I was able to blend in well with the shadows and mingle with the crowd without anyone noticing me. Since I was plain and ordinary, I was capable of keeping a low profile. No one paid any attention to me because I was far too average and ordinary. The very definition of a plain, average Joe, I guess.
In some ways, I had the protagonist aura. You know, the one where every other character who looked upon me would automatically assume that I was trash or a loser or a failure for no reason other than because I had the misfortune to be the main character of a Chinese-styled story.
Sometimes, it boggled my mind how the logic of these Chinese-styled stories worked. At least I didn't have people running up to hit me while yelling, "Courting death!" just because I had the misfortune to exist.
Anyway, thanks to my ability to keep a low profile, I was completely invisible to everyone while they did their scheming and antics. That was why Vivian and the other lady – the one who was badgering an annoyed Benjamin Bo earlier – didn't notice me at all while they grabbed drinks from the table, placed them on a tray and sashayed over to where Lily was.
I caught sight of them pouring powder from a sachet into the glass of wine. Scowling, I followed them to Lily's position where they offered her the spiked drink.
"Ms. Ling, I hope you could do us the honor of toasting us."
"Yes, I don't think Ms. Ling will be petty enough to hold grudges against us for our rudeness earlier, right?"
"That's right. Treat this as our apology."
Fortunately, Lily wasn't stupid. She raised an eyebrow and regarded them suspiciously. I decided to walk over now and she noticed me.
"Ah, Trevor, where have you been?"
"Just came back from the restroom." I glanced at her worriedly, my eyes flickering to the wine glass. Lily caught the hint and she smiled knowingly.
While Vivian and the other lady's attention was on me, their expressions showing signs of annoyance at what they perceived was my interruption, she deftly switched the glasses on the tray and then righted herself when they turned back to her.
"All right, let's do a toast then."
She took the glass that she switched out. Vivian and the other lady didn't seem to realize that their plot had been thwarted and they took the other glasses. I wasn't sure, but it seemed that Vivian ended up drinking the spiked drink.
After the three ladies drank, I proceeded forward to lead Lily away, but the other lady interposed herself between us.
"Ah, Mr. Shen, right? I was hearing about how your business is going bankrupt…ahem, I mean facing some difficulties at the moment. Perhaps I should introduce you to someone who can help?"
"Who told you that?" I raised an eyebrow. "My company is doing fine."
"How is that possible? Mr. Bo has ordered all other companies to suppress your company and deny you supplies…"
She then raised her hands to her mouth, looking aghast that she had just stupidly admitted the plot of her boss.
"Ho…that's a very interesting confession." I was already uploading the conversation to social media. "I wonder why he would do that?"
"Please pay Daisy no mind." Benjamin Bo quickly stepped in. There was a furor when she said that, and the crowd around us were whispering. Somehow Benjamin had overheard her words and hastily intervened to perform damage control before things went out of hand. "She's clearly drunk and talking nonsense. I hope you won't take her seriously, Mr. Shen."
"I would like to believe you, Mr. Bo, but it is true that my company is facing boycotts…that they are being pressured to refuse cooperation with me and selling me supplies." I smiled and bowed my head slightly. "I would be more prone to believe your sincerity, Mr. Bo, if you're willing to help me find out who is pressuring them and who is organizing these boycotts? Of course, you are not obligated to do so, but with your company being as influential and resourceful as it, I believe it's a trivial matter for you to investigate and help a poor company like mine out. Of course, if I've underestimated the difficulty of the task, then I apologize. As I said, you have no obligation to help me out at all."
"No, that's…"
Checkmate.
Benjamin found himself caught in a trap. If he refused right here and now, people would begin to suspect something, they would think he had something to hide, or that he was insincere. As I had rightly pointed out, it was a small matter for a company of Bo Corporation's size and wealth to conduct an investigation. The only reason he refused was because he was petty and small-minded, which would affect his reputation – and that of his company. Or if he had something to hide.
On the other hand, it was an open secret – indeed, many of the people present here today were involved in the boycott, after all – that he was behind everything, so he would essentially be exposing his misdeeds to me and offering me the evidence I needed.
My company might only consist of two people, but we had the backing of the military. There was no way they would stand by and do nothing when one of their most important clients was being unfairly oppressed. They needed my shield generators, which was far beneficial to my company than any financial benefits Bo Corporation could offer.
As rich as the billionaire CEO Benjamin Bo was, even he wasn't as rich or powerful as the government. In fact, his actions were threatening national security by depriving them of the military technology they needed to give them an edge over the enemy.
And just as I expected, there was a phone call. Benjamin looked at the smartphone and his lips curled into a grimace. He sighed and answered it.
"Minister Wei?" he asked. Wow. Wilfred Wei was the minister of defense, and he was personally contacting Benjamin regarding this matter. And so soon too. It had been a minute since I had uploaded the conversation between me and Daisy to social media, at most.
Benjamin was silent as he listened to the other party rant angrily on the other side of the phone, and then he sighed.
"Yes, I assure you…even though my company isn't involved, I'll help ensure these mysterious boycotts and lockdowns are lifted. I'll see what I can do. No, Minister Wei, you overestimate my company's influence…I understand. I'll deliver the results."
The billionaire CEO hung up and glared at me before turning away.
"Daisy," he growled through gritted teeth. "You're fired."
"No…no…" Daisy fell to her knees, trembling. Tears poured out of her eyes. "Mr. Bo, please…I'm sorry! I didn't…!"
Benjamin paid no attention to her and stalked off, leaving her sobbing on the ground. Nobody spared her any sympathetic looks and avoided her. She got what she deserved, after all.
However, I was more concerned about Lily. While I was dealing with Daisy and Benjamin, she and Vivian had disappeared. I reached up and tapped my glasses, replaying the scenario. Thanks to the recording function and various functions, I was able to see what had happened.
Vivian had dragged Lily away, telling her that she wanted her to meet somebody. I shook my head and hurried after them, following the direction Vivian had brought Lily to. It didn't take me long before I caught up and saw them both entering a room.
"Just rest here. I need to introduce you to Mr. Bao. I'm sure you'll get along with each other." Then Vivian hiccupped. I pushed the door, only to see her collapse on the bed inside the room, her skin flushed.
"Why do I feel so weird?" Vivian moaned. I kept out of view, staying behind the door. The bitch writhed on the mattress, reaching up and taking off some of her clothing.
"I…I'll see if Mr. Bao is coming."
Lily hurried away. She almost collided with me when she exited the room, and quickly placed a finger on her lips.
We shut the door and moved away. As we did so, Lily shook her head and sighed.
"Thanks for helping me," she said. "If you hadn't warned me about their intentions, I might have fallen for their trap."
"Why do these bitches always love drugging the female main characters?" I asked, irritated. "It's like a standard cliché in every CEO story."
"Probably because the authors can't think of any other ideas." Lily shrugged. "And it's satisfying to see them get their comeuppance when their schemes backfire on them. Look."
A balding, chubby guy over fifty years old was swaggering toward the room, chuckling happily. It was clear that he was drunk.
"So they really called CEO Bao over." Lily sighed.
I was starting to feel sorry for every balding, chubby CEOs who were always used as caricatures for these CEO stories. Not all of them were this bad, but they always had a terrible reputation because of how CEO stories portrayed them. They only served to promote the "fat and ugly equals evil" stereotype.
However, when I watched Bao stumble into the room, I had to admit that it was satisfying seeing the scheming bitches get involved with these guys. After all, it wouldn't be much of a punishment if they were lucky enough to sleep with a handsome CEO (something that was only reserved for female main characters of CEO stories, it seemed).
"Oh? Nice. Ms. Vivian, you really prepared a great gift for me!"
There wasn't much of a coherent reply except heated, feminine moans.
"Wow, you're really tempting me, aren't you, Ms. Vivian? Then I won't hold back!"
Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm, tugging me away from the corridor. As we descended the stairs, she sighed.
"Let's go home."