After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ninghuan walked past a window and stopped.
Unable to resist, he lifted his shirt and struck a few poses for half a minute before finally letting himself go.
As soon as he walked away, the window opened.
Inside, a woman covered her child's eyes, her face pale.
The child stirred. "Mom! Was that Santa Claus?"
"Nonsense, that was a carp spirit. It eats picky children."
Saying this, the woman handed the child some vegetables.
The child frowned but, recalling the crazy scene he had just witnessed, finally opened his mouth.
Zhou Ninghuan went on to happily work for two days.
During his free time, he would visit the official Weibo page of "I Want to Fall in Love" to cast frantic votes for the top CPs chosen by fan groups.
"Everyone, come to the meeting!" the secretary called. "Manager Li has something to announce."
Zhou Ninghuan quickly walked over and sat in the seat closest to Li Cheng.
Li Cheng silently took a step back and then said, "Tomorrow, I'll be leaving…"
"This beautiful world?!" Zhou Ninghuan exclaimed in shock. "Why so suddenly? I wasn't even mentally prepared! Boohoo…"
He suddenly stood up and looked behind him. "What are you all standing there for? Cry!"
Everyone was stunned, and a few even started to tear up, unconsciously following Zhou Ninghuan's lead.
The veins on Li Cheng's forehead throbbed. "The company! I'm leaving the company!"
Everyone fell silent.
Li Cheng took a deep breath. "Meeting adjourned! Zhou Ninghuan, get over here!"
"Coming!"
As Zhou Ninghuan left, he called Qiao Xi. "Sister Xi! I got docked 200 yuan again! Shouldn't I get triple compensation like our Brother Nian said?"
"Mhm." Qiao Xi lazily responded.
As long as Zhou Ninghuan wasn't fired, every time he caused trouble and got his pay docked, Yu Sinian would compensate him threefold.
—The idea was Qiao Xi's, the money was Yu Sinian's, fair and square.
Qiao Xi popped a grape into her mouth.
Over the past two days, she had received regular reports from Zhou Ninghuan—
Causing chaos in meetings, bolting at adjournments, slacking during livestreams, spreading rumors during lunch breaks… He was getting the hang of it.
And in the livestreams, things kept going wrong. No matter how good the product, something always happened when Zhou Ninghuan was involved.
A perfectly good down jacket ended up with a hole as big as the sky.
A skincare product led to a case of extreme redness.
Right now, Zhou Ninghuan was livestreaming and selling potato chips.
"These chips are great! They bring back familiar memories! I remember that day when I was following Sister Xi with a sack of potatoes, and she told me there were no wives in wife cakes. I believed her… That's the taste. Buy it, everyone, buy these undefined potato chips."
[Zhou Ninghuan, it's bad enough you eat garbage, but you want to recommend it to us too?]
[Not bought yet, eagerly awaiting delivery]
[High EQ: I remember that day… Low EQ: These chips taste like garbage.]
Despite all this, Li Cheng hadn't fired him.
The reason was simple: the traffic Zhou Ninghuan brought in was enormous!
Three billion views in a day, but lots of likes, with no sales!
Every morning, when Li Cheng opened his eyes, he was torn between firing and not firing Zhou Ninghuan.
After three days, the love reality show was ready to start filming.
As Qiao Xi dragged her suitcase out the door, she looked around.
Behind her, a bald man said obediently, "Young Master has gone out!"
Qiao Xi: ?
Is he really this well-behaved?
Relieved, she thought, as long as no one stopped her from making money, anything was fine!
"Let's go." Qiao Xi threw her suitcase onto the car. "Off we go! Time for romance!"
Haicheng.
The show's crew waited at the airport to pick up the guests.
Qiao Xi had gained some popularity through variety shows, but her status only elevated her to the third tier, so the crew had booked her a regular seat.
However, when Qiao Xi heard it would be reimbursed, she said she could even hang onto the plane if needed—what's a seat class, anyway?
"See, the entertainment industry is brutal," said Staff Member A. "Looks like she's a bit popular, but in reality, once the show ends, she doesn't even have fans to pick her up."
Staff Member B: "Watch your words. I heard this show is funded by the Yu family, and industry insiders say Qiao Xi and Yu Sinian…"
He mimicked a kissing motion. "You get it?"
Staff Member A: "Swapping spit? No way. On the show, their CP was pretty good."
Staff Member B: ?
"Here they come!" someone suddenly called.
The crew immediately raised their signs!
A group of people walked out of the terminal.
They searched the stylishly dressed crowd but didn't see the familiar face.
"Where is she, where is she?"
Staff members looked around and casually pushed aside a person in full-face sun protection. "Move, don't block the view!"
The next moment, the person lifted their hat, hair sticking straight up before quickly covering it again.
"It's me, it's me. Face recognition done, right? Let's go!"
Staff: ???!!!
"Quick, run!" Qiao Xi dragged her suitcase and ran ahead.
The others hadn't reacted yet, so Qiao Xi ran two steps and looked back. "Hurry!"
"Whoa! Over there! That ghost-like figure! It must be Sister Xi!"
A sudden shout rang out like thunder throughout the arrival hall!
A group of fans, all in disguise, wearing sunhats, sunglasses, and dressed like they had come from the same batch as Qiao Xi, suddenly whipped out cameras and banners! Though few in number, their impact was huge!
The banner featured a photo of Qiao Xi picking her teeth!
It read: **"No thanks, I have my own toothpick."**
And **"Congratulations to Papa Qiao for Finding Her First Love!"**
Show crew: ???
Qiao Xi: !!!
Qiao Xi bolted, shouting, "I told you to run earlier, but you didn't! They planned this in their group chat yesterday! I saw it when I was undercover! Move it!!!"
"Oh, oh!" The crew also bolted, running like crazy!
At the same time, a staff member grabbed the phone and reported, "Director Jiang, we're heading to the set! Five minutes!"
By the beach.
Director Jiang received the call and signaled.
Then the livestream began.
[They're already here??? The crew is faster than my grandpa when he spots a pretty girl]
[I don't know how I survived these three days without Sister Xi! I rewatched Brother Nian's "True Man" three times!]
[Sister Xi in love would make me really laugh, how much did the show pay?]
[Yu Sinian has been quiet these past few days; I wonder if he's been crying alone at home, hahaha]
[Him? Crying? Haha, as a five-year fan, I can tell you it's not that simple. He wouldn't cry in secret; he'd cry in front of Qiao Xi, spelling out the word "SAD" with his tears on the ground. No one in the world would out-sad him]
Director Jiang, satisfied with the comments, turned and said, "Zoom in on each guest during their entrance, prepare the first one, and… action—"
As he spoke, a minivan slowly entered the frame.