Chapter 19: Primary School Students Setting Up a Fight

Chapter 19: Primary School Students Setting Up a Fight

The legendary Shen Zong, whose full name was Shen Shubai in the novel, was born in the slums. Fortunately, he had an extremely handsome face (subject to revision). With a deep and cunning mind, he successfully transformed from a poor young man to a self-made wealthy man, thanks to a series of favorable treatments by the author.

In the novel, Shen Shubai and Li Wenzhao battled for over three thousand chapters. There were victories and defeats along the way, and occasionally, Li Wenzhao managed to gain the upper hand. If the author hadn't planted so many ticking time bombs early on, Li Wenzhao might not have lost in the end.

As the story progressed to the later stages, Li Wenzhao even gained quite a number of fans among readers. When the Li family was written into bankruptcy by a stroke of the author's pen, many readers left comments in protest.

Jing Yi had been in this world for over half a month and was seeing the famous dominant character in person for the first time. It was only natural to feel curious.

But the curiosity was followed by disappointment, which was equally real.

Jing Yi pointed out, "This is a trap, isn't it?"

Li Wenzhao turned his head. "You know about the Hongmen Banquet?"

"What are you talking about?"

Jing Yi furrowed his brows to correct him. "I might not be good at foreign languages, but I'm still good at Chinese."

Li Wenzhao recalled the phrases "limited vocabulary" and "a bit challenging," along with the just-patched-up translation, and gave Jing Yi a bland, emotionless chuckle.

Jing Yi paused, then decided against responding.

Li Wenzhao continued, "Do you remember what complicated translation you just did?"

With a half-smiling expression, Li Wenzhao looked up. "Maybe it's best not to mention your teacher when we're out."

"..."

Secretary Fan put away the tablet and asked, "Mr. Li, should we bring a gift?"

Li Wenzhao lowered his eyes, his expression unreadable. "Bring one."

"What do you need? I'll prepare it right away."

Li Wenzhao paused for a moment, then suddenly looked at the young butler next to him. "Jing Butler, what do you think?"

Jing Yi, harboring some resentment, narrowed his eyes. Typical. Just a moment ago, he was being criticized, and now, faced with a difficulty, Li Wenzhao remembered his worth again.

Despite his annoyance, Jing Yi remained polite and formally suggested, "How about we send a clock as a gift?"

Secretary Fan gripped tightly, barely saving his expensive fountain pen from breaking.

He looked at Jing Yi in shock.

Jing Yi smiled. "It means 'I really like you'—it's a play on words."

Secretary Fan nodded. "...Jing Butler, that's not how the word is used."

"Hmm," Li Wenzhao narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly. "Alright, let's go with Jing Butler's idea."

Secretary Fan nodded, and in a moment of distraction, pressed too hard on the fountain pen tip, splitting it on the paper.

Perhaps influenced by Shen Shubai's mandatory video call, Li Wenzhao left work unusually early that day, bringing Jing Yi home before 4 PM.

Jing Yi habitually pulled open the passenger door, but his expression sank when he saw a massive, square-shaped clock lying on the seat. The clock was made of an indiscernible material, but its all-black surface gave off an inauspicious vibe.

Jing Yi's eyes widened in surprise. "Eldest young master, Secretary Fan sure knows how to make an impression."

Li Wenzhao glanced at the passenger seat, clearly pleased with the arrangement. "That's a secretary's basic competency."

However, Jing Yi suddenly remembered something. "Then I have no place to sit."

Li Wenzhao replied, "Sit in the back."

Jing Yi hesitated, "That feels a bit awkward, doesn't it?"

Without waiting for a response, Jing Yi slipped into the car like a fish, sliding to the far side of the backseat. He patted the cushion excitedly, "Eldest young master, hurry up! We're heading home!"

Li Wenzhao sighed, rolling his eyes.

The luxury car glided smoothly away from the company building, and soon they arrived at the Li family mansion.

It was indeed more comfortable in the back seat than the front. Jing Yi leaned against the window, watching the retreating streets. His eyes then caught the clock's outline in the front seat, and his excited expression immediately faded.

Li Wenzhao seemed to notice and turned his head.

"Eldest young master," Jing Yi pointed at the clock, "Do you think this is a bit inauspicious...?"

Li Wenzhao sternly cut him off, "Jing Yi!"

Meeting Li Wenzhao's deep gaze, Jing Yi wisely shut his mouth. "Alright, alright, I won't say anything."

He almost cursed again.

Neither Li Xu nor Li Ting had come back yet. Only Li Mingzhi was there, deep in thought while holding a document.

"Mingzhi," Li Wenzhao asked, "What are you looking at?"

Li Mingzhi's eyes lit up as he spotted Jing Yi. "Jing Butler, you're finally back! I've been waiting for you all day!"

He rushed to Jing Yi's side like a gust of wind.

Li Wenzhao was completely ignored.

Li Mingzhi, without a glance at his brother, led Jing Yi to the sofa. "I'm preparing to participate in a talent show. I've signed up with several program groups, and surprisingly, I passed the initial rounds. But I'm not sure which one to choose. Can you help me decide?"

Jing Yi blinked in surprise. "Young master, you're planning to enter the entertainment industry?"

"Yes," Li Mingzhi replied, "It's not good to be idle at home, so I'm finding something to do."

Jing Yi frowned at the stack of confirmation forms. "Did you really need to sign up for so many?"

Li Mingzhi shrugged. "I didn't know if I'd pass any of them, so I just signed up for everything. Turns out, I passed all of them."

Ah, casting a wide net to catch more fish, I guess.

Jing Yi couldn't make sense of these professional documents either, but suddenly his gaze froze at a certain point, and he looked surprised.

Li Mingzhi, noticing this, hurriedly asked, "What's going on?"

Jing Yi's eyes were fixed on the position of the event organizer—Shengshi Entertainment.

"Oh, Mr. Li's lawless domain."

Li Wenzhao's fingers trembled, and he almost dropped the cup.

Jing Yi carefully chose his words, "Young Master, maybe you should try applying to a few other shows?"

Li Mingzhi asked, "Why?"

Jing Yi glanced at Li Wenzhao, who was silent in the distance, "These shows don’t really fit your image."

"Actually, these shows are doomed."

[The trainees participating in this talent show were frequently involved in scandals. This one hadn't even aired yet, and the producer was exposed for secretly marrying and cheating, indulging in 'group activities.' Dozens of trainees were tarnished and shelved. In this one, during a live stream, a trainee accidentally revealed private videos of women from his phone, causing the production to be halted and left unfinished. This one... ]

"Now that you mention it, I also feel these shows aren't quite right for me." Li Mingzhi took the files back and threw them into the trash bin, "I'll choose again."

Li Wenzhao slowly clenched his fingers, his face dark.

He had thought that after terminating contracts with all the scandal-prone artists in the company, Shengshi could return to the right path. But now, the projects were blowing up one after another, even though no one had caused trouble.

This company might be a lost cause.

Li Mingzhi took out his phone and flipped through it, "Let me see what other shows I can apply to..."

Jing Yi blinked suspiciously.

"This weird thing is happening again."

"Am I imagining things, or does the Li family just go along with everything I say without questioning it? Do CEOs really give their butlers this much leeway?"

Jing Yi looked oddly at Li Wenzhao and Li Mingzhi.

"I hope I don’t find anything weird, Makabaka."

Li Wenzhao, "..."

Li Mingzhi, "..."

Just then, the driver came in holding a black clock, interrupting them, "Mr. Li, where should this clock be placed?"

Li Wenzhao casually said, "Just put it by the door."

The driver, feeling uncertain, "...This looks pretty valuable."

With all this rain, putting it by the door could damage it.

Li Wenzhao glanced at the young butler and drank a cup of water by himself, "It’s okay, the symbolism is what matters."

Jing Yi caught Li Wenzhao’s joke and chuckled softly, "It's alright, Uncle Lin. That thing isn’t exactly lucky, just put it by the door. If you’re worried about it getting wet, you can cover it with a cloth."

Li Wenzhao glanced over.

Uncle Lin's arm trembled violently. "This isn't a good omen," he muttered, nearly dropping the clock as he swallowed hard. "Butler Jing, covering it with a cloth... might still seem inauspicious."

Jing Yi thought about it and agreed.

But it was best if this thing didn’t enter the Li family’s main gate. After some thought, he actually found a place. "Does the ditch that Ning Jiang and that person... dug last time still exist?"

Uncle Lin nodded uneasily. "It does."

"Then let's bury it there for now..." We can dig it up in a couple of days, clean it, and then send it to Brother Lunatic.

Bang!

Startled, Uncle Lin’s hand slipped, and the clock crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.

The Shen Group's celebration was scheduled for two days later.

Worried that Li Wenzhao might not dare to attend the banquet, Shen Shubai made an urgent video call early in the morning to remind him. Li Wenzhao’s phone had anti-fraud protection, so Shen Shubai couldn’t get through and had to call Jing Yi’s phone instead.

Jing Yi was still sleeping. As he rolled over, he found himself face-to-face with a man on the screen, grinning ear to ear with a row of gleaming white teeth.

Shen Shubai’s obsession with cleanliness meant everything he wore and the decor in his home was predominantly white, making his already pale face look almost ghostly.

Jing Yi, in a trance, was utterly shocked. "……"

"Hello, are you the new butler of the Li family?" Shen Shubai smiled. "You're quite handsome. Your natural look is also very striking. Why are you serving people in the Li family? Come to my side, and I'll make you famous within three days."

Jing Yi’s face drained of color, and he was speechless for a moment.

Was this guy sick?

Does being the main character give him the right to scare people like a ghost?

"Why aren’t you saying anything?" Shen Shubai raised an eyebrow, gently rubbing his chin. "Speechless? Hah, man, drooling over my appearance is the dumbest thing you've ever done."

Jing Yi was speechless and was about to hang up the video.

"Wait," Shen Shubai said. "You haven't agreed to come to my company yet. Name your salary. You can make any demands except for getting me."

"Get lost," Jing Yi cursed angrily. "Can't you see I'm sleeping? Stop bothering me."

Shen Shubai: "……"

As the male lead, this was probably the first time he had been scolded. Shen Shubai was stunned for several seconds before smiling faintly. "Young man, do you think acting like this will catch my attention? I'm only doing this because you like my face..."

Jing Yi poked the screen, realizing he couldn’t turn off the video. His phone seemed to be infected with a virus. Furious, he said, "Sorry, I don’t do that kind of business."

Shen Shubai: "……I'm not here to sell myself!"

Jing Yi angrily retorted, "Even if you were, I wouldn’t buy you."

"As a small butler, what makes you think you can refuse to buy me?"

Realizing he was acting childish, Shen Shubai quickly stopped.

"Forget it, I won’t stoop to your level. Go tell Li Wenzhao that I'll be waiting for him at the Imperial Court Hotel at 1 PM. If he’s a real man, he’ll show up at the banquet."

Jing Yi: "Can't you make the call yourself? I'm not a megaphone. Besides, you sound like a kid starting a fight."

"If I could get through, why would I be asking you?" Shen Shubai was losing it. "I don’t know what kind of firewall Li Wenzhao rigged, but even my best tech guys can’t crack it..."

He suddenly paused for a few seconds: "Butler Jing, if you can help me steal this technology, I’ll pay you a fortune..."

Jing Yi, recalling the app he had worked on for Li Wenzhao a few days ago, quickly installed it on his own phone.

"Beep beep beep—"

"Illegal communication signal detected. Watch out for your personal info!"

The screen flashed with red warnings as Shen Shubai’s pale face shrank into a thin line and vanished from the screen.

Whew.

Jing Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, some blessed silence.

It’s true what they say, relying on a big tree provides great shade. The government’s got our back, no doubt!