Chapter 27: The Cell Phone Spirit Tells Shen Yanzhi a Story

Aside from those three thousand, Chen Jiazhi had borrowed another five thousand from Chi Yu two months prior.

At the time, Chen Jiazhi’s excuse was that she had discovered her boss wanted to subject her to "hidden rules" (sexual favors), which she found unacceptable, so she had resigned decisively. Because she left in such a hurry, she hadn't even collected her salary, so she sought to borrow some emergency money from Chi Yu.

In truth, Chen Jiazhi had originally asked to borrow twenty thousand. Chi Yu, who had not yet graduated, had only managed to save that amount from her various part-time jobs. Ultimately, out of loyalty to their long-term friendship, she lent Chen Jiazhi five thousand.

Chi Yu had never doubted Chen Jiazhi. It was only after seeing these messages now that she realized Chen Jiazhi hadn't borrowed the money because she was suddenly unemployed and struggling to survive; she had used it for plastic surgery.

Chen Jiazhi got plastic surgery?

Chi Yu was somewhat bewildered. Over these past two months, she and Chen Jiazhi had met several times, including the day they went out to sea. She hadn't noticed anything off about Chen Jiazhi at all, let alone any signs of cosmetic surgery on her face.

However, whether Chen Jiazhi had surgery or not was of no importance to Chi Yu. The two now stood on opposite sides of a blood feud—nothing more, nothing less.

Chi Yu couldn't wait to scroll down, hoping to find information related to Chen Jiazhi pushing her into the sea, but by the end, she saw nothing of the sort. She wondered if Chen Jiazhi had handled the matter with extreme secrecy.

Refusing to give up, Chi Yu searched for the accident at sea again, only to find that the latest status remained under police investigation. She quickly pulled up the specific details of the cruise ship involved and used a web scraper to gather information on the operator and staff. She wanted to start from this angle to see if she could uncover any clues.

Unfortunately, she only found information on a few executives; she couldn't find any details about the staff who were on duty on the yacht that day. Moreover, after the incident, it seemed that suspicious circumstances had been discovered, leading the police to impound the yacht and take the relevant personnel in for questioning.

Chi Yu cleared all the information she had just searched for and deleted the relevant data—a habit she had developed over the last few days. Regarding the cruise ship incident, it seemed there was nothing Chi Yu could do but quietly wait for the police report.

No, perhaps there was another way. The executives on the ship had been taken for questioning, but the other person involved was still at large.

Chi Yu skillfully opened TikTok and searched for Chen Jiazhi’s account. Her name was still in Chen Jiazhi’s "following" list. Chi Yu remembered her own username and password; messages between mutual followers were different from messages from strangers. If she sent a message to Chen Jiazhi from her own account, what kind of expression would Chen Jiazhi have? Shock? Fear?

Chi Yu stared blankly at the TikTok page for two seconds, then closed the app and opened an educational app. She was going to devour computer science books! She was going to gorge on computer science papers! She would consume every piece of content related to computer technology and stuff all that knowledge into her head!

The phone screen flickered rapidly as the pages of books flashed by.

Shen Yanzhi, who was working, glanced at his "phone sprite" and, noticing that it was once again studying frantically, silently pulled out his charger and plugged it into the phone.

As Shen Yanzhi’s special assistant, Chen Jin had countless things to handle every day, until he received a call from the front desk downstairs.

"Mr. Shen, did you buy something via same-day delivery?" Chen Jin asked, sounding skeptical.

"Oh, yes, it seems to be a phone case and a screen protector!" the receptionist said cheerfully. "Special Assistant Chen, do you need me to bring it up?"

Chen Jin: "...Thanks, I'll go check on it myself."

Three minutes later, Chen Jin took the transparent package from the receptionist. Carrying the items back to the executive office, he knocked on Shen Yanzhi’s door. Soon, Shen Yanzhi’s voice came from inside: "Come in."

Chen Jin stepped inside and held up the items: "Mr. Shen, did you buy these?"

Chen Jin felt a bit dazed. He had been Shen Yanzhi’s assistant for so long and had never seen him shop online; this was a first, and it was same-day delivery, no less. He particularly suspected that the delivery courier had gone to the wrong place, until he heard Shen Yanzhi’s voice: "Yes, bring them here."

It really was something the boss bought!

Chen Jin handed the items over. Watching Shen Yanzhi tear open the packaging to reveal the screen protector and case, Chen Jin found it incredible. In his memory, the boss never used such things on his phone. He couldn't help but speak up: "Mr. Shen, do you need help? I used to set up a stall in my dorm during college to apply screen protectors; it was three yuan a piece."

When it came to screen protectors, he was a professional!

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than he was rejected by Shen Yanzhi: "Thanks, I'll do it myself."

Chen Jin realized belatedly: ...Mr. Shen, I wasn't going to charge you!

This was the first time Shen Yanzhi had ever applied a screen protector. After reading the instructions, he caught on quickly. First the film, then the protective case.

With Special Assistant Chen present, Chi Yu couldn't manifest, so she could only secretly observe when the phone screen lit up. Although she had no body temperature or sense of touch while inside the phone, she had to admit that with the all-around protection of the tempered glass and the case, the sense of security she felt living inside the phone skyrocketed.

...

It wasn't until Shen Yanzhi was about to get off work that Shen Hongguo’s assistant appeared at the entrance of the Shen Group.

Perhaps feeling that the phone call earlier that day was too humiliating, or perhaps because he had lost this battle completely, Shen Hongguo did not come himself. Instead, he handed the signed documents to his assistant to deliver on his behalf.

Shen Yanzhi carefully read through the contract. The operating and management rights for the Xiangshan Hotel had been under a transfer agreement Shen Hongguo had signed with the elder Mr. Shen; now, transferring them to Shen Yanzhi was just a matter of replicating the previous agreement. The elder Mr. Shen had specifically called Shen Yanzhi behind his back today; who knew if he had intentionally shown the previous transfer agreement to Shen Yanzhi? Shen Hongguo didn't dare to play any tricks there.

As for the two projects, Shen Hongguo naturally wouldn't be honest enough to hand them over to Shen Yanzhi for nothing; he had secretly dug a few holes for Shen Yanzhi in the agreement.

Shen Yanzhi saw them and struck out two clauses in the contract, telling the assistant to relay this to Shen Hongguo. While the assistant went out to call Shen Hongguo, Shen Yanzhi took out a fountain pen, signed his name on the Xiangshan Hotel transfer agreement, and affixed his personal seal. From this moment on, the operating and management rights of the Xiangshan Hotel belonged entirely to Shen Yanzhi’s private estate.

As for the remaining two project transfer agreements, Shen Yanzhi printed out two new copies based on his own requirements, then signed and sealed them. When the assistant returned, Shen Yanzhi handed the new contracts directly to him: "Take these back and have your boss sign them."

The assistant looked hesitant: "But..."

"If he has any complaints, tell him to contact me directly." Shen Yanzhi glanced at the watch on his wrist: "I’ll be off work in twenty-six minutes. I hope to receive a definitive answer on whether your boss will sign these before I leave."

His tone was calm, yet the authority of a superior radiating from him was not to be underestimated. The assistant, having come alone, was already on the weaker side and soon left with the new contracts.

After stepping out of the Shen building, he immediately pulled out his phone to call Shen Hongguo. When Shen Hongguo heard what Shen Yanzhi had said, he was so angry he gritted his teeth, yet he was helpless. Shen Hongguo knew that Shen Yanzhi was threatening him. If he didn't sign the contracts before the end of the workday, Shen Yanzhi would go straight to the family estate to lodge a complaint!

Shen Hongguo’s roar came through the phone: "Bring them here, I'll sign!"

Just thirteen minutes later, Shen Yanzhi received a picture from Shen Hongguo: it was his handwritten signature on the contract. The handwriting was sloppy and the ink heavy; one could imagine how angry the person signing it had been at the time.

Shen Yanzhi replied: "Working an hour of overtime today, please have my uncle’s assistant deliver the documents."

Shen Hongguo let out a heavy huff.

After waiting about ten minutes, Shen Hongguo’s assistant delivered the documents to Shen Yanzhi. Shen Yanzhi flipped through them, confirmed everything was correct, and put the files away. In just one day, Shen Yanzhi and Shen Hongguo had one side reaping a massive profit and the other suffering a massive loss.

Shen Yanzhi also kept his promise well; he didn't go to the family estate for dinner, but instead chose a nearby steamed-dish restaurant to solve his dinner needs.

Chi Yu had been harboring the little secrets of Shen Hongguo and Shen Yuanzhong in her mind. When Shen Yanzhi was preparing to go to sleep that night, she "beeped" a few times to get his attention:

"Thank you for the clothes you wore for me today, and thank you for letting me sleep in your bed. How about I show you two bedtime stories?"

Shen Yanzhi lowered his eyes slightly and picked up the phone: "What kind of bedtime stories?"

Could this phone sprite tell stories?

Soon, Shen Yanzhi would learn that he had been mistaken.