TMCOC CH 4

Chapter 4: Tell Me, Cash or Check? (IV)

A long time ago, Wei Gaochen had already given the guards specific instructions: If Du Linghe ever came looking for him, don’t stop him. He was a major client of the Wei Corporation — just bring him straight to the president’s office.

When Anna first heard this, she thought it was utterly absurd. First of all, the Wei and Du Corporations were practically mortal enemies — there was no way Du Linghe would personally come to see him (though she’d been proven wrong a few days ago). And if Wei Gaochen dared to stroll into the Du Corporation building, that would be another kind of “life-threatening challenge.” Who knew if Du Linghe might just decide to “get rid of” their president on the spot—Until one day, Anna realized that the Du Corporation followed the same unspoken rule: If Wei Gaochen came to visit, he would be granted passage straight into the president’s office.

So the chief secretary finally calmed down. If the two mad dogs wanted to bite each other, better they do it behind closed doors — not out at the main entrance.

Whether they were “major clients” or “sworn enemies,” it was impossible to say. After all, the relationship between two presidents was not something subordinates like them could ever define.

Anna stood by the door alongside Du Corporation’s secretary, both unbothered and expressionless.

Behind them, the office door was firmly closed. Whatever sort of crime scene might unfold inside, they had already prepared various countermeasures in their heads. By the time Anna got to the thirty-fifth possible scenario, the other secretary broke her train of thought.

“Lunch break,” Du’s secretary said, straightening his tie and nodding at her. “Half-sugar black coffee?”

Anna didn’t refuse. She politely replied, “Thanks, Henry.”

She wasn’t sure if she should feel happy about it. After all, they had grown so familiar with each other — thanks to their respective bosses — that they even knew each other’s coffee preferences.

Inside the president’s office, the once spirited and teasing Wei Gaochen had his hand slapped away by Du Linghe.

“President Wei, what exactly are you trying to do?”

To be honest — I was just trying to toy with you a little, though right now it’s “strictly business-related.”

Wei Gaochen smiled brightly to himself as the system notification popped up in his mind:
“Mission: Humiliate the Protagonist — Success.”

One face touch, one whisper in the ear — two birds with one stone.

He had been living too comfortably these past few days and had nearly forgotten about the mission altogether. Previously, he could just remotely interfere with Du Linghe’s project bids, but this time the mission specifically required him to appear in person — which was honestly a bit troublesome.

He was lazy by nature. Back in the days when he didn’t have much money, he had to attend auctions and meetings personally. But now, as the all-powerful CEO of Wei Corporation, he preferred to stay put whenever possible.

So, quite reasonably, Wei Gaochen procrastinated until the mission countdown began before he finally acted — and now he was feeling a little anxious. After all, nothing in the world was quite as nerve-wracking as a system ticking down in your ear every second of the day.

“It’s nothing,” Wei Gaochen said lightly. “I had insomnia last night and thought maybe I was too harsh this time.”

Even after being rejected, he didn’t lose his temper. In fact, he looked downright cheerful as he clasped his hands behind his back and circled Du Linghe once.

“To be honest, the Orzhou development project isn’t something we absolutely can’t hand over to you,” he said with a teasing tone. “But someone else has already offered three times the price—”

Wei Gaochen deliberately drew out the last word, then stopped right in front of Du Linghe.

“President Du, are you sure you don’t want to make a personal pledge? One Du Linghe could easily earn back the board’s trust built over three generations.”

—This bastard actually knew what was going on inside their company.

Du Linghe’s first thought was that there must be a mole. But when he saw Wei Gaochen’s infuriatingly smug expression, he decided that catching the mole could wait — what he really wanted was to throw this man straight out the window.

He frowned and brushed past him. “President Wei, people have mouths for a reason — to speak properly. If you like talking in circles so much, I don’t mind teaching you how to use your mouth correctly.”

Wei Gaochen blinked innocently. “…You mean, using President Du’s mouth to teach me?”

“…” The killing intent in Du Linghe’s eyes spread like frost. Wei Gaochen quickly backed away a few steps, laughing it off.

Du Linghe glared at him before sitting down in the president’s chair.

“So, President Wei,” he asked coldly, “what exactly did you come here for today?”

Of course, the main reason Wei Gaochen came was to complete his mission. But second — he just enjoyed observing the protagonist up close.

Wei Gaochen gave a casual little “hmm” and said, “Didn’t I tell you already? I came to apologize.”

Du Linghe gave a cold laugh. He moved the documents on the desk to the other side, as if deliberately trying to keep them out of Wei Gaochen’s sight.

Unbothered, Wei Gaochen leisurely walked around in front of him, not caring at all about Du Linghe’s darkening expression. His steps were unhurried as he made his way toward the desk.

“I’d rather see Wei Corporation acquired ahead of schedule than talk about Orzhou,” Du Linghe said irritably.

“That’s a good one. President Du’s sense of humor never fails to amaze me.”

Wei Gaochen leaned half his body against the desk, picking up the documents placed there for a look — behavior that was, by now, far too familiar to Du Linghe.

He couldn’t remember when it started, but somewhere along the way, Wei Gaochen had stopped pretending to be polite. In his memory, the man most often appeared in a perfectly tailored suit, standing at the center of meetings, with a soft smile on his face and neatly combed light-colored hair. And whenever he brought up some issue that targeted the Du Corporation’s weak points, his eyes would glimmer with mockery.

Just like a well-fed, sleek cat — putting on a harmless façade while doing the most infuriating things.

Wei Gaochen was a handsome, charming bastard.

“The Du Corporation still operates so old-fashionedly. This project will probably start losing money by next quarter.” Ignoring Du Linghe’s clear displeasure, Wei Gaochen flipped through the documents he’d moved aside, adopting a tone of feigned surprise — as if discovering some ancient relic.

“You even stamped it? President Du, are you doing alright lately?”

“You—get out.”

Wei Gaochen raised both hands in surrender. “No malice intended. Just genuine concern.”

Du Linghe pinched the bridge of his nose. He could easily call the security guards to throw this man out — but he didn’t want the Du Corporation making headlines again.

“I’ll give you one last chance. Speak properly.”

At that, Wei Gaochen tilted his head, blinking those beautiful eyes before pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

He smiled obediently. “Just wanted to offer a favor to President Du.”

He spread it open on the table. What came into view was the contract for the Orzhou development project — and on top of it, a check. A check worth enough to silence the noisy Du shareholders and make them fall obediently in line.

For Du Linghe, being pitied and being humiliated with money felt no different than being punched twice in the face.

Yet the man before him was as irritating as ever, clearly waiting for him to get angry — because that reaction would only make Wei Gaochen happier. But Du Linghe no longer lost his composure so easily. After being toyed with again and again, he had learned not to give this man what he wanted.

His dark eyes narrowed, and just as Wei Gaochen was about to add fuel to the fire, the system notification in his pocket suddenly vibrated, pulling his attention away.

“—?”

Weird. He hadn’t even touched Du Linghe yet, but the mission was already marked as complete.

He didn’t quite understand why, but Wei Gaochen had long given up trying to figure out how the system calculated these things. He simply accepted it as it was.

Standing upright again, he gave a polite smile to the clearly fuming Du Linghe.

Originally, he’d planned to sit in Du Linghe’s president’s chair, look down on him, and taunt him — then slap that handsome face lightly and toss the check in his pocket right at him.
Unfortunately, now there was no need.

Although he was relieved to skip the plan (considering it carried a high risk of death), he still felt a bit regretful.

The system chimed again. Wei Gaochen took out his phone and dismissed the notification. Seeing that the task was settling, he stepped back from the desk.

As if he hadn’t just committed multiple acts of workplace harassment, he brushed the nonexistent dust off his suit and smiled pleasantly.

“Well then, for President Du’s sake, we can give you the Orzhou project at half the price.”

“Half the price?”

“That’s right! Wei Corporation’s big mid-season clearance sale… mm-hmm-hmm?”

Du Linghe narrowed his eyes and stood up. Sensing danger, Wei Gaochen began retreating quickly — though his face still carried that “please punch me” smile.

With a few quick steps, he reached the door. He waved casually over his shoulder without turning back. “If you need anything, feel free to contact Anna.”

Just as his hand reached for the handle, someone pressed down on it from behind.

A larger hand — dry, warm, with long, well-defined fingers belonging to a mature man.

And then came that familiar low voice, right beside his ear:

“Did I say you could leave, Wei. Gao. Chen.”

Wei Gaochen instinctively flinched, giving a few dry laughs. He was about to say something when his attention was suddenly caught by the system prompt flashing before his eyes—

【New Mission: Establish a concave-convex relationship^[1] with the protagonist】
【Time Limit: Within 2 hours】
【Villain, please complete the task】

(To be continued…)