Riverside Restaurant, second floor of the hotel.
The group had waited until they were thoroughly impatient. Advisor Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw on the navigation that Zhen Bei had entered the hotel.
"He's here already. Zhen Bei responds better to soft words than hard ones. Talk him around nicely, and it should work."
The young man in sunglasses neither agreed nor disagreed. Clearly, Zhen Bei's attitude—still busy delivering several packages while facing such a major matter—had angered him. They had waited the entire afternoon, from noon through the evening rush hour, yet at such a critical, time-sensitive moment, Zhen Bei treated it so lightly.
Deep down, he disliked these "special creatures" even more.
They waited for several more minutes...
"Why isn't he here yet? Didn't he just arrive downstairs? Where is he?"
They really had waited quite a while. It should not have taken this long to get from the first floor to the second. Even Advisor Hao was beginning to lose patience.
Just then, a waiter pushed open the private room's door. Behind him stood Zhen Bei in work clothes.
Advisor Hao and the girl knew Zhen Bei well, so they simply smiled as a greeting.
The poor fellow shrugged and spread his hands.
"I wanted to come through the main entrance, but the hotel made me use the staff passage. You know how it is—I couldn't make things difficult for their employees. We're all working stiffs. Nobody has it easy."
After casually explaining himself, he walked up to the table as if he owned the place, sat down, and tucked a napkin into his collar.
His employee jacket was covered in dust, his sneakers soft and misshapen. Even from a distance, they could smell the sour tang of sweat on him.
The table