Chapter 14
Early in the morning, Wang Ming woke up.
He reached for his phone by the pillow. After unlocking the screen, he saw not only a message from Zou Shuqing, but also more than a dozen missed calls from Li Zhixuan.
Opening the social app “Wei Xin,” he found it flooded with Li Zhixuan’s rapid-fire questions: [Where’s Zhang Jian?]
[Did Zhang Jian take you out to mess around?]
[Why aren’t either of you answering your phones?]
[Wang Ming! Tell Zhang Jian to wait for me!]
Wang Ming glanced at the timestamps-all sent in the middle of the night.
Zhang Jian was Wang Ming’s college roommate. After graduation, Zhang Jian and his girlfriend Li Zhixuan stayed in Xiguan City to work hard, renting a fifty-square-meter apartment to live together.
Obviously, Zhang Jian didn’t go home last night. He must have had too much fun with those two beauties at the bar and completely let loose.
Wang Ming sighed inwardly. This time, it wasn’t Zhang Jian taking him out to play-instead, he was the one hosting.
If Li Zhixuan found out, she’d definitely point at his nose and curse him out.
Wang Ming hurriedly called Li Zhixuan back.
As soon as the call connected, Li Zhixuan’s furious voice exploded from the receiver:
“Wang Ming! Where’s Zhang Jian? Weren’t you two together?”
“Zhixuan, listen to me first. His phone ran out of battery, and I always set my phone to silent when I sleep, so I missed your calls.”
Li Zhixuan pressed on relentlessly, “Where is he? Did he sleep at your place last night?”
“Yeah, we drank a bit too much last night, so he just crashed at my place.
Don’t worry, both of us have perfectly normal orientations.”
Li Zhixuan impatiently cut him off, “Who asked about that! I want to know where he is now-put him on the phone!”
Wang Ming’s mind raced for two seconds. “He probably went to work. Didn’t have time to charge his phone either.”
Li Zhixuan snorted, “Fine. You’d better not be lying to me, or you’re both dead!”
Wang Ming hung up and let out a long sigh of relief. He immediately dialed Zhang Jian, but only got a message that the phone was powered off.
Bro, you’d better cover for this lie well-don’t drag me down with you!
Pushing aside the matter of Zhang Jian and Li Zhixuan, Wang Ming scrolled through his messages.
In Zou Shuqing’s chat window, it read: [I’ll pick you up at noon.]
Wang Ming felt a surge of joy. Today was the last day of his date with Zou Shuqing. As long as he finished smoothly, the System reward would arrive!
At first, he was only trying to complete the three-date mission, but he found himself growing more and more fond of this mature woman.
He got up and walked to the window, pulling open the curtains. Brilliant sunlight instantly poured into the spacious living room, warming his heart and making him feel refreshed.
He recalled the north-facing room he used to live in, where barely any sunlight came in. Now, the living room was big and bright.
At this rate, his goal of buying a home wasn’t far off.
No, buying a home wasn’t enough-it should be a large flat, a grand villa.
Everything had changed so quickly. Just a few days ago, he was a poor, struggling worker coughing up blood for a living.
Wang Ming opened his mobile Bank app and checked his account balance-still 230,000 yuan.
Yesterday, Zhang Jian had made him spend a fortune at the bar, opening all sorts of expensive drinks without hesitation.
After washing up and having breakfast, Wang Ming sat on the living room sofa and turned on the TV.
“The new development ‘Tianci Garden’ by Hengtai in our city has been completed. The model homes are now open for viewing, and the sales office has announced starting prices of 100,000 yuan per square meter.”
“South-facing river-view flats are now selling for 150,000 to 200,000 yuan per square meter. They might soon become the city’s latest top ten luxury residences.”
Watching the news on TV, Wang Ming spat in annoyance. Two hundred thousand per square meter? Even a workhorse working his whole life couldn’t save enough for a bathroom!
Isn’t anyone going to do something about this market?
Wang Ming never forgot that he used to be a workhorse himself, and he felt a silent sense of injustice.
Time slipped by, and soon it was 11 a.m.
According to the plan, Zou Shuqing would arrive in ten minutes.
Suddenly, loud shouting and heavy banging came from the third floor of the apartment building.
Wang Ming opened his door and stepped onto the platform. The woman’s voice from the third floor sounded very familiar.
The apartment building was laid out in a square corridor, with an open-air platform.
He craned his neck to look up, but the third-floor corridor blocked his view. Still, the voice seemed to be coming from near his old place.
The woman’s voice grew louder and more strident: “Wang Ming! Come out here! I know you’re home! Don’t just hide inside and keep quiet!”
Wang Ming’s body jolted. That was Li Zhixuan’s voice! This wasn’t good!
Thinking carefully, he realized he’d come home to sleep last night. What did it matter to him if Zhang Jian didn’t come home?
A door on the third floor opened, and a woman shouted at Li Zhixuan, “Stop knocking, the people here have moved out!”
Wang Ming originally wanted to go back inside and avoid Li Zhixuan, but then he remembered Zou Shuqing would be here soon. If Li Zhixuan found him and caused unnecessary trouble, that would be a disaster.
He quickly headed up to the third floor.
“Li Zhixuan.”
Hearing someone call her at the stairwell, Li Zhixuan turned and saw Wang Ming. She immediately pouted, put her hands on her hips, and marched over to demand:
“Zhang Jian didn’t go to work at all! Give me an explanation!”
Wang Ming was helpless. “Am I the host of the Legal Channel? Why should I give you an explanation? Or do you want me to take action for you?
How would I know where he went? If you don’t know, how could I?”
“Fine, great! You’re just helping him lie to me. I’m definitely breaking up with him.”
Realizing he was just making things worse, Wang Ming quickly put away his indifferent expression. “Come on, is it really worth breaking up over something like this?”
“He’s getting worse. I didn’t say anything when he started coming home at dawn every day, but now he’s actually spending the night out and even went missing!”
The more Li Zhixuan spoke, the angrier she got. She was fair-skinned and at least an 8 out of 10 in looks. But just like even the best food gets tiresome after too much, Zhang Jian had long since lost interest in her.
Seeing Li Zhixuan’s face turning almost purple with anger, Wang Ming hurried to comfort her: “Don’t be mad. He’ll be fine. He’s a grown man – how could he just disappear?”
Li Zhixuan stomped her foot. “It’d be great if he did disappear! I’m so mad. If he gets lost, I can just find someone new!”
Wang Ming was both amused and exasperated by her puffed-up anger. He was just wondering how to keep calming her down when his phone suddenly vibrated.
He glanced at it – Zou Shuqing had arrived!
Wang Ming tensed up. With Li Zhixuan still in this mood, who knew what kind of trouble she might cause.
“Calm down for now. Why don’t you go home and wait for news from Zhang Jian? Maybe he’ll contact you once his phone is charged.”
As he spoke, Wang Ming tried to guide Li Zhixuan toward the stairwell, hoping she’d leave soon.
“I’m not going anywhere. If you don’t help me find him today, I’ll stick with you all day!” Li Zhixuan said, hands on her hips, her attitude firm as ever.