Chapter 155
Chapter 155
As long as a person was alive, they had to work and earn money.
The Security Bureau was as relaxed as ever that morning, with everyone peacefully drinking coffee and chatting.
Qiao Yu arrived at the logistics department, and before his seat had even warmed, a wail came from beside him.
“Can you warn me before you start howling? You scared me!”
Qiao Yu glared unhappily at Kong Xianya and rubbed his neck, still shaken.
Kong Xianya, however, looked ready to cry as she pointed at her computer screen. “The drama I’ve waited so long for isn’t going to air!”
Qiao Yu raised a brow and looked at her monitor. Among the many overlapping novel windows, he found a piece of entertainment news.
It showed a tall, long-legged male celebrity looking exhausted. The headline above read: Celebrity XXX Arrested for Coercing Multiple Women into Sex-Evidence Confirmed!
To the right was a lawyer’s letter issued by the celebrity’s studio, now preserved for public humiliation.
(*According to reliable sources: After the scandal involving XXX continued to gain attention, the authorities finally issued an official statement. Conclusive evidence has established XXX’s guilt, and he has now been arrested. The broadcast of* The Turquoise Hairpin-Let’s Go! *has been postponed indefinitely.*)
Understanding dawned on Qiao Yu. He nodded. “So he illegally purchased love.”
Kong Xianya abruptly stopped crying. “You make it sound so sophisticated.”
Qiao Yu shrugged. “Why even watch TV dramas? Hardly any actors can act these days, and every production is stuffed with people who bought their way in. How could they make anything good? I really don’t know who these shows are supposed to appeal to.”
Kong Xianya sighed and was about to speak when a mechanical electronic voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
More accurately, everyone who had entered the Nine Lives Live Stream heard it.
[Ding-the Nine Lives Live Stream international channel is now open. Please look forward to it.]
“Look forward to it, my ass!” Kong Xianya angrily closed her windows one by one, then turned to Qiao Yu. “Boss’s wife, what do you want to eat?”
Qiao Yu paused. With a smile that did not reach his eyes, he snorted. “You can just say I’m a kept man. There is absolutely nothing wifely about me.
“Also… braised pork, snow peas, and a bowl of soup will do. Thank you very much.”
Not long afterward, the click-clack of Kong Xianya’s little heels drew closer. She tossed him a boxed lunch and a bowl of soup.
Once Qiao Yu had eaten his fill, he put his head down on the desk and went to sleep.
Kong Xianya had no words left for him. His job was ridiculously comfortable.
He clocked in and slept, got free lunch, and because he was good-looking, the cafeteria auntie even let him order whatever he wanted. This was… the life she dreamed of!
Qiao Yu had not expected to receive an Instance preview so soon. The moment he closed his eyes, he was pulled into a dream.
A pair of small hands buried deep in his memories suddenly appeared before him. Qiao Yu pressed his lips together. When he lifted his head, the other child’s face was hidden behind his overgrown bangs.
Yet that cute, pretty face was dredged from the flood of memory and gradually sharpened in his mind.
Her name was Qiao Xiaowen, the first child at the orphanage to show him kindness.
“Hello, I’m Qiao Xiaowen. What’s your name?”
Her soft, delicate voice filled his ears, so sweet that she hardly sounded like a child raised in an orphanage.
This time, Qiao Yu pulled his hand free instead of allowing her to lead him forward.
“Qiao Yu, you’ve changed.”
A childish voice that seemed to rise from hell sounded behind him. Everything around them appeared to freeze, and everyone present turned to look at him.
Accusation filled every gaze, as though they were staring at a traitor.
Qiao Yu’s back stiffened for an instant. Then, as if nothing had happened, he continued straightening the sleeve she had pulled askew.
After roughly three breaths, noise returned to the surroundings.
The prettiest girl in the orphanage had been rejected. Like a drop of water falling into boiling oil, it instantly caused an uproar.
This time, the malice came astonishingly fast.
“Qiao Xiaowen, I told you not to bother with that ugly freak. Just look at his attitude!”
“Exactly. He won’t even say a word. Maybe he’s mute.”
“Come on, Qiao Xiaowen. Let’s go play on the trampoline!”
Qiao Xiaowen glanced at the battered trampoline creaking nearby. She pinched the brand-new dress she had put on that morning and shook her head. “No. My dress will get dirty. You go play. I’ll watch you.”
Her friends sighed in disappointment. “All right. Come find us if you get bored. You’re always welcome to join us.”
After saying that, the little boy deliberately walked up to Qiao Yu and snorted. “We’re never playing with you, ugly freak!”
Qiao Yu said nothing. Yawning, he sat down beneath the shade of a tree and stared blankly at a line of ants marching in formation.
He did not know how much time passed before a shadow fell over the tiny ants. The hair on Qiao Yu’s arms nearly stood on end. Before he could emerge from his thoughts, someone grabbed his arm and hauled him roughly to his feet.
Aunt Deng, who did the cleaning at the orphanage, seized Qiao Yu’s overgrown bangs without explanation and snipped them off.
Qiao Yu looked at her in silence and sighed inwardly.
He had almost forgotten about this old witch. She had cut away his protective shield again.
Tsk. How annoying!
“Wow! How are you even prettier than Qiao Xiaowen?”
The little boy who had issued his harsh declaration moments ago ran over, his face instantly slapped by reality. Grinning, he reached for Qiao Yu’s hand with his filthy ones.
Naturally, Qiao Yu refused. He did exactly what he had done in his memories and dodged the boy’s dirty claws.
The little boy’s expression stiffened. He awkwardly withdrew his hand and backed away. Then he muttered to the stunned Qiao Xiaowen, “I don’t know what he’s so stuck-up about. Hmph! Like anyone wants to play with him.”
At that age, Qiao Xiaowen had not yet learned to hide her emotions. As she stared at Qiao Yu, jealousy flashed through her bright, watery eyes.
Qiao Yu gazed speechlessly at the sky. He had disliked talking to these little demons even back then. As an adult, he was even less willing to bother.
Following his gradually clearing memories, he walked toward the small bungalow where they lived. He found the little wooden bed that belonged to him, lay down fully clothed, and went to sleep.
The dream seemed exceptionally long this time. When he opened his eyes again, the same dilapidated roof remained above him…
Just before he rolled over to get up, he spotted a gray caterpillar slowly wriggling a single centimeter from his eyes.
Qiao Yu extended two fingers and expertly pinched it by its hairs. The caterpillar instantly curled into a circle the size of his thumb.
He shook his arm, and the caterpillar swung helplessly back and forth.
A startled cry suddenly came from outside the door. Qiao Yu’s gaze met the little boy’s and Qiao Xiaowen’s.
The two children panicked at once. The boy swallowed and blustered from the doorway, “What are you looking at? Yeah, we bullied you. So what?”
Qiao Yu said nothing. He looked away, jumped down from the bed, opened the window, and released the caterpillar outside.
Two childish voices of different pitches sounded from the doorway. “Qiao Yu, you’ve changed.”
The two little demons outside were bitterly disappointed. They had not seen Qiao Yu panic, nor had they provoked him into fierce retaliation.
His complete disregard for them was even more infuriating, but there was nothing they could do about it.
Before long, the boy began shouting one-sided threats from outside again. “Just you wait!”
Only when the receding footsteps had faded beyond hearing did Qiao Yu narrow his eyes and murmur softly, “Sure. I’ll be waiting.”