The gilded chandelier rotated at a steady pace, casting shifting golden light and shadows in the hall. The light momentarily blinded Wen Zheng, causing him to squint for a second. He continued walking into the small hall without stopping, while the crowd suddenly fell silent.
He walked to a corner, basking in the gaze of everyone, and took a glass of wine from a waiter, completely bewildered.
"Wen Zheng...brother?" Li Xiaoting suppressed her excitement, pretending to be dignified as she walked over, her face occasionally contorting: "You're so so so so handsome..."
"?" Wen Zheng politely replied, "You are very beautiful too."
About fifty colleagues came. Since we agreed to have dinner, we didn't have an overly extravagant cold dish party. Instead, we set up five round tables, and the dishes should be served later.
Although I entered a seemingly high-end environment, most of my colleagues were just ordinary employees, and I didn't adapt well. Wearing formal attire didn't make me look like a prince.
Wearing a pink off-shoulder dress, Li Xiaoting waved her hands repeatedly, her face turning red: "Really, no, I borrowed all my clothes. I'm not used to wearing heels that are too high, they feel so awkward... Look at those gossipy girls, they're so cool, they even use fans to cover their mouths, my god, so tacky!"
Wen Zheng almost burst out laughing when he heard the distant "Hehehehe..."
“Anyway, you look different, brother.” Li Xiaoting whispered, “The moment you walked in, everyone was looking at you. You have this… confident aura! What is it like…”
"Like a bodyguard?" Wen Zheng interjected.
Li Xiaoting: "…………"
After the grueling welcoming ceremony, everyone took their seats according to their name tags.
Jin Fanrong, for some reason, placed Wen Zheng at the main table in the center. Wen Zheng didn't mind; he had originally wanted to see his legendary brother-in-law, and now he could see him to his heart's content.
Ten minutes later, he regretted it so much that he wanted to die on the spot.
Jin Fanrong is 29 years old this year. His older sister just got married, and Wen Zheng is estimated to be in his early thirties.
My sister's age estimate was pretty accurate, but my brother-in-law's was a bit off. As a bright young woman walked in, arm in arm with a balding, middle-aged man with a protruding belly and a fleshy face, Wen Zheng's sip of alcohol kept churning in his stomach.
If only Big Black were here.
He can smash a hole in the table with his paw, then get up, apologize, pay the bill, and leave.
I miss Big Black.
"Come, come, let me introduce you. This is my brother-in-law, Hong Zhi!" Jin Fanrong was beaming. He had already been showered with compliments and was now like a balloon about to burst.
"Hello, Mr. Hong!" "Hello, Mr. Hong!" "Mr. Hong, have one..." "Mr. Hong, you've worked hard!" The greetings of "Mr. Hong, Mr. Hong" rose and fell.
Wen Zheng was terrified that this General Manager Hong would put on a show of serving the people on the spot.
"Haha, hello everyone, you're all Xiao Jin's friends, which means you're my friends too!" As President Hong spoke, his belly trembled as if he were eight months pregnant: "Today, everyone, eat well, drink well, and have fun!"
"Bravo!" Clap, pour wine, everyone's face beaming with smiles.
Wen Zheng, however, remained expressionless. He drank the wine when it came, but never offered a toast to anyone else.
After listening for a while, Wen Zheng became suspicious. Was this really a high-ranking executive at the game company? Did he really know what kind of game he was making?
Even though Wen Zheng didn't speak or offer any praise, he still stood out among the people at the table. President Hong's gaze lingered on his face for a while, and then Jin Fanrong pointed out his name knowingly: "This is our office heartthrob, the face of the company. When he first joined, he received love letters every day... Come on, Wen Zheng, toast our President Hong!"
Wen Zheng took the wine glass handed to him by his colleague at the next table and stood up in a chorus: "President Hong."
"Hey, what a handsome young man."
"You flatter me." Even though it was foreign liquor, he tilted his head back and chugged it down, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, managing to drink it with the force of baijiu (Chinese liquor).
Everyone at the table was stunned, and before they knew it, they started clapping.
"What kind of games does Mr. Hong's company make?" Wen Zheng sat down, his eyes still red from drinking too much, and his expression softened.
Mr. Hong's heart skipped a beat, and he said with delight, "It's a holographic game. You young people should love playing it. We're having a promotion right now..."
What type of game?
"Hey, if you're interested, I'll get you a brochure another day, hahaha!"
"What kind of game?" Wen Zheng asked, his expression unchanged, but his eyes glistening with tears. He insisted on asking again. Jin Fanrong sensed something was amiss and quickly raised his glass to smooth things over, saying, "Come on, everyone, let's drink!"
Wen Zheng was utterly disappointed. This fat, bloated guy couldn't even understand his own product. How could he be considered a high-level executive at the Survival Space game company?
Even though the Xia Kingdom regional office isn't like the headquarters and has no connection to planning and design, it's still a regional management office...
Deng Puyue's words came back to mind again.
The gentle smile that seemed to foreshadow an impending storm, the blank, wounded expression on the King's face before he logged off, the empty house after Dahei left—all these feelings of frustration erupted at once. Wen Zheng downed several bottles of liquor in a row, wishing he could drink himself into a stupor.
After a few rounds of drinks, Wen Zheng stood up, excused himself, and hurriedly left the small hall.
He went into the restroom next to the hotel lobby, found a stall, and vomited—mostly alcohol. Even so, he remained sober, though his stomach ached and spasmed in protest.
What's the use? Wen Zheng thought, drinking can't solve any problems. For him, it can't even provide temporary relief.
He wiped away the tears that had welled up from vomiting, took out his phone, swiped around, and clicked on the silly joke notification sent by Deng Puyue, intending to calm down before going out.
Suddenly, someone came in while talking on the phone; the voice sounded strangely familiar. Wen Zheng flicked his finger, turning off the phone's speaker and leaving the funny video playing silently.
"...How can it be that I'm not helping you? Zhenyu, you should be grateful... Hey, don't tell me that, I'm the one who taught you this... I told you before, there's only the first month's data, not the second month's. I can't even handle it myself, how can I give it back to you?... Zhenyu! If you keep doing this, Uncle will get angry!... Okay, good that you understand. Remember to transfer the money to my account... Oh right, let's take it slow and steady..."
Wen Zheng stuffed his phone, which was recording, into the pocket of his suit pants, went to the cubicle where the person making the call was, and kicked it open.
A loud bang!
The person inside screamed, and their phone fell to the ground, showing that the call had ended.
"Wh-what? You you you..." President Hong was terrified. He watched as Wen Zheng picked up his phone and scrolled through his contacts—recent calls: [Zhen Yu].
"...Isn't this Xiao Wen?" The boss Hong realized what was happening and looked over with surprise, his fat face jiggling. Wen Zheng frowned and looked away.
Whether he was stupid or drunk, this man had completely forgotten the fright he had just experienced. He came up to Wen Zheng and tried to shake her hand: "What are you doing here? Isn't there a restroom in the small hall? Or did you drink too much and can't find it? Hehehe, you're even prettier up close..."
The lecherous look in his eyes and his greasy movements disgusted Wen Zheng so much that he tried to pull his hand away and back, but at that moment he was sprayed with a can of spray.
"!" Wen Zheng quickly held his breath, but it was too late. The latest inhalation anesthesia takes effect in almost a second and is a strictly controlled contraband.
He slowly slid down the wall.
Mr. Hong chuckled lewdly, “I got hard as soon as I saw your picture, little darling… Come on, let’s go back with Uncle… Ouch!”
The person who should have lost consciousness suddenly opened his eyes, used his waist and abdomen to lift his leg and kick President Hong away heavily.
The man, weighing over 200 pounds, defied gravity, arced through the air, and crashed heavily into the wall ten meters away! The earth-shattering sound was quickly followed by footsteps outside the restroom and loud inquiries from the staff.
Wen Zheng coughed twice, swayed as he stood up, his palms marked with red welts, barely managing to suppress the urge to continue beating him. He turned and leaped, grabbing a window sill high above, smashing the glass and jumping outside. He landed on debris, slightly twisting his ankle, a sharp pain shooting through him.
"Attack!" "Call an ambulance!" "A guest has fainted!" "What happened? Call the manager!"
...
Wen Zheng leaned against the outer wall, took a deep breath, and then swiftly avoided the conspicuous surveillance cameras, leaving the hotel through a side door in the back garden.
Winter is approaching, and the temperature is dropping day by day.
Wen Zheng had a splitting headache, so he sent the recording and Boss Hong's name to Bai Shuang, asking him to investigate further.
Both Mr. Hong and Shan Yu share the same surname, making them highly likely to be relatives. If the leak is confirmed, the charges would be far more serious than attempted indecent assault.
"He got off easy." Wen Zheng gritted his teeth. He didn't know if Jin Fanrong knew about his brother-in-law's dirty deeds, but in any case, his house was probably gone.
His vision began to blur, and the effects of the drug gradually became uncontrollable. Wen Zheng knew he had reached his limit, so he leaned against the wall and walked to a large, sheltered tree before finally letting himself sit down.
A wave of exhaustion eroded my consciousness.
Wen Zheng thought: Luckily, Dahei left, otherwise, if I didn't come home all night, wouldn't it be worried?
…………
A huge black cat moved nimbly through the night.
Like a blurry black line, it weaved through traffic, passed shop windows, stepped onto the roof of an ice cream truck, and leaped towards the moon—
"Mommy!" The child next to the ice cream truck pointed to the sky: "There's a cat!"
"Huh? Where did this cat come from?" The mother looked in the direction the child was pointing, but there was nothing there.
She laughed and picked up the child: "How could there be cats flying in the sky? You must be seeing things..."
"Meow meow..." The child still didn't give up, staring wide-eyed at the night sky.
A short while later, the big black cat appeared on a quiet street a few kilometers away.
It slowed down, sniffed around, and soon found its target under a big tree.
He was a young man who reeked of alcohol.
He huddled between a tree and a wall, his suit wrinkled, a few strands of hair hanging loosely beside his face. His eyelashes were straight and thick, their darkness even more pronounced with his eyes closed. He had been drinking; even in the dim moonlight, the faint blush on his cheeks was discernible, and his lips were stained a vibrant color, a far cry from his usual indifference.
"…………" The big black cat paced around three times impatiently, then sighed in a human-like manner, its bushy tail rustling through the grass.
There was no sign of pedestrians around. Suddenly, a faint light emanated from behind the tree. A moment later, a tall and beautiful man took the cat's place. His long hair reached his waist, and his shoulders and back were covered with extremely strong muscles. He waved his hand, instantly wrapping himself in a layer of elaborate and gorgeous robes.
A white cloud-patterned lining, a black water-patterned overcoat, a cross-collar with the right lapels fastened, and a wide belt that reached the ground. Subtle gold threads were embedded in the patterns of the hem, flowing with the moonlight like shimmering waves or fireflies.
For some reason, the young man struggled to move, his eyelids trembling as he forced them open a crack, but he quickly succumbed to sleepiness and closed them again.
The man in ancient costume had slightly dark eyes, his brow furrowed with worry, and he bit his lower lip with his sharp canine teeth in resentment before reaching out to pick up the unconscious young man around the waist.
"Can take care of yourself? Bah!" he snapped, then with a light step, he vanished into the night.
Author's Note: Bei Sining: I'm so beautiful!
Chapter 35
...
Wen Zheng suddenly sat up in bed, feeling as if his head was about to explode. Two seconds later, he quickly regained consciousness and was shocked.
How did I end up at home?!
And even though she changed into her usual loungewear, her clothes were still taken off?
He wasn't really drunk, and he absolutely refused to believe he was dreaming. Wen Zheng picked up his phone and glanced at it; a day had passed.
Even if a kind citizen found him and called the police, he should be in the hospital now, not at home, right?
Suddenly, a clanging sound came from outside. Wen Zheng got out of bed alertly, pulled a handy steel bar from the headboard, and walked barefoot to the bedroom door.
The door was ajar, and the person making the noise made no attempt to conceal their activity, humming a tune as they made a mess in the kitchen.
"I have a magic wand~ It makes you bigger, smaller, and prettier~ As long as I have Doraemon..."
Wen Zheng: "…………"