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

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Zhou Chenxi returned home and found that his older brother had left work early from the company. The aunt had prepared a table full of dishes, seemingly waiting for Zhou Chenxi’s return.

Zhou Chenxi entered the house, changed into slippers, and nervously walked to the dining table. He sneakily glanced at his brother’s expression and noticed that his brother was staring at him with a serious look.

Zhou Chenxi’s heart tightened.

In the past, whenever his brother wore this expression, it was usually because the homeroom teacher had called home to inform him that Zhou Chenxi hadn’t performed well in the final exams again, or he had been careless with his duties like mopping the floor and cleaning the blackboard. He remembered instances like drawing on the board with chalk or shooting chalk bits like stones with a slingshot on classmates’ heads after class.

Because of the chalk incident, Zhou Chenxi had been made to stand in the classroom as punishment by the teacher. His brother said he was mischievous, threatened to pull down his pants and spank him. At that time, Zhou Chenxi was fourteen years old, just starting junior high school. He was at that age where he cared deeply about his reputation. He felt so ashamed that he cried before his brother could even touch him. He shouted that his brother was being a hooligan and even reported him to their parents when they returned home in the evening.

Dad stood beside them, enjoying the show of the two brothers, while Mom never bothered with their matters. She just casually advised them to get along and play nice, and then turned to discuss with Dad where they should go for their next outing.

Left behind were Zhou Chenxi and his brother, holding grudges against each other.

Normally, the upright older brother didn’t stoop to the level of the mischievous Zhou Chenxi. But unfortunately, on that particular day, Zhou Chenxi had labeled his brother with the term “hooligan,” which burned in his heart and caused him to be silent for a whole week.

The family’s butler, who usually followed Zhou Mingxuan’s orders, would only remind the aunt to make Zhou Chenxi’s favorite sweet rice wine balls when Zhou Mingxuan asked.

Zhou Chenxi hadn’t enjoyed his favorite snacks for a week. He thought about how forgiving and generous he was, and that he shouldn’t let his brother get to him. He decided to give in to the delicious treats and apologize to his brother. He followed his brother around like a tail for a few days before finally appeasing the slightly grumpy Zhou Mingxuan.

So what was happening today? Could it be that his brother found out about his poor performance in today’s audition?

Zhou Chenxi felt like he was facing a formidable enemy.

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Seeing him like this, Zhou Mingxuan’s expression grew even more serious. “So, how did the audition go?”

Zhou Chenxi looked confused. “It went well…”

Zhou Mingxuan let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”

“… ” It turned out his brother hadn’t actually inquired about it; he was just waiting for Zhou Chenxi to come home and report the good news.

Zhou Chenxi became happy and cheerfully served his older brother some dishes, offering praise which he rarely did. Finally, he smoothed away the wrinkles on Zhou Mingxuan’s brow.

The two brothers enjoyed a harmonious dinner together.

After dinner, Zhou Chenxi went upstairs to rest.

Zhou Mingxuan took out his phone and made a call to his secretary. “Get ready to invest; there’s no need to increase the budget. Stick to the contract terms as discussed with the director.”

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Since the audition had gone well, there was no need to spend more money.

Zhou Mingxuan calculated carefully. After all, they were not the powerful Lu family. Venturing into the film industry required caution to avoid financial losses for his brother.

But… for the sake of his brother, this money was well worth it.

Zhou Mingxuan relaxed his brow and added, “Tell the fan support department to prepare. What happened at the audition today, make sure they coordinate with the official channels for promotion.”

When it came to managing fan support, Zhou Mingxuan had become increasingly experienced.

In the evening, Zhou Chenxi opened Weibo and lay on his bed, intending to check if there were any recent gossip about Luo Xinghe.

Luo Xinghe was the protagonist of the entire book, and any news related to him was bound to trend.

After logging in with his alternate account, Zhou Chenxi checked the trending topics. There was no mention of Luo Xinghe, and keywords related to him had long disappeared from the trending list. People’s attention had been diverted to other matters.

Feeling unsatisfied, Zhou Chenxi searched for the keyword “Luo Xinghe.”

This time, he found quite a bit of content to satisfy his curiosity.

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Before the recent controversy, Luo Xinghe had been a rapidly rising idol star. He had several fan support groups formed spontaneously by his fans, and they had a large number of participants who were all very fond of him.

However, the activity on his fan pages and support groups had significantly decreased lately.

Had the “Son of the World’s” luck finally run out?

Zhou Chenxi stumbled upon a post by a girl who had once been a fan of Luo Xinghe. Her Weibo documented her journey as a fan, from the first time Luo Xinghe endorsed a product, her enthusiastic endorsements of his work, and her excitement when he appeared in his first TV drama, followed by her long, heartfelt posts about his first popular variety show and the recognition he received from industry seniors. There were many such posts, all expressing her deep love for Luo Xinghe.

Then she stopped being a fan.

Her final post read: “Luo Xinghe, I misjudged you!”

And she hadn’t posted anything since.

Zhou Chenxi pondered this and scrolled up to find another post where the girl had written, “Am I the only one who finds Luo Xinghe strange? At first, I thought he was excellent, but upon closer inspection, I can’t figure out where his excellence lies. Suddenly, I don’t like him anymore.”

The post was dated around the time Zhou Chenxi had just finished recording “Journey of the Immortals.”

At that time, he had just met Lu Ji and felt quite lucky because of it. Did the world give them back some of their luck because they met Lu Ji?

Zhou Chenxi couldn’t understand and moved on to other content.

Some people were discussing why Luo Xinghe had changed so much recently.

One person posted:

“I guess Luo Xinghe must have offended Lu Ji. I have a friend who works in a PR agency, specializing in creating marketing accounts to shape public opinion. He said they received a big order from the Lu family before, but they didn’t expect the Lu family to go all out to smear an artist like this. Unbelievable.”

Someone commented below: “If they’re trying to smear him, is there a chance Luo Xinghe is innocent?”

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Another person replied: “Not likely. It’s all just ‘my friend told me’ stories. Here’s another one: I have a friend who worked on the ‘Carp’ set as an intern during the summer vacation. She’s a film and television major at H University. She told me that many people on the set said that the accidents involving Lu Ji and Zhou Chenxi during the show were somehow connected to Luo Xinghe.”

Zhou Chenxi continued scrolling through other content but couldn’t find any substantial gossip. Feeling disinterested, he put down his phone.

He decided to focus on his work for now and manage his own affairs. He didn’t want to get caught up in controversies again after passing the audition with such difficulty.

He carefully selected a few of Lu Ji’s representative works, arranged them in a playlist, and started watching. He watched late into the night and fell asleep without realizing it.

In a certain gossip forum unknown to Zhou Chenxi, many people were actively discussing Luo Xinghe’s situation.

【”Li Tao (reasonable discussion): Is Luo Xinghe a typical case of someone with a good hand but playing it poorly?”】

【”Yin and Yang weirdness: Do you know that Luo Xinghe is about to make a comeback?”】

【”Happy: Our River is going to play Sanhua (Three Flowers), it’s officially announced! Can’t wait, but I wonder when the movie will be released?”】

【”Wishful thinking: Are the LS (Lu Ji’s company) fans promoting Luo Xinghe? Game fans don’t really look forward to it.”】

【”Luo Xinghe still has fans? As an ‘Eternal Destiny’ pay-to-win player, the official’s move is really cunning. I’ve already quit the game.”】

【”Really sad, I finally accepted Zhou Chenxi playing Sanhua, and I was looking forward to Zhou Meow Meow coming online every day, but now they say it’s cancelled. I’ve seen Lu Ji’s makeup brand ad countless times!”】

【”Zhou Meow Meow is so cute, he even draws fan art for us Sanhua! Although I don’t think Zhou Chenxi can be equated with Sanhua, Sanhua fans only accept him playing the role. Sorry, I’m going to bombard the game’s official account again.”】

【”Now the official account is just pretending to be dead, I don’t know why they let a tainted artist play Sanhua.”】

“Speaking of which, does LS have evidence?”

【”Luo Xingzhou being recognized as Luo Xinghe’s brother is a well-established fact. Just what Luo Xingzhou did was enough to ruin him; you can’t say they’re not connected. What LS revealed before is probably not false. Someone was manipulated to cause a car accident, and that person has a strong connection to Luo Xinghe. They say he’s an insider and participated in the recording of many shows with him. Have you seen ‘I’m an Actor’? Zhou Chenxi was particularly unlucky at that time; it was all orchestrated by LS. But LS also suffered bad luck; the variety show was doing well, but it went downhill after Zhou Chenxi withdrew.”】

【”Really? I didn’t pay attention to the trending topics at the time. I didn’t expect this.”】

【”Marketing accounts might not be entirely untrustworthy. LS’s style is to rely on evidence, and these are all proven facts. They probably can’t directly accuse Luo Xinghe, so they’re using marketing accounts to smear him on a large scale.”】

【”True, think about it, Zhou Chenxi, a goofy comedian, doesn’t have much background in the industry, and I heard he’s quite poor. There are even fan videos of him eating pancakes by the roadside while saying he doesn’t want to work hard. I laughed so hard back then, can such a naive kid really hinder someone else? Looking back, apart from his bad luck, his performance in ‘I’m an Actor’ was actually good. Many judges at the time compared him to Luo Xinghe; he would have been a strong rival if he hadn’t withdrawn.”】

【”Wow, the more I think about it, the more it makes me shiver. Even if Luo Xinghe has nothing to do with this, I don’t believe he’s just a pretty boy. I even voted for him at the time; I must have been blind. Luo Xinghe is really in a tight spot now!”】

【”Distracting from the topic a bit, have you watched Zhou Chenxi’s ‘War Flag’? He had a cameo as a newspaper-selling student in it. It was so heartbreaking. He seemed so young, just graduated from college, wearing a hat bigger than his head, tugging at people’s sleeves to sell newspapers, and then he gets killed by the villain while passing on messages for the undercover agent.”】

【”So heartbreaking! Is it a Republican era drama? Sounds very appealing (yes, I’m that twisted hehehe). Where can I watch it?”】

【”It’s available on the Watermelon website.”】

【”Watermelon website, 233, isn’t the Watermelon website controlled by the Lu family? I’ve said it too many times, I’m tired. Hoping for some **CPSZD!**”】

The conversation gradually shifted to the Atlantic Ocean, so the next morning, Zhou Chenxi woke up early and found himself trending again.

He had stayed up too late the previous night, getting lost in watching a show, and he didn’t know what time it was when he finally fell asleep. He woke up with drool at the corner of his mouth.

He wiped his mouth disdainfully and realized his phone had been ringing non-stop. It was Zhi Qi calling.

Zhou Chenxi answered, still groggy, and heard Zhi Qi excitedly saying, “You’re trending again, and it’s because of ‘War Flag.’ Can you believe it?! The director is thrilled. I didn’t expect the show to still generate buzz after so long. He even called to thank me. Hahaha, I told him, director, don’t be so polite. Remember to come to us for your next project.”

Zhou Chenxi checked the trending topics and indeed saw it.

“But this director can be difficult to work with. Do you remember when you fell into a ditch while filming? He wasn’t even willing to find someone to bandage you up. Now his attitude has done a complete 180-degree turn. We can be polite back in return.”

Zhou Chenxi nonchalantly replied, “I was just an extra back then, and the crew didn’t want to delay the schedule for me. Plus, I didn’t just fall into a ditch; I fell into a river later on. I accidentally stepped into a sand pit and got stuck. I ate a mouthful of sand. Did you forget about all that? Which crew would see me without shaking in my boots? It’s already good enough if they let me finish filming and get paid!”

Zhi Qi: “…”

As Zhou Chenxi thought about it, he realized that maybe he couldn’t blame others for his bad luck. Even if Luo Xinghe had a long reach, not every production crew would have someone willing to do wrong things for him.

His bad luck was just innate.

Zhi Qi said, “Since you’re trending, I’ll help promote it too. I’ll ask Luo director when they can release some news. ‘Immortal Journey’ has wrapped up, and they should start promoting soon. It’s a good opportunity for us to collaborate.”

Zhi Qi went off to work, and Zhou Chenxi stretched lazily.

After washing his face and eating a piece of bread as breakfast, Zhou Chenxi was about to continue watching movies for his studies when his phone rang again.

He thought it was Zhi Qi since he was always in a rush and had to make multiple calls to finish one topic.

However, when he looked at the caller ID, it said, “Lu Ji?”

Zhou Chenxi glanced at the clock in confusion.

Wasn’t he supposed to be at work now?

His older brother woke up at 6:30 AM every day, had breakfast at 7:00 AM, and was out the door by 7:30 AM without fail. He would always be at the office by 8:00 AM.

These capitalist exploiters were not only never late themselves, but they wouldn’t tolerate others being late either.

The time Zhou Chenxi was pulled into his brother’s company, he looked at the company regulations and felt that anyone who could work in that office building must be quite exceptional.

But even if Lu Ji was an exploiter, he was a different kind of exploiter from his brother.

Picking up the phone with a double standard, Zhou Chenxi heard Lu Ji say, “Chenxi, are you free this weekend?”

Zhou Chenxi asked, “Ah, what’s up?”

He quickly checked the work schedule Zhi Qi had prepared for him. It probably wouldn’t be time for Luo director to start shooting yet. After all, the roles of the supporting cast hadn’t been finalized.

“It’s my mother’s birthday,” Lu Ji said with a smile, “I’d like to invite you to our house for dinner.”

“Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?” Zhou Chenxi said awkwardly. “It’s your mother’s birthday. How can I go there in what capacity?”

Although Lu Ji really wanted to say that he wanted to introduce Zhou Chenxi to his mother formally, he restrained himself and said, “In what capacity do you want to go?”

“As a good brother,” Zhou Chenxi said. “I can’t just say you’re my sugar daddy. Your mother will get the wrong idea. Last time, the way she looked at me was so off. I need to explain properly to her!”

I’m a respectable person.

Zhou Chenxi thought to himself that he needed to pick a gift for Lu Ji anyway, so he might as well buy a birthday gift for Lu Ji’s mother too.

Now there’s something to worry about. What should he give?

“In that case, compared to that, I’d still prefer to be your sugar daddy,” Lu Ji suddenly said.

Zhou Chenxi: “??”

What’s wrong with you guys? Can’t you just let him make his way in the entertainment industry by himself?

—–

Author’s Note: Chenxi: I’m a person who’s going to accomplish great things. Stop dragging me down just because you have money!

Thanks to “Readers,” “Monolid,” and “Bai Xiaosheng” for the nourishing comments!

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

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