Ye Zhen had recently been thriving in the Project Incubation Department. He had poached another small project from Li You’ai, and, drawing on the experience he’d accumulated, had also independently scouted out a project of his own. Although Li You’ai now regarded him as a thorn in his side, in their little palace intrigue against Eunuch Li, Ye Zhen hadn’t lost an inch of ground.

Ye Zhen had carved out his own territory in the Project Incubation Department through sheer effort, cementing his position in the department’s food chain. No one dared look down on him anymore or send him off to run errands and print documents. So once he finished his own projects, he found himself, quite openly, with time on his hands.

Human nature was apparently a fickle thing — the moment Ye Zhen actually had free time, he grew restless, always wanting to find something to do. Unfortunately, Jiang Xiaoyi hadn’t asked him to join a meeting in quite a while.

Ever since their falling-out, Jiang Xiaoyi had thrown herself single-mindedly into the plan for the Fire Extinguishing Club themed store, seemingly determined to prove something on her own — she wasn’t letting Ye Zhen anywhere near it, with more than a hint of spite in the gesture.

So young, so naive.

Ye Zhen shook his head. What was the point of sulking? Reality would teach Jiang Xiaoyi a lesson. This kind of new venture, frankly, was bound to be a case of spending money and effort for nothing in return.

Ye Zhen estimated the input-output ratio, quickly ran the numbers, and concluded that whatever losses Ruiyi ended up taking from this were within an acceptable range.

He decided not to interfere with Jiang Xiaoyi, nor to step in rashly — she’d hit a wall out there eventually and come crying back to him anyway. That was when he’d swoop in to turn the tide and settle everything, and Jiang Xiaoyi would admire him all the more for it.

Cradling this mindset, Ye Zhen watched from the sidelines.

But Jiang Xiaoyi, despite her youth, turned out to have considerable follow-through, which caught Ye Zhen rather off guard. A month later, not only had the Fire Extinguishing Club begun appearing in several of Ruiyi’s manga titles, but promotional materials of every kind had rolled out in waves, and the manga-themed store combining the concept with the Fire Extinguishing Club had actually opened and started operating.

“Ye Zhen, there’s an event at the themed store today. Want to come see it?” Jiang Xiaoyi was clearly proud of how the store was running, and even extended an olive branch to him. “Go see for yourself whether it’s a success or a failure. I want to let the facts speak, after all.”

Watching Ruiyi’s relentless daily barrage of advertising and supposed “victory reports” about the themed store, Ye Zhen would have been lying if he said he wasn’t curious. Unfortunately, his pride made him decline—

“No thanks. I’ve got a meeting to check out a project up in North District. It’s too far — I won’t make it back in time.”

And yet, half an hour later…

Ye Zhen had put on a baseball cap and a mask, taken off his suit, and specially rushed out to buy a set of baggy, unflattering casual clothes he would never normally wear, all so he could sneak into the themed store’s event undetected.

Mostly he just had nothing to do that afternoon, Ye Zhen told himself as he walked toward the store, comforting himself that he was only there to see for himself just how badly it was doing — a field trip to confirm he’d been right all along.

But the scene he’d imagined — an empty, deserted store — never materialized. He’d only just reached the small street leading up to the themed store when he found a bustling crowd already gathered. No small number of young people dressed in all sorts of eccentric outfits — cosplaying various manga characters — were taking photos.

The closer Ye Zhen got to the themed store, the thicker the crowd became. By the time he actually reached the entrance, he was simply stunned by the sea of people.

A shabby little themed store like this, really drawing this many people?

Surely Jiang Xiaoyi hadn’t paid people to show up as extras?

Pressing his lips together in disbelief, Ye Zhen grabbed a few young passersby and asked, “Do you all know what this event at the themed store is about?”

“Of course we know! It’s the themed store spun off from my favorite studio, Wangyue Studio’s manga — The One-in-Ten-Thousand Chance of Being Close to You. Look, every room here is decorated exactly like it is in the manga, it’s like a dream come true! Our cosplay club came the moment it opened — this Fire Extinguishing Club concept is such a fun idea too…”

Ye Zhen asked several more people, one after another, and every single one of them wore the same look of dreams coming true.

So what if a lot of people came — how much could ticket revenue really add up to?

Ye Zhen thought to himself scornfully. Besides, every shop was the same when it first opened — there’d always be a crowd of curiosity-seekers at the start, and in the first month, customers routinely waited in line for hours. But once these internet-famous shops had been open a while, before long, not only would the wait times shrink, there might not even be a line at the door at all.

Jiang Xiaoyi had probably already thought of that too, Ye Zhen mused, glancing down at the store’s promotional brochure — she’d set up a gift shop inside the Fire Extinguishing Club themed store, and there was an ad for related small merchandise in the brochure.

The idea was good, only…

Looking at the prices of the merchandise, Ye Zhen was already inwardly pitying Jiang Xiaoyi — with prices this high, who would actually buy any of it? This themed-store experiment of hers was surely going to be exposed as a complete failure within a few months.

Ye Zhen almost felt sorry for her at this point — she’d never run a business before, and just look at how inexperienced she was. This gift shop probably wouldn’t get any business from the moment it opened. Might as well give Jiang Xiaoyi some face and support Ruiyi — buy something as a token gesture.

But when Ye Zhen actually reached the gift shop, what he found was completely different from what he’d imagined — the crowd here was no less intense than in the smashing rooms. Not only was the checkout counter lined with people waiting to pay, someone had nearly gotten into a fight over the very last piece of merchandise: a lipstick.

Ye Zhen stared at the emptied shelves, utterly baffled — the purchasing power of the two-dimensional fandom had genuinely overturned everything he thought he knew.

These niche subculture enthusiasts actually had this kind of purchasing power and passion?

It wasn’t as though Ye Zhen had never read a book on the entertainment industry, but he’d never seriously studied niche fan communities before. He’d always assumed “niche” meant “non-mainstream and unpopular.”

But now he saw it differently — perhaps precisely because these fans were niche, they’d been overlooked by the mass market, and there were very few consumer goods catering specifically to them. Yet these niche groups still had strong purchasing desire, so once you accurately targeted the needs of a niche audience, even if the product couldn’t be mass-produced and thus commanded a high unit price, niche consumers would still flock to buy it.

Ye Zhen did a rough estimate of the store’s foot traffic, operating costs, and merchandise sales — and although he was loath to admit it, Jiang Xiaoyi had done far better than he’d expected. This themed store was, without question, a solid moneymaker.

Jiang Xiaoyi clearly took the themed store very seriously; today was event day, and she was there in person the entire time, dressed in a business suit, talking with a few staff members, looking radiant and striking — beautiful, bright, and capable, standing out from the crowd.

Ye Zhen thought coolly to himself that this was only because she was surrounded by all these eccentrically dressed people; the contrast was simply too poor.

Since he’d come in secret, and had now walked a full loop around the themed store, Ye Zhen found there was nothing left for him to do, so he decided to slip away quietly.

But just as he turned to leave, he spotted a short man in a bizarre cosplay outfit, his eyes darting around nervously, phone in one hand, constantly scanning the crowd for girls in short skirts — clearly trying to sneak upskirt photos.

Unfortunately, most of the girls were in groups, and the man couldn’t find an easy target for a while. In the end, his gaze landed on Jiang Xiaoyi, who had just stepped away from a group of staff members not far off — her skirt, though not particularly short, showed off her graceful curves perfectly, neither too much nor too little, and paired with her striking face, and now standing alone, she made an appealing target.

In truth, security wasn’t far from Jiang Xiaoyi, so even if this man had ill intentions, nothing serious would have happened to her. Ye Zhen, who claimed to be off checking out a project in North District, absolutely should not have been at the themed store at all — but everything happened too fast. By the time Ye Zhen registered what was going on, he had already pushed through the crowd and clamped the man’s hand in a death grip, just before the pervert managed to slide his phone silently up under Jiang Xiaoyi’s skirt.

This was all Jiang Xiaoyi’s fault — how could she be so oblivious! Did she have no sense of danger at all?!

And just as he seized the man, Ye Zhen heard Jiang Xiaoyi suddenly bark, “Security! It’s this man! Grab him! Are the police here yet?”

Smooth as flowing water, executed in one seamless motion — it was obvious now that she hadn’t been nearly as clueless as Ye Zhen had assumed. Her earlier air of not noticing had simply been a ruse to lower her guard and catch the man red-handed.

Once security took over, Jiang Xiaoyi took the man’s phone, opened the camera roll, and there it was — several girls had already fallen victim to this pervert’s secret photos. Everything was self-evident.

Jiang Xiaoyi turned to the man who had restrained the pervert, deeply grateful. “Thank you so much.”

Even though she’d been laying a trap of her own accord, it still took a good Samaritan stepping forward to help — not only sparing Jiang Xiaoyi from being photographed, but also helping catch the peeping tom.

Unfortunately, this helpful man wore an enormous mask paired with a low-pulled cap, hiding his entire face. He was clearly tall, yet in the face of Jiang Xiaoyi’s gratitude, he desperately kept his head down and his back hunched.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

The man immediately waved his hands and mumbled something unintelligible, looking ready to leave at any moment.

People like this — the kind who help and slip away without a trace, seeking no credit and no reward — are rare in this day and age!

How could she let this happen? Even if he wanted nothing in return, Jiang Xiaoyi felt she ought to set an example herself.

Since he was here for the themed-store event, he was clearly a manga fan too, so Jiang Xiaoyi made a decision on the spot. “We have several well-known manga studios’ collector’s editions here for the event today. Whichever manga you like, I’ll give you a signed collector’s edition.”

Ye Zhen would rather die than be recognized by Jiang Xiaoyi, but he knew nothing about manga whatsoever. After racking his brain, he thought back to the manga title he’d overheard from the passersby earlier, and, pitching his voice low, said, “I — I like Wangyue Studio’s The One-in-Ten-Thousand Chance of Being Close to You.”

Jiang Xiaoyi blinked in surprise for a moment, but quickly recovered her smile. “Alright, got it.”

She turned and instructed a staff member to bring over a collector’s edition of The One-in-Ten-Thousand Chance of Being Close to You, and solemnly handed it over. Then, with a look of fervent understanding that Ye Zhen found utterly baffling, she raised a fist toward him. “Stay strong! Love is love! It’s amazing that you could be brave enough to acknowledge and accept who you are!”

What on earth was she talking about?

Ye Zhen’s head was full of question marks, but afraid of lingering too long and being recognized, he mumbled some vague acknowledgment, clutched the manga, and fled.

—

Jiang Xiaoyi headed home after the themed-store event wrapped up. On the sofa, Ye Zhen sat in his expensive loungewear, sipping tea.

“You’re back from North District so early? There’s usually traffic that way.”

Ye Zhen smiled, composed. “Oh, no traffic today, as it happens.” He glanced at her, feigning nonchalance. “How did the themed-store event go today?”

The moment the topic came up, Jiang Xiaoyi’s eyes lit up. “Amazing! You really should have come to see it!”

“Couldn’t be helped.” Ye Zhen set down his teacup with dignity. “I’m a busy man. This sort of event for edgy teenagers isn’t really my scene, and I don’t have the time for it anyway.”

“You shouldn’t assume reading manga is just for edgy teenagers. There were plenty of working adults at the event today too, and most manga fans are actually really kind-hearted, with a strong sense of justice.” Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t help praising them. “Today, I even ran into an amazing man — he stepped in without hesitation and caught a peeping tom on the spot.”

She hadn’t meant much by the comment, but Ye Zhen seemed unexpectedly interested. “Oh? Really? To do something like that, he really must be an unusually responsible, socially conscious man.”

Ye Zhen, voluntarily praising someone else?

Jiang Xiaoyi was rather surprised. “Mm… he really was quite something.” She thought back for a moment. “It’s just a pity — he looked like he was probably tall with a good build, but unfortunately he had a hunched back, and he slurred his words a bit when he talked.”

“…”

That had been his disguise so he wouldn’t be recognized!! There had been nothing hunched or slurred about it!!

Ye Zhen wanted to roar inside, but on the outside he could only force out a strained smile. “Maybe he’s just introverted, not used to talking to people, so he got a little shy…”

“No, not at all! That man seemed quite outgoing, actually, and pretty open too — I really admired that about him!”

Ye Zhen cleared his throat, his tone and expression visibly brightening. “Sounds like he’s got good character. From just a few minutes of contact you could already tell he’s outgoing and open-minded — Jiang Xiaoyi, you might not always be the sharpest, but I have to admit, you’re not bad at reading people.”

Jiang Xiaoyi nodded, then tried to open a can of cola, but somehow couldn’t quite manage it. Ye Zhen smiled and, with an air of great magnanimity, took the can from her, opened it for her with surprising gentlemanliness, and handed it back.

Jiang Xiaoyi stared at the cola, a complicated wave of feelings washing over her — after a while working as an employee, Ye Zhen had really learned some manners!

Sipping her cold cola, Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t help but praise him. “Ye Zhen, I see you’ve gotten pretty considerate lately!”

Ye Zhen said nothing, wearing a self-satisfied expression that seemed to say, You’re only just realizing this now?

He glanced at her, his words carrying a certain implication. “You know, sometimes a man that good might just be somewhere close by. He might even be…”

Jiang Xiaoyi took a gulp of cola, cutting him off, sighing with feeling. “Really, I admire that man a lot — not just upright and principled, but so open and unashamed about his own orientation too. So what if he likes men! I really admire that kind of courage and conviction! Good men really do all have boyfriends already!”

Hearing words like “upright” and “principled,” Ye Zhen’s face still carried a gentle smile — but the moment he heard “boyfriend,” confusion flickered clearly across his face. “What?”

Ye Zhen’s expression darkened. “Who told you he likes men?”

“He did, himself!” Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t quite understand Ye Zhen’s sudden anger. “He asked me for a copy of Wangyue Studio’s The One-in-Ten-Thousand Chance of Being Close to You — that book is boys’ love! And a dubious-consent story too, pretty intense content…”

“…”

Jiang Xiaoyi set down her cola. “What were you saying just now? He might be who? Sorry, I cut you off.”

Jiang Xiaoyi couldn’t understand it — Ye Zhen, who just a moment ago had been all pleasant smiles, had suddenly, within minutes, turned completely dark-faced. He pressed his lips tightly together and said nothing, simply snatching the cold cola right out of her hand.

“?”

“This cola — I opened it for you, so it’s mine, I’m taking it back. Drink less soda. Too much sugar affects your eyesight.” His tone was thick with sarcasm. “I’m noticing now that your judgment really isn’t so great after all.”

With that, he stood up, tossed Jiang Xiaoyi’s half-finished cola into the trash, and walked away. ???