The Fuhao Restaurant, a top-tier five-star hotel in Binnan City, was extravagant in its opulence. Correspondingly, dining there was an extravagant expense.
In a small private room, a table of ordinary dishes cost over ten thousand yuan. Although it wasn't his money, Mu Zi still felt a painful tug in his heart. Ten thousand yuan! Back when he worked at Ningxiang Pavilion, his monthly salary was just over a thousand yuan, meaning this single meal cost as much as his annual wage...
Li Tian, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned. Money came easily to him and was spent just as easily. He savored a few hundred yuan worth of fine wine with ease, eyeing the beautiful waitresses standing nearby.
The door to their room was left open, intentionally by Mu Zi.
Chu Xuelin was in the next room. As Li Tian had predicted, the auditing personnel didn't stay long at the branch office. Mu Zi seriously doubted they had even glanced at the accounts before being pulled to the hotel by Chu Xuelin.
Now, including Chu Xuelin, there were four people in the next room, all impeccably dressed. Clearly, they were the leading figures among the auditors. After they entered their room, Mu Zi and Li Tian had deliberately chosen the adjacent room. This way, except for whispers, they could clearly hear almost everything being said next door.
In the adjacent room, the atmosphere was lively, filled with laughter and toasting. Especially Chu Xuelin's obsequious compliments, which were incessant and made Mu Zi's skin crawl.
Mu Zi had no appetite. He just sipped his drink, listening intently to the sounds from the next room.
After a while, the next room suddenly quieted down.
They must be discussing important matters now, but unfortunately, he couldn't hear clearly from here.
Mu Zi frowned and signaled to Li Tian.
Li Tian immediately escorted the two waitresses out of the room and closed the door.
Mu Zi pressed his ear against the wall of the room, hoping to catch something useful.
Regrettably, the soundproofing of the room was excellent. He could only hear muffled voices but couldn't make out the words.
Frustrated...
Mu Zi stood up, feeling increasingly restless. He checked the time; it was now 8 PM. If Chu Xuelin managed to settle everything and return to Binbei City now, his plan would completely fall apart.
Pacing the room, he became more agitated and decided to step into the hallway. After ensuring there was no one else around, he quietly approached Chu Xuelin's room and pressed his ear to the door.
At that moment, he wished for a listening device...
"Then, Old Li, I'm counting on you for this matter..." Chu Xuelin's voice was low, but the obsequiousness was clear.
"Heh, don't worry, Xuelin. We're all friends here," replied what must be Old Li's voice.
Then came a round of forced laughter, as fake as dubbed sound...
Just then, footsteps echoed from the left staircase – the distinct sound of high heels on the floor.
Mu Zi quickly withdrew and returned to his room, peeking through the door crack to observe.
"What are you peeping at..." Li Tian muttered behind him, but Mu Zi silenced him with a raised finger.
The footsteps grew clearer, and their owner appeared at the end of the hallway.
It was a woman, slender, with golden curly hair, dressed in a sexy business suit that accentuated her devilish figure.
The woman sashayed down the corridor, much like a model strutting on a catwalk.
As she drew nearer, Mu Zi finally saw her face.
At the sight of that face, Mu Zi froze!
He stared through the door crack, fixated on the woman's face, his fists silently clenching.
Memories flooded his mind...
Malicious smiles, his mother's abandoned belongings at the doorstep, the pungent smell of cheap perfume...
The woman reached Chu Xuelin's room and knocked on the door...
Li Tian pushed Mu Zi back to reality after a long while.
Seeing the complex expression on Mu Zi's face, Li Tian was baffled. The young man had always been calm and unruffled. What had happened now? Could peeping really hurt him?
But Li Tian didn't ask. Seeing Mu Zi sit back down with a complicated look, he said quietly, "Looks like Chu Xuelin is leaving."
Startled, Mu Zi shook his head vigorously, as if to clear his mind, then stood up again.
His mind whirred into action.
Yes, from the laughter next door, from the woman's knock, he should have realized it. This woman, Chu Xuelin's last trump card, was the final piece of his plan. With her appearance, Chu Xuelin had passed the lead role to her, freeing himself to return to
Binbei...
Things were bad; Chu Xuelin was about to leave, much earlier than planned, threatening to ruin everything!
Mu Zi twisted a lock of hair in frustration.
Li Tian watched him, his face filled with anxiety.
"Let's repeat the old trick," Mu Zi said after a moment. "Remember how we delayed Jiang Xiaofen's time before? Let's do it again."...
When Chu Xuelin and his party arrived at the Fuhao Restaurant, there were only four of them, but when they left, there were seven. Each man, apart from Chu Xuelin, had a glamorous woman by his side.
After some pleasantries, they got into their cars and left. The man called Old Li, accompanied by Chu Xuelin's secretary Mina – the woman Mu Zi had seen in the corridor – was the last to leave. Old Li was completely smitten with Mina, his fat face buried in her ear, whispering incessantly, even neglecting to bid farewell to Chu Xuelin. Mina, for her part, giggled and looked triumphantly at Chu Xuelin, discreetly signaling an 'OK' to him. Chu Xuelin stepped forward, exchanged a few polite words, and then saw the two off into their car.
As soon as their car left, Li Tian hailed a taxi and followed from a distance...
Now, with the branch office's troubles finally resolved, Chu Xuelin breathed a sigh of relief, a rare relaxed expression on his face.
He lit a cigarette, slowly finishing it before finally getting into his car to leave...