Chapter 25 Mouse and Cat, My Preference, It's You! Fu Ze suddenly realized...
Fu Ze felt that he was quite familiar with Yuan Jianxing.
At least that's what he thinks.
After all, in the past thirty hours, Yuan Jianxing and he had indeed engaged in several rounds of overt and covert battles.
If this kind of experience were put into any novel or movie, it would surely become a beautiful story, and then fan fiction creators would seize on the details to fabricate some unknown and deep feelings, thereby proving that every action between themselves and Yuan Jianxing was a deliberate and flamboyant seduction and flirting.
But when Fu Ze saw Hara Miki pick up the coffee, he realized that he was actually very far away from Hara Miki.
So far away, there's no point in even discussing "feelings".
His understanding of Hara Kenshin, or rather "Chief Executive Officer Hara Kenshin," was limited to what he knew from various information channels about the many major cases and events that this person had solved, and he knew nothing about anything else.
Just like...
Fu Ze observed Yuan Jianxing's coffee-drinking movements and vaguely realized that this person didn't seem to like coffee very much, at least not Americano.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have turned the cup every two sips, trying to make full use of the syrup stuck to the rim.
I should have just bought milk tea; they were all free anyway.
Suddenly, Fu Ze wondered if this person would have endured the bitterness of the coffee and forced himself to finish it with that cold expression if he hadn't deliberately shown off his identity in L City.
That's interesting.
Are there any others?
……etc!
Fu Ze suddenly realized that his current emotions were very strange.
At this moment, I felt like a mouse repeatedly stroking the whiskers of a sleeping cat. I couldn't tell whether I wanted the cat to wake up because of my harassment and bite my head, or I wanted the cat to continue sleeping soundly and let me tease it even more.
...It seems that neither of these two answers represents a healthy trend.
But why do I have this mindset?
After a brief moment of reflection, Fu Ze realized that this was the first time he had taken the initiative to spend an extended period of time with someone he had previously interacted with extensively since his death and rebirth.
This behavior is essentially the same as the "cat and mouse game" that suddenly popped into my head. Both involve taking risks of being discovered and engaging in dangerous actions that are not absolutely necessary.
Considering that Yuan Jianxing actually accepted the truth about the "key" and Charon's misplacement as described by Snake Eyes, the possibility that this guy would notice the similarity between his different bodies suddenly increased by several orders of magnitude.
After thinking it over, my ideal course of action is to "die unexpectedly" in order to protect Yuan Jianxing during a confrontation with the Kangming Group. This way, I can escape by faking my death while leaving Yuan Jianxing with some trauma and vulnerability, making it easier to manipulate him at crucial moments later.
The line of thought is very clear, but the only flaw is that it overlooks one issue:
Fu Ze himself didn't really want to die.
Even knowing that he would eventually open his eyes again, he still disliked experiencing various death processes.
It will feel cold, it will hurt, and it will also... make you sad.
Besides that, Fu Ze also had a little selfish motive.
If, and he meant if, one day Yuan Jianxing actually figured out that his loyal and devoted subordinate, the internet celebrity who had previously caused him a city-wide uproar, was actually the same person who killed his subordinate, would this guy, known for his rational judgment and meticulous analysis, fall into a logical dead end?
I have a little bit of anticipation.
And so, Fu Ze became immersed in his art, and in order to put his art into practice, he took the initiative to break the silence in the car: "Brother Xing, since it's just the two of us here now, can I ask you a question?"
At this moment, Yuan Jianxing's mouth was full of bitterness. He didn't want to talk until he recovered, so he nodded to signal Fu Ze to continue.
"Are you really going to start as a junior executive in L City this time?"
Sensing that the guy opposite him was testing him, Yuan Jianxing gave a firm but not overly blunt reply: "If you regret it, you can still get off the bus now."
“That’s not what I meant.” Fu Ze shook his head, then rested his chin on his hand, smiling and revealing his two canine teeth. “What I meant was, that’s great.”
According to the Adjudication Bureau's regulations, all junior executive officers must participate in shift duty. This way, I can use the time difference to investigate matters related to the [key] alone.
So, it's really great.
Seeing Fu Ze's joyful expression, it was Yuan Jianxing's turn to use his passive ability.
There was one point about Fu Ze's logic that he hadn't figured out:
Kangming Group put so much effort into creating a resume for him that Mu Wangzhuo considered flawless. He himself also put in a lot of effort to get through layers of competitive screening and finally came to V City. Why would he so easily return to L City with him, making all his previous efforts go to waste?
The reason this person gave in front of his office was: the bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish.
To outsiders, this meant that Fu Ze believed Yuan Jianxing, who had been demoted, could make a comeback, and that his decision to side with someone was like sending charcoal in snowy weather; if he succeeded in betting on him, he could secure a bright future.
However, if the same thing were said to Yuan Jianxing, who was highly suspicious of Fu Ze's undercover identity, the meaning would be completely different.
The fish is still the same fish that symbolizes "harvest," but when the "storms" are completely different, the meaning of "fish" will inevitably change.
So what exactly does he want to get from me?
Why is he... so happy?
Thinking this, Yuan Jianxing subconsciously looked at Fu Ze's face, trying to find clues that would help him answer his questions.
Then he was awakened by a ray of sunlight reflected from the other person's gray-purple eyes.
To cover up his slightly presumptuous glance, Yuan Jianxing proactively reminded them, "We're almost at the transfer hub. Get ready to disembark and transfer to the passenger submarine."
Fortunately, Fu Ze did not notice Yuan Jianxing's unusual behavior.
At this moment, he was staring blankly at the transfer center, which had been completely ruined by yesterday's actions, feeling guilty.
Even so, upon hearing Yuan Jianxing's words, Fu Zeru reflexively replied, "Received."
-
Hearing the station announcements from inside the submarine, Yuan Jianxing looked up from the confidential information about the Kangming Group on his phone. "We're almost there. Get ready to get off."
Although his tone and sentence structure remained unchanged, this time he did not receive the crisp "Received." in response.
After several unsuccessful attempts to call out to him, he could only push Fu Ze, who was lying in a small strip along the indentation on the back of the seat, twice.
"Wake up! Wake up!"
Yuan Jianxing's actions worked this time. Fu Ze first made a muffled "hmm..." in response, then bent forward and stretched his long limbs, beginning the "awakening" startup process.
Seeing the man's reaction, Yuan Jianxing asked with slight surprise, "Are you seasick?"
Generally speaking, people who get seasick often also get motion sickness in moving vehicles.
However, Fu Ze's shooting performance was quite excellent, from "player still target still" to "player still target moving" to "player moving target still" and "player moving target moving". Such a problem should not have occurred.
Fu Ze yawned. "I'm not dizzy, but I don't know why, I always feel sleepy when I take long-distance public transportation between cities, but I don't feel this way when I drive myself."
Hara Mihoshi reluctantly accepted this explanation.
The submarine began to surface and decelerate, and the rigid seat belts that had been restraining the passengers were loosened.
Like Fu Ze, many passengers who were getting off the train stood up from their seats to retrieve their luggage.
After a series of movements, Fu Ze, now fully awake, sat back down in his seat and waited for the submarine to complete its final docking with the station. "So, where are we going?"
Yuan Jianxing didn't try to hide anything and answered directly, "Lombard District, King Street."
Although Fu Ze had never lived a proper life in L City, he had long heard of the fame of King Street in the Lombard District.
The Lombard district is located in the north-central part of L city, adjacent to the old town which has been designated as a protected site. Outside of the site, the ground is flat, the roads are well-connected, and there is even an artificial canal running through it.
Even someone who knows nothing about urban planning can use basic common sense to tell how valuable this area is.
King Street is the heart of the Lombard district. Along this three-kilometer street, countless luxury brands, in their pursuit of showcasing their own style, have vandalized one iconic building after another, designed by master architects throughout history.
But in such an auspicious location, the Adjudication Bureau did not set up a corresponding branch. Instead, it set up three small meeting points around it, awkwardly covering the area.
Something unusual must be going on.
"So we're going to... pioneer new land?" Fu Ze asked tentatively. "Are we going to set up a branch here?"
Because of the large number of passersby, he did not say it was a branch of the adjudication bureau.
Yuan Jianxing didn't explain further, but got up and picked up his luggage. "I'll explain in detail when we get to a place where we can talk."
"Oh." Fu Ze nodded obediently, and then prepared to carry the box and follow behind Yuan Jianxing.
Suddenly, Yuan Jianxing turned to Fu Ze and asked, "Do you have any preferred restaurants?"
Huh?
Fu Ze, who abruptly stopped himself and his suitcase from moving forward, blinked and realized for the first time that he couldn't understand Yuan Jianxing's thought process.
Are we going to talk in the restaurant? Is the restaurant safer than the train carriage?
While pondering this question, Fu Ze once again gained a profound understanding of his new body.
It was even more profound than seeing that overly clean body this morning.
After all, if Fu Ze were still on the body of that little internet celebrity, he would have bumped into Yuan Jianxing's back, which was big enough to lift him up, instead of almost touching the back of the other person's neck.
"What's wrong? Isn't it normal for someone to treat an intern to a meal?" Yuan Jianxing also very subtly concealed the fact that the two were executives.
In the past, when mentoring trainee executives, Yuan Jianxing often chose to break the ice by having meals together.
Of course, it's not just about breaking the ice.
Clothing, food, housing, and transportation—these basic elements of life, when combined, can often very realistically reflect a person's state of being.
To fully capitalize on this opportunity, Hara Mihoshi went a step further by letting the other party choose the restaurant, and then paying the bill himself.
By observing which restaurant to choose, what food to order, eating habits, conversation topics, and responses, he can basically get a pretty good idea of the other person's character.
“You’re from L City, so you should know some decent restaurants.” Just then, the submarine door opened wide, and Yuan Jianxing walked down the aisle, saying casually, “Don’t worry about my taste, just choose what you like. I’ll pay.”
If he were to look back at this moment, he would realize how unusually troubled Fu Ze's expression was.
Although Yuan Jianxing said that he didn't need to worry about him, as an adult, Fu Ze couldn't take those polite words seriously.
But his knowledge of restaurants in L City was indeed very limited, to be honest, almost non-existent.
But if he goes online to check, there's no guarantee that Yuan Jianxing won't notice something amiss.
What to do, what to do...
Perhaps it was a sudden flash of inspiration, but some information unexpectedly surfaced from Fu Ze's memories.
In the phone records of that internet celebrity, there seems to be a store that he visits every time he comes to L City, and he has even repeatedly promoted it on his social media platform.
You're the one!
"I do know a restaurant that has good food, but we might have to wait in line if we go there directly. Why don't we order the food first?"
-
Fu Ze thought that the two of them would head straight to the restaurant they had chosen after getting off the submarine, but unexpectedly, a surprise guest appeared on the way.
At the submarine station exit, a man holding a sign excitedly waved upon seeing Fu Ze and Yuan Jianxing, calling out, "Mr. Yuan Jianxing! Mr. Fu Ze! Over here!"
Fu Ze looked at the newcomer with a puzzled expression, then glanced at Yuan Jianxing, and finally caught the same look of confusion on the other person's face.
Before the two could align their information, the person had already jogged up to them, his heels pressed together, his body standing straight, his right arm outstretched and bent, placing his right hand on his left shoulder.
Well, a standard executive salute.
It was only because Fu Ze and Yuan Jianxing came out late that this person's actions attracted a crowd of onlookers.
"You two must be tired from your journey. My name is Du Yang, and I am a third-year student at the Executive Academy." Du Yang smiled broadly, looking at Yuan Jianxing as if he were an idol who had stepped out of a poster. "Originally, it should have been my mentor and I who picked you up, but he received an urgent mission to go to the furniture market, so I had to pick you up alone. Please forgive me."
Yuan Jianxing thought to himself calmly, "As expected of a student, they have no sense of propriety and easily revealed the superior's movements."
However, being new to the area, he didn't want to leave a bad impression on this young admirer, so he didn't say much.
But at the same time, he also decided to find an opportunity to subtly report to Du Yang's supervising officer.
Fu Ze, who was following behind Yuan Jianxing, hid his smile by leaning on the other's shoulder.
Comparing yourself to others will only lead to ruin, and comparing goods will only make you want to throw them away. Now Yuan Jianxing will finally realize just how good an intern he was assigned.
However, just as the group was talking and walking toward Du Yang's car, a figure not far away picked up a cell phone and dialed a number: "Reporting to Lord Rhinoceros Horn, we have detected the movements of the target, Yuan Jianxing, at the submarine station."
“Good, follow him.” Rhinoceros Horn’s voice was relaxed on the phone, and if you listened carefully, you could hear a few dull, heavy thuds as they fell to the ground in the background. “I’ll go over there after I’ve dealt with the notices from the furniture store.”
"The target has two companions," the man continued to report. "One of them is a temporary liaison sent by L City, and the other, although not on the list of V City executives provided earlier, is most likely an intern under the supervision of Yuan Jianxing, based on the recent arrangements of the Adjudication Bureau."
"Yuan Jianxing's intern? What does he look like?" Rhinoceros Horn suddenly became serious.
This stumped the person keeping watch, as his limited vocabulary—at the level of "two eyes and a nose"—made it difficult for him to accurately describe the other person's appearance.
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he blurted out two key points that had left a particularly deep impression on him: "The man's eyes were grayish-purple, but his skin was exceptionally white."
The man on the other end of the phone suddenly fell silent, and his quietness made the sounds of the heavy objects hitting the ground all the more clear.
After a moment, he instructed, "Keep your distance and be vigilant. Do not make any unnecessary movements before I give the order."
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Author's Note: Fu Xiaozhe, look at your thoughts, aren't they a little... well, you know what I mean? [shy]
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