Chapter 33

Euphemism

When he woke up in the morning, washed up, and picked up his phone, Chao Musheng saw the lollipop he had casually placed on the bedside table.

He twirled the lollipop in his palm, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth.

It was still the same old taste, with a strong orange flavor.

With the lollipop in his mouth, he opened the door and saw Ah Ze sitting on the sofa. Chao Musheng looked at the back of the other person's fluffy head in confusion. Why was he in his house?

"Brother Zhao." Hearing the movement, Ah Ze turned his head and saw Chao Musheng coming out, smiling and revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "Good morning."

"Good morning." Chao Musheng noticed a half-eaten fruit platter on the coffee table. He walked through the living room, and the voices of his mother and Xiao Juan came from the kitchen.

"Sheng Sheng, you're up?" Dad Zhao came out with breakfast and put it on the dining table: "Eat something to fill your stomach. Lunch will be in two hours."

"Your mother and I met your two colleagues in the supermarket, so we invited them to come home for lunch together." Dad Zhao glanced at the kitchen behind him: "Xiao Juan wants to learn cooking skills from your mother, so she is chatting with her in the kitchen."

Learn kitchen skills from his mother?

Chao Musheng hesitated to speak. His father cooked most of the time in their family. Occasionally, his mother would participate, saying it was a sense of family ritual, but she didn't know many dishes.

After finishing breakfast in a few bites, Chao Musheng took the bowl to the kitchen. Xiao Juan, who was cutting crosses on mushrooms, looked a little flustered when she saw Chao Musheng: "Brother Zhao."

Feeling like a thief, seeing treasures in someone else's house, she couldn't help but get close to peek.

"Welcome to my home." Chao Musheng turned on the tap to wash the dishes and smiled at Xiao Juan: "Do you and Ah Ze have any dietary restrictions?"

Xiao Juan shook her head: "We are not picky eaters."

Seeing the smile on Chao Musheng's face, Xiao Juan lowered her head and continued to work on the mushrooms silently.

"Sheng Sheng is two or three years younger than you. How can you call him brother?" Zhao Yin put the washed vegetables into the drain basket and wiped the water off her hands: "There was thunder in the middle of the night last night. Did you sleep well?"

"Was there thunder last night?" Chao Musheng put the washed bowl into the disinfection cabinet: "I slept too deeply and didn't hear it."

"Mom, you go watch TV with Xiao Juan. I'll help Dad." Chao Musheng found that Zhao Yin had done a manicure, happily leaned close to her, and pushed her out of the kitchen: "Don't ruin your newly done manicure."

"No respect for elders." Zhao Yin patted his arm and waved to Xiao Juan: "Let's go, Xiao Juan. Leave the kitchen to them. Let's go watch dramas."

"Oh." Xiao Juan obediently took off her apron and said to Dad Zhao who walked into the kitchen: "Uncle Zhao, then I'll go to the living room first."

Dad Zhao: "Go ahead, chat with your aunt."

"Uncle Zhao?" Chao Musheng closed the kitchen door and asked in confusion: "Dad, when did you secretly take your wife's surname outside?"

"The little girl called me wrong. It's not good to correct her specifically and make her embarrassed." Dad Zhao chuckled softly: "Besides, husband and wife are one. It's not wrong for her to call me Uncle Zhao."

"Alright." Chao Musheng smiled along: "Why did you buy two chickens?"

"We bought one, and your colleague Xiao Juan bought one." Dad Zhao sprinkled cooking wine on the chicken wings: "It's the little girl's first time visiting. She was very restrained and bought a big bag of fruit. If your mother hadn't stopped her, she might have bought more."

"It shouldn't be easy for the little girl either." Dad Zhao sighed.

There are thousands of people in the world. On the road ahead, there are always fewer people who have it easy and more who have it hard. The taste of sweetness is similar, but bitterness has ten thousand flavors.

Xiao Juan knew that Mother Zhao was not a gentle mother in the traditional sense.

Even though today was the weekend, she received many calls. Her tone when talking to people on the phone was completely different from when talking to her family, both decisive and strong.

She probably wasn't good at cooking either, because her fingers were fair and smooth, her manicure was exquisite and beautiful, and one could tell at a glance that she rarely entered the kitchen.

But the look in her eyes when she looked at Chao Musheng was so warm.

"Sister Juan." Taking advantage of the opportunity when Zhao Yin went to the study to answer the phone, Ah Ze whispered to Xiao Juan: "Compared with Brother Zhao's large flat, the place we live in seems like a slum."

When he first entered the door and saw the luxurious and comfortable decoration in the house, and the living room larger than their entire suite, Ah Ze almost dared not step in.

No wonder a high-salaried department manager like Sister Jia only rented a room upstairs from Brother Zhao instead of buying a house.

So it's this kind of house. Then it's not strange.

"Shut up." Xiao Juan said grumpily: "You just found out now?"

On the first day, getting off the 114 bus and seeing the guard standing at the gate of the community was a tall young man in uniform, one should have guessed that the houses in this community must be very good.

"Woof woof woof!"

A dog barked outside the door, and the door was scratched loudly. Ah Ze looked at Xiao Juan nervously: "Sister, what should we do?"

Xiao Juan stood up: "What do you mean what to do? Hurry up and call the owner."

"Call the owner?" Ah Ze looked hesitant: "This isn't very good, is it? Even if the dog outside is a big weirdo, wouldn't it make me look spineless if I call it owner directly?"

"I meant go call Chao Musheng!" These words were squeezed out from between Xiao Juan's teeth. She took a deep breath: "With your brain, how did you pass the first two dungeons?"

"Hide when seeing natives with red markers." Ah Ze asked back in confusion: "Sister Juan, didn't you already know what my skill is? Why do you still ask?"

"Is there a dog barking outside?" Chao Musheng walked out of the kitchen and went directly to open the door.

The moment the door opened, Ah Ze and the big golden dog outside looked at each other. A red danger marker lit up on the big dog's head. He hurriedly ran to Chao Musheng: "Brother Zhao, be careful!"

This dog has a tendency to attack people!

Oh my, why is Brother Zhao's living room so big? He can't make it in time!

"Er Mao?" Chao Musheng squatted down and rubbed the big golden retriever's head: "There are guests at home today. I can't play with you."

"Woo~" The golden retriever looked at the two strangers in the room over Chao Musheng's shoulder, emitting a suppressed purr from its throat.

"These are guests, not thieves or bad guys." Chao Musheng gently pinched its dog mouth twice: "Did you sneak up from the emergency exit while Brother Lou wasn't paying attention?"

The golden retriever stuck out its tongue and leaned against Chao Musheng, panting.

Ah Ze stood blankly behind the person and the dog, smiling awkwardly.

So that red marker was directed at him and Sister Juan.

He watched helplessly as the red marker on the golden retriever's head slowly faded, finally turning into yellow representing neutrality.

When Chao Musheng fed the dog chicken breast and let the dog sit by the sofa to watch TV, the dog's yellow neutral marker towards them had a hint of green.

Although not much, it made him feel full of security.

After waiting for more than half an hour, Brother Lou came up to claim the golden retriever with a round belly.

The golden retriever didn't want to leave. Its four paws scratched at the door for a long time before being dragged away by Brother Lou pulling its hind legs. Ah Ze watched this scene dumbfounded, turning back to find Brother Zhao's family looking calm, as if they were used to this scene.

Xiao Juan stared at the door with a very complicated expression. Coming to this dungeon really opened her eyes.

She had seen NPCs in the dungeon of levels white, green, blue, orange, purple, and gold. White is the lowest, and gold is the highest.

But she had never seen a combination of a blue-level owner and an orange-level pet.

There also appeared a mysterious big BOSS level like the Kunlun boss that could not be looked at directly or judged.

There were even bizarre events where players turned into natives and NPC markers appeared on their heads.

Every strange phenomenon was telling the unusualness of this dungeon.

"Don't be afraid. This dog is raised by the neighbor downstairs. It often sneaks into our house to play and listens to Sheng Sheng very much." Seeing Xiao Juan staring at the door in a daze, Zhao Yin thought she was frightened by the golden retriever and handed her a piece of cut watermelon: "Eat a piece of melon to calm your nerves."

"Thank you, Auntie."

Xiao Juan took the watermelon, saw the gentle smile at the corner of the other's mouth, and secretly blushed.

Auntie looks so good when she smiles.

[Ding! Consuming healthy fruit, Health +1]

After the food was served, Xiao Juan and Ah Ze's minds were full of ding-dong system prompts.

[Ding! Consuming fresh vegetables, Health +3]

[Ding! Consuming nutritious mushroom chicken soup, Health +10, Luck +5 within 48 hours]

[Ding! Consuming delicious fish soup, Health +5]

[Ding! Consuming...]

Almost all dishes increased health by 3-5 points, except for the chicken soup, which not only added 10 points of health but also had a 48-hour luck bonus.

Chao Musheng: "Thank you, Mom and Dad, for the loving and delicious chicken soup. I can have two more bowls."

So the special part is here.

This chicken soup was specially made for him by Chao Musheng's parents. She and Ah Ze were the lucky ones who got to share this care.

After lunch, the couple wanted to go out for some couple time, leaving the three young people to play at home by themselves.

"Brother Zhao, you actually have such a big computer room and study." Ah Ze stood at the door, looking at the complete set of computer equipment and densely packed books in the room, feeling that stepping in would be a blasphemy to the room.

Chao Musheng: "Do you want to try the feel of playing games on this computer?"

"No, no." Ah Ze shook his head quickly and stepped back a few steps: "Uncle and Auntie said you are designing some game. I'm afraid I'll break it."

"How can it be broken so easily?" Seeing that Ah Ze really didn't want to use the computer, Chao Musheng didn't insist anymore and sat on the sofa chatting with the two.

When talking about work, Ah Ze's face became bitterer than bitter melon: "I get scolded every day, and Sister Juan gets praised every day. I feel like I'll be kicked out by the company in a few days."

"As long as you don't arrive late or leave early, or maliciously slack off, you shouldn't be fired during the internship." Seeing Ah Ze worried like this, Chao Musheng comforted: "At least guarantee that your internship certificate can be stamped."

He understood the importance of an internship certificate to a college student.

"Brother Zhao, how do you know?" Ah Ze was curious.

Xiao Juan desperately hinted to Ah Ze with her eyes not to ask everything directly, be careful that trouble comes from the mouth.

Unfortunately, Ah Ze couldn't receive her signal and thought sand got into her eyes.

"I asked a few more questions casually at the dinner last night." Chao Musheng said: "Kunlun also understands the difficulties of students. As long as no excessive mistakes are made, internship certificates will be issued."

Xiao Juan: "Thank you, Brother Zhao."

"Why thank me? Did you forget I'm also an intern?"

Xiao Juan knew clearly in her heart that with Chao Musheng's ability and connections, there was no need to ask about such trivial matters. He asked specifically for her and Ah Ze.

In the evening, coming out from visiting the Zhao family, Ah Ze touched his round belly: "I really didn't expect that health points could exceed the initial value."

Seeing the 132 health points on her personal panel, Xiao Juan remained silent because she had never been so wealthy.

"Er Mao, slow down ah ah ah!"

Ah Ze was stunned. Did a golden object just drag something past them?

The golden object swayed back again. It was that big golden dog.

It wore a muzzle, dragged the panting Brother Lou, sniffed around Ah Ze and Xiao Juan, and strode away vigorously, wagging its tail.

Weak humans who freeload at Zhao Zhao's house are not worth mentioning.

Ah Ze: "Sister Juan, what does it mean?"

Xiao Juan: "Are you a dog?"

"No."

"Since you are not a dog, why do you need to know what the dog means?"

"..."

At night, the player chat group became lively.

[Today I spent money to treat a colleague to dinner and heard an interesting piece of news. Kunlun is recently doing a new software development. This project is very important to the company.]

[Saying it so simply, do you know which floor the software development team is on?]

[To investigate company secrets, shouldn't we think of ways to please the higher-ups?]

[Laughing to death. We, the lowest-level interns, can't even talk much to minor managers. What do we have to please the higher-ups?]

[Why aren't trade secrets considered secrets? If we get the data from the software development team, won't the mission be successful?]

Xiao Juan noticed that after this message was posted, the group became quiet.

Players were wary of each other. Seemingly kind-heartedly posting new clues in the group, in fact, it was to incite other players to be cannon fodder.

There were still 24 days before the end of the dungeon, and many players had already died, so no one wanted to be the bird that sticks out.

Software Development Team...

Xiao Juan stared at these words. The company should attach great importance to this department, and the security level must be very high.

Card swipe successful, facial recognition, fingerprint recognition, iris recognition, password recognition.

Entering the software development interior requires passing five access controls, each equipped with security personnel.

Chao Musheng looked up and could see several surveillance cameras pointed at him.

"The project team has a lot of important data, so the supervision is very strict." The team leader who picked him up to the office explained to him: "Every staff member entering and exiting must undergo inspection."

"It should be." Chao Musheng hung his work badge well and teased: "If the inspection isn't serious, I won't feel at ease either."

It's good that he can understand. The team leader breathed a sigh of relief. Chao Musheng is a genius. He didn't want to miss such a talent, but he was afraid that this genius would be arrogant because of his talent and think their department was deliberately targeting him.

Walking into the office, the first thing Chao Musheng saw was not various equipment, but a cyberpunk-style portrait of Wenchang Dijun hanging on the wall.

Seeing him staring at the portrait on the wall, the team leader coughed dryly: "Do you want to pay respects too, to bless your research and development to go smoothly?"

Does Wenchang Dijun, the old man, also understand knowledge of the computer industry?

Chao Musheng saw the computer placed by Wenchang Dijun's hand and stepped forward silently.

Since he's here, trying won't hurt.

Just in case.

Don't know if the Cyber Wenchang Dijun really exerted force, but Chao Musheng took over the work very smoothly. However, because it was too smooth, colleagues seemed to have forgotten that he was just an intern and dared to show him even the most core data.

Near noon, seeing that his colleagues didn't react, Chao Musheng asked the colleague closest to him: "Aren't we going to the cafeteria for lunch?"

"You want to go to the cafeteria?" The colleague had a piece of candy in his mouth: "Someone will deliver food to us at noon. We are too lazy to go downstairs."

"Of course, it doesn't matter if you want to go yourself." The colleague pointed to a colleague in the corner: "Go with Old Mo. He also likes to run to the cafeteria, saying that the lively environment makes his brain work better."

"What, someone wants to go to the cafeteria with me?" Old Mo poked his head out, his gaze falling on Chao Musheng, his eyes full of joy at finding a meal buddy: "We'll go downstairs now."

He dragged Chao Musheng and walked out: "You don't know how lazy this group of people is. They sit in the office all day and don't like to move. You are still young, don't learn their bad habits."

Passing through heavy access controls, Old Mo took Chao Musheng directly into the CEO's exclusive elevator. Seeing the elevator stop at the 51st floor without moving, he muttered: "Why does the CEO's office occupy the elevator for so long, wasting our precious time? Really insensible."

The elevator rose slowly from the 51st floor to the 52nd floor. Staff pushing a dining cart and Secretary Liu walked out.

"Old Mo, Xiao Zhao, are you still going to the cafeteria today?" Secretary Liu pointed to the dining cart, "Today the boss is treating your development team to a big meal."

"Thank you, boss. May the boss make a fortune." Old Mo, who was cursing just now, changed his face instantly and pulled Chao Musheng back.

With the boss treating them to a big meal, he actually didn't like going to the cafeteria that much.

The treatment of Kunlun researchers is really good.

Chao Musheng ate the big dishes made with various high-end ingredients from home and abroad, glanced at the rice with black truffles in his bowl, and felt that if he slacked off secretly in the afternoon, he would be letting down these delicious and expensive meals.

In the staff restaurant downstairs, Ah Ze and Xiao Juan waited until they finished eating, but Chao Musheng did not appear.

"Sister Juan, could something have happened to Brother Zhao?" Ah Ze was a little worried. The people who often ate at the same table with Brother Zhao last week had already finished eating and gone back. Why hasn't Brother Zhao appeared yet?

"Don't worry yet." Xiao Juan forced herself to calm down: "Brother Zhao knows people from the CEO's office. People from the game technology team shouldn't dare to touch him."

But this is a dungeon world. Any absurd thing can happen.

She hesitated for a moment and chased after the natives of the game team.

"You're asking about Xiao Zhao?" Brother Li remembered this girl who greeted Chao Musheng every noon: "He was transferred to another department this morning. You can see him after work."

"For a talent like Xiao Zhao, the company won't let him stay in the game team all the time."

"Where was he transferred to?" Xiao Juan never easily believed the words of dungeon natives: "Why can't I even get through on the phone?"

Old Li smiled: "Where he was transferred, it's probably inconvenient to make private calls during working hours."

He took out a sticky note from his body and wrote a string of numbers on it: "You can use the company department phone to dial this number."

"Thank you." Xiao Juan took the sticky note. It was a string of internal landline short numbers.

Company internal landlines are in the manager's office. Ordinary employees cannot use them easily, let alone an intern like Xiao Juan.

Hearing that Xiao Juan wanted to use the internal phone, the manager refused without thinking: "This is the company's internal management contact method. You, an intern, cannot bypass levels to contact other company management."

Xiao Juan saw that the manager was already unhappy. She should leave immediately.

Xiao Juan gritted her teeth and took out a psychedelic prop from the system space: "Manager, I have a friend..."

Ring ring ring!

The landline rang. The manager signaled Xiao Juan to be quiet and picked up the phone. A moment later, he looked at Xiao Juan with strange eyes and handed the phone to her: "For you."

Xiao Juan took the receiver, and Chao Musheng's voice came from inside.

"Brother Zhao!" The moment she heard Chao Musheng's voice, her heart completely settled. She didn't even dare to think how sad Mother Zhao would be if something happened to Chao Musheng.

"Sorry, the transfer to the new department today was in a hurry, and I didn't have time to tell you in advance. Don't worry, the colleagues in the new department are very nice." Chao Musheng's tone was cheerful: "We'll meet at the old place in the afternoon and go home together."

"Okay." Hanging up the phone, Xiao Juan's mood inexplicably became very good.

Maybe because she successfully clung to a big shot's leg.

Yes, that's it.

"Xiao Juan, you and Ah Ze know the big shot on the 52nd floor. You should have told me earlier." The manager had a kind smile on his face: "Which department do you want to call? I'll dial for you."

Xiao Juan: "Thank you, Manager. No need. The call just now was from him."

After Xiao Juan left, the manager rubbed his chin and thought, next time Ah Ze makes a mistake, he will try hard to control his emotions and scold him less.

He has to give face to the big shot above.

"Since we can meet after work, why make this call specifically?" After Chao Musheng hung up the phone, the team leader was puzzled.

Chao Musheng drank the digestive tea the team leader brewed for him: "I eat lunch in the restaurant every day. I didn't go today, they might be worried."

4 pm, Customer Service Department.

"Did you use your brain? Do you really think the customer saying you are 'great' is praising you?!"

The manager slapped the desk loudly, glaring at the dejected Ah Ze with anger.

"You are a pig..."

The other party has someone above. Deep breath, calm down, be euphemistic.

"Are you a close relative of a pig?!"

This is as euphemistic as it gets.

Ah Ze looked at the green marker representing a friendly stance above the manager's head, moved to tears. The manager was exceptionally good to him today. Not only did he directly convert the marker to a pure friendly green stance, but he also didn't directly call him a pig.

After scolding for less than ten minutes, Ah Ze was released by the manager.

He returned to his workstation with brisk steps, thanking Brother Zhao, thanking the good luck chicken soup stewed by Brother Zhao's parents!

The player closest to him saw that he was released by the manager so quickly and couldn't help frowning.

Why is the manager becoming more and more tolerant of this waste?