[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner":3,"chapter-i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-21":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I'm Not Crazy—This Is the Emperor's Banner",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2291361,4480,"Chapter 21: Relatives (Requesting Monthly Votes)","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-21",21,"\u003Cp>“Manager Zheng, good morning.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Zheng Can, Shen Siyuan greeted him politely, but not warmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Morning.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zheng Can was far more enthusiastic than before, even casting a probing glance at Shen Siyuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Shen Siyuan pretended not to notice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zheng Can was a complicated man—Shen Siyuan simply didn’t like him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lacked ability and relied entirely on flattery; his current position came solely from his extraordinary connection with the president of Guanghui Animation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a leader, he had little independent judgment, changing directives daily, causing the online gaming department to waste countless efforts—many held deep resentment toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the single-player department thrived with annual salary increases, the online gaming department stagnated, its salaries unchanged for three years, and every annual meeting brought public reprimands from leadership—who wouldn’t be annoyed?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Shen Siyuan head toward the operations department, Zheng Can turned and greeted Jiang Wenxin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to Shen Siyuan, his enthusiasm was even more obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Accountant Jiang, good morning.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Jiang Wenxin merely nodded indifferently; Zheng Can didn’t get upset, instead warmly asking if she’d eaten breakfast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wenxin held an exceptionally unique position in the company—even as a senior executive, Zheng Can had to smile and cater to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wenxin gave him a few vague replies, then walked straight toward the finance department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching her retreating figure, Zheng Can turned back to glance toward the operations department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sitting at his desk, Shen Siyuan turned on his computer, tossed the empty breakfast bag aside, then pulled out his phone and discovered several unread messages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Opening them, he found Ding Youguang and Zhou Zheng had created a group chat and were bombarding it with messages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Big Brother Shen, do you know Accountant Jiang…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shen Siyuan, boss, are you dating a rich woman? Don’t forget your poor buddies once you’re rich…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve been hiding this tight—are you some rich kid here just to experience life?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Please don’t go full serious…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re all brothers in the same trench—you can’t abandon the masses…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Spill it—are you just as broke as we are?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching them trade jabs, Shen Siyuan couldn’t help but laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We just know each other—you’re imagining too much,” Shen Siyuan replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just know each other?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come on, is that even human speech?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know her too—why doesn’t she ask me if I’ve eaten breakfast?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Said she bought too much? That bag’s never been opened—do you think we’re blind?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aaaah, you’re so damn lucky—you’ve finally joined this niche path, your future is bright…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even though Accountant Jiang is rich and beautiful, Shen Siyuan, don’t be like this—pfft, I look down on you, unless you introduce her to me…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really just know each other—stop making up nonsense. Accountant Jiang thinks I’m a decent guy and offered to introduce me to someone,” Shen Siyuan said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no point hiding it—they worked in the same company, constantly running into each other. Given Jiang Wenxin’s attitude toward him, someone would eventually find out anyway; better to just say it outright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Introduce you to someone? Why?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forget others—what do I lack compared to you? I’m more ambitious, more handsome—why doesn’t she introduce me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I earn more than you, my coding skills are better, I code like an artist—why doesn’t she introduce me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Believe it or not, I’m busy—this morning I’ll finish the fishing game proposal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, they grew serious and stopped joking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan thought the matter was settled, but shortly after arriving at work, Zhou Chuan sitting across from him sent a message.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s your relationship with Accountant Jiang?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan froze—he hadn’t expected word to spread so fast, but quickly realized Zheng Can must have asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After thinking, he replied: “She’s a distant relative of mine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then opened WeChat and messaged Jiang Wenxin, asking her to coordinate their story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Wenxin replied instantly, agreeing without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, she was messaging her husband, recounting the morning’s events—she was still in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’d assumed Shen Siyuan was merely an odd man with some special abilities—but even odd men were still human.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet what he’d shown that morning had gone beyond anything a human could possess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d summoned a guardian spirit, displayed divine powers, and especially the supernatural aura around Dou Dou—it was unmistakably extraordinary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Earlier, Jiang Wenxin had appeared calm, but her legs had nearly gone numb; her mind raced with questions about Shen Siyuan’s true identity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why, even when Zheng Can greeted her, she’d given only a perfunctory response—she simply hadn’t had the mental bandwidth to care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You never mentioned this before.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Zhou Chuan was surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You never asked,” Shen Siyuan said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chuan sent a dog emoji, then dropped the subject—presumably to report back to Zheng Can.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan paid him no more attention, opening the fishing game proposal to refine it further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fishing gameplay was simple, but the proposal was not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, he considered fish species and their point values; different fish had varying capture difficulties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also had to determine when each fish would appear and in which levels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Additionally, Shen Siyuan reworked the point leaderboard: besides the top ten receiving rewards, points could now be used for lotteries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was primarily to prevent players with no chance of top ten from slacking off—giving their points purpose and a way to be spent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, the number of factors to consider multiplied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All morning, Shen Siyuan rushed to complete the first draft, then sent it directly to the group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Qunfang had also been added; the group name was now 【Fishing Lads Casting Across the Universe】—over-the-top and grandiose. Shen Siyuan assumed Ding Youguang had renamed it, but later learned it was Li Qunfang’s doing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s start with this first draft. For fish images, find resources online or extract from other fishing games. @Li Qunfang, you’ll adjust and modify these resources later—this will speed up our progress…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shen Siyuan’s idea is great.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding Youguang was thrilled—he hadn’t thought of this himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don’t blame Shen Siyuan for not going offline—this was standard practice in gaming companies: one game’s code could be repackaged into dozens of skins and launched as new games to rake in cash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for fish image resources, they weren’t using them directly—only as “references”—which already counted as having professional ethics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Siyuan gave further instructions; his portion of the project was now complete, with only minor optimizations left for later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a busy morning, he spent the afternoon slacking off. When quitting time came, Lin Manzhi stopped him and reminded him he had to meet Jiang Tingyu that evening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I won’t forget—I’m heading over now,” Shen Siyuan said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as he stepped out of the company, he found Tao Guangxia waiting by the stairwell.\u003C\u002Fp>",1114,"2026-06-20T03:53:08.657Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d148b21c4c16eae3d3e94519fd83ab97f379c187fb0968de45a5c2f75973ed66","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-22","i-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-chapter-20",623,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-not-crazy-this-is-the-emperor-s-banner-cover.jpg"]