As lunch was drawing to a close, Zhao Yan still had not mentioned a single word about parting ways.
Today he wore a yellow and purple tie-dyed floral shirt, his hair styled to perfection. Throughout the banquet, he was all smiles and laughter, occasionally asking Xiang Xu and Sister Wen considerately if they wanted to order anything else.
Sister Wen was also present at this meal. Having her sit by his side so he did not have to face Zhao Yan directly gave Xiang Xu a great deal of peace of mind.
During his first few days of work, Zhao Yan had appeared frequently to offer warm greetings. Later, he gradually appeared less often, but he still frequently had Sister Wen or Sister Siyi convey words of care to him. This made Xiang Xu very uneasy. Although Zhao Yan seemed to accept the explanation that he had forgotten everything about the past, Zhao Yan’s passionate personality was still difficult for him to handle.
The Zhao Yan of the Yin Dynasty was completely unlike this.
Xiang Xu could not help but glance at Zhao Yan again, only to unexpectedly lock eyes with the other man’s thoughtful gaze. Zhao Yan immediately looked away.
Yet again! Xiang Xu also lowered his eyes quickly, his heart skipping a beat. Over the course of a single lunch, he did not know how many times Zhao Yan had looked at him. That intense gaze almost burned two holes through him, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not ignore it in the slightest.
Because of this, even though it was a rare treat to have such a good meal, the meat on his plate became tasteless.
“Zhao Yan, just say it, I can take it.”
Finally, when he noticed that gaze once more, he set down his chopsticks and tried his best to utter these words calmly.
Needless to say, Zhao Yan had to be too embarrassed to tell him that he was going to fire him, which was why he kept glancing at him hesitantly. Xiang Xu considered himself quite perceptive. Since Zhao Yan was struggling so much, it was better for him to clarify his stance first and give the other man a way out.
“Then I will say it, do not be angry.”
As expected, Xiang Xu’s heart sank to the bottom, and he nodded slightly.
Zhao Yan’s eyes lit up, and his body wriggled over in front of Xiang Xu. “Oh my god, brother! You were already incredibly handsome to begin with, but recently you have developed more and more character. Even the beautiful women I go on dates with keep bringing you up, asking me to introduce this handsome young man from the shop to them.”
Xiang Xu frowned, his gaze filled with confusion.
Zhao Yan replied, “Oh my god! Exactly like that! They said they just love seeing you look so aggrieved and shy.”
Aggrieved and shy. “Who said that?”
“The enthusiastic netizens. Do you not know that you have gone viral?”
Xiang Xu knew; he was currently troubled by this very matter. At this moment, he saw Zhao Yan wink at him and instantly understood his meaning.
He understood. Zhao Yan was indirectly reminding him of this issue. Words that appeared to be praise actually contained hidden undercurrents. Calling him “aggrieved and shy” was a hint, meaning he should not be too ashamed to admit his mistakes, and that an active confession would lead to lenient treatment.
As expected of a big boss who owned a commercial empire, this ability to speak in double entendres was remarkable.
Xiang Xu felt much more enlightened. He took a sip of alcohol, which went down hot, and borrowing this surge of courage, he said, “I caused the trouble, and I am willing to take responsibility. I will have no complaints whether I am fined or dismissed.”
Xiang Xu believed that taking the initiative to admit his mistake gave Zhao Yan plenty of face, yet he saw Zhao Yan freeze in a daze.
“It is not that serious, is it? Although it makes me a bit jealous when the girls I like bring you up, you are my brother. How could I deduct your salary over something like this!”
Xiang Xu understood that this was a form of back-and-forth negotiation. Officials in the imperial court had a bad habit of exchanging gifts; the recipient clearly wanted the item very much, yet would always make a hypocritical show of declining it. The two parties would push back and forth until the gift was finally forced into the other person’s hands.
For both parties to feel comfortable, this kind of interpersonal back-and-forth diplomacy was necessary.
Although Xiang Xu was aware of this negotiation process, he felt it was a waste of time. However, he did not want to hurt Zhao Yan’s feelings either, so he simply said, “It is alright, I know. Because of me, everyone’s workload has increased, and there has been quite a lot of friction between customers and staff. It is only right that you dismiss me.”
“I am dismissing you? Who said that?! Why would I dismiss you!”
Now it was Zhao Yan’s turn to be completely startled.
“I say, Boss,” Sister Wen finally could not help but sigh as she saw that the two were completely on different wavelengths. “I told you not to beat around the bush because it easily causes misunderstandings, but you refused to listen. You insisted on being tactful and subtle so as not to scare him. The problem is that your mouth only works well when you are picking up girls. If you wanted to point out the fact that Xiao Xu became famous, saying that the girls you like brought him up and made you jealous is something only a crazy person would say.”
“Sister Wen,” Zhao Yan cried out for help, caught between tears and laughter.
“Xiao Xu, do you feel that you have brought us trouble?”
Xiang Xu nodded.
“But this month, our bookstore’s revenue increased by 45 percent. This is the closest we have ever come to breaking even since we opened, though of course, that does not include the money spent on renovations at the beginning of the month.” As Sister Wen spoke, she gave Zhao Yan a speechless look. The boss had simply slapped his forehead and decided to renovate, completely ignoring how much this ordeal would cost.
“We are an online celebrity bookstore. Compared to trouble, what we fear most is a lack of popularity. Within just a single month after you arrived, our social media followers grew by 100,000, and the volume of discussion has risen accordingly. Do you understand what this means?”
Xiang Xu did not quite understand what “social media” or “discussion volume” meant, but judging from Sister Wen’s tone, it meant the bookstore’s fame had increased.
“Therefore, our boss wanted to take this opportunity to try some new ideas, but he was afraid you would be very resistant to us utilizing your popularity. So he treated you to lunch to test the waters and see what your thoughts are on your sudden fame.”
As expected of Sister Wen, she explained the origin and development of the matter in just a few sentences and even soothed Xiang Xu’s initially anxious heart.
He looked up, only to see Zhao Yan nodding vigorously, showing that what Sister Wen said was indeed the truth.
Why was Zhao Yan being so cautious when speaking to him? Could he not have just asked directly about such a small matter?
Xiang Xu let out a sigh of relief. “As long as it does not bring trouble to the shop.”
“How could it be trouble! This is a massive piece of good news!” Zhao Yan’s face flushed red. “Our bookstore almost turned a profit this month! A couple of days ago, I bragged extensively in front of my second brother. Hearing that I had an idea to do something big, he said he would invest as much money as I needed!”
Xiang Xu swallowed the drink that was stuck in his throat. He remembered Sister Siyi and the others gossiping with him a few days ago, saying that the reason their bookstore had always been losing money was because the boss did not know how to exercise restraint. Regardless of whether they made a profit or not, he just spent money anyway. The shop would be renovated three or four times a year, using the best materials each time. The only cheap items in the entire store were the few paintings hanging in the main lobby.
Those were painted by Zhao Yan himself.
By contrast, Zhao Yan’s second brother was very good at making money. He would give Zhao Yan however much he wanted to spend. Every month, as the employees looked at the alarming revenue figures, they would speculate about how deep the boss’s family wealth was and how high the limit of his second brother’s spoiling could go.
That being the case, if the business-minded second brother supported Zhao Yan’s new idea, perhaps it was actually quite reliable?
“What kind of new ideas do you want to try?”
Seeing Xiang Xu so calm, Zhao Yan also settled down a lot. “I want to build ‘Reverie’ into a multi-field trendy brand, rather than restricting it just to a bookstore.”
Xiang Xu was still not quite clear on what this had to do with his sudden fame.
Zhao Yan chuckled. “Naturally, it is to bring you on board as a partner!”
“If it makes a profit, it counts as yours; if it loses money, it counts as mine.” All day long, this sentence of Zhao Yan’s kept swirling around in Xiang Xu’s mind.
Although Zhao Yan’s words were very loyal and generous, just like any advisor deciding to assist a monarch in achieving hegemony, Xiang Xu had to consider the stakes and interests involved carefully.
Xiang Xu actually did not have the ambition to make a fortune. The money he earned only needed to be enough for him to survive. Furthermore, if he were to follow Zhao Yan in this venture, a large portion of his time would clearly have to be allocated to this area, forcing him to compress his remaining time.
In addition to this, Zhao Yan mentioned that in the early stages, they would utilize his image and the discussion surrounding him to establish the netizens’ impression of the brand. This point also made Xiang Xu hesitate. He understood that if he were tied to the brand, in the event that he exhibited any improper speech or behavior, the brand would also be affected, and vice versa.
Moreover, he was merely an ordinary person, possessing neither power nor profound knowledge. A sudden wave of popularity born from a passing whim was easy to gain, but linking it to a brand was entirely unconvincing.
Based on these factors, Xiang Xu felt that Zhao Yan’s decision was somewhat hasty. It could only be said that his excessive loyalty had blinded his eyes, while his second brother truly just loved his younger sibling.
Lost in thought, Xiang Xu habitually opened the game.
Although he had already secured the ranking for the Big Brother a few days ago, he still had to keep an eye on it on the final day to prevent others from stealing the spot.
No one had stolen the spot; it was still the 10th rank. The last time the Big Brother increased the boosting fee to 1000, he mentioned that he liked round numbers, so Xiang Xu considerately secured a round number for him this time.
Bored, he clicked open his friend list and discovered that the avatar of “Money-Burning Temper” was lit up.
He was probably checking the rankings too. Xiang Xu initially wanted to move the mouse past it, but a thought flashed through his mind, remembering that the online co-op dungeon event that rewarded a skin was ending today.
He had naturally matched with teammates and obtained the skin long ago, but thinking that the Big Brother had not completed it yet made his heart feel as though ants were crawling on it.
A free skin that only came out once a quarter! And it was a gold skin! It would be a massive loss not to get it!
“Do you want to run the co-op dungeon together? There is a limited-edition skin.”
After waiting for about two minutes, the other party finally sent a belated reply: “Play.”
Xiang Xu immediately applied to form a team. The Big Brother’s character joined the group, a glittering golden figure following behind him, making his own purple gear look incredibly shabby by comparison.
Xiang Xu opened his own warehouse, dragged out those few pieces of red gear, and equipped them onto himself, finally managing to save some face.
He originally thought that this action would draw a few teasing remarks from the Big Brother, but the other party said absolutely nothing.
The Big Brother’s appetite for hurling insults did not seem very high today.
This thought flashed by briefly before a chime sounded in his ear, indicating a successful match.
Three other players followed behind them. Someone immediately noticed that there was a top-tier player in the team whose spending and combat power ranked within the top ten of the entire server.
They began to chat excitedly, but no matter what they said, the Big Brother remained aloof and did not reply with a single word.
Feeling embarrassed, Xiang Xu sent a flower icon, and the five of them entered the dungeon.
“Money-Burning Temper” automatically followed the team without attacking at all. The monsters in the dungeon scaled according to the combat power of the team members; in other words, the stronger the teammates’ combat power, the stronger the monsters would be. The Big Brother drove up the combat power requirements but did not strike a single blow. Consequently, it took Xiang Xu and the other four members half an hour to finish the dungeon run. They consumed an unknown amount of healing potions, their teammates died an unknown number of times, and Xiang Xu’s keyboard and mouse were almost smoking from his frantic movements before they finally defeated the boss with just a sliver of health remaining.
Fortunately, he had changed into the red gear.
Xiang Xu wiped away his sweat, only to see the three teammates leave the group while grumbling curses.
At the very least, the Big Brother’s skin had been successfully secured in his inventory. Xiang Xu let out a sigh of relief and was about to disband the team when text popped up above the head of “Money-Burning Temper.”
“I am in a bad mood.”
Xiang Xu almost fainted. So he really was playing dead! This resulted in him being cursed thoroughly by those three people as well!
But those three people did not pay him money. The one in front of him was the true benefactor.
Xiang Xu took a few deep breaths and inquired with good-natured concern: “What is wrong?”
This was merely a gesture to show his attitude. Xiang Xu did not think the Big Brother would actually tell him, yet he did not expect the text above the Big Brother’s head to drift over leisurely once again.
“Why do you think it is that people are always brought together by fate but separated by circumstance? I specifically cleared out some time, yet I still could not find the person.”
Xiang Xu knit his brows slightly, suddenly recalling that when the man flew into a rage last time, his assistant had said it was because he could not find the person, stubbornly insisting that the other party was avoiding him.
It appeared he had been turned away yet again.
Based on his temper, Xiang Xu originally thought that once he decided the other party was avoiding him, he would absolutely never seek them out a second time. He did not expect him to be unexpectedly persistent.
However, it was also understandable if the person was avoiding him. Given his explosive temper, he might very well look like Li Kui: big and clumsy, with a face full of a thick beard. When he lost his temper, his hair would stand on end in anger, which could be quite terrifying. A young lady might simply be afraid of him.
In the spirit of comforting him and offering advice out of goodwill, Xiang Xu moved his fingers:
“Perhaps if you were a bit gentler, the person would be willing to see you.”