ITAGBFIVD Chapter 6

No, that’s not right.

In this filthy, ruthless adult world, everything was way more complicated and outrageous than it looked.

Was this another vicious business scheme?!

He’d been cheated so many times that his vigilance had reached its maximum.

After all, those dirty tricks were filthier than a sewer and everywhere. You couldn’t defend against them.

The love bento before them had thrown the two successful men into silence, feeling confused.

Wang Huanxiu calmed down first and spoke up, like an alpha wolf whose word was law among the pack. “Do you really think this is just a lunchbox that looks terrible and actually tastes terrible?”

Jiang You’s eyes were sharp, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue. “Impossible. There must be something hidden beneath the surface.”

The most captivating part of novels was always the contrast and the unexpected twists.

Although the lunch box in front of them looked unappetizing and smelled bad, everything was still uncertain until it was actually tasted.

Maybe it was a misdirection…lower expectations first, then deliver a stunning bite that would make the eater hug their own head and praise it endlessly.

And maybe it just smelled bad because it was cold, lacking the aroma it would have had straight from the pan.

Wang Huanxiu stood up from his executive chair, taking long strides. “Let’s heat it up and see.”

Jiang You followed.

The two CEOs, both over 1.8 meters tall, walked into the break room and placed the lunchbox in the microwave for ten minutes.

Ding!

The time was up. The microwave opened, and the lunchbox was taken out by hand.

The lunchbox, which had already smelled bad, now smelled even worse after ten minutes of heating.

Wang Huanxiu: “…”

Jiang You: ‘“…”

The ketchup writing had melted and become unrecognizable, lying in the lunchbox like the bloodstains of the food.

Whether eating this lunchbox would make one fall in love with Bai Shuijin was unknown, but it would definitely make one remember Bai Shuijin.

Personally poisoning someone…this was no small feat.

In the end, Wang Huanxiu didn’t eat the love bento and went to the employee cafeteria for lunch. After the meal, Jiang You planned to get a coffee, otherwise he wouldn’t have the energy to push through the afternoon.

Wang Huanxiu went straight back to the top floor. Upon entering the office, there was already a freshly brewed cup of black tea on the table.

Compared to coffee, Wang Huanxiu preferred tea to stay sharp. Just then, a soft knock came at the office door.

“Come in.”

The secretary walked in holding the secretary department’s landline phone, looking troubled. “President Wang, someone’s calling for you.”

“Who?”

The secretary swallowed hard and braced herself. “I don’t know. They said it was a warm-hearted call.”

The secretary department’s landline number was only known to internal partners of the company. The incoming number was unfamiliar, and the voice wasn’t one she had heard before.

But if someone could reach this number, they were definitely not someone ordinary. In addition, they directly asked for President Wang, so she didn’t dare hang up.

Wang Huanxiu: “Give it to me.”

The secretary quickly walked over to the desk and handed the “warm-hearted call” to Wang Huanxiu. Then she lowered her head, backed away a few steps, turned around, and quietly closed the office door behind her.

Wang Huanxiu put the receiver to his ear.

“Laogong-ge!”

“…”

Wang Huanxiu automatically closed his eyes. “What is it?”

The voice on the other end dodged the question. “Laogong-ge, good afternoon. Have you had lunch yet?”

“I’ve eaten.”

“I’ve eaten too. Auntie Li made barbecue pork buns today. They were pretty good.”

Bai Shuijin lay on the ground of the first-floor viewing platform, looking up at the blue sky filled with drifting white clouds, thinking about the lunchbox he had given to Wang Huanxiu to take to the company today.

Since the other party had said he’d already eaten, that meant he ate the love bento he had made.

Very good. It was a major milestone on his long journey. He hadn’t even eaten his own cooking yet and he was quite curious about it.

“Laogong-ge was the love bento I made delicious? What did it taste like?”

It turned out that this was the other person’s first time cooking and he was completely unaware about how vicious his cooking skills were.

Seeing that the other party didn’t answer, Bai Shuijin pressed on, “Laogong-ge, Laogong-ge, what did it taste like～?”

Soundwaves came through the receiver.

Wang Huanxiu recalled the smell when he first opened the bento.

“Very intoxicating.”

Wow!

Bai Shuijin blushed. He had even made it with a charcoal-grilled flavor, as expected of himself, he was so amazing.

“Laogong-ge, I’ll make it for you again next time, all the way until I’m eighty.”

“No need.”

If he had to eat that every day, he wouldn’t live that long.

He remembered the bloody-looking letters written in ketchup on the lunchbox.

“What did you write in the box?”

Bai Shuijin grinned with his front teeth showing, looking silly and a bit shy. Wang Huanxiu’s eyelashes flickered.

“Of course it means I miss you.”

‘Mi si you? Miss you?’

“This is the first time I’ve seen ‘miss you’ spelled that way.”

“Pinyin version.”

“…”

Wang Huanxiu glanced at the time. Normally, he’d already be back to work by now, but this call from Bai Shuijin had thrown off his schedule.

He wasn’t one to have much to talk about with people, lacked common topics, and was already looking for an opening to hang up.

Bai Shuijin was clingier than he had expected.

Having just eaten, Bai Shuijin lay on the floor for a while. His eyelids grew heavy and drowsiness crept in.

He yawned, and tears welled up in his eyes.

“Laogong-ge, are you taking a nap?”

“I don’t nap.”

A president was just that busy. Bai Shuijin squinted his sleepy eyes.

It’s good to be busy. Make lots of money.

“Then I’m hanging up, I’m going to take a nap.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the call was immediately ended without hesitation.

Beep…

Wang Huanxiu: “…”

.

Bai Shuijin tilted his head on the viewing platform and fell asleep right away. The platform was square-shaped, half a meter above ground, hollow in the middle with a small pond at the center filled with flowing water. There were a few koi and black mollies swimming inside, and the sound of water flowing echoed like pearls rolling.

He worked like a cow and horse in his previous life, but in this life, it’s like driving a Ferrari or a BMW.

Bai Shuijin laughed even in his dreams.

He lay there peacefully, sleeping like the dead.

But he wasn’t awakened from his nap by laughter, he was startled by a blaring phone ringtone.

The ringtone was a recorded clip, deliberately set as the incoming call tone.

“I like Pei Zhiheng the most! Pei Zhiheng likes me the most too, Pei Zhiheng kisses me 800 times a day!”

The ringtone was like a screaming chicken, scaring Bai Shuijin so much that he practically exploded. Just moments ago, he had been lying quietly on the floor like a corpse, and now he shot up into a sitting position in an instant.

Jolted awake from a sweet dream.

That damn Pei Zhiheng, laozi is going to call the police on you!

Bai Shuijin picked up the phone from the floor beside him. It was an unknown number with no name or ID.

Spam call? Or a scam?

Sorry, the University Of Youth gave a course on anti-fraud, so he was definitely dodging this bullet.

Bai Shuijin hung up with a “pa”.

The world went quiet.

“We’re sorry, the number you’ve dialed is temporarily unavailable, sorry…”

Li Jie gripped his phone. “Fuck, that little punk Bai Shuijin isn’t answering.”

He stared at the call failed screen in disbelief. That had never happened before. Bai Shuijin came from a nouveau riche family and had low social status, he used to suck up to them every chance he got, always shamelessly inserting himself into their business. But now that he’d married Wang Huanxiu, he actually dared not to answer?

Li Jie looked at Pei Zhiheng. “Bai Shuijin didn’t answer.”

Just hearing Bai Shuijin’s name, Pei Zhiheng remembered that over-the-top face caked in makeup. Being chased by that guy was definitely not a pleasant memory. “Call him again later and see if we can reach him.”

Wang Huanxiu had an upcoming business negotiation for a gaming project, and the start-up company formed by him and some fellow college students was also interested.

They’d already submitted a proposal. This game project was a hot commodity, if they managed to secure the deal before it went public, the market value of their fledgling company could multiply several times over.

But the trouble was that Wang Huanxiu came out of nowhere. He was ruthless, shrewd, had a giant company and a strong professional team behind him.

Now the two sides were fighting over the same project. Their chances of winning were pitifully small, unless they could get their hands on the other party’s original project documents.

That’s where Bai Shuijin came in.

Pei Zhiheng frowned. But now the other party wouldn’t even pick up the phone.

.

That evening, Wang Huanxiu came home from work right at dinnertime. Bai Shuijin had spent the whole day lounging around at home and looked full of energy. At the table, he didn’t forget to whisper to Wang Huanxiu, “Laogong-ge, don’t forget, you promised to watch TV with me later.”

He slurped his chopsticks and aimed towards the stir-fried beef, targeting a juicy piece. But just as he was about to get it, someone else’s chopsticks snatched it away.

The other person leisurely put it into his mouth.

Bai Shuijin: “…”

‘Do you know this is a crime?’

But Bai Shuijin was generous. In the novel, Wang Huanxiu was a man with a dark heart, a gentleman on the outside and a lunatic in private. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done things deserving the death penalty eight lifetimes over.

Stealing a piece of beef was the least of it. The man lived by the motto: Do not refrain from evil just because it’s a small act.

“Laogong-ge, eat more.”

A large portion of stir-fried beef was placed in Wang Huanxiu’s bowl, and the latter looked at him.

Bai Shuijin smiled sheepishly. “The thoughtful Shuijin, warming you all winter.”

Wang Huanxiu: “…”

After dinner, Wang Huanxiu made a move to leave, but Bai Shuijin wasn’t having it and buzzed around him like a little bee.

“Laogong-ge, come watch TV.”

“Laogong-ge, come on, let’s go together.”

“Laogong-ge, I booked you yesterday.”

“Laogong-ge!” The man in front suddenly stopped, and Bai Shuijin bumped straight into his back.

He held his nose and called out, “Laogong-ge.”

Wang Huanxiu gave him a cold look. “Are you this clingy even at home?”

‘Clingy?’

‘Slander!’

He wasn’t clingy, they clearly med an agreement yesterday to watch TV together.

Maybe Wang Huanxiu got annoyed enough, because in the end Bai Shuijin got his wish and sat down to watch TV with him.

To lighten the mood and lift their spirits, he picked a comedy show on purpose.

Watching the guests on TV flail around playing ridiculous games, Bai Shuijin laughed so hard he nearly cried and slapped his thigh.

A sharp pain shot through Wang Huanxiu’s thigh: “…”

Bai Shuijin pounded Wang Huanxiu’s solid thigh with his palm, his face red from laughter. Normally the Wang household was quiet at this hour, but now it was filled with laughter.

Wang Huanxiu leaned back against the couch with his eyes closed, rubbing his temples. When he opened his eyes, he saw Bai Shuijin doubled over laughing.

He honestly didn’t get what was so funny about a TV show, what could make someone laugh so much they’re shaking all over?

“Hahahahahahahahaha….” Bai Shuijin laughed himself silly, then suddenly choked. “Ahem ahem ahem…”

“…”

When the comedy show ended, Bai Shuijin turned his head. “Laogong-ge, wasn’t that hilarious?”

He picked up the remote. “Let’s change to something else.”

It was now prime-time for TV dramas, and almost every channel was broadcasting popular TV dramas.

When he switched to the Fruit Channel, several handsome faces appeared on screen. They were the ideal “husbands” Bai Shuijin had claimed.

But watching them in front of the main husband was a bit too wild, so Bai Shuijin gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, ready to make a painful sacrifice and switch channels.

At this moment, a voice sounded behind him. “Watch this one.”

Bai Shuijin’s eyes lit up. “Laogong-ge, you like watching this too?”

Wang Huanxiu looked at the people on screen and gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Mn.”

“That’s great! I’m following this drama too. Let’s watch it together. It airs every day and we can chase it together every day from now on.”

Bai Shuijin grabbed a pillow…this was the second child he gave birth to yesterday.

Wang Huanxiu rested his head on his hand, watching the TV screen without any interest.

“Do you know all these people?”

Bai Shuijin nodded. “All of them.”

He watched dramas seriously and could remember everyone’s name. It was a skill left over from his part-time job days. After all, the consequences were terrible if you couldn’t remember the customer or the table.

“What are their names?”

“That male lead is Fang Nanzhu, the second male is Shen He, that one…”

“Was that what you called them yesterday?”

Bai Shuijin’s chattering mouth clamped shut.

Wang Huanxiu’s voice drifted to his ear like a devil’s whisper. “What did you call them yesterday? Call out again for me to hear.”

Bai Shuijin: …

As silent as a cicada in winter.

Bai Shuijin silently shifted his gaze to the Wang household staff not far away.

There are bad people among the masses!