Xiang Zhen officially introduced his spirit friend to Zhou Sicheng: “Hubby, his name is—”

Xiang Zhen whispered to the coffee spirit: “What’s the name on your ID card?”

The youth replied, “Dou Manning.”

Xiang Zhen understood—it was a shortened abbreviation of Mandheling coffee beans. He said, “He sells coffee. Please make a cup of coffee to refresh my husband; it’ll be safer for him to drive this afternoon.”

While Dou Manning went to brew the coffee, Xiang Zhen helped him move his luggage into the trunk. The coffee spirit had only recently descended the mountain and hadn’t informed Auntie Guihua yet; living on his own in the city, he possessed very few belongings.

Very soon, Zhou Sicheng was presented with a super-sized cup of compensatory coffee.

Xiang Zhen, his eyes round and bright, handed it to his husband: “It’s highly authentic, taste it quickly.”

This was the perk of marrying a sunflower; one could always drink authentic coffee.

Zhou Sicheng momentarily lost himself in his wife’s eyes and took a massive gulp.

Pfft.

It was so bitter that for a fleeting moment, Zhou Sicheng recalled the fish soup Xiang Zhen had made.

His evaluation could still be summarized in two words: Horrible.

In this cup of coffee, besides the coffee beans being thrown in as if they cost nothing, things like sugar, milk, and chocolate were treated as though they cost a thousand gold pieces per gram—not a single gram had been added.

Xiang Zhen: “Once you drink it, you won’t feel sleepy while driving.”

He was indeed no longer sleepy.

Spitting it out would ultimately lack grace, so Zhou Sicheng forced himself to swallow it, saying, “You and him are truly… soulmates sharing a rare bond like Boya and Ziqi.”

Zhou Sicheng glanced around. Seeing no convenient spot to place the coffee and pretend he forgot to bring it along, he had no choice but to set it on the roof of the car. “It’s a bit cold, I’ll drink it in a while.”

Xiang Zhen, sharp-eyed and quick-handed, snatched it back down. “I’ll feed it to you while you drive.”

Zhou Sicheng didn’t want his vision to blur from the bitterness while driving, so he decided to drag a scapegoat down first: “Did Fan Hao finish his cup?”

Xiang Zhen: “He finished it.”

Zhou Sicheng: “He definitely dumped it out secretly, wasting your money.”

Xiang Zhen: “Huh?”

Zhou Sicheng didn’t want to show disrespect to his wife’s genuine friend. Previously, Xiang Zhen had tried to introduce him to his friends several times, but he had tactfully declined. If this happened too often, it would inevitably cause suspicion once his cover was blown in the future, making it look like he looked down on Xiang Zhen’s social circle.

He had to firmly prevent these friends from fanning the flames when the time came.

Thus, Zhou Sicheng took another sip, pulled his wife behind the car, and let him taste it too.

Xiang Zhen’s eyebrows knit together from the bitterness. He had always loved sweet things, and even when he drank coffee, it had to have sugar. He quickly stood on his tiptoes to continue kissing his husband, attempting to dilute the bitter taste.

“I’ve got it!” Xiang Zhen suddenly remembered that there was some sweet milk left over from their park camping trip in the trunk of the BYD.

He pulled out two bottles, chugged half of each bottle down, and then poured the coffee into them until they were full, turning them into two cups of lattes.

“Hubby, do you remember? Our blind date was actually in a coffee shop. On that day, you didn’t drink any, but I drank two cups.”

Zhou Sicheng’s gaze drifted toward the horizon as he recalled that day. It felt so close, yet it also seemed like a long time had passed.

“That day should be defined as a lucky day.”

Now that the coffee in his hand had been endowed with a commemorative meaning, Zhou Sicheng took a sip. The milk neutralized the bitterness of the coffee, making the texture smooth, rich, and mellow.

Once all of Dou Manning’s things were loaded into the car, he asked Xiang Zhen if he had a pen and paper.

Xiang Zhen scavenged them from Zhou Sicheng’s car.

Dou Manning earnestly wrote the words “This shop has relocated” and wedged the paper into the door crack.

Business had been virtually non-existent here; it was time for him to change locations.

Money earned at a construction site was all blood and sweat; that single individual who insisted on drinking 40 RMB coffee wouldn’t be able to save any money this way.

After the three of them got into the car, Xiang Zhen grabbed a handful of melon seeds for Dou Manning. They were all taken from his former company; he didn’t eat them, and neither did Zhou Sicheng.

Xiang Zhen: “Where are you going to open the new shop? Do you want to go to an office building and sell to white-collar workers?”

Dou Manning: “The rent for office buildings is too expensive.”

Xiang Zhen suddenly said happily, “Hubby, I have a great idea.”

Zhou Sicheng instinctively felt it was a terrible idea.

Xiang Zhen: “Hubby, we can do group-buying proxy shopping. Look, we both work in office buildings, and our colleagues order coffee every day. Why don’t they order from Manning? We can tally the quantities the day before, Manning can prepare them in his rented apartment, place them in the trunk, and we can bring them to our respective companies to distribute.”

Over the past few days, Xiang Zhen had been pulled into several work chat groups by Fan Hao. Each group had hundreds of people—all potential customers.

Zhou Sicheng slightly regretted “changing jobs”; he might as well have driven a ride-hailing car instead.

Driving a car was better than delivering meals.

Xiang Zhen: “Hubby, didn’t you say before that you wanted to support me in opening a milk tea shop or something? We can test the waters this way; we absolutely mustn’t rent a physical store.”

Zhou Sicheng’s words were completely blocked off.

Zhou Sicheng said with great difficulty, “The pricing is on the higher side; no one will buy it.”

In fact, judging by the flavor after being mixed with milk, 40 RMB wasn’t expensive either.

“We can give a discount and sell it for 9.9 RMB. The cheapest one near us is 9.9 RMB.” Xiang Zhen turned his head and said to Dou Manning, “I respect the value of your coffee beans very much, so you just need to dilute one 40 RMB cup into 5 cups.”

This solved the problem of the coffee being too strong.

Zhou Sicheng realized his wife possessed a bit of business acumen, but he would absolutely never invest in this plan.

“Manning can also run a few promotions, it’ll be fine.”

Xiang Zhen: “Then it’s settled.”

Zhou Sicheng was driving with both hands, while Xiang Zhen fished his phone out of his pocket. WeChat was smoothly opened.

Xiang Zhen seemed to experience a second awakening of intelligence: “Hubby, this WeChat is your personal account, right? It doesn’t have any work groups at all.”

Zhou Sicheng: “…”

Xiang Zhen wanted to look for a group chat: “Let me switch to your work account.”

Zhou Sicheng felt a sudden sensation that he was driving this car stark naked.

He maintained his steady breathing and didn’t make any aggressive movements to snatch the phone—pretending to be poor for a blind date was one thing, but deliberately hiding it after marriage was another.

If Xiang Zhen found out, Zhou Sicheng could only surrender; he wouldn’t pile another lie on top.

Ding-dong.

Xiang Zhen logged into a brand-new WeChat account.

The page alone was filled with endless unread messages. Scrolling down, there was a uniform row of “Received.”

He didn’t click in to look closely, because different trades are like separate worlds—he couldn’t understand it.

Everyone said that the more “Received” replies one gave, the more of a top-tier corporate slave they were.

His husband really didn’t have it easy.

He clicked open the group chats and noticed that the group remarks were all “X-X Business Group.” As an ordinary programmer, Zhou Sicheng had actually joined so many project departments—his husband worked far too hard to make money.

Capitalists were truly too wicked.

Xiang Zhen decided that he was going to invest in Dou Manning’s coffee shop to achieve financial freedom, so he wouldn’t have to let his husband be a miserable programmer anymore.

He wanted his husband to be the boss.

Zhou Sicheng’s eyes were fixed on the road, but his breathing was entirely tied to the person beside him. He was ready at any moment to pull over and deliver the line, “Listen to my explanation.”

However, no confusion appeared on Xiang Zhen’s face.

Because whether it was the company executives in the list or presidents from other industries, he didn’t recognize a single one of them.

Xiang Zhen murmured, “Would it be inappropriate to sell coffee in a work group?”

Zhou Sicheng let out a sigh of relief. Being able to consider this aspect meant he wasn’t completely brainless. He said, “Right, it’s inappropriate.”

Xiang Zhen noticed that Zhou Sicheng’s work WeChat also had Fan Hao, so he tapped right into it.

“Let me ask Fan Hao.”

Zhou Sicheng: “Haven’t you already asked me?”

Xiang Zhen: “My bank clerk rank is 12, and you should be around the same since you just joined the company. But Fan Hao’s rating is 2—the smaller the number, the higher the rank. What he says carries more reference value.”

Xiang Zhen had already thoroughly researched it. Fan Hao told him that he lacked academic credentials; if he had graduated with a bachelor’s degree, he could have been directly ranked at level 9.

Zhou Sicheng: “…” Who on earth invented workplace ranks? How boring. Did he ever brag about being a level 1?

“Don’t ask him,” Zhou Sicheng let out a final saving plea.

Xiang Zhen was already typing, his speed faster than his husband’s speech.

Xiang Zhen saw the last screen of chat history between Fan Hao and Zhou Sicheng. It was Fan Hao asking Zhou Sicheng at 11:30 AM why he wasn’t in the office or the cafeteria, complaining that he couldn’t find him anywhere just to get a signature.

Xiang Zhen hurriedly helped Zhou Sicheng reply.

[Zhou Sicheng: I went out to have coffee with my wife.]

[Fan Hao: No need to flex it again.]

[Zhou Sicheng: Manager Fan, what do you think about me selling coffee in the company work groups?]

[Fan Hao: ???]

[Fan Hao: Are you possessed by a ghost?]

[Zhou Sicheng: Oh, I’m his wife.]

[Zhou Sicheng: I’ve found the best coffee beans in the world and now need a channel to sell them. I can’t afford the rent for an office building, so I want to start a group-buying chain in the work groups. My husband can bring them over on his way to work.]

[Fan Hao: You can, you can, you can, you can, there’s absolutely nothing you can’t do, President Zhou.]

Xiang Zhen’s eyes curved into crescents: “Fan Hao said it’s totally fine, and he even said it multiple times.”

Moreover, Fan Hao was very sharp; he was already starting to call him President Zhou. This indicated that he highly approved of this business, so they would definitely be able to make money.

Zhou Sicheng was expressionless, having completely predicted this outcome. One couldn’t count on a bystander who loved watching a circus at all. He could already hear Fan Hao’s roaring laughter.

[Zhou Sicheng: Is it really okay? Can both my husband and I sell coffee? Will we get fired?]

From the WeChat records between the two, Xiang Zhen discovered that Fan Hao and his husband had business dealings, so Fan Hao definitely understood Zhou Sicheng’s company well.

[Fan Hao: Absolutely not! Our company is very open-minded. I guarantee you that no one will demote your husband’s rank, and I won’t demote yours either.]

[Fan Hao: Go ahead and do it with peace of mind. Selling water can turn you into the richest man.]

[Xiang Zhen: Then will this affect my husband’s public reputation?]

[Fan Hao: Not at all! Making money isn’t something to be ashamed of.]

Xiang Zhen was immensely encouraged.

He dynamically read Fan Hao’s replies aloud to the other two people in the car to boost morale. The teams of the richest men all assembled successfully from inconspicuous places—for instance, inside a moving BYD.

The veins on Zhou Sicheng’s forehead throbbed violently; he was going to demote Fan Hao by 13 ranks straight down!

Xiang Zhen said, “Manning, you provide the technique and the coffee beans, while my husband and I provide the capital and the sales channel. Is it okay if we each hold a half share?”

Dou Manning believed that focusing on brewing coffee was great, so he nodded: “That works.”

No sooner said than done, Xiang Zhen used Zhou Sicheng’s WeChat to post a status on his Moments.

[Manning’s Coffee Shop is now open! Lattes and Americanos are all 9.9 RMB. Pre-order now and get them delivered straight to your workstation tomorrow morning at Zhoufu Bank Headquarters!]

Halfway through editing, Xiang Zhen finally remembered to ask: “Hubby, which company are you in?”

Zhou Sicheng: “Zhoufu Headquarters.”

Xiang Zhen added the remaining half sentence: [Delivered straight to your workstation at Zhoufu Bank Headquarters and Zhoufu Headquarters!]

Very quickly, someone Xiang Zhen didn’t know replied to Zhou Sicheng’s Moments post.

[Boss, how much did he pay you to run this ad?]

Xiang Zhen was just about to reply, stating that it was their own family’s coffee.

Zhou Sicheng timely reached out and confiscated his phone.

Let the misunderstanding remain.

Half an hour later, he parked the car downstairs in the neighborhood and popped the trunk. He didn’t get out of the car; he had been forcibly dragged into this partnership and was very angry, so he didn’t intend to carry things for these entrepreneurs.

After doing some mental preparation, he opened WeChat.

There were over thirty red notification dots—all small businesses worth 9.9 RMB.

Because Fan Hao had replied underneath that Moments post.

[Fan Hao: Yes, yes, yes, you can just send the pre-order sheets directly to President Zhou.]

Zhou Sicheng sneered. Had he known earlier, he should have relied on Secretary Gao to arrange Xiang Zhen’s job rather than this troublemaker.

Immediate exile.

He calmed himself down for a moment and replied underneath the post:

[A new product developed by my wife. Participants are to submit an 800-word tasting review on Monday.]

Instantly, the red notification dots exploded. They were all asking when on earth he had gotten married without letting a single word leak out, and just what kind of divine sacred being their celestial president’s wife was?!

As well as whether 800 words could be substituted with 800 RMB.

Their tongues really weren’t that talented.

Zhou Sicheng felt comforted.