Man Fired by Boss, Reason: Too Handsome

"Enough talk, let's eat." Baku bared his big teeth and chomped down on the black bread with a loud crunch.

Li Wei thought for a moment, tore the sandwich in half, and handed one piece back to him.

This time, Baku didn't say much.

He broke off a piece of black bread in return, then carefully picked up the half-sandwich with meat and egg, squinting as he sniffed it before taking small, delicate bites.

Then, like an old smoker blowing smoke rings, he let out a satisfied hum, his nose puffing with pleasure.

Even the skin on his cheeks seemed to smooth out, as if he'd had a shot of sheep placenta.

It made Li Wei hungry just watching him.

So he took his half of the sandwich and bit into it—

Damn, the ham was already rancid!

Even Cho'Gath would get the runs from this!

Li Wei cursed the swindler old lady in his head, but still finished every last bite.

"Baku, I'm heading out." He stood up, brushed the dust off his pants, and started to leave.

But Li Wei didn't get far.

Not because Baku stopped him.

As soon as he stood up, he ran straight into a fat man with a nasty grin.

This guy had the kind of blubber rare among Zaunites, but topped it off with a full-on Zaun-style green mohawk.

You see, most apprentice workers, no matter how wild their hairstyles were back in Zaun, would consciously or unconsciously switch to plain short cuts after arriving in Piltover, to blend in.

But this fat man deliberately kept his garish green mohawk, and his arms, thicker than pig legs, were covered in tattoos popular in Zaun—except the design was unique: a snarling mechanical iron fist.

He dressed like that not to make his fellow Zaunites feel close, but to intimidate.

"You, you—" Baku shrank back the moment he saw the fat man's face, too scared to speak: "Aubrey boss, you, why are you here?"

Fatty Aubrey, brother of Avery, the "Iron Fist" leader of Piltover's biggest Zaunite gang, the Iron Fist Gang. The two brothers were notorious, infamous living devils among the Zaunite apprentice circles.

Li Wei knew him too.

Because the original owner's loan shark debt came from this fat man.

"Li Wei, what a coincidence." Fatty Aubrey chuckled with a nasty grin: "I came looking for you here yesterday and couldn't find you. Thought you'd already run back to Zaun!"

"Looks like you haven't bolted yet. So, got the money to pay up now?"

He pressed down on Li Wei's shoulder from above, making the air tense instantly.

"Aubrey boss—" Baku mustered his courage, trying to ease the tension on the side: "It's just a little debt, no need for you to come personally. Li Wei, he—"

"Scram! Who gave you the right to talk?!"

Baku shut his mouth quickly, shrinking back to the side.

The other apprentice workers nearby, seeing this, instinctively formed a wide circle, watching but not daring to get close.

"Li Wei." Fatty Aubrey sneered at him: "Your deadline's long past. Spit it out—got the money now or not?"

Of course not.

Li Wei instinctively tightened his grip on the coin purse at his waist. It held his next month's salary, barely enough to cover rent.

As for the loan shark debt he'd borrowed from Aubrey, it had already snowballed with interest upon interest, to the point where a lifetime of labor couldn't pay it off.

"Can you give me a few more days?" Li Wei said helplessly.

The original owner had left him with a hellish starting point. He had plenty of ideas for making money, but reality kept hammering him down, not even giving him time to earn.

"No way, I'm not giving you any more time!"

"Since you can't pay, then... heh."

What's a broke man got left to sell?

Plenty of things.

And Aubrey, along with the Iron Fist Gang behind him, had all sorts of connections to take a living person—whole or in pieces—and turn them into cash.

That's why the Zaunite apprentice workers feared these fellow countrymen the most.

"Li Wei, Li Wei," Aubrey sneered: "Debt must be paid—it's only natural."

"You don't want your sister to drop out of university in Piltover, do you?"

"Try touching my sister, and see what happens!" Li Wei's eyes went cold instantly.

"Who the hell wants your sister! There're plenty of Zaunite girls selling themselves out there—how much could she be worth? Walk one street in Piltover and you'll pass four or five Zaunite brothels—she's not worth jack anymore!"

"But you—"

Aubrey looked Li Wei up and down like he was appraising goods:

"You're a rare find, kid. Got some potential to develop."

Li Wei: "..."

"Well? I'm telling you, just knuckle under and do it."

"These Piltover rich ladies nowadays are all burning hot, and there's hardly any decent goods willing to work this trade. The prices are sky-high, and on top of that, you've gotta book an appointment in advance."

Aubrey was actually still cheerfully analyzing the Blue Ocean Market with Li Wei, studying the industry's ecosystem.

"Let me package and train you up—you won't just pay off this debt, you'll be sleeping with those high-and-mighty Ladies and Misses every day."

"You know the Medarda Family, right? Even they'll come ordering services. Stick with me, work hard, keep 'em satisfied, and who knows—you might end up a 'Noble Lord' in Noxus one day."

"." Li Wei remained silent.

"What, you still not willing?"

That fat face instantly darkened again.

But Li Wei still didn't answer. He just glanced at the fat man Aubrey, then looked around, and finally asked:

"Did you come alone?"

"Yeah." Aubrey answered instinctively. "Why?"

"Nothing, just—"

Li Wei grabbed that half-loaf of Tank-Armor Black Bread and smashed it right onto his head:

"I'll fuck your mother's grave!"

Across the street, at the Ervin residence.

Seraphine drifted dazedly to the window, pulling back the curtain as if in a trance.

Outside was a wide road, and across it sat a row of Breakfast Stalls billowing with smoke and fire, along with a crowd of Zaunite Apprentices squatting or standing, busy with their morning meals.

"That tune is over there..."

"Hey, why can't I hear it anymore?"

Seraphine still couldn't control her ability. The sound she'd just been able to hear had suddenly vanished.

Normally, that would be a relief for her.

But this time, losing that Soul Music left her like a fish out of water, restless and gasping for air.

"That song—I've never heard anything like it!"

Seraphine gripped the windowsill, sighing in frustration.

She strained her eyes toward the other side of the street, as if she could pick out that Soul-Singing Wonder from among the ant-like workers.

"Alright, alright." Mr. Ervin, bewildered, finally stepped forward and patted his daughter's shoulder. "Seraphine, come back and eat."

"Stop staring. What's there to see? Just a bunch of apprentices. If you want to look, I'll have them line up for you later!"

"No, it's not the same!"

Seraphine was stubbornly fixated on the window:

"There's someone among them whose soul sings."

"It's a tune I've never heard before. A brilliant, magnificent tune!"

"Sigh." The Ervins exchanged a glance and shook their heads helplessly.

Their precious daughter was acting up again with those artist quirks of hers.

"It's just a song, isn't it?"

"What good tune could a Zaunite come up with?"

"But Dad, aren't you and Mom from Zaun too?" Seraphine pouted. "I'm half Zaunite myself, and I know music, don't I?"

"Nonsense!" Mr. Ervin replied firmly. "Nini, you're not half Zaunite at all. You were born in Piltover—you have nothing to do with that dump of a place!"

"Your mother and I worked so hard to have you born here so you wouldn't be dragged down your whole life by the label 'Zaunite' like we were!"

"I..." Seraphine felt something was off.

But it probably wasn't worth dwelling on.

Instead of debating that pointless stuff, she was still hung up on that tune she'd only heard in fragments.

Unfortunately, she still couldn't freely control her ability.

Now that she wanted to listen, she couldn't hear it anymore.

All she could do was look.

But what could she see?

Just a bunch of greasy, scruffy workers, and... the commotion they were watching?

As she kept staring, Seraphine gradually gave up on her seemingly hopeless search and started watching the spectacle instead:

It was two men surrounded by the crowd.

One was a Green-Mohawk Fat Man, the other a black-haired, black-eyed youth in work clothes.

"Is he one of our workers too?"

Seraphine looked at her father with mild curiosity.

Mr. Ervin followed her gaze into the distance, barely making out the two faces. Once he recognized the fat man's identity in particular, his expression soured with annoyance.

Still, he answered his daughter gently: "Yes, he's one of our workers."

"What's his name?"

"Li Wei," Ervin replied instinctively.

Then he suddenly caught himself: "Wait. Nini, why are you asking about his name?"

"Just curious."

Seraphine propped her cheek on one hand, idly swinging her leg by the window:

"Li Wei, is it? Dad, can I meet him sometime?"

"Just looking at him, I feel like I'd get more inspiration for writing love songs."

Ervin: "..."

The good boss's face changed instantly:

"No! You can't meet him!"

"Why not? Isn't he one of our workers?"

"He was."

"He's been fired now."

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