SIATOWITF Chapter 53
by VolareJi Mo An sat at his desk, looking serious.
From boarding a ship, to being kidnapped, to snakes falling from the sky, to stepping into that unknown world, it had only been a few short days.
He wouldn’t even dare to dream something so outrageous.
Ji Mo An dazedly looked at the Money Tree that had already begun to grow new leaves, then at the familiar official documents on his computer screen.
If it weren’t for the snake’s tooth marks on the old leaves of the Money Tree, he might have even been able to hypnotize himself into believing it was just a ridiculous dream.
He racked his brains for half an hour and finally came up with a ridiculous person to ask for help.
“Hey, Old An? What a coincidence, we really have a telepathic connection. I was just about to call you after my video call with my darling. Wait for me to get dressed, there are too many people here.”
Ji Cheng Yu was soaking in the swimming pool, sweetly making a video call, and hurriedly sat up when he saw Ji Mo An calling.
“…” Ji Mo An could clearly hear the sound of water and playful noises on the other end of the line, and he silently gave Ji Cheng Yu three minutes to compose himself.
Only after confirming that there was no one else around did he speak.
“Tell me, how can I prevent someone from being kidnapped or going missing?”
[…] The other end was stunned for a few seconds, letting out a few short gasps.
[Wait, Old An, who are you going to kidnap?] Ji Cheng Yu’s tone was full of horror.
“I’m asking about prevention, when did I say I was going to kidnap someone?” Ji Mo An was amazed by his thought process.
[I’m just doing some counter-surveillance. Wait, is someone trying to kidnap you? Who’s so bold?] Ji Cheng Yu’s voice came through the phone, scratching his head.
“It’s not me… Can you please address my question seriously?”
[Okay, okay, I need to think about it. Hmm… Is this ‘someone’ good-looking?]
“Good-looking.” Ji Mo An could deny everything else, but he would never deny that Xuan Bai had a handsome face.
[Make him famous.]
“What?” Ji Mo An was taken aback.
[I mean, make him famous. As long as he’s famous, there will be countless eyes and countless media cameras on him. Don’t even talk about him going missing, even if he’s abducted by aliens, those unscrupulous paparazzi will dig him out. Even if he’s really kidnapped, as long as there’s a high outcry and enough pressure, the kidnappers will have to obediently lower their heads and send him back.]
[Does it sound underhanded?] Ji Cheng Yu asked.
“…It does.” Ji Mo An gave a definite reply.
[I feel it too.] Ji Cheng Yu nodded, pleased with himself.
[Privacy is the price. Being a celebrity is glorious for a while, but there’s basically no privacy. And you have to be prepared to bear the backlash of this glory at any time. Which celebrity who has had a scandal can make a comeback in the industry? Many end up depressed and jumping off buildings.]
“He can’t enter the entertainment industry…” Ji Mo An tightly pursed his lips. Given the frequency with which the snake switches forms, the hot search would be full of related topics the day after he became famous.
#Big Snake Transformation#
#Animals Can’t Become Spirits After the Founding of the Country#
#Can Foreign Snakes Become Spirits Too?#
He had already thought up the hot search terms for Xuan Bai.
[Hey, Old An. I was just saying it for fun, you should take it as a joke too. I can’t handle the protection measures you can’t handle, and I certainly don’t want to hear the usual stuff from me. But I’m in the entertainment industry, so I’m more familiar with this kind of thing. In this society, who can stay pure and upright in the world of fame and fortune?]
[Anyway, just… Sigh, have you seen today’s hot search? My darling’s behind-the-scenes photos, they went to the mountains to reshoot a scene? Guess how those behind-the-scenes photos came out? The fansite master took them from across two mountains. With that kind of reconnaissance ability, it’s a pity they’re not in the army.]
[Hey, Sister Qingyan is calling me…]
“Alright, go ahead. I was just making a hypothetical.” Ji Mo An heard the female voice on the other end of the phone.
[Hey, wait a minute, Old An. The reason I gave you this bad idea is because I heard something this morning.]
“What?”
[What else could it be, a backlash from the world of fame and fortune. Sigh, you have to know even if you don’t want to, it’s just happened in the last couple of days. Sister Qingyan, wait for me for a minute… Old An, ask Bai Yan, he probably knows. Coming, coming, talk to you later, I’ll tell you all about it after I cut the cake.]
Ji Cheng Yu hung up the phone, and Ji Mo An stared blankly at the darkening screen. In that instant, countless assumptions and fantasies flashed through his mind.
Ji Cheng Yu… what he said made sense. That underhanded trick might be more useful than proper protection measures. He also had the ability to make the snake become famous overnight.
But…
Neither he nor Xuan Bai could afford to lose their privacy and secrets, the snake’s identity and their relationship.
Especially Xuan Bai…
“President Ji.” A rapid knock came from the door.
“Come in.” Ji Mo An suppressed his messy emotions and looked at the few people who had just entered.
Among them was the person in charge of his brand project. A group of people came in with solemn faces and stood in a row.
Ji Mo An suddenly felt a little uneasy.
“President Ji, it’s a good thing you’re back. This matter can’t be discussed in an online meeting.” Bai Yan darted in from behind the others and quickly moved to Ji Mo An’s side.
“What’s wrong? Assistant Bai, ask the secretary department to bring tea.” Ji Mo An gestured, inviting the managers to sit on the sofa.
“President Ji, do you remember our Wind Voice series necklace? We hired a celebrity spokesperson, and he even borrowed our group’s haute couture for the fashion week next month.”
“Of course, I remember he recently took on a very popular drama, didn’t he?” Ji Mo An suddenly felt a little uneasy.
It couldn’t be what he was thinking…
“Someone is going to expose him. They gave us a heads-up in advance.” With those words, silence fell in the office.
“When will they expose him?” Sure enough… Ji Mo An rubbed his forehead.
“They’ll release the news and start the rumors the day after tomorrow, and the official exposure is estimated to be in a week. The people exposing him have capital and evidence. They said they’re going to crush him to death and won’t accept any mediation.”
“We got the news last night, but they didn’t say for sure that they were going to expose him at the time.” Bai Yan handed the folder to Ji Mo An. “Because of this, all the departments involved worked all night last night. They gave the news this morning that they were going to crush him to death. Fortunately, you came back early, otherwise it would have been unclear over the phone.”
“Cheating?” Ji Mo An pulled out a document. Although it was censored, he could still make out the shape.
“Scum, and more!” The manager who came with him was furious. “Also tax evasion, I’m really convinced by them. They take such high salaries and still have to be greedy for that little bit of money.”
“Follow the normal process. Prepare the termination draft in advance and gather the lawyers. Ask the exposer what they intend to do, prepare in advance, and watch the direction of public opinion. Prepare the Weibo post announcing the termination of the contract in advance, and pay attention to the wording to avoid any suspicion of taking sides.”
“Understood, President Ji. This isn’t the first or second time this has happened. We’re familiar with the process. It’s just… sigh…” The dark circles under the project manager’s eyes were clearly visible. “I was the one who suggested finding him as the spokesperson, I was really blind.”
“Alright, now that it’s happened, don’t think about anything else.” Ji Mo An put the materials into his briefcase. “I’m going out for a while, call me if anything happens.”
“President Ji, I’ll see you out.” Bai Yan immediately followed him.
“Go back to 1601.” After getting in the car, Ji Mo An leaned against the car door, feeling lifeless.
It was true that as soon as one thing happened, countless other things would try to squeeze in at the same time.
It seemed that this was also what Ji Cheng Yu wanted to tell him.
This thick stack of documents completely cut off his desire to let Xuan Bai enter the entertainment industry.
The snake was a good snake, but unfortunately, the snake was still just a snake.
To be honest, he really wanted to see Xuan Bai walk the runway… he would definitely overshadow everyone else.
–
Ji Mo An didn’t let Bai Yan go upstairs. Bai Yan was also eager to return to the company to deal with the sudden incident.
He entered the elevator, but the elevator didn’t go up but went down to the second basement level.
“Oh, what a coincidence!” A middle-aged man in a suit walked into the elevator in a hurry.
“Good morning.” Ji Mo An nodded politely.
“Oh dear, I left a document at home and had to run back to get it. I didn’t expect it to be such a coincidence that you weren’t at work either?” The middle-aged man began to chatter again.
Ji Mo An didn’t reply, but just stood quietly on one side of the elevator.
The middle-aged man’s voice gradually slowed down, then became awkwardly quieter and quieter.
When they reached the tenth floor, the elevator was silent, filled with a strange awkwardness.
The middle-aged man lived downstairs from Ji Mo An, and he immediately walked out as soon as the elevator doors opened, still remembering to say goodbye to Ji Mo An with a warm face and a cold shoulder.
“Tired, just going home to rest. There’s no need to be in such a hurry to come and check on me.” As the elevator doors began to close, Ji Mo An said to the person standing outside who hadn’t left.
There was a sound like something hitting something outside the elevator doors, and the floor number on the screen jumped from fifteen to sixteen.
Ji Mo An arrived at his front door and wiped the fingerprints left on the identification screen after unlocking the door with his fingerprint.
He had never felt anything was wrong before, but after being reminded by Xuan Bai, he realized how strange things were around him.
Ji Mo An suddenly felt very tired. He hung his coat on the hanger and casually took off his glasses.
The suddenly blurred world made him feel a sense of peace.
“Xuan Bai.” He called out.
…
Half a minute later, Ji Mo An quickly put on his glasses.
No response!
He quickly went to the reptile tank and searched carefully, but couldn’t find the snake’s shadow anywhere in the tank.
No way… Could it have been captured by someone…
Recalling the middle-aged man’s hasty ride in the elevator with him just now, Xuan Bai felt a buzzing sound in his head.
He wanted to pull up the surveillance footage, but found a small, mobile surveillance device half buried in the soil in the flower pot.
Gulp…
At this moment, there was suddenly a sound of something falling in the bedroom.
What was that?
Ji Mo An’s heartbeat quickened suddenly. He picked up the household fire extinguisher that he always kept in the cabinet and cautiously walked to the closed bedroom door.
He remembered that he hadn’t closed the door when he left.
Squeak… The sound of something being dragged came from under the door, not loud, and intermittent.
It couldn’t be…
Ji Mo An carefully opened a crack in the door, and the sound immediately disappeared.
He’d been discovered… Ji Mo An gritted his teeth and pushed the door open, the door slamming against the wall with a bang.
Ji Mo An and the snake coiled on the bed stared at each other.
Bang… The second bang appeared.
Xuan Bai stared blankly at the red fire extinguisher in Ji Mo An’s hand, and the shoe in his mouth fell to the floor with a thud.
“What… What are you doing?” Ji Mo An raised the fire extinguisher, his closet was open, and the snake had pulled out all his clothes and piled them on the bed in a semicircle.
It looked like he was building a snake’s nest.
“Hiss!” At this moment, the two-meter-long snake suddenly hissed at the fire extinguisher and quickly slithered off the bed and plunged headfirst under the bed.
Ji Mo An wanted to kill the snake, the snake would never come out from under the bed again in this lifetime! The snake hissed loudly under the bed.
What was this? Ji Mo An looked at the half of the snake’s tail that was exposed under the bed, and then at the messy pile of clothes on the bed.
He felt his blood pressure rising…
What was this?
A quiet bad snake must be plotting something!