All The Villain Wants Is Money - Chapter 12

Xu Yucheng was currently just an idol, whose popularity was more dead than alive, with a handful of die-hard fans. While he had a decent impression among the general public and the potential to go viral, the right opportunity hadn’t yet come his way, so it was natural that Mu Qi’an hadn’t heard of his name.

However, her secretary discreetly casted a hesitant glance at Xie Gu after listing out the names of the celebrities.

Mu Qi’an noticed this too and instinctively looked toward Xie Gu.

Xie Gu understood what Mu Qi’an and her secretary were thinking of and straightforwardly nodded. “The ‘Xu Yucheng’ Mr. He just mentioned was my bandmate back when I was in the entertainment industry.”

Mu Qi’an was surprised at Xie Gu’s honesty. Everyone knew he had once been in the entertainment industry, though they did not look into the details. His failure in that career was clear as day; otherwise, how could it have ended with a million dollars in contract termination fee?

That kind of openness about one’s failures was, in itself, an important quality to have.

Xie Gu didn’t think much of it. After all, the dumb things that happened weren’t his doing, so he felt no psychological burden. But right now, the system in his mind was bouncing around, sounding a level-one alarm, and it was making his head throb.

“Stop it, or I’ll block you,” Xie Gu muttered in his mind.

The system’s alarm sounded for two more seconds before it reacted and came to an abrupt stop.

Still, it seemed a little nervous. Its voice even stuttered. “H-h-host, good luck slapping the face of the original protagonist!”

“Got it, tsk,” Xie Gu replied. “Why are you stuttering? Seeing the original protagonist got you so excited it’s like seeing someone bump into their crush. You in love with him or something?”

“…” The system finally returned to normal. “I am an AI. I don’t have programming for emotions. Moreover, scans show that your dopamine, adrenaline, endorphin, phenylethylamine, and oxytocin levels—all associated with love—have never reached the threshold necessary to indicate the presence of romantic feelings.”

In other words: You’ve never been in love—what do you know about having a crush?

Xie Gu snorted. “That just means your scans are off. My love hormone levels spike like crazy when I see money.”

“…” The system repeated firmly, “Host, please focus on humiliating the original protagonist!”

This was a textbook example of changing the topic when one couldn’t win an argument. Xie Gu couldn’t be bothered to bicker with it any longer. Meanwhile, Mu Qi’an was about to leave, so he politely said goodbye and returned to the restaurant.

This flagship Gu Fei restaurant also served as the headquarters for Gu Fei Catering in the capital. A side door led to the back, where the main offices were located—the administrative area. As the company president, Xie Gu naturally had a spare room always reserved for him.

The manager had already caught up from behind and handed over the account book and quarterly report.

Xie Gu took them and began flipping through as he asked, “Have the branch supervisors from the capital arrived?”

When the higher-ups had decided to shift their headquarters to the capital, it wasn’t just because of its superior economic and political advantages—it also happened to be one of the cities with the most Gu Fei branches. Including the flagship store, there were four restaurants scattered across different districts. Of course, this had all been part of Xie Gu’s plan to prepare for the shift in focus from the start.

Now that he was here on behalf of the board to conduct an inspection, it made sense to meet the branch supervisors and gain an understanding of the restaurant’s state of affairs.

He hadn’t been sure exactly what time his meeting with Mu Qi’an would end, so he made a rough estimation and instructed the flagship store manager to notify the branch supervisors to come by then.

The manager replied, “The supervisors from the other three branches are all here. They’ve also brought this quarter’s account books and financial reports. Would you like to review them now?”

“Just leave them here,” Xie Gu said. “Have everyone wait outside and chat among themselves. We’ll do a group report and summary in an hour.”

He pulled out his phone and searched for something online, then added, “Oh, you know the mall next door is having its grand opening today, right?”

The manager still hadn’t quite processed Xie Gu’s instructions—wait outside and ‘chat’? Then do a group report and summary?

It sounded suspiciously like an elementary school class meeting, where all the kids had to engage in intense discussions and then write a report for the teacher—completely unprepared, yet still expected to submit something. And if they didn’t do a good job, they’d get scolded.

But if anyone had the nerve to ask the teacher how to write it, they’d just get criticized for being lazy and trying to cut corners.

So the manager didn’t dare ask any more questions. He just nodded in response to the latter part. “Yes, I heard the owner of the mall invited quite a few celebrities to perform. There’s a stage set up right outside the main entrance, and there are still people performing there now.”

Xie Gu nodded. “Alright. I remember there’s a café across from that mall, right?”

The manager, still confused, nodded again.

“Good. Then take the branch managers over there and wait. I’ll meet you all at the café in an hour. Make sure you pick a spot facing the stage.”

The manager still didn’t understand why, but since Xie Gu had given the order, he couldn’t object. It wasn’t anything serious anyway, just a harmless instruction, so he went out and relayed the message to the others.

After the manager left, Xie Gu continued reviewing the reports. About fifty minutes later, he had finished skimming through the financial statements of the four restaurants. No major issues—meaning the people he had chosen hadn’t tried to embezzle anything. The real problems lay more in business strategy than in management, but that was something they could learn with time.

So Xie Gu wasn’t worried. Seeing it was almost time, he neatly put away the reports, grabbed his coat, and headed toward the café. By the time he reached the second floor, it was exactly two minutes before the hour.

As expected, the manager had picked a table by the floor-to-ceiling window directly facing the stage. The prime viewing spot was now reserved for Xie Gu, while the manager and the others squeezed pitifully into the seats on the opposite side.

To be honest, everyone had their own guesses about why Xie Gu had chosen this location—others might not know who his former bandmate was, but as his subordinates, how could they not have looked into it?

They just couldn’t figure out where Xie Gu stood on the matter.

Xie Gu pulled out a chair and calmly sat down. After greeting everyone, he stopped the branch supervisors just as they were about to rush into their reports.

“Hold on.”

The supervisors exchanged looks and sighed inwardly. It felt like he’d seen right through them—as if he knew they were thinking, “If I go first, the rest will sound like they’re copying me if they repeat my points.”

Down below, the host stepped onstage to announce the next act: it was Xu Yucheng, who seemed to be performing an original song.

Xu Yucheng walked onto the stage.

The system sounded a bit excited. “Host, are you about to slap the original protagonist’s face?”

Xie Gu chuckled. “Pretty much.”

The system didn’t quite understand, but it reminded him, “Please remember, the number of points the host receives after completing a world depends on how thoroughly the original protagonist is humiliated. If the humiliation isn’t sufficient, even a successful counterattack will only earn a small amount of base points, and the time required for resurrection will be extended.”

Xie Gu gave a barely noticeable hum and didn’t respond further. Instead, he smiled and waved casually toward Xu Yucheng on the stage.

The system froze.

There was nothing provocative or arrogant about that gesture—how did this look like he was about to humiliate anyone? Never mind whether Xu Yucheng could even see it; even if he did, he’d probably think Xie Gu was greeting his bro or something.

At this rate, how was he supposed to humiliate anyone?

Xie Gu, however, replied calmly, “System, you’re too young. Ever heard of ‘kill the heart, not the body?”

The system wanted to question what that had to do with anything, but the next moment, its program suddenly showed that the humiliation progress for this world had jumped ahead by 10%!

Amidst Xu Yucheng’s panicked, off-key singing, the system asked sincerely, “What is ‘kill the heart, not the body’?”