Chapter 13: Pimping, Putting on Airs
The boss being on a business trip didn’t mean employees could take a vacation. Chen Shuo was prepared to be harassed by Yuan Feng at any time, as such situations had happened before.
Once, when He Yan was on a business trip, the lover he was keeping at the time, under the pretext of needing company, went to various places all day long, making Chen Shuo suffer as both a driver and a laborer, following behind him and paying the bills.
But what happened next was beyond Chen Shuo’s expectations. Yuan Feng didn’t contact him once, even though he was clearly in financial difficulty, wearing cheap clothes and looking like he was short of money.
He stayed home for a whole week, and there was no sign of Yuan Feng.
The sudden and overly peaceful vacation made Chen Shuo somewhat uneasy. Afraid of being entangled and having to get close to Yuan Feng, he didn’t contact him, nor did he go to Jinxi Bay to check. He found an opportunity to contact Secretary Shao Tong and confirmed that his boss was fine and would stay in the neighboring city for a few more days.
Another five peaceful days passed. Chen Shuo worked out in the morning, watched dramas and fed his fish at home in the afternoon, enjoying his comfortable homebody life. His impression of Yuan Feng slightly improved.
He thought about sending a text message to Yuan Feng to ask about his fracture checkup, as it was within his responsibilities.
But Yu Rui contacted him first, asking if he was free for barbecue and drinks that evening.
Yu Rui had actively added him on WeChat after their last phone call. Chen Shuo had no reason to refuse, but he disliked socializing, so naturally, he wasn’t free in the evening.
Soon, Yu Rui sent a fifty-second voice message. Chen Shuo, valuing quietness, long-pressed to convert it to text. The message started with that unreliable person.
“Mr. Li has been so difficult to deal with recently. Him staying at the company all day is better than him disappearing, it’s exhausting, Assistant Chen. Why aren’t you free again tonight? Is CEO He making you work overtime? I have nothing else to do, I just want to chat with you. Talking to you feels closer than talking to anyone else. If I chat with them in the break room, they’ll only envy my high salary, without seeing how much effort I put in. For that art film directed by Liu, I’ve become the executive producer. Mr. Li said I’m responsible if it loses money, how am I supposed to be responsible? He’s just in a bad mood and wants to scold me. I almost want to pimp for him.”
Being treated as a trash can again, and it was about Li Ge, Chen Shuo pretended to be busy, planning to reply later. Yu Rui then sent a text message.
Yu Rui: [Lin Yuzhi is here, I’ll tell you later.]
Having not heard from Lin Yuzhi for so long, Chen Shuo guessed that he had set his sights on Li Ge of Gewu Media. A drama queen and an unreliable person, quite a match.
“Achoo—”
“Mr. Li, are you alright?” Lin Yuzhi hurriedly rushed to the large desk, putting on a seductive display of concern, but was pushed away by a strong arm, almost falling flat on his face.
“Fuck, what are you wearing, trying to suffocate me?” Li Ge covered his nose and ordered his assistant, “Yu Rui, who let him in? Get him out.”
“Don’t, Mr. Li, I just put on some perfume.” Lin Yuzhi wisely retreated to the door, flashing his signature smile, “Mr. Li, I came here specifically to thank you, I hope you can do me the honor of—”
“Get out.” Li Ge interrupted Lin Yuzhi mercilessly.
“Did you even make an appointment before coming here?” Yu Rui dragged Lin Yuzhi out like a prisoner.
“I’m here on behalf of Director Liu!” Lin Yuzhi clung to the door frame, refusing to leave, and hurriedly explained, “Mr. Li, don’t misunderstand, it’s not just the two of us, I also invited Director Jin and Assistant Chen.”
“Wait, who?” Li Ge raised his hand, signaling his assistant to let go.
Yu Rui immediately released him.
Lin Yuzhi, almost strangled, gasped for air before saying, “I really want to thank Mr. Li for giving me this opportunity. I invited Director Liu, Director Jin, and Assistant Chen, as well as our lead actor. They also helped me, I hope Mr. Li can do me the honor.”
Assistant Chen… Li Ge pondered for a moment, and the image of a male model dancing wildly popped into his mind. A strong, sexy, and powerful physique, a fair and handsome face, passionate like fire on stage, igniting that inexplicable itch in his chest, his heart itching along with it.
A change of taste didn’t seem so bad.
“When?”
“Mr. Li, are you willing to do me the honor?” Lin Yuzhi asked excitedly.
“Cut the crap.” Li Ge opened his cigarette case and took out a cigarette.
Lin Yuzhi hurriedly said, “Tomorrow night at seven o’clock at Jinling Xuan, I’ve already made a reservation.”
Outsiders didn’t know, but Li Ge knew himself. He had principles when it came to keeping lovers. The first requirement was that their appearance had to be to his liking. Not just handsome, but appealing to his eyes. Eye appeal was very important; those who didn’t meet his standards could get lost.
He had previously disliked the little assistant’s large physique, not particularly interested in him. But now, on a whim, he wanted a change of taste, so he had to try it out.
So Li Ge readily agreed and ordered Lin Yuzhi, “Don’t invite the lead actor and the two directors.”
“Ah…” The surprise came too suddenly, Lin Yuzhi couldn’t believe it, “Mr. Li, just the two of us?”
Li Ge’s expression turned cold, staring at Lin Yuzhi, “Who the fuck are you ‘two’ with? Invite Assistant Chen.”
“…” Knowing Mr. Li’s taste, Lin Yuzhi didn’t think too much and hurriedly nodded in agreement.
Yu Rui, standing beside them, thought to himself, this is bad, the boss is going to take his anger out on CEO He’s assistant! Shifting the target was a good thing, but shifting it to Chen Shuo, he deeply empathized.
After sending Lin Yuzhi away, Yu Rui immediately sent a WeChat message to his confidant, warning Chen Shuo to be careful tomorrow night and not to offend the lonely Mr. Li, whose temper was flaring.
“Assistant Chen, be careful tomorrow night. Mr. Li hasn’t found anyone during his recent single period, and his temper is very short. He’s not happy with Lin Yuzhi and might take it out on you, he can’t take it out on CEO He, can he? Just let whatever he says go in one ear and out the other, endure it, don’t lose your job.”
It was already 8 pm when Chen Shuo saw Yu Rui’s message. He had just turned off the TV and was about to take a shower. The message was sent three hours ago.
His efforts to maintain social connections finally paid off. He thanked Yu Rui and asked about the situation tomorrow night. Yu Rui quickly called him back.
Yu Rui briefly explained the situation and added, “Mr. Li is moody, but actually easy to deal with, just go along with him. If he scolds you, just endure it, it won’t kill you.”
“…” Chen Shuo thought to himself, it would kill him.
Because he didn’t need to go along with Li Ge, nor did he need to endure Li Ge’s insults.
“Okay, thank you, Assistant Yu.”
“You’re welcome.” Yu Rui spoke frankly, “Do you have any side hustles? If you have any good projects, take me along, my family is too poor, and villas are too expensive, I can’t afford them.”
“…” No wonder Yu Rui was so enthusiastic. Chen Shuo started to dislike socializing again.
He had deleted Lin Yuzhi’s contact information on the night of the art film’s wrap-up party to prevent harassment and had blocked his number.
He could block Lin Yuzhi, but not necessarily Li Ge.
Chen Shuo sat down and pondered for a while. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want any conflict with He Yan’s cousin, nor did he think Li Ge was interested in him.
He was just petty and held a grudge against being overshadowed before.
Some rich people were just that bored, using their power and social status to bully ordinary people, treating commoners as accessories to satisfy their vanity and sense of superiority.
Now, not only Yu Rui wanted to pimp, even Chen Shuo wanted to pimp, as long as Li Ge could disappear and not bother him.
He was in a bad mood now and really wanted to drag Lin Yuzhi out and beat him up. Why did he have to mention him in front of Li Ge?
A notification sound rang. Chen Shuo looked down and saw a text message from Yuan Feng.
“My arm is fine, I was at work and didn’t see my phone, is CEO He back from his business trip?”
Chen Shuo was a bit surprised. He had always thought Yuan Feng was staying at Jinxi Bay to recover. He was responsible for picking him up and dropping him off, but Yuan Feng hadn’t said anything and went to work with his cast, and He Yan hadn’t told him what Yuan Feng did.
Realizing his negligence, he replied, “Mr. Yuan, where do you work? Please contact me if you need anything.”
After waiting for more than ten minutes, Chen Shuo received a reply.
“I’m a business manager at a metal materials company. I’m off work now, I won’t talk anymore, I’ll take a taxi, you go to bed early, thank you for your concern.”
Getting off work at almost 8:30 pm, Chen Shuo looked at the text message and replied, “You’re welcome.”
He wasn’t sure if Yuan Feng had been getting off work at this time during the past half month of his vacation. Since he was being kept, this shouldn’t be the case.
The next morning, Chen Shuo arrived at Jinxi Bay at 7:30 am. He had specifically sent a text message to Yuan Feng before leaving, but no one opened the door after he knocked for a while.
Yuan Feng, who had already moved back to his rented apartment, had no idea that Assistant Chen came to pick him up for work early in the morning. By the time he saw the message, he was already in a taxi.
Afraid that Chen Shuo would inform the pervert He Yan, Yuan Feng held his phone with one hand, his thumb tapping on the screen, quickly typing a few lines.
“Sorry, Assistant Chen, I’m in a hurry to go to a meeting at the company. You don’t have to pick me up, it’s convenient for me to take a taxi, thank you for your kindness, you’re busy, really, no need to pick me up.”
Chen Shuo put away his phone, his mood somewhat complicated.
He returned home and, as usual, did some housework since he had time. After mopping the floor, the clothes in the washing machine were also done. After drying and putting away the clothes, he went to the gym.
Chen Shuo never showered at the gym, even if there were private cubicles, it couldn’t block those who liked walking around naked. He valued his privacy and wasn’t used to being shirtless in front of others.
His daily life was like copy and paste. He couldn’t say it was good or bad. As usual, he went to the supermarket to buy groceries, planning what to eat before going out.
A phone call disrupted Chen Shuo’s peaceful life.
It was an unknown number. He didn’t need to guess who it was. He answered and, hearing Lin Yuzhi’s invitation, immediately refused, “Sorry, I don’t have time.”
“Give me some face, Assistant Chen, you’ve helped me so much, I’ve always wanted to treat you to a proper meal. At Jinling Xuan, such a high-end restaurant, I haven’t been there much, come on.”
Chen Shuo was no longer polite and said directly, “I wasn’t helping you, I was working. The work is over, don’t bother me anymore.”
“Don’t be so cold-blooded, just help me this once, okay? It was Mr. Li who asked me to invite you. It’s a rare opportunity to have dinner with Mr. Li, give me some face, I promise I won’t bother you again in the future.”
“I’m very busy.” Chen Shuo hung up directly and blocked the unknown number.
7 pm, Jinling Xuan.
Li Ge pushed open the door to the private room and saw Lin Yuzhi wearing makeup, like a peacock spreading its tail, assaulting his eyes. The little assistant wasn’t there.
“Mr. Li, you’re here!”
Lin Yuzhi giggled, his flirtatious manner as if he was about to strip naked and serve himself as a male body feast, completely ruining Li Ge’s appetite, making him want to pick him up and beat him up.
“Why are you the only one here?” he asked, his tone displeased.
Lin Yuzhi: “Assistant Chen has some last-minute work and said he’ll be here later.”
Li Ge sat down, thinking that the little assistant was putting on airs.
