Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Traffic was heavy today, especially on the roads leading toward the amusement park.

Zhang Bei had to rely on his intimate knowledge of the local shortcuts to weave his way out of the endless gridlock.

As he arrived, Chef Li stepped out from the side.

“The boss really is a good man!”

Leaving it at that, the chef turned and headed back toward the kitchen.

Zhang Bei stood frozen in place, stunned.

Did I just get ‘friend-zoned’ with a good person card?

What use is a good person card from a middle-aged uncle pushing forty?

Baffled, Zhang Bei brushed it off, assuming Chef Li was just having one of his intermittent episodes.

He hadn’t been sitting in the Cafeteria for more than a few minutes when the doctor walked in, carrying his small medical bag.

“Boss, you have a truly kind heart.”

Zhang Bei: ???

Li Yang: “Boss, you’re so virtuous!”

Zhang Bei: ???

Gu Yue: “Boss, you’re honestly too cute!”

Zhang Bei was having a mental breakdown. Could someone please explain what on earth was going on?

Despite his internal confusion, he maintained a stern expression. “Mm, I know.”

As mealtime approached, You Bai stood before Zhang Bei with reddened eyes. “Thank you, Boss.”

Only then did Zhang Bei finally react. He pulled out his phone and checked his notifications.

Over a dozen messages flashed by, every single one mentioning You Bai’s name.

Belatedly, Zhang Bei opened Weibo. The top ten trending topics were neatly lined up, and every single one was related to You Bai.

Even the very last one mentioned You Bai’s place of work, specifically tagging the amusement park’s address.

Just as he was about to scroll through the comments, an incoming call popped up on his screen.

“Was this your doing?”

Heizi’s voice came through the phone. “How is it? I set it all up exactly according to your intentions.”

Zhang Bei’s face stiffened. My intentions?

How come even I didn’t know about this?

“Then… keep up the good work!”

Zhang Bei had no idea how badly his video had been misinterpreted, so he could only bite the bullet and offer Heizi his blessings.

After a night of simmering, the situation regarding You Bai was reaching a boiling point.

However, in the eyes of one particular person, this matter was definitely not that simple.

How could all these streamers start broadcasting at the same time? How could it be such a coincidence?

Just as the topic caught fire, that petition appeared on Weibo.

Rubbing his hands together, Wang Xing set his sights on the amusement park.

If this amusement park was the hidden hand behind the scenes, then everything made sense.

You Bai’s incident happened so long ago, yet it was only surfacing now.

Wang Xing refused to believe this wasn’t a calculated publicity stunt.

Now that he had a target, the rest was easy to handle. He quickly hammered out a long, rambling analytical post.

After uploading it to his account, he didn’t stick around to watch the fallout. Instead, he took out his phone to book a ticket.

No matter how much this amusement park liked to hype things up, he had to go see it for himself.

Meanwhile, the amusement park was bustling with activity. Qingqing held her phone in one hand and a microphone in the other, searching for familiar faces.

“Hello! I assume this isn’t your first time at the amusement park?”

“No, including today, this is my fifth visit.”

“Then may I ask, what is it about this amusement park that attracts you so much?”

The man she questioned paused in deep thought for a long moment before slowly speaking.

“I work in engineering. My clients are often very demanding with their deadlines, so the pressure naturally builds up. In the past, I’d choose to go out for a heavy drinking session, but ever since this amusement park opened, I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol. Here, I can release all of my stress.”

The man’s explanation was clear and logical, answering Qingqing’s question perfectly.

Qingqing thanked the man and continued searching for her next target.

Many people found it difficult to understand why a place so terrifying could still draw such a massive crowd.
Even a simple Drop Tower was enough to draw countless people back for experience after experience.

This was the answer: excessive stress.

In today’s fast-paced society, everyone carries various burdens. The amusement park provided an alternative way to release that pressure. Once the stress was gone, visitors could face a new day with a smile.

Of course, whether this was Zhang Bei’s original intention was hard to say.

Two days passed like this, and Zhang Bei officially handed the keys over to Chef Li. He then boarded a plane to Yanjing alone.

Outside the airport, a girl squinted against the sunlight, her eyes searching through the crowd.

“Senior, over here!”

Zhang Bei looked toward the voice. It was the girl who had convinced him to enter the competition.

He walked over quickly. “Is the drawing over?”

The girl nodded. “Number thirteen. Not great, not terrible.”

Zhang Bei nodded in return. The Designer Competition included a drawing phase. It was impossible for judges to evaluate hundreds of thousands of entrants at once, so they were naturally divided into groups. Each group consisted of a hundred teams, scored by five judges.

The earlier the number, the better. As long as the early teams weren’t too bad, their scores tended to be quite ideal. At the very least, making it to the finals wouldn’t be a problem.

Yes, this competition-which many people had never even heard of-actually had a final round. The finals also featured a hundred teams, but the scoring criteria were much stricter. This was exactly why Zhang Bei found it such a hassle. Two designs and two sets of planning would take at least a month.

The girl led Zhang Bei to an old residential house. It was tucked away in a small alley within the bustling city.

“This is our task. Total budget: 150,000.”

Zhang Bei nodded at the figure; it was fairly generous. However, he couldn’t use all 150,000 himself. He had to leave some room for his teammates in interior design to work their magic.

He walked around the house once, and after measuring the area, Zhang Bei frowned. The architectural designer was the first to start and had to design a house based on the land area. The entire process couldn’t exceed two days. Once the blueprints were out, the competition’s construction team would take over.

With the help of modern equipment, the entire house would be built within ten days. This meant that, in reality, there were only three days left for the interior design. That included selecting furniture and deciding on a style.

Zhang Bei measured the perimeter; the building area was a hundred square meters, which wasn’t small. He shifted his gaze to the surrounding alleys. After a quick walk-around, he basically had a rough draft in his mind.

“Let’s go. Time to meet the rest of our team.”

The girl nodded and led Zhang Bei to a hotel.

Inside the room sat two figures. One wore glasses and a suit, while the other was in casual clothes, clutching a tablet.

The man with the tablet stood up first. “Hello, I’m the interior designer.”

The man with the glasses also stood up. “Hello, the actuary.”

“Hello, I’m the architectural designer.”

With that, Zhang Bei sat directly in front of the computer and opened the drafting software.

“Actuary, run the numbers. Building area is a hundred square meters. We’re using a loft structure, mid-century modern style.”

The man in glasses calculated quickly. “Estimated cost: 83,000.”

Zhang Bei nodded and looked at the interior designer. “If it’s a loft structure, how much of the budget do you need reserved on your end?”