Chapter 173.1: K Corp
Though Bald, Still Strong: ?!
Born a K Corp Employee: ?!
Die a K Corp Ghost: ?!
…
Upon suddenly seeing the message in the company’s internal anonymous gossip chat, everyone’s first reaction was shock.
After sending the message, Li Sisi looked up and saw Zhang Yang, who had sneakily run to the elevators to observe the situation, now running back toward her.
Li Sisi quietly asked her coworker, “Did he go up?”
Zhang Yang nodded. “He did! Took the innermost elevator—went straight to the 68th floor office.”
Being ahead of the rest of the company, they got the first bite of gossip. Li Sisi looked excited: “This is solid proof now. Shen Xiu really is the crown prince of K Corp. No wonder last time when he came for a floor sweep, that Grand Eunuch—cough cough—Special Assistant Qin treated him so differently.”
Zhang Yang nodded in agreement. “But I wonder why Shen Xiu suddenly showed up at the company?”
Li Sisi looked at the flood of copy-pasted shocked emojis in the group chat and typed as she spoke: “What’s the big deal? Just bring it up in the group and see if any brave soul is willing to investigate.”
If one doesn’t gossip, heaven shall strike them down. Faced with cold, lifeless work every day, only gossip could soothe their souls. She firmly believed: the brave gossip warrior is among them!
[K Corp Internal Gossip Group 8]
Lilith: He went up! 68th floor @Secretariat (dog head emoji)
Heart Takes Flight: So curious—what is the crown prince doing? @Secretariat
Damn Code: Curious too @Secretariat
Outstanding Wharton Graduate Mage: The crown prince? Give me the tea!
The Joy of the Prince of Lanling: Is it possible… that we don’t know, and we wouldn’t dare ask either? (sweating emoji)
One Swing, Eighty Hits: Is it possible… that we’re on the 67th floor, didn’t get summoned, and can’t go to the 68th…?
The eager gossip-hungry crowd in the group chat saw the Secretariat’s response—it was like a slap to the face, instantly sobering them up. They could only gaze longingly at the gossip, sighing in despair, itching with curiosity like ants in their pants, wishing they could sprout wings and fly to the 68th floor’s window just to catch some juicy drama.
Ding!
The elevator arrived at the floor with a soft chime.
Shen Xiu came up full of questions. In a situation where nothing was certain, he simply got off wherever the elevator brought him.
Before the doors opened, he had imagined countless possibilities of what he might encounter once he stepped out.
But what he didn’t expect at all—was that the entire floor would be completely empty, with no one in sight but himself.
As he stepped out of the elevator, Shen Xiu instinctively scanned his surroundings and listened carefully—but didn’t catch the sound of a single breath or footstep.
Ding.
The elevator doors closed behind him.
Standing in front of the doors, Shen Xiu thought—since he was already here and no one had stopped him, he might as well figure out what was going on.
So, he stepped forward.
After walking a few steps and turning past an intricately carved white decorative screen, Shen Xiu finally saw the full layout of the 68th floor’s outer area.
This floor looked nothing like the offices in movies or in his imagination.
It was an office—but it took up the entire floor.
There was a rest area, a leisure area, a work area… Every functionally distinct section was clearly divided and purposefully arranged.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of human presence in the air. Clearly, very few people ever came up here. The oversized desk, aside from a few computers that weren’t even turned on, didn’t have a single document on it—it was completely bare. This further proved that almost no one worked here.
And yet, everything here—from the green plants to the desks and all the decorations—was spotless, clearly maintained by someone who regularly came to clean.
Sunlight streamed in through the windows, but even so, standing here, Shen Xiu still felt a cold and desolate emptiness.
He had come up right in front of the security and receptionist, and yet from then until now, no one had come to tell him to leave. Shen Xiu couldn’t help but frown.
By the time he realized it, he was already standing in front of the black office desk. Right beside him was a large black chair.
He didn’t know why, but as he looked at everything before him, his eyes felt unfamiliar with the scene—yet his body somehow moved faster than his mind, doing something that felt completely absurd to him.
For example—right now.
Shen Xiu leaned forward slightly, placing one hand on the desk. Before he could even react, his other hand had already skillfully pulled the front-facing chair back a little. His body moved naturally, almost instinctively, and sat down.
Shen Xiu: “……”
Had he lost his mind?
Sitting in the chair, Shen Xiu’s mind was blank, his eyes staring into the void ahead, completely lost in thought.
At the same time—
Qin Mo was sitting in his own office. He had just signed a document when someone knocked on the door from outside.
“Come in.”
The moment Qin Mo spoke, Li Nuo walked in.
Seeing Qin Mo, Li Nuo instinctively glanced at the black phone lying face-down on the desk and thought to himself, ‘Just as I guessed—Special Assistant Qin hasn’t responded because he’s been too busy to check the internal gossip group.’
“What is it?” Qin Mo asked, reaching to open another file.
“Special Assistant Qin, the company group chat says the Crown Prince came to the office.”
Qin Mo’s hand paused mid-motion. The A4 paper slipped from his fingertips and fell back onto the desk, revealing the file cover.
He looked up, puzzled, and asked Li Nuo, “What?”
Standing in front of Qin Mo’s desk, Li Nuo opened the company’s internal chat app and placed his phone on the desk, screen facing Qin Mo. “Take a look.”
A minute later, after reading the group chat messages, Qin Mo was completely baffled.
Crown Prince? What Crown Prince? Since when did K Corp have a Crown Prince—and how could he not know?!
Those damn vice presidents didn’t bring their own kids into the company and let everyone call them that… right?
These people… seriously have no shame left, huh!
The news about Shen Xiu’s visit to K Corp was so explosive that the messages had flooded the chat. Li Nuo hadn’t scrolled all the way up to the very beginning, only showed part of the conversation.
As a result, all that was left on screen were rows upon rows of the words “Crown Prince.” Qin Mo hadn’t seen the name “Shen Xiu,” which led to a misunderstanding.
Frowning, Qin Mo returned the phone to Li Nuo, then unlocked his own phone on the desk. He opened the internal gossip group chat—normally muted and only checked occasionally to lurk and catch a bit of gossip—and started typing.
[K Corp Internal Gossip Group 8]
Year-End Bonus Doubled: Who is this “Crown Prince”? How come I don’t know?
Though Bald, Still Strong: Tsk, posting level only 1? Such a total noob. Who even are you? Do you even know how important this is? I’m dying—where’s the admin? Someone kick him out! With a level that low, there’s no way he’s one of us seasoned gossip warriors.
Boss Hasn’t Yelled at Me for Three Days: Seriously! You don’t even know the Crown Prince? You’re so behind on the gossip. Let’s all ruthlessly mock him @everyone assemble!
K Corp had its own internal chat software. The gossip-loving employees liked to create casual group chats to dish out the latest drama. As long as it wasn’t excessive and didn’t interfere with work, the company turned a blind eye.
Everyone generally assumed that those who joined the gossip groups were seasoned melon-eaters, and their chat levels naturally wouldn’t be low.
So when a total newbie with a chat level of only 1 suddenly popped up—and didn’t even know who the default “Crown Prince” of the K Corp gossip circle was—it instantly triggered a wave of gleeful mockery from the group.
Seeing the screen full of “Let’s ruthlessly mock him,” Li Nuo didn’t dare look at Qin Mo’s face right now, and definitely didn’t dare speak in the group chat either.
[K Corp Internal Gossip Group 8]
Year-End Bonus Doubled: Qin Mo.
Year-End Bonus Doubled: Can someone tell me now—who is the Crown Prince?
He really wanted to know which vice president had gone so far as to let their son be called the “Crown Prince.”
The moment the name “Qin Mo” appeared, all those who had just been spamming “Let’s ruthlessly mock him” instantly froze. After a stunned silence, everyone began frantically deleting their messages.
For a moment, the group chat was filled with lines of small gray text:
“xxx has deleted a message.”
Those who had posted over two minutes ago and couldn’t retract their messages could only silently curse their luck.
Only after the great purge did someone finally dare to respond.
[K Corp Internal Gossip Group 8]
Money Is the Love of My Life: Hello, Special Assistant Qin. The Crown Prince refers to Mr. Shen Xiu.
Year-End Bonus Doubled: ?
Year-End Bonus Doubled: Who told you Mr. Shen is the Crown Prince?
Lilith: Mr. Shen is currently on the 68th floor.
Just one second ago, Qin Mo had been completely confused as he typed.
But the very next second, when he saw the message from the anonymous user “Lilith”—
His pupils contracted in shock. He shot up from his office chair.
Li Nuo, still holding his phone, hadn’t yet recovered from the “Wait, if Shen Xiu isn’t just the Crown Prince, then who the hell is he?” mind-blowing revelation—when suddenly, a shadow fell over him.
Li Nuo put away his phone and saw Qin Mo striding out with a serious expression. He quickly caught up.
“Special Assistant Qin, you—”
Qin Mo pressed the elevator button, trying to calm himself down. He looked at Li Nuo and said, “The documents I asked you to organize an hour ago—are they done? Be ready.”
Li Nuo: “Ah… I mean, yes, they’re done.”
“Wait for further instructions.”
With just those three words, the elevator doors closed.
Li Nuo stared blankly at the elevator rising upward, utterly confused. He slowly walked back to his workstation and stacked the finished documents together.
Midway through stacking them, it finally hit him. He picked up his phone, reread Qin Mo’s response—and his face froze in shock.
“Not the Crown Prince… What Special Assistant Qin meant is… Holy crap!” Li Nuo let out a startled cry.
He immediately grabbed his phone, dying to share this earth-shattering gossip in the gossip group—but remembered his direct superior was also in the chat, and could only stop reluctantly.
But—
Even though having his boss in the group chat could restrain his gossiping fingers, it couldn’t stop his gossiping mouth.
Before Qin Mo could call him back, Li Nuo slipped into the adjacent secretary’s office.
Qin Mo’s brief few words had already stirred up chaos in the group chat.
Since no one knew how many other higher-ups might be silently lurking in this “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” gossip group, the employees could only gossip face-to-face with their nearby coworkers.
The moment Li Nuo walked in, the secretaries—already holding back an explosion of curiosity—immediately swarmed him.
“Assistant Li, what exactly did Special Assistant Qin mean?”
“Yeah, I’m so confused right now!”
…
Hearing everyone’s flurry of questions, Li Nuo couldn’t help thinking: As expected, everyone here is sly like a fox. They’d clearly already guessed the truth, yet refused to say it out loud.
Putting on an air of mystery, Li Nuo replied,
“Anyway, Special Assistant Qin has already gone upstairs, and he asked me to have the documents ready and be prepared.”
“What kind of person coming to the company requires that kind of arrangement? You can figure that out yourselves.”
Deliberately vague, Li Nuo said what he wanted to say. Then, with a flourish, he brushed off his sleeves coolly:
“Farewell, everyone. I have documents to organize. Ready to respond to Special Assistant Qin’s call at any moment!”
The secretaries, who didn’t get a single clear answer: “……”
A bunch of old foxes!
