“I am not gentle?!” When Mu Lianyi jumped up, he nearly flipped over the coffee table in front of him with a deafening crash.
Enraged to the point of being blinded by anger, he tapped open his phone contacts and began harassing them one by one.
Half of the people at Xingqi Entertainment received a mysterious message late at night from the legendary, cold-hearted, ruthless man who was notorious for being a heartbreaker.
“Am I not gentle?”
What kind of stimulus did Ripple get this time?
Everyone felt anxious and terrified, tacitly pretending not to have seen it, yet they began gossiping in several internal chat groups.
“Which blind fool dared to provoke our Eldest Princess? (smirk) (smirk)”
Generally, they liked to call male stars with good resources “Crown Princes” and female stars with good resources “Princesses.”
But Ripple was an exception. Although he was 1.86 meters tall and styled himself as unrestrained and wild, his temper was spoiled and his looks were beautiful. Because his scolding had offended many, everyone secretly feminized him.
A newcomer who had never encountered this situation asked, “Should I reply?”
“Absolutely not! Pretend you did not see it, or it will be terrible!”
“How terrible can it be?!”
After keeping everyone in suspense for a while, someone finally laughed:
“For at least the next month, he will take a detour whenever he sees you.”
“Then he will imply and threaten you to force you to say you have already forgotten about this matter.”
“He will threaten you that if you dare to reveal it, you are dead.”
Various wicked-grin emojis filled the group.
Although most people pretended not to see it, a few simple-minded ones replied to him. However, even those without much guile knew his temper, so they generally replied with things to coax him.
Xiang Xu saw that he had not replied, thinking he might be in a bad mood. He also thought that for someone so proud, hitting a closed door two or three times must have hurt his self-esteem, perhaps making him even more heartbroken than an ordinary person.
Just as he was organizing his language to comfort him, a “ding” sounded: [Tired of Being Scolded Daily] sent a screenshot.
He clicked on it, and Xiang Xu’s face darkened instantly.
It was a screenshot of a WeChat home page, with a row of unread red dots followed by words of flattery.
“The boss said this is his charm. He told you not to speak ill of him anymore, or he will hack your account.”
Probably feeling that this sentence was a bit too much, two minutes later, the assistant cautiously asked, “Big Shot, how did you offend him?”
A minute later: “He asked half the company if he was gentle. He will definitely regret it when he wakes up tomorrow.”
Five minutes later, a red envelope was sent.
“Big Shot, do not take it to heart because of our boss.”
Although [Tired of Being Scolded Daily] did not know what had happened, because he knew his boss’s temperament, he could conclude that this matter was almost certainly his boss’s fault.
Xiang Xu’s fists clenched until they crackled, only relaxing when he saw the red envelope.
Temper more explosive than a bomb! Heart narrower than a needle eye! Treating kindness like a donkey’s liver and lungs! No wonder no one wants to deal with you!
Go hurt your own heart, you rich jerk!
Without accepting the red envelope, Xiang Xu indignantly closed the computer.
Tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep from the anger, he finally thought of a way to exact harsh revenge:
Next month, I will keep your ranking stuck at 12! I will start playing tomorrow!
With a villainous smile on his face, Xiang Xu triumphantly drifted off to sleep.
Today is a good day; today is payday!
Waking up in the morning, Xiang Xu felt radiant, having completely tossed last night’s evil plans to the back of his mind.
He pinned his hair, changed his clothes, and headed out happily to work.
Just as he entered the bookstore, Huang Siyi leaned over, full of gossip, and pulled him behind the register:
“Little Xu, you are truly famous!”
Xiang Xu had heard this phrase so many times in the last few days that he could only smile helplessly. “Sister Siyi, please do not tease me.”
“It is not that! Damn it! Why did I take time off yesterday afternoon? Damn it! I could have seen a star!” Huang Siyi was heartbroken for a moment, then her eyes lit up as she looked at him. “Do you know Ripple, from the WEATHER boy band? He is the lead actor in Last Night’s Stars currently airing. Ah? You do not recognize him? How could you not? Xiao Qian said he came specifically to find you.”
“Find me?”
“Yeah! If he had not stammered at the front desk for so long, he would not have been recognized. Later, his assistant could not take it anymore and showed Xiao Qian your video, so we knew what he wanted. Xiao Qian told him you were off in the afternoon and that he could come back tomorrow morning.”
As she was saying this, Xiao Qian popped out of the break room. She clearly heard Huang Siyi’s gossip, so she continued, her tone mysterious:
“You do not know, he acted all shy, but when I told him you were not working in the afternoon, the glare in his eyes nearly killed me! He even said, ‘Are you saying I have to change my schedule just to see him? Who does he think he is!’ My god, he scared me! I thought he was going to hit me!”
“So fierce. Will he not get scolded for acting like that as a star?” Huang Siyi clicked her tongue twice.
“Eh, that is just his style. His fans love to spoil him.” Xiao Qian shrugged. “His assistant apologized to me quickly and asked if he could call you. They took time out of their schedule just to come here, and they have to fly to Q City early this morning.”
“How could they have specifically taken time out? I think for a big star like him, once he comes, he expects to see people, regardless of whether it is convenient for them. His assistant is just finding an excuse.” In a few sentences, Huang Siyi’s impression of Ripple was worse than average. She did not chase stars, but she had consumed her fair share of celebrity gossip and had certain impressions of them, like being prone to act like a diva or having poor character.
Why would such a person come looking for me? Xiang Xu struggled to search his brain, unable to find any connection between himself, a normal guy who stayed home playing games, and a big star.
Xiao Qian looked over: “I thought about calling you to ask what you thought, or if you recognized him, but I did not have your number, and no one else in the store did either. I even asked Sister Wen and the boss, but nobody had it. Little Xu, this…”
Xiang Xu answered immediately: “My phone is broken and has not been fixed yet. I did not mean not to leave it.”
“Eh, those are minor details,” Xiao Qian’s doubts were dispelled, but dissatisfaction crept back onto her face. “But do you know what that big star said? He said we were deliberately trying to keep you from contacting him! It made me so angry! If he had not been recognized and run away in a hurry, I would have debated him for a few rounds!”
Xiao Qian’s face was still fuming at the memory, making Huang Siyi laugh out loud. “Too absurd! What is wrong with this person’s logic? But Little Xu, why do you always attract people with bad tempers? Could it be because your temper is too good? So heaven sent them to temper you?”
A flash in his mind: the man who helped him at the bookstore a month ago, [Pay-to-Win Temper], and finally his thoughts settled on this big star named “Ripple.”
What Huang Siyi said was actually spot on!
Is having a bad temper a common trait of the rich and powerful? Xiang Xu could not help but rub his brow, momentarily stunned.
He recalled his Imperial Father, whose temper was absolutely vicious.
It seemed… it really was like heaven wanted to temper him. The vicious Imperial Father was no longer by his side, so it sent other short-tempered soldiers to torture him.
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a sense of nostalgia for the days he spent crawling under the stormy majesty of the Imperial Father. Realizing his own nostalgia, Xiang Xu felt he was quite abnormal.
“I have caused you trouble.” Xiang Xu apologized to the two ladies.
“Not at all, it is a minor thing. It was clearly that person named Ripple’s fault.”
“Exactly.”
The two ladies were very reasonable and even comforted Xiang Xu, telling him not to take it to heart.
At noon, after changing his clothes and walking out of the break room, he saw Sister Wen leaning against the wall, holding an envelope and looking at him with a smile.
“Come, come.”
Being ushered back into the break room, Sister Wen handed him the envelope: “Your salary, converted into cash according to your request.”
“Thank you, Sister Wen!” Xiang Xu took it happily, not masking his excitement at all, which amused Sister Wen.
“It is only three thousand something yuan. If you followed the boss, who knows how many zeros would be added later.”
Xiang Xu frowned in a dilemma: “Sister Wen…”
“Alright, I will give you more time to consider. I was only enticing you a little.” Sister Wen smiled slightly. “You need to consider it clearly. Once the opportunity is missed, it is gone.”
Xiang Xu knew: “Sister Wen, you intend to join in?”
It was not just Xiang Xu that Zhao Yan wanted to rope in, but Sister Wen as well.
“Yes, but if you do not come, I have no place to exert my strength.”
Sister Wen enticed him again, and Xiang Xu shook his head: “But I only have a little bit of topic-worthiness right now. Relying on this little bit to try and expand a commercial map is thin no matter how you look at it. Besides, what if I have a scandal later? The brand will be affected.”
Sister Wen burst into laughter, looking at him with admiration. “You are much more reliable than my naive boss. But as long as the boss is willing to spend money and listen to others’ opinions, he is a good boss. How to turn ideals into reality is something people like us should think about. Your current role is to open up popularity. As for how to open it and how to stabilize it, that is what I, the mastermind, should do. Once the brand popularity is opened, it will attract other stars to endorse it. I also have a way to make you cut ties with the brand. After all, binding a brand and a person too closely is never a good thing.”
Xiang Xu’s pupils contracted, and he looked at the woman before him with her exquisite makeup and face full of confidence. She was revealing her ambition without any hesitation.
After a long time, Xiang Xu spat out a sentence: “A person like you would have been a Prime Minister in the past.”
Sister Wen was stunned, then burst into laughter: “Little Xu, you are a funny boy. I will take that as a compliment.”
“It is a compliment. Actually, I originally thought Zhao Yan was too unreliable and wanted to refuse directly, but after hearing what you said…”
“Are you joining in?!”
“No, I need to consider it more carefully. Dealing with ambitious people can be dangerous if one is not careful!”
Sister Wen paused, then covered her mouth and laughed again. Her laughter lacked offense, but her eyes grew increasingly admiring: “If it were not for you being the fulcrum, I probably would have refused this job. Now it seems I really did not misjudge the person.”
Xiang Xu hid the envelope at the very bottom of the canvas bag provided by the store, picked it up, and waved at Sister Wen: “Carrying a massive fortune, I dare not delay. I am heading home first.”
His figure disappeared at the entrance, and Sister Wen was still laughing.
This kid is so interesting. No wonder he can stand out in a crowd.
Sister Wen clicked on Xiaohongshu and watched the fan-edited “Classic Quotes Collection of the Internet-Famous Bookstore Clerk” once more.
“Looks pleasing to the eye and speaks interestingly.”
Xingqi Entertainment’s gold-medal manager Chen Hao raised his face from his phone screen. The image in the video still lingered in his mind.
If he could stay popular a bit longer, he would poach him and package him. He might even be better than Ripple.
Thinking of Ripple, Chen Hao felt a sudden headache. If he were not still young, just barely past thirty, he would have been angered to death in the first month of managing Ripple.
The moment he connected Li Li’s call, Chen Hao could not suppress his anger and roared into the receiver:
“Even if you have to tie him up, bring that bastard to me! Why be shy now? If you have the guts, do not go crazy in the middle of the night!”