LABMY CH25

Jian Yuanbai waved his hand, causing the manager to line up the ten loudspeakers on the table, so they would be ready to pick up the sound when Xiao Zhenzi spoke. At the same time, he didn’t forget to confirm the content with the system:

“Am I supposed to say, ‘The humiliation today, I will repay tenfold, right? Actually, I think it would be even better if I add a line: ‘My Zhenge Group will never cooperate with the Wei family again.’ What do you think, Aotian?”

For some reason, Jian Yuanbai heard the system’s voice trembling, trembling and short: “It’s a hundredfold, it’s fine either way.”

Not tenfold, but a hundredfold. Whether or not to add it, that’s up to you.

The system struggled to hold back its laughter, its whole little body trembling. It looked at Wei Zhenge’s stiff face, feeling a little sympathy, but since it wasn’t the one about to speak those “chuunibyou” lines into ten loudspeakers, aside from a bit of sympathy, there was also ninety-nine parts schadenfreude.

Jian Yuanbai mumbled a few words, “Maybe we bought too few loudspeakers.”

The system remained silent, afraid it would laugh out loud.

Jian Yuanbai had already grabbed Wei Zhenge, instructing him on what to say. “You need to express that kind of suppressed, sorrowful feeling, as though you’re holding back a fierce determination, got it?”

“Your voice shouldn’t be flat, it should rise and fall.”

He eagerly added his own lines to what he wanted Wei Zhenge to say and told him, “Go ahead, make Wei Chengye regret it thoroughly.”

Wei Zhenge looked at him, speechless. In this moment, he felt as if he wasn’t at a Wei family birthday banquet, but rather on the set of some movie, with Director Jian, a perfectionist, explaining his lines to him.

Everyone in the room was watching them, their gazes filled with curiosity or confusion. The ten loudspeakers were lined up in a row, and Wei Zhenge could already imagine the scene of him speaking into the loudspeakers and becoming famous throughout Z City.

“Did you hear? That son of the Wei family, he was holding ten loudspeakers to speak at the banquet.”

“That person from the Wei family, always using loudspeakers to make threats, as if afraid others couldn’t hear. Using ten loudspeakers at once.”

“Have you heard of someone called Zhenge? He’s got a serious case of chuunibyou. When he says those chuunibyou lines, he uses ten loudspeakers to play them in a loop.”

“That voice, that tone… I’d believe he’d pick up a loudspeaker and shout that he’s the savior next.”

Although Wei Zhenge wasn’t the kind of person who was afraid of others’ stares, this situation was completely different. Just imagining the scene was enough to make him shiver.

He used all his acting skills, reached out, and grabbed Jian Yuanbai’s sleeve, his face full of panic, his lips trembling slightly. “Jian Ge… I can’t do it.”

“I never said it, because I didn’t want others to look down on me…”

Wei Zhenge hid behind Jian Yuanbai, raising his head in a panic. His lips were pressed so tightly they turned pale. “I have social anxiety, I’m really afraid to speak in front of so many people.”

“I’ve always kept to myself in class because of this…”

He didn’t cry, but his eyes were filled with panic and helplessness, trying desperately to hide behind Jian Yuanbai like a little animal seeking shelter. His expression was one of deep disappointment, and his eyes lowered. “I’m sorry, Jian Ge, I was afraid you’d hate me because of this…”

Wei Zhenge didn’t speak further, but it was as if he had said everything, because he was afraid of being disliked, he had never spoken up until it came to this point where he had no choice but to say it.

Jian Yuanbai looked at Wei Zhenge’s fearful eyes and immediately felt heartache. Forgetting about the ten loudspeakers, he stretched out his arms and hugged Wei Zhenge. “How could I hate you?”

“Since you’re afraid of speaking in front of so many people, we can just have a private conversation with Wei Chengye.”

Now that he no longer had to face the ten loudspeakers, speaking in front of Wei Chengye didn’t seem like such a big deal. Wei Zhenge didn’t forget to maintain his freshly crafted social anxiety persona. His voice was choked, yet with a touch of surprise as he murmured, “Mm.”

In fact, he could have refused Jian Yuanbai directly, firmly rejecting him, but Wei Zhenge wasn’t an ungrateful person. He understood that Jian Yuanbai had appeared here, at the Wei family’s home, which had nothing to do with him, because of himself. Thinking of this, the refusal that was about to leave his mouth was swallowed down.

Moreover, since it was Jian Yuanbai doing this, he wasn’t angry. He was just a bit helpless and even felt a bit sad, finally making Jian Yuanbai give up on the ten loudspeakers.

Jian Yuanbai reluctantly had the manager take the loudspeakers away. “Take them back to the company, let them use them when they have collective speeches.”

“Aren’t you the manager? You manage people under you, you can use them too. We’ve already bought them, we can’t waste them.”

The manager looked at the white speaker faces with blue handles, identical to the loudspeakers his high school PE teacher used to shout at people on the field. He had been happily counting money just now, but now he couldn’t quite smile.

It was hard to imagine a scene in an office building, full of white-collar workers, where team leaders, department heads, group managers, or even vice presidents were pulling out these loudspeakers to speak.

God, they’ve already bought them. If anyone finds out that these loudspeakers were bought by him, the manager wouldn’t just be unable to laugh; he might even cry.

Meanwhile, Jian Yuanbai had already walked towards Wei Chengye. “Mr. Wei, there’s something we want to discuss with you privately.”

From the moment Wei Chengye saw Jian Yuanbai and Wei Zhenge whispering closely, he didn’t think much and agreed right away. As a businessman, he wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to cooperate with Zhenge.

There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. He was willing to make concessions for tonight’s matter. Even if Wei Zhenge felt uncomfortable in his heart, he believed that Jian Yuanbai wouldn’t let him lose money.

Wei Chengye led Jian Yuanbai and the others to the study on the second floor. “President Jian, we can discuss the cooperation between the Wei family and Zhenge Group. I’m willing to make concessions, and I believe you can see my sincerity in cooperating.”

Wei Zhenge’s face was cold as he directly interrupted him, “No need to discuss.”

“The humiliation of today, I will return a hundredfold. My Zhenge Group will never cooperate with the Wei family.”

After speaking, Wei Zhenge grabbed Jian Yuanbai’s wrist and left. From the moment they entered the study to the moment they left, the whole process didn’t exceed a minute.

Only Wei Chengye was left sitting in the study with a dark expression. What did these two mean?

Saying they wanted a private talk was just an excuse to humiliate him?

…

Outside in the hallway, Jian Yuanbai stopped Wei Zhenge, who was about to leave. “You’re leaving just like that?”

This was completely different from what he had imagined. He hadn’t even seen Wei Chengye’s face turn red with anger as he had hoped.

Wei Zhenge quickly adjusted his emotions and said, “Jian-ge, there are too many people here. I want to go home.”

“In the past, I would force myself to endure being around crowds,” he looked at Jian Yuanbai with hopeful eyes. “But now, since Jian-ge said you wouldn’t dislike me because of this, I don’t have to endure it anymore, right?”

Jian Yuanbai’s playful mood instantly vanished. He said seriously, “Of course, you don’t have to. In front of me, you don’t need to force yourself.”

Even though Wei Zhenge was doing it on purpose, hearing Jian Yuanbai say this without hesitation still made him smile slightly.

“By the way,” Jian Yuanbai said, “Since we’re already here, take me to see your room.”

Wei Zhenge flatly refused, “There’s nothing to see. Let’s go.”

Suddenly, a person emerged from around the corner and called out, “Zhenge.”

He looked at Jian Yuanbai, and his eyes lit up. “Jian-ge.”

Ever since Jian Yuanbai had dreamed of being called “gege” by Wei Zhenge, he had become particularly sensitive to this term. In his heart, this title was exclusive to Wei Zhenge. Especially now… when Wei En called him that, it felt particularly awkward.

Jian Yuanbai replied rudely, “Who’s your gege? We’re not related, so don’t try to get close.”

Wei En looked at him with a bit of grievance. “But—”

Jian Yuanbai interrupted him again, “You’re a man, but your voice is so annoying. Just stop talking.”

Wei En’s face turned pale and then flushed with anger. He temporarily gave up on talking to Jian Yuanbai and turned to Wei Zhenge. “You left some things in your room. Go get them before you leave.”

Wei Zhenge gave him a cold glance. “I don’t want them.”

“Your room is right by the stairs. It’s so close. Why not take them?” Wei En said this as if unintentionally revealing the location of Wei Zhenge’s room.

He did it on purpose. He had overheard Jian Yuanbai saying he wanted to see Wei Zhenge’s room and knew why Wei Zhenge refused to take him there.

Wei Zhenge wanted to protect his ridiculous pride, but Wei En was determined to stomp it into the ground.

Why? Why was Wei Zhenge born the young master of the Wei family, while he had to live as an illegitimate child for so many years?

He deliberately sought out a low-life gambler and drunkard who would beat him when drunk. Yet, Wei Zhenge was lucky enough to encounter that same drunkard after he turned over a new leaf.

If Wei Zhenge wanted dignity, he would make sure he didn’t get it.

As Wei En spoke, he had already pushed open the door to Wei Zhenge’s room. As long as Jian Yuanbai looked down the stairs, he would see that the so-called “aloof academic genius” lived in a tiny, servant-like storage room.

Jian Yuanbai was indeed intrigued, but when he saw that Wei Zhenge didn’t respond and just walked away, he followed.

As they passed the stairs, Jian Yuanbai glanced at the open door. Inside was a piano, making it look nothing like a bedroom.

Confused, he turned his head. In that moment, he caught sight of a door extending from under the stairs.

Standing on the stairs, Jian Yuanbai leaned forward slightly and looked down. He saw a narrow, dark, small room built into the space beneath the stairs.

It was dim inside, but he could still make out a small bed. There was nothing else inside, not even a desk, because there wasn’t enough space for one.

A rope hung from the ceiling, with a few empty hangers dangling from it.

The Wei family mansion was huge, and the reception area wasn’t in this part of the house. So, the door to this tiny room was left open, revealing everything.

In that instant, Jian Yuanbai understood whose room this was.

Wei Zhenge walked ahead, but his peripheral vision was fixed on Jian Yuanbai. He naturally noticed when Jian Yuanbai saw that small, dark storage room. However, he didn’t look back. He just stiffened his back slightly.

Jian Yuanbai didn’t say anything, and neither did Wei Zhenge. The two tacitly avoided mentioning it.

But in his mind, Jian Yuanbai was gritting his teeth and cursing: “They let Little Pillow live in a place like this? The Wei family is so rich! Is Wei Chengye even human?”

He could almost imagine the scene from years ago—Little Pillow coming home from school and curling up in that cramped, dark space.

The system spoke faintly, “Well, it’s normal for a future protagonist to suffer before rising to power.”

Before Jian Yuanbai could respond, he was stopped by a manager who had been waiting for him.

The manager looked at him pitifully, “President Jian, can I leave the megaphone here? I don’t need it.”

Having overheard their conversation earlier, the manager added, “Actually, President Jian, I’m socially anxious too.”

Jian Yuanbai gave him a strange look. “Aren’t you the manager of the sales department? If you have social anxiety, I don’t think you’re fit for this job.”

He seriously suggested, “You should talk to HR—”

The manager panicked and interrupted, “President Jian, I’m actually too outgoing. I make others socially anxious. I’ll keep the megaphone, thank you.”

Jian Yuanbai swallowed the words “talk to HR and see if you can switch to another department” and changed his tone. “Do your best. Next time, you’ll be the one to humiliate Wei Chengye with that megaphone.”

“I’ll buy you a hundred megaphones. You can expose all the dirty things he’s done and make him too ashamed to stay here.”

“Abusing a child? What a scumbag.”

Watching Jian Yuanbai leave, the manager wanted to slap himself. Why did he say that? Now he had to carry a megaphone everywhere. Might as well start a megaphone business.