After signing the rental contract, he first registered his license plate with property management and claimed the parking spots the agent had rented for him. Then he went to the telecommunications office where, with money paving the way, the staff quickly dispatched someone to set up his broadband. After that, he made a trip to the nearby shopping plaza to stock up on daily necessities, smart home products, and electronic gadgets. He bought so much that the mall provided a car to deliver everything to his door. By the time he had finished all this, the sky had already darkened.
Sun Dasheng lay in the large bathtub in the bathroom, luxuriously soaking away the day's fatigue. His phone played sentimental music on the side as he closed his eyes and reflected on his recent circumstances. It all feels like a dream.
This is all like a dream, completely different from the first half of my life. All of this is indescribably wonderful! Sometimes I'm terrified that I'll go to sleep, wake up the next day, and find my ex-wife lying beside me, with my life having reverted to how it was before. This is all just the fantasy of a down-and-out middle-aged man, a daydream.
"She's just my sister, my sister said purple has a charm..."
Suddenly, his phone switched to a new song, and Sun Dasheng was stunned for a few seconds. He remembered this was the new ringtone he had set; someone was calling him.
He answered the call, "Hello! Master, I've arrived at the company."
The caller was the last apprentice he had mentored at the company, Ouyang Jiani. A graduate of C7 University, she had been promoted to K8—the same level he had once held—after just three years with the company. It could be said that of all the apprentices Sun Dasheng had tutored, she was the brightest. After just a six-month internship under him, she could handle her work with ease. She had now become the company's "firefighter," dispatched to branches all over the country to deal with any difficult issues that arose. That's why she had been flying around so much lately, not even having time to attend the annual meeting at headquarters.
"Okay, you must be tired from your journey. Rest at the company for a while, I'll come to you," he replied.
Sun Dasheng hung up, toweled off, and changed into a down jacket. In the chilly winter, the bulky jacket perfectly concealed his robust physique. Standing before the full-length mirror in the walk-in closet, he touched the scruff on his face that had grown in over the past few days. I look a bit haggard, but it works well to camouflage the changes in my face. There are too many old acquaintances at the company; a disguise could save a lot of trouble.
It was seven o'clock in the evening, the peak of rush hour. The roads were clogged; if he left at seven, he might not reach his destination until nine or even ten. So, he chose to take the subway.
The subway station entrance was just a few hundred meters from his residential complex. Inside, the train car was packed with people. Sun Dasheng adeptly found a corner against the wall, pulled out his new Huawei phone, and opened his reading app. He discovered that the comedy novel he was following had updated with several new chapters. He first tipped the author a "League Leader" reward and then happily started reading. For someone like me, who's never read web novels, they're surprisingly entertaining. The only problem is that these doggone authors update too slowly, so I have no choice but to tip them more to urge them on.
Just as he was immersed in this sea of joy, a sharp shriek rang in his ear, "Are you taking secret pictures of me?"
Holding his phone up to read, Sun Dasheng glanced around and realized the woman standing next to him was talking to him. The woman was quite short, not even 1.6 meters tall. Towering over her, Sun Dasheng had been holding his phone up, and a lewd grin had spread across his face when he got to a funny part of the novel. It was an easy misunderstanding to make.
Realizing the situation was not good, he immediately handed his phone to her and explained, "You've got it all wrong. I wasn't taking pictures; I'm just reading a novel."
The woman took his phone, still not convinced, and opened his photo gallery. But it was a new phone, and there wasn't a single photo in the gallery. Seeing no evidence, she returned the phone.
Sun Dasheng finally let out a breath he had been holding. He had already seen a crowd of people around them holding up their phones, filming the scene. In this information age, if I couldn't prove my innocence on the spot, I'd never be able to explain myself once the videos got out, even if I had a dozen mouths.
He thought the misunderstanding had been cleared up and the matter was over. But just before getting off the train, the woman added, "Be careful not to just take pictures of people!"
Her arrogant and baseless accusation left Sun Dasheng utterly confused. It's like a well-behaved student being called out by the teacher in class: 'Be careful not to bully your classmates.' But I haven't bullied anyone, damn it! What's with this warning out of thin air?
But the woman was gone, and Sun Dasheng could only swallow his frustration. What could I do? Argue with a lunatic? A woman, at that. What would the people around me think? They'd probably just tell me to be the bigger person.
Just in case, he asked the male student who had been standing beside him for the original video.
[You have been slandered by a passerby. Poison Beat Value +100]
Not bad, at least the system compensated me.
His stats panel now read:
Name: Sun Dasheng
Level: 2 (100/1,000)
Poison Beat Value: 200
Cash-out Value: 2,000,000
He arrived at the company at exactly 7:30 PM. Looking up at the Starlight Building, he saw it was brightly lit. As a major publicly listed company, Xiaoju Technology occupied the entire 66-story building, with several thousand people working inside at any given time.
I'm not an employee anymore, and I don't have an access card, so there's no way I can get in. He made a phone call, and a short while later, a figure emerged from the main entrance. It was Ouyang Jiani.
She wore her hair in a neat, high ponytail and had on a pair of black-framed glasses. She was dressed in a fitted black blazer over a white chiffon blouse, paired with a tight black skirt and sheer black stockings that outlined her perky backside. The briskness of her walk added to her professional charm.
Seeing Sun Dasheng standing at the entrance, the furrow in her brow softened, and a sincere smile spread across her face. The serious, capable career woman suddenly became gentle and endearing.
"Master, I haven't seen you for so long! I've missed you so much," she said warmly, hugging his arm.
Sun Dasheng gently removed her hand from his arm and glanced around. "People are constantly coming and going here. Mind the impression you're making."
"I'm just a former employee, so I have nothing to worry about. Aren't you afraid of tarnishing your own reputation?"
"Let them talk if they want to," she retorted. "Our relationship is purely that of master and apprentice. We don't need to care about those petty people gossiping behind our backs."
His little apprentice, Ouyang Jiani, was still as straightforward and carefree as when she first joined the company—a true girl from the Capital. Her personality had caused quite a few problems during her internship, and she hadn't gotten along well with her colleagues. In the end, it was always Sun Dasheng who cleaned up her messes. Without his help, she never would have passed her internship, let alone become a full-time employee. She was a grateful person, well aware of how much her master had shouldered for her, so their relationship had always been genuinely strong, unlike so many other superficial mentorships.