Having been forcefully ushered into the hall, Zhou Kai now started to feel unhappy.
……The scent of the hall wasn’t the fresh and clean fragrance he was accustomed to. It seemed to have been changed to a lighter, flowery fragrance.
Zhou Kai frowned slightly.
He hated this kind of change.
Fortunately, Sam soon shook off the encirclement of reporters and entered the hall. He respectfully greeted Zhou Kai, then guided him over towards the elevator.
After entering the elevator, he pressed the b.u.t.ton, then turned to Shen Changqing, “Mister Shen, how have you been lately?”
The day before yesterday, Shen Changqing’s chest brace had already been taken off, and his bone injury was just about completely healed with 061’s help.
He took Zhou Kai’s arm, and nodded mildly and politely at Sam, “Thank you, Mister Sam. I’ve been well.”
Although Zhou Kai didn’t have bad looks, but he was already at that age where, when all was said and done, his looks were in decline.
With Sam to his left and Shen Changqing on his right, both of their young, energetic faces, contrasted even more with his sunset looks.
Under this kind of stark contrast, Zhou Kai’s face became even uglier. He let out a heavy snort from his nose.
But Sam ignored his obvious irritation and continued to ask, “You look much better than the last time I saw you when I went to Mister Zhou’s house.”
Shen Changqing just gave a shallow smile, and didn’t say anything superfluous.
Within this simple exchange, the two of them had already sent out signals to each other.
Sam believed that Shen Changqing was like him, he no longer wanted to put up with this imperious, bossy old man.
While Chi Xiaochi confirmed that Sam already had no intention whatsoever of curbing his ambitions anymore.
He said to 061, “Liu-laoshi, let’s play it by ear.”
061 said, “Playing by ear is fine, just take care of yourself.”
Chi Xiaochi, “It’ll be fine as long as I take care of Shen Changqing.”
The elevator reached the banquet hall on the 25th floor. Slowly, the door opened from both sides.
Unexpectedly, Sam didn’t make way for Zhou Kai as usual. He stepped out ahead of Zhou Kai, calmly entering the hall.
Zhou Kai, who’d had his thunder stolen, was stunned for a moment, before his head burst into flames. With big strides, he rushed out of the elevator, dragging a stumbling Shen Changqing along with him.
He watched with wide eyes as Sam grabbed two gla.s.ses of champagne and with the att.i.tude of the host of this party, handed one over to him. Blue veins bulged on Zhou Kai’s forehead.
But he still received the gla.s.s.
He still couldn’t believe it even now.
He’d thought before that after Sam took power, he might stop taking him seriously, but he’d never thought that day would come so quickly.
However, the facts made it so he couldn’t not believe anymore.
As soon as he came in, Zhou Kai sensed that the atmosphere was off. His inner anxiety and unease increased as time pa.s.sed.
Everyone in the banquet hall was trying to avoid having direct contact with Zhou Kai. If there was a face-to-face encounter, and an exchange was inevitable, said person wouldn’t be too embarra.s.sed to exchange a few ba.n.a.l greetings with Zhou Kai, but their tone would be filled with polite alienation. After a quick clink of gla.s.ses, they would withdraw themselves and leave, both cordial yet distant.
The entire hall of people in perfumed clothes and gorgeous hair talked cheerfully amongst one another, as if they had no connection whatsoever to Zhou Kai.
The pent-up frustration in Zhou Kai’s heart became heavier and heavier, so much so that he just wanted to rush before everyone and shout, to tell them to shut up, and announce his existence.
But in the end, his face was more important.
How could he act deranged before his own subordinates, like an uncontrollable Alzheimer’s patient?
……Alzheimer’s?
Upon thinking of this term, his mind became even more aghast. He turned around to look for Shen Changqing’s figure.
Just a moment ago, he had been making his rounds around the hall, his heart filled with anger and melancholy. He hadn’t even cared about maintaining the facade of loving affection, having long since forgotten where he’d dumped Shen Changqing.
After looking around for a while, he unexpectedly saw Shen Changqing chatting with Sam.
If not for his good looks and good figure, Zhou Kai wouldn’t have picked Shen Changqing out of the numerous male models, and Sam had a high nose bridge and deep eyes, and a head of neatly-combed golden hair. When the two of them stood together, their appearances were actually unexpectedly harmonious.
A dark fire ignited in Zhou Kai’s eyes.
Since when had they become so familiar?
What exactly had they been plotting behind his back?
He walked forward, sweeping his malice-filled gaze between Shen Changqing and Sam, “……What are you two talking about?”
Sam’s expression didn’t change. He smiled placidly as he replied, “Mister Zhou, you might not be interested in the topic of our conversation.”
Zhou Kai didn’t utter a word, his fixed gaze locked on Shen Changqing.
Shen Changqing’s eyes were bright, “We’re talking about dogs. Mister Sam’s Anna is a golden retriever. She recently gave birth to three puppies. From their pictures, they look adorable. I want one as a friend for Help.”
……He “wants”?
Since when in this household was it Shen Changqing’s place to “want”?
But to his surprise, Sam and Shen Changqing quickly turned their attentions away from him, and continued their unfinished conversation.
Sam asked, “How has Help been lately?”
“He’s been in the pet hospital,” Shen Changqing’s expression remained unchanged, a gentle and amiable smile on his face, “A little bit of a cold and a fever, it wasn’t any serious illness, but I was afraid I’d raised him to become too pampered, too delicate to take illness, so I sent him to the hospital to be taken care of.”
“Isn’t it that the more you take care of them, the more pampered they become?”
Shen Changqing pursed his lips in a reserved smile.
Zhou Kai, who had been watching Shen Changqing’s every move, clenched his teeth so hard they creaked.
……Since when had he become so good at lying, so good at acting?
Sam said, “Dogs are even more pampered than people these days. They get sick all the time even without doing anything, but when they get sick, what else can we do? We can only send them out to get treated.”
Zhou Kai sensed the barb in that remark. Hi expression abruptly changed, “What do you mean by that?”
Sam looked over at Zhou Kai doubtfully, “Mister Zhou?”
Zhou Kai forced down the urge to grab him by the collar, and punch the slight smile off of his dog face, “I’m asking you, where’s Frank?”
“Frank?” Sam replied lightly, “Oh, he retired.”
Zhou Kai was shaken, “When did this happen?”
Sam said, “It was the day you retired.”
……Retired?
What retired? Who retired?!
Not waiting for Zhou Kai to flare up, Sam raised his wrist, took a look at his watch, then gave him a respectful nod, and put his half-drunk gla.s.s of champagne on the tray of a pa.s.sing waiter, “Please wait a moment. The evening party is about to begin.”
The spotlights. .h.i.t the stage. The department head of the public relations department stepped onto the stage, and gave his usual opening speech, which had remained unchanged for more than a decade.
But Zhou Kai had a kind of intuition.
It’s changed, everything’s changed.
And a minute later, Zhou Kai’s intuition revealed itself to be true.
The department head of the PR department said, “This year’s mid-year gathering, is of great significance. First of all, let us thank Mister Zhou Kai, the former chairman of the board, for gracing us with his presence today.”
Sam began to clap, so everyone else began to clap along with him.
The applause was thunderous, welcoming their former chairman of the board, Zhou Kai.
Shen Changqing stood there quietly, a gla.s.s of champagne in his hand. He looked around at everyone’s actions, seemingly unsurprised.
Amidst the enthusiastic applause, Zhou Kai was dazed.
A moment later, he exploded in anger, “‘Former’? Whose decision was this? Why did n.o.body inform me?”
Countless indifferent, guarded, or uneasy faces turned towards Zhou Kai, but there was no longer any of the earlier reverence.
Zhou Kai’s eyes were bloodshot. He turned and stared intently at Sam, “Was this your idea?! Sam Longman?”
Sam quietly looked at Zhou Kai, silent.
No one had told him because he, Zhou Kai, was too much of a failure as a person.
Over the years, he had been utterly unable to cultivate a true trusted aide. Those by his side were all either filled with hatred, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with ambition, or weak and cowardly, completely lacking their own opinions.
This was an empire single-handedly built by Zhou Kai. The employees were the screws maintaining the company’s operations, and nothing else.
In these years, not just Sam, many people had all had enough.
Personnel changed, those who left, left, those who stayed, stayed. Those who stayed, were all unwilling to let the heart’s blood they had expended working under Zhou Kai, struggling to make a living for all these years go to waste.
But not long ago, Zhou Kai, with that loathsome mouth of his, almost sank this entire ship along with him.
This made all those who didn’t want to be buried at the bottom of the ocean realise, it was time for them to change captains.
“You have done a great deal of damage to our company’s reputation. At the same time, you’re suffering from a serious illness. Dismissing you from the board of directors was the collective decision of the board, not my decision alone,” Sam said elegantly, “Mister Zhou, please calm down.”
“My a.s.s!”
How could Zhou Kai possibly calm down?
He’d been dismissed? Dismissed by the person he’d personally promoted? For the motherf.u.c.king reason that he was racist and had Alzheimer’s?
The former, he could force himself to accept, but the latter had clearly just been a stalling tactic!
He shouted at the top of his lungs, “I’m not sick!”
Employees familiar with his conduct naturally didn’t have any response, but there were also relatives of company employees, who, seeing him so violently upset, suffered a fright and backed away one after another.
Shen Changqing came up to him and took his arm, “Mister Zhou, Mister Zhou, don’t be angry. Let’s go home.”
Just as he barely finished speaking, Zhou Kai grabbed his wrist.
His eagle-like eyes were dying to gouge out a piece of flesh from Shen Changqing’s body.
“It’s you? It’s you!”
With a wring of his hand, he ruthlessly flung Shen Changqing aside.
Chi Xiaochi had long since made preparations, so he managed to regain his balance after just a few tumbles and landed steadily on the floor.
There was a thick carpet spread out over the floor, giving Chi Xiaochi ample s.p.a.ce to stage his play.
Thus, this fake fall had all the dramatics of someone throwing themselves in front of a stopped car to fake an accident for the compensation fees.
Once Zhou Kai started, it was very hard for him to stop. He raised his leg and kicked out violently at the table covered in desserts!
Seeing him a.s.sume the position of getting ready to act, Chi Xiaochi immediately seized the opportunity and yelled to 061, “Now!”
061 had already tensed up in antic.i.p.ation since long ago.
Chi Xiaochi displaying his indifference towards Zhou Kai, leaving Zhou Kai’s range of jurisdiction and taking the initiative to strike up a conversation with Sam, on top of all the little incidents that had happened all day, had already succeeded in turning Zhou Kai into a firecracker on the cusp of exploding.
And what Chi Xiaochi and 061 needed to do now, was to fuel the flames, to stoke them to the point were Zhou Kai would be utterly unable to put them out.
Name: Strength Enhancement Card (Short Effectiveness · Singular)
Duration: 1 minute
Quant.i.ty: 1
Quality: Medium
Type: Single use only
Points required: 7
Description: Popeye’s spinach, crisp, refreshing, and sweet, with an aftertaste that lingers in your mouth. Although spinach tofu is cheap, no exotic delicacies can replace it.
Chi Xiaochi, “……” Calm down.
In the moment the card came into effect, Zhou Kai’s foot touched the table.
With a thunderous crash, the table was directly kicked over. The exquisite dishes fell onto the floor and smashed into pieces, the little cakes tumbling across the floor. The empty wine gla.s.ses people had casually placed on the table and which had yet to be cleared flew off, smashing into a tinkling rain of gla.s.s one after another.
Sharp screams started up one after another.
Chi Xiaochi’s actions were lightning-sharp. With one grab, he pulled over a dazed, wide-eyed female attendee, pulling her out of harm’s way.
She stared at the mess scattered on the floor, dazed and in a panic. When she raised her head to look at Shen Changqing, her eyes were already filled with sympathy and shocked horror, “Mister Shen, you……”
Chi Xiaochi returned her gaze with a strong, yet helpless smile.
Only 061 knew that Chi Xiaochi’s current mood was actually more excited than if he was watching the Leonids.
Upon seeing the wreckage he had caused, for a moment, Zhou Kai was also stunned stiff. He felt like he hadn’t used any strength, but it had resulted in panic in the entire hall.
……Everyone’s gazes on him were as if they were looking at a monster.
He stood there, dazed, for half a moment, before suddenly feeling his body go weak. He fell to the floor, his four limbs violently twitching.
But he was still conscious. His two eyes were wide open, staring unwaveringly at Shen Changqing.
“Oh my G.o.d!” Someone screamed, “He’s having a seizure!”
Everyone who saw this scene was really frightened, taking out their phones one after another and calling the hospital.
Chi Xiaochi said to 061, “From now on, in the eyes of outsiders, he really is sick.”
The most terrifying thing in this world is if you’re clearly healthy, but the whole world thinks you’re sick.
Just like with Shen Changqing, who was clearly living in h.e.l.l, but still needed to make everyone else believe he was living happily in heaven.
This delicate taste of the inversion of black and white, of wanting to say something but having to swallow back the words, Zhou Kai could take his time to try it.
And the ending in the psychiatric ward Chi Xiaochi had chosen for him, really suited him.
A situation like this had already somewhat exceeded Sam’s expectations. He’d known Zhou Kai would definitely make a scene, but he hadn’t thought that it would be to the point where the person himself ended up fallen on the ground.
He had a bit of a headache. He could only aim his gaze over at Shen Changqing.
As a responsible and diligent current partner, “Shen Changqing” quickly hurried over to Zhou Kai’s side and turned a blind eye to his terrifying, murderous gaze as he comforted him, “The ambulance will be here right away, just hold on for a moment.”
Zhou Kai struggled, twisting his limbs, but he was unable to get up.
He squeezed out an incredibly terrifying growl from his throat, “I’m going home!”
“But, the hospital……”
“I’m not going to the hospital! I’m not going anywhere!”
The people who were a little closer to them all heard the sound of Zhou Kai gnashing his teeth, “……If you dare send me to the hospital, I’ll kill you.”
The people present, “……” They were all ready to call the police.
Shen Changqing seemed to have been frightened. His entire person trembled violently. In a small voice, he said, “Okay, okay. We’ll go home.”
The reason why Chi Xiaochi had made this decision was because Zhou Kai’s regret level had changed.
The data that had been utterly still for so long, as if dead, had jumped from 0 to 5.
This progress couldn’t be considered anything heartening, but it was already enough to allow Chi Xiaochi to confirm that this seemingly undefeatable Zhou Kai had already been cracked by this attack.
Then why not he take it up a notch?