The Principle of Joining If You Can't Beat Them

Li Yiyan clapped as he watched the man and woman embracing passionately before him. "Take the young master and his, uh... destined true love back."

A group of bodyguards rushed over at the sound. Without even separating the passionately embracing pair, they simply restrained them and carried them out.

Only after seeing the farce resolved did Li Yiyan turn to Shen Jingmo and Zhu Yu with satisfaction. "Sorry you two had to witness that."

Shen Jingmo said nothing.

Zhu Yu nodded seriously. "It really was quite laughable."

Li Yiyan's mouth twitched. He had only been making a polite remark. Did Zhu Yu have to answer so earnestly?

Zhu Yu failed to notice Li Yiyan's resentment. Smiling happily, he watched the two leave the parking lot.

"They're finally gone. From now on, I can completely relax and enjoy life. No more worrying about running into these lunatics, and no more worrying about those melodramatic plots. Happiness and brightness, here I come." Zhu Yu happily settled into his car.

After returning home, Zhu Yu cheerfully flopped onto the sofa, took out drinks and snacks from the fridge, turned on the television, and comfortably watched variety shows.

It had to be said that the variety shows and dramas in this world were not much different from those in his original world.

The first day of his vacation arrived the next day.

Zhu Yu planned to have some high-end sashimi.

The moment he entered the restaurant, he was utterly won over by the young waitress's service.

The waitress prepared every piece of sashimi according to the proper way of eating it, then placed them before him.

Zhu Yu looked at the sashimi in front of him. Some of the meat was actually still twitching.

Zhu Yu's eyelid twitched. Sure enough, a country bumpkin could not appreciate refined food.

In the end, Zhu Yu packed up everything he had not finished and brought it home. He planned to find a roadside stall that evening and have the cook prepare it for him.

That evening, Zhu Yu deliberately left a little early and headed for the most famous food street in the area.

Carrying the sashimi box from lunch, Zhu Yu walked through a small alley near his home.

This was a shortcut to the food street, pointed out to him by the elderly security guard at the entrance.

As Zhu Yu walked, he looked at his phone. Shen Jingmo had actually sent him another performance bonus red packet—twenty thousand yuan in full. Of course, his annual performance reward was far more than twenty thousand yuan, but mobile transfers had limits, so the rest would be transferred directly into his bank account.

But even just the twenty thousand yuan on his phone made Zhu Yu grin at it for a long time. This was twenty thousand yuan, not two bucks.

"Today really is a good day! Getting paid on the first day of vacation is a good omen. It means I'll have plenty more days of paid vacation ahead of me. La la~" Zhu Yu happily accepted the payment and did not forget to reply with a "Thank you, Boss" sticker.

Just as Zhu Yu was about to put away his phone and leave the alley, a rapid clatter of high heels suddenly sounded behind him.

Zhu Yu was holding his phone and had just begun to turn around when a woman grabbed him tightly.

Caught off guard, Zhu Yu stumbled and tapped wildly at his phone several times. Somehow, he accidentally started a voice call from the page he had open.

Unaware of what had happened to his phone, Zhu Yu looked at the woman behind him in confusion. Su Duoduo?

"Assistant Zhu, please save me! Someone's chasing me!" Su Duoduo was in a complete mess, her hair disheveled, and even one heel of her high-heeled shoes had broken off.

Three huge question marks practically appeared across Zhu Yu's face. Which eye told you I could save you? Instead of running to the police station, you ran into an alley. Is there something wrong with you, or is there something wrong with me?

And the ten guys behind you are pretty damn built, aren't they?

I'm the idiot here. How did I forget that, in this world, the one place you should never take is an alley? An alley—the birthplace of fights!

Zhu Yu felt around for his phone and suddenly discovered that, at some point, he had connected a call with Shen Jingmo.

Zhu Yu was immensely grateful that, due to his job, he almost never used speakerphone. He was afraid people around him might overhear confidential work matters.

Looking at the ten burly men before him, Zhu Yu silently swallowed. No, he had to find a way to save himself.

Elsewhere, Shen Jingmo was sitting on the sofa reading documents when his phone suddenly vibrated. He picked it up and found that Zhu Yu had sent him a voice call.

Shen Jingmo tapped the screen, hesitated for a few seconds, then chose to answer. He turned on the speakerphone and placed the phone on the table before him.

The moment the call connected, a noisy din came from the other end.

Shen Jingmo frowned and was just about to ask what was going on when he heard Zhu Yu's voice from the other side.

"Brothers, you look unfamiliar. You don't seem to live in Dragon Pavilion, do you? Why have you all suddenly come to this little alley? Is there some event going on here?"

"What the hell are you babbling about, kid? Hand over the woman behind you right now, or we'll beat you up too."

"How would I dare hide anyone? I'm alone, and there are ten of you. Even if I had ten times the guts, I wouldn't dare hide her."

"Cut the crap. Hand over your phone. Don't think I can't tell—you're holding it because you're waiting for a chance to call the police, aren't you?"

Beep, beep...

The call cut off just as the words on the phone ended.

Shen Jingmo's fingers, which had been lightly tapping the document, slowly came to a stop. He picked up the disconnected phone and made a call, then grabbed the coat from the sofa and headed for the door.

Back in the alley.

After hanging up, Zhu Yu silently handed his phone over to one of the burly men in front of him.

"Smart kid."

Zhu Yu struggled to pull his hand free from Su Duoduo's grasp, but the woman was gripping him with all her strength, leaving him no room to retreat.

Honestly, if you were looking for someone to play the hero and save the beauty, you had picked the wrong person. How was a weakling like me supposed to take on ten people?

"Big brother, may I ask why you're chasing her?"

Zhu Yu saw that one of the men, though fierce-looking, seemed to be in a fairly good mood, so he carefully asked.

"What else? She borrowed money and won't pay it back. She owes us brothers so much money. I heard she works for a big company now, so how could she possibly be unable to repay even a few thousand yuan every month?" The man glared at Su Duoduo irritably.

The moment Zhu Yu heard that, he quickly joined in with indignation. "Big brother's right! How could she possibly be unable to repay even a few thousand yuan?"

Upon hearing Zhu Yu's words, the bald man in front of him approvingly patted his shoulder. "You're a sensible kid."

"Of course. I only stand with the side that's in the right." Zhu Yu suddenly yanked his hand free and walked several steps forward.

When Su Duoduo realized the arm she had been holding had slipped free, she initially wanted to grab him again. But seeing that Zhu Yu had nearly reached the group in front of him, she fearfully backed away several steps instead.

"Big brother, I could tell at first glance that you all have a strong sense of justice. Here, I bought some sashimi at noon. Have a few bites, brothers, and cool off." Upholding the principle of joining them if he could not beat them, Zhu Yu raised the sashimi in his hand.

"Oh, fancy stuff. You know what you're doing, kid. Eat with us. Hey, one of you, go buy a few drinks. Brothers, we'll keep you company and have a few bites here." The bald man waved toward the younger men behind him, then sat down right where he was and opened the bag.

Zhu Yu did not mind the filth at all and sat down on the ground as well. He had to stall for time and wait for someone to come save him.