Up until Shen Zhifan got out of the car, the indignant old man still didn’t know exactly what kind of saint was sitting in his taxi.
Though when he caught sight of his son standing in front of Battlesquad V’s entrance like a pillar, his blood pressure remained off the charts.
“Transferring to this place isn’t enough?! You still have to act as a bellboy?!”
Ai Ding was exceptionally embarrassed.
As he looked on helplessly, his male god subtly swept a glance over him, then walked past and went inside.
Ai Ding was wronged.
“Dad, can you not be like this? KK… I haven’t seen KK in so long!”
‘True fan’ Ai Ding gave a final struggle and called out a greeting to the other.
According to past experience, KK would never pay any attention to him.
KK never paid attention to anyone.
But today, something astonishing happened! Ai Ding, who had already thought “the male god is still unattainable today, surrender’, saw as Shen Zhifan paused, then turned and pointed at him.
“You’re the one calling me KK, right?”
Stupidly, Ai Ding nodded.
He then saw a scene that he would never have dared to imagine; the handsome youth lifted his face out of the scarf slightly, and gave him a light smile.
“En, long time no see.”
Ai Ding suffers a thousand points of damage.
Ai Ding’s body has been seriously injured.
Ai Ding thought that he was about to die.
However, his dad didn’t give him the chance to act dumb.
“Didn’t you hear what I said?!”
“…I heard you.”
…
As soon as Shen Zhifan walked in and saw the manager, he frowned to himself.
The man was pretty much the same as he had imagined. His intimate and somehow sticky tone of voice was very similar to his appearance, and although he was nearing forty, his way of dressing was rather… coquettish.
Ah, no, that wasn’t a nice way to describe it. One could only say that his fashion sense was extremely refined.
The other was actually quite handsome, with well-proportioned features. His conduct and bearing were also fitting of a gentleman.
“Hello, Mr He.”
Shen Zhifan recalled that the contact name of the caller had been Mr He; the other must have been surnamed He.
“KK, you came ah,” Mr He enthusiastically offered him a hand, “Let’s go to the office to talk.”
Shen Zhifan hesitated for a moment but still ended up taking his hand.
He then froze slightly; a normal handshake was simply that, but after the other man grasped his hand, his fingers stroked and caressed it, seemingly unintentional. Shen Zhifan’s skin erupted into goosebumps.
He hurriedly retracted his hand. When he looked up, he saw the warm light in the other person’s gaze.
Shen Zhifan frowned internally once more.
He basically understood why he would unconsciously dislike this place.
“No need, Mr He.” Shen Zhifan directly walked over to the parlour and sat inside. The decor was in a classical Eastern style. “Let’s just talk here. Why does my contract need to be extended again?”
His tone was cold, but he thought it was pretty in-line with his character settings.
“Cough, KK, don’t make a fuss,” Mr He’s voice softened, as if he was coaxing something, “There’s no need to be like this between us, right?”
…He felt goosebumps prickling onto his skin.
No way, Shen Zhifan absolutely didn’t believe that he would have any kind of relationship with a thing like this. <sup>1</sup> referring to the manager, szf literally calls him a ‘thing’ lol
Could his own tastes… be so lacking?
“Mr He,” His tone toughened, looking at the other with slightly narrowed eyes, “How about you pay attention to your words?”
“Alright, alright, don’t get angry. I was just saying that we’ve worked together for so long, how would there not be good feelings between us?”
Shen Zhifan, “…”
There really were no feelings. If something absolutely had to be said on the matter, then does it count if I wanted to hit you from the moment I saw you?
Just hearing your voice is extremely uncomfortable.
“Then, I’ll be direct,” Mr He clicked his tongue and sighed, “A few years ago, there was a clause in the contract you signed with us; if your monthly income didn’t reach the quota, the contract could be extended.”
Shen Zhifan blanked. The other man took out a copy of his contract, showing him the clause he spoke of.
“The extension would only continue for half a year. This is something that can’t be helped, KK, since you never advertise nor endorse anything. The money just from competitions really isn’t enough.”
Actually, if any person with even a basic understanding of the industry had heard this, they would’ve spat in his face.
Shen Zhifan’s name, KK, had already brought in enough profit to feed Battlesquad V until they burst. Not only that, it had also raised a thriving pile of trashy, wildly ambitious types.
His peculiar tone and practically insatiable expression made Shen Zhifan disgusted.
“Honestly, KK, Battlesquad V can give you anything you want. If the contract is terminated after this competitive season, don’t you think it would be quite unfortunate?”
He lilted the last word in a way that must’ve been pleasant to his own ears as he looked over at Shen Zhifan.
In his heart, Shen Zhifan was completely unmoved, so much so that he almost wanted to die.
No, it was better for the other person to die.
No wonder he hated this team so much; now, he wanted absolutely no connection to those experiences. He absolutely didn’t want to know what kind of crap went through this manager’s brain.
In short, there was no way it would be anything good.
But the contract was written like this. It seemed like the contract he’d signed back then had been written to the strict standards for rookies; who knew that KK would become so popular so quickly?
Shen Zhifan was somewhat distressed; originally, he had thought he could leave the contract as it was, but looking at the manager, who was the kind of… person whose errant intentions could be seen at a glance, made him particularly nauseous.
Seeing Shen Zhifan fall into silence, Mr He was clearly pleased with himself. He couldn’t help but want a mile from the inch he had been given.
“KK, I invited you before, didn’t I? We can skip over haggling about these benefits; as long as you say the word, there are many things I can promise you…”
As he spoke, he reached out a hand to lightly rest on Shen Zhifan’s shoulder, as if to show intimacy.
…Then, his ending was rather miserable.
“Ai ai ai, don’t KK don’t! Don’t get violent! – It hurts, it hurts!”
Mr He’s brows tightened, his expression filled with suffering.
Deadpan, Shen Zhifan released the offending hand, “I don’t like being touched by other people, Mr He.” <sup>2</sup> in case you’re confused, we’re inferring that szf crushed the hand on his shoulder :3
After this, Mr He’s disgusting ‘yes-man’ facade finally eased up.
“In conclusion,” He was somewhat flustered and discomfited, but hid it quite well. “It’s all written in the contract, I…”
Tap-tap-tap.
There was a knock on the parlour’s door. Mr He froze.
“Manager He,” The receptionist’s voice was trembling, “There’s a guest.”
Mr He suddenly grew angry, “Don’t you see that I’m in a discussion with KK right now?! Do you think there’s someone more important than KK – or do you plan on providing for the battle squad?!”
The receptionist, sprayed with spit, was struck dumb and couldn’t even interject.
After venting, Mr He paced a little, his mood seemingly easing slightly. Turning towards Shen Zhifan’s elegant profile, his heart was moved, and his voice also softened.
“KK, we…”
Bang ——
Mr He watched in a daze as the parlour’s door was neatly cut down by something, then slowly toppled over to the side.
There was a brief burst of dust; the man outside the doorway wore a military uniform and an indifferent expression, his raised chin made for an extremely handsome jawline, and his azure eyes were like a clear, ice-cold lake.
Though his voice was languid, it made one feel awe-inspired while also giving one a mysterious sense of foreboding.
“Hello, I am from the Imperial Military. I have something to discuss with you.”
Mr He’s fire was completely smothered dead by the words ‘Imperial Military’, and it was obvious that he’d been stunned stupid. He couldn’t really fathom how he had become related to the military, but also wasn’t completely ignorant of the ways of the world. Just as he wondered what rank this youngster had to be so unreasonable, he lifted his head, counted the bars on the other man’s uniform, and was lost for words. Not just that; for a moment, even breathing was a little difficult.
Somewhat dazzled, Shen Zhifan looked at the new arrival, clearly a little disbelieving.
But he’d never met someone who could make honorifics sound so arrogant, yet so pleasant.
1
referring to the manager, szf literally calls him a ‘thing’ lol 2
in case you’re confused, we’re inferring that szf crushed the hand on his shoulder :3