After sending the message to Lawyer Gao, Yin Chen turned his head.
Zong Cheng was staring at him with an expression that was hard to read.
Yin Chen paused for a moment. What’s going on?
Could it be that Zong Cheng thought what he just did was wrong? Or something else?
Ever since Yin Chen started following his own inner voice, he always trusted his instincts.
He reached out, holding Zong Cheng’s hand, tilting his head slightly, and asked,
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
He paused, his tone playful yet carrying a hint of seriousness.
“Is it because you think I’m too naughty?”
Zong Cheng: “?”
Too naughty?
Yin Chen’s words made him freeze, and his blank expression was too obvious.
So it wasn’t that.
Then what about Zong Cheng’s gaze? What was he thinking?
Yin Chen asked again.
Zong Cheng slightly tilted his head and cleared his throat twice.
His lips moved a few times.
Yin Chen slowly typed a question mark.
Did he really think human ears could understand lip reading?
Zong Cheng felt his scalp tingle under Yin Chen’s stare and spoke slightly louder than usual.
“…Men who aren’t bad aren’t loved.”
Even so, he just liked it when Yin Chen teased him with that mischievous smile.
That’s it?
That’s all?
This time, Yin Chen’s expression was unreadable.
But… never mind. Isn’t it kind of cute?
He lightly tugged at Zong Cheng’s tie, his mind drifting to a long-standing thought—when would be the best time to officially reel this guy back into his nest?
Zong Cheng followed, still tugged by the tie, his ears slightly flushed.
A sweet smile gradually appeared on his face.
Lawyer Gao, having received the message, raised an eyebrow.
Mrs. Gao, bringing in the fruit tea, froze for a moment when she saw his expression.
After a while, she placed the tea on the table.
“Thank you, my dear.”
Lawyer Gao’s eyes softened instantly.
Mrs. Gao waved her hand.
“You’ve been working hard.”
She paused, then couldn’t help but smile.
“Since you started working at Yin’s company, I feel like you’ve been much happier than before.”
Especially at work.
Before, whenever she saw him at work, he always looked so serious and burdened.
Now it was different; he even smiled at the work content?
“Really?”
Lawyer Gao touched the corner of his mouth. Did he just smile?
Mrs. Gao reached out to touch his forehead.
“It’s different here than before. But luckily, you chose to work at Yin’s company instead of staying at your old place.”
She paused, feeling a little guilty for bringing it up, quickly changing the subject.
“So, is your work interesting? You look like you enjoy it a lot?”
Lawyer Gao glanced at the photos of Dongfang Lie and the young woman on his phone, smiling faintly.
“Yes, it’s actually quite interesting.”
A man who had been confirmed unable to have children suddenly makes a woman pregnant?
And all this while having just brought back his biological son to face off with the nephew of the previously designated heir?
Quite interesting, indeed.
Mrs. Gao, seeing his expression, couldn’t help but smile.
Well, if he’s happy, that’s what matters.
Lawyer Gao looked up at her, noticing her joy, and his heart stirred.
He gently squeezed her fingers.
“Thank you. Marrying you was the best decision I ever made.”
“I wonder, if I propose to Yin Chen now, would it be too soon?”
Suddenly, a voice came from the office.
…?
Assistant Zhong, who was reporting work, raised his head in confusion.
He slowly typed a question mark.
Did he just hear Zong Cheng mention a proposal?
Is he overworked to the point of hallucinating?
Assistant Zhong lowered his head and returned to work.
Zong Cheng, flipping through documents, repeated the question.
“I’m asking you, if I propose to Yin Chen now, would he think it’s too soon?”
Ah…?
He really didn’t mishear?
Assistant Zhong was shocked.
Wait a minute. Is the boss serious?
Asking him—this overworked, increasingly balding, unmarried young man—for advice on a proposal?
Zong Cheng flipped another page.
“Hmm?”
This question—is it really that difficult to answer?
Should he ask Ms. Tang instead?
But if he did…
Ms. Tang would probably insist on having him take the person home immediately, right?
No useful reference there! It might even make him nervous!
Zong Cheng thought, expressionless.
Assistant Zhong’s heart sank.
Oh no! Salary—at risk!
After careful thought, he composed himself.
“I think, Mr. Zong Cheng, you should know this in your heart. How has your relationship with Yin Chen been recently?”
He paused, his tone subtle.
“Pardon my boldness, but have you still been staying at your own place lately?”
Zong Cheng paused mid-page.
Next, he frowned, troubled.
“So… you mean I should arrange to buy a villa as soon as possible?”
Assistant Zhong: “???”
How did the boss jump to that conclusion from my words?
Well… a mature assistant should be able to seamlessly follow up on any topic their superior brings up!
Assistant Zhong immediately continued.
“You mean, after buying a villa, you plan to propose to Yin Chen there?”
Perfect interpretation.
Not bad at all!
Zong Cheng froze.
A proposal in a villa?
But his current assets…
His eyes drifted to the calendar.
Friday.
Saturday was the day he had arranged with the editor.
Saturday.
Qi, the editor, stared in disbelief as Zong Cheng skillfully made call after call, negotiating prices with the other party.
He swore!
He had never seen an author so formidable!
He drove the other party nearly speechless!
He even managed to raise the price…
Not only did the price go up, but the special signing also disappeared…
QUQ, the side story disappeared…
His beloved side story.
Qi’s heart ached.
He wanted to fight for his side story, but…
He glanced at Zong Cheng, radiating overwhelming presence.
He didn’t dare.
He felt cowardly.
Something was off about Zong Cheng.
Where had the sweet Zong Cheng gone?
If only he had asked Zong Cheng’s family member along when they went for lunch, maybe he could’ve negotiated then.
Regret.
He knew it—regret to the extreme!
Qi silently watched the ordinary signed books, after the special editions and side stories were gone.
“By the way.”
Zong Cheng handed back the phone.
“This one is interested in producing merchandise. Will your team handle it?”
Merchandise!
Qi was about to agree, then froze.
Wait, merchandise?
Carefully, he asked,
“What kind of merchandise do they want to make?”
Seriously!
A horror-infinite-stream story for merchandise?
With what? Their lives???
Zong Cheng gave him a look.
“They conducted research. Many readers are quite interested in the monsters in the story.”
…
Qi fell silent, suspicious.
Wait?
Aren’t most of their website’s readers female?
And the ones scared in the comments… aren’t they the same group interested in merchandise?
Qi imagined it—soft little girls hugging monster-shaped pillows in bed, trembling in fear, squealing, beating the pillow heads…
Brain overload!
He blanked out.
He had to stop, or it would turn into a horror scene.
Half happy, half dazed, he returned to the editorial department with the files.
Other editors saw Qi like that and exchanged glances.
Ah?
Did the deal not go through?
Doesn’t seem like it…
But he looked so happy, yet dumbstruck!
Maybe he was smiling from extreme disappointment?
Ah…?
Everyone instinctively cast sympathetic glances at Qi.
Only the team leader silently held his chest.
No… the deal didn’t go through?
Then what about his signed books?
After selling the copyright, Zong Cheng calculated when he could buy the villa he had his eye on.
Slowly, he withdrew into himself.
Then recalculated the renovation time for the villa.
High-level withdrawal.
Zong Cheng was deeply withdrawn.
But seeing the chain of copyright collaborations suddenly added at the end of his articles, readers erupted as if it were Lunar New Year!
“I… I think I had the most wonderful dream today! Sisters! My trembling heart, my trembling hands—I dreamt that the Dove King signed the copyright! Audiobooks, comics, games, films, the whole package!”
“!!! Sister! I had the exact same dream! Holy shit, this is a god-level dream! I don’t care about anything else! I just want the Dove King’s signed book! I’ll buy a hundred copies at once! Sign until his hand breaks!!! Or else I can’t release all the frustration from being dodged so many times!”
“I cautiously typed a question mark? Isn’t that a bit much? If I’m not mistaken, signatures aren’t guaranteed just because you buy the book… sometimes, if your luck is bad, you might not get a signature.”
“Really? Then what about my dream of his hand breaking while signing? My big dream—what do I do?”
“I’m dying of laughter, my dream is gone! Wake up, sisters! You can’t expect the Dove King to sign a lot, just look at the name ‘Dove King’!”
The forum responses suddenly stopped.
After a while, someone cautiously typed:
“…I have a bad feeling. Will the Dove King even sign?”
“…?”
“…?”
“…Surely, he wouldn’t even sign, right? Forced smile.jpg”
Seeing the comment, Yin Chen quietly pondered.
Although Zong Cheng is his boyfriend, he had to admit—the possibility was high.
But what did it matter?
Unlike these little mortals, Yin Chen could have as many of Zong Cheng’s signatures as he wanted, and could even decide where to place them.
He paused for a thought.
In fact, it could go anywhere…
He liked Zong Cheng’s signature so much.
Zong Cheng would probably enjoy signing wherever he asked, right?