GUL Chapter 16 : The Bitter Supporting Male Rewrites the Script Online

Qin Qing stood at the conference room door, smiling at Xu Yizhi. Xu Yizhi was still laughing heartily, his handsome face radiating joy. He almost always wore a smile, but no one could guess the real emotions behind that seemingly fixed expression. His joy and anger were impossible to predict. But his current high spirits and happiness were unmistakable.

After laughing, he glanced at Gong Cheng and asked slowly, “What about you? Who do you think is the winner today?”

Gong Cheng lowered his head, his cheeks flushed with shame. An eerie silence filled the conference room.

But 996 couldn’t understand this silence. It immediately shouted, “Qin Qing, look! Look how ridiculous you appear in everyone’s eyes!”

Qin Qing smiled without a word.

996 added bitterly, “Great! Now you’ll never work at Lanyu. Your stupidity has opened Cang Ming’s eyes! Tell me, did you deliberately ruin your chance to work at Lanyu? You don’t want to follow the rest of the plot, do you?”

Xu Yizhi beckoned to Qin Qing. Qin Qing walked slowly into the conference room.

996 chased after him, scratching at his pant leg and fuming: “Qin Qing, you bastard! If you don’t follow the rest of the plot, you’ll still end up with your soul scattered! You really are stupid!”

As Qin Qing walked, he said inwardly, “No, I’ll complete the remaining plot points one by one.”

“Meow? What did you say?” 996 was overjoyed.

“However,” Qin Qing deliberately paused for a few seconds, then smiled slowly, “I’ll go in the opposite direction of the plot.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” 996 was stunned.

“I mean, if the plot wants me to fail again and again, I’ll succeed again and again. If the plot tells me to go left, I’ll go right. If the plot tells me to move forward—”

“You’ll move backward?” 996 foolishly interjected.

“No. How could I allow myself to move backward? I’ll stride forward, far beyond what the plot can control. Let my soul scatter if it must- I don’t care. At least this time, I live for myself and die for myself.” Qin Qing curved his thin lips into a gentle smile.

But behind his gentle eyes lurked a flickering, mischievous madness. Xu Yizhi watched Qin Qing without blinking, his eyes full of interest. Cang Ming was also gazing at Qin Qing, his attention focused. This strange creature seemed different from everyone around him. 996 collapsed onto the floor, its heart completely cold. Who would have thought, meow! A flower could be this despicable! Qin Qing wasn’t really a rosebush, was he? He was the flower of evil!

But in just a second, 996 rallied and declared triumphantly, “Going against the plot? Do you even have the ability? The script says you’ll fail this application, and you’ve failed, haven’t you? What are you so proud of?”

Just as 996 was saying this, Qin Qing had already reached Xu Yizhi and Cang Ming.

Xu Yizhi propped his forehead, smiling at Qin Qing, then said slowly, “Congratulations. You’re hired. Report to the company at nine tomorrow morning.”

996, who had been rambling on mockingly, suddenly went mute. Meow meow meow? What had it just heard?

“Impossible! Xu Yizhi, are you sick? How could you hire Qin Qing? Didn’t you see how terribly he performed just now? Tell me, did you fall for Qin Qing’s honey trap? You’re mixing business with personal feelings!”

Fur bristling, 996 circled Qin Qing, jumping up and down, meowing and cursing angrily. Xu Yizhi’s smile didn’t change, as if he couldn’t hear the little cat’s noise at all.

Cang Ming frowned in impatience, then stood and took two steps forward, extending his hand to Qin Qing.

“Meow!”

Qin Qing also extended his hand to Cang Ming, but his fingertips trembled slightly. 996’s piercing howl had startled him.

“My tail hurts so much, meow.” 996 wailed pitifully. Looking back, it saw Cang Ming’s foot firmly and accurately stepping on its furry tail.

Looking up from that foot, Cang Ming’s already imposing figure seemed like a towering giant, his oppressive chill radiating outward. 996 quickly covered its mouth with its chubby paws, swallowing all its howls. It didn’t dare pull its tail out either; it could only tremble and endure. Meow, the destiny child’s aura was truly terrifying!

Silence fell over the conference room. Only then did Cang Ming’s furrowed brow slowly relax. He shook Qin Qing’s hand firmly, saying concisely, “Welcome aboard.”

“The honor is mine.” Qin Qing shook back firmly.

He looked down at the cat’s tail pinned under Cang Ming’s foot, wondering if this was a coincidence.

Before he could figure it out, Cang Ming released his hand and turned to Gong Cheng. “Do you know why you were eliminated?”

Gong Cheng’s whole body tensed. He straightened his back and answered, deeply ashamed, “I completely failed to understand the true purpose of this interview.”

“What was the true purpose of this interview?” Cang Ming asked again.

“To find a way to persuade Dr. Thomson to fix the BUG in the new product.” Gong Cheng lowered his head, his ears burning with shame.

Cang Ming shook his head without speaking. Gong Cheng quickly glanced at him, his panicked heart nearly exploding. The thrill of managing billion-dollar funds was nothing compared to locking eyes with President Cang.

Xu Yizhi smiled and shook his head, speaking gently, “The interview *is* the interview. Gaining a deep understanding of Thomson’s research progress remains the true purpose. Convincing him to fix the BUG was just a bonus question.”

“You didn’t answer the bonus question. And you didn’t do well on the main question either.” Cang Ming dismissed him.

“Didn’t do well on the main question?” Gong Cheng looked up with flushed cheeks, in disbelief. He had clearly done an excellent, thorough job.

“Everything you said was flattery. Everything Thomson said to you was just formalities. Thomson has already submitted a report to me about his ten-year career plan. Your interview notes have no value to me. Your record is full of empty words.” Cang Ming gave his brutal assessment.

Xu Yizhi continued, “Qin Qing maximized Thomson’s competitive spirit. As a result, in the following conversation, Thomson detailed his latest research achievements and even disclosed some data. He also clearly explained the commercial value of these achievements and how much they could advance Lanyu’s business. Yet before this, he had never intended to give all his research to Lanyu.”

Xu Yizhi lit a cigarette, took a slow drag, and said with a smile, “That’s the information we really wanted to dig out.”

He looked at Qin Qing and smiled approvingly. “Qin Qing, thank you for your invaluable assistance.”

Qin Qing bowed modestly. Gong Cheng thought back to the interview. The intimacy, the heart-to-heart connection he’d believed they had- it had all been elegant evasion. But Qin Qing, with his unorthodox approach, had extracted all of Thomson’s secrets. He had lost, completely and utterly! He’d failed both the main question and the bonus question! But Qin Qing had done brilliantly! Gong Cheng’s shoulders slumped, overwhelmed by defeat and dejection.

Xu Yizhi took a slow drag of his cigarette and asked, “Do you know why Qin Qing loosened his tie and dressed like that?”

Gong Cheng looked at Qin Qing’s somewhat dashing attire and shook his head in a daze.

Xu Yizhi chuckled, his handsome face radiant: “Because he wanted Thomson to see him as nothing but a pretty face – a useless vase. Who would be on guard against a vase? So the moment Thomson had that contemptuous thought, he was destined to have many secrets extracted by Qin Qing. A seemingly simple interview was actually a psychological battle, one that began the instant they met. Do you understand?”

996 was dumbfounded.

It looked at Gong Cheng, then at Qin Qing, and exclaimed, “You’re not stupid?”

Qin Qing smiled and sighed silently: “Who exactly is the stupid one here?”

996 paused, then rolled its eyes and collapsed, digging its chubby paws into its own philtrum. Meow! After all that, it turned out the clown was itself! Only now did Cang Ming release 996’s tail, slowly stepping back to his seat.

“You can leave now,” he said coldly to Gong Cheng.

“Understood. Thank you, President Cang and President Xu, for this opportunity.” Gong Cheng bowed deeply, sighing. “When my mother heard I was returning to work in China, she told me to read *The Thirty-Six Stratagems* and *The Art of War*. She said the Chinese are very clever and would put a lot of pressure on me. I didn’t take her seriously then, but now I truly understand. When I go back, I’ll study Chinese culture seriously. I hope to perform better next time.”

“Don’t worry, one failure doesn’t mean anything.” Xu Yizhi comforted him gently.

Gong Cheng nodded in shame, bowed deeply to Qin Qing, and left.

Xu Yizhi leaned back on the sofa, squinting at Qin Qing with a lazy smile. “I’ll give you three choices: the marketing department, the top floor as the president’s special assistant, or the legal department. Which one do you choose?”

Three options, unprecedented treatment! Qin Zishi gritted his teeth, then looked nervously at Cang Ming. But Cang Ming didn’t object to Xu Yizhi’s proposal. He just watched Qin Qing quietly, intently. He was also waiting for Qin Qing’s choice. Qin Zishi’s face paled, his heart surging with turmoil.

996, clutching its swollen, painful tail, said urgently, “Choose the president’s special assistant! The script says you start as his assistant, make a huge mistake, get chewed out by Cang Ming, almost get fired, then transfer to marketing to work under Qin Zishi.”

As soon as it finished, it almost bit its own tongue. Dammit! Qin Qing had said he’d go against the plot; there was no way he’d choose special assistant, let alone marketing!

Sure enough, Qin Qing looked directly at Xu Yizhi and said without hesitation, “Mr. Xu, I choose you.”

Not “I choose the legal department”, but “I choose you.” Such a simple answer, yet so deliberately ambiguous…

Xu Yizhi held the wet cigarette butt between his lips, inhaling the faint floral sweetness drifting through the air, and laughed with pleasure.

He removed the cigarette from his mouth and said casually, “You don’t have a practicing certificate.”

“Give me two months. I can pass the exam.” Qin Qing smiled, a gentle but determined glint in his eyes.

“The judicial exam is very difficult.” Xu Yizhi’s smile deepened.

“Not for me.” Qin Qing nodded calmly.

“Alright. I’ll give you two months. Since you’re willing, you can come to me.” Xu Yizhi stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and walked over to Qin Qing. He pulled the folded flower-shaped tie from Qin Qing’s suit pocket. Xu Yizhi shook it out, smoothing the creases with his long, well-defined fingers. He buttoned Qin Qing’s shirt properly, then tied the elegant, exquisite tie neatly around Qin Qing’s neck.

“Come see me at the legal department at nine tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.” Holding the tie, Xu Yizhi leaned slightly to whisper in Qin Qing’s ear.

The crisp scent of cedar mixed with strong tobacco washed over Qin Qing. Warm breath brushed his ear, and that magnetic voice, like a deep bell echoing through mountains, was so resonant, so penetrating. In that instant, Qin Qing felt a strange palpitation and dizziness. Once again, he asked himself in confusion: Why would such an outstanding man be a supporting character?

Thank you for reading. 💙

▶ Read ahead on Patreon