Chapter 27: Icy Sweet and Rich Orange Juice

Bai Yuanzhi held the orange juice without drinking it.

Because—

It had been three hours since her last trip to the restroom.

The urge to urinate was quite strong at the moment.

How could she possibly drink it!

However, since Zhou Weihao had someone send her a glass of orange juice,

she should at least respond in attitude.

So, Bai Yuanzhi raised the glass of orange juice and looked in the direction the waiter had pointed earlier.

But what Bai Yuanzhi saw was… the pantry?!

Bai Yuanzhi was taken aback.

She glanced around again but still couldn’t find Zhou Weihao.

Finally, Bai Yuanzhi frowned as she looked at the orange juice in her hand.

Bai Yuanzhi carried the orange juice toward the restroom.

But just as she entered the hallway, she was attacked!

Someone reached out from behind, wrapping an arm around her waist, while another hand promptly covered her mouth, dragging her into a nearby dark room!

Before Bai Yuanzhi could even scream, she was locked inside a quiet little room.

Chen Shuojie’s voice whispered in her ear, “Bai Yuanzhi, shh, don’t make a sound… Your goal is just to climb the social ladder, isn’t it? How much money does Zhou Weihao really have! Besides, he’s been blind for years, clinging to that Madam’s Filipina domestic helper… Bai Yuanzhi, he won’t like you! You’d be better off with me… I’ll pay more than he does… Name your price!”

“Slap!!!”

Once freed,

Bai Yuanzhi decisively slapped Chen Shuojie across the face.

Chen Shuojie froze.

Bai Yuanzhi raised her voice and shouted, “Help! Someone… Chen Shuojie is harassing me!!!”

Chen Shuojie’s eyes widened, “You… you’re insane! What good will it do you to bring others here? Even if someone comes, I’ll say you seduced me! Your reputation will be ruined! If you offend me, you’ll never survive in this circle again… Shut up! Stop shouting!”

Panicked and startled by Bai Yuanzhi’s screams, he instinctively tried to cover her mouth.

Bai Yuanzhi was still holding the glass of orange juice!

So she flung the contents of the glass right into Chen Shuojie’s face.

Chen Shuojie: …

Since childhood, his mother had passed away early, and both his paternal and maternal families pitied and spoiled him excessively, leading to his unruly and ruthless personality.

No matter what trouble he caused, someone always covered for him.

No one had ever treated him like Bai Yuanzhi—showing no mercy and daring to retaliate right in his face!

Splashed with orange juice, Chen Shuojie was so furious… his face turned purple!

Bai Yuanzhi wanted to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible,

but she was afraid Chen Shuojie would continue to harass her.

So, she handed the half-full glass of orange juice to Chen Shuojie.

Chen Shuojie: …

He instinctively took the glass, “Bai Yuanzhi, you—”

Bai Yuanzhi prepared to leave.

But just as she reached out and was about to touch the doorknob, she suddenly saw it twist on its own.

This meant

someone outside was turning the knob to enter!

Currently, Bai Yuanzhi was trapped in a small, windowless dark room meant for storing cleaning supplies.

The room was too small,

and she predicted—

once the door was pushed open, she would be shoved backward, possibly forced right into Chen Shuojie’s arms!

So Bai Yuanzhi dodged to the side, hiding behind the door.

The door opened.

Chen Shuojie was greatly surprised and asked, “Who’s there?”

A young man dressed in a waiter’s uniform, wearing sunglasses and covering his nose and mouth, spotted Chen Shuojie and quickly glanced behind the door, where he discovered Bai Yuanzhi.

Bai Yuanzhi immediately cried out, “Please help me! He tried to assault me!”

Chen Shuojie, furious and embarrassed, retorted, “You’re lying! It was you, this gold digger, trying to seduce me…”

“BAM!!!”

The waiter knocked Chen Shuojie out with a single punch.

Chen Shuojie was struck in the face and instantly collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain.

Then, the waiter carefully stepped aside to clear a path, gesturing with his eyes for Bai Yuanzhi to leave quickly.

For some reason, Bai Yuanzhi felt the waiter looked somewhat familiar.

But in this critical moment, she didn’t hesitate and quickly left the dark room.

Though she wanted to get away from there as soon as possible, she worried about implicating the waiter inside.

After a moment of hesitation, Bai Yuanzhi decided to go out and call for help first.

The corridor was empty.

Bai Yuanzhi needed to walk to the end of the corridor, open the emergency exit, and turn a corner to reach the annual party venue.

But just as she reached the emergency exit and before she could push the door open, she heard several men talking as they approached.

They said:

“Are we really going to listen to Duoluoxi? She said she’d give each of us ten thousand yuan if we succeed, but everyone here today is rich! If we actually do this… won’t we offend someone?”

“Tch, if you don’t offend anyone, how are you going to get the ten thousand yuan?”

“Honestly, I don’t think Duoluoxi is very reliable… Think about it. She wants us to pick up a passed-out person in the women’s restroom, strip the woman completely, and then carry her to the men’s restroom… But Duoluoxi didn’t even tell us who the woman is! What if we pick up the wrong person? Or what if there’s no one in the women’s restroom at all?”

“You missed one more thing—what if there are a lot of people in the restroom? If a few grown men like us just walk into the women’s restroom, won’t someone call the police and have us arrested?”

“I also can’t figure out why Duoluoxi wants us to do this.”

“Who knows what rich people are thinking!”

…

Bai Yuanzhi froze.

In a flash of insight, a bold guess formed in her mind!

She remembered the inexplicably appearing glass of orange juice and the inexplicably appearing Chen Shuojie…

A chill ran down her spine.

As the men drew closer,

Bai Yuanzhi, in a moment of desperation, gently closed the emergency exit door and locked it from the inside.

Then, she turned and hurried back toward the dark room.

The waiter had just left the dark room.

He even straightened his clothes,

and as he was about to close the door to the dark room, pretending nothing had happened,

he suddenly saw Bai Yuanzhi returning.

The waiter froze.

Bai Yuanzhi also froze.

“A Yao?” she finally realized where that damn sense of familiarity came from.

Seeing that she had recognized him, the waiter gave up the pretense and pulled down his face covering.

—It really was A Yao!!!

Bai Yuanzhi exclaimed in surprise, “How is it you?”

Ming Jiayao whispered softly, “Why haven’t you left yet?”

“I can’t leave now!” Bai Yuanzhi replied in a hushed voice.

Ming Jiayao was startled. “What?”

Bai Yuanzhi had no time to explain to Ming Jiayao and only said, “It’s not just Chen Shuojie who wants to harm me! There are others too! But I’ll explain it to you later. Right now… we need to move Chen Shuojie to the women’s restroom immediately!”

Ming Jiayao looked puzzled. “…What are you talking about?”

Bai Yuanzhi glanced back, afraid that the men would break through the closed emergency door and arrive at any moment, so she urged, “Just listen to me!”

Ming Jiayao fell silent and followed Bai Yuanzhi’s instructions.

And so, Bai Yuanzhi and Ming Jiayao carried the unconscious Chen Shuojie into the women’s restroom.

Ming Jiayao asked Bai Yuanzhi, “Is that it?”

Bai Yuanzhi nodded, then pulled Ming Jiayao out of the women’s restroom.

However, the footsteps and voices of the men could already be heard not far away:

“Damn, this is getting weirder and weirder! Why was the emergency door closed from the inside? And why is Duoluoxi so sure there’s an unconscious woman in the women’s restroom?”

“Yeah, why is no one using this restroom? There are so many people outside—don’t they need to use the toilet?”

“Hey, let’s hurry up. While no one’s around, let’s finish the job and get out of here… It’d be best if no one sees us. That way, we won’t get caught and we’ll still get paid…”

“Right, right, don’t overthink it! If we keep hesitating, how are we supposed to make money? Let’s go!”

Bai Yuanzhi and Ming Jiayao heard the men’s conversation clearly.

Ming Jiayao understood everything in an instant.

He tightly gripped Bai Yuanzhi’s hand, trembling with anger.

Bai Yuanzhi glanced at Ming Jiayao and saw that there was nowhere to hide nearby…

So, she steeled herself and pulled Ming Jiayao into the men’s restroom.

Once the two of them were inside,

Ming Jiayao gently pushed Bai Yuanzhi aside, closed the men’s restroom door, locked it from the inside, and pressed his ear against the door to listen for any movement outside.

Bai Yuanzhi did the same.

And so—

Bai Yuanzhi and Ming Jiayao both heard the commotion outside.

The men headed straight for the women’s restroom.

Of course,

they also tried pushing the men’s restroom door but found it locked.

They discussed:

“Huh? Why is the men’s restroom locked?”

“Yeah, it won’t open! What do we do? Didn’t Duoluoxi say we should strip the unconscious woman in the women’s restroom and then throw her into the men’s restroom? But now the men’s restroom is locked… What do we do?”

“Hey, come look! There’s only a man in the women’s restroom, no woman!”

“What are you talking about… Oh, there really is a man in the women’s restroom!”

The men must have discovered Chen Shuojie lying unconscious on the floor of the women’s restroom and exchanged bewildered glances.

They began discussing again:

“What do we do? Didn’t Duoluoxi say the person unconscious in the women’s restroom was a woman? Why is it a man? What should we do now?”

“Should we go ask Duoluoxi for clarification… and then finish the job?”

“But Duoluoxi said we only have five minutes! And now… three minutes have already passed!”

“If you ask me, we should just do as Duoluoxi says! After all, she’s the one paying! Besides, I remember her exact words were, ‘Go to the women’s restroom, there’s someone lying on the floor. Strip that person’s clothes off, completely naked! Then move them to the men’s restroom’… Think about it carefully—Duoluoxi never actually said whether the person on the floor was a man or a woman!”

“Now that you mention it, that does make some sense!”

“Come on, stop dawdling and let’s get to work! Strip this guy’s clothes off and get out of here! Everyone here is either rich or powerful. If we get caught, we won’t get off easy!”

“But—the men’s restroom is locked from the inside! Stripping his clothes is easy, but how are we supposed to move him into the men’s restroom?”

“Ah, forget it, let’s strip his clothes first! Then we’ll pry off the women’s restroom sign at the entrance and throw it away…”

“Wow! That’s a great idea! Let’s do it!”

Hearing this, Bai Yuanzhi and Ming Jiayao exchanged a glance.

Next—

Rustling sounds could be heard, likely from the men stripping Chen Shuojie’s clothes;

Clinking and clattering noises followed, probably as the men pried off the restroom signs at the entrance;

Someone groaned in pain… It seemed Chen Shuojie had woken up, managing only to utter “You—” before a loud “thud” echoed, like the sound of a fist striking flesh… After that, Chen Shuojie fell silent once more…

Finally, the men began to panic and shout:

“Alright, alright, let’s get out of here! Duoluoxi said we only have five minutes, and it’s already been seven… Hurry, hurry!”

“Okay, okay, let’s go! Oh, and Duoluoxi said we can’t go back the same way—we have to take the fire escape…”

“Wait! We need to take this guy’s clothes with us! Duoluoxi said so!”

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

Frantic footsteps echoed—

Finally, silence fell outside.

Ming Jiayao glanced at Bai Yuanzhi, signaling for her to hide behind him.

Understanding, Bai Yuanzhi moved behind him.

Ming Jiayao turned the lock and quietly pushed the door open, confirming that no one was outside.

He took Bai Yuanzhi’s hand, ready to leave.

As they stepped out of the men’s restroom, they saw the door to the neighboring women’s restroom wide open.

A completely naked man lay sprawled on the floor, motionless.

Ming Jiayao and Bai Yuanzhi suddenly fixed their gaze on a particular spot, their eyes widening in unison.

Bai Yuanzhi blurted out, “Congenital eunuch…”

Ming Jiayao glanced at her and turned her face away, preventing her from looking.

He wanted to lead her away.

But Bai Yuanzhi tugged him back.

Without speaking, she pointed toward the exit and shook her head;

Then she pointed toward another fire escape exit and shook her head again.

Ming Jiayao understood instantly.

Bai Yuanzhi meant:

They couldn’t leave through the exit, because if they encountered someone coming to use the restroom, he and Bai Yuanzhi could easily be mistaken as the “culprits” who framed Chen Shuojie;

Nor could they leave through the fire escape exit, as they might run into the men hired by Duoluoxi.

Ming Jiayao frowned.

—Where could they escape to?

At that moment, Bai Yuanzhi pointed to the small dark room in the hallway near the exit, used for storing cleaning tools.

Ming Jiayao’s eyes lit up!

Right, just now Chen Shuojie was in that dark room, trying to take advantage of Ah Zhi.

Thinking about it this way,

Ming Jiayao felt that Chen Shuojie was sick!

He’s clearly a congenital eunuch, so why is he still thinking about that kind of man-woman stuff?!

But then again, people with such congenital defects often develop psychological abnormalities.

Ming Jiayao didn’t have time to think too much.

Bai Yuanzhi had already taken him and was quickly rushing toward the dark room.

What made it especially tense was,

when Bai Yuanzhi pulled Ming Jiayao to the entrance of the dark room, they could already hear people walking into the corridor from the venue.

It was a few women, complaining as they walked:

“What’s going on! There was a sign hanging there earlier that said ‘Restroom out of order, please use the one upstairs.’ I had to go upstairs, but then they said the restroom upstairs wasn’t open to the public! I even argued with them, and they said they hadn’t heard about the restroom on this floor being broken! I was so angry, I brought them down to see, and then… the sign was gone! Tell me, isn’t that insane? I’m so mad!”

“Oh, don’t be angry, don’t be angry…”

“Exactly! Oh, by the way, have you seen Zhou Weihao? These past few years, he’s really… become more and more handsome! Honestly, it’s hard to believe—a guy who’s so good-looking, with such a good temper and family background—how could he be so devoted to a Filipina domestic helper!”

“Hah, I don’t think so. If he were truly devoted to that Filipina domestic helper, he wouldn’t have brought a little secretary with him today! Didn’t you see? The woman who came with him today is really beautiful… and young!”

“Right, right, right. If you ask me, if Zhou Weihao really gets together with that little secretary Bai, I wouldn’t be as upset… after all, Secretary Bai is truly young, beautiful, and has a great figure. If he were truly devoted to that Filipina domestic helper who looks older than his mother, that would really be disgusting—”

The women chatted about gossip as they walked toward the women’s restroom.

A few seconds later—

The women erupted with earth-shattering screams:

“Ahhhh, help! There’s a body!”

“Ahhh, there’s a woman lying dead in the restroom without any clothes on!”

“It’s a man!”

“Huh? A man… why would a man be in the women’s restroom?”

“Help, help! He’s moving…”

Soon, the women scrambled out of the corridor in a panic.

Ming Jiayao held Bai Yuanzhi’s hand, calculating the right moment to leave.

Bai Yuanzhi tugged at his hand,

and he understood:

—She meant it wasn’t time yet.

So, Ming Jiayao continued to wait patiently.

After the women fled, they quickly called for help.

In an instant, a large crowd surged into the corridor, heading straight for the restroom, and sure enough, they found Chen Shuojie lying on the ground at the entrance to the women’s restroom.

Chen Shuojie might have regained consciousness, but he had probably been beaten so badly that he couldn’t move for a while.

Then—

A chaotic uproar broke out:

“Who are you? Why are you here without clothes on?…”

“Huh? Mr. Chen! How is it you?”

“Everyone, this is Chen Shuojie, the young master of Wanmei Film Industry!”

“Someone quickly take off a piece of clothing to cover Mr. Chen!”

“Mr. Chen, why are you… here?”

At that moment, Bai Yuanzhi gently pushed Ming Jiayao.

Ming Jiayao understood: the time had come.

He quietly pushed the door open, leaving only a crack, and saw everyone crowded around the women’s restroom, but the exit of the passageway was empty.

Ming Jiayao quickly slipped out and let Bai Yuanzhi follow.

He swiftly closed the door to the dark room.

Bai Yuanzhi told him, “Hurry and call for help. You must block those who escaped through the fire exit… I’ll go to the venue to find Mr. Zhou.”

Ming Jiayao thought:

That’s right. Only by capturing those burly men would there be both witnesses and evidence, leaving Duoluoxi no room for excuses.

So he nodded and hurried away.

“Wait!” Bai Yuanzhi called out to him.

Ming Jiayao turned back.

Bai Yuanzhi quickly pulled the mask hanging under his chin upward, covering his mouth and nose. “Don’t let those people recognize you…”

After saying this, she swiftly walked toward the passageway exit.

Ming Jiayao’s heart skipped a beat.

He felt panicked.

He wondered, could it be that she recognized his identity? That’s why she said: Don’t let anyone recognize you.

But he quickly realized,

She meant: Don’t let those burly men recognize him, to avoid retaliation.

Ming Jiayao sighed in relief, his racing heart gradually calming down.

He first ran toward the women’s restroom, glanced at Chen Shuojie’s miserable state, and then shouted, “Where is Mr. Chen’s clothes? Could it be that the assailants took his clothes and escaped through the fire exit?”

As soon as he said this, several men at the scene found it plausible and immediately ran toward the fire exit.

Knowing he shouldn’t stay there too long,

Ming Jiayao followed the crowd toward the fire exit but slipped into a random floor, removed his waiter uniform to reveal his casual clothes, and left the venue.

Meanwhile, Bai Yuanzhi had already entered the venue.

It was a world of revelry and celebration.

No one knew what had happened in the women’s restroom.

Bai Yuanzhi scanned the surroundings but found no trace of Zhou Weihao.

After a moment’s thought, Bai Yuanzhi hurried to the corner where Zhou Weihao had been “hiding” earlier.

Sure enough—

Zhou Weihao was sitting on a sofa, reading a newspaper.

Bai Yuanzhi stared at Zhou Weihao for a while, recalling the glass of orange juice.

“Mr. Zhou,” Bai Yuanzhi called out calmly.

Zhou Weihao looked up at the sound and, seeing it was Bai Yuanzhi, smiled and asked, “How’s it going? Did you recruit many clients?”

Bai Yuanzhi gave a faint smile. “Not bad.”

Zhou Weihao joked with her, “That’s great! I can just sit back and wait for commissions and dividends.”

Seeing Zhou Weihao’s calm demeanor,

Bai Yuanzhi could conclude—he truly knew nothing.

But she still wanted to confirm one thing. “Mr. Zhou, earlier… did you have someone send me a glass of orange juice?”

“No,” Zhou Weihao answered truthfully. “There’s plenty of food and drinks here. I didn’t know what you liked, so I figured you’d help yourself to whatever you wanted.”

Bai Yuanzhi pursed her lips into a smile.

Zhou Weihao asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”

Bai Yuanzhi replied, “Nothing.”

After a brief silence, Bai Yuanzhi asked again, “Mr. Zhou, did Duoluoxi come today?”

Zhou Weihao answered, “No, why do you ask?”

Bai Yuanzhi fell into deep thought.

Zhou Weihao finally sensed something amiss and asked curiously, “Ah Zhi, what’s going on? Did something happen? I feel like… you seem a bit off.”

At that moment, Mrs. Xu, surrounded by a group of people, walked toward Bai Yuanzhi and Zhou Weihao with a grave expression.

Zhou Weihao immediately stood up, ready to greet Mrs. Xu,

but she only managed a strained smile in his direction without pausing for a moment, hurrying instead toward the restroom.

Zhou Weihao finally realized that something indeed seemed wrong.

 

“Ah Zhi, did something happen?” he asked with a frown.

Bai Yuanzhi said, “I just heard them say there’s a body in the women’s restroom.”

Zhou Weihao froze.

After taking a sharp breath, he asked nervously, “What did you say?”

At that moment, more and more people noticed something was wrong near the restroom and couldn’t help but rush frantically in that direction.

Suddenly—

Someone exclaimed in surprise, “Bai Yuanzhi! H-how are you here?”

Bai Yuanzhi and Zhou Weihao turned their heads together and saw… Duoluoxi?!

Duoluoxi was wearing a server’s uniform, staring wide-eyed at Bai Yuanzhi, so shocked that her eyeballs seemed about to fall out of their sockets!

Zhou Weihao was even more surprised than Duoluoxi, “Duoluoxi, why are you here? This morning when I asked you to come with me, you said you weren’t feeling well and didn’t want to come, so how…”

As he spoke, he looked at the server’s uniform Duoluoxi was wearing and frowned.

Meanwhile, Duoluoxi glanced at the crowd frantically rushing toward the restroom, then looked at Bai Yuanzhi.

She finally realized something was wrong, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.