Chapter 72: Shut Your Trap

Chapter 72: Shut Your Trap

"Crash—smash."

Several sounds of cups smashing and walls being hit echoed from the top floor of the Shen Group.

"Is Li Wenzhao out of his mind? Is he?" Half an hour after Jing Yi replied to the blog post, Shen Shubai, the CEO of Shen Group, smashed his office. "I was just posting a nice Weibo, and he had to butt in, talking about riding roller coasters. If he's so capable, why doesn't he just fly to the moon himself? Damn it! Damn his entire family!"

After finally managing to win Qin Ningning back, Shen Shubai had been quite happy, but the moment Li Wenzhao's reply appeared, he was left with nothing but rage.

Not a single assistant or secretary dared to utter a word.

"Speak up! Are you all mute?"

The subordinates exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.

Shen Shubai, in a fit of rage, banged on the table: "Get the company employees up here, line them up, and have each of them curse Li Wenzhao three times."

Assistant & Secretary: "..."

He must be out of his mind, Mr. Shen.

The assistant spoke up: "Mr. Shen, this might affect everyone's work efficiency. We only have two projects left in the company. If we can't deliver on time..."

Shen Shubai took a deep breath, loosened his tie, and finally regained some composure. "Fine, don't disturb others. You guys curse him, and I'll listen."

"..."

Just... curse him outright?

Li Wenzhao hasn't done anything to them, so they couldn't even find a starting point.

Shen Shubai tapped the table: "Start already, waiting for me to lead? Each of you curses him ten times, no repeats, and you can't leave until you're done."

Assistant: "..."

This is bad, the boss has lost his mind. If this continues, the company won't last long.

"Mr. Shen, the priority now should be to complete the current projects with quality and quantity, and try to win some favor from our partners. As for Li Corporation, if they like to play dirty, we can counter them. Cursing only harms your own health, and Madam Qin is still waiting for you," the assistant advised kindly.

"Who allowed you to call her Miss Qin? Call her Madam."

"..."

Damn it, if it weren't for the fact that the salary of the Shen Group's chief assistant is twice that of the outside world, he would have quit this humiliating job long ago.

The office worker, strangled by life, forced a smile and corrected himself: "Yes, Madam Shen."

"Find a boring cursing team and flood Li Wenzhao's Weibo with negative comments. He can't escape the suffering I've endured."

Assistant: "...Yes."

After giving the order, Shen Shubai finally calmed down. He drank two glasses of cold water, which helped clear his mind. He rubbed his stiff brow and asked in a deep voice, "Any movements from Li Corporation? Any news from our insider?"

"No," the assistant took a deep breath. "Liu Ting from the R&D department has been discovered by Li Corporation and is currently being sued. The source code wasn't stolen either."

Shen Shubai's expression changed slightly. "What about the others?"

"Li Corporation has tightened security. For now... there's no way to get close."

"They're all useless."

Assistant Jing hesitated for a moment before reporting quietly, "Moreover, I just received news that Li Corporation's app is scheduled to launch next Saturday."

Shen Shubai was seething with jealousy.

His company had fallen from its former glory. Just a few months ago, they were neck and neck with Li Corporation, but now the tables had turned. He was barely scraping by, while Li Wenzhao was making a fortune and handing out big bonuses. How could he not be jealous?

"You handle it," Shen Shubai ordered. "On launch day, hire a few hundred people to flood his lousy app with suggestive GIFs all day. Remember, they must be GIFs."

Assistant Jing: "..."

Shen Shubai scoffed, "No way his app survives this."

"..."

·

·

Li Wenzhao was still unaware of Shen Shubai's schemes. Thanks to Jing Yi, he’d uncovered more spies with shady backgrounds, all sent to legal for prosecution.

This didn’t cause much of a fuss in the company. Compared to past scandals, this was barely gossip-worthy for Li Corporation employees.

They were eagerly discussing the upcoming annual meeting.

With Shen Group’s lavish gifts setting the bar, employees wondered what Li Wenzhao would offer at the annual meeting.

In the top-floor office.

Xu Mian knocked, "Mr. Li... Is he not here?"

Jing Yi, fiddling with a succulent, sat up straight. "He’s not here—he’s in a meeting with Secretary Fan. Need something?"

Xu Mian hesitated, then stepped closer. "Here’s this year’s annual meeting plan, same as last year. I wanted Mr. Li’s input."

Jing Yi blinked, confused.

With Shen Shubai’s antics fresh in his mind, Jing Yi was almost traumatized by the mere mention of an annual meeting.

Li Corporation’s annual meeting was bound to attract attention. What if Shen Shubai came to cause trouble? Losing money wasn’t the issue—he feared for Li Wenzhao’s safety.

The original protagonist wasn’t the upstanding guy he used to be. Now, he was so unhinged even his mom wouldn’t recognize him. Who knew what kind of chaos he might stir up at the annual meeting?

No way, no how.

Jing Yi: "Is the annual meeting absolutely necessary?"

Xu Mian was taken aback. "We’ve held one every year before."

Jing Yi curiously leaned over to glance at the corner of the plan. "Wow, Li Corporation’s past annual meetings even had musical performances."

Xu Mian asked, "Is Assistant Jing interested?"

Jing Yi nodded. It sounded quite interesting.

Xu Mian blinked, smiling. "What instrument does Assistant Jing play? If needed, I can arrange a performance for you."

"No, no," Jing Yi quickly waved his hands, taking a few steps back. "I’d rather watch than perform."

Xu Mian laughed softly, "Assistant Jing, you're too modest. If you were to perform on stage, you would surely receive a round of applause."

"You're really overestimating me; I can't even whistle in tune."

"Is it because the instrument is rare?" Xu Mian assured, "No matter what kind it is, Li Corporation can find it."

Seeing his eagerness, Jing Yi felt almost embarrassed to disappoint him.

Xu Mian looked at Jing Yi with great enthusiasm.

"I can play the retreat drum; do you have one?" Jing Yi said.

Xu Mian: "..."

Familiar footsteps approached from the door. Jing Yi tilted his head and saw Li Wenzhao walking in with steady steps.

After entering, he glanced at Xu Mian and asked, "What's the matter?"

Xu Mian handed over the documents and gave a report. After listening, Li Wenzhao frowned slightly, "Leave it for now."

Xu Mian left after putting down the documents.

Li Wenzhao quickly flipped through the plan. It was similar to previous years—not innovative, but not wrong.

"Take a look," Li Wenzhao said, handing the document to Fan Ming.

Fan Ming was surprised upon reading, "I didn't instruct them to prepare the annual meeting plan."

"Sorry, Mr. Li, I forgot to inform them that we won't be holding the annual meeting this year," Fan Ming apologized.

Others might not know, but he was aware. It was widely rumored that Shen Shubai was generous, treating employees as family, spending lavishly at annual meetings to fulfill employees' dreams of luxury cars and houses.

But only insiders knew this was the most vicious tactic in the business war between Li Corporation and Shen Group.

Given past precedents, it was hard to guarantee Shen Shubai wouldn't copy the strategy.

Recently, Fan Ming had been extremely busy catching spies and hadn't had time to inform them of the cancellation, which led the secretariat to draft the plan based on previous years' examples.

"It's okay," Li Wenzhao said, "Notify them immediately to cancel the annual meeting and convert the budget into bonuses for everyone."

There were already discussions in the company. Canceling the annual meeting without a proper reason might cause dissatisfaction among employees. Li Wenzhao's move was also meant to appease public sentiment.

Fan Ming's eyes lit up joyfully, "Yes, thank you, Mr. Li."

Jing Yi watched Fan Ming leave happily, propped his chin, and sighed, "It's great to be an employee at Li Corporation, with plenty to eat and drink, and various high bonuses."

"This scenario is completely unrealistic; indeed, this is an early domineering CEO novel."

Li Wenzhao looked at his watch, "I have another meeting, so I won't be joining you for lunch."

Jing Yi: "It's okay, I have Secretary Fan."

"Do you like Secretary Fan that much?" Li Wenzhao smiled, his expression meaningful.

Jing Yi's heart skipped a beat, "He's okay, Secretary Fan is easier to bully."

Li Wenzhao raised an eyebrow lightly, "I'm easy to bully too; why don't you try?"

Jing Yi: "..."

"Nah, I'll pass." Jing Yi sprawled on the desk, lazing around like a dead fish: "I'll hang back in the office with Secretary Fan and wait for you."

"..."

Li Wenzhao stood up, "It's not time to hibernate yet, come with me, and I'll take you to eat after we're done."

Jing Yi was lazy: "Don't want to move, I'm a lazy bum."

Li Wenzhao pinched the back of his neck: "Lazy bum, get moving."

Jing Yi giggled from the tickle, "Can't move, I'm glued to the spot."

Li Wenzhao: "..."

In the end, Li Wenzhao went to the meeting alone, while Jing Yi lay in the office for a while, messed around on his phone and computer, fiddled with some succulents, and bored, he snapped a couple of photos to post on his social media.

Just as the photos were posted, his social media was bombarded by Li Ting, who was slacking off—

[Third Young Master: Got nothing to do?]

[Third Young Master: If you're that free, I can always find more work for you.]

[Third Young Master: Don't post about slacking off on social media, it affects the employees' morale!]

Jing Yi: "..."

First time posting on social media, and the fun was already spoiled, how does the Third Young Master always manage to be everywhere?

Yesterday it was handing out cursed breakup gifts, today he's all over social media, his post was only up for a few seconds before the comments blew up.

Jing Yi never backs down from a verbal spar, he replied—

[Long Sleep Lazy Rise: A good boss doesn't pile on the work.]

[Third Young Master: ...]

[Third Young Master: Quit being so snarky, take it back.]

[Long Sleep Lazy Rise: Secretary Fan still hasn't taken care of yesterday's bizarre gift yet, should I pass it along to Second Brother, Third Young Master?]

[Third Young Master: ...]

Not long after, Li Ting came to private chat, [Look at you, Jing Butler, all grown up and making threats.]

[Long Sleep Lazy Rise: Not even close, just taking a page from your book, Third Young Master.]

[Third Young Master: Can't handle a little criticism? What's the point of posting such nonsense on social media?]

Jing Yi frowned.

[What, did you post a recipe for stewed ribs on your social media?]

[...]

After a brief pause, Li Ting started bombarding him with calls, Jing Yi didn't dare to answer, tossed his phone on the table, grabbed his meal card, and headed out to grab some food.

At lunchtime, the cafeteria was crowded.

Just as Jing Yi arrived at the entrance, he heard discussions not far away.

"I heard the company party was canceled?"

"Is that true? Assistant Fan personally sent the notice."

"Ugh, I was really looking forward to it."

"Exactly, the Shen Group's party is so luxurious, I originally thought Mr. Li would help me live out my mansion fantasy."

"Come on, the bonus is quite good for us. Do you think the million-dollar prize is just scrap paper?"

"Yeah... I guess I’m just being greedy, haha."

Jing Yi stood in the shadow of the corner, smart enough to stay hidden. After listening to their complaints, he was about to step forward when a familiar voice rang out—

"What do you know? A million-dollar bonus is nothing. Mr. Li's worth is a thousand times that, but it's just the nature of a businessman. Who’s that generous all the time?"

Jing Yi’s brow furrowed.

What kind of sarcastic remark is this?

He quietly peeked out with one eye and saw a familiar back of a head in the crowd ahead, someone who was shooting off his mouth.

...It was Xu Mian.

"Assistant Xu, that’s not fair," someone spoke up. "Which boss can give out bonuses like this? I, for one, am really grateful to Mr. Li."

Xu Mian snorted, "You've all been deceived. The internal message was sent after the Shen Group's takeover. Mr. Li didn't want to cause unrest, so he swallowed this bitter pill. Otherwise, do you think all bosses are so generous?"

The crowd was stunned.

Xu Mian continued, "That's why I say, Mr. Shen is better. Luxury cars and mansions are the real deal..."

"If the Shen Group is so good, why don't you just switch sides?" A clear male voice came from behind. "Save yourself from playing both sides while complaining about the taste."

Facing Jing Yi's gaze, Xu Mian was caught off guard, "Assistant Jing..."

"It's me," Jing Yi stepped closer. "Didn’t expect me?"

Xu Mian pointed at his nose and loudly accused, "You were listening in!"

Jing Yi retorted, "Is this your bedroom? Does everyone who passes by have to plug their ears?"

"..."

"Am I wrong? Canceling the company party at the last minute, did Mr. Li even think about us?"

Jing Yi frowned.

Since he was discovered, Xu Mian became bolder, his red eyes a little crazy, "Do you know how much I needed the bonus from the party? Mr. Li is so generous, why did he have to cut me off at the party? Do you know how much impact this has on me?"

...Is this guy nuts?

What kind of nonsense is this? Wanting everything and still playing the victim?

Xu Mian became more and more agitated, "Assistant Jing, you follow Mr. Li and live it up, but we can't even get a sip of hot soup. And, taking a step back..."

"Don’t even start," Jing Yi casually picked up a small cake and stuffed it into Xu Mian's mouth. "If you can't even speak clearly in front of me, who's going to hear you if you step back so far?"

Zip it.

Xu Mian: "..."

Bystanding employees: "..." Pfft.