Meanwhile, at the Song City Hotel.
Hao Luo'er was checking in with her superior.
"When you're done settling in, come to my room. There are a few things I need you to revise for tomorrow's collaboration proposal," her superior said, taking the room card and giving a faint instruction.
Hao Luo'er nodded obediently, "Okay."
Her superior glanced at her. "Make it quick, I like to sleep early."
"Okay."
Hao Luo'er busied herself taking the room card, completely oblivious to the lecherous look in her superior's eyes.
The front desk girl, however, saw it all clearly.
...
Upon reaching her room and unpacking her suitcase, Hao Luo'er, laptop in hand, prepared to go to the room next door.
The hotel phone suddenly rang.
Hao Luo'er frowned slightly and answered.
Superior: "When you come over, bring a bottle of red wine."
Hao Luo'er frowned. "Isn't it to revise details?" *Drinking might not be a good idea.*
Superior: "I like to have a glass of red wine before bed to relax."
The unspoken meaning was that it wasn't for drinking during work.
"Oh."
Hao Luo'er awkwardly touched her nose. "Then I'll contact the front desk now."
Her superior responded, "No rush, come over in ten minutes."
"...Alright."
About five minutes later, a server brought the wine.
As she took it, Hao Luo'er found it strange. *Why didn't her superior call the front desk himself? It would have been much more convenient.* *Does he just like bossing his subordinates around?*
Hao Luo'er thought he was being ridiculous.
...
Carrying the wine and laptop, she went to the room next door and knocked.
While waiting, numerous thoughts flashed through Hao Luo'er's mind. *Could he be trying to force himself on her? But he's usually a decent person. Both to his superiors and subordinates. He always acted with propriety. His colleagues at the company spoke highly of him. He even has a happy family. He wouldn't do something like this, right?*
Lost in thought, the door opened. Her superior, likely having just showered, was wearing a bathrobe. His hair was still damp, and he exuded a steamy aura. Seeing her, he turned back to continue his phone call.
"Mhm, I know, a glass of red wine before bed, I've already asked my subordinate to bring it. Has Xiao Bao gone to sleep yet?"
Perhaps hearing a child's voice, her superior chuckled twice. "Daddy will be back in three days, and then I'll take you to the amusement park, okay?"
Seeing the satisfied smile on her superior's face, Hao Luo'er felt she might have been overthinking things. *Not calling the front desk himself was probably because he was showering and it was inconvenient.*
"Sit down."
After hanging up, her superior gestured to the seat next to him. "Bring up the proposal, I'll take another look."
"Okay."
Hao Luo'er immediately complied. Her superior moved to the seat beside her and patiently guided her through the revisions. Hao Luo'er wanted to create some distance, but he quickly captured her attention, her hands working on the keyboard to refine the details. It was only when the proposal became perfect that she realized how close they were. Just as she was about to speak, her superior suddenly placed his hand on her thigh and asked, "I heard you've always wanted to join Group A?"
Hao Luo'er was startled by his action and only after a few seconds did she remember to stand up. Her expression turned grim as she asked, "What are you trying to do?"
She stood three steps away from him. Her superior smiled, rubbing his fingertips on her thigh in a thoroughly lecherous manner. "Your boyfriend doesn't treat you very well, and you're over twenty. How about I satisfy you, and also give you a chance for promotion? What do you say?"
"Don't you remember you have a family, a daughter! Don't you find it disgusting to do something like this?!"
"I work hard outside, and she enjoys herself at home. What's wrong with me indulging myself occasionally?"
Disgusted by his shameless words, Hao Luo'er turned to leave. The next second, her superior's threatening voice came from behind her. "If you dare to step out of this door, I'll post in the company group chat that you were seducing me."
Hao Luo'er spun around abruptly, meeting his confident gaze, and exploded with anger, "Are you shameless? You're the one who wants to force yourself on me!"
"Who can prove it?"
Before Hao Luo'er could retort, her superior picked up the red wine from the table, a sinister smile on his face. "But I can prove that you wanted to seduce me. Don't forget, the hotel surveillance clearly recorded the entire process of you ordering and receiving the wine. It's not a problem to say you had ill intentions, is it?"
"You're despicable!" Hao Luo'er trembled with rage.
Her superior chuckled dismissively. "I remember your boyfriend's name is... Chi Zerui, right? I have his phone number on my phone. Tell me, what would he think if I sent him the video of you bringing me wine and coming to my room?"
*What would he think?* Hao Luo'er gave a pale, scornful laugh. "Do whatever you want." *He wouldn't care anyway.*
As if surprised by her reaction, her superior paused for a moment before lunging after her. "You think you can leave after coming into my room?" He firmly grasped her hand, blocking the doorway with his back. "I didn't call you here tonight to chat. You will comply, whether you want to or not! Don't play the chaste maiden with me!"
With the disparity in strength, tears welled up in Hao Luo'er's eyes from the pain. In her struggle, she kicked him in the groin.
"You're looking for death!!" Her superior roared, clutching his sensitive area and hopping to catch her. Hao Luo'er's mind went blank, and she stumbled into the bathroom, locking the door. Leaning against the door, she slid to the floor. Her superior was still banging on the door outside, spewing vile curses.
In that moment, Hao Luo'er couldn't think of anything else. Her trembling fingers dialed Chi Zerui's number. She placed all her hope in Chi Zerui.
-
In the car.
Yu Wenli subtly clenched his right fist, trying to keep his voice steady. "Manager Qi, let me out of the car."
"We're not at the hotel yet, I can't be rude." Manager Qi said with a smile, patting Yu Wenli's leg. He didn't withdraw his hand but let it slide further down.
Yu Wenli looked at his actions with a cold smile, a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his lips. "Everyone says Manager Qi is abstinent. You don't seem so thirsty."
Manager Qi chuckled. "When I first took over the company, I really liked your music. I watched every one of your livestreams, I was your number one supporter back then."
Yu Wenli's eyes narrowed subconsciously. Under the influence of the drug, his eye circles began to turn red, appearing alluring and sexy. Manager Qi couldn't help but swallow, reaching out to caress his face. "You don't know, I've liked you for a very long time. It's just that I was too busy and never had the time to see you. Later, you stopped livestreaming, so I had people record videos at bars. I have a record of all your concerts."
Yu Wenli looked at him with an unreadable expression, not moving or speaking. "I got into the music industry because of you. I knew you would develop in that direction. See, my gamble paid off, we're meeting now." Manager Qi's face showed a sickly smile.
Yu Wenli pinched his palm. "What do you actually want?"
Manager Qi's eyes widened. "Isn't it obvious? I'm doing all this because I want to be with you."
"I have someone I love, and we are already married. You can find another..." Yu Wenli tried to dissuade him. Manager Qi interrupted, "So what? You have your marriage, we have our romance. No one would ever suspect that you and I are a couple. Even if the Han family finds out someday, you don't need to worry. With my status in Song City, the Han family wouldn't dare to touch me easily, let alone that she's just their adopted daughter."
Yu Wenli's body burned intensely, and he didn't want to waste any more energy on him. He closed his eyes, trying to maintain his last shred of rationality. "A Li, I truly like you." Manager Qi gazed at him with longing. "As long as you're with me, I can give you anything you want. Even if you want to be on top, I can accept it."
Yu Wenli: "..."
Yu Wenli opened his eyes, his gaze alluring. "You can give me anything?"
"Of course!" Manager Qi's joy was palpable.
Yu Wenli subtly observed the rearview mirror. "Can you deal with Jiang Chengyuan too?"
"Who does he think he is? If you want, I'll make him get out of the music industry immediately!" Manager Qi said confidently.
Yu Wenli's vision blurred due to the drug. He bit his tongue until it bled to focus on the numbers on the traffic lights. Five seconds, that was enough. Yu Wenli suddenly looked at him, and Manager Qi sensed something was wrong. The next second, the car door opened. Yu Wenli directly fell out. Manager Qi reached out to grab him but missed.
-
"Hello?"
Chi Zerui swiped to answer, but was met with a barrage of curses. His brow furrowed slightly as he moved the phone away to check the contact. It was indeed Hao Luo'er. *What's going on?*
"You..." he was about to speak when he heard sobbing from the other end. "Save me, please, hurry and save me... please..."
Chi Zerui's expression sharpened. "Where are you now?"
"I I..." Hao Luo'er was momentarily dazed before stating the address.
Chi Zerui immediately turned the car around. "Don't be afraid, I'm coming right away!"
"Hey hey hey? What's going on? Brother Rui! Aren't we going to dinner?!" Several drivers from the same club called out to him from their car windows.
Chi Zerui didn't even have time to explain, speeding away. He ran three red lights in a row. As he was about to run the fourth, Chi Zerui prepared to change lanes. The moment he turned the steering wheel, a person rolled out in front of him. Chi Zerui cursed "idiot," but then his eyes widened in recognition. "Brother Yu?!"
Chi Zerui immediately unbuckled his seatbelt and got out. Manager Qi arrived at the same time, reaching out to pick up Yu Wenli. Chi Zerui punched him directly. "Who the hell are you! How dare you touch my brother!"
Manager Qi, caught off guard, stumbled back a few steps, supported by his assistant who had just arrived. "Manager Qi, are you alright?"
Manager Qi gritted his teeth and ordered, "Get him in the car!"
"Yes!" Before the order was finished, a traffic police officer who had pursued Chi Zerui through two red lights arrived.
"What are you doing?" The police officer got out of the car with a stern face. It was a red light, and many cars had stopped around them. Manager Qi couldn't do anything at this moment, only watching helplessly as Chi Zerui picked up Yu Wenli and put him in the car. "My friend drank too much and accidentally fell out of the car," he lied to the police officer.
Chi Zerui started the engine and sneered, "He better have drunk too much, or I'll kill you!"
The police officer reprimanded, "What are you trying to do! Hurry to the hospital." In a life-or-death situation, they couldn't dwell on his running red lights. Chi Zerui volunteered, "I'll pay the fine." With that, he ran another red light and sped away.
Manager Qi wanted to follow, but the police officer stopped him. "You'll need to come to the police station with me to explain the situation."
The assistant frowned. "Don't you know who he is?"
Manager Qi turned his face so he could be seen clearly. The police officer didn't recognize him. "I don't care who you are, hurry up!"
Manager Qi: "..."
Assistant: "..."
A dozen meters down the road, Chi Zerui suddenly remembered Hao Luo'er. He slammed on the brakes.