Chapter 299 - 298: Still Can’t Save the Hairline

Chapter 299: Chapter 298: Still Can’t Save the Hairline

"Say it all at once? Was I not clear enough? Fine, I’ll say it again!"

The phone wasn’t on speaker.

But the voice from the earpiece was so loud that even Shi Tiexin could hear it crystal clear. Shi Tiexin guessed the person on the other end practiced some kind of sonic martial art, like the Lion’s Roar, and must have a very high cultivation level.

"My requirements are simple..."

There seemed to be the sound of an inhale from the earpiece, a slight pause, and then—

"The classical elements can’t be stereotypical, the modern can’t be frivolous. The sense of technology must blend with elegance, and the feeling of luxury can’t be too extravagant."

"It needs a fresh, approachable feel, but it can’t look too homespun or ordinary. It needs to inspire a sense of lofty admiration, but it can’t seem too arrogant or distant."

"The color palette must be bold, but not too aggressive."

"The composition must be meticulous, but not too conservative."

"You must thicken the sorrow to bring out a sudden twist of brightness!"

"You must water the joy to cultivate a profound sense of humanistic care!"

Listening to this tirade, Shi Tiexin felt his own grasp of rhetoric was about to level up. He turned his head to the receptionist auntie. "Is the client for this job a literature teacher?"

The receptionist auntie replied with a gentle smile, "It’s for Old Tang’s Stinky Tofu shop."

The young man on the phone was about to break down. His voice was as mournful as a cicada in late autumn. "Sir, you just want a menu for your new stinky tofu! A menu! How am I supposed to thicken and water it?!"

The voice on the other end of the line exploded in volume. "That’s your problem! You’re the designer! If you can’t even do something this simple, it just means you’re incompetent! Le Keke Design Company is nothing special after all!"

The young man made one last, futile attempt. "No, um, could you please take another look at the eighth version I sent? I thought version eight was pretty good, quite creative. Or was I overthinking it?"

"I allow you to have ideas, but what I want is a flash of philosophical insight, like a single spark. Talent that transcends time and space, praised by all, past and present. Weave it into the menu, so that when customers see it, they can see a vibrant, brilliant aura."

"But you... what is this thing you’ve given me? It’s like you took a pile of shit and smeared it on a white piece of paper! It’s too stinky to smell, too ugly to look at, just filthy and vile!"

"It’s like a glob of phlegm stuck in my throat! The moment I see it, the moment I think of it, I just want to— hock~~~~~ PTUI!"

Pure contempt surged through the sound waves and directly into his brain. The young man let out an inhuman scream and started practicing the "Forehead Iron Head" style by banging his head against the company wall. BANG! BANG!

Xiaozhang was completely stunned, the kind of dog-like, dumbfounded stupor.

He’d never imagined that the work environment for such glamorous business elites was actually like this.

The receptionist auntie shook her head with a sigh of regret. "Still too young, can’t handle the pressure. I had high hopes for his hair volume, too. Now it looks like he’ll be bald within half a month."

Still in disbelief, Xiaozhang asked, "Ma’am, isn’t there anyone who *doesn’t* go bald? I see their cultivation levels are all very high. Can’t all that skill save their hairlines?"

"Cultivation?" The auntie suddenly gave a strange laugh. "Heh heh!"

"HRAAAAAAAGH!" At that moment, another powerful roar erupted, accompanied by a sound like rain beating on banana leaves. Xiaozhang flinched and quickly looked over. In one of the cubicles, a young man with a full head of hair was typing.

He looked to be in his twenties, his eyes practically flattened against the screen, his entire body radiating a hysterical aura. His ten fingers flew across the keyboard, and the document on the screen extended rapidly at a speed of twenty miles per hour.

Xiaozhang quickly pointed. "Ma’am, ma’am, look! There’s one! He’s skilled and he has hair!"

"Oh, you mean Xiaozhao," the auntie said with the composure of a seasoned master. "His Thousand Wind Finger has a decent level of mastery. But he’s far from truly skilled. There are plenty of people more skilled than him."

CLACKETY-CLACK-CLACKETY-CLACK!

An even more intense typing sound rang out. The man sitting at the very front of the row of cubicles was blazing away at forty miles per hour.

This man was in his thirties, with a straight back, dressed in a sharp suit and tie. He had a perm that was fluffy but not particularly voluminous. Sitting bolt upright, he was clearly more composed and stylish than the hysterical Xiaozhao.

Xiaozhang immediately pointed again. "Hey, hey, that guy is obviously way more skilled!"

The auntie calmly gestured as if commanding an army. "That’s Section Chief Wang. He’s skilled, no doubt. A while back, after working overtime for fifty-eight consecutive days, he had a breakthrough and ascended to the Sharp Qi Realm. He’s much stronger than Xiaozhao. However, he still has too much hair left, which means his cultivation still needs more polishing, more tempering."

Xiaozhang was captivated. ’I think he’s already amazing...’

As soon as he finished his thought, a new sound erupted. BANG-BANG-PAP-PAP-BANG-BANG-PAP-PAP!

Hearing this, even Shi Tiexin couldn’t help but tense up, because the sound was just like several submachine guns firing at once. He turned his head and saw a middle-aged man in his forties, also typing, at a large, separate desk in a strategically important position.

That speed was insane! Shi Tiexin could no longer even see the shape of the man’s fingers.

He could only see the middle-aged man twisting in his leather chair in all sorts of positions—sideways, lounging, crooked, leaning, reclining, slumping—but the motion of his hands never faltered as he typed something out at a steady eighty miles per hour.

"Look, that’s Minister Sun. Now *that’s* what you call profound mastery of the Thousand Wind Finger. He’s reached the point of effortless perfection."

Just as the auntie was praising him, the middle-aged man took full control with one hand, while his other hand casually lifted a cup of coffee delivered by a young lady with a swaying waist. He took a long slurp, then stared at the young lady’s butt for a good while. The entire time, his typing speed was completely unaffected.

"He really is a master!" Even Shi Tiexin was envious. "I want that kind of hand speed too."

"Power must be exchanged for hair. How can you possibly get stronger without paying the price of a receding hairline? Look at Minister Sun. Five years ago, he was still perming and dyeing his hair like Section Chief Wang. Now, look at him, he’s given up completely. Once the six senses are pure, one’s progress will naturally be swift and violent. See? He’s already a master at the High Stage of Sharpness."

Xiaozhang touched his own full head of hair, torn between his yearning for the power of Sharp Qi and his anguish over the pain of hair loss. He was in a dilemma. "Ma’am, how can this be? Even the High Stage of Sharpness can’t save your own hair?"

"Sharp Qi isn’t some hair-growth tonic! Besides, even if it had that effect, so what?" The auntie was really getting into the conversation. "Let me tell you, the most powerful person in this company is President Chen, at the Peak of Sharpness. I heard he practices the Rejuvenation Technique, and he’s extremely serious and dedicated to it. Guess what the effect was?"

Xiaozhang swallowed hard. "What was it?"

"A total dead zone. Not a single blade of grass can grow." The auntie smacked Xiaozhang on the back—WHAP! The steady force of the blow made Xiaozhang shrink by a foot. "Listen up, kid. No matter how high your skill, it can’t save your hairline!"