Mu Xiaoxiao gave up wasting time with him and issued a final ultimatum directly, “You have twenty minutes! Appear in your seat immediately!”
Click.
The person on the other end hung up the phone.
Qin Zhen picked up his phone, stared at the message on WeChat, dazed for a few seconds, and then suddenly sat up.
Today was the company’s awards gala.
It was today in his past life that their effeminate general manager had clung to him in the restroom, trying to keep him as a kept man. When he refused, he was repeatedly suppressed at the company, completely lacking traffic on the platform, and reduced to barely scraping by.
It was truly bizarre how some people actually begged others to take them.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and thought for a few seconds. Glancing casually to the left, he suddenly caught sight of Shen Jin’an standing at the bedroom doorway.
Having picked up a person from the road at dawn, and that person turning out to be Shen Jin’an, this matter only now gradually felt real in Qin Zhen’s mind.
After washing up, Shen Jin’an was wearing one of his T-shirts. It was a size too large when slipped on, and even though the clothes were cheap stall items, on Shen Jin’an they looked inexplicably noble, possessing an aura that made people hesitant to approach easily.
Being able to see someone this handsome early in the morning could at least soothe a trace of irritation.
Qin Zhen didn’t show his chaotic inner thoughts at all. He smiled lazily, “You’re in high spirits early in the morning, standing over there like a model?”
Shen Jin’an maintained a blank expression, as if he hadn’t heard Qin Zhen’s teasing at all. He said in an icy tone on his own accord, “Buy a cheap basic phone and a soft towel.”
“You really treat yourself like a big shot, don’t you? I have no money.”
Shen Jin’an frowned abruptly. In his lifetime, he had seen plenty of dark, twisted faces behind the scenes, but he had never seen someone so brazen to his face, especially given that he had already handed over a watch.
Greed was acceptable; no one was without greed, but greed should have its limits.
A cold glare flashed across the depths of his eyes, “Are you going to buy it or not?”
“I actually won’t buy it.” Qin Zhen didn’t take it to heart. Completely ignoring Shen Jin’an’s actions, he washed up, quickly got dressed, and left the house.
The system had been lurking in the shadows observing the whole time. Seeing Shen Jin’an’s expression, its tail straightened out in tension. Based on its years of mission experience, it had a lingering feeling that Qin Zhen was in big trouble.
If nothing went wrong, his name was probably already on the villain’s assassination list, while the host himself still didn’t care at all.
If the mission failed, it would be punished as well.
This was the hardest host it had ever guided; he really had nerves of steel!
June of every year marked the end of the fiscal year for L&M Live Streaming Company, where top streamers received awards and other streamers accompanied them for meetings.
Although Qin Zhen was unwilling to go, he was dead broke and still owed someone three thousand yuan for medical expenses from last night.
He didn’t like owing others money. Money was easy to return, but human favors were hard to repay. During his toughest times in his past life, he ate plain steamed buns for a consecutive month without borrowing a single cent from anyone.
Come to think of it, this live-streaming company of theirs was quite unscrupulous. They kept all streaming revenue in the company account, only releasing and distributing the money on payday, sweetly calling it helping them manage finances and timely assisting with promotion and public relations.
Public relations my foot, they didn’t even publicize the earnings.
With the month coming to an end, they were still withholding last month’s salary. No wonder he had searched his phone from top to bottom yesterday at the hospital and found no money.
A trash company like this deserved to go bankrupt early.
He drove to the company at high speed.
Mu Xiaoxiao was waiting for him at the entrance of the conference hall. Seeing him from afar, she hurriedly waved and signaled him to walk in with a hunched back so as not to attract attention.
“You haven’t even established the persona assigned from above, and last week leadership called you out by name for criticism. How on earth do you dare to be late to such an important meeting? Are you this bold because you’ve latched onto some sugar daddy?”
Shen Jin’an’s noble and pretty face flashed briefly across Qin Zhen’s mind.
He thought to himself that he hadn’t latched onto a sugar daddy; instead, he had picked up a huge burden. Everything cost his money, the demands were numerous, and failing to serve properly was a life-threatening matter.
He narrowed his eyes and bantered, “Do you see anyone wanting someone like me?”
Mu Xiaoxiao scoffed, too lazy to expose him.
How could nobody want him? With Qin Zhen’s external conditions, not a single person comparable could be found in the entire live-streaming industry. It was just that he looked unreliable, but his moral baseline was actually too high, which was why he hadn’t gained any traction after streaming for over half a year.
Mu Xiaoxiao knew Qin Zhen’s family situation and wanted him to make more money out of good intentions. Although their industry had high psychological pressure, it also paid more; nowadays, earning money was never easy.
She shook her head helplessly and said nothing more, leading Qin Zhen to his seat.
The live-streaming company’s awards ceremony had quite a few camera rigs set up. Many top-tier major streamers put on grand airs and postures, walking sequentially across the paved red carpet, receiving awards on stage, delivering acceptance speeches, and finally taking a group photo on stage.
Afterward came performance segments by scheduled streamers, which essentially served as perks for fans.
The entire sequence of events was live-streamed.
Qin Zhen sat quietly in his seat. He had no interest in the performances on stage, but having a pause in activity finally gave him time to sort through matters after his rebirth.
He called out to 999. 999 floated out looking quite energetic, terrified that Qin Zhen might use its energy-recharging time to pick faults again.
[Host, what is it? I’m here!]
Qin Zhen squinted at it for two seconds, “Oh, nothing, just checking if you’re really here.”
999 rolled its eyes, completely helpless against such a host.
[Alright, but just a reminder to the host, the mission has a time limit of three months.]
“?” Qin Zhen’s eyelids twitched heavily, “Are there other requirements? Can’t you say everything at once? Is this your first time being a system? So inexperienced?”
Being looked down upon, 999 bounced its spherical body up and down in dissatisfaction, [I am very experienced! I am System Number 999, and our interstellar systems have already reached over 100,000 numbers!]
The implication was that it was not only very experienced, but also an interstellar system veteran.
Qin Zhen couldn’t be bothered to argue with it. Feeling that the burden on his shoulders was heavier than ever, he sneered, “Number 999? Looking at you, you’re more like 666 turned upside down.”
Facts proved that physiological issues like holding in urine could not be avoided. Even though Qin Zhen had tried hard to restrain himself and drank very little water, when the performances on stage reached the fourth act, he was still forced to stand up from his seat.
At that moment, Mu Xiaoxiao had just brought a famous gaming sector streamer down after receiving an award; the person’s name was something like Xiaoliang.
That person glared fiercely at him from afar, as if Qin Zhen had snatched something away from him.
Qin Zhen had no recollection of ever interacting with this person.
He vaguely remembered that this Xiaoliang suddenly rose to prominence after a certain event, relying on gift rewards to surge into the top three of the gaming sector rankings in his live stream room, causing his fan data to skyrocket while many major streaming big names PK’d with him.
However, such good fortune hadn’t lasted long. In his past life, the guy hadn’t even stayed popular for a single quarter before getting involved in dirty business, named and shamed by major media outlets and getting his account banned.
As the two brushed past each other, Yang Xiaoliang intentionally bumped into Qin Zhen. Expecting this person who rarely showed up to be a soft persimmon, Yang Xiaoliang never imagined that the moment he collided, he would be counter-bumped by Qin Zhen into a stagger.