Chu Ren was the first to burst into laughter. “President Zhou, why aren’t you supporting my company’s business?”

Zhou Sicheng was completely rendered speechless; he had simply been too narrow-minded.

His poor wife had been stuck watching only the first episode of everything. Ignoring the amused glances around him, Zhou Sicheng promised solemnly, “Zhenzhen, you are getting lifetime VIP passes across every single platform right away. You can watch whatever you want.”

Yet Xiang Zhen had preferred to watch the first episode over and over rather than buy a membership, but he had been willing to buy an unzipping software membership just to read research papers to figure out what his husband meant by “S.”

Only now did Zhou Sicheng realize the true weight of that unzipping software membership; if he didn’t turn out to be a real S, he would be letting Xiang Zhen down.

Ever since their second meeting, Xiang Zhen had been that sweet little fool who, if he had thirty thousand yuan, would willingly spend every last cent of it on him.

Xiang Zhen had spent 9.9 yuan on him, so he would return 9.9 billion to his wife.

Bai Qi interjected, “No need to buy anything. I’ll give Zhenzhen a lifetime Changsheng Media VIP membership. I have plenty of accounts—Manning, do you want one too?”

Chu Ren stole a side glance at Bai Qi. Out in public, Bai Qi rarely bothered to engage with anyone, so making two new friends in a matter of seconds today made Chu Ren see him in a completely new light.

Just then, a commotion broke out at the entrance as Zhou Qingyun arrived.

The senior executives in attendance immediately stepped forward to greet him. Having ruled the corporate group for decades, Zhou Qingyun still commanded immense prestige even after retiring from daily affairs.

Leaning heavily on his walking cane, Zhou Qingyun’s expression was stern and naturally imposing, making him look as though he had come to crash the party.

Zhou Sicheng turned to Xiang Zhen and whispered, “He’s my grandfather.”

Xiang Zhen blinked. So this is the old man who raised his husband with an iron fist. He recalled Professor Xu’s slides, which documented how Zhou Qingyun had nearly lost his life in his youth when his heavy-haul truck flipped over and was robbed.

Thank goodness his husband had never encountered such a thing.

If Zhou Qingyun hadn’t worked so hard to build a business out of driving heavy-haul trucks, his husband might have turned out to be just a truck driver himself.

“Grandpa,” Zhou Sicheng said, holding Xiang Zhen’s hand as they stepped forward. “This is Zhenzhen, my wife.”

Xiang Zhen beamed with a bright smile. “Hello, Grandpa!”

Zhou Qingyun glanced at Xiang Zhen. In photos, the boy had merely looked remarkably handsome, but seeing him in person, one could instantly feel that naturally warm, vibrant, and loving aura radiating from him. No wonder he drove my grandson crazy with devotion.

Xiang Zhen stepped forward to help support him. “Grandpa, I heard you were amazing at driving heavy-haul trucks. That’s so incredible!”

Zhou Qingyun huffed, “Hmph. Haven’t driven one in decades.”

Xiang Zhen asked, “You were the one who crashed my husband’s BYD, right? Did you drive the car to crash it yourself?”

Last time he played with his husband’s phone, he had accidentally spotted the chat history with Secretary Gao.

Zhou Qingyun’s brows furrowed, unable to tell for a moment if Xiang Zhen was being sarcastic. Stubbornly holding onto his pride, he declared, “I drove it myself.”

“I see,” Xiang Zhen replied, his eyes curving happily as he turned to Zhou Sicheng. “Hubby, I want to ride in your car until I’m eighty years old!”

Zhou Sicheng agreed gently. “Alright.”

Zhou Qingyun was nearly driven mad with fury. What? His grandson was still going to be a chauffeur for his wife at eighty?! Could he not afford a driver?!

Watching them act so sickeningly sweet right in front of his eyes, Zhou Qingyun decided out of sight was out of mind and took a seat at the executives’ table.

The banquet was structured as a formal sit-down dinner combined with a buffet layout, allowing guests to mingle freely. Zhou Sicheng guided Xiang Zhen through the room to introduce him to the executives, holding Xiang Zhen’s hand the entire time. His other hand remained completely free rather than holding a wine glass to pose—leaving it open to attend to his wife.

The executives felt a distinct sense of deja vu—like a school principal parading his beloved son to introduce him teacher by teacher to every subject instructor on the first day of school. Fan Hao followed behind like an encouraging head teacher. The executives felt somewhat nervous, but the generous smile on President Zhou’s face tonight and the warm beauty of his spouse alleviated their tension.

No wonder Fan Hao had spent a whole month working hard as a regular employee—turns out he was escorting the CEO’s spouse.

After accompanying his husband through half an hour of social obligations, Xiang Zhen mentioned that he needed to use the restroom.

Zhou Sicheng was about to accompany him, but Xiang Zhen firmly refused. With no choice left, Zhou Sicheng pulled out his phone, unfathomably monitoring Xiang Zhen’s movement track while keeping a vigilant eye out for anyone trailing him.

Fortunately, Dou Manning and Bai Qi were both eating, rather than meeting up in the restroom.

Zhou Sicheng picked up a small bowl of seafood noodles to eat a few quick bites. Noticing Chu Ren standing nearby, he asked offhandedly, “Pardon me for asking, but what is your wife’s educational background?”

Chu Ren set down his iced drink. “That is indeed very forward of you.”

He suspected Zhou Sicheng was deliberately retaliating for his joke about him being stingy earlier, specifically targeting him over the fact that Bai Qi didn’t have a formal degree.

Very few people knew Bai Qi’s true identity; he hadn’t expected Zhou Sicheng to be petty enough to investigate his wife.

Seeing Chu Ren’s sore reaction, Zhou Sicheng’s mental expectations plummeted straight down.

Chu Ren countered, “What’s with that look on your face? Ever heard of equivalent academic qualifications? Strictly speaking, Bai Qi possesses equivalent academic qualifications to a master’s graduate in History and can pursue a doctorate immediately.”

Zhou Sicheng found it amusing; in that case, Xiang Zhen possessed equivalent academic qualifications to a bachelor’s graduate in Marxist Philosophy.

He rattled off a sequence of digits. “Are these six numbers the starting digits of Bai Qi’s ID card?”

Chu Ren was about to refute everything, but upon reflecting, he realized it actually was.

“Why are you asking this?”

Zhou Sicheng pressed, “Is there anything special about your wife’s family background?”

Chu Ren answered flatly, “No comment.”

Zhou Sicheng teased, “You don’t know? Didn’t you claim to have had a wife since you were eighteen?”

As Zhou Sicheng spoke with Chu Ren, he watched Xiang Zhen exit the restroom and draw closer to two other people. The three of them exchanged subtle glances and began shifting toward an unoccupied area.

An immediate level-one alarm sounded in Zhou Sicheng’s mind.

Three was a critical threshold in any context.

Three people made a tiger; bad things came in threes; three cobblers… he absolutely could not allow these three illiterate individuals to form a group.

“Engineer Shen!” Zhou Sicheng called out to his ally.

Shen Ku had also been monitoring the situation constantly. Hearing the call, both men strode forward in huge steps, each grabbing their respective wife by the back of the neck and pulling them behind their backs.

Zhou Sicheng stroked Xiang Zhen’s fair nape gently. “Wife, let me introduce you to Wang Jianbin, the chief project manager for Little Sunflower.”

“I also invested in a robotics company that builds physical bodies for Little Sunflower. Their manager is here today too. In the future, however you want to upgrade Little Sunflower, you can just tell him.”

Shen Ku said smoothly, “Manning, I noticed an imported coffee machine over there. I thought you might like it—let’s go check it out.”

Chu Ren slid his hands into his pockets and walked up behind Bai Qi. What was going on? Not letting them play with his wife? Ostracizing his wife? Absolute lunatics!

Chu Ren said, “Bai Qi, there are still things to handle at the company. Let’s head out first.”

Zhou Sicheng offered, “Safe travels.”

Chu Ren was instantly fuming with rage.

Xiang Zhen immediately chimed in, “Mr. Chu, if you have business, please go ahead! Bai Qi can stay a bit longer, and my husband will drive him home in his car.”

Dou Manning added, “That’s right. Bai Qi mentioned earlier that he wanted to taste the coffee I make, and there happens to be an imported coffee machine right over there.”

Bai Qi turned to his husband: “Chu Ren, if you have business, go ahead first.”

The three men: “…”

Looking at the grave expressions on the other two men’s faces, Chu Ren realized that things were not as simple as they seemed. Being abandoned by his wife at a banquet for the very first time, he whispered, “I’ll wait for you.”

Xiang Zhen hugged Zhou Sicheng’s arm affectionately. “Hubby, President Chu looks a bit unhappy. Why don’t you stay here and chat with him?”

Xiang Zhen had realized that whether Zhou Sicheng was acting as a truck driver or a corporate CEO, he needed a wife who knew how to handle post-sales service to help maintain relations with his clients.

He would stay by his husband’s side forever.

Xiang Zhen led the two spirits toward the coffee machine, exercising his authority as the master of the villa for the very first time: he instructed the housekeeper not to let anyone approach within five meters of the coffee machine.

Shen Ku said nothing, silently trailing behind them.

Dou Manning turned around and said to him, “With you standing right here, I can’t make good coffee.”

Shen Ku: “…”

Yet another person eliminated.

Dou Manning conjured a handful of coffee beans in his palm and loaded them into the machine. Xiang Zhen helped pour milk and sugar, having learned the proportions and keeping them all memorized.

Working together, the two produced a rough cup of coffee and handed it to Bai Qi.

Dou Manning suggested, “Let’s drink while we talk.”

The three of them gathered around a single high-top coffee table, their differently colored heads almost touching.

Xiang Zhen asked, “Bai Qi, was the 2012 latest edition of the Adult Guide written by you?”

Bai Qi nodded. “I wrote it.”

Xiang Zhen looked at him with admiration. “You wrote so much detail! I followed every bit of it, and it was super useful.”

Bai Qi’s expression stiffened slightly. “Actually, it’s a bit outdated now. Were there really no other spirits between then and now?”

Dou Manning shook his head. “Only me, but I ran off to live in the mountains. I didn’t observe humans.”

Xiang Zhen asked humbly, “How did you write it back then? The range of topics was so broad.”

Taking a sip of coffee, Bai Qi revealed in a low voice, “I actually summarized it all by watching TV dramas.”

In 2012, he had set off from Spirit Village. Shortly after, he found an empty, uninhabited villa equipped with water, electricity, internet, and full appliances.

Hiding inside the villa without eating or drinking, Bai Qi had spent five straight years watching television.

Occasionally, he would step out to earn money for the electricity bill, leaving the cash inside the TV cabinet.

He watched a vast array of melodramatic Korean dramas, writing down the proverb: “If you meet someone you like, do not miss your chance. If you miss a human, you will contract a terminal illness and die.”

He watched the folklore drama Legend of the White Snake, warning future spirits that under no circumstances should they reveal their true form, as it would randomly scare their husbands to death.

This continued until Chu Ren turned eighteen and moved into the property under his name. Bai Qi hadn’t even finished watching a drama yet and couldn’t bear to leave, resulting in him getting caught.

To ensure Bai Qi had dramas to watch, Chu Ren had poured his full efforts into cultivating the film and television industry.

Having watched dramas attentively for so many years, Bai Qi’s script evaluation skills were top-tier. For every single drama project Changsheng Media invested in, he had to personally review the script and the final cut.

If he didn’t nod his approval, Chu Ren wouldn’t invest a single cent.

Xiang Zhen murmured, “Mm, that’s just like me scrolling through short videos.”

Dou Manning added, “I read books, which also helps me understand the human world.”

The three spirits exchanged glances and arrived at a consensus regarding the tools for understanding humans, ranked by usefulness: TV Dramas > Short Videos > Books.

Bai Qi recommended, “If you have the time, it’s still best to watch full-length long dramas. The details of daily life are much richer.”

Xiang Zhen said, “Bai Qi, I want to tell my husband about my true identity. Does Chu Ren know your species? How did he react?”

Because he rarely exposed himself to the sun year-round, Bai Qi had cold, pale skin; when he wasn’t smiling, his entire face looked exceptionally aloof. He replied, “Chu Ren has never seen my true form.”

TV dramas had left a subtle trauma on him.

Xiang Zhen pressed his lips together, exchanging a look with Dou Manning.

Both of them held back with a hint of hesitation.

On the other side of the room.

Three dashing men dressed in elegant suits were currently engaging in the most underhanded act in the world.

Zhou Sicheng unlocked his phone, displaying the surveillance footage from his house.

Xiang Zhen hadn’t noticed that the light fixture right above them happened to contain a hidden camera.

Even though their voices were hushed, the camera was integrated with Little Sunflower’s AI lip-reading decryption feature.

Zhou Sicheng solicited their opinions: “Shall we watch?”

Second Young Master Shen remained silent.

Chu Ren declared, “I object.”

The votes between support and objection were fiercely tied.

Zhou Sicheng asked, “President Chu, do you know Li Guihua?”

Chu Ren answered, “My mother-in-law.”

Shen Ku’s formidable frame shuddered: “…She’s my mother-in-law too.”

Chu Ren leaned both hands on the table, staring intently at Shen Ku: “Bai Qi never mentioned having siblings, nor have I ever seen any.”

Shen Ku countered, “Don’t look at me. His wife is registered under Li Guihua’s household register too.”

Chu Ren felt his entire understanding of the world completely shattered. How on earth did a brother-in-law suddenly pop out of thin air?!

Zhou Sicheng clearly possessed even more information than the two of them—he even knew that Li Guihua wasn’t actually their mother-in-law at all.

Shen Ku shared his knowledge: “Last time Xiang Zhen and Dou Manning talked in private, they reached the conclusion that they were completely incompatible with capitalists.”

Capitalist Chu Ren had indeed heard rumors regarding this.

Zhou Sicheng asked, “Shall we watch? The illiterates with the destructive power equivalent to PhD holders are holding a conference.”

Chu Ren: “…” It’s equivalent academic qualifications!