Chen Hao and his friends had their fill of food and drinks and left Shennan Street, where, by now after midnight, there were fewer pedestrians and vehicles on the road, a stark contrast to the previous bustling scene, now deserted and quiet.
All of them had drunk quite a bit, especially Xu Wenjun, who was staggering as he walked. Only Chen Hao was very sober. Just as he was about to hail a taxi to return home, Xu Wenjun somehow stumbled into the middle of the road. An Audi car came diagonally and screeched to a stop right in front of him. Terrified, he broke out in a cold sweat and cursed loudly, "Who, who the hell doesn't watch where they're going, trying to hit your grandpa? Looking for death, huh?"
Barely had Xu Wenjun finished spewing drunken insults when a short, bald fat man climbed out of the Audi. The bald man's head shone so brightly under the moon and streetlights it almost looked like a lamp at a casual glance.
"Xu Wenjun, you dare curse me? I think you're the one asking for death!" The bald fat man stepped out of the car, fuming and shouting at Xu Wenjun.
When Chen Hao saw who it was, he immediately laughed; it was actually Sun Zihan!
The bald little fatty in front of them was naturally their company's supervisor, Sun Zihan, who seemed to be just off work and ready to head home.
Xu Wenjun was still inebriated and, upon hearing the man in front of him call out his name, squinted for a closer look, only to be surprised to find that it was indeed his supervisor, Sun Zihan.
Under normal circumstances in the office, he wouldn't dare to insult anyone because of the hierarchy, but now he wasn't at the company, and buoyed by alcohol, he naturally wouldn't swallow the insult.
Moreover, and most importantly, it wasn't work hours, and Sun Zihan wasn't his boss right now!
That Sun Zihan was annoying enough on ordinary days, and now he was even more detestable!
"I'm saying, Sun... Sun... Sun Zihan, who are you cursing? Looking for a beating?" Xu Wenjun, although drunk and reeking of alcohol, was quite a bit bigger than Sun Zihan. Now he was glaring with bloodshot eyes, towering over him and waving his fists, shouting loudly.
Sun Zihan always found these guys particularly annoying at the company, and now he was shouting back at him in the middle of the street, and he was still their supervisor, so he became instantly enraged like a thunderstorm!
"Do you want to rebel? Do you know who I am? I am Captain Sun! Just you wait, see what happens tomorrow!"
Sun Zihan roared, and upon seeing Chen Hao and others standing to the side watching the show without intervening, with mockery in their eyes, he yelled at Chen Hao, "Chen Hao, and you too, don't think I don't know you're the ringleader of these guys! You just wait for tomorrow when you're at work, you'll see what's coming!"
"Hey, fatso, are you really looking for death?" Seeing Chen Hao get scolded and not even waiting for Chen Hao to speak, Huang Jian stepped forward in a few strides and grabbed Sun Zihan by the collar, his eyes cold as he threatened, "You better shut your trap, or I'll beat you so hard you'll be searching for your teeth on the ground!"
"What, what do you think you're doing?" Sun Zihan, used to throwing his weight around at the company, suddenly realized that none of these guys had any good intentions toward him, and with no one else around, he felt scared. But still unwilling to show weakness on the surface, he tried hard to pull away from Huang Jian's grip.
"Let him go."
It was at this moment that Chen Hao finally spoke up. He cheerfully pulled Huang Jian's hand away and then said to everyone, "He's a leader; we should respect our leaders, right? We're all civilized people, aren't we?"
Chen Hao's words, however, left the guys utterly perplexed. Brother Hao usually didn't give two hoots about this Sun Zihan at the company, so why was he suddenly speaking so nicely in the middle of the night?
All three stared blankly at Chen Hao, not understanding what he was up to.
Having to put up with this bastard at work is already enough, and now is the perfect opportunity, in the dead of night, to give him a good beating and let off some steam—wouldn't that be satisfying?
"Brother Hao, he just cursed you, I want to beat this son of a bitch!" Huang Jian's loyalty to Chen Hao came from the heart, and even though they hadn't known each other for long, Chen Hao was like a perfect boss in their eyes, someone who would never let them suffer, no matter what.
So, even when Chen Hao was uncharacteristically speaking kindly like this, Huang Jian still felt that Baldie deserved a beating!
But Chen Hao waved his hand, signaling him to be quiet, then pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and, with a smile, offered it to Sun Zihan, "Haha, Captain Sun, a great man doesn't dwell on the mistakes of the petty, these brothers of mine, they've had a bit too much to drink, their minds aren't very clear, so let's pretend you didn't see anything, alright?"
Initially, Sun Zihan was afraid that these men would beat him, as it was the middle of the night, with not a soul in sight to come to his rescue, but Chen Hao's congenial attitude allayed his fears in an instant.
He nonchalantly accepted the cigarette, then put it in his mouth and gave Chen Hao a casual nod, "Eh, you did the right thing this time, at least you recognize that I'm your captain."
As Sun Zihan spoke, his tone took a sharp turn, "But these few lackeys of yours, they're very annoying. Since I'm in a good mood today, I won't fuss over it—this month's salary will be docked by five hundred each, that's that, I'm off!"
Saying this, Sun Zihan headed towards his car, while Huang Jian and the others stared blankly at Chen Hao, seemingly lost.
"Brother Hao, we're just going to let that bastard go?" Zhong Ping had barely finished speaking when he saw Chen Hao call after Sun Zihan from behind.
"Captain Sun, are you heading home?"
"What a stupid question, of course, I'm going home!" Sun Zihan turned his head and said, startled by Chen Hao's call, as deep down he felt intimidated—after all, he had four men behind him, and Chen Hao's behavior was a bit unusual compared to usual, so Sun Zihan thought it best to leave now that the matter was settled.
This was no place to stay for long!
"Haha!" Chen Hao laughed heartily and pointed inside his car, "Captain Sun, I remember you've been married for many years, right? Your son is in elementary school, so why are you bringing a woman home with you? Don't tell me she's your wife, she looks quite young, not really a match for you."
"What did you say?" Sun Zihan's face changed color, he quickly walked up to the passenger door and blocked it, "What woman?"
"Well, the one in your car," Chen Hao stood his ground, looking at him with a smile, pointing back at the car.
"Oh, her."
Sun Zihan was incredibly shocked and panic flickered across his face. He had never expected, not a sound from the car, windows not down, how did he know?
In his panic, Sun Zihan forced a smile, "She's just a friend, I'm giving her a ride home, haha, just on the way..."
"I see," Chen Hao nodded, but then frowned and pointed to Sun Zihan's neck, "You've got a lipstick mark there, and just so happens there's a young female friend in the car—hey, we're all civilized people here, we really shouldn't be jumping to conclusions..."