You Had the Guts to Skip Work, but Not to Open the Door?

Chen Bei led him to the sinks in the public restroom. "Take your time washing up. I'll wait outside."

With that, he turned to leave.

But Meng Han called him back, gratitude in his voice. "Assistant Chen, thank you, and... I'm sorry."

Chen Bei glanced back. "Sorry for what?"

Meng Han lowered his head guiltily. "I had a negative impact on the banquet."

Chen Bei raised an eyebrow. "Are you blaming the victim here?"

Meng Han opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the words stuck in his throat.

"First, there was no so-called negative impact. You and I are nobodies. We don't have that much of an audience," Chen Bei said mildly. "Second, the Luo Family holds banquets all the time. Conflicts like this happen at least a few dozen times every night."

"I'm already used to it. Do you think those polished, self-serving tycoons would care?"

"Finally, there's no need to thank me. Cleaning up is my job."

Meng Han: "..."

[Holy crap! Assistant Chen makes so much sense. My overthinking is instantly cured!]

[Yesterday, I was still regretting getting so drunk the day before that I peed bare-assed in the street. After hearing Assistant Chen today, I suddenly don't feel embarrassed anymore!]

[...Person above, are you sure it was in the street? You actually had quite an audience, then.]

[Boohoo, stop talking about it!]

[All omegas, especially female omegas, please stay safe. Make sure you limit your drinking at dinner parties.]

[Wait, haven't you noticed? Almost every banquet situation Assistant Chen predicted has come true!]

[That's Assistant Chen for you. He can predict everything!]

As Chen Bei passed the kitchen, Steward Wu mysteriously pulled him inside.

Seeing Steward Wu's panicked expression, Chen Bei frowned. "Whose mess do you want me to clean up?"

"The eldest young master's!" Steward Wu pointed at a glass beside him. "Erguotou mixed with alcohol. Someone's going to die sooner or later!"

"..." Chen Bei glanced over, his voice mild. "Who does he want to give it to?"

Steward Wu glanced toward the center of the banquet. "Probably Old Wang, whose project he snatched not long ago. I saw him launch straight into mocking the young master the moment he arrived."

"Replace the drink first," Chen Bei said. "Then have security escort Old Wang out. Tell everyone he got so drunk he passed out, and his driver took him away early."

"Okay!"

With someone to take charge, Steward Wu hurriedly pushed the special mix farther back and had a servant replace it with a fresh drink.

After Chen Bei left, Luo Chen came into the kitchen looking thoroughly displeased. "Where's the special mix?"

Steward Wu handed over the tray. "Young master, please don't act rashly!"

Luo Chen curled his lip contemptuously. "Since when was it your place to tell me what to do?!"

Steward Wu withdrew.

Supporting the tray with one hand, Luo Chen strode quickly toward the banquet hall.

He was determined to take out the frustration Assistant Chen had caused him on someone else!

Luo Ming made a circuit of the lounge but found no sign of Chen Bei.

On the way, he overheard people discussing a disturbance in the downstairs food area, saying the assistant had taken someone to the restroom.

So he hurried to the public restroom on the first floor, only to find Meng Han with reddened eyes.

Luo Ming offered a few distracted words of comfort, then turned to head for the banquet hall.

Steward Wu stopped him. "Second young master, would you take some freshly made pastries along?"

Remembering the cake left on Meng Han's face, Luo Ming stopped. "Sure."

Hadn't Assistant Chen said to keep the pastries well stocked?

Otherwise, points would be deducted.

Heh. What a childish variety show.

Thinking this, he smiled to himself.

"Of course. Please wait a moment, second young master."

With that, Steward Wu went to get them ready.

As he turned, he thought that the second young master hadn't smiled so naturally in a long time...

After rushing upstairs and downstairs a couple of times, Luo Ming inexplicably felt his throat go dry now that he had stopped. He urgently needed something to moisten it.

He looked around and spotted the stemmed glass at the back of the table.

Crystal clear, it looked like specially supplied purified water.

Without hesitation, Luo Ming reached over with his long arm, grabbed it, and gulped down a large mouthful. Only when the "purified water" slid down his throat did he feel it scorching his esophagus.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

"What the hell is this?!"

Luo Chenghai, who was responsible for security, sat in the surveillance room, watching in bewilderment as security personnel bustled in and out, seemingly swamped.

Wait a minute.

Public safety was so good.

And this was the Luo Family, a major force in the Capital.

Were there really this many security incidents to handle?

His head was full of questions, and his ears were filled with the voices of burly men in suits.

"Mr. Wang? Which one? Gray suit, beer belly? Copy!"

"The Li Family's fake heiress? Black evening gown, crying her eyes out? Copy!"

"Mr. Jiang's second wife? White dress, pulling each other's hair? Copy!"

"Mr. Song..."

Ever since Luo Chenghai had arrived in the surveillance room, incidents had kept cropping up. The security personnel hadn't had a moment's rest, and after just half an hour, they were drenched in sweat.

As the security team leader, he had gone from questioning the workload at first, to being shocked by the upper classes' messy affairs, to finally understanding just how hard security work was...

"I see you're all pretty capable." Luo Chenghai curled his fingers and tapped the desk. "Keep up the good work. I'll definitely promote you and put you in important positions if I get the chance."

One of the burly men bowed. "Thank you for the compliment, fourth young master. It's all thanks to Assistant Chen's leadership."

Luo Chenghai: "..."

Who would have thought Assistant Chen had such solid support among the staff?

If he could gain his support,

perhaps there would be fewer voices questioning him at the company?

His mind raced. He opened his mouth to say something else when a security guard suddenly pointed at a monitor and said urgently, "This is bad! Someone's trying to forcibly mark an omega!"

"How is that possible?"

Luo Chenghai turned toward the screen. The moment he saw the scene clearly, his brows drew tightly together.

Chen Bei checked the assigned areas and found no waiter serving at the food station, so he called over a nearby servant. "Where's the second young master?"

"Dunno." The servant shook his head. "Haven't seen him in ages."

Chen Bei's expression darkened. "An extended absence from work. Ten points deducted!"

[Hahaha, fuck, nobody can escape having points deducted!]

[I just love the way Assistant Chen holds everyone's fate in his hands. He looks so alpha!]

[Pfft! Does nobody care whether Luo Ergou lives or dies?]

[When I saw him come out of the kitchen just now, he looked a little unsteady on his feet!]

[Could he have been drugged? Haha, that happens all the time in domineering CEO novels, after all!]

[...]

The livestream chat buzzed with discussion.

Knowing nothing of this, Chen Bei stuffed his pen and notebook into his pocket and strode toward the elevator.

Once he reached the bedroom floor, he headed straight for Luo Ming's room.

When the villa was built, special materials had been used in the walls to effectively block pheromones.

Whether it was an omega's heat or an alpha's rut,

as long as they stayed inside with the door shut tight, no matter how strong the scent was, not a trace could be smelled outside.

So when Chen Bei raised his hand to knock, he knew nothing of the danger about to arrive.

"Ergou, open the door."

"I know you're in there."

"You had the guts to skip work, but not to open the door?"

"If you don't open up, I'm going to deduct..."

His knuckles suddenly met empty air as the door opened from inside.

In an instant, alpha pheromones surged over Chen Bei like an avalanche, enveloping him completely.

"..."

In the second before he was dragged inside, a question popped into his mind.

Huh?

Why does it smell like Erguotou?