Chapter 25: The Baby

【Task 6 completed, reward: Acting +10, script “In the Name of the People”, Tencent stock 0.1% (approx. 6.3 million shares, valued at $5,500)】

【Task completed, training opportunity granted】

【Choose one training NPC: Fan Xuexue / Sun Honglei / Ni Dahong】

【New task now being released】

【Task 7: Harmony in the Family Brings Prosperity. Your runaway has caused great pain to your family. Now that you’ve finally achieved something, it’s time to make amends: Buy your father a brand-new Nokia 3210 and sincerely apologize. Task difficulty: 2 stars, deadline: 15 days】

【Task completion reward: Lines +10, song “Cold to the Core”】

【Task failure penalty: Three electric shocks】

Made it, made it, I made it!

Qi Hao suppressed his inner excitement, forcing himself to remain composed.

As a shareholder owning 0.1% of Tencent… he could no longer act as carelessly as before.

Moreover, his status was high enough—he was always the center of attention.

Spotlights frequently fell around him.

If he acted like an idiot, it would be the biggest news since his red carpet fall.

His brain was damaged.

To distract himself, Qi Hao kept reading.

The three options included Fan Xuexue, Sun Honglei, and Ni Dahong.

Fan Xuexue was definitely out.

Although eight hours with Fan Xuexue might be fun, and there were no side effects in the training space, Qi Hao knew the consequences of indulgence.

He didn’t want to become a silver demon.

Which one should he choose: Sun Honglei or Ni Dahong?

Qi Hao chose Sun Honglei.

It wasn’t that Sun Honglei was better than Ni Dahong, but that Sun Honglei offered more that Qi Hao could learn from.

In short, Ni Dahong could act roles Qi Hao couldn’t.

Sun Honglei could act roles Qi Hao could try.

The new task made Qi Hao want to curse again, but remembering the Tencent stock he’d just acquired, he swallowed the profanity.

What a fucking system, this is my Tongzi Brother!

He’s my beloved family, my blood brother!

But this time, Tongzi Brother was really pushing it.

Forget that my family and I had long since reconciled—you want me to buy my dad a Nokia 3210 and sincerely apologize? That’s not an apology, that’s an insult!

The Nokia 3210 was a monochrome, candy-bar phone released in October 1999.

It didn’t even have a 300,000-pixel camera.

It’s 2008 now—should I give this phone to my dad to crack walnuts with, or to mock him with: “The village boys bully my old weakness, daring to steal right before my eyes”?

With his temper, he’d be lucky if he didn’t pull out his Seven Wolves belt and beat me.

And he expects me to be “sincerely apologetic”?

This task is impossible.

Just shock me already.

Whether it’s numb, painful, or numb-painful—I’m not afraid anymore.

You’re not actually going to shock me, are you? I’m a Tencent shareholder!

And the most popular male actor in movies.

Amid applause, Qi Hao received the crystal trophy from Capital Television.

A highly rewarding day.

After Capital Television’s event ended, Qi Hao’s fall quickly became a hot topic across major media outlets.

Since this was never a serious matter—Qi Hao’s fake fall was so convincing, few suspected he was faking for attention—the headlines grew more and more cheerful.

The red carpet was too narrow for the new Best Actor!

The angles were bizarre, the wording sharp—worthy of Hong Kong tabloids.

SHOCKING! Qi Hao Kneels to Propose to Fan Xuexue (or Ask Her Out)!

This kind of headline, starting with “SHOCKING!”, had become trendy in recent years—applied to any news, common on Sina and other online media.

Of course, the media still reported facts primarily.

The netizens were the ones truly running wild.

Wandering Free: Qi Hao actually fell on the red carpet! Hasn’t he seemed more down-to-earth lately?

Shi Wuyin: This isn’t being down-to-earth, this is hitting the underworld.

Zai Si_: Saw Qi Hao’s social death moment—today was so fun.

Lei Ruoxuan: That was a real fall—he almost landed face-first.

Dao Master Arrives: You’re so cool, why not yank Fan Xuexue’s skirt while you’re at it? Holy shit, useless piece of shit.

Sleepy Winter Month: That’s it? That’s it???!!! What kind of red carpet fall is that?! I want ground falls, face-down tumbles, backflips, rolls… all kinds of ground falls! Ugh, so disappointing. Hahaha.

Clear Wind and Bright Moon_: Qi Hao must’ve fallen to avoid stepping on Fan Xuexue’s skirt—he’s a real man.

Righteous Young Man: Such a perfect chance—why not slide under her skirt?

Forget It 86: Don’t worry she won’t slap you with a giant red Band-Aid.

Call Me Boss Xiao: Look closely at Fan Xuexue’s expression.

Inspiration King en: The moment Qi Hao knelt, Fan Xuexue had already picked the baby’s name.

Qi Hao was relieved: his brilliant performance had convinced everyone he hadn’t faked it.

Fake falls are usually for attention.

Qi Hao wasn’t just one of the Four Young Leads—he was the new Best Actor; he didn’t need attention.

Plus, this event’s scale and attention were low—even minor stars wouldn’t fake a fall on this red carpet.

Netizens and media were all just here for the spectacle.

As for the rumors with Fan Xuexue intensifying further, Qi Hao was getting used to it.

Walking the red carpet with Fan Xuexue always brought this result.

In the early years, he’d panic over rumors, fearing the fans of the rumored partner would attack him—but now he was numb to it.

Female stars’ fans all hated him anyway; one or two more didn’t matter.

Neither Qi Hao nor Fan Xuexue had denied the rumors.

The more you deny, the more attention you draw; ignoring it meant the gossip would die down by next year.

Yeah, that was hard-earned experience.

Like the spicy strip ad—besides its high visibility from constant TV play, most ordinary viewers didn’t even know about the rumors between the man and two women.

Qi Hao immediately researched his Tencent stock.

He found the relevant documents at home and called Tencent directly.

“He” had received 0.1% of Tencent stock in July 2000.

The reason given for the investment was sheer love for QQ—he wanted to contribute his share, hoping QQ would grow better.

But he had little money at the time, since his career had just begun.

Tencent gave him not just stock, but a five-eights QQ number, to thank him for his support and encouragement, which gave the whole team courage to keep going.

Well, Qi Hao had no memory of it at all.

Another gain: Starting March 2008, Tencent began paying dividends to shareholders.

The confirmed dividend for this year was HK$0.16 per share.

Qi Hao owned 6.3 million Tencent shares—this dividend alone amounted to nearly HK$1 million.

It wasn’t a small sum, but it wasn’t huge either.

Qi Hao’s plan: If he wasn’t going to sell all his Tencent stock, he might as well reinvest the dividends into more stock—it was all Tongzi Brother’s gift anyway.

Tongzi Brother is awesome!

Tongzi Brother, want a lizard?

For some reason, Qi Hao had initially resisted doing system tasks, hated being forced into them, even feared threats of electric shocks to his mysterious body parts.

For some reason, he now felt a little anticipation.

With the New Year approaching, Qi Hao decided to complete the system’s new task during the holiday.

The “Harmony in the Family” task was low-tier, granting only Lines +10 and the song “Cold to the Core,” with a 15-day deadline.

System task deadlines were still generous.

At least for 2008 Qi Hao, he had enough time and money to complete it.

The next task only unlocked after finishing the current one.

As a minor shareholder in a company worth over twenty billion, Qi Hao had no choice but to hurry up and finish the task.

This new task had two difficulties.

One: buying a “Nokia 3210”—a phone from eight or nine years ago, hard to find now.

The other: how to give it to his dad without triggering his explosive temper, and still make him listen to a “sincere apology.”

“A Fei~”

Qi Hao called out to the young princess of the coal merchant who brought him the documents.

"What is it?"

Gao Fei, about to leave, didn’t even bother turning around.

Don’t compare laziness with her—she’s too lazy to even compete with you.

"Go get Zhang Nan and Old Tian~" Qi Hao didn’t ask Gao Fei’s opinion.

Why ask?

Do you ask how to appease your father if you’re mad at him?

Don’t joke.

Even if Gao Fei really did something wrong, it’d still be her father who has to soothe her.

You can’t ask about buying a phone either.

The daughter of a coal boss wouldn’t know where to buy a phone from eight or nine years ago.

The current and former agents arrived quickly.

"I called you two over because I want you to buy me a new Nokia 3210—the 1999 model. It was popular back then. Does anyone know how?"

"Are you fucking crazy?" Old Tian was blunt.

And this madness of yours is intermittent—you never get a moment’s peace.

"I know the best doctor..." Zhang Nan couldn’t understand either, but since he was someone determined to achieve something, he quickly came up with an idea: "If you really need it, I can visit several phone stores and check if any have old stock hidden away."

"That thing cost thousands back then—who’d keep it stored till now?"

Old Tian only thought Qi Hao was acting insane again, unaware that Qi Hao had already become a Tencent shareholder and was no longer the same man.

"No problem—I’ll just visit more stores! I’m going right now!"

Without hesitation, Zhang Nan immediately ran off to find phone stores.

"Look at that, look at that—this is how you properly get things done! Old Tian, you go help me too—we’ll split up. This thing is important to me, Old Tian!"

Qi Hao watched the current agent rush out, filled with disdain for the former.

Because he’d never switched agents, he hadn’t realized such excellent service existed.

It was like heaven itself.