120: A slap in the face that's neither here nor there - 1

Thanks to "Jin Jue of Lian County" for the Great God Certification! Thanks to "Tong Rao Who Loves Fried Hemp Leaves" for the burst of flowers! Thanks to "Tomb Robbing Founder of the Beast Taming Hall" for the show!

Thank you all for the capsules, update reminders, blades, flowers, likes, and power!

Thanks for the treats!

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[Ding! "Emergency Contact" activating...]

Jiang Ye looked at the bewildered audience around the table, a slight smirk playing on his lips as he spoke in a calm, level tone: "Heh, not bad. Quite interesting."

Then... he calmly picked up a crystal-clear shrimp dumpling and went back to eating.

If one were to ask where Jiang Ye's sudden "confidence" came from, the answer was simple—he had a cheat.

Although it was a bit painful to use a precious system item just to show off, it was actually alright.

After all, with Jiang Ye's social circle, he might not encounter a high-end situation that required "showing off and face-slapping" even once a month. This was a good opportunity to see the specific effects of the system item, and incidentally... cough... what if it really felt great?

He just didn't know who the "suitable person" appearing in a while would be.

There was no one in his circle who could suppress this "Tianying Entertainment executive" across from him; he would likely have to rely entirely on the system's metaphysical guidance.

Hmm... would it be a business tycoon who commanded the clouds and rain? Or a powerful official from within the system?

Surely it wouldn't actually bring over Dong Ge, Pony Ma, or Papa Ma, right?

Or perhaps a certain... division or department-level cadre who preferred to remain anonymous?

Tsk, thinking about it like this, he really was a little expectant.

While Jiang Ye was full of inner drama, the audience around the table had collectively fallen into a brief state of confusion.

What was the situation?

Just now... did someone just try to act cool?

No, it seemed like they only got halfway through, just setting the stage, and then... there was no follow-up?

This feeling was like having taken a shower, swallowed a blue pill, and laid out all the props, only for your partner to come out of the bathroom and say, "My relative is visiting."

After a brief silence, Jin Lulu was the first to lose it, bursting out with a "pfft" laugh.

"Oh my! That scared me to death! With that move Jiang Ye just made, I thought the Dragon King had returned to his throne! All that build-up, and this is it? Hahaha..."

She laughed so hard she shook, the mockery in her tone completely undisguised.

Sheng Jin also shook her head with a smile, looking at Jiang Ye with an expression that said "little boys are so childish."

"Jiang Ye, we know you might be a bit unhappy, but our starting point for saying these things is for Ye Cheng's own good. You... sigh, what can we even say?"

The way An An, Xiao Mi, and Miao Miao looked at Jiang Ye also held a bit more sympathy; they felt he was probably under too much pressure and acting a bit abnormally.

The three old foxes across the table looked at each other and smiled tacitly, treating it entirely as a farce of a young man's "eighth-grader syndrome" acting up—saving face at all costs. They didn't take it to heart at all.

Zhao Qian even raised his glass in a gesture, as if saying, "Young man, I understand your embarrassment, I won't hold it against you."

They didn't continue to press the topic of Ye Cheng signing the contract. After all, suppression and recruitment required a certain rhythm; if they pushed too hard and a real argument broke out, it would be unsightly.

This "for your own good" type of pressure had to be like boiling a frog in lukewarm water—slow and steady.

Liu Fangli chuckled and looked at Wang Jincheng, taking the initiative to change the subject.

"Alright, alright, it's normal for young people to have a bit of a temper. By the way, Old Wang, that thing you mentioned to me before about the high-end building material channels here in the Shengtian—could you tell me more? I'll see if there's anywhere I can lend a hand."

Wang Jincheng was suddenly overjoyed!

He had worked so hard to flatter Liu Fangli today not because he cared about Tianying Entertainment's meager influencer resources—after all, no matter how successful an MCN was, it had nothing to do with his decoration company.

What he truly craved were the Beijing connections and resources the other man held.

Seeing Liu Fangli ask of his own accord, he knew his performance just now had been recognized. He quickly took over the conversation: "Oh, alright, Mr. Liu, it's like this..."

The table was immediately divided into several small circles.

Sheng Jin and Jin Lulu were busy serving food and pouring wine for their respective patrons, attending to them meticulously.

The three men re-entered their "successful businessmen" social mode, chatting and laughing about business and resource integration.

An An, Xiao Mi, and Miao Miao huddled together, whispering and occasionally stealing glances at Liu Fangli, clearly pondering the matter of Heavenly Shadow's guaranteed contract.

As for Ye Cheng... she stared blankly at Jiang Ye beside her, who was focused on dealing with a chicken claw as if nothing had happened. It took her a full ten seconds to snap out of that extreme awkwardness, and she felt almost numb!

Big brother!

If you're going to act cool, can you at least finish the act?

Even if you get slapped in the face in the end, at least make it heroic!

What's with this crooked smile and then no follow-up?

The atmosphere was built up to this point, so keep acting!

Gritting her teeth, she reached out and gave Jiang Ye's thigh a light pinch while no one was looking, then quickly pulled out her phone and started typing furiously.

[Hey! What on earth were you doing just now?! Do you know how cringey that was?! Just scold them directly! Why play the crooked-smile Dragon King? My toes were about to dig a three-bedroom apartment out of this carpet!]

Jiang Ye grimaced as he picked up his phone to reply: [How low-tech is scolding? Such a good opportunity to show off and slap some faces, shouldn't I make good use of it?]

Ye Cheng: [I saw the showing off, and it made my scalp tingle with embarrassment! Where's the face-slap? Where's the slap?!]

Jiang Ye looked at the countdown on the system panel: [Emergency Contact activating, estimated intervention time: 22 minutes 18 seconds], and scratched his head.

There was no way to explain this to her.

How was he supposed to know when the "face-slapping" NPC would spawn?

If the face-slapper arrived before he even put on his act, wouldn't all the glory be stolen? Wouldn't that be a total loss?

So he had to act in advance and lay the groundwork for his coolness!

He continued typing: [Don't worry, it's steady. I've called for backup. The scene might be a bit big in a while, so get mentally prepared and don't be scared.]

Ye Cheng looked at WeChat and gave a half-believing hum.

Forget it, the worst-case scenario was just a shouting match anyway. With him there to be embarrassed with her, it seemed... not that hard to accept?

Little people had their own advantages; for example, they could have thicker skin and not care too much about the opinions of these "high-society people."