"Mr. Qiao, Mr. Qiao! Hehe, good news!"
Assistant Hou hustled into the room, bending his body while looking at Qiao Dongyang's cool, indifferent face.
"...the lottery-winning Weibo post has been deleted."
Qiao Dongyang raised his eyebrows slightly, "There must be something else posted, right?"
Huh?
Assistant Hou was taken aback for a moment, then pointed his finger, "Mr. Qiao is indeed wise."
Qiao Dongyang glanced at him but said nothing.
Assistant Hou felt like he was patting a horse's leg instead of its back, cleared his throat, "The lottery-winning Weibo post was deleted, and the auction for tonight at ten o'clock was canceled. They also posted a new message, saying it was just a joke, a stunt to create buzz. How could something as good as having dinner with Mr. Qiao ever be simply handed over to someone else? That's just utterly... laden with flattery!"
He said it in a florid manner, but Qiao Dongyang had little reaction.
Assistant Hou waited for his directive, waited and waited for quite a long time but...
"Mr. Qiao?"
"Acting!" Qiao Dongyang turned his head, snorted coldly, "Who knows what kind of trick they're playing now!"
Assistant Hou was jolted, watched his reaction, and said with an ingratiating smile, "Anyway, since she deleted the post, it sort of saves our face, right?"
"Hm?"
Qiao Dongyang raised his voice and suddenly raised an eyebrow at him.
"My face, needs saving by her?!"
Assistant Hou realized he had spoken out of turn, made a "ptui" noise, and lightly slapped himself on the mouth corner, "Hehehe, what I mean is, it's good that she knows her place, not daring to provoke us, otherwise we would make her lose everything, both money and face..."
"Hmm?" Qiao Dongyang frowned again.
Lose everything?
What did they take him for?
A prize?
Was Qiao Dongyang some kind of prize?
—No, he was a prize nobody wanted.
As Qiao Dongyang thought about this, he became furious, and looking at Assistant Hou only made him more annoyed. He didn't find Assistant Hou's eyes, eyebrows, or nose agreeable at all; in fact, they irritated him more and more.
"Monkey, your work performance has been declining recently, hasn't it?"
"Uh..." Assistant Hou felt like crying, "Did I say something wrong again? Mr. Qiao, what I was trying to say was that she should be thankful for not carelessly missing out on the opportunity to dine with our great and handsome Mr. Qiao. If I had such luck, I would certainly worship you three times a day, keeping a photo of Mr. Qiao enshrined at home..."
Qiao Dongyang took a deep breath, wishing he could strangle him.
"I'm still alive!"
"—"
"How did someone as stupid as you become my assistant?"
"Nepotism. My mom's uncle's niece married one of your cousins."
Qiao Dongyang hissed, licking his gums, "It seems your position needs to be shaken up."
"No no no, Mr. Qiao, my presence perfectly highlights your noble and righteous image. You absolutely deserve it."
"If you applied the effort you put into flattery to your work, you would have been more than just an assistant by now!" Qiao Dongyang snorted coldly, paying him no more attention, "Get out!"
Assistant Hou chuckled awkwardly, "Being Mr. Qiao's assistant is my greatest honor. I love this job immensely. If I must put a time limit on it, I hope it's ten thousand years."
Qiao Dongyang: "..."
"Get out!"
Before rolling out, Assistant Hou sneakily glanced at Dongyang Technology's biggest bootlicker—Tengu, and couldn't help but sigh.
Mr. Qiao has been quite a handful these days.
Moody and impenetrable as if he'd entered an early midlife crisis— even Tengu, who was always smart and likable, was "killed" by him, let alone him?
Keep a low profile!
Working ten thousand years is too long; aim for day to day.
...
That evening, Wang Xueya transferred 1.16 million yuan to Chi Yue.
Getting a large sum of money didn't make Chi Yue's life any easier.
Before the money warmed up in her pocket, more than half of it was transferred to her mother's account.
School, online shop, Chi Yue was still spinning like a top in place.
What's more daunting is she still had to endure waves of slander stronger than the last.
"Why is Chi Yue unwilling to find a job? She's earning big money online as that kind of broadcaster."
"I heard her family is very poor, but look at what she wears and what she owns—none of it is cheap."
"We've compared her with that woman from the forums, and that figure is unmistakably Chi Yue..."
"Mainly because of that prop, could it be such a coincidence? Elder Brother Qiao is a wise man."
"..."
This black pot was on her back now, and she couldn't shake it off.
Zhu Qing's name quickly disappeared from people's mouths.
In her place, the one who sold her body for gain became Chi Yue.
Wang Xueya was so mad she posted on the internet under her real name for three days, arguing with people for three days, but to no avail—the collective voice overpowers, people don't need the truth, they just want sensationalism. She was vilified excessively; if it weren't for her family's wealth, she'd almost be accused of selling herself along with Chi Yue.
"I'm so angry. So angry. Why can't I make these people understand?"
"If you could make them understand, would they still be called keyboard warriors?"
Chi Yue pinched Wang Xueya's fair little cheek, "Stop being angry, and get ready for your dinner date with your male idol."
"He's not my idol anymore!"
Wang Xueya huffed indignantly.
"Elder Brother Qiao knows the truth, yet he refuses to clear it up for you. I've lost respect for him."
"—"
Chi Yue was a bit surprised.
She stared at Wang Xueya, noticing tears in her eyes.
"Moonlight, I'm going to see him just to tell him that I hate him! I hate the way he's treated you!"
Chi Yue: "..."
After a moment of confusion, she gently embraced Wang Xueya.
"Dress up nicely, it's more imposing when you scold someone!"
"—"