good friend

Zhao Junjie celebrated his birthday like a festival, giving all his companies a week off, simply because he didn't want to hear anything about work on his birthday.

The luxury yacht, named "721" after the date Zhao Junjie first learned to swim, was a birthday gift from Zhao's parents this year and is currently obediently docked in the harbor.

Zhao Junjie wore a Macy's white tuxedo with a shawl collar, diamond stud earrings, and beaded and wave embroidery on the collar. Yu Zou stood at the edge, recognizing from memory that Zhao Junjie's parents were on his left and his younger brother and sister on his right.

If reincarnation were a choice, no one would want to be Zhao Junjie.

As the eldest brother in the family, he lived as long as he pleased. As the eldest of the three children in the Zhao family, he never made any effort to inherit the family business. His parents understood his temperament and let him eat, drink, and have fun. The He Du was managed by his younger brother and sister, Zhao Junye and Zhao Junxi, respectively.

Zhao Junjie was his parents' favorite child. His younger siblings were not jealous and even took it for granted. They had no complaints about the heavy burden on their shoulders and supported him together with their parents.

With the booming of cannons, the unveiling ceremony began. The cruise ship has a total of 7 decks, two underwater and five above water. Guests boarded the ship, the banquet began, and the 719 cruise ship, which would only stay in the harbor for one day, would sail away from the port and head towards Mirror Bay.

However, not everyone is qualified.

Among the crowd, they believed Yu Zou was the least qualified. Whispers whispered in their ears that Yu Zou's village, Yu Long, was already a fallen household.

After Zhao Junjie expressed his gratitude, his assistant showed him the gift list. Everyone knew that, based on past experience, Zhao Junjie would only open the gifts from his two well-known friends in front of him, in addition to gifts from his family.

As everyone watched with bated breath, Zhao Junjie opened the light blue gift box and took out an ordinary-looking game controller. The left side had four directional buttons (up, down, left, right), and the right side had four circular buttons in red, green, yellow, and blue. Below was a handwritten greeting card. Zhao Junjie read it with a smile, then picked it up and waved it at Li Kuo: "It's actually an instruction manual!"

Li Kuo said calmly, "Don't throw it away."

"I wouldn't want to part with it."

Zhao Junjie tucked the greeting card into the vest inside his suit jacket, fiddled with the handle, and pressed and held the switch on the side. The ship suddenly rocked slightly, and a virtual projection whale leaped out of the sea. Zhao Junjie pressed the red button, and the whale stopped in mid-air, revealing that it was composed of transparent light wings unfolded from individual 3D drones. He released his finger, and the whale slowly flipped over and fell back into the sea.

Everyone was astonished. Had Li Kuo's Mind Leap technology reached this level? Afterwards, they couldn't help but feel disheartened. This technology, which was already being presented to the public, was probably no longer the latest technology.

Zhao Junjie controlled the whale as it swam beneath the boat. He pressed and released the green button, sending a jet of water shooting skyward. Among the many blue dots, one broke free of control and spun as it fell. A drone carrying a matching blue box landed in front of Zhao Junjie; its display screen showed fireworks and tiny pixelated text: "Happy Birthday, Your Gift."

Zhao Jun tapped its head to accept the gift, and the display screen immediately changed to a shy expression.

The gift was opened, revealing a desert crystal ball with a small pyramid in the center. It trembled slightly with Zhao Junjie's movements, and a thin line gradually appeared in the sand, like a snake crawling.

The guests looked at each other in bewilderment. The crystal ball was extremely ordinary, even cheap, yet it had not only benefited from Li Kuo's influence but also caught the eye of Young Master Zhao.

This is a blatant hint.

Zhao Junjie looked at Yu Zou with surprise. Yu Zou raised his glass to him. The experiment with the crystal sand was a success. Only the two of them knew its value.

Zhao Junjie laughed heartily and hugged the two of them tightly: "You two are truly my good friends!"

Li Kuo pushed him away with disdain, smoothing out the wrinkles on his clothes: "Thank Yu Zou."

The guests looked at each other in bewilderment, and discussions began to arise, revolving around one topic: if Long Pan were to ascend to He Du and Sui Fang, it would truly be a miraculous comeback.

At this moment, the lights flashed and the music gradually increased.

The drone's retractable wings folded into small cubes and landed around the stage. The pixelated eyes on the display screens vigilantly watched the surroundings, releasing bursts of dry ice.

A modified armored vehicle suddenly crashed into the stage, smashing the cardboard wall to pieces, its headlights spitting out flashing bulbs. Three rusty hand-held megaphones on the ceiling hissed, and the graffiti-covered vehicle was covered in yellow tape.

Confused and bewildered, the guests fled in panic. Masked guards wielding submachine guns rushed out and stood guard around the stage. Their brass-forged breathing masks featured rotating gear filtration systems, and the lenses were shattered and repaired diving goggles, with faint green fluorescent liquid seeping from the edges. Patchwork leather breastplates clung to their skin, and their wide, oil-stained canvas overalls still revealed their shapely buttocks.

After enjoying their brilliant reactions, Zhao Junjie ordered the waiters to lead the guests to their seats, while he himself sat in front of the stage, with Li Kuo and Yu Zou on either side of him.

A mechanical female voice announced, "Dangerous Wangering," and Zhao Junjie whispered in Yu Zou's ear, "Choose whatever you like."

The model kicked open the car door, her metal-laceed riding boots hitting the ground, and a silk scarf and rope swayed with her slender waist, revealing her entire nice body. She pulled her sand-covered goggles over her head, lowered the sand-proof scarf wrapped around her nose, took a folded map from her jacket pocket, glanced at it, flicked it with her finger, and waved behind her.

Goose down and rusted iron, crystal and rivets, silk and oil stains, gemstones are the rolling shafts of pressure valves, venom and syringes are hidden in feathers, gears mesh rhythmically with each step, and steam hisses and escapes from the joints.

A beautiful face, shimmering jewelry, a perfect figure, and a deadly catwalk. The first series ended only after the beat was shattered; the music gradually softened, the guard's posture tensed even more, and the weapon he gripped was released from its safety harness.

After the chaotic lighting, the model stumbled out of the car, clutching her chest and cautiously looking around. Her fearful, predatory gaze was the best stimulant for the audience.

The sea-colored gauze skirt moves like a mermaid's tail when she walks, and the flowing chain on her back when she returns is like leaping pearls. It is an unspoiled darling of nature, a pollution-free beauty born of heaven and earth.

Yu Zou stepped forward, his interest fully piqued, and couldn't help but marvel at the fact that there were other people in the world with similar tastes to him.

As the music was about to end, a frequency jump occurred, and the model showed a horrified expression, touching her protruding shoulder blades with both hands. The decorative pearls burst out red liquid, staining her smooth back.

The model fell to the ground with a thud, and the intense lighting intensified the tension and terror. The guards covered their faces in pain, and a second later they all pointed their guns at their foreheads. With a synchronized gunshot, their goggles exploded with green liquid, and they all fell down, only to stand up one after another.

As the drums beat, armored vehicles are smashed, leaving hand-shaped protrusions. Models with bizarre makeup and daring poses walk out, seemingly infected by the previous series.

Protruding scales, ornaments assembled into grotesque joints, dirty oil stains, stickers depicting parasitic limbs, walking on the catwalk with a deranged gait, finally collapsing in front of an off-road vehicle.

Two men who looked like researchers grabbed the model by the arms and carried her into the armored vehicle. The engine started, dust billowed up, and the vehicle roared away.

Amidst the applause, Zhao Junjie asked, "How was it?"

Yu Zou's clapping gradually stopped, and when he turned his head, he met the gaze of Du Pianjian sitting opposite him. Surprised, he looked away immediately and said sincerely, "The designer is good."

Zhao Junjie understood that he hadn't found anyone he liked.

On stage, spotlights shone a diamond path, and a tall female Alpha in a gray casual suit walked out from the center. She had slightly curly red hair and wore a pair of brown sunglasses. She led a group of designer models to stand in the very center of the stage, raised her arms, and loudly congratulated them: "Happy birthday, bro!"

It's Zhao Junxi.

This show is Zhao Junxi's gift.

Zhao Junjie stood up and opened his arms. Zhao Junxi jumped off the stage and hugged Zhao Junjie back.

"Who is the designer? Yu Zou is very interested. Could you introduce us?"

Zhao Junxi blinked, gave an OK sign, picked up the walkie-talkie, gave the order, and extended his hand to Yu Zou: "Hello, Brother Yu Zou, this is Junxi. I heard from my older brother that you are his childhood friend, but unfortunately I was too young to remember back then, so I didn't know you."

Yu Zou shook hands with him: "I've always heard your brother say that you're independent and capable. Seeing you today, I can confirm that he truly lives up to his reputation."

"She's so capable of using her older brother's birthday as a testing ground for her new product launch."

Hearing such teasing, Zhao Junxi took Zhao Junjie's arm, bent down and rested her head on his shoulder, and said coquettishly, "Since my little boat has Big Brother as its east wind, why not lend it? Otherwise, how can I get the opportunity to cooperate with Brother Yu Zou?"

Zhao Junjie pointed at his younger sister and said disdainfully, "Look at her, she's so young and she's learning bad habits from those old fogies. She puts people on her lap as soon as they meet, and she's practically reaching into her pocket to take money."

Yu Zou clicked his tongue and went along with him, saying, "It's a good thing you're here."

Zhao Junxi chuckled twice, straightened his head, and raised his hand to call out, "Over here!"

Yu Zou turned around and saw a woman walking towards him. She was dressed fashionably and had a capable demeanor. Her light blue eyes were made to look like a cat's by her golden-brown smoky eye makeup.

Zhao Junxi led the people closer and introduced them to everyone: "This is Zhou Fei, the youngest and fastest independent designer in the company's history. This is Yu Zou, the president of Yulong, who is very interested in your design."

Zhao Junjie raised his wine glass to his lips and slightly raised his eyebrows at Zhao Junxi. Zhao Junxi immediately understood and subtly made an excuse to leave with Zhao Junjie.

Yu Zou didn't mind; Zhao Junjie was the host of the banquet, and he couldn't stay with him all the time anyway. Besides, he was genuinely interested in the show, so he took the initiative to ask Zhou Ziwen in a gentle and unashamed manner, "Warm Ring Ruins, steampunk style, a fusion of technology and wasteland aesthetics, a great design. But why is the back chain made of metal, and why is it called Warm Ring?"

"To see someone's back, you either turn your back to them or hug them. Even when people hug, there is a cold barrier between them, such as differences in beliefs, personality, and status."

Zhou Fei paused, her expression momentarily shattered, but she quickly composed herself and continued, “No matter how close people are, there is a natural distance between them, so in the end, the only one you can truly embrace is yourself. Or rather, an embrace is inherently a false warmth, just like at the end of a fashion show, immersing yourself in false warmth is like throwing yourself into the ruins of an apocalypse, it will only become more and more distorted and false.”

Yu Zou has a keen eye for fashion, and Zhou Fei is also a professional in the field. The two chatted happily and gradually moved beyond the fashion show to discuss all sorts of things.

In closing, Zhou Fei smiled and said, "Whatever your preferences, Mr. Yu, I can tailor a solution for you personally."

Her exquisite eye makeup was an open display of ambition, which she made no attempt to conceal. Yu Zou admired this kind of person, handed her his business card, and put the initiative in her hands, saying, "It's a pleasure to work with you."