SFBF CH93.1

The guild members: Playing games counts even less as a job!

At this moment, the bedroom door was knocked on once again.

Shen Qing, who was standing in place, turned his head and looked straight ahead at eye level, but at first glance, he didn’t see anyone.

It was only when he lowered his head that he noticed Duo-duo standing straight as a ramrod, alongside a curly-haired Ming-bao, both looking up at him from the doorway.

It turned out that because Ao Zai hadn’t returned for a long time, Duo-duo had decided to come upstairs to look for his younger brother.

…It wasn’t that he was being overly guarded against Auntie Lian Jin, who had led Ao Zai away.

Gu Duo was relatively wary of absolutely anyone, except for his daddies, Grandma Zhang, and the assistants around his big dad.

Coupled with…

In short, after Gu Duo finished learning a section of his text, he came to the third floor.

The moment he moved, Xu Weiming, who had long lost any desire to study, naturally followed suit immediately.

However, upon reaching the third floor, just as they approached the room, Gu Duo’s footsteps halted upon hearing the voices of Ao Zai and his little dad.

He didn’t walk any further forward.

Since his younger brother was with little dad, his mind was at ease.

Therefore, he intended to head back to continue completing his homework.

Even though for a fleeting moment Gu Duo was genuinely curious about what his little dad and the others were doing, and really wanted to go over to take a look and blend in with them.

Yet he merely tilted his head.

He neither understood why he wanted to blend in,

Nor did he feel it was necessary.

He ought to finish his own homework. Seizing the time to achieve the success he deserved in every aspect was the best thing he could do for the people who cared about him.

Thinking up to this point, Gu Duo simply turned around.

But at this moment, Xu Weiming beside him suddenly grabbed him, dragging him along as he ran pitter-patter toward the direction of little dad’s bedroom.

…The little child Xu Weiming, who was already on the verge of throwing up from studying, indicated that he absolutely did not want to go back and continue studying right now!

Thus, Ming-bao, who usually seemed very obedient to Gu Duo’s words, had already taken hold of the other’s hand at this moment, dragging him without the slightest hesitation to the doorway of the room where Uncle Shen was, and was the first to knock on the door.

The bedroom door was already wide open to begin with. Xu Weiming knew Uncle Shen and Ao Zai were playing inside, so knocking on the door wouldn’t disturb the uncle.

His face was full of innocence, and when Shen Qing looked over, he called out sweetly: “Uncle Shen!”

…

Probably no one could resist this milky, soft-sounding call. Shen Qing responded and directly told the two cubs to come in and talk.

Gu Duo, who had intended to leave: “…”

“Little dad,” Gu Duo could only greet his dad.

“Ah!” Shen Qing responded again, walking over to pull him inside, casually rubbing the cub’s head along the way.

Since Ao Zai was still sitting on the computer desk, Shen Qing arranged for the other two cubs to sit on his chair.

Both Duo-duo and Ming-bao were slender, so they happened to fit snugly together.

During this time, on the other side of the network, the small group was still frantically spamming messages regarding the leader’s profession:

[It could also be that our leader is truly so handsome it provokes the wrath of heaven and earth, leaving the Big Boss completely infatuated with him, so he stays at home as a full-time house-spouse and doesn’t need to work at all.]

[That’s really possible, ah! The Big Boss truly loves him so much. Not only does he squeeze out time to accompany our leader to play games, the key point is that he genuinely spends real energy playing! Qi Pao Shui probably feels too embarrassed to log online right now, Hahaha!]

[…The Big Boss truly, I’m crying my eyes out!]

[No, then just how handsome must the leader be to infatuate a wealthy person to this extent… How about we entice Ao Zai to secretly turn on his little dad’s camera so we can steal a glance?]

[…That’s a crime, but I feel like it can actually be considered :)]

At this moment, another child’s voice came from the leader’s microphone.

Different from Ao Zai’s, this voice was still milky, but it sounded distinctly fresh, crisp, and clear:

“Uncle Shen, you have no idea, Gu Duo already finished writing all the homework assigned by the teacher for this weekend by last night!”

“Ah? That amazing?”

——This was their leader’s voice.

“Yes, who says he isn’t!”

The fresh, child-like voice sounded very soft, as if acting spoiled: “And then he didn’t even rest. For the entire day today, he dragged me to learn three German texts, and even wanted me to memorize French and do math problems with him!…”

“If you don’t want to do them, you can go home.” A rather cold-sounding voice that still clearly belonged to a child suddenly cut in. There were no superfluous words, yet the uncles and aunties on the opposite side felt as if they had been instantly chilled.

Then that fresh voice let out a wronged “Wah,” but he didn’t cry, he merely said: “Who am I doing all this for anyway? Isn’t it just to let you rest for a bit!”

The cold-voiced cub: “…”

The fresh and crisp voice resounded once more, not saying anything else, but simply speaking out firmly: “Uncle Shen, shouldn’t Gu Duo and Ming-bao get to watch an episode of cartoons right now! …Wah!”

Inside the voice channel:

“Haha, this little milk-baby crying out ‘wah-wah’ is so cute, he’s killing me with laughter.” Someone truly couldn’t hold back their amusement.

“What’s the situation? Has the leader’s oldest cub arrived?”

“I remember the leader’s oldest cub is only in the first grade of primary school, right? Learning German, learning French, doing math problems… it’s undoubtedly him.”

“Holy crap, the oldest cub’s aura just now gave me a fright, you can totally tell he’s the Big Boss’s biological child!”

“But is the little milk-baby his classmate? He really knows how to act spoiled, Hahaha!”

“Yes,” Ao Zai, who was still sitting on the desk and assumed by default that he was still chatting with the aunties and uncles, replied: “Brother Ming is older brother’s classmate!”

The uncles and aunties on the opposite side instantly resembled sharks smelling blood, quickly asking Ao Zai: “Then little Ao Zai, has your older brother come over now?”

Everyone merely wanted to seize the time to gossip and eat drama, wanting to know if that child with the cold voice and a dominant aura unlike a normal child was indeed the legendary oldest cub of the leader’s family.

Because it felt simply too cool!

However, someone who was naturally born without a filter between their brain and mouth actually followed the crowd and directly asked: “Is your brother just reluctant to speak?”

…

This appeared rather impolite.

Everyone else fell silent.

Yet Ao Zai answered with a steady voice: “No, my older brother just doesn’t speak nonsense!”

The uncles and aunties on the opposite side who exclusively spoke nonsense: “…”

Another silence fell.

Afterward, the uncles and aunties who still couldn’t give up speaking nonsense began gossiping about Ao Zai’s older brother’s information again. In reality, Ming-bao was currently holding up a short but tender little finger toward Shen Qing, hoping to watch an episode of cartoons.

He vaguely knew Uncle Shen was different from his own parents; as long as he wanted to watch cartoons, provided he didn’t watch for too long and hurt his eyes, Uncle Shen would let him watch.

But because this kind of thing never happened at his own home, deep-rooted impressions made Ming-bao slightly afraid to believe right now that an adult would truly let him watch cartoons unconditionally, which was why he was acting so spoiled and cute.

Shen Qing was someone who responded to gentleness rather than force; at this moment, his heart was practically melting, so of course he agreed.

Yet having received permission, Xu Weiming was instead no longer in a hurry to watch the cartoons.

In any case, Uncle Shen had promised him, and when Uncle Shen spoke, a team of four horses couldn’t pull his words back!

——At least Ming-bao knew that was how it worked with his own parents. For instance, Ming-bao’s mother cared deeply about Uncle Shen’s thoughts and the suggestions he raised.

Therefore, if it was Uncle Shen inviting Ming-bao to watch cartoons, then today Ming-bao would bound to get to watch them.

Furthermore, if he didn’t finish watching the cartoons, Ming-bao wouldn’t have to go home!

Then what was he in a hurry for!

An ecstatic and joyful Ming-bao immediately unleashed a wave of rainbow-fart flattery toward his Uncle Shen.

Beside him, Gu Duo looked at Xu Weiming with a mix of speechlessness and shock.

Having finished his stream of flattery, Xu Weiming also looked at Gu Duo, who was squeezed into the same chair as him, blinking his eyes with incomparable innocence at him. Unable to contain his excitement, he happily shared with him: “Yay, yay, yay! I get to watch one episode at your house, and I can still watch another episode when I get home, I can watch two episodes today!”

Gu Duo: …

One could tell he was genuinely very happy.

Because after shouting out that he could watch two episodes of cartoons, Xu Weiming had directly embraced him.

He even shook him.

…

This kind of movement was something Gu Duo frequently saw on members of championship-winning teams when he watched the competitive sports channel.

…So after expending this much effort, it was just to watch one extra episode of cartoons?

Gu Duo… indicated that he truly couldn’t understand.

Since he didn’t understand, he would observe a bit more to see.

Inside the study, on one side was the sound of Ao Zai still enthusiastically chatting with the uncles and aunties.

On the other side was Ming-bao leaning against Gu Duo, accidentally using Gu Duo as a cushion while happily chatting with Uncle Shen.

Shen Qing actually wanted to turn off the voice chat at this moment, but unfortunately Ao Zai was chatting too cheerfully with the uncles and aunties on the opposite side, making it feel like it wouldn’t be very good to suddenly stop the chat.

…Ao Zai, who was exceptionally skilled at cross-server chatting, had even sat cross-legged on the desk. That posture, how should one put it…

Was very uninhibited.

It was also very mature and old-fashioned.

It inexplicably resembled the old uncles and aunts sitting in the shade at the village entrance discussing the neighborhood gossip.

It made Shen Qing completely speechless; just who on earth did Ao Zai learn this from!

Before long, the uncles and aunties on the opposite side successfully enticed Ming-bao, who likewise thoroughly enjoyed chatting, to join the “group chat.”

And based on Ming-bao’s admiration and affection for Uncle Shen, needless to say, whatever others asked him, his answers were all a wave of rainbow-fart flattery toward Uncle Shen.

Thus, through Ming-bao’s revelations and Ao Zai’s harmonious accompaniment, within the game world, Shen Qing had already become an image of “an peerless mega-beauty whose looks know no bounds,” “a behavioral benchmark for high-society parents (an impression Ming-bao formed of Uncle Shen by combining his own parents’ reactions),” as well as “someone highly talented and capable (Ao Zai felt little dad had yet to encounter any difficulty he couldn’t resolve) but who simply doesn’t want to do anything,” and “someone idle but rich and powerful, whose words carry immense weight both inside and outside the home, commanding hundreds with a single call.”

Shen Qing on the side: “…”

No, how about I go grab some sunflower seeds for you all so you can chat properly?

However, seeing Duo Zai beside Ming-bao occasionally letting out a smile while listening to them speak—even if the smile was very faint and restrained, one could still discern his relaxation and joy—Shen Qing ultimately chose to endure it.

Then Shen Qing really had the nannies bring over some snacks and fruit, dragged over a stool to sit on the side, and watched the three little bean sprouts chat away.

Shen Qing suddenly felt: perhaps this was also one of the joys of playing games?

Getting to know some friends, unearthing gossip about each other, in perfect harmony.

.

Although Shen Qing’s intention to remain a salted fish and lie flat was very resolute.

But something had occurred recently that nonetheless brought him to the forefront.

The original owner of the body had once participated in an ancient-costume immortal-cultivation drama, playing the third male lead in the series.

That drama possessed a very strong production crew; the first male lead and first female lead were both rising stars who were slightly famous at the time, and it could also be described as a production heavily backed by massive investments.

The original owner had put in a great deal of effort just to fight for that filming opportunity. Although it was the third male lead, because the storyline was complete and rich and the character itself was full of charm, it generated a very high level of discussion.

The original owner had also once pinned all his hopes of becoming wildly popular on this drama.

Unfortunately, heavens do not always grant human wishes; before the drama could even air, due to certain reasons it failed the review process and was forcibly taken down.

No matter how fiercely and hotly it had been hyped during the early stages, afterward it completely fizzled out.

This piece of work simply never met the audience.

By now, it was heard that under the unremitting efforts of the drama crew and investors, having undergone rounds upon rounds of edits, cuts, and re-reviews, this drama had finally passed the review and was about to be released very soon.

With the series airing, the drama crew would arrange for the director to lead the cast of actors to attend promotional events in various regions.

And within the contract signed between the original owner and the drama crew, it also included subsequent promotion and publicity activities for the series.

Even though Shen Qing had already terminated his contract with his talent agency, the contract signed with the drama crew was executed under his personal name. In other words, whether he retired from the entertainment circle or not, this contract possessed legal validity; whenever they needed him, he absolutely had to participate in the promotion.

Thus, the production crew tracked down Shen Qing, inviting him to attend the press conference to cooperate with the promotion and publicity of the new drama.

…This belonged to the historically unresolved issues left behind in the original owner’s career, and it wouldn’t be good for Shen Qing to ignore it.

Even if he could refuse to cooperate with the promotion by paying the breach-of-contract penalties and continue to lie flat.

But if this kind of news were leaked out, once the drama aired, he would firmly be the person who brought the first wave of heat to the production crew——

At that time, the entire internet would know just how incredibly lazy that Shen Qing who played the third male lead actually was.

——Failing to attend the press conference, completely disregarding the image and heat of the entire drama, and utterly uncaring about the hard work and dedication of the director, other actors, and staff members, blah blah blah.

Furthermore, if he didn’t go, this itself also touched upon Shen Qing’s baseline as a human being.

This kind of joint promotional matter was just like completing a task through group cooperation during school.

It wasn’t a question of money.

Rather, once he was absent, not only would the actor playing his counterpart in the drama be affected, but the entire group would also have their progress dragged down or generate some negative impacts because of him, affecting the promotion intensity and so on.

Shen Qing would not wrong himself for the sake of others, yet he likewise wouldn’t want others to suffer grievances because of him.

Thus in the end, he still agreed to cooperate with the organizers for a few promotional events.

The first stop was precisely the press conference prepared by the organizers a few days prior to the airing of the series.

Although it was attending an event, because the press conference was right in Hua City and the duration was merely a single afternoon, it didn’t hold any real impact for Shen Qing.

Moreover, because he consistently had no work to do and frequently wasted his entire mornings idling away at home, even he himself felt he was becoming decadent.

Shen Qing even felt a faint trace of anticipation toward this experience of waking up early to go out for work.

…When humans are entirely devoid of worries, they actually still create worries for themselves.

For instance, Shen Qing, who had already lived freely and comfortably in this world for over half a year, his current worry was that because he lacked worries, he had become excessively bored.

Therefore, when telling Gu Huaiyu that he was going to attend and participate in the event, Shen Qing’s attitude was still somewhat eager to give it a try.

Gu Huaiyu took all of this into his eyes and said, “If it’s difficult to decline, then go ahead.”

“Mhm, mhm.” Shen Qing nodded, indicating that he held the exact same meaning.

Gu Huaiyu spoke again: “However, if you feel bored, we can go see an exhibition, or tell Ao Zai to go out to accompany you to play.”

Shen Qing: “…”

It was very obvious that the Big Boss had also discovered his boredom.

In fact, a few days prior, Gu Huaiyu had taken him to see an exhibition once. It was a fashion show jointly organized by several international luxury brands; it occurred only once a year, and this year it happened to be held in China.

The guests invited on the first day of the debut show all possessed immense social status and influence.

Even though it was domestic, their round-trip transport to attend the exhibition was via private jet; the brand merchants’ service throughout the entire process was the kind that was utterly low-profile yet utterly extravagant.

Shen Qing could be considered to have witnessed the scene of high-end individuals attending high-end functions.

Furthermore, the Big Boss had even told him that exhibitions like this occurred almost every single day; as long as he was willing, he could run back and forth all over the world to see exhibitions, attend gatherings, and participate in various private parties of celebrities, ensuring he would absolutely never be bored.

However, Shen Qing had experienced it once and felt it was just so-so, which was temporarily enough for him.

He was capable of doing many things, but that didn’t mean he had to go do absolutely everything!

Even if he went again next time, that should still be together with his husband.

However, President Gu himself didn’t enjoy going either. The brand parties inviting him had always been as numerous as snowflakes, yet even when his health was perfectly fine, Gu Huaiyu never participated in that category of activities.

That particular time was merely taking advantage of the weekend when Duo-duo was on break; Shen Qing truly couldn’t think of anywhere else nearby to take the babies for a stroll, so President Gu had made a temporary decision to take Shen Qing and the babies out to play.

The itinerary wasn’t tiring, just a bit rushed.

After all, they had arrived in a new city, yet could only stay there for two days; one of those days was spent viewing the exhibition, while the other day was taking the cubs to catch up on sleep——Shen Qing caught up on sleep while the cubs studied, which was why it felt a bit rushed.

And prior to this, the travel defined by Shen Qing consisted of selecting a city well, experiencing zero pressure along the journey, and then upon arrival, sleeping in until whatever time he wished every day, and looking for food after waking up.

Occasionally hitting up locations that required waking up early or sleeping late, but most of the time consisted of resting, leisurely touring and sightseeing, and eating his way through delicacies.

But those kinds of gatherings for high-end individuals resembled rushing between venues more, and the vast majority of people would also carry social or commercial motives, making them not very interesting.

Therefore, Shen Qing’s current plan was just to wait until the Big Boss’s body recovered a bit more, and wait until Duo-duo’s final exams concluded and the summer vacation commenced, then they would embark on a slow-paced family trip.

At the very least, they would have to play for a week first.

Prior to that, he would still go out to work and resolve all the historically left-over problems.

On the day of the ancient-costume idol drama’s press conference, Shen Qing wore a well-fitted suit. His styling was simple and unadorned; aside from the wristwatch on his wrist and the clavicle chain around his neck, there wasn’t any superfluous decoration.

His performance on the stage was also on the quiet side, perfectly conforming to the rules.

Acting as the male protagonist’s good brother as well as the female protagonist’s good master in the drama, the third male lead played by Shen Qing was a man of few words, possessing good looks, possessing strength, bearing the weight of the common people under heaven on his shoulders, and ultimately sacrificing his life for righteousness to protect the common people—a positive character.