While in the car, Zhao Muqing had nothing better to do than search for content about Shen Guanzhi on the web, specifically pulling up interview materials to read. However, the claims regarding Shen Guanzhi’s personal family background were basically all the same.
He casually clicked open the comments, scrolling past countless remarks like “So handsome, I want to marry him,” before finally finding a negative comment at the bottom: [Are people actually simping for this guy? Do they not even know his dad was a smuggler? He still hasn’t been brought to justice, and his son is out here raking in money while marketing himself as a successful entrepreneur every single day. Truly disgusting.]
Still not brought to justice?
Yet according to what Shen Guanzhi had disclosed, his father had already passed away a few years ago. Shen Guanzhi himself was only in his early twenties, so presumably it had not been a natural death. If the man had truly committed crimes, getting his comeuppance could be considered fitting.
When it came down to it, what kind of person Shen Guanzhi was had nothing to do with him; Zhao Muqing was merely digging up gossip. It was just like when he was in school, if he did not understand a concept and felt too lazy to study it, he would still rack his brains to find out the full picture of a piece of gossip.
Upon arriving at Room 012, Zhao Muqing casually picked a spot in the corner and sat down. Zhou Ling arrived later than him this time, quickly finding an empty seat right beside him.
This session was a styling class. Models did not always have dedicated stylists and makeup artists present every time they attended an event, so learning how to match clothes on one’s own was also a crucial part of the process. Even in private settings, dressing too inappropriately would make one look cheap.
The instructor gave a theme, allowing everyone to freely choose and match items from the provided apparel. Just as Zhao Muqing finished selecting his outfit, his phone in his pocket vibrated out of nowhere. He instinctively took a moment to pull it out and take a look.
First, he discovered it was a message from Shen Guanzhi.
Second, he saw a low-battery warning pop up on his screen, followed immediately by a high-speed shutdown.
Zhao Muqing’s expression changed drastically. He had forgotten to charge his phone, and he had not managed to see what Shen Guanzhi had sent him.
Could it have been something very important? Shen Guanzhi’s requirement for him was to be at his beck and call; would missing a call like this count as failing to fulfill the contract?
After weighing his options, Zhao Muqing cast a look of appeal toward Zhou Ling. Zhou Ling seemed to hesitate for a moment, but only after Zhao Muqing repeatedly emphasized that he was merely making a quick phone call and would touch nothing else did Zhou Ling unlock his phone, open the dialer, and hand it over.
“Thanks, I will be really quick.” Zhao Muqing simply did not understand, did he really look that much like a bad guy who liked to snoop through other people’s privacy?
He naturally could not remember Shen Guanzhi’s phone number, but the seven-digit office landline number was something he could barely recall. The moment he pressed the final digit, a notification banner popped up abruptly on Zhou Ling’s phone, originating from a news reading application that Zhao Muqing found vaguely familiar.
When he inadvertently glanced at the content within the notification, that sense of familiarity grew even stronger.
[Someone replied to your comment: “Are people actually simping for this guy? Do they not even know his dad…”, click here to jump and view]
Such familiar wording, as if he had seen it not long ago. It was likewise a comment underneath a news article, with the exact same opening words. Zhao Muqing naturally arrived at a hypothesis.
It turned out that his previous deduction, that Zhou Ling liked Shen Guanzhi, was wrong to an absurd degree. On the contrary, Zhou Ling secretly harbored resentment toward Shen Guanzhi while acting completely unfazed on the surface, even praising him right in front of Zhao Muqing.
Then what was the purpose of trying to extract information about Shen Guanzhi from him earlier? Was it to check up on how his enemy was doing lately?
Zhao Muqing rapidly underwent a bout of brainstorming. He had no way to predict Zhou Ling’s actions; the only thing he could do was maintain a distance from this terrifying individual and incidentally drop a few words of warning to Shen Guanzhi later.
Feigning calmness, he dialed the call. The other end rang for a long time without being answered, indicating that Shen Guanzhi was likely not in his office.
Having no other choice, Zhao Muqing hung up the phone, handed it back to Zhou Ling, and offered a friendly, fake chuckle: “No answer. Oh well, never mind, it is probably nothing important.”
“Do you want to try calling again in a bit?”
That was probably just polite social talk. Zhao Muqing politely stated that he would just go find the person directly or borrow a charger after class, declining the other person’s assistance.
By the time Zhao Muqing’s class ended, it was already approaching six o’clock in the evening. Shen Guanzhi did not come to Room 012 to pick him up as he usually did, so Zhao Muqing took the elevator up to Shen Guanzhi’s office on his own.
The office door was ajar. Zhao Muqing knocked, and receiving no response, he boldly peered inside through the crack.
The man truly was not there, but the charger resting on the desktop was extremely conspicuous. He looked left and right, confirming that no one around was paying attention to him, and quickly slipped inside to steal some electricity.
Zhao Muqing held the charger and hunted around for an outlet. The power strip on the desk had no empty slots, and not daring to unplug anything at random, he had no choice but to crouch down under the desk to plug it in.
The moment he powered his phone back on, a chilling voice sounded from behind him: “Zhao Muqing.”
Zhao Muqing hurriedly put down his phone, crawled out from under the desk, and laughed awkwardly twice: “My phone ran out of battery. You know, modern people cannot live without their phones.”
“So you did not know to go to the showroom?” Shen Guanzhi did not seem intent on pressing the matter of unauthorized entry into his office.
“Right, right, I did not mean to.”
“Pay closer attention normally. I might contact you at any time, so do not let this happen again.” Shen Guanzhi said flatly. “The contract states that you are to be at my beck and call. I do not want to find nobody when I need to use you.”
“Of course.” Zhao Muqing was still holding the phone connected to the charging cable. He hesitated for a split second before Shen Guanzhi spoke up first: “You can use it. I brought the items over, so there is no need to go to the showroom.”
“What is it?” Leaving his phone to charge, Zhao Muqing closed the distance to Shen Guanzhi in a few steps.
Shen Guanzhi took a small box out of his pocket. It was evident the packaging had been carefully designed; his initials were inscribed on the side, and the surface featured textured decorations that felt quite unique to the touch.
Unable to wait, Zhao Muqing opened the box. Sure enough, it was the custom pair of ear clips Shen Guanzhi had previously promised to make for him, the cyan-green gemstones sparkling brightly.
They were completely different from the ear clip styles he had randomly skimmed through online. Although they looked minimalist, the design was filled with clever ingenuity, making his eyes light up.
“Can I wear them now?” Zhao Muqing found it hard not to love them.
“You can.” Shen Guanzhi picked up one of them. “Need help?”
“Let me try myself first. It is not like you can help me with this forever.” Zhao Muqing accepted the ear clips from the other man and, after a brief struggle, successfully put them on.
There was no mirror in the office, so he crouch-walked back under the desk to retrieve his phone, which had charged halfway, and used the front-facing camera to check himself out, feeling so satisfied he wanted to take a few selfies on the spot.
He leaned close to Shen Guanzhi again and asked: “Do they look good?”
“From an objective perspective, very good. They suit you.” Shen Guanzhi answered very succinctly.
“An objective perspective, huh? What about a subjective one?”
“Subjectively, I have no comment.”
Zhao Muqing was speechless. Whatever, he could not be bothered trying to pry open the mouth of this towering Buddha statue either.
“Accompany me to a dinner banquet in a few days. Do not forget to wear them.”
“What dinner banquet?” Zhao Muqing quickly caught the crucial keyword in the sentence.
“Investors and business partners will be attending. You could call it a work-related engagement.” Shen Guanzhi glanced at his wristwatch. “I will send you the time and location when the date arrives. Dress a bit formally.”
Discussing business over a dining table, just hearing about it made Zhao Muqing feel averse, as he was not particularly good at drinking alcohol.
“You are not required to do anything; just sit there.” Shen Guanzhi added specifically.
Zhao Muqing gave a simple assent. Does this guy possess mind-reading abilities? He certainly had been worried about causing trouble.
Still, acting merely as a decorative pendant, how hard could that possibly be for him?
Zhao Muqing changed into a suit and put on the ear clips while looking into the bedroom mirror. Confirming there were no issues with his appearance, he took the elevator downstairs and climbed into Shen Guanzhi’s car.
The banquet location was at a five-star hotel inside a large private dining room reserved in advance. When Shen Guanzhi walked through the door, quite a few people were already seated around the table.
Zhao Muqing swallowed hard out of nervousness; in all his years alive, this was his first time seeing so many wealthy individuals.
Shen Guanzhi greeted the others with practiced ease, while Zhao Muqing only dared to shrink behind him and honestly play the part of a pendant. He stood when Shen Guanzhi stood, and sat only when Shen Guanzhi sat.
Once nearly everyone had arrived, the waiters began serving the dishes one by one. Seeing Shen Guanzhi place some food into his bowl, Zhao Muqing picked up his chopsticks and finally dared to bury his head in voracious eating.
Having eaten too many nutritional meals at the villa, it was rare to encounter such a lavish feast, making it genuinely hard for Zhao Muqing to exercise restraint.
If not for the private room’s door being pushed open without warning, Zhao Muqing estimated he could have eaten more than half a plate of abalones.
“Apologies, I am late.” A familiar female voice drifted over. Zhao Muqing instinctively raised his head and discovered it was Li Shuqiao, with Zhou Ling unexpectedly following right behind him.
Zhou Ling’s gaze lingered on Zhao Muqing for a prolonged moment, carrying the look of a predator about to capture its prey, enough to give him goosebumps.
Li Shuqiao had Zhou Ling apologize to everyone present, thereby brushing the matter of their tardiness aside, and the two of them took their seats at the table.
Shen Guanzhi did not seem particularly surprised by the arrival of the pair; he did not spare them extra glances, simply resuming the topic they had been discussing earlier.
Recalling the look in Zhou Ling’s eyes when he entered, Zhao Muqing swept a cautious glance toward him from the corner of his eye. It is just dinner, with so many people watching, nothing untoward could possibly happen.
He wanted to ask Shen Guanzhi about Zhou Ling, but the timing was clearly inappropriate, so he casually found an excuse to head to the restroom.
There was hardly anyone inside the men’s room. He rested one hand against the edge of the sink while tapping away on his phone with the other, preparing to send a message to Shen Guanzhi.
Before he could type out much further, Zhou Ling entered the restroom without any warning: “Muqing, I did not expect to find you here either.”
“Shen Guanzhi is here, and I am here to accompany him.” Zhao Muqing replied with a forced smile.
“Bringing you along even to business negotiations, he must value you quite a lot, right?” Zhou Ling wore a smile that looked amiable on the surface. “Were those ear clips a gift from him?”
“Ah, yes.” Zhao Muqing did not think much of it and answered honestly.
“Can you take them off and let me take a look?” Zhou Ling reached a hand out toward him.
Zhao Muqing instinctively refused; his gut told him Zhou Ling merely wanting a look was not that simple. He casually manufactured an excuse to decline, but Zhou Ling remained persistent.
“Is taking a single look really that impossible?” Zhou Ling’s emotions appeared somewhat agitated. “Are the things he gives you that important? He is nothing more than a smuggler’s son, does he really deserve you defending him?”
“He is worth it, and what are you supposed to be? Besides spewing this garbage, can you do anything else?” Since the person across from him had started losing his mind, Zhao Muqing dropped the act as well.
“Deserve it?” Zhou Ling let out a scoff, pulling a small utility knife out from his suit jacket. “We will just have to test it out to know whether he is worth it or not.”