Chapter 24: Chapter 23: Realms

    Cheng Zhu was indeed gifted, born with a deep, rumbling voice—what people call the "bass cannon".

    No matter the era, those obsessed with voices never diminish.

    A pleasant voice, regardless of gender, always earns points.

    Just like on TikTok, some guys aren''t exactly good-looking, but their voice alone unleashes endless imagination upon hearing it.

    The same goes for female livestreamers who don''t show their faces.

    In real life, some guys, once aware of their advantage, really wish they could use it anytime, anywhere—like those who are tall and wish they could post their height on their forehead, even engrave "Six Feet Tall" on their tombstone when dead.

    But in Cheng Zhu''s view, that''s not the way to go.

    Take the bass cannon for example, if you constantly send voice messages when chatting with girls, it might come off as sleazy and the novelty quickly wears off.

    Instead, if you''ve been texting all day and when it''s time to say goodnight, you find a legitimate excuse to say you''re too busy for typing and then use a voice message for it, wouldn''t you know, the other person might just suddenly not feel sleepy anymore.

    They might even dream about you!

    Use your strengths as a finishing blow, not just another regular attack.

    Cheng Zhu and Ye Zi had been flirting for several days, having tossed all kinds of cheeky lines at each other.

    A "are you there, baby" wouldn''t even qualify as effective flirting without a voice message.

    He also intentionally added a bit more grease, solely to liven up the chat atmosphere—after all, what''s flirting without a bit of grease?

    Ye Zi would pretty much instantly reply to his WeChat messages, sending an emoticon.

    "What''s your decision about the thing I mentioned last time?" Cheng Zhu asked.

    Ye Zi didn''t reply immediately.

    After a while, she sent a message: "When are we going to shoot?"

    "The day after tomorrow or the day after that would be best," Cheng Zhu replied.

    "I''m feeling a bit under the weather these days, the day after that works for me," Ye Zi replied, even adding a sickly emoji from WeChat.

    After sending that, she added, "Actually, I don''t mind telling you, I''ve done modeling before, but never this kind."

    Cheng Zhu laughed, started getting nostalgic, and directly replied to her, "What a coincidence, I''ve done some modeling myself."

    ...

    ...

    The next day, Cheng Zhu and Wang Anquan took a roundabout way and boarded the train back to Hang City.

    He had already been giving his little brother intensive training these past few days.

    When the time came, the two of them would serve as customer service reps for a Taobao shop.

    These days, customer service had just a few tricks up its sleeve.

    Wang Anquan was actually excited about the idea of pretending to be a female customer service rep.

    It''s true, many guys just love pretending to be girls online to mess with people and find it incredibly amusing.

    Some even use it to trick people out of their money.

    Cheng Zhu even suspected that since they were selling QQ fashion items, no matter what he asked Wang Anquan to do, the guy would be pretty eager.

    "And don''t forget this, in the apparel e-commerce world, customer service always actively encourages customers to take buyer show photos."

    "Many shops even offer a rebate for doing so, giving out cash directly."

    Some were discussing games, others travel, and where to get a good and cheap haircut...

    And there was talk about part-time jobs, then someone piped up offering work at their family company.

    When the conversation turned to money, one classmate named Qin Wei suddenly mentioned Cheng Zhu, saying: "I heard you won a few thousand at the World Cup?"

    Cheng Zhu first was taken aback, then it clicked—probably Jiang Wanzhou had let something slip.

    After all, he had tricked Jiang Wanzhou into believing he had only bet 800, claiming the rest of the money belonged to someone else.

    If this guy said he won a few thousand, it must have been President Jiang singing Cheng Zhu''s praises.

    The circle at school was small, and although Jiang Wanzhou wasn''t in the same class, some news could easily reach his classmates'' ears.

    "Holy shit, that badass? Won a few thousand?" Immediately, the group chat ignited.

    "You gotta send out a red packet for this."

    "What''s up, how do you win money at the World Cup?"

    "How much did you bet to win?"

    "666, that''s a few months'' living expenses in your pocket huh!"

    Chen Rongrong, who had been quiet, now spoke up, boldly saying: "Where''d you get that rumor? Cheng Zhu clearly won over seventy thousand!"

    "Damn it, why are you helping to spread it?" Cheng Zhu cursed inwardly.

    For a moment, the chat fell silent, and then the entire group exploded!

    Shocked, oh so shocked!

    Chen Rongrong began to vividly describe the matter.

    Cheng Zhu just felt it was too much.

    He never planned to make waves in the group, but eventually, his only choice was to bluff: "The 12,000 wasn''t just my money, I only bet 800, just following the crowd for fun."

    "Winning was purely luck, look at our class monitor who lost over ten thousand in one night, I take that as a lesson. Anyway, I''ve decided to never gamble again in my life, thanks for the warning, monitor." Cheng Zhu started deflecting and even salted up this warm-hearted guy''s wounds.

    —Leave behind personal morals, savor a shameless life.

    Sure enough, the topic quickly shifted to focus on Li Rui.

    Cheng Zhu immediately exited the group chat.

    Leaving Li Rui to put on a brave face in the group, emphasizing that over ten thousand wasn''t a lot of money.

    As if by bragging a few more times, he''d earn the lost money back.

    Wang Anquan, sitting beside him, knew that Cheng Zhu had indeed bet twelve thousand and won several tens of thousands, using that money to start the e-commerce business.

    He didn''t know why Brother Zhu wouldn''t admit it, but suddenly felt Cheng Zhu was clearly superior to Li Rui.

    "Here''s someone who won money and isn''t bragging, and there''s you who lost money and keep saying it''s just a little cash."

    Just like a clown!

    "When will I reach Brother Zhu''s state." He began to aspire.

    Wang Anquan himself didn''t realize that after spending just several days with Cheng Zhu, he himself had changed quite a bit.

    At that moment, the train arrived at the station, reaching Hang City Station.

    Once in the taxi, Cheng Zhu frequently glanced out the window.

    "Brother Zhu, what are you looking at?" Wang Anquan was curious.

    "None of your business, I''m picking a hotel for the photoshoot the day after tomorrow."