Lin Yuxia gave up trying to salvage things and simply came clean:
"He said he's doing well now and has no intention of coming to my home."
Hah, before they had even started dating, she was already thinking of bringing him home. She really did like that man.
"And then he rejected you?"
"Yeah."
Upon hearing that, Lin Gerei immediately beat his chest and stomped his feet, looking as though he hated iron for not becoming steel. Today, he was going to teach his clueless daughter a lesson as someone with experience:
"If you put it that way, of course you'd get rejected. You haven't known each other long, right? Wouldn't it feel abrupt to say something like that right off the bat?"
Abrupt?
Lin Yuxia nodded to herself, finding it quite reasonable.
Shi Lei was doing perfectly well at Penguin Logistics, yet she had immediately tried to poach him. It really had been rather abrupt.
Seeing his daughter fall into thought, Lin Gerei revealed a smug smile and stroked his beard with his right hand.
"I still have quite a say in this sort of matter."
Back in the day, while he had not been especially handsome, he had still been dashing and charming, and was quite popular with Zalak women. There was no need to go into detail here.
Mainly because he was afraid Lin Yuxia would tell his wife about it, which would make things difficult. His filial daughter had done that sort of thing more than once or twice.
When explaining romantic relationships between men and women later, he had better avoid giving specific examples, lest he leave behind evidence that could be used against him.
Quite a say in it?
Mm, that was indeed true.
As the Emperor of the Slums, what sort of people had her father not seen? When it came to poaching experience, he was surely quite knowledgeable.
"Then... what should I do?"
Lin Gerei stroked his beard with his right hand, trying to learn more information so he could offer an appropriate plan.
"Let me ask you this. After he clearly rejected you, did you shamelessly try to fight for another chance?"
Lin Yuxia stared at her father with a complicated expression. After roughly five or six seconds, she chose to answer honestly.
"Yes."
"That day probably ended very unpleasantly. After that, he never contacted you of his own accord again, right?"
"That's true, but he doesn't have a phone."
Lin Gerei shook his head and began passing on his experience.
"No, no, my dear daughter. It has nothing to do with whether he has a phone. You exposed your sense of need too early."
"Sense of need?"
Lin Yuxia found that somewhat confusing. What direct connection did poaching have with a sense of need?
Seeing his daughter's bewildered face, Lin Gerei looked like a worried old father who desperately wished he could personally step in.
"That's right. Your sense of need was too strong, and your intentions were too obvious. Doing that can easily make the other person resentful. Think about it this way: does he need you right now? Definitely not, right? The effective approach is to first leave a good impression on him, at least make him dislike you less. Once you have more contact in the future and your relationship improves, everything else will naturally fall into place."
That made sense, a lot of sense!
With Shi Lei's unusual Originium Arts, he could work anywhere he wanted. The reason he insisted on staying at Penguin Logistics might have been because he liked the atmosphere there. Everyone ate, drank, threw parties, and happily passed each day together.
She had declared her intention to poach him right away. That truly had been too hasty. She should first become friends with Shi Lei and slowly understand his needs. Once they became familiar, having him switch to the Lin family would naturally fall into place, just as her father had said.
After hearing her father's valuable "poaching experience," Lin Yuxia suddenly understood and clapped in praise.
"So that's how it is! Dad, I understand now! But our relationship is really strained right now. Should I buy some gifts and go apologize in person, or what should I do?"
They had only known each other for a few days, yet she had confessed to him. After being rejected, she had kept pressing him. How could things not be strained?
Lin Gerei raised his head toward the ceiling, stroking his beard several times before offering his personal suggestion.
"He already rejected you. If you bring gifts to his door now, he'll think you're pestering him and dislike you even more. Based on my experience, it's best to leave him alone for a while. Once you find a suitable opportunity, appear before him with a fresh new image and get to know him again."
Lin Yuxia pondered for a moment and felt that made sense.
"Sigh, I suppose that's all I can do."
Beautiful Lady, You Wouldn't Want This Videotape...
December 2nd, 3:35 p.m.
During lunch, Shi Lei did not mention what he had discussed with Chen. Exusiai, eager for gossip, wanted to dig deeper, but seeing that he gave no response, she could only let it go.
That afternoon, without even needing the boss to tell her, Texas followed her usual routine and took Shi Lei out to handle ordinary deliveries.
Unfortunately, there were no major orders today, and there were fewer than twenty ordinary orders. Half went to Exusiai, leaving only ten for them. Their workload was greatly reduced.
It was the beginning of the month, and everyone had just received their pay. Ordinary orders were optional. However, Exusiai was not someone who could sit still. She would rather make slow deliveries than stay cooped up at the company.
Being alone was far too boring.
Texas delivered with great efficiency. By three o'clock, she had finished all the ordinary orders and drove back to the company to rest. While passing the small park in the middle of the street, Shi Lei unexpectedly spotted Croissant setting up a stall by the roadside. She had probably decided that ordinary deliveries earned too little and focused on her side business instead.
Luckily, the boss usually did not manage things much and basically let his employees do as they pleased. Otherwise, setting up a stall during work hours would definitely get someone fired in a normal company.
After returning to the company, Shi Lei made himself a cup of hot coffee.
He sank down in his chair, resting the back of his neck against the chair back as he entered a leisurely state of having nothing to do.
But he had not bought a phone, so he could neither watch videos nor read the news. He simply sat quietly at his workstation like a salted fish that had lost all motivation.
"Texas, how do you usually pass the time when you have nothing to do?"
"Play on my phone, smoke." Texas paused, then added, "But I've quit smoking now."
Mentioning cigarettes had made her craving flare up. She immediately opened a drawer, tore open a snack wrapper, and put a chocolate stick in her mouth.
"I see..."
"If you're bored, you can wander around like Exusiai. We're Messengers, so there's no rule forcing us to stay at the company. There won't be any major commissions at this hour. Just remember to come back and clock out at five."
When business was bad, sometimes they would not get more than a few orders in an entire month, but the pay from one major order could support them for several months.
Ever since that day when he entrusted his money to Texas for safekeeping, Shi Lei felt that she had started talking more. Though she was still nowhere near Exusiai's level, it was a change nonetheless.
"Sure. Thanks for the suggestion."
"You're welcome."
After saying that, Texas lowered her head and continued looking at her phone.
Shi Lei took out a map, silently memorized the location of the nearest library, then got up and left the office area.
He was penniless now, so many activities were out of reach. Reading was not a bad choice.
At five o'clock, Shi Lei returned to the company to clock out. He discovered several young men surrounding a beast girl with an animal head and human body, seemingly a tiger.
He rarely saw people whose heads had undergone Bestialization like that. Usually, they either had animal ears and tails, or they were pure animals like Emperor.
Seeing that the beast girl looked unwilling but still followed the group into a secluded alley, Shi Lei instantly smelled the dangerous scent of a lecherous situation.
Without hesitation, he quickly stepped forward. The moment he reached the alley entrance, he heard a man's voice from inside.
"Beautiful lady, stop resisting. You wouldn't want that videotape posted online, would you?"
Tsk, why did this have such a familiar erotic anime vibe?
Because they had dirt on her, she had no choice but to do things against her will next, right?
"Ow!"
Shi Lei had just been about to help when the beast girl suddenly struck. Her fist smashed into the speaking man's nose bridge, and he immediately toppled to the ground with blood streaming from his nose.
Her orange, brown, and white tricolored hair was incredibly eye-catching. Her tiger eyes, with their orange pupils, were even more spirited.
Under everyone's astonished gazes, she actually assumed the classic Wing Chun opening stance: the asking hand.
"What are you standing around for? Get her!"
The young man on the left threw a high front kick, while the one on the right unleashed a spinning back kick. From their stances, they did not seem like ordinary people.
The beast girl responded calmly, blocking by striking their attacks, redirecting their force before counterattacking.
Lean back to evade, then a straight punch!
Reverse knife hand!
Palm strike to the jaw!
After instantly knocking down two people, she quickly ran deeper into the alley. Using the cramped terrain, she tried to ensure she only had to fight two or three people at a time. The others could only watch from behind, unable to squeeze in and join the battle.
Hah, that chain punch was beautiful!
Shi Lei's eyes lit up. It felt as though he were watching a movie. The sounds of fighting attracted passing pedestrians, who hurriedly took pictures.
The beast girl was exceptionally capable and did not need his help at all. Still, he had to stay prepared in case someone abandoned all honor and used some underhanded method to launch a sneak attack.
Mid-level front kick!
Outside parry with a spreading hand!
Chain hammer followed by a centerline front kick!
The ten young men were completely no match for the beast girl, falling after just two or three moves. By the end, the absurd scene of one person chasing ten people appeared.
She grabbed one man by the collar and shouted sternly.
"Hand over the videotape!"
The Feline she had caught wiped the blood flowing from his nostril, but his attitude remained arrogant.
"Aren't you good at fighting? What's the use of being able to fight? Out here, it's about power and connections. First you injured my senior brother, and now you've injured us too. Do you think this matter will be settled so easily?"
The beast girl looked furious, baring her tiger fangs.
"That was a false accusation. It was a martial arts sparring match. I didn't even use much force, so how could I have injured him? I'll say it one last time: hand over the videotape!"
The Feline acted as if he had her completely cornered and did not panic at all.
"You say hand it over, and we hand it over? Then wouldn't my senior brother and the rest of us have taken a beating for nothing? Today, either compensate us for medical expenses, or wait to go to jail!"
The strength in the beast girl's hand loosened, and her tone softened.
"Then... how much do you want for medical expenses?"
The man tugged at his loosened collar and raised his right index finger.
"One million Lungmen Dollars. Not a cent less."
The beast girl's expression turned ugly, and she looked extremely troubled. The momentum she had displayed while fighting had completely vanished.
"One million? But I don't have that much money."
"What does it have to do with me if you have no money? You should pay the price for your own mistakes. Either..."
Seeing the frivolous gaze roaming over her body, she clenched both fists and directly cut him off.
"Impossible. Don't even think about it!"
The Feline sneered, as if amused.
"Don't think about it? Then pay up. If you can't, our martial arts gym will sue you for intentional assault!"
Standing outside and observing, Shi Lei had roughly figured out what had happened. Put simply, there was only one sentence for it.
They were extorting her.
But quite a few pedestrians were taking pictures, so he first needed to deal with those potential risks.
He pulled up his hood and walked inside. At the same time, he spread both hands and used two Rock Spines to block the alley.
The light within the alley suddenly dimmed.
"Originium Arts? Who are you?"
Before you continue