"Bang—"
The darkness lasted only a second before the light from the lighter illuminated the small space in the elevator once again.
Then Wang Xuewei saw that the two burly men who were about to pounce on Zhou Ziwei were now sitting on the ground. If that were all, it would be fine... but what was funny was that the two men were in an extremely comical position. The man on the left was tightly gripping the neck of the man on the right, while the man on the right was hitting the bridge of the nose of the man on the left with one hand and reaching between the legs of the man on the left with the other.
The two remained frozen in that pose, staring blankly at each other, before suddenly realizing that their target wasn't the meddlesome stranger, but their companion. They both cried out in unison and hurriedly withdrew their hands.
The two men had been quite ruthless just now. Although they had stopped, the man on the right was foaming at the mouth and rolling his eyes back, while the man on the left was rubbing his numb nose and clutching his twitching penis, his face covered in snot and tears from the pain.
The only man who hadn't made a move was completely stunned. He rushed over to support the two men and asked in surprise, "You... what just happened...?"
"Damn... that guy is so sneaky. He just happened to put out his lighter right when we started fighting, so we didn't see clearly and ended up fighting each other... Old Xu, you beat him up for me..."
The unfortunate guy whose peaches were stolen by his buddy looked pitifully at the only one of the three brothers who still had some fighting ability, with snot and tears streaming down his face, waiting expectantly for him to avenge him.
"Ah... I..." That guy wasn't exactly a good person to begin with, but this wasn't his own little territory after all. When you're out and about, you can't afford to cause trouble, otherwise he probably would have charged up there with those two brothers.
The unlucky guy from before naturally knew what the other guy was hesitating about, so he quickly encouraged him, saying, "Don't be afraid of anything. You know, my uncle works in the government secretariat and can talk to the municipal party secretary. As long as you don't give any orders today, I can guarantee you'll be fine. And that matter of yours... I'll take care of it. I guarantee you won't be let down."
After hearing those words from the unlucky guy, the guy finally became less restrained, especially after the unlucky guy's last sentence, which made him even more excited.
After all, he came to Yongfeng this time to handle a rather difficult matter. Once that matter is accomplished, his future will be smooth sailing, and it will be difficult for him not to prosper.
Now that the unlucky guy has guaranteed to get things done, he has no more hesitation. For that matter, he'd be willing to be arrested and spend a few days in jail.
Thinking of this, the guy gritted his teeth, nodded heavily at the unlucky fellow, then stood up, glared with his bull-like eyes, and viciously pounced on Zhou Ziwei...
"Pfft—" But just as the guy lunged at Zhou Ziwei, the lighter in Zhou Ziwei's hand went out again, plunging the surroundings into darkness once more. Then, two pitiful screams echoed from the darkness, followed by a series of loud thuds. The entire elevator seemed to shake violently in mid-air, and then there were two sounds of people falling to the ground...
"Huh...why is it so quiet? Did they both suffer heavy losses?"
The two brothers who were injured first were overjoyed. They just wanted to vent their anger. They didn't care whether their old classmate was also beaten up. In fact, they secretly hoped that after their classmate finished venting their anger, he would also get injured like them, so that it would show how much their brotherhood was in each other's shoes.
Otherwise, if the three of them were to ride the elevator together, and the two of them were almost crippled by someone, while their old classmate from out of town was completely unharmed, it would be too embarrassing for them.
This time, after a long while, no light came on again, which made the two brothers even happier. If that guy hadn't passed out yet, they would have definitely set his broken lighter on fire again. Now that there was no movement for so long, it was easy to imagine... even if that guy wasn't unconscious, he probably couldn't even move his fingers.
Wang Xuewei clearly thought the same thing, but she couldn't feel happy at all. Thinking that the man had offended those three people and brought this trouble upon himself because he was helping him, she felt extremely guilty and couldn't help but ask in a trembling voice, "Sir, are you... are you alright? Can you hear me?"
“I’m fine…I’m okay…” Zhou Ziwei stood at the other end of the elevator and answered with a smile.
Among the souls he had absorbed, one had studied ventriloquism. Although he wasn't proficient in the art and wasn't even qualified to perform on stage, he could easily change his voice using ventriloquism techniques. So Zhou Ziwei didn't need to worry that Wang Xuewei would recognize him from his voice.
"Ah...you're really alright, that's great."
Wang Xuewei exclaimed in surprise, then asked suspiciously, "But... then why didn't you light the lighter again?"
"Yeah... If you had nothing to do, would you stop using that broken lighter of yours? Hehe... I bet you can't even stand up right now, can you? Don't try to act tough with me, you'll see later."
The unlucky guy naturally didn't believe Zhou Ziwei was unharmed. Just now, their old classmate had pounced on Zhou Ziwei all by himself, and there was no one else around. Even if he suddenly couldn't see anything, he couldn't possibly have hit the wrong person again. And there were two other sounds of people falling down just now, so it would be strange if Zhou Ziwei wasn't injured...
"Oh... the lighter burned for too long and is now broken, it won't light..." Zhou Ziwei said, pressing the lighter a few times, making a "pop" sound. A tiny blue light from the lighter's electronic ignition flashed in the darkness, but the lighter still wouldn't light.
"Oh... I'm glad you're alright, but... just now I heard what sounded like two people fell down? Are you... are you really okay?" Wang Xuewei asked, still a little worried. Just then, the fluorescent lights above the elevator flickered a few times and then suddenly lit up.
Immediately afterwards, the elevator emitted a soft "hum" and started moving again...
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 196: Beat Him Up
"The phone is ringing—"
Wang Xuewei and the two brothers who were injured first felt the blinding light come on and cheered in unison. However, their shouts stopped abruptly because they saw that Zhou Ziwei was still standing in the same spot. Not only had he not fallen down, but his clothes were also perfectly wrinkle-free. He didn't look like he had just been in a fight at all.
There were indeed two people lying on the ground, but one of them was Fang Jiawei, who had been hiding in the corner like a woman. All three of them were dumbfounded. At first, Wang Xuewei didn't think that Fang Jiawei had finally had a change of heart and rushed over to help the kind person, which was why he was knocked down. But then she realized that wasn't the case at all, because Fang Jiawei had been hiding in that corner the whole time, and he was still lying in that corner. If he had wanted to help that person, why would he still be standing there?
The two who were injured first immediately flew into a rage. The unlucky guy even questioned him in a vicious tone: "Hey Lao Xu, are you an idiot? I told you to deal with this kid, why were you fighting that moron over there? You motherfucker, are you trying to disgust me to death? Fine... your plan is completely ruined, you'll never be able to get it done in this lifetime."
"Ah...no!"
The guy named Lao Xu touched the big bump on his forehead and struggled to get up, but as soon as he raised his head, he felt dizzy and immediately fell back down.
But he didn't forget to explain to the unfortunate guy, "I...I don't know what happened either. Just now...just now I was clearly going to pounce on that guy and beat him up, to avenge you, buddy. And...I think I even grabbed him and gave him a couple of hard blows, but...I wasn't careful, I used too much force and crashed into the wall, so...but now how...how come the guy I took down has become this sissy? What...what happened? I...I didn't realize I turned a corner halfway through the fight?"
The unlucky guy was stunned for a moment before nodding and saying, "You mean... you just lunged at the person in front of you and knocked them down, but... now you realize that the person was originally behind you? And you yourself... inexplicably ended up at the back..."
Upon hearing this, Old Xu nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, yes... that's exactly it. You have such good comprehension skills, you saw through the essence of the matter right away."
"I'll see through your mother's head!" the unlucky guy suddenly roared in fury. He then gestured to the other guy, gritted his teeth, and said, "Qiangzi, Old Xu is clearly playing us. Let's beat him up..."
"Yeah, beat him up." The guy named Qiangzi also waved his fist indignantly and said, "Old Xu thinks we two brothers are brain-dead, that he would make up such an unreliable lie... Beat him up... This time we must beat him until his mother doesn't even recognize him."
So the two guys, who were already badly injured, immediately dragged their broken bodies, roared, and rushed over to fight their old classmate. They fought until the sky darkened and the sun and moon lost their light...
After a few minutes of pausing, the elevator finally came to a safe stop on the first floor. The three people who had been entangled suddenly jumped up like rabbits and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving Wang Xuewei, who was standing to the side, stunned.
Zhou Ziwei bent down and picked up Wang Xuewei's handbag, handing it to her with a gentlemanly air, and said with a slight smile, "Is this your bag?"
"Oh... thank you." Wang Xuewei hurriedly took the bag from him, then turned around and saw that the three men had already run out of the hotel. But when she looked at Fang Jiawei lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious, she immediately frowned and said, "That's too much... I need to call the police immediately. Sir, if the police come to investigate and collect evidence, could you please be a witness for me?"
Zhou Ziwei shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Didn't you hear what that guy just said? His uncle works in the government secretariat and can talk to the municipal party secretary. Do you think we out-of-towners will get any results here besides wasting our time suing them? Sorry... I have an appointment with my friend at the Royal Palace Hotel. My friend is probably getting impatient by now. I really don't have time to accompany you in your lawsuit... Hehe... See you later."
After saying goodbye to Wang Xuewei, Zhou Ziwei deliberately pretended to be a little impatient and prepared to leave.
The reason he mentioned going to the Royal Palace Hotel first was because he was afraid that if Wang Xuewei saw him there, she would subconsciously think that Zhou Ziwei was following her. In that case, it would not only be difficult for her to get along with Zhou Ziwei, but she would probably become more wary of him.
However, since Zhou Ziwei had already stated his destination before her, this problem would not arise at all.
"Ah...you're going too..."
Wang Xuewei subconsciously responded. She had originally wanted to say that she was also going to the Royal Palace Hotel, but then she realized that she and the man in front of her did not know each other. If she said that she was going to the Royal Palace Hotel after he said that he was going there, he might think that she was trying to get close to him... Although he had just helped her, she did not want such a misunderstanding to occur.
So Wang Xuewei could only shake her head helplessly and say, "Since that's the case... then forget it. Sir, please go ahead if you have something to do! I... I'm afraid I need to take my colleague to the hospital first."
Upon hearing that Zhou Ziwei was going to the Royal Palace Hotel, Wang Xuewei suddenly remembered that she had important business to attend to tonight. If she missed Mr. Yue's banquet because of the lawsuit with these three scoundrels, then Mr. Yue might get angry and things would become even more complicated.
So, although she was somewhat indignant, she could only choose to temporarily stop pursuing those three people. After all, she understood that one of them was a local and seemed to have quite a bit of influence. This lawsuit was already difficult to win, and the three people she was going to sue were all in a bad state. If she really went to sue them, she might end up being falsely accused by them. So, she decided to give up.
Just thinking about Fang Jiawei's current state, and the fact that he definitely can't accompany her to Mr. Yue's banquet, and that she, a woman, would have to face those men's fierce gazes alone, makes her heart pound just thinking about it.
However, she absolutely had to attend today's event, because whether Xinda Chemical could successfully launch its new project depended entirely on this one occasion. If she really messed things up, the consequences would be unimaginable... So no matter how scared she was, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and go. Moreover, Fang Jiawei, despite his usual respectable demeanor in front of her, was a complete coward when things actually went wrong. The scene in the elevator just now was proof of that. Therefore, Wang Xuewei knew that even if she brought Fang Jiawei to the banquet today, it probably wouldn't make any difference.
More than forty minutes later, Wang Xuewei finally arrived at the entrance of the Royal Palace Hotel by taxi. After getting out of the car, she looked up at the dreamlike antique-style building in front of her and her expression was slightly dazed.
Wang Xuewei started helping her father manage his business at a young age, so she was no longer the naive and foolish little girl she once was. She had seen all sorts of faces in the business world and had a clear understanding of people.
Wang Xuewei could naturally guess what Mr. Yue was up to by repeatedly making things difficult for her. She was afraid that once she entered the Royal Palace Hotel today, she would never be able to leave. But she had no choice. For the future of Xinda Daily Chemicals, she had no choice but to take this gamble.
Of course... she wouldn't let that guy surnamed Yue succeed, so she had already made preparations... Reaching out to touch the exquisite dagger in her handbag, Wang Xuewei's mood immediately calmed down a lot.
Having finally calmed down, Wang Xuewei took a step forward and quickly walked towards the entrance of the Royal Palace Hotel.
She was already a little late, and hoped that Mr. Yue wouldn't use that as an excuse to make trouble...
Just as Wang Xuewei was about to reach the entrance of the Royal Palace Hotel, she suddenly saw a man stagger out of the building. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than the man who had helped her in the elevator earlier.
"Huh... what are you doing here?"
Zhou Ziwei pretended to bump into Wang Xuewei in front of the hotel, and then asked her a question with feigned suspicion.
"Oh...actually, I also made an appointment to have dinner here...well, it's a business friend."
When Zhou Ziwei asked, Wang Xuewei quickly explained, "My colleague and I were originally planning to come to the banquet together, but who knew we'd run into that kind of thing in the elevator, which delayed us quite a bit... Um... Sir, how come you came out so quickly? Did you finish your business?"
Zhou Ziwei shook his head, looking disappointed, and said, "No... my friend had something come up and can't make it. Honestly... that guy is so rude. He lied and said he'd treat me to a nice meal tonight, and I haven't even had lunch yet. I was looking forward to having a good meal tonight, and now look what happened..."
Wang Xuewei couldn't help but chuckle softly upon hearing this, but immediately realized how impolite she was and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She glanced at Zhou Ziwei worriedly, and seeing that he didn't seem angry, she relaxed slightly. Then, a thought suddenly struck her, and she said, "Ah... sir, you helped me so much just now, and I should have treated you to a meal to thank you. But today I have to attend a business dinner hosted by a friend. How about this? I told my friend that I would come with my colleague tonight, but as you know, my colleague... can't make it, and you haven't eaten yet. So... you could pretend to be my colleague for now and come in with me to the dinner, okay?"
Wang Xuewei felt her words were absurd, but she was also filled with anticipation. For some reason, when she saw the man in front of her, she felt a sense of familiarity and closeness. This feeling was inexplicable, but she believed that the man in front of her would never harm her.
Moreover, if this person is really willing to accompany her to the banquet, it would definitely be a hundred times better than Fang Jiawei accompanying her.
In the elevator, when they were complete strangers, this man was willing to stand up for her, a complete stranger. Now, after what just happened... they must be somewhat familiar with each other, right? If anything unexpected happens at the banquet later, I believe he'll be even less likely to stand by and watch someone die.
Zhou Ziwei hesitated slightly before saying, "Asking me to pretend to be your colleague... isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
Seeing that Zhou Ziwei seemed somewhat interested, Wang Xuewei quickly said, "There's nothing wrong with it. It's just a meal, and you don't need to say anything. If anyone asks, I'll just say you're new to our company. Oh... by the way, may I ask your surname, sir? And where do you work?"
Zhou Ziwei said "Oh" and replied, "My name is Zhang Jiayang. I'm a freelance marketer... Hehe, which means I don't have a fixed company. I sell whatever makes money."
"So Mr. Zhang, you are a freelance marketer. That's great!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Xuewei immediately said excitedly, "In that case, I can formally invite you to join our Xinda Daily Chemicals company. Although our company was not large to begin with, we are currently developing a product with very promising market prospects. Once this new product is launched, it may cause a sensation in the entire market. Hmm... Mr. Zhang, as long as all the conditions are met, I can promise to give you the marketing agency rights for a certain region of this new product. In that case... wouldn't you be considered one of our company's employees? Then, there shouldn't be any other problems with you coming to the banquet with me, right?"
As she spoke, Wang Xuewei took out her business card and handed it to Zhou Ziwei. She then gave him a brief overview of Xinda Daily Chemicals. As for their flagship product, the vaporized laundry detergent, which had not yet been officially launched, it was still considered a trade secret. Although Wang Xuewei trusted that this man wouldn't betray her, she didn't go into details about the vaporized laundry detergent. She only mentioned that Xinda Daily Chemicals' newly developed product would fill a gap in the daily chemical industry and make them a new leader in the sector…
Zhou Ziwei naturally understood what she was talking about. After pretending to hesitate for a moment, he finally agreed to Wang Xuewei's request. He then followed Wang Xuewei into the Royal Palace Hotel as a new employee of Xinda Daily Chemicals.
As soon as the two entered the hotel, Wang Xuewei's phone rang. When she answered it, it was indeed Mr. Yue urging her again. Wang Xuewei quickly apologized and said that she had arrived at the destination. Then she hung up the phone and took the elevator with Zhou Ziwei.
Mr. Yue booked a luxurious private room in the Royal Palace Hotel. The room was located on the top floor, so the two of them had to take the elevator up.
There were quite a few guests in the hotel at this time, but coincidentally, there were no other passengers in their elevator; the two of them were the only ones in the entire elevator.
The Royal Palace Hotel has 38 floors in total. It takes quite a while to get from the first floor to the 38th floor in the elevator.
Wang Xuewei stood somewhat awkwardly in the elevator, glancing at the floor number displayed every now and then, feeling as if each day was an eternity.
"Don't worry! There shouldn't be any more power outages this time."
Seeing this, Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but laugh and joked, "But now there are only the two of us in the elevator, so you'd better watch out for me. If I'm a wolf in sheep's clothing, you'll be in big trouble."
Upon hearing this, Wang Xuewei subconsciously took a step to the side and said with a wry smile, "Okay, Mr. Zhang, we're colleagues now... Please don't scare me like that, okay?"
Zhou Ziwei chuckled and didn't say anything more. He didn't want to really scare Wang Xuewei, otherwise things would get messy...
Finally, they arrived at the thirty-eighth floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Zhou Ziwei saw a plump, middle-aged man standing outside. Upon seeing Wang Xuewei emerge from the elevator, the man immediately flashed a disgusting smile, laughing as he extended his hand to her, saying, "Miss Wang, haha...it's really not easy to treat you to a meal...Welcome, welcome...Look, Yongfeng's catering industry is even more developed than the mainland, isn't it? This Royal Palace Hotel is helmed by descendants of genuine Qing Dynasty imperial chefs, serving authentic imperial cuisine. You'd better have a good taste later..."
Seeing the fat man's lewd smile, Zhou Ziwei had an urge to go up and knock him down and beat him up. Seeing that the fat man wanted to shake hands with Wang Xuewei, it would have been fine if he hadn't been there, but now that he was here, he naturally wouldn't let the fat man take advantage of him.
He, as the husband, hasn't even held his wife's hand yet, so why should someone else hold his wife's hand?
Zhou Ziwei quickly stepped forward, blocking Wang Xuewei's path, grabbed the fat man's hand, and said with a laugh, "This must be Boss Yue, right? It's a pleasure to meet you... My name is Zhang Jiayang, and I'm Ms. Wang's colleague. It's truly an honor to meet Boss Yue!"
Mr. Yue's smile froze upon seeing this, but seeing the man warmly shaking his hand, he couldn't very well shoo him away immediately. He could only force a smile and say, "Ah... so it's Mr. Zhang. Oh... Miss Wang, weren't you with a Mr. Fang this time? Why are you here, Mr. Zhang..."
"Oh... I just joined Xinda Chemical not long ago, and I'm also a small shareholder of Xinda Daily Chemical. This matter is quite important, and our chairman was worried that Ms. Wang couldn't handle it alone, so he specially sent me here... Hehe... I don't think Mr. Yue will make things difficult for us in this matter, right?"
When Wang Xuewei heard Zhou Ziwei claim to be a minor shareholder of Xinda Daily Chemicals, she couldn't help but frown slightly, feeling a little displeased...
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 197: Showing No Face