茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

After failing once again to get through to Xiang Kun, Zhang Qian frowned at her phone, “Did that guy block my number? How come I can’t get through to him for such a long time, either he’s out of service area or his phone is off.”

Her friend, Yang Jie, laughed, “Didn’t you say he’s your employee now? How could an employee keep ignoring his boss’s calls?”

They were now indulging in a feast at a restaurant. Apart from them, there was also Yang Jie’s younger brother, Yang Zhuo, and his girlfriend.

Originally it was supposed to be a dinner between Zhang Qian and Yang Jie, but they ran into Yang Zhuo on the street, arm in arm with a girl.

Barely a few months into his freshman year, her little brother who had always been under her watchful eye, secretly got a girlfriend? And she was from another school! Feeling embarrassed and irritated by his show off, Yang Jie and the gossip-loving Zhang Qian naturally wouldn’t let the lovebirds go, and dragged them along for dinner.

During the meal, Zhang Qian and Yang Jie chatted about the “A4 Paper Magic” that Xiang Kun had performed for them and Yang Jie joked about the last time Zhang Qian had tried to call Xiang Kun out for dinner but failed after multiple calls.

So, Zhang Qian, not believing in failure, made another call right there in the private dining room, but still couldn’t get through.

Moreover, this time it didn’t even ring. After a few tries, the phone was either out of service or switched off.

“Give me your phone.” Zhang Qian took Yang Jie’s phone and unlocked it using the passcode to dial Xiang Kun’s number, while explaining, “The contract he signed with us is unusual, strictly speaking, he isn’t an employee per se, rather a party providing technical support for our project.”

Soon, after dialling Xiang Kun’s mobile number, she got the same response as she did with her own phone.

Yang Jie laughed, “Do you feel relieved that you haven’t been blacklisted?”

Zhang Qian glared at her, “If I am blacklisted, I will cancel his contract with our company!”

“But you would have to pay him compensation for breach of contract, maybe he would be even happier…”

“There’s no reason though, the contract stipulates that he has two days off each week. But according to the contract, today is not a day off. Has that guy taken our advance and run off now that he knows he can’t complete the project?”

Zhang Qian made a phone call to Director Lin, and the response was that Xiang Kun had already explained the work to be done during the next week, stated that he had to be away for a week, and asked to record any issues encountered during the project for him to address once he returns.

Hearing Zhang Qian retelling Director Lin’s words, Yang Jie couldn’t help but laugh, “Isn’t he one of the people in charge of your company’s project? He seems pretty casual and free, not only is he not in your company in Pengcheng, he can also take a week off whenever he wants. Moreover, he even wrote all these powers into the contract. How could you agree to sign such a contract in the first place?”

Zhang Qian sighed deeply, shook her head and said, “I lost my mind! Let’s drop it, I’ll let the company contact him and ask him to report on the project progress!” Shifting to a kinder tone, she said to Yang Zhuo’s girlfriend, “Xiao Min, the mushroom soup here is particularly good and nutritious, you should try it.” She then helped her scoop a bowl of soup.

Thank you, Sister Qian Qian.” Yang Zhuo’s girlfriend, Xiao Min, said shyly.

Yang Zhuo curiously asked, “Is the Xiang Kun you and my sister were talking about the one who can tell fortunes, cook, and knows martial arts?

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Yang Zhuo said excitedly, “So he’s also a computer pro, capable of single-handedly managing a project?”

Zhang Qian wanted to say that the project probably won’t get done and that bald guy isn’t that great. But considering that the decision to work with Xiang Kun came from her “against all odds”, saying so seems like slapping her own face, so she instead asked, “Why do you call him ‘boss’? He’s not really a big shot, right?”

With a resigned expression, Yang Jie said to her friend, “Ever since this kid met Xiang Kun at the bar with me last time, he’s been so impressed with him, regarding him as an idol. Now, his reverence for Kun has surpassed that of Quentin Tarantino, Ultraman Tiga, and Lei Jun, only coming second to a gamer named sky.”

Yang Zhuo suddenly exclaimed, “You guys probably don’t know, but Boss Xiang Kun is not only good at fortune telling, martial arts, and cooking, but he’s also characterized by his courage and sympathy. He even does woodcarving and is quite an artist!”

Yang Jie raised an eyebrow at her brother, “Woodcarving? How did you know that? Don’t tell me you secretly know him?”

Yang Zhuo glanced at his girlfriend and replied with a chuckle, “It was Xiao Min who bumped into Mr. Xiang Kun on the subway.”

“Xiao Min?” Both Yang Jie and Zhang Qian turned their attention to Yang Zhuo’s girlfriend.

Under their gaze, Xiao Min looked at her boyfriend, and whispered, “I once saw a man with a bag full of minion woodcarvings on the subway. I struck up a conversation and found out he made them all himself as a gift for his girlfriend. I didn’t know who he was then. Later, Zhuo showed me a video of him cooking, and I realized it was the same person.”

“Carving minions for his girlfriend?” Zhang Qian frowned, “You sure he wasn’t deliberately trying to flirt with you?” She recalled the first time she met Xiang Kun, and the way his chubby friend had used fortune-telling as an excuse to hit on her.

Xiao Min, however, shook her head confidently, “No, I was the one who initiated the conversation and he never once asked for my contact information.”

Yang Zhuo added, “Sister Qian Qian, didn’t you hear what Xiao Min said? He was carving those minions for his girlfriend! He has a girlfriend!”

Yang Jie jokingly said to Zhang Qian, “Maybe he’s been on a vacation with his girlfriend this week, that’s why his phone is turned off.”

Zhang Qian sighed helplessly, “I must have been drunk that day to agree to sign that contract with Director Lin.” She added to Yang Zhuo, “Could you please stop calling him ‘boss’? It’s out of place and it’s annoying. It’s fine to say he can cook and do martial arts, but what’s with the ‘courage and sympathy’?”

“Fine, we’ll drop the ‘boss’.” Yang Zhuo put it aside, pulled out his phone and began to scroll through it, “Sis, Sister Qian Qian, you probably don’t know this, but Kun’s achievements are not limited to the previous instance of him kicking a knife-wielding thug. Look at this thread I came across before.”

Yang Jie took her brother’s phone and looked at the thread he pulled up, and Zhang Qian leaned in to look too. It was a post from August this year.

It talked about a fleeing fugitive who was headed off and subdued on the street by a passing bald man.

The main post didn’t have any pictures, but from the description, it indeed seemed to be Xiang Kun. After all, being bald and bespectacled with a distinctive physique fit his description.

“Scroll down to post #233.” Yang Zhuo reminded.

Yang Jie scrolled down and saw that at post #233, there was a photo of a few police cars about to pull away. In one of them, if you looked carefully, you could vaguely see a bald man wearing glasses.

“It does look like him.” Yang Jie murmured, then made eye contact with her friend. She remembered that Zhang Qian had mentioned how her two kidnapped younger cousins were incidentally rescued by Xiang Kun and his friend.

Adding to that, the situation in the video where he was kicking the knife-wielding thug, all these seemed to have happened within one or two months’ time. Didn’t it?

Could Xiang Kun really have been going around deliberately acting like a hero?

Just then, the door of their private room was suddenly pushed open. A man in his thirties, with slick hair and tailored suit, walked in, immediately fixing his eyes on Zhang Qian.

“Zhang Qian! What do you mean by this? Grandfather let you temporarily manage my company, not for you to mess it up! I wanted to work on an online project and you wouldn’t do it, you wanted to bring in random people, what’s the meaning of this? You’re not even in Peng City, how could you manage a project from there? Are you deliberately trying to ruin my company?”

A man walked in and immediately berated Zhang Qian with a strong attitude. For a moment, Yang Zhuo thought he was a hostile person and instinctively wanted to stand up and fight back, but his sister stopped him, whispering, “That’s Zhang Qian’s brother, her biological brother.”

Yang Zhuo paused, then looked closely. Sure enough, he found that this suited man very much resembled Zhang Qian in both appearance and demeanor.

Zhang Qian, looking at her brother Zhang Chu who had suddenly stormed into the private room, showed extreme indifference, “What are you ranting about? What does it mean that you can bring anyone in? That man was selected and brought in by Director Lin. I just agreed to cooperate with him. As for the details of the contract, they were all discussed by Director Lin. If I remember correctly, Director Lin was hired by you with high salary. So, you mean that there’s some problem with the one you’ve hired?”

“You…”

Zhang Chu was about to say something, but Zhang Qian quickly interjected, “Moreover, your words are flawed. What do you mean by calling it your company? Have you invested a single penny in that company? Do you have a single penny stake in it? In the end, it’s simply entrusted to you for management by our grandfather. You’re nothing more than a professional manager. If you can’t perform well, you’ll be replaced.”

Zhang Chu widened his eyes in anger. “I was the one who founded that company from scratch! …What do you mean by I’ll be replaced if I can’t do the job well. I was doing a great job! You know very well why I was replaced… You…” Zhang Chu almost unfurled a string of harsh words, but then he remembered his relationship with Zhang Qian. To scold her would be the same as scolding himself.

Zhang Qian leisurely replied, “Indeed, I’m fully aware. The main reason was that you were secretly associating with the people from Divine Technology. Even though you knew that our grandfather couldn’t stand the people at Divine Technology, you still intentionally invested and cooperated with them. Furthermore, your actions were exposed to our grandfather. Isn’t this just asking for trouble? It’s like an employee knowingly doing the things their boss despises. Then, when they’re fired, can they blame anyone else?”

“I wasn’t collaborating with the main office of Divine Technology! It was with their subsidiary… Forget it, you all wouldn’t get it anyways. You’re all just short-sighted. Be honest, did you intentionally make a fuss about this in front of our grandfather after you returned home?”

Zhang Qian’s temper flared up, she abruptly stood up, “Do you think I had nothing better to do than to expose your dirty deeds! It was only when our grandfather instructed me to clean up your mess that I learned about your relationship with Divine Technology. Do you imagine that I enjoy handling affairs related to your lousy company? Don’t you realize that I have my own business to take care of? Listen, Zhang Chu, a brother should act like a brother. Stop playing your childish tricks on me. Hiring private investigators to follow my every move, what are you planning? Do you want to dig up some dirt on me and then tell our grandfather, so that he will replace me and give the company back to you? Do you think this is some sort of palace drama? Let me remind you, if I had really made a fuss about this matter earlier on, I would’ve told our grandfather about your little private detective scheme. Do you think you would still be idling around and bothering me? How did you even know I was eating here today? Didn’t stop your private detective from keeping tabs on me, did you? Or did you hire someone else?”

Zhang Chu averted his gaze, trying to defend himself, “It’s because I’m worried about you as a brother… Concerned about your safety here…”

“Zhang Chu, what on earth is going on inside your head?” Zhang Qian despised him, “Have you not figured out yet? The most pressing issue for you right now should be to regain grandfather’s trust. What’s the point of arguing with me? Are you out of your mind?”

Zhang Chu was also agitated, he lifted his finger and pointed at his sister, reproaching her, “Do you talk to your brother like that? I’m warning you…”

But before he could finish speaking, Zhang Qian suddenly grabbed his wrist, leapt off her feet, sandwiching him between her legs, forcing him to fall and applied a wrist twist cross lock.

Seeing this, a large, dark-skinned man who had entered with Zhang Chu took a step back in surprise. He wanted to intervene, but he was the driver of Zhang Chu and was paid by the Zhang family. He knew very well who this short-haired beauty was and didn’t dare to offend either of them.

Yang Jie stepped forward and stopped him, shaking her head, “It’s okay. She knows what she’s doing. She won’t hurt him too badly.”

By then, Zhang Chu was already howling in pain. Zhang Qian yelled, “Didn’t I caution you not to point your finger at me? Will you dare again?”

“No, no, I dare not!” Zhang Chu pounded the floor and shouted.

“Will you dare track me again?”

“No, no, I dare not! Please let go! You’re the boss, you’re in charge. I was wrong, I admit I was wrong!!!”

Before the waiter could check the commotion, Zhang Qian let go of Zhang Chu. She was very cautious about controlling her strength, she merely maintained her grip to keep him from breaking free and had not exerted her full strength.

Zhang Chu got up, his suit and hair all disheveled. He didn’t say a word and rushed out of the private room, his driver following him nervously.

Astonished, Xiao Min asked her boyfriend in a low voice, “Was that guy crying just now?”

Yang Zhuo also said uncertainly to his sister, “Sis, was he crying just now?”

When Zhang Chu stood up to leave, his face was a mess of tears and snot. He had indeed been crying pathetically, his expression full of grievance – a stark contrast to the domineering CEO demeanor he had when he first entered.

Before Yang Jie could answer, Zhang Qian, who nonchalantly got up from the ground, said, “That’s how he’s been since he was a kid, he cries whenever he loses a fight. Even though it’s always him who picks a fight with me, always him who bullies me, in the end, it look like he’s the one being bullied, psh!”

Seeing Zhang Qian calmly sitting down to continue eating, Yang Zhuo said quietly, “Sister Qian Qian, your move was really impressive. Didn’t my sister say that you trained in taekwondo? That move you just pulled off, was it like mixed martial arts or Brazilian jiu-jitsu?”

Zhang Qian waved her hand dismissively, “Actually, I haven’t practiced this move much, I can just use it on that blockhead Zhang Chu. If it’s someone else, I wouldn’t dare to use it.”

“Your grandfather really dislikes Divine Technology?” Yang Jie seemed somewhat curious about their previous conversation, “That Divine Technology who is famous for coming up with all sorts of crazy, innovative technology?”

Xiao Min also added, “I read on the news a few days ago that Divine Technology acquired a company that specially produces VR gaming equipment, they said that in the future, gaming will be like what we saw in ‘Ready Player One’.”

Yang Zhuo also found it odd, “Divine Technology isn’t usually so high-profile, and it doesn’t seem to have any connection with your family’s business. Why would your grandfather dislike them?”

Zhang Qian just shrugged, “My grandfather indeed dislikes Divine Technology, but I’m not sure of the exact reason. Anyway, I wouldn’t go against my grandfather’s preferences if it benefits the family.”

After recharging his phone and turning off airplane mode, Xiang Kun was puzzled by all the missed calls indicated in the message reminders. Why was Zhang Qian trying to contact him? Hadn’t he already informed Director Lin and Ma Hongguo before he left?

After some thought, Xiang Kun didn’t return the call, but contacted Director Lin and Ma Hongguo on QQ to confirm that there weren’t any issues with the project, and everything was proceeding according to his previous arrangements. Although Director Lin did mention that Zhang Qian was looking for him, he didn’t say why, so Xiang Kun knew that “Boss Zhang” surely wanted to ask about A4 Paper Magic again, and thus didn’t need to return the call.

Xiang Kun booked a flight using his cell phone, but not a direct flight to his destination city, he made a detour to Star City first.

When he previously decided to explore the Qinling Uninhabited Area, he had considered visiting Little Fatty Girl in Star City first. But considering that he didn’t know how much time it would take to explore the uninhabited area, in order to maximize the exploration time within one Blood-drinking Period, he didn’t decrease the time going to Star City.

Now, having drank the blood of the mutated spider and “refreshed” the Blood-drinking Period, he had much more time for the return trip and could afford to take a detour to Star City.

There must be a reason why the sensing connection of the A4 paper and coin in the Little Fatty Girl’s hands was continuously weakening.

From the small town, he hired a car to the nearest county city, then took a bus to the city where he had previously landed. While waiting in the departure hall, Xiang Kun checked the situation at home on his phone, made sure there had been no power outage, and that “Alice” was running very well.

Of course, he still can’t communicate with “Alice” or issue commands through other devices for now. Although this function is not difficult to implement, “Alice” is still too fragile and immature at the moment. For safety reasons, he’s not in a hurry to expand this function.

As Xiang Kun was checking messages on WeChat and QQ, he recalled the conversation he overheard outside the small town hotel and thought about how to investigate their identities from this clue.

The most direct method is undoubtedly to search through the system of the Vehicle Management Office using the license plate number of that Prado car. But the problem is that he doesn’t have the authority to do so, and he doesn’t know anyone from the relevant organizations. Through some grey market dealings, he might be able to get the information with money, but this could produce some problems and traces. It might give the other party an early warning or attract unnecessary attention. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, he would not use this method. It’s best not to investigate through third parties.