Chapter 21: Xiao Mu: He’s a Very Good Person, and…

Su Jianglou looked at his hung-up phone and casually tossed the phone aside. He was about to close his eyes and try other contact methods.

But it was as if the other side had entered some kind of signal dead zone. Everything sank without a trace, with no response at all.

If the person had really entered a signal dead zone, then how had his cake disappeared twenty minutes ago!

It had only taken two minutes from when he went to call his eldest brother to come eat cake until he returned—and his cake was gone!

At that moment, the entire Su Family Villa was shrouded in black mist. The floor, sofa, and coffee table all trembled with creaking sounds. Su Jianglou’s human skin, which he had maintained perfectly for days, finally cracked with several terrifying fissures. Faint traces of dark red magma churned beneath them.

“Kill him!”

“I’m going to kill him!”

The furious weird slammed the table with hatred. The trembling dining table finally shattered into two halves.

“Jianglou, don’t say such angry words.” Su Xuanxiao glanced disapprovingly at his younger brother and, in a fit of great mercy, had the butler take the dining table away to be repaired.

Su Jianglou turned a deaf ear and continued sinisterly, “Don’t let me find an opportunity, or else I’ll mix him into some cement, press him under the floor, and step on him for ten years.”

As long as he wasn’t constantly shouting about killing, Su Xuanxiao stopped trying to dissuade him. Otherwise, it would look like he, the eldest brother, was taking sides.

To be fair, Yuzi had gone too far this time. What was the point of taking Jianglou’s cake for no reason?

This made Su Xuanxiao involuntarily recall the past.

He, Yuzi, and Jianglou—the three brothers’ birthdays were all quite close together.

In order: first Jianglou, then him, and finally Yuzi.

In the earliest years, they could barely remember their birth dates, let alone have any concept or desire for birthdays.

Until later…

Their family welcomed a fourth member.

He gave them his surname and pointed to the stars in the sky, sketching out names for them.

Amid the joy of receiving their own names and surnames, Jianglou celebrated his first birthday.

Yuzi had a good temper but was prone to jealousy.

He could hold it in when Jianglou had his birthday. But on the day of his own birthday—the last one—Yuzi finally couldn’t hold back. He secretly wiped away tears, which their youngest brother saw. The little one cluelessly comforted his second brother for a good while.

Now, many years had passed in the blink of an eye. Yuzi was no longer that child who secretly cried upon seeing his younger brother and older brother celebrate their birthdays first.

Now, he robbed things outright.

However, over these years, aside from certain specific matters, Yuzi had mostly been fraternal and respectful toward his brothers.

No one knew what had gotten into him this year, but he suddenly came to provoke Jianglou on his birthday.

Su Ximu watched as Blue 242 Leader lit the fairy tale candle and even gestured for him to close his eyes and make a wish. He truly felt a sense of disorientation, as if it was actually their two birthdays today.

Blue 242 Leader was in high spirits, so Su Ximu could only cooperate by closing his eyes. He listened as Blue 242 Leader even made a wish on behalf of his younger brother. He couldn’t help but think to himself that he didn’t know whether Blue 242 Leader’s relationship with his brother was good or bad.

If it was good, then Blue 242 Leader had secretly taken his brother’s birthday cake.

If it was bad, then Blue 242 Leader hadn’t forgotten to make a wish for his brother.

After making the wish toward the candle, the two of them opened their eyes together and blew it out.

When cutting the cake, Blue 242 placed the first slice in front of Su Ximu and even casually scraped off the excess cream from it.

As he cut his own slice next, he asked in a seemingly offhand manner, “Xiao Xi, what kind of wish do you always make when you’re in front of a cake?”

Su Ximu thought for a moment. “There are quite a few. I can’t remember them clearly.”

Because he ate cake several times a year. Each time, he felt like he should make a wish, but he couldn’t recall what it was.

He only remembered wanting to eat oranges.

“Then, does Blue 242 Leader make wishes every birthday too?”

Blue 242 nodded. “Yes, I make four wishes a year.”

While Su Ximu and Blue 242 were cutting cake and chatting in the cafeteria, it was as if a vacuum zone had formed around them.

It wasn’t that there were few employees coming to the cafeteria to eat—quite the opposite. There were many, including one wearing an orange hat on his head.

They looked toward Su Ximu and Blue 242 in the corner of the cafeteria. Their gazes were both eagerly yearning and filled with envy and jealousy.

The eager yearning was directed at Su Ximu.

The envy and jealousy, naturally, at Blue 242.

Before the Tourist Garden was acquired by the Su Consortium, most of the park employees had only vaguely heard that a pretty arrogant connected guy had shown up in the park.

Later, when the Tourist Garden was acquired by the Su Consortium, everyone was panic-stricken with their weird hearts uneasy. Quite a few employees speculated that this connected guy was related to the Su Consortium. The connected guy himself had only said he was slightly acquainted with a Mr. Su from the Su Consortium.

It wasn’t until a couple of days ago, in this very cafeteria, that a very powerful weird had brought a bag of snacks to visit the connected guy who was experiencing life in the Tourist Garden.

After delivering the snacks, the weird turned around, picked up Old Master Ma from the Folk Custom Garden, and went straight into the director’s office, calling out “Big Brother” to Mr. Su upon entering.

The weird who came to deliver snacks to the connected guy had called Mr. Su “Big Brother”!

And the connected guy was also surnamed Su.

What did that mean?

Everyone who got it got it.

Unfortunately, recalling the warning and scrutinizing gaze that powerful weird had swept over all of them when leaving the cafeteria, they could only drool over the golden thigh right in front of them while holding back, wanting to observe it secretly first.

In this situation, Blue 242—who had gotten chummy with Little Mr. Su on his first day entering the park to work—naturally stood out as well.

Everyone wanted to hug this thigh, and you’d already latched onto it, you low-level weird?

All the weirds thought their secret observing gazes were well-hidden. But with dozens or hundreds of such gazes gathered together, how could Su Ximu not sense it?

After finishing the cake and returning to the dorm, he thought for a moment, then pulled out a hundred yuan from his pocket and said to Blue 242, “Leader, how about we go buy another cake to return to your brother?”

Blue 242 peeled open a tangerine-flavored soft candy and handed it over, still shaking his head. “No need. He’s taken mine before too.”

Su Ximu fell silent.

So it was mutual.

Then there was no issue.

Since they didn’t need to buy cake, after the lunch break, Su Ximu went to work as usual.

During the Tourist Garden’s reform period, the Folk Custom Area was temporarily closed to the public.

These actor employees like him temporarily did odd jobs in the Folk Custom Area, just like the other employees—moving and lifting things.

Su Ximu was assigned an extremely easy position as usual. He was responsible for sitting in the shade with a little notebook, recording the performances of other employees and scoring them.

It had a bit of the vibe of a Folk Custom Area little squad leader.

After a day of work, Su Ximu looked at the notebook in his hand and let out a small sigh, lost in thought.

That evening before bed, after washing up in the dorm, he heard another knock at the door.

He thought it was Blue 242 Leader bringing some more tasty food to supplement his night snack.

Blue 242 Leader always managed to produce lots of delicious food. The names sounded very healthy too—not calming tea, but stewed chicken soup, stewed ribs…

Blue 242 Leader said these were all things he made himself in the dorm.

Su Ximu didn’t have such good culinary skills. Wanting to return the favor, he could only share his own snacks with Blue 242 Leader.

He assumed it was the same tonight, so out of habit, he didn’t even check the peephole.

But when he opened the door, the person standing outside was a completely unfamiliar face.

The other was like him, without a hat, but with a badge pinned to his chest. He was also an actor from the Folk Custom Area.

Su Ximu was stunned but still politely asked the colleague who looked somewhat nervous, “Hello, is there something you need?”

“I, I…” The visitor was a bit over 1.8 meters tall, with a prominent nose, thick eyebrows, and big eyes—a very rugged, masculine look that didn’t match his current awkward demeanor.

Under the gaze of the young man opposite him, he finally mustered his courage. He raised his hand to tear off his clothes and started moving inside.

!

Su Ximu’s eyes widened. He squatted down abruptly and slipped out from under the man’s arm.

His body had reacted instinctively, but his mind still hadn’t fully processed the situation. “What are you doing?”

The rugged-looking man turned back, feeling he couldn’t have come for nothing. He continued trying to self-recommend. “You don’t like me like this? No problem. You’ll see once you look. I can be a woman too—or both, neither!”

Su Ximu lowered his head, his brain spinning rapidly. It took until it was about to overheat before he digested those words. The next second, he turned and ran off like smoke.

Su Ximu felt like he kept running and running until he accidentally collided right into Blue 242 Leader.

Blue 242 Leader was still holding a lunchbox in his hand.

Seeing this, Su Ximu pursed his lips, a hint of reluctance in his eyes. But the problem at hand was truly severe!

“Blue 242 Leader, I might not be working here anymore.”

“You—you’re my only friend here.”

Blue 242, who had just returned from outside, was taken aback. He didn’t yet know the specifics but still followed the words of the young man who suddenly wanted to change jobs. “Why are you leaving all of a sudden?”

After asking, he didn’t forget to respond gently, “You’re also a very important person to me.”

A very important person versus a friend one had made—the weight between the two was clear from a listen.

Su Ximu’s heart felt even more unsettled.

Although he had worked part-time jobs before to earn living expenses, due to his poor social skills and lack of education, most were manual labor like moving and lifting, which didn’t require much interaction with colleagues.

So while he had experience, for this young man not yet twenty this year, his attitude toward the workplace was still somewhat naive.

He would sincerely make friends at work.

Moreover, Blue 242 Leader was the person he had interacted with the most since arriving in the New World, and he took extra care of him, so there might even be a bit of an imprinting effect.

Under the night sky, the two simply didn’t return to the dorm right away. Instead, they took a stroll on the slightly brighter main road in the park.

Under Blue 242’s patient coaxing, Su Ximu finally recounted what had just happened and shared his troubles. “I probably can’t keep working here, but I also can’t go home for now. I made a big mistake at home. Coming out to work now was actually my Third Brother sneaking me out. He’s afraid Second Brother will come home furious and settle accounts with me.”

“So, by the time I apply for the next job, I’ll probably have to leave here.”

“You haven’t thought about telling your brother about this?” Blue 242 asked.

Su Ximu thought for a moment and lowered his head without speaking.

Blue 242 gently offered advice to the young man who had unconsciously grown closer to him. “How about I introduce you to a job? You go first. In a couple days, I’m planning to jump ship too.”

Su Ximu slowly raised his head: ^_^

Under the streetlights,

The young man holding the phone was still explaining to his brother on the other end of the line. “It’s a legitimate job. You can check it online. Blue 242 Leader is a very good person.”

“No, Third Brother, Blue 242 Leader didn’t trick me. He’s different from the others here. I can feel it.”

“He’s not trying to be friends with me because of my identity.”

“He treats me very well. We’re good friends.”

Su Jianglou gripped the phone tightly, his teeth grinding with creaking sounds. In his ears still echoed Xiao Mu’s words: ‘He’s a very good person,’ ‘He’s different from the others,’ ‘He’s a very good person,’ ‘He’s different from the others’…