85: Chapter 85 My stomach hurts, and it's all because of you?

Rewinding time.

This morning.

After Xia Ning sent the video to Song Ying, she kept refreshing her Douyin, but there was no change in the number of likes or comments.

She knew that after using dou+, the video would enter a review period of about half an hour, but Song Ying already had 4 million followers.

Shouldn't there be a lot of traffic even without promotion?

Xia Ning felt a bit uneasy. From time to time, she stood up and paced in the office, picking up her phone to refresh again, feeling a bit disappointed.

She walked out of the general manager's office and took a stroll outside. Seeing her colleagues calling friends and family on their phones to like their own Douyin videos, she couldn't help but feel somewhat comforted.

However... what made her curious was...

Why were their gazes so evasive when they looked at her, revealing hints of sympathy, disappointment, and disdain?

Could it be that they thought I would be the unlucky person whose Douyin likes didn't exceed 300?

...

Returning to the general manager's office.

Xia Ning put down her phone, thinking she would wait for an hour before checking again so that the data growth would be more apparent.

The time was hard to endure, but she held out!

She said she wouldn't look, and she really didn't take a single glance.

An hour later.

Her phone rang; it was Song Ying.

Xia Ning answered.

Song Ying's voice sounded a bit excited.

"Sister, I'm looking for Brother!"

Xia Ning looked at Qin Xun, who was lying on the sofa playing games. She placed the phone on the desk and pressed the speakerphone button.

"Qin Xun, Song Ying is looking for you."

Qin Xun didn't even look up.

"Just say I'm not here."

Xia Ning: "..."

She looked down at the phone. After a while, Song Ying's resentful voice came through, very loudly.

"I heard you!!!"

"Are you looking down on me?"

Qin Xun suddenly looked up.

"???"

He quickly put away his phone, sat up, and said as he walked over.

"How could that be?"

"Our big blogger with 4 million followers—Xiao Ying Doll—is someone so many netizens dream of and love deeply. I was just... a bit shy earlier."

He said it without blushing or his heart skipping a beat.

Only Song Ying's bell-like laughter could be heard from the phone.

"I know you're lying to me, but I don't mind. I'm not as STIN-GY as Sister Xia Ning!"

"She only knows how to bully Bro-ther~!"

Xia Ning: "..."

"I heard that!"

Song Ying: "It's okay, I did it on purpose!"

Xia Ning: "????"

Song Ying: "You won't even give me any of Brother's contact information, wanting to keep him all to yourself. But now his endorsement ad has exploded online, and he's already become the number one trending person on Douyin."

"I'm afraid you won't be able to keep him!"

Xia Ning glanced at Qin Xun, whose expression was a bit awkward.

"It's him who won't let me give you his contact info; he thinks you're too noisy."

Qin Xun: "..."

Is Xia Ning's emotional intelligence really this low?

Is this something that can be said out loud so bluntly?

There was silence on the other end of the phone for over ten seconds, followed by a cold laugh.

"Heh—I don't believe it!"

Then, the call was disconnected!

Xia Ning looked up and saw Qin Xun staring at her with wide eyes. She pursed her lips, feeling a bit embarrassed, and said calmly.

"Go away."

Qin Xun turned and left.

"Crazy."

Xia Ning thought about the "endorsement ad explosion" Song Ying mentioned. Her heart stirred, and she quickly picked up her phone to open Douyin.

She saw that Song Ying had transferred 50,000 yuan to her on WeChat.

[Thank you, Brother, for gaining me 50,000 followers in one hour. I estimate I'll gain at least 500,000. Grateful!]

[I don't have much money right now, please don't look down on it!]

She was stunned. She glanced at Qin Xun, who had returned to the sofa unaware, and tapped to accept the payment.

Xia Ning's expression remained unchanged.

She thought she would give it to him together with his salary at the end of the month.

...

Xia Ning clicked into Song Ying's Douyin and found that the "Oak Company promotional video" already had 20,000 likes and over 3,000 comments.

She was somewhat amazed.

It had only been one hour!

Suddenly!

She heard Qin Xun's phone ring.

"Hello, President Zhao! Long time no see!"

Xia Ning was startled and became a bit wary, looking up at Qin Xun.

She saw him talking to the person on the phone with a face full of smiles.

"President Zhao, you want me to do a livestream to sell apples?"

"You even want to poach me to your company?"

"Establish a department specifically for me?"

"One million a year?"

"And bonuses too?"

"And provide beauties... uh... President Zhao, I'm not that kind of lustful person..."

"What, three?!"

"How can you say that! Huh? Plenty of supplements for vitality and virility?"

"President Zhao, you're making this very difficult for me!"

"..."

Qin Xun was stunned!

Zhao Dehai's way of doing things was too simple and crude—just piling up money. If one million wasn't enough, he'd add a wave of bonuses.

If one woman wasn't enough, he'd add two more.

And he was full of sincerity, even preparing good things for vitality and virility.

While he was dazed, he suddenly saw Xia Ning walk over and take his phone away.

"President Zhao, I'm sorry, but Qin Xun is already a major shareholder of Oak Company and will live or die with the company!"

Without waiting for Zhao Dehai's reply, she hung up directly.

Qin Xun: "???"

"What are you doing?"

Xia Ning's expression remained unchanged.

"Be careful of being scammed."

Qin Xun said loudly.

"I believe in President Zhao's character."

Hearing the word "character," Xia Ning thought about how she had pocketed Qin Xun's 50,000 yuan. Feeling a bit guilty, she silently turned and sat back behind her desk.

Thinking about those tempting conditions, Qin Xun quietly sent a WeChat message to Zhao Dehai.

[President Zhao, could you give me your Eight Characters?]

After a while.

Zhao Dehai replied with his date and time of birth, even including which hospital.

[Mr. Qin, what's going on?]

[Do you believe in fate?]

Qin Xun copied the date, searched for a fortune-telling website on his phone, spent 10 yuan, and asked the master.

[Master, is his life force strong?]

After a while, the master on the website replied.

[If he encounters no disasters, he can live for a hundred years.]

Qin Xun was stunned. Wasn't that just nonsense?

[Scammer, refund my money!]

The master replied.

[Heh—no refund, idiot!]

Meanwhile, Zhao Dehai had sent several WeChat messages in a row.

[What's wrong? Xiao Qin, why do you want my Eight Characters? What's going on?]

Qin Xun sighed and replied.

[President Zhao, our fate is insufficient and our Eight Characters are incompatible. I cannot go and harm you.]

Zhao Dehai.

[...]

...

Morning passed, and afternoon arrived.

Xia Ning looked at Qin Xun, who was playing games again. Noticing him glance at her, she felt a bit guilty and lowered her head.

She comforted herself.

It's just giving it to him a bit later; it's not stealing money!

...

The company's promotional video, "I Speak for Myself," was spreading at a terrifying speed on Song Ying's Douyin account.

The colleagues' Douyin accounts were also starting to pick up.

Xia Ning was very happy, but her face showed no change.

I wonder when Dad will see it?

Xia Ning was both expectant and nervous. She stood up and walked to the bookshelf, her slender fingers gently brushing over the spines of the books.

It was somewhat stress-relieving.

Her hand slid from the left side of a row of books to the right, and then from the right to the left, her fingernails making a "tap-tap" sound on the spines.

Qin Xun was lying on the sofa playing games. Hearing the "tap-tap" noise, he felt a bit annoyed.

"Xiao Xia, if you're so bored, go carry the manure in the village!"

Xia Ning was stunned. She turned around and saw Qin Xun focusing on his game. He hadn't even looked at the ad's playback data once today.

She was so angry that her stomach started feeling uncomfortable again.

Qin Xun found it strange that she didn't talk back and looked up at her.

Noticing Xia Ning's face was slightly cold as she gently stroked her stomach, he couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

"Is your stomach feeling uncomfortable again?"

Xia Ning looked at him, remained silent for a while, and thinking of the tea water all over her face that day, she suddenly said coldly.

"My stomach hurts, isn't it because of you!"

Qin Xun: "???"

The phone fell onto the sofa, and the game character was beaten to death by a crowd.