After leaving the hospital, it was already the next morning. He rummaged through his pockets and thankfully, his phone was still there. He quickly dialed Liu Momo to let her know he was safe. Liu Momo had been anxiously waiting in front of the TV, and after seeing the news about Ye Chen, her face had turned pale. Unable to reach Ye Chen the entire night, she was extremely anxious and did not know what to do.
"Brother Chen!" Liu Momo hurriedly answered Ye Chen's call and anxiously asked, "Are you... are you okay?"
"Fool, what could possibly happen to me?" Ye Chen chuckled and said, "It was just catching a couple of bad guys."
"You're the bad one! How could you be so reckless yesterday?" Hearing Ye Chen safe and sound, Liu Momo couldn't help but burst into tears, finally feeling relieved. She scolded, "You scoundrel, what if something had happened to you yesterday?"
Faced with Liu Momo's crying, Ye Chen found himself at a loss, not knowing what to say, and could only hurriedly comfort her, "Don't worry, Brother Chen won't be in trouble, and it's not that easy for me to get into trouble! Have you forgotten who Brother Chen is?"
"Brother Chen, you're okay, right?" Liu Momo finally calmed down her anger slightly. Her worry for Ye Chen was not small.
"I'm fine. If you don't believe me, you can come and see. I'll strip down so you can see enough!" Ye Chen laughed mischievously.
"Ptui, I don't want to see that, Brother Chen, you really embarrass me!" Liu Momo spat and quickly hung up the phone. On the phone, she was never a match for Ye Chen; a few risqué jokes immediately made her surrender. And just like that, she hung up.
Whistling a ruffian's tune, Ye Chen turned and walked from the hospital to South Gate Pedestrian Street. His beat-up Oto was still parked there, all day and night. Damn, those parking fees were killer.
"Twenty!" The elderly man in the guardhouse wasn't shy and stretched out two fingers.
"Old man, wasn't it supposed to be ten yuan a day? Why are you charging me twenty?" Ye Chen was reluctant. Ten yuan could buy half a portion of pork, enough to eat for days. He patted his pocket, which was seriously short on funds. Ye Chen looked at the old man in the guardhouse and said desperately, "I only have ten yuan, take it or leave it."
"Young man, my charging you twenty is justified!" The old man sighed and said, "I know times are tough. Do you think I, a parking attendant, would cheat you? You came in yesterday afternoon and are leaving this morning. It's already past midnight, which counts as the second day, so, charging you twenty is correct!"
Ye Chen was dumbfounded; this old man was sharp! He handed over another ten yuan reluctantly, gave a thumbs up and said, "You got me good!"
"Hehe, how else would I be doing this job?" The old man was unapologetic, pressed the lever, and let Ye Chen through.
Driving around in his car, he returned to Xin Hai District to brush his teeth and wash up, then headed to work at Tianya Group. It was the next day, and he naturally had to be formal at work. But due to chasing criminals yesterday, his trousers had become worn. So this morning, Ye Chen quickly patched up the torn spot.
"Ye Chen..."
"Is that you?" Ye Chen turned around and saw the kid who had asked him to take photos of Mr. Li yesterday. Ye Chen laughed and said, "Liu Shang?!"
"Ha ha, you still remember me?" Liu Shang, holding a black briefcase, trotted over and looked at Ye Chen with a smile, asking, "So, did you get to see the legendary ice queen beauty?"
"Damn, it was a setup!" Ye Chen cursed reflexively.
"What?" Liu Shang couldn't understand the curse words, and he didn't catch them clearly at first. He looked at Ye Chen in surprise and asked, "What... what did you say?"
"Nothing, I said I saw Mr. Li's dad! Hehe, off to work I go!" Ye Chen chuckled and walked inside. Liu Shang quickly followed, and the two headed toward the lobby together. However, since they worked in different departments, they soon went their separate ways.
Turning around, he reached the entrance of the Security Department, where the department head, Li Cheng, was holding a baton at the door.
"Hey! Kid, you're late?" Li Cheng pointed a thick stick at Ye Chen and coldly said, "Idiot, do you even know what time it is? At this hour, you still want to go to work?"
Ye Chen was stunned, but without thinking, he pulled out his phone to check the time. Wasn't there still a minute left before work started? How could he be late? Ye Chen asked incredulously, "Fatty, really? Isn't there still a minute left?"
"Asshole! Haven't you heard that the early bird gets the worm?" Li Cheng swung his stick, his chubby face contorting into a ferocious smirk as he spoke angrily behind tinted sunglasses, "Our Security Department is known throughout the whole group for a philosophy of better being an hour early than a minute late. So, just stand there and take it!"
"Ah?" Ye Chen was stunned. Hadn't he arrived on time? Ye Chen complained, "Fatty, can't you cut me some slack?"
"That...depends if you have any talent, kid!" Li Cheng chuckled slyly.
"You're asking for money again?" Ye Chen blinked.
"Then pretend I didn't say anything!"
"Here!" Ye Chen quickly raised his hands in surrender and whipped out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket, saying, "Fatty, please take good care of me in the future!"
"Ha ha, that's more like it, kid!" Li Cheng laughed, swiftly plucking the bill from Ye Chen's hand and whispering in his ear, "Don't worry, you'll see. I won't treat you badly, absolutely not!"
Ye Chen wasn't about to believe him, thinking this was just like those masseuses in Bath City who would soothe below while saying, "Don't worry, your two hundred yuan won't be wasted. I'm still a virgin!"
Ptooey!
Ye Chen couldn't help but spit, unable to believe such nonsense. But he didn't show his disbelief, as he still needed to work under Fatty in the future, and it wouldn't be good to sour their relationship. Reluctantly, he managed a grin, "Yes, yes, I believe you, Fatty!"
"Alright, brat, hurry up and get to work!" Li Cheng raised his stick and tapped it on Ye Chen's shoulder.
It hadn't been easy infiltrating the company, and now he'd been blackmailed out of one hundred yuan; Ye Chen was extremely annoyed. Damn it, if it weren't for the ten thousand monthly salary that Feng Zhixiao mentioned, who would want to stay? His finances were tight lately, and with rent due soon, once he paid up, even eating next month would be a problem.
One must admit, bodyguards truly were a step above others; even their working environment was different from the security guards'. Security guards had rotating shifts, but bodyguards didn't need that. In the large break room, there were about a dozen bodyguards, whereas Tianya Group's security staff consisted of over a hundred people. Yet, the size of the bodyguards' break room was nearly the same as that of all those security guards—and even more comfortable.
Corridor—clear glass—inside, one could see the security guards sitting dejectedly, three or two of them seemingly discussing something. Meanwhile, in the adjacent Bodyguard Room, the bodyguards stood proud and tall, two of them donning protective gear, sparring with each other. Ye Chen looked from one side to another, unsure of where to go—the security room on one side, the Bodyguard Room on the other.
"Kid, head to the left!" Li Cheng glanced at him.
"Sure thing!" Ye Chen nodded.
Following Fatty's instructions, Ye Chen decisively headed to the left. Inside was a combat practice room featuring a standard fighting ring. Two bodyguards in protective gear were sparring on the platform. The sight was so boring that Ye Chen felt sleepy.
"Yo, look who's here?" A snide voice reached Ye Chen's ears.
That voice immediately made everyone's gaze lock onto Ye Chen. Of course, this included Vice Captain Jin and a few bodyguards whom Ye Chen had sent to the hospital; several of them were either bandaged or plastered.
"Is it him? Fuck, brothers, here's our chance for revenge!" Vice Captain Jin's eyes flashed murderously as he glared at Ye Chen and bellowed, "It's this brat! Last time, a few of us kindly let him pass, and he beat us up like this!"
Okay, that Jin guy was obviously lying, but he was the team leader after all. To disguise the truth, they had to claim it was just them going easy; really, who would believe that? But regardless of belief, one had to show some face. At the word of Vice Captain Jin, everyone started moving in, each with a grim look on their face.
"What, planning a mob attack?" Ye Chen was fearless. I've taken on four of you; am I supposed to fear a crowd? Maybe I can't beat so many of you alone, but don't I have a secret weapon? Ye Chen chuckled, then turned back and grinned, "Fatty, there's a mob attack brewing here. Are you going to do something about it?"
When Ye Chen turned around, he found the damn Fatty squatting by the door, munching on sunflower seeds, completely ignoring the situation. He didn't even seem to hear Ye Chen's shouts—maybe glance back a couple of times, casually advising, "Don't kill anyone, okay?"