Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Shen Muyun stared at the empty folder on his computer screen, the crumpled contract in his hand like a discarded piece of paper. He slumped into his office chair, fuming. He felt unfairly targeted—how could he have lost his wits on his very first day?

Suddenly, it dawned on him: when he printed the documents earlier, there should have been backups on the computer in the printing room. If he could find them, that would be ideal, though it would depend entirely on luck.

Shen Muyun immediately stood up and headed to the printing room next door. He found several people gathered around the printer, tinkering with it. A wave of unease washed over him, his temples throbbing, his right eyelid twitching uncontrollably—muscle tension, yes, just tension.

“So, what’s going on here?”

The man in charge looked up at Shen Muyun, then gestured to the printer. “There’s a system glitch. We’re working on it. If you need to print something, the printers on the 20th floor—wait, no, those seem to be down too. Not sure what’s happening, but all the company’s printers have suddenly gone on strike.”

“How long will that take, roughly?”

“Hard to say. We’re still troubleshooting. Right now, it looks more like an external attack on the computer system. Basically, all the company’s computers are malfunctioning, not just the printers.”

“Alright, thanks for your hard work. Please hurry.”

*Crap*, what did this mean? Was this targeted? Of all times to break down, it had to be when he needed it most. When luck’s against you, even drinking water feels like a chore—let alone printing a contract.

Shen Muyun trudged back to his office, anxious, tapping his knuckles lightly on the desk. There was no good solution.

“System, show yourself!”

“At your service, esteemed Host Master! What are your commands?” The system spun around and materialized before him.

Shen Muyun rubbed his temples and glanced sideways at the system. “Open the marketplace system. Company, Shen Corporation contracts.”

The system materialized, and a list of Shen Corporation contracts appeared on the screen, clearly marked with dates, locations, signatories’ names, final profit margins, and even various miscellaneous reports. This would do. If only he’d known earlier, he wouldn’t have wasted his breath.

“System, you had this contract all along? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“Well, Host Master, that was then, this is now. This is a new item just added to the TimeSpace Administration’s marketplace—about ten minutes ago. How was I supposed to know? The marketplace has too many items; I can’t monitor it 24/7. I need time to process new listings to avoid bugs!”

Shen Muyun lightly tapped the screen. The contract was displayed above, with the price below. He noticed that contracts from a few years ago cost only ten tokens, last year’s cost a thousand tokens, but today’s contract required five thousand tokens. What was the meaning of this?

“System, is this marketplace system developed by some shady operation? Inflating prices on the spot—just a few sheets of paper, and you want five thousand tokens? Isn’t it too easy for you to make money? We workers won’t accept such unfair pricing.”

“Esteemed Host Master, the marketplace system is fair and just, treating all equally. As for the contracts you see, they are priced based on their value—the higher the value, the higher the price. Isn’t that only natural? Additionally, time is a factor—the closer to the present, the higher the price. This is set by the TimeSpace Administration’s pricing department. If you have any doubts, here’s the complaint hotline: 315315315. Did you get that?”

“Noted.”

So, this contract’s value was quite high—the highest among all the contracts. Today’s contract signing was, well, unavoidable. There was no other way.

Shen Muyun shook his head helplessly. For now, he had no choice but to spend the tokens. Five thousand—it still stung. These were tokens earned from that gemstone. So expensive, and who knows how many tasks he’d need to complete to earn them back.

He squinted, almost unwilling to look directly at the price, and clicked directly. His account balance emptied, and a new contract appeared in his hand.

“Ah well, tokens can be earned back later. The contract is urgent, so let’s just go with this.”

Shen Muyun flipped through the contract casually and was surprised to find that all the errors in the contract had been corrected.

“System, do you have an auto-correct feature or something?”

“Well, about that—it was corrected by the relevant staff at the TimeSpace Administration, not me. I’m just a system, responsible for relaying messages, assigning tasks, and handling all your requests, esteemed Host Master. You should be counting your blessings—this is a unique privilege. The staff at the TimeSpace Administration have never done this before.”

Shen Muyun waved his hand, growing curious about this TimeSpace Administration. Who exactly was in charge? Was the person in charge the one behind it all who sent him here?

“Who is the person in charge of the TimeSpace Administration?”

The system hesitated. “That… I don’t know either. Rumor has it that a new person recently joined. Systems don’t interact directly with them. The TimeSpace Administration has its own standards for selecting administrators. There’s a reason I became a system, but I can’t say just yet. As for the TimeSpace administrators, it’s better if you don’t ask.”

“Fine, no time to waste. I’ll take it that you really don’t know.”

Shen Muyun waved his hand, and the system promptly vanished into thin air.

He picked up the contract, checked the time—the meeting was about to start. He stood up and prepared to head to the conference room. As he passed the break room, he heard hushed voices.

“Shen Muyun, that deadweight, what skills does he have? He’s just been gallivanting outside, relying on being part of the Shen family to become Shen Liuyun’s assistant. He’s only arrogant because of that.”

Shen Muyun snorted softly. Sure enough, this had something to do with Zhou Shiqing.

“I’m the one who sabotaged the printers. So what? Does he have any proof? If he can’t submit the contract, it’ll be quite a show.”

Shen Muyun wanted to hear what else these two were plotting.

“Exactly, President Zhou. If this succeeds, you promised me a share of the profits—you can’t go back on your word.”

Secretary Chen, *how typical*. No wonder Shen Liuyun kept saying recently that the contracts didn’t seem right. So the mole was here.

Zhou Shiqing took a sip of coffee and frowned at the bitterness.

“What is this? It’s awful. Shen Liuyun’s taste is just so-so. Your Shen Corporation needs fresh blood. The old rules you follow are outdated now. Stubborn old ways—signing contracts and thinking it’s mutually beneficial.”

“Exactly. The Shen family just relies on their old foundations, plus real estate from over a decade ago and now AI, to rise to the top of Jiangcheng. Our Chen family has worked tirelessly. My father was once under Old Master Shen—a founding *gongchen* (meritorious servant) of the Shen Corporation. But just one small mistake, and he was kicked out?”

“Don’t even mention it. Shen Liuyun can’t tolerate any flaws. If that old man steps down, there’s still the young one—another handful. Xiao Chen, why not come to Zhou Corporation? I need an assistant. How about a share of the company’s profits then?”

Secretary Chen seemed hesitant, remaining silent for a long time.

“Never mind, just a thought. Don’t take it to heart. You’ve done well with this. There’ll be rewards if the contract goes through.”

“That’s settled then. I just tweaked the contract a bit. Shen Muyun has never managed a company and knows nothing about the workplace, so he fell for it. If there’s a next time, he probably won’t be fooled again.”

Zhou Shiqing laughed. “And I thought he had some skills. Turns out he’s just an inexperienced kid.”

Shen Muyun’s anger surged. So they were in this together, setting him up.

He suddenly stepped out from the side. “Well now, President Zhou and Xiao Chen chatting in the break room? What’s the topic? Let me in on it too.”

Seeing Shen Muyun, Secretary Chen’s face fell, and he tried to slip away. Shen Muyun grabbed his arm. “Secretary Chen, don’t leave. Weren’t you having a great conversation? Is the Shen Corporation not treating you well enough, so you’re conspiring with outsiders to make some ill-gotten gains?”

“Second Young Master Shen, how dare you! What evidence do you have? The surveillance here is broken. Don’t think you can always rely on evidence.”

“Seems like my earlier slap wasn’t hard enough, since you still have the energy to talk back.”

Secretary Chen stepped back, remembering he shouldn’t provoke the person in front of him. No matter what, Shen Muyun was indeed unhinged.

Zhou Shiqing set down his teacup and smiled at Shen Muyun. “Shen Muyun, a smart bird picks its branch—that’s an age-old rule. Even if Secretary Chen wants to jump ship, it’s none of your business. But, check the time—the contract meeting between Shen Corporation and Lu Corporation is almost here. Where’s the contract?”

Shen Muyun walked up to Zhou Shiqing and patted his shoulder lightly. “Zhou Shiqing, this is Shen Corporation’s business—none of yours. And this is the employees’ break room, not open to outsiders. Don’t you think it’s inappropriate for you to be here? Does Zhou Corporation have so little work that you have time to wander around Shen Corporation?”

Zhou Shiqing straightened his clothes. “Shen Muyun, do you only know how to solve problems with force? Or is it all just hot air?”

Shen Muyun picked up a coffee cup nearby, the hot coffee swirling inside. He tilted the cup, about to splash it on Zhou Shiqing.

Zhou Shiqing dodged quickly. Shen Muyun held the cup, watching the coffee swirl. “I offered you coffee, and you refused. No taste.”

“You! Shen Muyun, don’t get smug! Let’s see how you produce the contract!”

Truly two peas in a pod.

Shen Muyun raised his hand and waved the contract. “You mean this?”