Back at his place, Tang Zhou opened the chat program and contacted a person with the name “Mouse Loves Rice”.
Sweet Congee: 【Do you take the job?】
Mouse Loves Rice: 【I’ll take it.】
Tang Zhou sent him two pictures, stated clearly the requirements, and said: 【Can you do it tomorrow morning?】
Mouse Loves Rice: 【No problem, pay the deposit first.】
Sweet Congee:【There’s one more order.】
After submitting the pictures and order, there was a delay in the reply from the other side.
As soon as Tang Zhou was about to ask, a message appeared in the dialog box.
Mouse loves Rice: 【It’s a difficult task, considering it happened twenty years ago. Can’t make it for tomorrow morning. The price will also be higher than before.】
Sweet Congee: 【It doesn’t matter if this order takes a week. Money is not a problem.】
Mouse loves Rice: 【Ok.】
After the two finished the conversation, Tang Zhou turned off the chat program. In his heart, he felt as if there was something wrong. But thinking about the reputation of “Mouse loves Rice” in the industry, he pushed away the thoughts in his mind.
[Jiangcheng University, male dormitory.]
Fu Shen came out after taking a bath and was surrounded by his two roommates.
“Liang Chen said Tang Shen agreed to meet with us again. Is it true?” The chubby boy had an excited look on his face.
“Yes, tomorrow night at six o’clock. We’ll go together.”
“Sure, sure. I need to see what I’m wearing tomorrow!” Another guy pulled out a hoodie with a Pikachu design on it and asked the others, “How about this one?”
The chubby guy sneered, “Too childish. It looks unreliable at first glance. If Tang Shen doesn’t like it and quits, what will we do?”
“Where’s the childishness?” Pikachu guy replied indignantly. “You’re the unreliable one!”
Seeing how the two were about to start arguing again, Fu Shen casually said, “No need to be too uptight. Tang Zhou… he probably won’t care about these things.”
Liang Chen, who was reading a book, looked up at him and adjusted his glasses.
A beep from a notification chimed, and Fu Shen absentmindedly opened it, then suddenly froze.
Mi Shu: 【Picture.jpg】
Mi Shu: 【Is this a picture of you?】
Fu Shen:【It’s me. Why?】
Mi Shu: 【Someone wants to investigate you.】
Fu Shen:【Who?】
Mi Shu: 【According to the rules, I can’t reveal it.】
Fu Shen: 【What if we don’t follow the rules?】
Mi Shu: 【I owe you three favors. Do you want to use one of them for this?】
Fu Shen hesitated for a few seconds, then replied: 【No need.】
He put down his phone with a serious expression on his face and opened his computer under the gaze of the three people who were stunned, typing rapidly on the keyboard, while Liang Chen glanced at it briefly and then turned away.
The other two were so shocked by this display that they immediately fell as silent as chickens.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktf rbecv bo atf xfsybjgv mgjmxilcu, ilxf j mbcalceber ragfjw bo werlmji cbafr, fmtbfv lc atf delfa vbgw gbbw. Coafg j ktlif, la jii mbcnfgufv lcab j olcji jcrkfg.
Me Vtfc’r fsfygbkr gjlrfv rilutais, jcv tf ifjcfv yjmx lc tlr mtjlg. Llr tjcvr cjaegjiis gfrafv bc tlr ijq, jcv tlr olcufgr ajqqfv ilutais.
The familiar IP address was both surprising and expected.
The next morning, after Tang Zhou finished washing up and had a bit of breakfast, he opened his email.
There was a new message from “Mouse Loves Rice.”
After clicking through and browsing, he couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.
Tang Zhou was aware of the relationship between Du Ruoyu and Tang Tianyang, but he had no idea that these two had such a history since high school.
His illegitimate younger brother, Tang Tianyang, was the school’s heartthrob in high school. With good grades, a pleasant demeanor, and good looks, it was no surprise that he was so popular with the pretty girls.
At that time, Du Ruoyu was just a young girl who, under Tang Tianyang’s brainwashing, believed that Tang Zhou had been suppressing and mistreating both Tang Tianyang and his mother. She even thought Tang Zhou was able to achieve the success he has today only because he had taken advantage of all of the Tang family’s resources— some of which should’ve belonged to Tang Tianyang.
Beauty and intense misery, both invincible weapons able to inspire the love of girls in this era.
Tang Zhou couldn’t help but laugh as he read on.
First of all, regardless of the fact that he had never spoken a word to Tang Tianyang, how could he possibly be oppressing him? Using the ‘taking Tang family’s resources’ thing, for example, how could he oppress him when even Tang Zhen had put in very little effort on Tang Tianyang?
What a resilient little white flower, claiming to be oppressed yet unyielding.
Tang Zhou now acted solely on his mood. If someone rubbed him the wrong way, he had to return the favor.
His phone suddenly rang, and he answered it casually.
“Tang Zhou, I heard that you… about the thing last night, is it true?” Lu Ye’s tone was somewhat subtle.
Tang Zhou replied nonchalantly, “You discriminate?”
“Of course not!” Lu Ye hastily clarified, “I just find it a bit unbelievable. I’ve always thought you had nothing to do with this kind of thing.”
Tang Zhou thought to himself: My previous persona was nothing more than the mask of the heir to the Tang family.
“What happened to you guys last night?” Although Tang Zhou dreamed that he was a character in a book, the dream world only showed his own perspective, so he didn’t know other characters’ details. “Do you need any help?”
Lu Ye replied, “Nothing much, we just ran into a few punks. I gave them a beating, and then had to go to the police station to make a statement.”
Tang Zhou secretly sighed. The current Lu Ye was still a hot-blooded young man, not the cold and gloomy CEO Lu from the dream world.
He felt a bit concerned and reminded, “Lu Ye, what are your plans after graduation?”
“Xiao Yuan said he wants to travel the world, so I’ll go with him.” There was a hint of naivety in his words.
Tang Zhou asked, “You’re the only one in your family. Aren’t you concerned about the family business?”
“I’m really not interested in those industries,” Lu Ye sounded a bit impatient. “I want to do what I love.”
Being the favorite one with nothing to fear, Tang Zhou sometimes found himself quite envious of Lu Ye.
“What if something happens to Qiao Yuan, but you’re unable to help him?” Tang Zhou asked.
“What could possibly happen to Xiao Yuan?” Lu Ye looked deep in thought for a moment and then said, “Wait, are you suggesting that that one guy with the surname Fu might harm Xiao Yuan? If he dares, I’ll definitely not let him get away with it!”
Tang Zhou was speechless.
In his dream, both him and Qiao Yuan got put into suffering and chaotic situations by Fu Shen’s schemes.
He rubbed his temples, “Lu Ye, don’t underestimate him.”
Lu Ye seemed quite puzzled. “What’s wrong with you, Tang Zhou? What’s he? Just a poor student. What does he have to compare with us?”
Based on the fact that he single-handedly founded Deep Blue Technology, based on the fact that he made Qiao Cheng’an suffer and lose his life, and his quick jump to rise as a new business tycoon.
But that was something Tang Zhou couldn’t say right now.
“Lu Ye, if you like Qiao Yuan, you have to recognize potential obstacles in the future,” Tang Zhou just said without getting into too much detail.
He had no doubt about Lu Ye’s feelings for Qiao Yuan. However, if Lu Ye had no power in the Lu family, he might still, like in his dream, be forced to separate from Qiao Yuan under the Lu family’s pressure, suffering terribly for years.
Lu Ye was shocked and exclaimed, “Like what! Tang Zhou, don’t talk nonsense. Xiao Yuan and I are just friends! On the contrary, it’s actually you who, even though you know Fu Shen might harm Xiao Yuan, still provided him with funding. Without you, where’d he be able to get it?”
“Lu Ye, I invest in any project because it’s profitable. As long as it’s not illegal or criminal, I don’t care.”
It wasn’t that he couldn’t suppress Fu Shen, but that rather than suppressing him, Tang Zhou preferred to cooperate with him. After all, he was an investor, not a hero saving the world.
Rather than subduing the potential growth of a future dark horse, it’s better to become the co-owner of the mentioned dark horse.
Unable to say anything else, Lu Ye hung up.
In the evening at 6 o’clock, Tang Zhou arrived at Juxiang Pavilion right on time.
Before he even got out of the car, he received a call from Tang Zhihua.
“You didn’t go to the Du family today.”
Tang Zhou hit him with a straight answer, “Du Ruoyu and Tang Tianyang are a couple; I don’t want to meddle.”
Tang Zhihua: “……”
“I have other matters to do. I’ll hang up first.”
At the same time, Elder Du looked at several photos on his desk, his brow furrowed deeply.
“Who sent these?”
The butler respectfully said, “I don’t know. It was shoved in from outside the courtyard.”
He quietly glanced at the photos and thought, ‘So, it’s that bastard child from the Tang family the one the Miss likes. What should I do about this?’
In the photos, a young man and girl in school uniforms were embracing each other, very intimately.
Elder Du snorted coldly, “Go get the Miss.”
If Miss Ruoyu truly liked that Tang Tianyang kid, it wasn’t entirely unacceptable. After all, they were both children of the Tang family’s bloodline, and Tang Zhou was the type to choose the harder path, so the one who’d eventually inherit the Tang family was still uncertain.
[At Juxiang Pavilion’s private room.]
Fu Shen and the other three arrived early and were playing with their phones at the table.
Suddenly, the door to the private room was pushed open, and they all looked up simultaneously.
The young man stood outside the door, wearing a bamboo-green hoodie that complemented his fair and slender neck. Further up, you could see his cherry red-colored lips, his high and straight nose and his long lashes that covered his calm and clear eyes. From head to toe, he was impeccable and exquisite in every aspect.
Except for Fu Shen, the other three had never seen the legendary Tang Shen in person. Now that they met him, they couldn’t help but acknowledge the accuracy of the rumors.
Damn it, with looks like that, how were they supposed to survive!
Fu Shen’s gaze lightly swept over the young man’s neck, seeing how the marks from their encounter last night were no longer visible.
He stood up, unhurriedly saying, “Tang Senior.”
Tang Zhou entered the private room, closed the door, and nodded slightly. He had a light expression as he greeted them, “Hello.”
Liang Chen was the first to react and extended his slender hand, “Tang Senior, I’m Liang Chen. Nice to meet you.”
Tang Zhou gave his hand a light shake, “Nice to meet you too.”
The other two also snapped out of their daze, introduced themselves eagerly, and competed to greet him.
“Tang Shen, I’m Pi Xiu.”
Tang Zhou, with a smile in his eyes, answered, “Hello.”
Pi Xiu was a mythical creature known for attracting wealth and prosperity while preventing anything from going out. What a good name.
“Tang Shen, I’m Li Fengyu, but they call me ‘Fatty,’ hehe.”
Tang Zhou nodded, “Hello, Li xuedi.”
He hadn’t expected this seemingly robust junior to have such an elegant and refined name.
As they each took their seats, Pi Xiu and Fatty were still somewhat excited and had entirely forgotten the purpose of this meal.
Dishes were brought to the table, one after another, with Pi Xiu and Fatty cracking jokes and creating a lively atmosphere in the private room.
But they were hesitant to bring up the main topic.
After half the meal had passed, Tang Zhou took the initiative, “Let’s talk about the shares.”
Immediately, Pi Xiu and Fatty fell silent.
Liang Chen glanced at Fu Shen, pushed up his glasses, and spoke earnestly, “Tang Senior, we appreciate your generosity, but 40% is too high for us.”
Tang Zhou leaned back in his chair, his expression serious as he said, “To the best of my knowledge, the development of a game project requires a significant amount of capital. Without over a hundred million in funding, it’s challenging to produce a high quality finished product. Don’t you think that such a substantial investment, given the high risk I’m taking, is worth 40 percent? Besides, you guys are only freshmen, not senior game researchers.”
Fatty and Pi Xiu lowered their heads. Why did Tang Shen’s words seem to make sense to them? Although they were confident in their ability to do well in the creation of this game, in the eyes of others, they were just novices.
After searching for so long and through so many people, Tang Shen was the only one willing to invest. Shouldn’t they be grateful for that?
Fu Shen remained undistracted and calmly answered, “Senior, you have a well-known reputation in the industry for turning ventures into gold mines. Many people are closely monitoring your investment movements. If they learn that senior are interested in this project, they might change their minds afterwards, even if they initially refused to invest.”
If this was really the case, then whether or not Tang Zhou invested wouldn’t be a big concern to them.
While some people might not match Tang Zhou’s substantial capital, what if ten or twenty people collectively contributed? Having a diversified and decentralized shareholding structure would be easier to control than a single dominant investor.
Tang Zhou paused for a moment. It made sense why in his dream, even if he invested only five million, Fu Shen was still able to support such a large project.
Gazing at Fu Shen for a few seconds, Tang Zhou suddenly stood up and said, “I’ll go to the restroom.”
Fu Shen received the signal and also got up to leave.
Leaving the three of them wide-eyed in the private room.
Pi Xiu scratched his head, “What are they going to the restroom for?”
Fatty speculated, “They’re not going to have a fight in there, are they?”
Liang Chen adjusted his sliding glasses and humorously suggested, “Perhaps they’re going to strike another deal?”
The two leaned in, asking, “What do you mean?”
Clearing his throat, Liang Chen jokingly added, “Maybe another round of ‘selling his body’ again?”
Pi Xiu & Fatty: “…”
The translator wants to add…
LMAOOO Liang Chen pls don’t do our Fu Shen that dirty ok? Maaaaybe Fu Shen would do that (for the project only ofcs ofcs) but homeboy’s truly playing with fire while traumatizing his other bros 
I’m loving them very much! What are you guys thoughts?
I can already smell the incoming drama in the Tang family… Btw isn’t ‘Senior Tang’ better in English translation compared to Tang Senior? Thanks for the update bundle <333
+1
Those friends are wild xD
Love them! (=^w^=)/
Thank You for the new chapter (∩˃w˂∩)♡
I love the contrast; the otak— ehm, nerd– ehm, rookie game developers vs a high class investor? 🤣dunno, but hope that s*xual tension between Tang Zhou & Fu Shen materializes really quick ..like, right in the next scene 🤭
Hahahahaha…comfortable friends willing to throw a buddy to the cute wolf…pfft!