Wen Bai hadn't checked his phone for several days after Lin Shuangshuang told him she wouldn't be visiting him anytime soon.
Deciding he was finally going to focus on his tasks, he found his phone under the bed. It was dead and the screen was black.
After plugging it in and turning it on, he discovered he had missed calls and numerous unread messages.
The missed calls were from Jiang Yiyi and Ji Tianle.
Jiang Yiyi wanted to meet him.
Among the unread messages were some from Lin Shuangshuang, asking about his recovery and offering to treat him to a meal once he was well, promising to make him satisfied.
Ji Tianle, possibly unable to reach him by phone, had sent messages with varying degrees of mockery and probing, all of which boiled down to asking if Wen Bai had met with Lin Shuangshuang.
The rest of the messages were a barrage of dense texts from an unknown number.
After reading the messages and missed calls from these three people, Wen Bai had no intention of replying.
He directly clicked on the dense, unfamiliar messages.
The content of these messages was quite strange.
The general gist was: "You hypocrite, you look harmless, you deserve to die."
Initially, there were various curses spoken with patience, but later on, it devolved into a loop of just "you deserve to die."
Wen Bai clicked on the most recent few messages, all identical: "You deserve to die!"
Not a single extra word, indicating the sender's intense anger.
Wen Bai: "..."
Despite the sender's fury, he had no idea who it was.
After reading the messages, he wondered, "Does the original host have enemies?"
System 001 also saw the messages and responded, "Enemies who wish him dead, scanning... Scan complete, none found."
"That's strange then."
System 001 reminded him, "However, host, isn't this a new phone number? You haven't used the original host's number since you arrived. The person sending you these messages must be someone you met after you got here!"
Wen Bai detested being cursed. His usually expressionless face puffed out slightly at the cheeks.
He had gained a little weight recently, giving his face a touch of baby fat. His expressionless face, puffed out in anger, looked rather cute.
He pondered for three seconds but came up with nothing.
Su Ying brought the food to the table. "Dinner is ready."
Wen Bai responded with a cheerful "Dada dada dada" as he ran over.
He decisively put the matter aside, thinking, "It's probably a bored prank."
He casually added the sender to his blacklist.
Wen Bai walked to the table with satisfaction.
Su Ying put down the bowls and chopsticks, scrutinizing Wen Bai. "You've gained a little weight recently."
Wen Bai, holding his chopsticks, nodded. He had been skin and bones before, but now he had put on some weight. Under Dr. Su's care, his body had been scientifically recuperated and was recovering well.
Combined with Su Ying's compliant feeding lately, their relationship had grown closer.
Wen Bai asked, "Are you working overtime tonight?"
Su Ying: "Tonight? No, why?"
"Starting today, I'll be working nights," Wen Bai stated.
"Are you in dire need of money?" Su Ying seemed a bit confused. Hadn't that bottomless pit disappeared? Why would Wen Bai still be so short on cash?
"I need to go to work." Wen Bai knew that only by working could he complete his tasks faster. He didn't lie, and he nodded affirmatively.
"If you need money, my office is hiring assistants, and the salary is quite good," he hinted.
"No need, I've already found a job, and the pay is good too." Wen Bai carefully gnawed on a piece of rib from his chopsticks. The double pay he'd been promised earlier should still count, right?
"Okay," Su Ying said, his eyes deepening as he watched the carefree person, a hint of displeasure accumulating.
In the noisy night, the tranquil night, every corner of the city had its own life.
Streaks of dazzling lights divided the city into countless pieces, forming different colors that remained unviolated.
Wen Bai stood at the bustling entrance and walked in calmly.
Even though he had visited during the day last time, he still remembered the way.
Now it was night, with only the glaring lights and the sound waves threatening to lift the roof.
He avoided the crowd, bypassed the people swaying as if they had forgotten who they were, walked straight left, then straight right, and saw a somewhat familiar door. Ah, he had arrived.
Wen Bai knocked on the door. There seemed to be no movement inside.
Well, in truth, Wen Bai couldn't hear any sounds from inside. Without further hesitation, he decisively pushed the door open.
Wen Bai sighed.
The people inside were still as busy as ever. He had knocked, and surely the people inside had heard him?
But now, the two of them were entangled together, unwilling to part.
The thought of this being his workplace made the word "annoying" practically etched on his face.
"Are you sure Ji Tianle will be here? And Yu Yang too?"
"The second male lead has a good relationship with his brother and likes liveliness, so he basically comes to his brother's bar whenever he's free. It won't be wrong. The male lead's friend is a regular here, and the protagonist and the second male lead's confrontation scenes happen here. It's absolutely impossible to be wrong."
After confirming, since that was the case...
This time, Wen Bai didn't evade. With a blank expression, he knocked on the open door with his knuckles, again and again...
The sound waves outside were so loud they could shake the roof. He had opened the door, and the sounds rushed in. He refused to believe that no one inside had heard.
He waited a bit longer. The person being held above squirmed slightly, as if suddenly realizing something. When the person below let go, the person above, seemingly very shy, covered their face, dodged Wen Bai, and fled in a hurry.
Wen Bai glanced. It wasn't the same person as last time. Had they changed again?
Ji Tianzong sat lazily in the boss's chair, raising a hand and wiping his lips with his thumb. He saw Wen Bai's not-yet-calmed emotions churning in his eyes. "You're here."
Wen Bai's expression remained blank as he stiffly said, "I'm here to work."
A laborer's heart, a laborer's soul.
Even when encountering the boss in such a situation, one still had to come to work.
Normally, encountering such a situation with the boss and being so clueless would likely lead to immediate termination.
However, Ji Tianzong had no intention of firing Wen Bai; this wasn't the first time.
This person seemed to have no principles, acting as if the recent events hadn't happened. He calmly beckoned Wen Bai with a finger. "Come here."
For a moment, Wen Bai felt like he was being treated like a dog. He walked a little closer.
Ji Tianzong was not satisfied with the slightly reduced distance.
He looked at Wen Bai and spoke again, his voice a little low, "Pour me a glass of water, I'm a bit thirsty."
Wen Bai didn't move. "What is my job?"
Wen Bai wanted to leave now. Ji Tianle and Yu Yang's confrontation wouldn't happen inside; it would definitely be outside.
"Your job right now is to get me a glass of water first."
Wen Bai got a glass of water and handed it over. Unexpectedly, his wrist was grabbed, and he was pulled with force.