Li Yiyan looked at the man and woman embracing passionately in front of him and clapped. "Take the young master and his, um... destined soulmate back."
A group of bodyguards came running at his call. Without separating the two still locked in their passionate embrace, they simply grabbed them and carried them out.
Only after the farce had been dealt with 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 a spectacle."
Li Yiyan's mouth twitched. He'd only been making a polite remark. Zhu Yu didn't have to answer so seriously, did he?
Zhu Yu didn't notice Li Yiyan's wounded look. Smiling, he happily watched the two men leave the parking lot.
"They're finally gone. From now on, I can relax and enjoy myself. No more worrying about running into these crazy men and women, or getting caught up in those ridiculous melodramas. Happiness and a bright future, here I come!" Zhu Yu sat happily in his car.
When he got home, Zhu Yu flopped onto the sofa, grabbed some drinks and snacks from the fridge, turned on the TV, and settled in to watch variety shows.
He had to admit, the variety shows and TV dramas in this world weren't all that different from those in his old one.
The first day of his vacation arrived.
Zhu Yu decided to treat himself to some high-end sashimi.
As soon as he stepped into the restaurant, the lovely waitress's service won him over.
The waitress prepared all the condiments and accompaniments for the sashimi, then set everything in front of him.
Zhu Yu looked at the sashimi before him. Some of the pieces of meat were still twitching.
His eyelid twitched. As expected, a country boar like him couldn't appreciate the finer things.
In the end, Zhu Yu packed up all the sashimi he hadn't finished and took it home. He planned to find a street stall that evening and have the cook prepare it for him.
That evening, Zhu Yu went out a little earlier than usual and headed for the most famous food street in town.
Carrying the box of sashimi from lunch, Zhu Yu walked through a narrow alley near his home.
It was a shortcut to the food street, and the security guard at the entrance had pointed it out to him.
As he walked, Zhu Yu looked at his phone. Shen Jingmo had sent him another performance bonus: a full 20,000 yuan. Of course, his annual performance bonus was far more than that, but there was a limit on mobile transfers, so the rest would go straight into his bank account.
Even so, Zhu Yu stared happily at the 20,000 on his phone for ages. It was 20,000 yuan, not two!
"Today really is a good day! Getting paid on the first day of vacation is a great omen. It means I'll have plenty more paid vacations in the future. La la~" Zhu Yu happily accepted the money, then sent back a "Thank you, boss!" sticker.
Just as Zhu Yu was about to put away his phone and leave the alley, he suddenly heard the hurried clatter of high heels behind him.
He was holding his phone and had just started to turn around when a woman grabbed him tightly.
Zhu Yu lost his balance and fumbled at his phone, tapping the screen several times. Somehow, he ended up placing a voice call.
Zhu Yu didn't notice what had happened to his phone. He looked at the woman behind him in confusion. Su Duoduo?
"Assistant Zhu, please, you have to save me! Someone's chasing me." Su Duoduo was in a terrible state. Her hair was a mess, and one heel had even come off her shoe.
Three huge question marks seemed to appear on Zhu Yu's face. What made her think he could save her? If she had time for this, why hadn't she run to the police station instead of down an alley? Was she the one with a problem, or was he?
And those ten guys behind her looked pretty strong. (°ー°〃)
He really was an idiot. How had he forgotten the one place you should never go in this world? An alley! The birthplace of brawls.
Zhu Yu felt around for his phone, then suddenly realized that somehow, without his noticing, he'd connected a call to Shen Jingmo.
Zhu Yu was incredibly grateful that, because of his job, he almost never used speakerphone. He couldn't risk people nearby overhearing confidential work matters.
Zhu Yu looked at the ten burly men in front of him and swallowed nervously. No, he had to find a way to save himself.
Elsewhere, Shen Jingmo was sitting on the sofa reading some documents when his phone suddenly vibrated. He checked it and saw that Zhu Yu was calling him.
Shen Jingmo tapped the screen and hesitated for a few seconds before answering. Then he turned on speakerphone and set the phone down on the table in front of him.
As soon as the call connected, he heard a commotion on the other end.
Shen Jingmo frowned and was about to ask what was going on when he heard Zhu Yu's voice.
"Hey, guys. You look unfamiliar. You don't live in Dragon Pavilion, do you? Why are you in this alley all of a sudden? Is there some kind of event going on?"
"What are you babbling about, kid? Hand over the woman behind you, or we'll beat you up too."
"Why would I be hiding anyone? It's just me, and there are ten of you. Even if I had ten times the nerve, I wouldn't dare hide anyone."
"Cut the crap. Hand over your phone. Don't think I didn't notice you holding it. You were just waiting for a chance to call the police, weren't you?"
Beep, beep...
The call ended right in the middle of their conversation.
Shen Jingmo's finger, which had been tapping lightly against the document, slowly came to a stop. He picked up the disconnected phone and made a call. Then he grabbed his coat from the sofa and headed for the door.
Back in the alley.
After hanging up, Zhu Yu silently handed his phone to one of the burly men in front of him.
"You're a smart kid."
Zhu Yu struggled to pull his hand free from Su Duoduo's grip, but she was clutching him so tightly that she left him no room to escape.
Seriously, she'd picked the wrong person to play the hero and save the damsel in distress. He was a total weakling. How was he supposed to take on ten guys?
"Big brother, can I ask why you're chasing her?"
Zhu Yu looked at one of the men in front of him. He looked fierce, but seemed to be in a pretty good mood, so Zhu Yu asked cautiously.
"Why else? She borrowed money from us and won't pay it back. She owes our brothers a fortune. I heard she's working at a big company now. How could she not even pay back a few thousand yuan a month?" The man shot Su Duoduo an annoyed look.
Hearing that, Zhu Yu hurriedly joined in, fuming. "Exactly, big brother! How could she not even pay back a few thousand yuan?"
The bald man in front looked pleased with Zhu Yu's words and patted him on the shoulder. "You're a sensible kid."
"Of course. I'm on the side of whoever's in the right." Zhu Yu yanked his hand free with a hard tug and took a few steps forward.
Su Duoduo felt his hand slip from her grasp and started to reach for him again. But when she saw that Zhu Yu had nearly reached the group of men, she backed away several more steps in fear.
"Big brother, I could tell at first glance that you guys were righteous. Here, I bought some sashimi at lunch. Why don't you brothers have a few bites to cool off?" Following the principle of joining them if he couldn't beat them, Zhu Yu raised the sashimi in his hand.
"Ooh, the good stuff! You've got a good head on your shoulders, kid. Let's eat together. One of you, go buy a few drinks. We'll keep you company while we have a bite." The bald man waved to a few of his men behind him, then sat down where he was and opened the bag.
Zhu Yu didn't care that the ground was dirty. He sat down too. He had to stall for time and wait for someone to come rescue him.
Before you continue