Chapter 56 [VIP]
Chapter summary: "You like to pretend, don't you? Then let you pretend to the very end."
As dusk fell, the café closed on time, and several employees chatted while wiping tables, sweeping floors, and cleaning machines.
The boy wearing the baseball cap couldn't get a word in edgewise and could only listen quietly.
After work, a few people discussed going out for some barbecue. Someone invited the guy wearing a baseball cap to come along, but he smiled, shook his head, and said goodbye to his colleagues in sign language.
He came out of the building and followed the crowd into the subway station.
Queuing, security check, and more queuing. A few minutes later, the subway arrived. Just as the boy was about to board, someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shoved him aside. That person rushed into the subway and smugly occupied the last empty seat.
The boy was furious when someone cut in line. He took a few steps forward to argue with the person, but just as he opened his mouth, he suddenly stopped as if he remembered something. The words that were about to come out were helplessly turned into a completely unnoticed mouth shape.
This isn't the first time, but what can be done? He's mute.
After exiting the subway station, the boy returned to his residence.
In this deserted space, he could finally stop pretending. The boy closed the door, shouted a curse into the dark room, and collapsed onto the bed, burying his face in his hands and sobbing.
A month ago, he was begging in a large shopping mall. He was unlucky that day and was rejected by several people. Some people even took pictures of him, called him a liar, and threatened to expose him online, which scared him so much that he fled.
Pah! If you don't want to give it, then don't. Why expose it? Do you have no humanity?
The boy crouched in a corner to avoid the storm, and couldn't help but recall how a few days ago, he had managed to solicit donations from two people in front of a building with a bank logo.
Tsk tsk, there are still more good people than bad.
The boy was preparing to change locations for "hunting" when suddenly, several people appeared in front of him.
The leader smiled and said, "Young man, you've struck it lucky. Let's go!"
With a gesture from the man, the others grabbed him without explanation, and the boy shouted in terror, "Where are we going?"
The man didn't answer, and the boy didn't dare to ask further, because he was terrified just by glancing at the man's face.
It was a disfigured face, its features no longer recognizable, like a vengeful ghost from hell, sent by the King of Hell to claim a life.
The boy closed his eyes in despair. Is there really such a thing as retribution in this world?
But he didn't do anything bad, he just pretended to be disabled to scam money.
The van swayed and rattled all the way to the suburbs. After getting off, the boy was led to a huge warehouse. He mustered his courage and looked around. In the distance, there were many people and vehicles going in and out, but the area closer to him was empty. Apart from the echoes coming from the ceiling, there were no other sounds.
Those people told him to wait there, and the boy meekly agreed, secretly praying that he could escape while glancing towards the door.
The boy was so impatient he was about to wet himself when finally a figure appeared at the door.
The "ghost" immediately went to greet him and respectfully called out, "Mr. Xu."
He pointed at the boy and asked, "Is this the person?"
The man took a few steps closer, carefully examined the boy for a while, and nodded. "It's him."
"Alright!" The "ghost" clapped his hands and said to the boy in a friendly tone, "You don't need to beg anymore. Here's a job for you, how about it?"
"What kind of work?" The boy frowned. He wouldn't do ordinary work. He only came out to beg because he couldn't stand the fact that working in an electronics factory was tiring, paid poorly, and didn't give him any freedom.
The man patted his face and said, slowly and deliberately, like a chilling curse, "Pretend to be mute."
"What do you mean?" the boy asked, looking completely bewildered.
The man referred to as "Mr. Xu" smiled at this moment. He had already seen through this man's fraud, but unlike before, he did not show any disdain and even gave him the money.
The reason is simple: he didn't want to hurt Ni Zhenzhen's feelings.
How could someone so pitiful be a liar?
He not only couldn't be a conman, but he also had to fulfill Ni Zhenzhen's wish in a perfectly timed way.
Xu Tianzhou crossed his arms and looked down at him, saying, "You like to pretend, don't you? Then let you pretend to the end."
If the words of "the vengeful ghost" sounded like a curse, then the words of "Mr. Xu" were practically a death sentence.
The boy was terrified and immediately knelt on the ground, begging loudly for mercy: "Big brother, big brother, please don't do this to me."
"Get up!" the "ghost" said disdainfully, "Look at your spineless appearance."
He waved his hand, and someone brought over a briefcase, which was opened with a "bang" in front of the boy like a firework.
It was full of money.
The boy stared wide-eyed. It has to be said that in this era of ubiquitous electronic payments, piles of cash still deliver a more impactful and shocking experience.
"Do you want it?" the "ghost" asked. "Once the deed is done, it's all yours."
"My...mine?" The boy touched the money, unable to believe such a good thing could happen. "Really? You're not lying to me, are you?"
With so much money, I'd be willing to pretend to be mute, or even actually become mute.
Unexpectedly, being mute isn't so easy; the other party actually found a sign language teacher to give him a test.
This was no problem for him; the boy immediately made a few sign language gestures.
The "ghost" praised, "Not bad, you even know sign language."
"Of course," the boy said with no small amount of pride. Although he didn't know much, he was still good at fooling people. "When you're out here scamming, no, begging, you still need to have some basic manners."
Everyone else was amused by the boy, but Xu Tianzhou only smiled slightly.
He was still a little worried, so he instructed the sign language teacher to teach a few more people. After all, Ni Zhenzhen knew a little sign language, and he was determined not to let her see through his act.
At the same time, Xu Tianzhou made the boys memorize the character settings, such as their background and experiences, saying, "Memorize them well, we'll check them tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" the boy said painfully. "Brother, I only resorted to fraud because I'm bad at studying. If I had this ability, I would have been in college long ago. Why would I be doing this?"
While the others laughed, Xu Tianzhou's expression remained serious.
As the saying goes, haste makes waste. Trying to be quick might backfire, but it can't be delayed too long either. "A week is the most I can do."
"Oh, okay..."
The boy officially took over the job of pretending to be mute, and he did so for eight years until he met a girl by chance.
When others know he is mute, besides feeling sorry for him, they will try their best to reduce the chances of "talking" to him, since typing on a mobile phone is quite annoying.
But this girl was different. Not only did she not mind at all, she also always found opportunities to chat with him. They played games together, went shopping together, ate together...
He didn't know when it started, but the boy vaguely felt that their relationship had gone beyond that of ordinary friends.
Love is quietly descending upon us.
However, he always kept that person's request in mind: if he wanted money, he had to keep pretending.
One day, he was cut in line by another passenger on the subway. This time, however, he didn't have to swallow his anger. The girl rushed up and argued with the person who cut in line. Knowing he was in the wrong, the person slunk away with a humiliated look on his face.
The boy was deeply moved. He couldn't continue like this. He wanted to protect her when she needed him, just like she did.
He called out the girl's name for the first time, and then, to her utter astonishment, revealed the truth he had kept hidden in his heart.
He is not deaf or mute; he can hear and speak, and he also has a large sum of money in savings.
"Then why did you pretend to be mute?" The girl was more surprised by his motives than by his sudden speech.
"I……"
He had to tell the truth, from his youthful days of venturing out into the world, to seeing a business opportunity in a few deaf-mute people, and then to a later extraordinary encounter, "That's how it happened..."
Instead of showing any surprise, the girl slapped him across the face and yelled, "Liar! What can't you do with your hands and feet? You're just taking advantage of people's sympathy to scam money! Go to hell! You damn liar!"
The boy couldn't understand why he could be liked by others when he was disabled, but lost everything when he became "healthy".
Is this karma?
The boy was filled with remorse, blaming himself for being young and ignorant, and for being blinded by greed to do those deceitful things.
He didn't want to continue like this, so he asked that person if he could leave.
When Xu Tianzhou received the message, Su Wenjin was reporting to him.
The launch vehicle project of Cinda Group, from preparation to project approval, design, production and completion of a series of verification tests, will finally usher in its first launch next month.
"Besides the commercial sponsorship, a brand wants to collaborate with us and reserve a few seats for the inner audience for a lucky draw."
Xu Tianzhou nodded. "This is good."
Su Wenjin also said, "Yes, it's like giving us an advertisement."
Xu Tianzhou looked into the distance, a smile on his lips like a gentle spring breeze, lingering and far-reaching.
Xu Tianzhou said, "We can let her come and see."
"Her?" Su Wenjin was taken aback; it turned out he had misunderstood.
Eight years have passed, and Xu Tianzhou has never forgotten her for a single moment.
He still maintains his old habit of bringing his own food every morning, sometimes corn, sometimes rice balls. Every newcomer is puzzled by this, while the more senior ones will explain the reason behind it, but some parts are hard to explain.
Whether Xu Tianzhou was married or not became a major mystery within the company.
While others may not know the inside story, Su Wenjin is quite clear about it.
Even without Xu Tianzhou's explanation, Su Wenjin knew who "she" was. He had done this kind of thing too many times and knew very well what to do.
"I understand, I'll arrange it right away."
On a weekday afternoon, Ni Zhenzhen received news that she had won the lottery.
That day, when Ni Zhenzhen went to the convenience store to buy something, the clerk asked her to leave her phone number, saying she could enter a prize draw. Ni Zhenzhen didn't take it seriously at all and never thought she would win.
What surprised her even more was that the prize was quite special: a chance to watch a rocket launch live.
In all her life, she had only ever seen live broadcasts on TV; she had never been to a live event.
"Is there something good?" The boy behind the counter not only gave her an extra cup of coffee, but also wrote a sentence on a piece of paper.
When Ni Zhenzhen said she had won the lottery, the boy immediately beamed and said, "Congratulations."
He wrote a few words on the paper, "I'm leaving." The man didn't force him, but simply told him that he must see things through to the end.
Ni Zhenzhen was quite surprised, "Why?"
The boy continued writing: "I've saved enough money to go back to my hometown, build a house, and start a small business."
"Really?" Ni Zhenzhen was very happy for him. "Congratulations."
"Thanks."
Ni Zhenzhen noticed that the boy was still looking at her, so she immediately looked at him with a probing gaze, as if asking, "Is there anything else?"
"Yes," the boy thought to himself, but he knew very well what the consequences would be if he actually said it, so he just smiled and shook his head.
Ni Zhenzhen: "Goodbye."
The boy waved goodbye to Ni Zhenzhen, keeping the question, "Do you know that person exists?" buried in his heart.
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