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ntranslator: baumkuchen editors: glitterypanda, serefina

nOver the next hour, Chi Xiaochi was extremely busy integrating the data and compiling the information.

nAbout half an hour later, the door to the bedroom was pushed open.

nThe person who entered wasn’t Zhou Kai.

nZhou Kai was out on a business trip in France for these few days. The visitor was a domestic helper.

nAccording to the information provided by 061, he was Spanish, and was called Yi Song.

nHe didn’t know Chinese, just like the chauffeur, the chef and the maid. They had all been instructed not to use English by Zhou Kai. In the house, they were to only use Spanish to converse.

nShen Changqing didn’t know Spanish.

nIn the beginning, Shen Changqing had taken the initiative to learn a few sentences, but he soon realised that these four people had no interest in responding to any of his questions or requests. Occasionally, they’d even gather together to point out Shen Changqing’s injuries and snigger incessantly.

nThey’d been working for Zhou Kai for more than twenty years and could be considered long-time servants of the Zhou household. To them, even Su Wenyi’s tragedy was by now unsurprising.

nFrom their point of view, Mister Zhou treated Mister Shen very well. At least compared to how he was with Mister Su, he was much more gentle.

nAfter realising their indifference, Shen Changqing felt that he had nothing to say to such people.

nBut Chi Xiaochi wasn’t the same.

nHe especially liked talking to such people.

nYi Song pushed in a wheelchair. Seeing that the needle had already been pulled out, he paused slightly but didn’t say anything. He helped Chi Xiaochi sit up from the bed and silently replaced the towels fastened around his chest.

nChi Xiaochi asked, “My IV ran dry an hour ago. Why was there nobody to remove it for me?”

nYi Song ignored him.

nChi Xiaochi turned to 061, “How do you say that in Spanish?”

n061 repeated it in Spanish. Just as he was about to say it a second time for Chi Xiaochi, Chi Xiaochi flawlessly repeated what 061 had said, not a syllable out of place.

nIn response to Chi Xiaochi’s question, Yi Song remained silent.

nFrom this, it could be seen how oppressive the environment that Shen Changqing had been living in for three whole years was.

nIn the entire villa, the only person who could talk to him was, of all people, the person he hated most.

nChi Xiaochi spoke again, in a voice that was neither too fast nor too slow, “If I hadn’t pulled out the needle myself, the IV drip would probably have been half-full with my blood by now.”

nYi Song’s resultant complete lack of concern was within his expectations.

n061 once again repeated Chi Xiaochi’s words in Spanish.

nThis time, the grammar and words used were a little complicated, so Chi Xiaochi had to listen to it twice before being able to repeat it.

nYi Song continued to ignore him and even let out a quick, light laugh, as if he felt like this was something very amusing.

nAfter changing the towels, he dragged Chi Xiaochi up to move him onto the wheelchair.

nFor the next hour was the time in the sun Zhou Kai had prescribed for Shen Changqing. It couldn’t run even a minute longer or a minute shorter.

nChi Xiaochi, who was being shielded from the pain, naturally wouldn’t feel any pain, but Shen Changqing definitely would.

nSo he raised a protest, “Be a little gentler. It really hurts.”

n061 took the initiative to translate that for him. The response they received was still nonexistent.

nIn the next second, Chi Xiaochi once again exceeded 061’s expectations with his next move.

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nHe directly grabbed the soundless clock from the bedside table and clocked Yi Song in the face.

nWith a crack, the glass face of the clock was smashed into pieces.

nYi Song, who had been hit, and 061, who had watched Yi Song be hit, were both dumbstruck.

nChi Xiaochi said in Spanish, “……Since you don’t understand human speech, can you now understand what ‘it really hurts’ means?”

nWith a hiss, 061 sucked in a breath of cold air.

nHe thought Chi Xiaochi was in for a beating and had already made his preparations to materialise and knock Yi Song unconscious.

nWho knew that upon touching his face and noticing the blood on his hands, the stupefied expression on Yi Song’s face would slacken slightly and even gain a slight hint of fear.

nHe said in Spanish, “Sorry, Mister Shen.”

n061, “&#k2026;&#k2026;”

nThe sunshine outside wasn’t bad. The greenery in the villa garden was meticulously arranged. There was also a beautiful pond off to the side. The pond gleamed with the colour of green jade, extremely delightful to the eye.

nLying in his wheelchair, Chi Xiaochi basked in the sunlight. He rubbed his chest, “I was too abrupt just now. I think I heard my bones crack.”

n061 said, “I’ve shielded you, so you won’t feel any pain.”

nChi Xiaochi asked excitedly, “That means I can move around however I want now?”

n061, “……That means you now have no way of accurately judging the severity of your injuries and need to take it a little easier.”

nChi Xiaochi, “……Oh.”

n061 asked, “Why did you hit him?”

n“Violence isn’t going to solve the problem,” Chi Xiaochi said, “but it can at least be used to deal with idiots.”

n“What if he retaliates? He attends to your daily life. If he were to do a little something……”

n“I still have a mouth under this nose of mine. Zhou Kai videocalls me everyday, don’t you think I would tell him?”

n“Would Zhou Kai care?”

n“It’s true that Zhou Kai treats Shen Changqing like a pet he’s raising, but he absolutely wouldn’t allow other people to make a move on his own pet,” As he turned the pages of the book in his hands, he moved his gaze over to Yi Song and the two other servants whispering in a corner of the small garden, “……These people are very clear on that.”

n“If they……”

n“Let’s bet on it. They won’t dare to say anything.

n“Shen Changqing and Su Wenyi were both scared of offending them, and in turn offending Zhou Kai. So they had nothing to fear with Zhou Kai backing them up,” Chi Xiaochi said, “In fact, these kinds of people fear violence the most.”

nOff in the distance, only a few isolated phrases from the three people’s conversation drifted over on the wind. They could vaguely hear “madman”, and “he’s gone crazy”.

nWithout even bothering to raise his head, Chi Xiaochi raised his voice and shouted back in Spanish, “You guys are the real madmen. Three idiots.”

nThe three people immediately scattered like a flock of startled birds.

nChi Xiaochi sneered.

nCowardice and tyranny, these two traits that were as different as night and day were extremely likely to exist simultaneously in a single individual.

nOn this point, he’d long been clear.

n061, “……I didn’t seem to have taught you how to say what you just said.”

nChi Xiaochi turned a page of his book, “Oh, I can speak Spanish.”

n061, “……”

nChi Xiaochi, “The domestic helper my home used to have was also Spanish. She had much more personality than those three. She was really lovely and even taught me quite a few curses.”

n061, “……Then in the beginning you made me teach you……”

n“Oh, I just wanted to listen to you speak more,” Chi Xiaochi said candidly, “And not to mention, you sound really sexy in Spanish. Let’s change tonight’s book to Spanish poetry.”

n061 was silent.

nAfter waiting for a long time but still not getting a response from 061, he let out a “yi”, and called, “Liu-laoshi?”

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nChi Xiaochi thought his hiding things and rash advance had made 061 angry.

nBut soon, 061 responded.

n“It’s nothing,” 061 said, “I went online to download a Spanish poem anthology.”

nChi Xiaochi, “Here I thought you were upset by my fooling around.”

n061 said, “I wouldn’t be.”

nHe then said, “With me here, you can play around however you want.”

nIn truth, 061 was actually really a little angry.

nHe couldn’t understand why Chi Xiaochi was assigned to an A-grade world when he was only on his second task.

nHe’d consulted all the databases, and after sifting through the enormous amount of data, he’d confirmed that Chi Xiaochi was definitely the first.

nIn light of recent events, 061 found a point of suspicion:

nThe Lord God said he wanted him to participate in a project.

nHe was very worried that the current abnormality was him “testing the waters” for that so-called project.

nIf that was really the case, 061 would rather complete the full set of 200 tasks than take the deal and gamble with Chi Xiaochi’s safety, because once a host logged out, whether voluntarily, their mental energy would acquire quite a bit of damage.

n061 remembered helping a colleague cover a shift back when he was on his ninth host.

nThat host had just been extricated from an ABO world after dying in battle amongst a pile of disgusting Zerg.

nWhen 061 talked to him, his mental state was obviously somewhat muddled and his reactions were delayed. He later heard that the symptoms had only been alleviated after two task worlds.

nThis A-grade world was far too dangerous. 061 decided to not return to the Lord God’s space for the time being and stay by Chi Xiaochi’s side. He would wait till after the task finished to go find the Lord God and come to an agreement about him withdrawing from the project.

nChi Xiaochi laughed, “So good to me?”

n061, “You consider just this good? There’s still room for improvement.”

nChi Xiaochi paused for a moment, “Your manner of speaking reminds me of someone.”

n061, “En?”

n“An especially annoying someone,” Chi Xiaochi said, “They promised they would be good to me for a lifetime, but in the end, they just left. Not at all loyal.”

n061 knew who he was talking about, but didn’t know how to comfort him. He could only say, “Let’s bask in the sun.”

nHowever, Chi Xiaochi said, “I want to use the internet.”

nWithout Zhou Kai’s permission, Shen Changqing couldn’t access the internet. However, with 061, he didn’t need to worry about something like not having internet at all.

nIn his mental space, he spent an hour browsing the internet.

n061 noticed that the webpages Chi Xiaochi was looking through were all articles on recent hot society news. Some were related to Zhou Kai, but some had nothing to do with him, such as how, in so-and-so place, there had been a □□ to fight for black people’s rights, how there had been a shooting incident in such-and-such place, how an elk had escaped from a zoo in XX place and wandered onto the highway.

nEven though he wasn’t very clear on what he was looking through these for, 061 had exceptional faith in Chi Xiaochi.

n……Nothing he did was without a purpose.

nAn hour later, Chi Xiaochi was taken back to his bedroom by the maid.

nAnother hour later, dinner was served.

nDinner was, despite the circumstances, still very good; a nutritious meal tailored for a patient with broken bones.

nChi Xiaochi sighed, “This old calf supposes this set of dishes was perfected through experience.”

nHe was injured, and naturally couldn’t use chopsticks by himself. Furthermore, in order to beat people up today, he might have exerted enough force to have broken a third rib. Now, he could only depend on a maid to feed him.

nFortunately, the broken clock was still on the headboard, still exerting its presence. The maid put in her best efforts to feed him, fearful of Chi Xiaochi going into a fit of moodiness and smashing a basin of hot soup over her head.

nChi Xiaochi also wasn’t one to make a fuss out of nothing. If the other party was polite to him, he had no reason not to return that politeness.

nBy the time the meal was over, it was already exactly seven o’ clock in the evening.

nZhou Kai’s villa was in Canada, while he himself was in France. There was a time difference of six hours between the two countries.

nOf course, Zhou Kai didn’t care whether or not there was a time difference. As long as he wanted to start a video call, Shen Changqing had to pick up, even if it was at three o’ clock in the morning.

nBut today, he had no time for such whims.

nAt two-thirty in France time, he needed to attend a very important conference, which was the main purpose of this trip to France.

nChi XIaochi asked 061, “Zhou Kai has the habit of napping, right?”

n061, “Yes.”

nZhou Kai was getting on in age, he didn’t have the energy of a younger person. If he didn’t have an afternoon nap, he would have no energy for the rest of the day.

nHe would be in an extremely bad mood if woken up, and absolutely did not allow anyone to disturb him. He had the habit of putting his phone on mute, and would even pick up the hotel phone and put it aside, so as to avoid being awakened by room service.

nHowever, he was incredibly self-disciplined. Every nap would never exceed half an hour. He could be said to have an automatic alarm constitution.

nHe then asked, “Can skill cards be used at such a distance?”

n061, “Yes.”

nChi Xiaochi turned his head, and looked at the little clock whose face he’d smashed. It showed that it was 7:05.

n“Low-grade hypnosis card, the one that lasts an hour. Use it on him now.”

nAbout one hour later.

nIn a black MPV on the streets of Paris, Zhou Kai sat in the backseat, his expression extremely ugly.

nHe growled in English, “Hurry up!”

nThe driver had a face full of helplessness, “Boss, there’s a strike up ahead……”

nZhou Kai clenched his teeth, “Go around.”

nThe driver turned the car into a little side street.

nThe assistant sitting next to him didn’t even dare to take too deep of a breath for fear that the sound of his breathing would call Zhou Kai to turn his attention to himself.

nZhou Kai’s face was ashen, and his fists were clenched so tightly they itched.

nWhen he’d woken up in the hotel room, and turned on his cell phone, he’d even thought that he’d misread the time.

nUpon getting a good look at the time, he directly shot out of bed. After his call to his assistant went through, the first thing that came out of his mouth was a roar, “Where are you?!”

nThe assistant stood in front of the meeting place where the attendees were pouring in one after another, in a cold sweat, “Sir, where are you? I knocked on your door, but you didn’t reply, and when I tried to contact you, you didn’t respond. I even thought you’d gone to the meeting place with Mister Sam in advance……”

nNo matter how upset Zhou Kai got, the facts couldn’t be denied: As an important person in the meeting, he was close to thirty minutes late.

nWhen Zhou Kai entered the meeting room, the meeting had not yet begun in order to wait for him.

nBeing under the attentive gaze of the investors, he was very upset on the inside, but still pretended to be cheery, laughing, “I remembered the time wrongly, haha.”

nThe assistant’s heart skipped a beat.

nBefore he came in, he’d clearly warned Zhou Kai again and again to just directly apologise, no need to provide a reason.

nHe had done an investigation beforehand and found that two of the investors attending the meeting were both famous in the industry for their strong views on timeliness.

nEven though they wouldn’t make a fuss for the sake of the short-term benefits, what the company was aiming for was long-term collaboration. If Zhou Kai had this kind of “hee hee ha ha” attitude, after another year, when they wanted to talk about cooperating again, he was afraid the other party would harbour doubt in their hearts.

nIn conclusion, Zhou Kai still loved face, and was unwilling to admit his wrongs in front of everybody.

nWhen Zhou Kai was young, he still knew how to restrain himself. After turning 45, when his position in the industry stabilised, his mouth became more loose. He often spoke freely in public. He even once talked at length about his and his partner Shen Changqing’s X life, and compared him with his predecessor. That magazine report was also bold, directly sending it out and arousing a huge wave of controversy.

nSome people praised him for his daring, and some questioned him for his sensationalism.

nBut in any case, his familiarity in the public consciousness rose sharply, sending the attention paid to his company and his stocks soaring.

nZhou Kai prepared to take his seat. Sam helped him pull out a chair.

nZhou Kai had no heirs, so this Mister Sam was the successor that Zhou Kai had single-handedly trained. Only 35 years old this year, he could be called a promising young man.

nBut not long after he sat down, Sam found something wrong with Zhou Kai.

nHe whispered, “Mister Zhou, what’s……”

nZhou Kai’s eyelids closed, and his body slid downwards without stopping.

nSam was shocked, “Oh my god, Mister Zhou!!”

nThousands of li away, Chi Xiaochi laid in bed, and said to 061, “Check for me, after Zhou Kai fainted, how did that Sam react?”

nHe had just used another card, this time a vertigo card, and was currently waiting for his test results.

nSoon, 061 gave his response, “……That Sam showed great concern for Zhou Kai.”

nChi Xiaochi said, “Continue your observation. Everything he shows in the presence of other people doesn’t count.”

nZhou Kai was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. In the ruckus, no one noticed Sam quietly slipping into the hospital toilet.

nAs he opened all the toilet cubicles one by one, he sent texts to several people, “……Mister Zhou suddenly fainted and was admitted to the hospital. The cause is currently under investigation. For the time being, block the news and don’t allow the media to catch wind of this.”

nAfter that, he then called two other people. “Send some news to the media companies we’re familiar with. Say that an ambulance entered a certain French conference centre, according to leaks from the centre staff, it is suspected that a sudden, serious illness broke out in the Chinese-Canadian Zhou Kai and the cause is unknown……”

nA low-grade card that only had an hour of effectiveness was used for a preliminary test to see how deep the waters of Zhou Kai’s company ran.

nAt least, that Mister Sam was not as deeply grateful for Mister Zhou’s promotion as he seemed to be.

nThe author has something to say:

nXiaochi: Setting traps makes me happy.jpg

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nbaum: watching CXC set traps makes me happy~ I like rereading this novel with the added knowledge of what he’s going to do heh heh It’s fun watching how he slowly sets up his traps

nalso, tomorrow I’ll be going out for dinner, so the chapter may be a few hours later than usual, sorry

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