Chapter 106

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The township reception staff had not quite believed Consultant Chao was Xu Chenzhu's most trusted assistant — he looked too young for it. Now, watching the two of them stand shoulder to shoulder talking, they finally accepted what their county colleagues had told them.

Seeing that the staff were all tense and awkward around Xu Chenzhu, and hearing them propose to open separate rooms for the entire travelling party, Chao Musheng said: "County funds are tight, and the project start isn't far off — Mr. Xu can rest in my room for now. Accommodation after that can be sorted by Kunlun directly."

"That really isn't suitable—" The staff looked alarmed.

"It's fine. Mr. Xu isn't difficult to please." Chao Musheng's hand settled on Xu Chenzhu's arm. "There's a great deal of preparation still to do before the project opens. Please don't worry about us — go attend to what needs attending to."

The staff were at a loss. Whenever an investor came to these parts, the welcome was usually overwhelming — a whole procession of fuss. For someone of Xu Chenzhu's standing to have set foot in their small Hanyue at all, they'd spent the whole night anxious, terrified of giving offense and having him pull the investment.

"Consultant Chao's arrangement is perfectly fine." Xu Chenzhu spoke. "You don't need to have so many people accompanying me."

The staff understood in an instant: Consultant Chao's word genuinely carried the same weight as Xu Chenzhu's. The senior reception staff exchanged glances with the township team — who knew Chao Musheng better — and reluctantly withdrew from the hotel.

"I honestly didn't expect the legendary Xu Chenzhu to be so... approachable," the township staff member said once they were in the car. "Maybe it's true what people say — the more successful someone is, the less they need to perform it."

"Someone at that level has nothing to prove against us." The senior staff member unscrewed his thermos and downed several mouthfuls of strong tea. "When we picked him up at the airport yesterday — he'd just come off his private jet — the presence on that man. I couldn't bring myself to look directly."

"Really?" The township staff found this hard to reconcile with the warm, composed manner he'd shown stepping out of the car just now.

"Would I make something like that up?" The senior staff said. "Maybe Consultant Chao being there makes him more at ease. What's your read on Consultant Chao — is he easy to work with?"

The township staff gave an immediate thumbs-up. "The best."

"Good temper, not an ounce of condescension, never makes things difficult for anyone." He was effusive on the subject. "Don't let the age fool you — he's got real ability. While we were waiting in the lobby just now, the hotel's system developed a problem. Consultant Chao sorted it out in moments."

They'd just watched his fingers move across the keyboard for a bit and the hotel's technical problem was resolved.

"That's reassuring." The senior staff said. "Consultant Chao will be in Hanyue for close to a month. Remind Director Chen to look after him well. Quite a few local livelihoods are in his hands now."

"The leaders already gave the word — the experts coming from the capital are nationally cultivated talent; there can't be a single mishap." The township staff shook his head with feeling. "Apparently this Consultant Chao is only twenty. Hard to believe someone his age has already achieved this much."

Was this simply what separated a genius from an ordinary person?

*

"Come in." Chao Musheng opened the door. "The accommodation here is modest — find somewhere to sit."

Secretary Liu took Assistant Yang to the chairs by the window.

Yang noticed immediately that the chairs were warm to the touch. Between him and Secretary Liu they'd taken both chairs — where was the boss supposed to sit? And they'd both sat down while the boss was still standing. That felt wrong.

"Why are you still standing?" Chao Musheng filled two paper cups with water, turned and found Xu Chenzhu still on his feet. He handed the cups to Secretary Liu, then took Xu Chenzhu by the arm and brought him to sit on the bed. "Sit down first. Have some water. Have you both eaten breakfast?"

"Yes, thank you." Assistant Yang accepted his cup from Secretary Liu and thanked Chao Musheng.

Mr. Chao really is young. He clearly didn't know workplace protocol — who poured water for the secretary and assistant first and left the boss for last?

"Of course." Chao Musheng washed the mug on the desk, filled it, and brought it to Xu Chenzhu.

On the mug was a small cartoon figure puckering its lips in a kiss.

Xu Chenzhu stared at it for three seconds, then lowered his head and drank.

"I should mention." Chao Musheng watched him with a pleased smile. "That mug is one I used this morning — I've just washed it. Does Mr. Xu mind?"

A mug Zhaozhao himself used?

Xu Chenzhu's throat was suddenly warm. He held the mug and drank another long swallow, then looked up to find Chao Musheng watching him with that smile, and gripped the mug tight. "I don't mind."

Zhaozhao had seen fit to give him something this intimate — how could he possibly mind?

"Good." Chao Musheng took a document from the drawer and came to sit beside Xu Chenzhu on the bed. "This is the Hanyue factory's accounts for the past two years. I went through the internal ledgers myself — they match what was submitted to headquarters exactly. Clean books, high efficiency. Director Chen runs it well and is genuinely well-regarded by the staff."

Assistant Yang was puzzled. Factory accounts at this level didn't require the boss's personal review. Consultant Chao bringing them over like this felt less like administrative work and more like a favored courtier presenting intelligence to a sovereign.

"Hanyue and the surrounding counties grow a lot of sweet potatoes, corn and similar crops?" Xu Chenzhu leafed through the documents and found an agricultural yield chart tucked inside.

"Yes."

"It's worth considering expanding the factory's scale — increasing local employment." He closed the folder. "Have the director submit a proposal."

"Understood. Thank you, Mr. Xu." Mission accomplished. Chao Musheng tossed the folder aside, moved the fruit bowl from the desk to Xu Chenzhu's reach, and picked out the largest grape to hold up to his lips. "I'm told these are grown locally. The look of them isn't much, but they're very sweet — try one?"

Xu Chenzhu bent forward and accidentally brushed Chao Musheng's fingertip. His eyelashes trembled slightly. He swallowed the grape whole. "Sweet."

The great boss Xu swallowing a grape whole without thinking. Chao Musheng laughed, his fingertip grazing the corner of Xu Chenzhu's mouth.

Xu Chenzhu looked up at him. He didn't know what Zhaozhao was laughing at, but he seemed very happy.

His own mouth curved — a small, quiet smile appeared.

Assistant Yang, in his chair, had changed position four times in the past few minutes.

No wonder Consultant Chao had brought those accounts over — he was making a case for the factory's benefit. The intention was obvious. Had the boss not seen through it?

He glanced at Secretary Liu, who was sipping his water with the air of someone savoring a rare vintage, entirely unbothered by anything unfolding in the room.

Was this right? Was this actually right?

A knock. The restless Yang jumped up to answer it. Outside stood one of the boss's bodyguards, carrying the familiar pale yellow case.

"Boss. Mr. Chao." The bodyguard was on easy terms with Chao Musheng by now. He set the yellow case in front of Chao Musheng and retreated, pulling the door closed behind him.

"What's this?" Chao Musheng set down the fruit bowl and looked at the case curiously.

"I heard conditions in Hanyue were fairly tough." Xu Chenzhu's grip on the mug tightened slightly. "I brought some snacks for you. I forgot that even somewhere like Hanyue has courier delivery."

"How could courier compare to you bringing it yourself?" Chao Musheng's face broke into a full, unguarded smile. "Can I open it now?"

Assistant Yang stared at the pale yellow case being lifted, genuinely stunned. The case the boss had carried as though it held something precious — it was full of snacks for Consultant Chao?

It's just a box of snacks. Why had the boss treated it like something irreplaceable?

He was thoroughly confused. Since arriving in Hanyue, he'd felt perpetually behind on something.

"Xiao Yang — I've just remembered, there are a few documents that need another look." Secretary Liu, noticing Yang staring at the yellow case, set down his cup. "Come with me to the car."

"Review documents?" Yang said. "I thought they'd all been—"

He distinctly remembered everything being reviewed multiple times, even the company seal already applied. What was there left to review?

Secretary Liu pulled him straight out of the room and closed the door. "No — you don't remember that."

"Secretary Liu, leaving without so much as a word to the boss — isn't that a bit improper?" Yang felt that Liu had been slightly off since they'd arrived in the township. Like he'd somehow stopped prioritizing the boss.

"It's fine. The boss doesn't want us announcing ourselves right now." Secretary Liu left no room for argument. "Come on. There's security at the door — you don't need to worry about this."

Anything was better than being a spare light bulb in there.

*

With Secretary Liu and Yang gone, the room felt somehow bigger.

Chao Musheng opened the yellow case. It was packed with snacks he was always eating — and tucked among them: a small fan, sun cream, a heat patch. Everything thought through.

"I didn't know the exact situation here, so if there's anything else you need, I can have an assistant courier it." Xu Chenzhu had drained the mug completely but couldn't bring himself to put it down.

"You forgot I'm also your assistant." Chao Musheng dug out two orange-flavored lollipops, unwrapped one, and held it up to Xu Chenzhu's lips. "Open up."

Xu Chenzhu's mouth opened on instinct. The sweet scent of orange filled his whole mouth.

"Is it sweet?"

He nodded.

"I think so too." Chao Musheng watched him and smiled, then crossed his legs on the bed and slowly unwrapped the second one.

The room went quiet. Just the soft crinkle of wrapper.

"Why did Mr. Xu come to Hanyue?" Chao Musheng said, unhurried, the lollipop between his teeth.

"I donated substantially to the support project here." Xu Chenzhu looked down at the empty mug in his hands. "They invited me many times. It became difficult to decline."

His face was composed. His posture, as always, was perfect.

But he had forgotten — people with authority don't need to explain themselves this much.

Chao Musheng looked at the beautiful eyes behind the glasses, and the relaxed curve of his smile turned serious: "I see. But I'm glad we could meet in Hanyue. I'm very happy about it."

Xu Chenzhu's eyes brightened. He looked at Chao Musheng — then looked away. "I'm also... very happy."

"Did you not sleep well last night?" Chao Musheng reached out and lifted the glasses from Xu Chenzhu's nose. "Rest in my bed for a while. I'll wake you when it's time."

Zhaozhao's bed.

Zhaozhao's covers.

"Go to sleep — I'll be right here." Chao Musheng folded back the blanket and gestured for him to lie down.

Xu Chenzhu knew he shouldn't. But his hands and feet seemed to have their own ideas. By the time he came back to himself, he was already under the covers — and he could smell, in the fabric, the scent that belonged only to Zhaozhao.

"Sleep." Chao Musheng reached out and laid his hand gently over Xu Chenzhu's eyes, his voice soft. "Even a boss needs enough rest. If you wore yourself out and got sick, I'd worry — employee's prerogative."

The face beneath his palm was burning — red as the sun. The long lashes trembled, fanning against his palm. He smiled to himself without sound. Even when he was this forward, Mr. Xu still allowed it.

Such obvious, unguarded favoritism. Perhaps only Mr. Xu himself thinks he's keeping it hidden.

But...

Chao Musheng lifted his hand. He looked at the lashes, which had stilled.

He very much liked being the recipient of this favoritism.

*

When Curly Hair walked into the derelict factory carrying a large bag of food, the players were sitting on the floor eating raw sweet potatoes. Hanging below the windowsill: a row of skinned, dried rats.

At the sight of the bag, all five pairs of eyes went wide. Without waiting to be invited, they rose as one and claimed it, eating with focused, wordless efficiency.

Watching their battered state, Curly Hair glanced out the door — where the sweet potato peels were drying on a line, too precious to throw away.

She couldn't bring herself to tell them the dogs outside were eating better.

"Ahh — hot—" Ah Peng fanned his mouth around a large steamed pork bun, hot enough to scald. A bun the size of an adult fist, gone in three or four bites. "Xiao Juan — you are our rebirth. Our actual parents."

She'd brought this much food — he didn't just want to call her jie, he wanted to bow.

"Bit dramatic." Curly Hair hinted gently: "The conditions outside really aren't that harsh. Food isn't in short supply either."

Not only was it not scarce — the breakfast stall owner had thrown in a few soy milks because she'd bought so much.

The group ate with hurricane efficiency until every last thing was gone, then sat back with full stomachs. "Who knows when we'll eat this well again."

Curly Hair produced a handful of sets of clothing from her bag. "Change into these first, then put on your masks before going outside."

"This instance doesn't let players exchange for supplies. You worked hard to get these — you should keep them," Hua Ba said, feeling the fabric. Good quality.

"Word is going around outside that there are a few lunatics nearby who've been grabbing things." Curly Hair couldn't quite bring herself to repeat the exact wording. "These clothes were cheap — I didn't spend much. If you go out in what you're wearing, someone might recognize you."

Thirty yuan for a set of three — she could manage that.

You could just go out and buy clothes in a survival instance?

Hua Ba remembered Ah Peng mentioning last night that Curly Hair had left with a powerful NPC. Were all these things the NPC's doing?

She looked Curly Hair over anxiously — no injuries, skin clear and clean — and relaxed.

Once everyone had changed, Curly Hair led them out of the factory. This stretch had probably been a local industrial zone at some point; beyond the factory they'd been using, several dilapidated old buildings stood a few hundred metres away, and the wasteland around the area still bore traces of past construction.

"Where are we going?" Ah Rou looked at the distant buildings. "There seems to be NPC activity over there."

"Leave it for now." Curly Hair said. "Let me get you outside first."

At least let them see that this is not the system's so-called wasteland.

The Main God and the system are not omnipotent.

She led them toward the township. They hadn't gone far before the five stopped.

"We can't get through." Ah Rou, pressed against the invisible wall, said to Curly Hair across it. "The instance boundary's blocking us."

"What?" Ah Peng felt along the air wall, baffled. Last night he'd walked to the river with Curly Hair just fine. How was he stuck now?

"None of you can pass?" She walked back to them. She herself felt no resistance.

"Not even me." Ah Peng leaned against the wall and gave up without ceremony. "Xiao Juan — you are our only hope."

Why could Ah Peng get through last night?

She stood with her arms crossed, a small frown forming. There was a clue here she'd missed.

Last night she'd thought this was the wasteland, so she'd taken Ah Peng along to scout — which was how they'd ended up by the river and run into Xiao Chao...

Xiao Chao. The encounter.

Was this world deliberately guiding her toward meeting him?

If Ah Peng couldn't have gotten through on his own, she'd have been more cautious going out alone and wouldn't have gone far — and she very likely would never have found Xiao Chao.

She understood now.

Whether these people could leave came down to Xiao Chao.

And perhaps in the original instance, the players' range had always been this restricted — so even though the instance had landed in the wrong place, the system had simply copied the original parameters over.

An instance designed to be lethal, and the system had given them this tiny range to move in. Was it afraid they wouldn't die thoroughly enough?

The Main God, that miserable thing — either trying to kill her, or trying to humiliate her as comprehensively as possible.

She really wanted to reduce it to the finest possible mince.

"I'll find another way to get you out." She looked out at the township. "You still have a chance of leaving."

"Getting out isn't that urgent." Da Chang dropped lazily to the ground. "As long as you can get through, you can bring us food — keep us just barely alive. But if you're out there alone with no backup and something goes wrong, we'd have no way to help you."

"Exactly — we're fine being kept like this." Hua Ba tried to persuade her. "Don't put yourself at risk finding us a way out. We'd rather eat rat meat every day than have something happen to you."

"I know what I'm doing." She watched the sun climbing higher. "It's getting hotter — you should go back. I have things to sort out."

"Xiao Juan — wait." Ah Peng stopped her, a little uneasy. "The NPC who took you last night — he didn't do anything out of line?"

"No." She shook her head. "He's a very good person. If you want to survive this instance, he's who you'll need."

A very good person?

After she'd gone, Hua Ba asked Ah Peng: "How good-looking?"

"Very." He answered with complete seriousness.

Hua Ba rolled her eyes. "Useless."

Players who fought for their lives in and out of instances — who had time to care about an NPC's appearance.

*

From the broken buildings not far away, several pairs of eyes were watching.

"Boss — I've been watching them two days now. They keep circling the area. This morning I saw them catch rats. They're probably not undercover officers — officers don't eat rats."

"Drifters with nothing to do?"

"Yesterday someone was saying people outside robbed an old woman's sweet potatoes."

"Young people loafing around like vagrants — disgusting. Nothing I respect less."

"Boss — should we..."

"No rush. Watch them another two days. If these vagrant pigs seem harmless enough, we'll tie them up."

Ah Rou's brow furrowed. She glanced toward the old buildings. "The NPCs in there are watching us again."

"Strong?" Hua Ba rotated her wrists.

"Weak." Ah Rou shook her head. "I could knock out five of them with one punch."

"Leave them for now." Da Chang said. "The situation's still unclear. We can't move far enough to matter. If these NPCs have backup, we'd bring trouble on ourselves."

"Fine." Hua Ba and Ah Rou reined themselves in. "As long as they don't come looking for a problem, we'll spare them."

*

"Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu."

Xu Chenzhu felt something tickle his nose. He opened his eyes to find Chao Musheng sitting on the edge of the bed, bent over and looking at him from very close — close enough to feel each other's breath.

"Your shirt is creased. I had Liu-ge bring a fresh one — go change in the bathroom." Chao Musheng removed his hand, the one that had just been pinching Xu Chenzhu's nose, with perfect composure.

"All right." Xu Chenzhu sat up. The covers slid to his waist, leaving his chest slightly cool. He looked down and found his shirt had come open at some point, exposing a broad expanse of his chest.

"So Mr. Xu has an eight-pack." Chao Musheng let his gaze pass briefly over his chest and abdomen, then stood with complete propriety and turned his back.

Xu Chenzhu fumbled his shirt shut and went into the bathroom, where the mirror confirmed his face was intensely red.

He stood there looking at his own reflection. Then he released his grip on the collar — and pulled the shirt open slightly further. He drew a long breath.

And walked back out.

"Zhaozhao." He came to stand in front of Chao Musheng and bent toward him. "You forgot to give me the shirt."

As Chao Musheng raised the shirt to pass it over, the last remaining button on Xu Chenzhu's shirt came undone on its own — exposing the full expanse of his chest and abdomen in one clear view.

The air in the room went very still.

Chao Musheng placed the shirt into Xu Chenzhu's arms. The back of his hand grazed Xu Chenzhu's chest. He had absolutely not intended to do that.

Clean lines — not overdone, not gaunt. Everything exactly right.

He looked a moment longer than he meant to. Catching sight of Xu Chenzhu's scarlet ear, he quietly shifted his gaze. "Mr. Xu's... abdominals are very fine."

"Thank you for the compliment." Xu Chenzhu straightened, went back to the bathroom, pressed his hands over his quietly aching eyes — and felt his mouth pull upward completely against his will.

Zhaozhao noticed. Zhaozhao thought so. That means he finds this body appealing.

Outside in the corridor, Assistant Yang checked his watch again. Secretary Liu had taken the shirt in so long ago. Why hadn't the boss come out?

Secretary Liu observed Yang's expression and thought: it really did take a particular kind of perception to be the boss's closest confidant. The rest of the president's office still had room to develop.

Yang looked at Secretary Liu's expression — obscure, superior, as if he alone possessed some knowledge the rest of the world lacked — and wondered if he was imagining it.

When Xu Chenzhu finally appeared, he was once again entirely the composed, refined, untouchable figure everyone was accustomed to.

"Consultant Chao." Yang, noting that Chao Musheng had also changed into a professional suit, said: "You're not going with the support group?"

"Mr. Xu is cutting the ribbon shortly. I'm his assistant — of course I should be with Mr. Xu." Chao Musheng moved to Xu Chenzhu's side. This time, he didn't fall half a step behind.

"Professor Zhang has plenty of students with him — it doesn't matter if I'm not there." He turned to look at Xu Chenzhu. Xu Chenzhu turned to look back at him, eyes bright.

"Besides..."

With those eyes on him, Chao Musheng felt the smile climb past where he could contain it: "I'd rather be with Mr. Xu."