Mr. Zhou Doesn’t Want to Work Hard Anymore!

Chapter 34

“Zhou Chenxi’s ‘sudden attack’ had no effect. His older brother adamantly refused to admit that the account was his.

Despite trying various methods, Zhou Chenxi couldn’t get him to talk and had to give up.

After finishing the osmanthus glutinous rice balls, Auntie was busy cleaning up. Seeing that there was still plenty of time, Zhou Chenxi lazily slumped on the sofa in the living room.

His older brother was on the phone, seemingly busy with work-related matters.

Suddenly, Zhou Chenxi’s peripheral vision caught a glimpse of his brother’s open laptop displaying a familiar website interface with a paused video. Zhou Chenxi was talking to someone, and the timing of the video pause was quite delicate.

Zhou Chenxi’s face twisted, his eyes rolled back, revealing two large nostrils.

Zhou Chenxi: “…”

He had heard that some paparazzi were particularly malicious, specializing in capturing moments when celebrities looked extremely unflattering. Whether it was rolling eyes or making funny faces, or even taking malicious screenshots, they would label it as “character breakdown” and post it on websites to attract traffic and ridicule from bystanders.

Never did Zhou Chenxi expect that his biggest anti-fan, Zhou Mingxuan, would be the one behind it. Just a pause in the video could achieve such a horrifying effect. Truly deserving of the label “straight male Zhou Mingxuan.”

Zhou Chenxi felt too lazy to move. He slouched on the sofa, staring at himself. He attempted to get used to the unflattering images, but eventually he couldn’t stand it. He secretly reached out and clicked the play button.

He dragged the progress bar backward, and the image of himself in the video became more acceptable. He glanced at the title and realized it was the third episode of “Carp.”

Due to his busy schedule, he hadn’t had a chance to watch the recent episodes of “Carp.” He didn’t know if his brother hadn’t seen them yet or was rewatching them. He felt an itch to catch up, thinking about going to his room to watch the episodes he missed. Just as he was about to get up, he suddenly heard Zhou Mingxuan’s voice from behind, “What are you doing?”

Zhou Chenxi perked up, hearing his brother’s return. He promptly sat back down and picked up a plate of melon seeds from the coffee table. “Brother, I’m watching the show. Join me.”

Zhou Mingxuan cleared his throat and didn’t refuse. He directly turned on the TV and cast the screen. The two brothers began watching TV together on the sofa.

“Do you know the difference for a salted fish lying on the beach sunbathing and soaking in a sea-view room’s bathtub in the sun?”

Zhou Chenxi felt a bit awkward and shifted in his seat.

“I want to be a salted fish without sodium nitrite!”

Zhou Chenxi spat out the melon seed shells, covering half of his face in embarrassment.

Zhou Mingxuan glanced at Zhou Chenxi, not hesitating to tease him, “Why, feeling embarrassed?”

“But I’m in charge of being funny on the show,” Zhou Chenxi said. “Aren’t you laughing happily?”

Zhou Mingxuan froze for a moment, his smile retracting from his face.

Zhou Chenxi had been feeling restless on the sofa, twisting and turning. Zhou Mingxuan couldn’t bear it any longer. “Sit properly. Who would want to marry you in the future if you can’t even sit properly? If you want to watch TV, then watch properly.”

Zhou Chenxi got up, holding a cushion. “Brother, I’m tired. I’ll go upstairs to sleep first!”

He hurriedly dashed upstairs, closed the bedroom door, shutting out all the sounds. His embarrassment and fear slowly dissipated.

Indeed, being a human required thick skin, or else watching TV with his brother would be like public humiliation.

Without his brother around, Zhou Chenxi’s psychological barriers disappeared. He quietly reopened his iPad and continued watching the show by himself.

Mainly because Lu Ji was just too handsome. Zhou Chenxi couldn’t bring himself to skip any scenes with Lu Ji.

Whenever Lu Ji appeared on screen, Zhou Chenxi would widen his eyes and look at him a bit more. But when Lu Ji was in a close-up, Zhou Chenxi would quickly fast-forward, not wanting to see too much.

Soon, he had finished fast-forwarding through an episode. Zhou Chenxi scrolled through the barrage of comments left by viewers. Most of the feedback for this episode was positive. After removing Luo Xinghe’s scenes, the focus was mostly on Lu Ji and him, as well as on Shao Yunyi and Zhuang Jingle. Zhou Chenxi noticed a comment under the official account of “Carp” asking why they had cut Luo Xinghe’s scenes. People were quick to respond, educating others about the situation. Luo Xinghe received a lot of backlash.

Quietly, Zhou Chenxi used a separate account to like a few comments criticizing Luo Xinghe. The sensation in Lu Ji’s injured hand felt much better.

Because of the Luo Xinghe incident, the release of “Carp” was delayed for a while. However, this delay didn’t affect the show’s popularity. Zhou Chenxi scrolled through the website, and he saw that the show had already been updated to the fifth episode. Unfortunately, it was getting late, and he was too tired to continue. He regretfully put his iPad aside, planning to catch up next time.

Early the next morning, Zhou Chenxi was picked up by Zhi Qi and taken to the photography studio to shoot the advertisement.

“Xixi Strawberry Jelly” is a product jointly launched by Zhou Xin and the well-established snack brand “Flower Language.” Targeting children and teenagers, the advertisement was entrusted to a professional advertising company for caution.

Zhou Chenxi remembered that he had been to this photography studio in his previous life, also for shooting an advertisement. However, at that time, halfway through the advertisement, for some reason, the sponsor requested a change, and Zhou Chenxi was directly replaced. The male lead for that advertisement was changed to Luo Xinghe.

Fortunately, his brother wouldn’t be so heartless as to replace his own younger brother.

Zhou Chenxi walked into the photography studio and overheard someone whispering nearby, “Is it true? President Lu is coming today?”

As soon as Zhou Chenxi entered, he remembered that this photography studio was rented within the office building of the Lu Group’s subsidiary. In other words, this office building belonged to the Lu Group. It was quite a coincidence.

Sitting in the makeup room, Zhou Chenxi heard the makeup artist quietly discussing with a colleague, “Did you watch the latest episode of ‘Fish’ yesterday?”

“I did! Wow, President Lu looked so handsome when he was paragliding, wearing windproof goggles, his expression was so composed while gliding effortlessly. And he did it alone, much more calmly than Ren the movie emperor who was screaming up there.”

Zhou Chenxi: “…” See, I’ve already reminded Movie Emperor Ren to manage his expressions better.

“Yeah, yeah,” a girl who was applying makeup to Zhou Chenxi said, “He looked really good. When he went skydiving, I was nervous for him. Who would’ve thought he’d jump without even blinking? Honestly, of all the young CEOs I’ve seen, he’s the best-looking one, even better than Zhou Mingxuan.”

Zhou Chenxi internally struggled a bit, discreetly comparing Lu Ji and Zhou Mingxuan. He felt conflicted because both of them were so appealing to him.

“Who wouldn’t want to be Zhou Chenxi,” the makeup artist suddenly said, “I wish he could hold me up when I’m injured!”

Zhou Chenxi: “!!”

Another makeup artist gave Zhou Chenxi a meaningful glance and playfully nudged her.

The girl didn’t notice, busy testing makeup shades with a puff. She continued, “Actually, Zhou Chenxi is pretty good too, quite amusing. I think he could go the comedian route, but unfortunately, he’s not my type. I heard that after the sixth episode next week, President Lu won’t appear on the show anymore. It’s a pity. If only he hadn’t been injured, that would’ve been great.”

“I agree,” Zhou Chenxi nodded in agreement, “It would’ve been great if he hadn’t been injured.”

The makeup artist: “…”

She lowered her head and realized Zhou Chenxi was innocently blinking at her.

The girl suddenly recalled what her colleague had told her today – the person here to shoot the jelly advertisement seemed to be Zhou Chenxi. She had been in a rush since morning, moving around the makeup room, having just finished attending to a magazine model who was quite the diva, constantly giving her instructions, making her feel dizzy.

They got too caught up in the conversation, almost forgetting that the person sitting in front of them was none other than Zhou Chenxi himself.

“Ah, I’m so sorry, Mr. Zhou!” The girl hurriedly held her makeup tools and apologized, “I didn’t mean to say anything bad about you! I was so absent-minded this morning, I didn’t even realize it was you sitting here.”

“It’s okay!” Zhou Chenxi waved his hand generously, “I didn’t take it to heart! And you’re right, President Lu is very handsome, and I really am a bit of a comedian.”

The two makeup artists laughed, suddenly developing a bit more fondness for Zhou Chenxi.

After finishing the makeup, Zhou Chenxi entered the shooting area to prepare for the advertisement.

The design of this advertisement was quite simple – Zhou Chenxi was to stand in front of a green screen and show how delicious the jelly was. Later, they would add strawberry special effects behind him. The strawberries would be cute, with big eyes and hands and feet, and when Zhou Chenxi sucked on the jelly, the whole world would burst with the fragrance of strawberries, and everyone would start singing and dancing to cheerful music.

Due to the target audience, the advertisement leaned towards a lively tone, and the script was quite formulaic. Zhou Chenxi had to make the jelly look delicious, and that was relatively simple. The challenge was the dance he had to perform, which was a bit difficult for him.

Zhou Chenxi’s hands and feet weren’t very coordinated, and he had never learned to dance before. Even when he was in school, he struggled with radio exercises, not to mention this.

The advertisement team had specifically brought in a dance teacher to teach Zhou Chenxi a few simple moves on the spot. While the focus of the advertisement wasn’t on the dance, they hadn’t left him much time, resulting in Zhou Chenxi learning in a rather frantic manner.

The dance teacher named the dance “Strawberry Dance.” The repetitive mechanical movements were particularly catchy and amusing. If done well, it could certainly capture attention. Zhou Chenxi didn’t want to embarrass his brother, but he was truly clumsy. He learned the hand movements and forgot the foot movements, leading to a frantic state of confusion.

Seeing Zhou Chenxi becoming more and more flustered, the dance teacher decided, “Let’s take a break for now. We can split the routine into two parts, and in post-production, we’ll edit them together. It’s not difficult. Just recall the movements I taught you earlier.”

The dance teacher tried to comfort himself by thinking he had encountered even clumsier students. Zhou Chenxi didn’t feel consoled at all. He walked to the side, took the water handed to him by an assistant, and took a sip.

As he was earnestly recalling the movements, he suddenly heard

a commotion outside the studio. Someone whispered, “President Lu is here!”

President Lu?

Zhou Chenxi quickly turned to look.

He realized that when the makeup artist mentioned “President Lu is coming today,” she was referring to Lu Ji coming to the office building, but she didn’t expect Lu Ji to come directly here.

It was said that Lu Group had collaborated with this advertising company multiple times. After all, Lu Group also invested a lot in the market with their own advertisements every year. Many people often saw Lu Ji in the office building, and quite a few greeted him proactively with, “President Lu.”

Lu Ji nodded in response, acknowledging them, and walked directly to Zhou Chenxi’s side, stopping by him. “You took on a new advertisement and didn’t tell me?”

Zhou Chenxi held the mineral water bottle and said, “I didn’t have time to tell you. I just heard the news yesterday, and the next day I had to rush over for work.”

His tone had a hint of slight coquettishness, which Zhou Chenxi himself didn’t realize, but Lu Ji picked up on it. He smiled, walked over to a nearby resting chair, and sat down.

Zhou Chenxi looked at him puzzledly, “Isn’t the president here to inspect the work? Why are you sitting here?”

“Right,” Lu Ji nodded and said, “I’m here to inspect your work.”

Zhou Chenxi blushed.

Did that mean Lu Ji came specifically to watch him?

Zhou Chenxi became even more nervous, unable to even drink the water in his hand. He hurriedly put the mineral water bottle aside and approached the dance teacher to continue learning the movements.

The dance teacher took a sufficient break and then patiently instructed Zhou Chenxi. He stumbled along, feeling like a clumsy little penguin with his limbs out of sync.

“Come on,” Lu Ji encouraged him from the side, “Give it your best shot.”

Zhou Chenxi wore a white shirt with a red strawberry brooch pinned to the collar. His light chestnut short hair was ruffled slightly, the makeup artist giving it a gentle curl at the tips, making him look vibrant and healthy.

At first, Zhou Chenxi felt self-conscious under Lu Ji’s gaze. He thought he would get worse as he danced, but as he continued to learn, he began to grasp the technique. His movements became smoother, and the dance teacher praised his progress. The camera and green screen were quickly set up, Zhou Chenxi positioned himself in front of the camera, and the formal shooting of the advertisement began.

“Elastic texture, sweet strawberry juice…” Zhou Chenxi sucked on a piece of jelly, his face displaying a delicious expression, “As if diving into a fresh strawberry farm!”

The assistant played the background music, and Zhou Chenxi danced to the rhythm.

Waving his hands, lifting his legs, turning his head – Zhou Chenxi felt like he was participating in an idol competition. As he turned around, he saw Lu Ji sitting outside the camera’s view, and he couldn’t help but break into a smile.

Two small dimples appeared on his face as Zhou Chenxi followed up with a wink.

Lu Ji raised his eyebrows and smiled.

“Xixi Strawberry Jelly, you can suck on the strawberry flavor!”

Zhou Chenxi performed the final move, and the director called “cut.” They recorded a few more shots, and with that, today’s work was perfectly concluded. The director praised Zhou Chenxi for his quick learning, and Zhou Chenxi bowed in gratitude. As usual, he thanked all the staff on the set and approached Lu Ji, saying excitedly, “President Lu, do you have time today? I’ve received a good endorsement fee. To celebrate the successful completion of the advertisement today, may I invite you to dinner?”

“Sure,” Lu Ji nodded with a smile, glancing at the strawberry-shaped brooch pinned to Zhou Chenxi’s chest, “I suddenly have a craving for dessert.”

Best if it’s a strawberry-flavored dessert.

Zhou Chenxi began to consider which restaurant’s dessert would be the most delicious.

At Zhou Xin Company, Zhou Mingxuan suddenly remembered that Zhou Chenxi should be shooting an advertisement today. He couldn’t resist taking out the endorsement contract he had negotiated with Zhou Chenxi’s agent earlier and carefully reviewed it.

Would the endorsement fee for Xixi be enough?

Zhou Mingxuan wondered if they should sign a supplementary agreement with the company to increase the endorsement fee for future collaborations.

He couldn’t let his younger brother be unfairly treated.

On the other side, Zhou Chenxi chose a restaurant and eagerly took the endorsement fee given by his brother to invite Lu Ji to a meal.

——

Author’s Note: Brother: OK, I’m fine.

Thanks for the “landmine” from “Tuanzi Rice”!

Thanks to “YLMF,” “Changan Flowers Falling,” “Smiling with Poverty,” “It’s A Qing Na,” “Sunny89,” “Fangdeng,” “One Leaf Knows Autumn” for their nutrients!

1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ”