Chapter Eighty-Three: It Expired a Year Ago

Hearing the teasing voice, the burly bald man’s cold sweat broke out at once. Trembling all over, he turned his head with a face drained of color, leaving only terror behind.

There, in the place where he should have already been gone, Xue Tianai was crouched behind him, smiling with half-lidded eyes as he looked at him. At that moment, the bald man felt as though a strange, frigid gloom had wrapped itself around his entire body.

Was this young man even still human? How could a human being seem so terrifying? The bald man felt as if death itself had set its sights on him.

“D-don’t... don’t kill me. I’ll say... anything!” Although the bald man had been an old hand under Lu Yangwei, in this instant, faced with Xue Tianai, there was not the slightest trace of fighting spirit left in his heart. What remained was only boundless fear. If he were given another chance, he would never have taken this seemingly easy job.

“Sorry, but I have no interest in hearing you say anything.” Xue Tianai sneered. “Besides, I already know who sent you. Do you really think I’d bother asking you anything else?”

“Were you going to tell me that it was some pathetic Lu Buyu who ordered you to do this, or were you going to tell me whose men you are?” Xue Tianai looked into the bald man’s terror-filled eyes with a faint smile.

The bald man was instantly speechless. He truly could not understand why Lu Buyu would provoke a man like this. This man seemed almost as if he could read minds, seeing through and grasping every thought hidden in another’s heart.

“You think I’d ask that? Ha! Why should I care about the name of a flock of ants, or the background of a flock of ants?” Xue Tianai said, straightening up.

The bald man stared blankly as Xue Tianai rose and looked down at him from above. He hurriedly slammed his head against the ground again and again. “Sir, please spare me! I really didn’t mean it! Please spare me!”

His shiny, hairless scalp kept striking the ground, producing dull thuds.

“Enough. Stop pretending to kowtow. I’ll let you go this time, of course. But you’re going to take a message back to Lu Buyu for me!” Xue Tianai looked at the man bowing frantically before him, a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes.

Beforehand, these people had all acted so mighty and arrogant; afterward, their spines were softer than anyone’s. That was exactly the sort of person Xue Tianai despised most. If this were still in Europe, he would absolutely have finished such a person off. But this was Hua Xia.

“Tell him this: from now on, he’d better not even think about laying a hand on Ye Hairo. If I find out otherwise, I’ll make him regret ever being born into this world.”

Xue Tianai bent slightly, patted the bald man’s shoulder hard, and turned to leave.

The bald man remained there in a daze. Then he suddenly whipped around to look at the alley entrance, and glanced around the alley once more. Only after confirming that Xue Tianai had truly gone did he finally let out a long breath and slacken all over. At that moment, a yellowish stream also began to gush from between his legs.

Xue Tianai was walking along the main road now, feeling much better. Though the four burly men had not even qualified as playmates for him, they had still served quite well as an outlet for his pent-up frustration.

Watching the vehicles on the streets grow denser and denser, Xue Tianai sighed inwardly. Ten years ago, there had not been nearly so many cars in Hua Xia. It seemed people’s standard of living was truly rising at breathtaking speed.

Still, perhaps it was time to buy a car. After all, he and Qin Mengxue were sharing one vehicle now, which made everything inconvenient. And from Xue Tianai’s point of view, the Volkswagen Phaeton Qin Mengxue drove was simply too low-end. Most importantly, it offered not the slightest thrill to drive.

It seemed he would need to find time to buy a car and have some fun with it. Besides, if he was going to pursue women, not having a car would be inconvenient. If he borrowed Qin Mengxue’s car to go flirt with girls, and Qin Mengxue found out, given her temper she would probably bite him to death.

Thus Xue Tianai strolled slowly down the street, thinking about buying a car, and after nearly an hour of his own long march on foot, he finally returned to the Dreaming Hua Group. By then it was already past one in the afternoon.

He looked up at the company tower, then checked the time on his phone, and immediately felt a pang of pain. Damn it, he had forgotten to check the time just now. If only he had known, he would have taken a taxi back. It was almost two o’clock already; was there even still food left in the cafeteria? Up to now he had only eaten one flatbread and drunk one bottle of cola...

With a quiet sigh, Xue Tianai stepped through the doors of the Dreaming Hua Group and headed straight for the elevator, pressing the button for the fifth floor.

But when he arrived on the fifth floor, he nearly cried. Sure enough, there was no trace of food left. The entire cafeteria had been reduced to nothing but old men and women cleaning up.

Ah, what a mistake. What a huge mistake. It really would have been more convenient to buy a car!

With a dejected face, Xue Tianai returned to the elevator in low spirits and went straight up to the twenty-third floor, where the president’s office was located.

No sooner had he reached the twenty-third floor than little Yu Xiaoxiao stopped him. Her eyes shone as she looked at him and asked, “Assistant Xue, you’re back from the Dawn Group?”

She sounded like an enthusiastic fan meeting a celebrity, practically brimming with excitement. For some reason, Yu Xiaoxiao felt that just seeing Xue Tianai put her in a good mood.

“Mm-hm, I’m back,” Xue Tianai replied weakly, looking utterly downcast and listless.

“Assistant Xue, what’s wrong? Why do you look so tired?” Yu Xiaoxiao seemed to sense his frustration and hurriedly asked with concern.

“Don’t even mention it. What are the company cafeteria’s meal hours?” Xue Tianai decided to ask, so that he would not miss meals like this again in the future.

“Uh, breakfast is from six-thirty to eight. Lunch is from eleven to twelve forty-five. Dinner is from six to seven. Assistant Xue, why are you asking about that?” Yu Xiaoxiao was baffled. Could his gloomy face have something to do with this?

“Damn it, the meal window is that short? I came back at noon and still didn’t get to eat! No, no, I have to go protest to President Qin! Where is President Qin? Is she in her office?”

“The president isn’t here right now. At this time every Friday, she goes around to the various departments to hear the managers report their work...” Yu Xiaoxiao hesitated, then asked somewhat uncertainly, “Assistant Xue, you’re not upset because you missed lunch, are you...”

“Yeah. I’m practically starving to death...”

“I... I still have a cup of instant noodles here. If you don’t mind, do you want to eat it...?” Yu Xiaoxiao hurriedly took a cup of noodles from her drawer.

“An angel, no, you’re simply my goddess!” The instant noodles in Yu Xiaoxiao’s hands instantly set Xue Tianai’s eyes ablaze. In a single leap, he wrapped his arms around her and praised her fervently.

Suddenly embraced by Xue Tianai, Yu Xiaoxiao felt as though the CPU in her brain had suddenly begun running at full speed and overheating. Her little face turned red almost instantly, like a ripe peach.

Huh? Assistant Xue... hugged... hugged me?

Half an hour later, Qin Mengxue finished inspecting the various departments downstairs and returned to the twenty-third floor. With her were Su Jiaqi and Gan Bingning, who still needed to go upstairs with Qin Mengxue to summarize their opinions.

The three of them had just arrived on the floor when Qin Mengxue walked to the front of Yu Xiaoxiao’s desk. Yu Xiaoxiao was lowering her head and writing something, so Qin Mengxue softly called, “Xiaoxiao.”

“Ah!” Startled, Yu Xiaoxiao quickly lifted her head, only to reveal a face flushed crimson.

“Hello, President Qin!” Her reaction was quick as she greeted her, then looked toward Gan Bingning and Su Jiaqi beside Qin Mengxue and continued, “Hello, President Gan! Hello, President Su!”

Gan Bingning and Su Jiaqi smiled faintly and nodded in response.

“Xiaoxiao, did anything happen after I left? Did anyone come looking for me?” Qin Mengxue nodded as well, then asked.

“No, nothing happened just now. But Assistant Xue returned from the Dawn Group.” For some reason, when Yu Xiaoxiao mentioned Xue Tianai, her tone carried a trace of guilt.

Hearing that Xue Tianai was back, the expressions on Qin Mengxue, Gan Bingning, and Su Jiaqi all changed.

“Assistant Xue is back?” Qin Mengxue felt a little happy upon hearing this and quickly asked again.

“Mm-hm, Assistant Xue is already back in the office.”

“Good, I understand. Xiaoxiao, go on with your work.” Qin Mengxue nodded, then said to Su Jiaqi and Gan Bingning, “Bingning, Jiaqi, let’s go into the office and talk.”

“Mm-hm, okay.” Su Jiaqi and Gan Bingning answered in unison, though their thoughts were completely different.

What Su Jiaqi wanted to see was Xue Tianai’s disappointed expression after failing to bargain. What Gan Bingning wanted to see was simply Xue Tianai himself.

But when Qin Mengxue pushed open the office door and saw Xue Tianai inside, all three women were stunned.

Xue Tianai was sprawled on the sofa at that moment, his hands resting on his stomach, his gaze somewhat vacant as he stared at the ceiling, looking utterly bereft of life.

And from his body, it seemed as though some very deep, very dark resentment was drifting forth...

Xue Tianai’s current state startled all three women at the door. What was going on? Had Xue Tianai gone to the Dawn Group and been driven foolish by the bargaining? Or had Ye Hairo talked him into doubting life itself?

But the one involved, Xue Tianai, was thinking only of the instant noodles from earlier. If missing lunch because of the company’s meal hours had left him deeply disappointed, then that bowl of noodles had been the true culprit behind his current reclusive, shut-in-like state. He had originally thought he had grasped the favor of the goddess, but who could have known...

That bowl of instant noodles had actually expired a year ago. It was completely inedible! So after forcing out a smile and comforting Yu Xiaoxiao, who kept apologizing to him, Xue Tianai returned to the office and remained like this, staring at the ceiling in dejection.