novelraw Chapter 178 : Come to My Place for Chicken
Chapter 178 : Come to My Place for Chicken
Chapter 178: Come to My Place for Chicken
There was no denying it—Wang Chu really was the Mazu Empress’s beloved child. Even the Holy Grail was given to him in bunches. Last time, there had been nine; this time, six. For ordinary believers of Mazu, encountering such a thing even once in a lifetime would be a miracle, yet he had somehow stumbled upon it twice so casually.
And judging from his expression, he didn’t even seem that surprised. Maybe he had experienced it before but simply hadn’t mentioned it. In any case, he was clearly the kind of person with a strong belief in the mystical.
Although Lin Mo shared the same name as the Mazu Empress, in Wang Chu’s eyes, that only granted him the privilege of not being scolded—at least, Wang Chu wouldn’t curse his name while yelling at him. As for any other kind of special treatment, that depended on how one saw it.
Meanwhile, Liu Rushuang was in a remarkably good mood after returning to the company—even her secretary, Xiao Tian, could sense it.
“President Liu, these are today’s documents.” Secretary Xiao Tian placed a stack of files on the desk as she spoke.
Liu Rushuang set the Gong Fan she had confiscated from Lin Mo onto the desk, nodded slightly, and said, “Find me a stand later, one that can hold this fan.”
“Alright, President Liu.”
Xiao Tian immediately understood that her boss’s good mood today had something to do with that fan—or rather, with the person behind the fan. She didn’t know where it came from, but regardless, she instantly raised the priority of this task.
“By the way, have there been any internal murmurs recently?” Liu Rushuang took a deep breath, her tone shifting into work mode.
Though she could be charming and teasing in private among acquaintances, she was exceptionally serious when it came to work. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been capable of running a company at her age.
Hearing her question, Xiao Tian straightened up at once.
“The company has now passed the transition period. All departments are stable and improving. The detailed figures are in these files.
As for internal voices—there were a few before, and a few people have chosen to resign, mostly among the mid-to-lower-level management. The grassroots employees haven’t been affected much.”
Liu Rushuang nodded. The turnover among mid-level managers was within her expectations. Because of the previous general manager, Yang Chuan, the management team had been relatively weak.
After she came in and initiated major reforms—especially the salary restrictions for management—two of the remaining managers also resigned. Fortunately, she had already identified replacements over the past month, so the company hadn’t suffered any real setbacks.
As long as the front-line workers didn’t resign en masse, everything would be fine. After all, this world was never short of ambitious people. And if there weren’t enough, she could always borrow a few from her family’s company.
“By the way, how’s that former department manager, Dong Dawei, doing lately?” she suddenly asked.
She remembered demoting him because of his poor reputation in the company. It had been a while since she last paid attention.
“Well,” Xiao Tian replied, “even though you transferred him to a smaller team, you didn’t strip him of his title. So recently, while working within the team, he’s also continued handling managerial tasks alongside the acting manager you appointed. There haven’t been any issues.”
As the secretary, Xiao Tian not only assisted with daily operations but also gathered company gossip and updates. In a way, a secretary represented the leader herself.
Although she didn’t hold real authority, department heads treated her with great respect—after all, she was Liu Rushuang’s eyes within the company. So it was easy for her to find out anything she wanted.
“I see,” Liu Rushuang said with a faint smile. “Looks like anyone who can make it to the manager’s seat isn’t useless—they all have some skills.
Alright then, after the end of this month, restore Dong Dawei’s position officially next month. Let him focus on his managerial duties again. The acting manager can become deputy manager. Have them work together to handle their responsibilities properly.”
“Understood, President Liu.”
“Good. That’ll be all for now.” She waved her hand, dismissing Xiao Tian.
After Xiao Tian left, Liu Rushuang picked up the Gong Fan and gently fanned herself, her eyes sharp with intelligence.
She could easily imagine how hard Dong Dawei had been working this past month—and no doubt, there had been plenty of scheming between him and the acting manager.
But as the company’s top executive, those weren’t her concerns. All she cared about was the results. Whoever got the job done and created value for the company was qualified. As for what means they used—so long as it didn’t come to light, she didn’t care.
Dong Dawei had proven himself capable. For people like him, a little pressure made them more useful.
Adding a deputy manager under him would keep him on edge. If he ever tried anything again, someone would surely report it. Perfect.
With that thought, she took out her phone, snapped a few pretty photos of the fan, and sent them to Su He and her mother.
To Su He, she added the caption:
[My little brother’s gift—how’s it look? You, the “real cousin,” don’t even get this kind of treatment, huh? Guess I’m the real cousin now!]
To Mrs. Cheng, she sent:
[Mom, look! Doesn’t this fan look just like yours? Got it as a gift today. Ah, love sure is difficult, Mom.]
Both replied quickly.
Cousin Su He’s reply was full of snark and disbelief, with a hint of wounded pride.
Mrs. Cheng, however, ignored the mention of romance entirely and focused on the fan:
[Is that a Gong Fan? Looks pretty good! Bring it home sometime, let me check. If it’s real, listen to your mom—you can’t handle it, but I can!]
Before two o’clock, Class Monitor Wang Jing and her friend left—they had to attend their College Career Guidance class. Lin Mo thought it was useless, but people were different. The class monitor felt it might be inspiring.
They had even invited Wang Chu to come along, but he refused. Why leave the comfort of air conditioning to suffer in a lecture?
“What are you looking at? They’re gone. Come in—no outsiders here.”
Seeing Sichuan Girl peeking around the door, Lin Mo couldn’t help but laugh. Clearly, the two social deaths she suffered earlier had traumatized her.
“Damn, you still have the nerve to talk? My reputation is completely ruined!”
Once she saw that only Wang Chu and Lin Mo were inside, Sichuan Girl sighed in relief—then immediately began berating them both.
“What could we do? Even if we explained, would the class monitor believe us—or the shop clerk? Unless you had opened that package right there, and would you dare?” Lin Mo rolled his eyes, sat back on the sofa, and opened his tablet to prepare for the pre-quest. He had planned to play a bit casually—just a small start didn’t count as cheating, right?
But when he discovered there were beautiful female pro-gamer companions available, he instantly changed plans. After all, who could resist a cute, skilled girl calling you gege while carrying you through missions?
On his tablet, a row of gorgeous avatars appeared—each curvier and sweeter-voiced than the last, dazzling him.
“Exactly,” Wang Chu chimed in, “better you die socially alone than the whole dorm going down with you.”
Sichuan Girl jabbed a finger at them. “You—you two… I was wrong, okay? I really was! I never should’ve come today! If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have seen you mooching off a woman! If I hadn’t seen that, I wouldn’t have followed you! If I hadn’t followed you, I wouldn’t have met the class monitor—and I wouldn’t have been backstabbed by a delivery!”
Lin Mo: “…”
“You’re not surnamed Li—you’re practically Tong! And you’re from Bashu, why are you copying that accent?”
“I’ve decided,” Sichuan Girl said weakly, collapsing onto the sofa, “I’m not going back to school for a while. Now I finally understand why Zhao Tingting dropped out!”
Lin Mo waved a hand. “Relax, only Li Chuan died socially. You can just live as Li Shiya from now on. Having an alias is great, huh? So, what brings you here?”
Since things had already come to this, Sichuan Girl could only accept her fate—hoping the class monitor would keep her mouth shut. Otherwise, he’d be packing his bags tonight.
“The drawings you made for me yesterday were a huge hit in the group! Those two female streamers already posted them on their pages, and the response’s been great. But some viewers are skeptical. I want to invite you to draw live on my stream—maybe film a video of you painting as material. What do you think?” she said cautiously.
Lin Mo frowned slightly. Seeing this, Sichuan Girl quickly added, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to show your face. You can wear a mask or a hood—or stay off camera.”
“Alright, you handle the schedule. I’m busy tonight anyway.”
Hearing that, Sichuan Girl brightened. She kicked Wang Chu and said, “Stop lying around! Come with me—we’ll try to edit tomorrow’s video tonight and do some promo for the next stream.”
And just like that, Wang Chu was dragged off as her unwilling helper.
Once they left, Lin Mo started doing missions again, hiring three “pro-girl” teammates at once.
“Gege, can you hear me?”
“Babe, my aim’s so good~”
“I’m new, can you protect me, gege?”
Lin Mo: “If you’re new, stop pretending to be a pro. Kick!”
The three girls: “…”
Sure, he liked girls—but fun was secondary. His real goal was to win chicken dinners.
Soon, though, he realized something was off. These so-called “pros” were just average players—they were really there to offer emotional support.
Especially when he hired one-on-one. The tone completely changed—suddenly, they were saying all kinds of seductive nonsense mid-game, even panting between lines.
Annoyed, Lin Mo shot her twice and ended the session. Then he tried hiring male pros. Their skills were better, but the win rate still wasn’t great.
Suddenly, inspiration struck.
“Damn! How could I forget about custom bot lobbies? It’s still a chicken dinner if bots count!”
He quit the companion app, opened a bot match, and began mowing them down.
Sure enough, it was way easier. The bots couldn’t aim properly and kept walking into his sights. He barely had to move—enemies just came to him. Each match took barely ten minutes.
After two hours, when the last match ended, Lin Mo felt that familiar surge—like knowledge flooding into his brain. But this time, there was no actual knowledge—just a sense that he could now effortlessly cook chicken dishes.
“What? I don’t even know how to cook! Isn’t there a recipe included? Do I have to learn it myself?” Lin Mo felt like he’d been scammed.
If it weren’t for that unmistakable feeling, he’d have thought the quest didn’t complete.
“…Should I try?”
And so he did. Lin Mo went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and found the only chicken-related item—eggs. Luckily, there were also two tomatoes.
“Eggs count as chicken, right?”
He pulled up Douyin and searched Tomato Scrambled Eggs. It looked simple enough, but he still felt nervous—he’d never cooked before.
Yet the moment he cracked the eggs, the steps that followed seemed to appear naturally in his mind. His hands moved as if guided by instinct.
Soon, a plate of brightly colored tomato scrambled eggs was done. Lin Mo blinked in disbelief.
“What the—did I really just cook that?”
He tasted it.
Not mind-blowing, perhaps, but surprisingly delicious—tangy, sweet, juicy, and tender. The flavors blended beautifully. A definite success.
Just as he was basking in his newfound skill, Class Monitor Wang Jing called.
“Hey, Handsome Lin! We’re done with class. Where are we eating tonight? Don’t think we forgot about that meal!”
Brimming with chef’s pride, Lin Mo replied confidently, “Why go out? Come to my place and eat chicken!”
Class Monitor Wang Jing: “Huh?”
Lin Mo: “No, I mean, I’ll cook chicken for you guys—no wait, I’ll make chicken—you’ll eat—uh—I’ll—damn it, forget it, we’ll go out!”
The two girls: “…”