Over the next hour, Chi Xiaochi was extremely busy integrating the data and compiling the information.
About half an hour later, the door to the bedroom was pushed open.
The person who entered wasn’t Zhou Kai.
Zhou Kai was out on a business trip in France for these few days. The visitor was a domestic helper.
According to the information provided by 061, he was Spanish, and was called Ethan.
He didn’t know Chinese, just like the chauffeur, the chef and the maid. They had all been instructed not to use English by Zhou Kai. In the house, they were to only use Spanish to converse.
Shen Changqing didn’t know Spanish.
In the beginning, Shen Changqing had taken the initiative to learn a few sentences, but he soon realised that these four people had no interest in responding to any of his questions or requests. Occasionally, they’d even gather together to point out Shen Changqing’s injuries and sn.i.g.g.e.r incessantly.
They’d been working for Zhou Kai for more than twenty years and could be considered long-time servants of the Zhou household. To them, even Su Wenyi’s tragedy was by now unsurprising.
From their point of view, Mister Zhou treated Mister Shen very well. At least compared to how he was with Mister Su, he was much more gentle.
After realising their indifference, Shen Changqing felt that he had nothing to say to such people.
But Chi Xiaochi wasn’t the same.
He especially liked talking to such people.
Ethan pushed in a wheelchair. Seeing that the needle had already been pulled out, he paused slightly but didn’t say anything. He helped Chi Xiaochi sit up from the bed and silently replaced the towels fastened around his chest.
Chi Xiaochi asked, “My IV ran dry an hour ago. Why was there n.o.body to remove it for me?”
Ethan ignored him.
Chi Xiaochi turned to 061, “How do you say that in Spanish?”
061 repeated it in Spanish. Just as he was about to say it a second time for Chi Xiaochi, Chi Xiaochi flawlessly repeated what 061 had said, not a syllable out of place.
In response to Chi Xiaochi’s question, Ethan remained silent.
From this, it could be seen how oppressive the environment that Shen Changqing had been living in for three whole years was.
In the entire villa, the only person who could talk to him was, of all people, the person he hated most.
Chi Xiaochi spoke again, in a voice that was neither too fast nor too slow, “If I hadn’t pulled out the needle myself, the IV drip would probably have been half-full with my blood by now.”
Ethan’s resultant complete lack of concern was within his expectations.
061 once again repeated Chi Xiaochi’s words in Spanish.
This time, the grammar and words used were a little complicated, so Chi Xiaochi had to listen to it twice before being able to repeat it.
Ethan continued to ignore him and even let out a quick, light laugh, as if he felt like this was something very amusing.
After changing the towels, he dragged Chi Xiaochi up to move him onto the wheelchair.
For the next hour was the time in the sun Zhou Kai had prescribed for Shen Changqing. It couldn’t run even a minute longer or a minute shorter.
Chi Xiaochi, who was being shielded from the pain, naturally wouldn’t feel any pain, but Shen Changqing definitely would.
So he raised a protest, “Be a little gentler. It really hurts.”
061 took the initiative to translate that for him. The response they received was still nonexistent.
In the next second, Chi Xiaochi once again exceeded 061’s expectations with his next move.
He directly grabbed the soundless clock from the bedside table and slapped it across Ethan’s face.
With a crack, the gla.s.s face of the clock was smashed into pieces.
Ethan, who had been hit, and 061, who watched Ethan be hit, were both dumbstruck.
Chi Xiaochi said in Spanish, “……Since you don’t understand human speech, can you now understand what ‘it really hurts’ means?”
With a hiss, 061 sucked in a breath of cold air.
He thought Chi Xiaochi was in for a beating and had already made his preparations to materialise and knock Ethan unconscious.
Who knew that upon touching his face and noticing the blood on his hands, the stupefied expression on Ethan’s face would slacken slightly and even gain a slight hint of fear.
He said in Spanish, “Sorry, Mister Shen.”
061, “……”
The sunshine outside wasn’t bad. The greenery in the villa garden was meticulously arranged. There was also a beautiful pond off to the side. The pond gleamed with the colour of green jade, extremely delightful to the eye.
Lying in his wheelchair, Chi Xiaochi basked in the sunlight. He rubbed his chest, “I was too abrupt just now. I think I heard my bones crack.”
061 said, “I’ve shielded you, so you won’t feel any pain.”
Chi Xiaochi asked excitedly, “That means I can move around however I want now?”
061, “……That means you now have no way of accurately judging the severity of your injuries and need to take it a little easier.”
Chi Xiaochi, “……Oh.”
061 asked, “Why did you hit him?”
“Violence isn’t going to solve the problem,” Chi Xiaochi said, “but it can at least be used to deal with idiots.”
“What if he retaliates? He attends to your daily life. If he were to do a little something……”
“I still have a mouth under this nose of mine. Zhou Kai videocalls me everyday, don’t you think I would tell him?”
“Would Zhou Kai care?”
“It’s true that Zhou Kai treats Shen Changqing like a pet he’s raising, but he absolutely wouldn’t allow other people to make a move on his own pet,” As he turned the pages of the book in his hands, he moved his gaze over to Ethan and the two other servants whispering in a corner of the small garden, “……These people are very clear on that.”
“If they……”
“Let’s bet on it. They won’t dare to say anything.
“Shen Changqing and Su Wenyi were both scared of offending them, and in turn offending Zhou Kai. So they had nothing to fear with Zhou Kai backing them up,” Chi Xiaochi said, “In fact, these kinds of people fear violence the most.”
Off in the distance, only a few isolated phrases from the three people’s conversation drifted over on the wind. They could vaguely hear “madman”, and “he’s gone crazy”.
Without even bothering to raise his head, Chi Xiaochi raised his voice and shouted back in Spanish, “You guys are the real madmen. Three idiots.”
The three people immediately scattered like a flock of startled birds.
Chi Xiaochi sneered.
Cowardice and tyranny, these two traits that were as different as night and day were extremely likely to exist simultaneously in a single individual.
On this point, he’d long been clear.
061, “……I didn’t seem to have taught you how to say what you just said.”
Chi Xiaochi turned a page of his book, “Oh, I can speak Spanish.”
061, “……”
Chi Xiaochi, “The domestic helper my family used to have was also Spanish. She had much more personality than those three. She was really lovely and even taught me quite a few curses.”
061, “……Then in the beginning you made me teach you……”
“Oh, I just wanted to listen to you speak more,” Chi Xiaochi said candidly, “And not to mention, you sound really s.e.xy in Spanish. Let’s change tonight’s book to Spanish poetry.”
061 was silent.
After waiting for a long time but still not getting a response from 061, he let out a “yi”, and called, “Liu-laoshi?”
Chi Xiaochi thought his hiding things and rash advance had made 061 angry.
But soon, 061 responded.
“It’s nothing,” 061 said, “I went online to download a Spanish poem anthology.”
Chi Xiaochi, “Here I thought you were upset by my fooling around.”
061 said, “I wouldn’t be.”
He then said, “With me here, you can play around however you want.”
In truth, 061 was actually really a little angry.
He couldn’t understand why Chi Xiaochi was a.s.signed to an A-grade world when he was only on his second task.
He’d consulted all the databases, and after sifting through the enormous amount of data, he’d confirmed that Chi Xiaochi was definitely the first.
In light of recent events, 061 found a point of suspicion:
The Lord G.o.d said he wanted him to partic.i.p.ate in a project.
He was very worried that the current abnormality was him “testing the waters” for that so-called project.
If that was really the case, 061 would rather complete the full set of 200 tasks than take the deal and gamble with Chi Xiaochi’s safety, because once a host logged out, whether voluntarily, their mental energy would acquire quite a bit of damage.
061 remembered helping a colleague cover a shift back when he was on his ninth host.
That host had just been extricated from an ABO world after dying in battle amongst a pile of disgusting Zerg.
When 061 talked to him, his mental state was obviously somewhat muddled and his reactions were delayed. He later heard that the symptoms had only been alleviated after two task worlds.
This A-grade world was far too dangerous. 061 decided to not return to the Lord G.o.d’s s.p.a.ce for the time being and stay by Chi Xiaochi’s side. He would wait till after the task finished to go find the Lord G.o.d and come to an agreement about him withdrawing from the project.
Chi Xiaochi laughed, “So good to me?”
061, “You consider just this good? There’s still room for improvement.”
Chi Xiaochi paused for a moment, “Your manner of speaking reminds me of someone.”
061, “En?”
“An especially annoying someone,” Chi Xiaochi said, “They promised they would be good to me for a lifetime, but in the end, they just left. Not at all loyal.”
061 knew who he was talking about, but didn’t know how to comfort him. He could only say, “Let’s bask in the sun.”
However, Chi Xiaochi said, “I want to use the internet.”
Without Zhou Kai’s permission, Shen Changqing couldn’t access the internet. However, with 061, he didn’t need to worry about something like not having internet at all.
In his mental s.p.a.ce, he spent an hour browsing the internet.
061 noticed that the webpages Chi Xiaochi was looking through were all articles on recent hot society news. Some were related to Zhou Kai, but some had nothing to do with him, such as how, in so-and-so place, there had been a □□ to fight for black people’s rights, how there had been a shooting incident in such-and-such place, how an elk had escaped from a zoo in XX place and wandered onto the highway.
Even though he wasn’t very clear on what he was looking through these for, 061 had exceptional faith in Chi Xiaochi.
……Nothing he did was without a purpose.
An hour later, Chi Xiaochi was taken back to his bedroom by the maid.
Another hour later, dinner was served.
Dinner was, despite the circ.u.mstances, still very good; a nutritious meal tailored for a patient with broken bones.
Chi Xiaochi sighed, “This old calf supposes this set of dishes was perfected through experience.”
He was injured, and naturally couldn’t use chopsticks by himself. Furthermore, in order to beat people up today, he might have exerted enough force to have broken a third rib. Now, he could only depend on a maid to feed him.
Fortunately, the broken clock was still on the headboard, still exerting its presence. The maid put in her best efforts to feed him, fearful of Chi Xiaochi going into a fit of moodiness and smashing a basin of hot soup over her head.
Chi Xiaochi also wasn’t one to make a fuss out of nothing. If the other party was polite to him, he had no reason not to return that politeness.
By the time the meal was over, it was already exactly seven o’ clock in the evening.
Zhou Kai’s villa was in Canada, while he himself was in France. There was a time difference of six hours between the two countries.
Of course, Zhou Kai didn’t care whether or not there was a time difference. As long as he wanted to start a video call, Shen Changqing had to pick up, even if it was at three o’ clock in the morning.
But today, he had no time for such whims.
At two-thirty in France time, he needed to attend a very important conference, which was the main purpose of this trip to France.
Chi XIaochi asked 061, “Zhou Kai has the habit of napping, right?”
061, “Yes.”
Zhou Kai was getting on in age, he didn’t have the energy of a younger person. If he didn’t have an afternoon nap, he would have no energy for the rest of the day.
He would be in an extremely bad mood if woken up, and absolutely did not allow anyone to disturb him. He had the habit of putting his phone on mute, and would even pick up the hotel phone and put it aside, so as to avoid being awakened by room service.
However, he was incredibly self-disciplined. Every nap would never exceed half an hour. He could be said to have an automatic alarm const.i.tution.
He then asked, “Can skill cards be used at such a distance?”
061, “Yes.”
Chi Xiaochi turned his head, and looked at the little clock whose face he’d smashed. It showed that it was 7:05.
“Low-grade hypnosis card, the one that lasts an hour. Use it on him now.”
About one hour later.
In a black MPV on the streets of Paris, Zhou Kai sat in the backseat, his expression extremely ugly.
He growled in English, “Hurry up!”
The driver had a face full of helplessness, “Boss, there’s a strike up ahead……”
Zhou Kai clenched his teeth, “Go around.”
The driver turned the car into a little side street.
The a.s.sistant sitting next to him didn’t even dare to take too deep of a breath for fear that the sound of his breathing would call Zhou Kai to turn his attention to himself.
Zhou Kai’s face was ashen, and his fists were clenched so tightly they itched.
When he’d woken up in the hotel room, and turned on his cell phone, he’d even thought that he’d misread the time.
Upon getting a good look at the time, he directly shot out of bed. After his call to his a.s.sistant went through, the first thing that came out of his mouth was a roar, “Where are you?!”
The a.s.sistant stood in front of the meeting place where the attendees were pouring in one after another, in a cold sweat, “Sir, where are you? I knocked on your door, but you didn’t reply, and when I tried to contact you, you didn’t respond. I even thought you’d gone to the meeting place with Mister Sam in advance……”
No matter how upset Zhou Kai got, the facts couldn’t be denied: As an important person in the meeting, he was close to thirty minutes late.
When Zhou Kai entered the meeting room, the meeting had not yet begun in order to wait for him.
Being under the attentive gaze of the investors, he was very upset on the inside, but still pretended to be cheery, laughing, “I remembered the time wrongly, haha.”
The a.s.sistant’s heart skipped a beat.
Before he came in, he’d clearly warned Zhou Kai again and again to just directly apologise, no need to provide a reason.
He had done an investigation beforehand and found that two of the investors attending the meeting were both famous in the industry for their strong views on timeliness.
Even though they wouldn’t make a fuss for the sake of the short-term benefits, what the company was aiming for was long-term collaboration. If Zhou Kai had this kind of “hee hee ha ha” att.i.tude, after another year, when they wanted to talk about cooperating again, he was afraid the other party would harbour doubt in their hearts.
In conclusion, Zhou Kai still loved face, and was unwilling to admit his wrongs in front of everybody.
When Zhou Kai was young, he still knew how to restrain himself. After turning 45, when his position in the industry stabilised, his mouth became more loose. He often spoke freely in public. He even once talked at length about his and his partner Shen Changqing’s X life, and compared him with his predecessor. That magazine report was also bold, directly sending it out and arousing a huge wave of controversy.
Some people praised him for his daring, and some questioned him for his sensationalism.
But in any case, his familiarity in the public consciousness rose sharply, sending the attention paid to his company and his stocks soaring.
Zhou Kai prepared to take his seat. Sam helped him pull out a chair.
Zhou Kai had no heirs, so this Mister Sam was the successor that Zhou Kai had single-handedly trained. Only 35 years old this year, he could be called a promising young man.
But not long after he sat down, Sam found something wrong with Zhou Kai.
He whispered, “Mister Zhou, what’s……”
Zhou Kai’s eyelids closed, and his body slid downwards without stopping.
Sam was shocked, “Oh my G.o.d, Mister Zhou!!”
Thousands of li away, Chi Xiaochi laid in bed, and said to 061, “Check for me, after Zhou Kai fainted, how did that Sam react?”
He had just used another card, this time a vertigo card, and was currently waiting for his test results.
Soon, 061 gave his response, “……That Sam showed great concern for Zhou Kai.”
Chi Xiaochi said, “Continue your observation. Everything he shows in the presence of other people doesn’t count.”
Zhou Kai was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. In the ruckus, no one noticed Sam quietly slipping into the hospital toilet.
As he opened all the toilet cubicles one by one, he sent texts to several people, “……Mister Zhou suddenly fainted and was admitted to the hospital. The cause is currently under investigation. For the time being, block the news and don’t allow the media to catch wind of this.”
After that, he then called two other people. “Send some news to the media companies we’re familiar with. Say that an ambulance entered a certain French conference centre, according to leaks from the centre staff, it is suspected that a sudden, serious illness broke out in the Chinese-Canadian Zhou Kai and the cause is unknown……”
A low-grade card that only had an hour of effectiveness was used for a preliminary test to see how deep the waters of Zhou Kai’s company ran.
At least, that Mister Sam was not as deeply grateful for Mister Zhou’s promotion as he seemed to be.