He wouldn’t let her play and even hit her—her brother was still as annoying as ever!
Jiang Chuling put on a stern face. “If you can’t play, why did you ask me to come?”
“Wasn’t it you who insisted on seeing this place!?”
“I came on behalf of Mom, Dad, and our eldest brother to supervise you! Who knew you’d never come home during the break, always out doing who knows what!”
“Well, now you know! Scared you, didn’t it!”
Seeing them about to start arguing again, Qiuyun quickly interrupted, “Miss, Fourth Young Master! Since we can’t play the game, how about we just look around?”
Jiang Chuling huffed, “Exactly. You’re a boss now, but still so childish.”
Jiang Linzhi gritted his teeth.
Tsk. Who was the real kid here? Acting all grown-up when she was anything but!
Jiang Linzhi’s assistant, who also served as his secretary, shot Qiuyun a grateful look and quickly took on the role of tour guide, showing the seventh young miss around the new company.
“…Once the last ancient world is finished, our company can start preparing for the launch.”
Jiang Chuling was amazed. “So it’s a time-travel themed game? Can I choose which world to jump into?”
“At the start of the game, there’s an option for random or sequential order. And depending on the player’s profession, age, and gender, the NPCs they encounter and the tasks they need to complete will be completely different.”
“Wow!”
Such a vast world-building, and it even supports VR3D! It felt like you were really there!
Qiuyun also marveled. Such a complex setup—it had to be incredibly expensive!
Sure enough, the assistant sighed, “Our young master really went all in on making this happen. He sold all the houses except the one the eldest young master is living in now!”
“Huh? Then where’s he living?” Jiang Chuling asked.
The assistant replied, “There’s a living space in the company office. Our young master and President Pei both stay at the company.”
Wait?
President… Pei?
Could it be…?
Before Qiuyun could piece it together, she saw Pei Cizhou push through a glass door not far away and step out.
Of course.
Best friends starting a business together—it only made sense.
Qiuyun merely glanced at him, then lowered her head and said nothing.
At the company, he wasn’t dressed in the hip-hop, trendy style he wore at Cheng Garden, nor as composed and obedient as he had been at the two birthday banquets.
Today, Pei Cizhou looked very casual, his hair not even styled, falling softly over his forehead. Wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, he seemed perfectly harmless on the outside.
“President Jiang, there’s a lunch meeting you need to attend at noon.” Pei Cizhou raised the phone by his ear, gesturing as he looked at his friend.
Jiang Linzhi nodded. “No problem. Send the time and place to my assistant.”
He had no talent for game design, but as a member of the Jiang family—generations of businesspeople—he excelled at handling meetings and banquets.
“Ah! You’re not having lunch with me, bro?” Jiang Chuling whined, looking hurt.
Jiang Linzhi ruffled his sister’s hair. “Special circumstances, cut me some slack. You’ll have to suffer through lunch with your Brother Pei today.”
“Oh, that’s not really suffering, hehe.” Jiang Chuling’s face immediately lit up with a smile.
“Little brat,” Jiang Linzhi rolled his eyes. “Don’t you want to play the game? You can go now.”
“What? You said it wouldn’t be playable until it was released!”
“I was messing with you. Who told you to come in without even saying ‘bro’ first?”
Just as they were about to argue again, Qiuyun quickly soothed, “Miss, let’s not bother with him.”
“Right! Let’s go, Sister Xiaoqiu!”
“Hey!” Jiang Linzhi put his hands on his hips.
The assistant led the two of them to the VR room for an experience.
Pei Cizhou strolled over slowly, speaking in a leisurely tone, “So, did you offend that little assistant of yours?”
“Which one? Qiuyun?”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Linzhi frowned. “Did I? I don’t think so. And even if I did, so what?”
She was just an assistant.
Remembering something from meeting her at his friend’s place, Pei Cizhou brought it up, “By the way, at your grandfather’s birthday banquet, do you know where that box of tea came from?”
Jiang Linzhi thought for a moment.
He probably should know—the eldest brother had sent his people to retrieve it from Laofu Mountain.
As for its origin, he likely knew too, since his sister at home could repeat the story accurately. But he couldn’t recall it himself.
So what had he been doing back then?
Seeing his friend silent, Pei Cizhou teased, “What, the family won’t let you talk about it?”
Jiang Linzhi shook his head. “No, the family doesn’t even know about this.”
Pei Cizhou understood.
So it wasn’t the Jiang family’s main branch’s doing—it was entirely Qiuyun’s own plan.
“But…” Jiang Linzhi added, “Why were you so fixated on her back then? Let me tell you, that woman is deeply calculating. Don’t fall for her just because she’s pretty, or you’ll regret it!”
“What are you even talking about?” Pei Cizhou laughed. “I was just bored and wanted to find something to get my parents to kick me out faster.”
“Oh? So how did she end up in your crosshairs?” Jiang Linzhi asked curiously.
“How should I know?”
“You just didn’t like her?”
“… ” Pei Cizhou patted his friend on the shoulder. “You could put it that way.”
Jiang Linzhi shook his shoulder. “Fine, as long as you know what you’re doing. That woman’s only been with our family for three months, and she’s already got my sister and mom wrapped around her finger. She’s no pushover.”
Pei Cizhou raised an eyebrow.
Not a pushover indeed.
By the time they reached the game room, Qiuyun and Jiang Chuling had already put on VR headsets and were lying in massage chairs.
“By the time they’re done, I’ll probably need to head to that lunch meeting,” Jiang Linzhi checked his watch. “Can you keep an eye on my sister? Order her a kids’ meal from that private kitchen nearby.”
“No problem.”
“Then I’ll go sort out the documents. You’ve got this, buddy.”
On the other side, since the game wasn’t fully complete, entering the small worlds required self-selection. After logging in, Qiuyun deliberately chose the ancient setting.
Almost like revisiting old times?
The map unfolded, revealing a majestic panoramic view of a thousand miles of rivers and mountains.
Unfortunately, the only spawn point available was Fengjing, with just one street built out, taking less than three minutes to explore.
When a staff member saw a yellow light flash on the VR headset, they came over to help remove it. “Finished already?!”
“No,” Qiuyun smoothed her hair. “I went to an unfinished map.”
“Ah, you went to the ancient copy! That map just went online today, and the modules inside haven’t been polished yet.”
“I see.”
The worker brought the game back to the start screen. “Want to go into another one?”
“No, thanks,” Qiuyun said, feeling dizzy from her first VR experience.
At the door.
Just after Jiang Linzhi left, Pei Cizhou heard that Qiuyun had taken off the headset.
He frowned and walked over. “What, you didn’t like the game?”
“… ”
Standing at the door like a guard dog, he clearly hadn’t been paying attention—she hadn’t even played, so how would she know if it was good or not?
But she didn’t want to bother arguing with him, so she quickly offered a sincere compliment, “No, the street layouts, lantern markets, they’re all beautifully done—very realistic!”
Ha. Haha.
Pei Cizhou lazily leaned against the railing behind him and sneered, “Don’t pretend. I bet you thought the game was completely fake.”
“… ”
Qiuyun fell silent.
Did Demon Boy have some kind of truth-detecting ability?
Every time she was around him, she felt completely transparent!
