E-Scum Gong Chapter 6
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 6
It all started when a member in the group chat posted a totally humblebrag photo. At that time, Gu Jinzhi had carefully chosen a restaurant to solve his lunch problem. However, it wasn't close to his office, and he was too lazy to go out. So, he ordered take out instead, and was now sprawling in his office.
On the very first day of work, he wanted to resign...
Gu Jinzhi casually tossed aside his five-figure suit, rested an ankle on the opposite knee, and fiddled with his phone.
While he was picking at the food on his plate, he was also scrolling through the group chat. Naturally, he came across the earlier conversation where members were discussing his relationship with Amour.
Amour's popularity in the group was evident. Most of the complaints came from 0s who had been flirted with by Amour. However, Amour's prominence also caused resentment among some other 1s. After all, they were also proud individuals, who believed that Amour's qualities were nothing special.
Amour had claimed to be in real estate, but it was probably just a small, unknown company. And for someone his age, he was getting way too much attention.
Among them, Nuo Xi was another popular 1 in the group.
Compared to the fraud Lin Xu, this guy did have some real skills. He was slightly younger than the age stated in Lin Xu's profile, a local from the capital, still studying in the United States. His family's background was genuinely good.
His appearance was quite debonair and very fashionable. He was never shy about sharing his life on Moments, and almost every selfie showed off his superior profile, usually with sunglasses on.
After all, his frontal view was indeed much more ordinary.
Such qualities were enough to attract many admirers. He believed that his popularity was only lower than Lin Xu's because he had joined the group more recently. Nuo Xi would never admit that he was less attractive than others. In his opinion, temperament was more important than looks.
Additionally, he suspected that Lin Xu was a fraud because he rarely posted on his Moments. The fact that so many fools fell for it made him even more annoyed.
In real life, Nuo Xi never lacked for partners, and they were all attractive and elegant 0s.
Lin Xu had never offended him, but Nuo Xi couldn’t stand Lin Xu, especially since the latter still had so many people pining for him even though he already had a boyfriend.
During a group chat, he questioned, “I don’t get it. What kind of spell has he cast on you all? He’s already got a younger boyfriend, and you’re still obsessed with him. Guess we’re just not good enough (laughs).” It sounded like a joke.
“As if you’d be interested in us. You’re so young, it’s dangerous, isn’t it? Why else would there be so many single members in the group?” The group members flirted a little, giving Nuo Xi some face. Apart from Amour, Nuo Xi was now the most eligible single 1.
“Tsk, I like older guys, but it seems I’m not very popular~ (pouting).” Nuo Xi also sent a meme he made with his own photo, looking both wolfish and innocent, which was indeed quite charming.
“Aren’t you still in school? Dating might interfere with your studies…”
Everyone knew that Nuo Xi was studying abroad. Although they hadn’t heard of his school, they subconsciously assumed it was a good one.
"Not at all, I’m mainly here to feast (grinning)." As he spoke, Nuo Xi shared a photo of his lunch, which he had at a Western restaurant near his school.
"This restaurant is affordable and delicious. If you all come here for a trip, you can count on me to be your tour guide~"
It was only after some casual chat with the group members that he revealed that a meal there cost several hundred dollars.
If converted to yuan, it was equivalent to a few thousand, giving the group a new understanding of how wealthy he was.
Gradually, the group’s focus shifted. Sure, Amour claimed to be well-off, but they had never seen Amour share anything about his daily life. Was he lying? Plus, he was already taken… In comparison, wasn’t this younger guy, Nuo Xi, more appealing?
Gu Jinzhi just watched him show off in silence. After a long pause, he kicked the desk in silent frustration, muttering, "Damn, I hate show-offs the most."
Though Gu Jinzhi wasn’t a big fan of studying, he knew well that Nuo Xi’s school wasn’t great. The tuition was genuinely expensive, but using that to prove his superiority was unnecessary.
Plus, flaunting a single meal was just tacky.
Most importantly, why did Nuo Xi feel the need to belittle Amour in his remarks?
Although Gu Jinzhi knew well that Amour was probably just an ordinary guy who had packaged himself up a bit to scam others of money, he wasn’t deceiving anyone else — just him.
Besides, since he had money, it was not Nuo Xi's place to belittle Amour to elevate his own status.
Thus, Gu Jinzhi fired back with full force, "You're not being humble at all. That school is quite mediocre. Hmm… is it because you couldn’t get into a university in China?"
Gu Jinzhi wasn't as good at studying as his older brother, or rather, he was far worse. But in his final year of high school, he was forced to study hard for a year and eventually got into a 985 university in the capital.
Of course, he never saw this as an advantage, and others also overlooked the fact that the second young master of the Gu family was only considered academically lazy when compared to his older brother.
Naturally, by now, he had already forgotten most of what he learned in school…
Gu Jinzhi’s image in the group had always been that of an unreasonable firecracker, constantly butting in everywhere. So when he started mocking, no one initially realized he was standing up for Amour. They just thought he was being his usual self.
After all, Nuo Xi was studying abroad, and his family was indeed wealthy.
They all thought Gu Jinzhi was just being jealous.
Nuo Xi was very pleased with all the compliments and couldn't stop smiling. But when he saw Zhizhi Mangmang's remarks, he felt extremely insulted.
Nuo Xi knew well that he was sent abroad just to gild his resume because he lacked real skills. Being exposed like this naturally infuriated him.
"Uh, you can criticize me, but speaking ill of my alma mater is quite rude. Besides, which university do you attend? Let’s hear it."
Gu Jinzhi snorted coldly, about to reply, when he suddenly remembered he was pretending to be a university student.
He didn't think it was childish of a 24-year-old to argue with a university student. He typed furiously, his face serious with anger, even ignoring the contract he was supposed to sign.
"I'm not low enough to show off. Mind your own business. I'm better than you, that's all. Next time, don't subtly drag others into it." Otherwise, Gu Jinzhi wouldn't have bothered to step in.
"Are you afraid? Hehe, no matter how mediocre I am, I'm better than some coward." Nuo Xi's confidence grew, convinced that Zhizhi Mangmang was inferior, probably attending some third-rate university.
Today, if he didn’t thoroughly disgrace Gu Jinzhi, he’d face doubts in the group in the future.
With that in mind, Nuo Xi impulsively posted his all-English coursework in the group. It was an assignment from his English class, completely forgetting it had been done by a ghostwriter.
Anyway, they wouldn’t understand, and no one knew.
Taunting Gu Jinzhi, he said, "At least I can complete this level of work. Can you even understand the questions?"
To be honest, most of Gu Jinzhi’s setbacks were online. In real life, no one dared to offend the Second Young Master Gu. Online, he never revealed his identity, acting like a reckless keyboard warrior. As he often said, he hated show-offs the most.
There had even been instances where some netizens bragged about having two rental properties while battling him.
Gu Jinzhi sneered inwardly. He could buy several buildings like that.
But he still preferred to tirelessly engage in these arguments rather than reveal his true status. After all, Gu Jinzhi's intention was always just to vent his frustration at these idiots, not to flaunt his power.
"Funny, just wait." Gu Jinzhi was genuinely irritated by him. He couldn’t answer the questions himself since he had graduated years ago, but he knew plenty of people who could.
So, Second Young Master Gu, instead of working and making money, made a call to the company's department manager. "Get all the top recruits of this year to my office." Doing homework? Let them do it brilliantly.
It was absurdly childish, and all for the sake of standing up for Amour.
"Whoever finishes the fastest and best will get a promotion tomorrow." Gu Jinzhi rested his chin on his hand, staring seriously at the few people who entered his office.
They looked like they had seen a ghost. They initially thought it was some sort of assessment. Why were they suddenly doing homework?
However, the temptation was great, so they immediately started typing on their laptops.
Gu Jinzhi hadn’t responded for several minutes, and the group members were getting rowdy, never expecting that two university students would battle it out with schoolwork. It was amusing.
Even though they couldn’t understand the homework, it didn’t stop them from enjoying the show.
Someone asked, "With all this commotion, where is Amour? Isn’t he going to defend his boyfriend?"
Amour's influence was still there. Someone quickly responded, "Doesn’t he work during the day? He’s probably in a meeting or something. He can't watch his boyfriend all the time. Besides, it's just a game, it's not like they have deep feelings for each other."
"Honestly, if my partner acted like Zhizhi Mangmang, I’d be embarrassed. He just have to pick a fight with an international student for no reason."
The more Gu Jinzhi read, the angrier he got. But this time, he didn’t believe that Amour was embarrassed. He figured Amour, the old-fashioned guy, probably wasn’t using his phone.
Compared to these group members, Gu Jinzhi naturally favored Amour more.
The crisp sound of leather shoes striking the chair legs echoed as the employees diligently worked on the tasks. It wasn’t difficult for them, just a bit sudden. Plus, foreign languages were always a tool in their work, and setting questions in a specific language required looking up some information.
Just then, Gu Jinzhi's phone buzzed with a private message.
It was from Amour, a whole page in English, looking suspiciously like the answers to the homework.
Gu Jinzhi was stunned. "?"
"Answers," Lin Xu succinctly replied, awkwardly tugging at the leaves beside his head.
He was sitting in a secluded bush near the path to the school clinic, where no one would find him skipping class. The only problem was that the leaves were itching his neck. The teaching building wasn't too far from here, and he could occasionally hear the sound of students studying.
Lin Xu also had to stay alert for any security guards. He didn’t want to be caught and embarrassed.
Feigning illness to skip class was something Lin Xu never wanted anyone to know about.
From the moment the incident started, Lin Xu had been quickly converting speech to text to input the answers. He knew it was childish to argue over this, but given that Zhizhi Mangmang was the one being questioned, there was no more direct solution.
Fortunately, Nuo Xi had posted an assignment from his language class, so Lin Xu didn’t need much preparation.
Who's the student here, you or me?
This was Gu Jinzhi's biggest question. He never expected his partner to have this ability, but he didn’t doubt it. Instead, he felt a faint happiness.
Amour had noticed. Rather than getting upset about being criticized, he was focused on Gu Jinzhi.
"You need to study well and not be so impulsive. You don’t need to pay attention to them." Anyone could see that Nuo Xi was out of line. He didn’t even know Gu Jinzhi’s major and had pushed him to this point. Someone with Gu Jinzhi’s personality was sure to resist. Not being fluent in English didn’t mean anything. If Gu Jinzhi didn’t plan to go abroad, there was no need to study it deeply. Knowing some basic conversational English would be enough for occasional trips abroad.
"Oh… but they ganged up on me. Luckily, you didn’t ignore it (happy twirl)." Gu Jinzhi sent this cheesy message with gritted teeth, but his lips was curled into a smile. He didn’t feel foolish. He was genuinely happy.
Lin Xu's head ached. He had no idea how to respond. Was Zhizhi Mangmang flirting? He found it quite unsettling.
In fact, Lin Xu had always struggled with Gu Jinzhi’s style and was even more afraid of suggesting they end their relationship.
He figured he’d help this cannon fodder, at least until he was sure the male lead had no chance of further entanglement with Zhizhi Mangmang.
"By the way, he made a lot of mistakes…" Lin Xu changed the subject, opting to simply point out each errors to Gu Jinzhi via voice message. This was basically giving the green light for Gu Jinzhi to unleash his full fury on Nuo Xi later. After all, Nuo Xi’s behavior wasn’t exactly honorable.
The more Gu Jinzhi listened, the more astonished he became. On one hand, he marveled at how youthful and pleasant Amour's voice sounded for his age. On the other, he was surprised by Amour's proficiency in English. This was far beyond the level needed for ordering food abroad.
Moreover, Amour didn’t correct Nuo Xi directly in the group chat but instead shared the information with him, essentially setting him up for a triumphant comeback.
With Lin Xu’s help, Gu Jinzhi, after a moment of preparation, energetically launched into the group chat, delivering arguments with confidence and clarity.
Initially, the group couldn’t discern who was more competent. But as Nuo Xi began to falter and couldn’t explain himself, it became clear that Gu Jinzhi was indeed superior.
When he took on the challenge, he truly delivered, earning newfound respect. Additionally, it became apparent that Nuo Xi was not as competent as he seemed.
Without even needing the office’s top recruits, Gu Jinzhi felt immensely satisfied. This was the first time he had won so decisively and commandingly. He felt like he could eat two extra bowls of rice for dinner.
Toward the end, Lin Xu privately messaged him, suggesting, "Actually... we could leave the group." He felt there was no need to stay, as he disliked the constant bickering and drama.
"Ah… no!" Gu Jinzhi was stunned before firmly refusing. He was shocked that Lin Xu would even consider leaving, especially since Lin Xu was quite popular in the group and could still scam others in the future.
Was it for his sake? Leaving the group together... it sounded a bit romantic.
But Gu Jinzhi couldn’t bear to leave. He wanted to stay and enjoy the ongoing drama, otherwise his life would be so boring. He wasn't worried about Lin Xu targeting someone else either. A quick glance showed that no one in the group was wealthier than him, giving him immense confidence.
"Oh..." Lin Xu fell silent again. He didn’t really understand Zhizhi Mangmang. But now that the issue was resolved, Lin Xu turned off his phone, planning to pretend he was returning from the shool clinic to PE class.
Just as he was about to rise from the bushes, he looked up and found himself face-to-face with a security guard. Both were silent for a moment.
The security guard then sternly asked, "What are you doing here during class time, student?"
"I..." Lin Xu clenched his school uniform, his pale neck flushing red.
