Song Shenxue momentarily forget that this was a blood-soaked business war novel.
But today, as soon as he arrived at the store, he keenly sensed something was off.
Sure enough, his gaze dropped.
The “OPEN” sign at the store entrance had been secretly altered to “NOOPEN” with an oil-based black pen by the rival store, and the Fortune Cat placed on the counter had its paw broken, turning it from a fortune-bringing cat into a misfortune-bringing cat, crazily digging money from the store.
This was a lowly business tactic, yet it brought great shock to this Mary Sue native.
They dared to abuse a cat; he would report this to the animal protection association!
Damn it, isn’t business war just about shouting that the weather is getting cold and the Wang family is breaking?!
*
After a chaotic scene, Song Shenxue finally managed to repair the Fortune Cat and the sign with his superb craftsmanship, and it was almost time to open the store for business.
This convenience store was located in a university town, usually with a decent flow of customers, primarily students from nearby universities.
Today happened to be the first day of the university semester, and many students came to the convenience store to buy snacks or daily necessities.
Originally, there should have been two employees working in the store, but the other one had fallen ill recently, so all the responsibilities of watching the convenience store fell on Song Shenxue alone.
Fortunately, early in the morning was not the peak time for customer flow, so Song Shenxue managed to cope.
In the past few days, due to the summer vacation, there hadn’t been many customers in the store, and the university students were unaware that there was a new employee named Song Shenxue.
After all, the Song family had gone bankrupt only two months ago, and the original character had only been working at this convenience store for half a month.
As the university students hurried into the convenience store, they were instantly dazzled by the sight of the impeccably dressed Song Shenxue standing behind the counter.
“What’s going on? The CEO is here to experience life?”
“Is it to compete with that little shop across the street? Let the employees resist temptation; such sharp business tactics, there must be a master behind this store.”
“He’s so handsome and still working at a convenience store; I’d be willing to support him with my living expenses.”
“Rewarding yourself again? Do you think you’re worthy of such good fortune? Maybe the next second, a rich woman or man will descend from the heavens and whip out a bank card.”
“And say to him—‘Man, you’re clean enough to qualify to have my children!’.”
“Wow, please write another hundred chapters!”
Song Shenxue, with keen hearing, absorbed all these exchanges, feeling he had grasped a new insight.
He was the master.
When the time came, he could directly whip out a bank card; it would definitely be very cool and overbearing, he learned that.
The road of the overbearing CEO was long, and he would seek it out.
He remained busy until noon, and the customer flow in the store noticeably decreased. Song Shenxue glanced at the time, left the counter, and went to restock the empty shelves.
The shelf for chips was partially empty, and as Song Shenxue restocked, he studied the ingredient list for the chips.
What a long ingredient list; for such a long ingredient list, it only costs three yuan a bag.
Song Shenxue, the overbearing CEO, felt as if he had discovered a new continent; the longer the ingredient list, the lower the price, it was simply too conscientious.
He decided to exercise his employee benefits and buy this bag of chips at a discount, to taste this delicacy he had never eaten before.
Song Shenxue carefully selected a bag of tomato-flavored chips, opened the package, and chewed, chewed, chewed.
It was somewhat tasty.
Why hadn’t the nutritionist at home ever recommended this delicacy to him?
A crisp bell rang at the entrance, and another customer entered the store.
He continued to chew, slowly turning around, just in time to meet the gaze of a man looking over.
The man was extremely tall, standing in front of the glass door, almost blocking out a large swath of sunlight, yet he wasn’t of a rugged build; he stood tall and upright like a pine tree in the mountains.
His shoulders were broad, waist narrow, and legs long; even in simple and plain clothing, he seemed like an uncarved piece of cold jade, exuding an extraordinary and clean aura.
It seemed he was also a student from a nearby university.
The man’s gaze lingered on Song Shenxue for a few seconds before he raised his head to glance at the surveillance camera above him.
Stealing snacks under the surveillance camera, such a fresh and unique method of operation.
Is he a suit-clad thug?
Duan Qin calmly shifted his gaze away, searching for the cashier in the store.
Noticing that there was no sign of the cashier in the convenience store, Duan Qin slightly furrowed his brow.
Seemingly sensing Duan Qin’s hesitation, Song Shenxue raised an eyebrow: “I’m the cashier; what’s wrong? Not satisfied?”
Duan Qin: “……”