Zhou Chao is like a ticking time bomb wherever he goes. Not only are his thoughts unorthodox, but he also has eyes bigger than his stomach, always trying to do work that doesn’t match his own abilities, hoping to become an elite someday. And it’s true that having Zhou Xue as a relative did give him a higher starting point than others, such as being able to use the back door. But too many back doors can easily lead to arrogance.
Already lacking ability, he still didn’t seize the time to keep his head down and be a proper person. It was only a matter of time before his boat would capsize in the sewer1.
…And no one expected that day to come so quickly.
There may have been people at the company who disliked him and sabotaged him.
In any case, there was a problem with the project Zhou Chao was in charge of, and Zhou Chao was held responsible. He brought huge losses to the company, so the compensation naturally had to be negotiated by Huo Qidong, the CEO.
Zhou Chao had made many low-level mistakes at work before, but they were always corrected by members of his team. It’s unreasonable to expect others to cover for his incompetence every time. And this time, since it was a bigger project with higher profits, he got greedy and insisted on showing off, resulting in the awkward situation now.
Greed leads to doom!
And Huo Qidong’s patience with Zhou Chao had reached its limit.
The elders’ advice was not unreasonable. For families like theirs, they were destined to be calculating about benefits. Even marriage should be a business arrangement. Zhou Chao had miscalculated, overestimating his ability to stand alone, marrying a woman who couldn’t bring him any benefits or even have a hot meal ready when he got home. And now, he actually wanted his brother-in-law to clean up the mess of his useless relative, following along to wipe this relative’s butt.
Outwardly, Huo Qidong did have the title of “philanthropist.” He wouldn’t do business at a loss. He did charity by spending a fortune to gain a good reputation, with no losses. As for Zhou Chao, Huo Qidong felt he had already invested in him earlier, and now that the capital was gone, it was time to cut his losses and avoid further damage.
So it wasn’t long before Huo Qidong used Zhou Chao’s mistake this time as an excuse to fire him outright. Zhou Xue’s face was almost worthless to Huo Qidong now.
After being fired, Zhou Chao went to Zhou Xue to ask her to plead for him.
This gave Zhou Xue a headache. She had helped as much as she could. He was incompetent yet still wanted to drag her down with him. After all, Zhou Chao was only her cousin, not a sibling. With Zhou Xue barely able to protect herself now and Huo Qidong increasingly impatient with her, all she could do was minimize trouble. Anything else, she just brushed off vaguely.
In her heart, she privately thought Yan Cheng was under Chen Jinyao’s control.
Still firmly believing that Yan Cheng had surrendered at Chen Jinyao’s feet, after thinking for a bit, she said to Zhou Chao: “With losses so great for the company, if your brother-in-law kept you, how could he establish authority at the company in the future? Why not go ask Yan Cheng again to see if he can help you?”
“I fell out with him last time. He must know I got him taken to the police station.” Zhou Chao frowned as he stated the facts.
Hearing this, Zhou Xue’s eyes showed a deeper smile. Even though they hadn’t contacted each other for a long time, she suddenly had some confidence and said, “But he didn’t get back at you for it.”
As a song lyric from Zhang Xueyou goes, the favored are always fearless.
Zhou Chao was startled, then felt this made sense.
The shameless succeed everywhere.
To ask a favor from someone you’ve had unpleasantness with, you need the skill to pretend you’ve completely forgotten that unpleasantness. Zhou Chao’s shamelessness exceeded imagination.
But before Zhou Chao could shamelessly go to Yan Cheng, he was beaten and hospitalized.
A group of gangsters with tattoos, in the dark of night, dragged him into a dead-end alley and gave him a fierce beating, not knowing their own strength. He was injured quite seriously and taken to the hospital bleeding profusely, shouting, “Damn those bastards. Tell me who they are and I’ll kill them!”
But with so many enemies Zhou Chao had offended, who knew who it was? However much he yelled, this would remain an unresolved injustice.
When Zhou Xue came to see him a few days later, he was still thinking of relying on Yan Cheng. But now he was disabled and couldn’t leave the hospital.
After thinking it over, he still grabbed onto Zhou Xue like a lifeline.
“It’ll be more useful if you go talk to him than me.”
Friday. Rare good weather.
Chen Jinyao finished her work early at the clinic.
Taking off her mask and returning to the office, she breathed a sigh of relief. Sitting in her office chair, she immediately leaned back, looking for a comfortable position. Not finding one, she raised her arms to stretch and yawned forcefully, eyelashes fluttering. Glancing at the green plant next to her computer, her tiredness instantly disappeared and she felt refreshed. It was weekend time to rest again.
With still some time before getting off work, she spaced out for a bit, gaze fixed in thought. After a long pause, she came to her senses, slowly drew her gaze back, and lazily picked up her phone. She no longer concealed her impulse.
Chen Jinyao: [I’ve decided to inspect your tea house tonight.]
Mainly the repetitive life of almost only going between three places on work days made her feel bored. When the boredom became unbearable, it stimulated the subconscious desire to seek excitement, plus they had already agreed to it earlier.
Yan Cheng seemed quite surprised. [So sudden!]
Reading his reply, Chen Jinyao smiled lazily and quirked a brow, quickly typing: [You can also call it a surprise inspection.]
Yan Cheng gave a wry laugh. [For a surprise inspection, you shouldn’t tell me beforehand.]
He was at the tea house now, leaning over the second floor railing overlooking downstairs. It was still early and there were few customers scattered about.
The manager called the part-time workers for today to one side, repeatedly instructing them on what to do and not do, to know proper boundaries.
Ati stood beside him, lips pressed tightly together like a pine tree.
Yan Cheng drew back his thoughts and continued asking: [Should I pick you up from the clinic?]
Chen Jinyao quickly rejected his suggestion: [No need, I’m going home first. I’ll drive over myself later.]
[Alright.] He respected her decision.
After waiting a bit without further reply from Chen Jinyao, Yan Cheng put away his phone. He narrowed his eyes gazing into the distance, silent for seconds. Then he took out a cigarette box and lighter from his shirt pocket, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, flickering stars of fire in the dim surroundings. Exhaling smoke rings, he glanced sideways at Ati: “Come with me, explain everything in detail again.”
Yan Cheng was caught off guard by Ati sending people to beat up Zhou Chao.
What made him even more speechless was Ati voluntarily coming to make this completely unnecessary confession days later.
Bored, Yan Cheng pondered, then went along with it.
Many people didn’t know about Ati. If he turned to crime, he really wouldn’t seem like someone able to quietly work at a bar. It was just that Yan Cheng had done him a great favor. This favor was enough for Ati to look up to Yan Cheng as his leader.
As for beating Zhou Chao, it really was a chance encounter.
Happened to run into him, happened not to meet face to face, happened to have had some drinks, happened to be impulsive when tipsy, plus his friends around, just the right mob mentality and cover of night. Everything flowed naturally.
Ati was just indignant: “He doesn’t know it was me who beat him up, won’t cause trouble.”
After a silent pause, just when Ati was about to explain his motive again, Yan Cheng looked utterly indifferent and said: “Hit once hit. No need to say more.”
“……” Hearing this, Ati was stunned.
Yan Cheng’s eyes slanted up, tone casual: “If you didn’t tell, no one would know.”
The subtext was that he tacitly approved of this behavior.
“You beat him up for me, I really should thank you,” said the young master whose first jail experience was thanks to Zhou Chao. How could he let Zhou Chao off easily? “But don’t be impulsive next time you see him. Hitting a few times to vent is enough, no point beyond that.”
This time, it was Ati’s turn to be shocked. “There will be a next time?”
“Not necessarily.” Yan Cheng’s chin tilted up slightly.
“……”
Chen Jinyao brought dinner back to the apartment, rested after eating, then got up to shower. Since she was going to a bar to have fun, she felt she should change her style, at least not stay so conservative.
Her clothes took up over half the wardrobe, wide variety, there must be something suitable to wear to a bar. Going out to play, no need to be so prim and proper.
But Chen Jinyao didn’t find any slightly rebellious clothes.
In the end, a green floral long dress with white, plus a black leather jacket on the outside.
She was fair-skinned, this pairing didn’t look bad either. Chen Jinyao admired herself in the mirror for a while before starting makeup. Unlike usual light makeup, this time she drew on eyeliner, wore false lashes, deliberately chose a more vibrant lipstick color, curled her hair…
It took over an hour with such attentive primping.
By the time she hurriedly prepared to go out, glancing at her phone, she realized Yan Cheng had called and messaged her.
The messages just asked when she’d come over.
Chen Jinyao bent down to change shoes. To drive, she wore white flats, and also brought high heels in a bag. The door slammed shut. Waiting for the elevator, she called Yan Cheng back.
As soon as the call connected, she quickly said: “I’m heading out now.”
“Mm.” Yan Cheng gave a low murmur of acknowledgement, his voice gentle, seeming to smile too: “No rush, it’s weekend tomorrow anyway.”
After two seconds of contemplation, Chen Jinyao refuted him: “Che, I’m not rushing.”
Not much else to say now.
Yan Cheng urged her: “Drive carefully.”
“Okay.” Chen Jinyao responded, then hung up.
She was dressed too lightly after all.
Stepping outside, she shivered from the cold.
Even her breath seemed to be steaming.
No traffic jams in the capital at this time. About twenty minutes later, Chen Jinyao arrived at the tea house, but the nearby parking was full already. She had to reverse out and find a farther spot to park.
Yan Cheng had probably timed it well.
He messaged her to enter from the other south side door when she arrived.
Heading south from the north side, Chen Jinyao jogged halfway, saw the message, and paused. She turned and detoured, the moment of turning the corner, her peripheral vision seemed to glimpse Zhou Xue.
The glimpse flashed by and Chen Jinyao didn’t think too much of it.
Almost at the south door, around the corner, the street light was flickering, probably malfunctioning. Yan Cheng stood there waiting for her, hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall.
Hearing movement, he turned his face and raised his eyes.
Meeting his gaze, surprise flashed through Yan Cheng’s eyes.
He probably didn’t expect her to dress and put on heavy makeup like this today.
Yan Cheng seemed to ponder for a few seconds, then tilted his head, pulling up the corner of his lips jokingly: “Oh, who are you?”
- An idiom meaning imminent downfall. ↩︎
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