Chapter 121 Cooperation, Profile Picture, Private World He sincerely hoped for an answer...
Lost in thought, Fu Ze unconsciously loosened his grip on the water glass.
The cup he was holding lost its balance at that moment and suddenly tipped to one side.
"Ya ya ya".
Even though Fu Ze reacted quickly, he still managed to get some water on himself.
Just as he put down his water glass to get two tissues, his work phone, which was in his pocket, rang.
Distracted, Fu Ze, who was reaching forward with one hand and turning the other to grab his phone, was completely knocked over by the water glass he had placed on the edge of the table.
He was completely soaked.
As if things weren't bad enough, Fu Ze decided to give up and answered the phone with his clothes still wet: "Hello, Sister Yan Yan?"
Having witnessed the entire process, Yuan Jianxing very consciously took over the other party's task and began to clean up the mess left by Fu Ze.
"Sparrow! Feather!" Kang Yanyan's voice, filled with gritted teeth, came through the receiver. "Didn't you say you were going out to clear your head?"
Fu Ze replied without batting an eye, "Yeah, I went to a painting exhibition to relax."
"one person?"
“Uh…” Fu Ze immediately changed his tune, “I was alone when I went to the exhibition.”
Kang Yanyan didn't bother with nonsense and went straight to the point: "So what are you doing at the Adjudication Bureau?"
"Do you believe me if I cooperate with the executive officer?" As Yuan Jianxing wiped the water off his body, Fu Ze unbuttoned two buttons on his collar.
Hara Mihoshi: ...
"Heh." Clearly, Kang Yanyan didn't believe Fu Ze's nonsense.
On a whim, Fu Ze immediately passed the buck: "It's fine if you don't believe me, but surely you'll believe Yuan Jianxing, right?"
As he spoke, he shoved his phone into Yuan Jianxing's hand with the air of handing out red envelopes to children during Chinese New Year.
Yuan Jianxing glanced helplessly at Fu Ze, then took the phone. "It's me."
Just moments ago, Kang Yanyan was furious, but she immediately became respectful: "Good afternoon, Deputy Director Yuan. Have you had lunch? Oh dear, I'm so sorry to have troubled you again..."
Dissatisfied with Kang Yanyan's differential treatment, Fu Ze exaggeratedly twisted his body twice to match the sound coming from the receiver.
Upon seeing Fu Ze's appearance, Yuan Jianxing's eyes darkened, and he raised his hand to gently tap the other person's head with his phone.
Having been hit by Yuan Jianxing, Fu Ze awkwardly stopped acting up, turned around, grabbed the other person's phone, moved it aside, and started browsing social media.
Since Kang Yanyan came to confront me, it means...
Sure enough, as soon as Fu Ze opened the social media platform, the system automatically pushed the hottest topic of the moment—Que Ling and her non-celebrity boyfriend passionately embracing in the street—to his face.
After reading the headline, Fu Ze clicked his tongue in amazement: "I just wrote his full name, and Yuan Jianxing wrote 'non-celebrity boyfriend'... How can these media outlets be so cowardly and bully the weak?"
After his initial rant, he immediately delved into the topic, browsing various posts and offering sharp critiques of some photos taken by audience members at the scene.
"Ugh, what kind of opportunity did I find? My expression was way too ferocious."
"This one is good, but unfortunately it's overexposed."
"How can it be so blurry? I would believe you if you said it was taken from a door lock."
As he scrolled through the photos, Fu Ze's gaze suddenly fell on one of the snapshots.
In this top-down snapshot, several rays of sunlight slant down from between the glass curtain walls of a high-rise building, softly and warmly enveloping the two people.
Because of the camera's perspective and the ingenious misalignment, Fu Ze and Yuan Jianxing's figures appear so close together in the frame, as if melted together by the shimmering, golden light.
The overall angle and composition seem somewhat...familiar?
After thinking for a moment, Fu Ze secretly long-pressed and saved the picture. Then he switched to Yuan Jianxing's alternate account and replaced the original picture of himself and Yuan Jianxing, who were still inside Bogdan's body.
Just then, Yuan Jianxing and Kang Yanyan ended their call and tacitly exchanged phones.
"She said she'd send a car to pick you up later to take you to the studio to handle some things," Yuan Jianxing calmly and concisely recounted everything she had just overheard. "She also said she hoped you would be mindful of the impact."
Fu Ze nodded quite broadly: "Who can blame us when our chief is so charming that it's hard to resist?"
Unable to stand the other person's repeated exaggerated behavior, Yuan Jianxing reached out and pinched the other person's face.
As if seizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Fu Ze immediately pretended to fall to the side, saying, "Be careful, don't break it. This face is very valuable."
Yuan Jianxing gently rubbed his fingers together a couple of times and asked, "They're all skin and bones. They wouldn't even sell for a few ounces. How much are they worth?"
"Doesn't the chief know exactly how much it can sell for?" Fu Ze winked knowingly. "Hundreds of thousands per minute."
Hara Miki was defeated once again.
He may never be able to defeat Fu Ze in terms of "shamelessness" in his lifetime.
He straightened the man, coughed lightly, and rather abruptly changed the subject: "I will help you find the hacker's whereabouts as soon as possible. In the meantime, you'd better not cause any big commotion."
Fu Ze stretched and asked, "How much noise qualifies as a big noise? Is this how it is today?"
"No."
"This doesn't count?" Fu Zexiao exclaimed in surprise.
Yuan Jianxing replied, "According to Kang Yanyan, it didn't even make it to the top of the trending searches, so of course it doesn't count."
"Then why did she contact me?" Fu Ze said indignantly, "and so fiercely at that."
Harami Hoshi couldn't help but chuckle: "Perhaps it's 'prevention is better than cure'? After all, your outstanding performance a few days ago was truly 'impressive'."
Fu Ze, who vaguely remembered what he had done, was speechless.
Now that he had said everything important and the car that was coming to pick him up was on its way, he couldn't stay there any longer.
As Fu Ze left Yuan Jianxing's office, he realized that the tea room and bar area on the same floor were now packed with people.
Moreover, without exception, all of these people's eyes were focused on their own location, their eyes filled with a desire for gossip.
What was that line that Hara Mihoshi said again?
Oh, right, the workload is not full.
As Yuan Jianxing followed Fu Ze out of the office, the executives scattered like birds.
Fu Ze experienced a long-lost joy of "borrowing the tiger's power".
The last time he had this feeling was when he forged Yuan Jianxing's insignia to break him out of prison.
Fate is truly wondrous.
Once the crowd had mostly dispersed, Fu Ze said to Yuan Jianxing, "I might not be familiar with other routes, but I've walked this route out of your office many times. No need to see me off."
Despite saying that, Yuan Jianxing still insisted on seeing Fu Ze to the elevator.
Just before the elevator arrived, he seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "By the way, are you free the night after tomorrow?"
Fu Ze recalled the schedule: "There should be one, why?"
Just as Yuan Jianxing was about to speak, the elevator doors opened.
There was also a figure standing inside with its back to the two people.
Seeing that there were other people present, Yuan Jianxing didn't say anything more, but just waved his hand to indicate that he would talk to her later.
Fu Ze didn't dwell on it much, stepped straight into the elevator, and pressed the corresponding floor button.
Just as the elevator doors closed, shutting out Yuan Jianxing's figure, the figure suddenly spoke: "Fu Ze?"
Hearing this name suddenly from someone other than Yuan Jianxing, Fu Ze's neck stiffened slightly.
But on the surface, he remained unmoved and said calmly, "Is this CEO mistaken?"
But why does that voice sound so familiar...?
"Stop pretending, I know it's you." As he spoke, the figure turned around and looked at Fu Ze using the reflection from the elevator door.
It is Mu Wangzhuo.
Looking at this face that could be seen everywhere, Mu Wangzhuo, who was usually "gentlemanly," was more serious than ever before: "I may not know you, but I know Yuan Jianxing."
Fu Ze did not respond.
“Now that things have come to this, I dare not speculate on your background, but it is unlikely to be simple.” Mu Wangzhuo paused, his gaze sweeping across Fu Ze’s face like a blade. “But I have a question that I would like to ask you in person.”
Fu Ze remained silent.
Clearly, Mu Wangzhuo was not expecting a response from Fu Ze.
He took half a step forward, almost touching Fu Ze behind him, and asked bluntly, "What kind of lowly existence is Yuan Jianxing to you?"
Fu Ze frowned.
“From the moment you met at that motel in the northern part of V City, to the prison break at the central hub, to the investigation of the [key] in L City, and finally to your fake death and escape, leaving him all alone.” Mu Wangzhuo’s tone gradually rose, each word seeming to be ground between his teeth, “How could you have the nerve to come back to him?”
Faced with Mu Wangzhuo's accusations, Fu Ze finally spoke up in rebuttal. His voice was cold and flat: "I will not deny the part before that, but please get this straight, this time it was Yuan Jianxing who forced me to recognize Fu Ze's identity, not me who sought him out."
"If it weren't for all your previous 'great achievements,' why would he have gone to such lengths?" Mu Wangzhuo interrupted him, each syllable emphasizing its weight. "At least in my view, you don't seem to have brought any positive effect to Yuan Jianxing."
“Even without me, many things would still happen, such as the [key],” Fu Ze retorted. “And now, at least Yuan Jianxing has a considerable first-mover advantage, which is why he has become the youngest deputy director.”
"But without you, Yuan Jianxing wouldn't have had to go through so many traumatic experiences that left him battered and bruised! He wouldn't have had to face so much more pain in the future!"
As Mu Wangzhuo said this, the image that came to mind was Yuan Jianxing, who had struggled to get out of the hospital bed and forced herself to go to the funeral home just to see Fu Ze one last time before cremation.
Fu Ze suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth, but there was no smile in his eyes as he looked at Mu Wangzhuo: "So what? What are all these demands you're telling me? Are you asking me to break up with him?"
The air in the narrow space seemed to stand still for a moment, making the subtle hum of the elevator's operation all the more distinct.
After a long pause, Mu Wangzhuo gave in, his tone almost pleading: "Now that things have finally settled down, why don't you just be your big star and live a peaceful life with him from now on, okay?"
And then, and then again.
After a moment of hesitation, Fu Ze said somewhat listlessly, "I... will try my best."
He then quickly added, "However, given the nature of my profession, a 'stable' life in the ordinary sense is probably not possible."
With a casual wave of his hand, Mu Wangzhuo boasted, "Oh, it's a piece of cake. Your kind of 'instability' is not even in the same league as the 'instability' that executives have to face."
As a GM who is "unarmed" and tasked with saving countless innocent players from the evil villainous BOSS hacker, Fu Ze hesitates to speak.
He then became serious: "But let me add something. There are already many people watching him, the youngest deputy director. Regardless of whether you're talking about serious matters or not, if you two keep making these 'surprise visits' a few more times, sooner or later someone will report that Yuan Jianxing is not doing his job properly during working hours."
Fu Ze thought to himself: Ninety percent of what I told Yuan Jianxing was absolutely right, but I just can't tell you.
However, seeing that the other party was so considerate of Yuan Jianxing, Fu Ze said with no small amount of envy, "He is very lucky to have a friend like you."
Because he harbored a secret and died too frequently, he didn't even have a single person he could call a "friend".
Hmm, the carp tail should count, right? It's a pity it's been "covered" up and disappeared.
Mu Wangzhuo immediately shook his head in disgust and rolled his eyes: "You're overthinking it. I'm just trying to better and longer latch onto Yuan Jianxing's coattails."
Then, as if remembering something, he said, "Speaking of which, we have a welcome party for friends the day after tomorrow. Did Yuan Jianxing tell you?"
Fu Ze recalled, "It seems like I was going to say it, but then the elevator came, and that was the end of it."
Just as he was speaking, Fu Ze's phone screen lit up.
It was Hara Mihoshi who sent the message; the message was about tomorrow's welcome party.
Fu Ze showed Mu Wangzhuo his phone and said triumphantly, "Now I'll tell you."
Glancing at the graffiti-style pendant hanging above Fu Ze's phone, which contrasted sharply with the minimalist style of the same phone as Yuan Jianxing's, Mu Wangzhuo felt that this world was truly fantastical.
Fu Ze read the message again and asked, "We have the time, but what about the location?"
"It's not decided yet, but it will definitely be within V City."
Just as they arrived at their target floor, Mu Wangzhuo brushed past Fu Ze and strode out.
As he brushed past Fu Ze's shoulder, he turned his head and left with his last words: "Don't you dare drive your Lizard 757 over. With all the old and new grudges combined, I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself and scratch your car."
Standing there, Fu Ze watched his retreating figure and chuckled softly, "Definitely."
When the metal door in front of him closed again, Fu Ze, who was alone, finally allowed himself to relax.
He leaned back as if all his strength had left him, the cold handrail digging into his back, the faint hum of the elevator car enveloping him from all sides like a thin, fragile cocoon.
Another person who knew about his past appeared. Although the other party's attitude was not friendly at first and even carried a sharp interrogation, strangely enough, it was this unfriendly attitude that made Fu Ze feel relieved from the bottom of his heart.
That's how a real world should be, he thought.
Everyone should have a distinct attitude, with likes and dislikes based on their own standpoint, rather than being like puppets on a stage, merely revolving around the "GM" or the player holding the "key," with some "Center of All Things" calculating and interpreting a predetermined trajectory of joy and sorrow.
The elevator slowly descended, and the slight feeling of weightlessness brought Fu Ze back to his senses.
He suddenly realized something—this seemed to be the first time that Yuan Jianxing had taken the initiative to pull him into that private world that belonged only to "Yuan Jianxing," a world unrelated to "missions" or "goals," and composed of friends, old acquaintances, and the ordinary atmosphere of everyday life.
Thinking of this, Fu Ze felt a little nervous, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why he was nervous.
Is he worried that his "big star" status will bring controversy and hindrance to Yuan Jianxing, the youngest deputy director with a promising future? Or is he afraid that he might glimpse a truth he has never dared to face from the fragments of Yuan Jianxing's life?
The problem is like a stone thrown into a deep pool, creating ripples, but without receiving the response it deserves.
Before Fu Ze could figure it out, the elevator arrived at the corresponding floor again.
At this moment, a driverless taxi with its sign lit up was waiting for passengers.
And so, Fu Ze had another excuse, and the unease he hadn't figured out, along with the vague fear of the unknown answer, was gently left behind.
He sincerely hoped that the day the answer would be revealed would be later, much later.
Ideally, it would be later, until he has enough power to bear it, or... later, until the world has forgotten this unresolved verdict.
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Author's Note: Please allow me to write some transitional chapters to ease the strain on my brain from the previous chapters, which focused heavily on describing the world-building. QwQ
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