LGSG Chapter 4
by VolareAfter delivering the gift, they were on their way back.
Shen Hua hugged his arms and rubbed the goosebumps: “Boss, didn’t you think the village chief’s house was a bit gloomy just now? Which normal person hangs white flowers at a wedding?”
Xia Ran: “Respect other people’s customs.”
Shen Hua: “…”
What the hell customs.
But seeing that the boss was so calm, there shouldn’t be anything wrong.
Anyway, they were just there to deliver a congratulatory gift.
Actually, in the beginning, when the village chief asked them to drink tea in the reception hall, he revealed his intention to have Xia Ran and Shen Hua stay.
Shen Hua was extremely scared at the time.
The village chief was wearing a dark red long shirt, and his face was full of ravines. When he smiled, his eyes narrowed into slits, revealing jagged, withered yellow teeth. He looked a bit like the old ghosts that often suddenly appear in Hong Kong movies.
Shen Hua wanted to refuse, but he didn’t know how to find a reasonable reason to refuse. He looked at Xia Ran and realized that the boss hadn’t said a word from the beginning.
So Shen Hua reached out and tugged at Xia Ran’s sleeve.
“Sorry,” Xia Ran said, “I was just thinking about how to prepare a gift for Mr. Xie.”
He put down the teacup in his hand and turned his eyes to the village chief: “Do you have anything else?”
The teacup collided with the mahogany table.
Perhaps Xia Ran used a little too much force, and the table had been eaten away by insects over the years. In short, a crack appeared visibly on the flat ground, gradually spreading to the center like a spider web, and finally collapsed with a bang.
The table collapsed.
Xia Ran: “…”
Shen Hua: “…”
The village chief silently took a step back.
“N-nothing.” His tone was mixed with fear.
Xia Ran: “The money for the table?”
Village chief: “Ha… no need to pay!!!”
In the end, Xia Ran and Shen Hua were almost swept out of the village chief’s house.
Shen Hua couldn’t tell whether Xia Ran’s deliberate collision with the table was intentional to deter the village chief. After all, judging from Xia Ran’s expression at the time, he was as innocent and dazed as he was. But the timing was too coincidental. Perhaps the boss’s way of doing things was just so elusive.
Shen Hua said gratefully: “I used to work part-time at a flower shop. After returning to Sui Yuan Ju, I’ll make a bouquet for you, Boss!”
Xia Ran: “…”
Why was he suddenly so enthusiastic towards him?
What did he do?
Xia Ran: “Thank… thanks?”
Perhaps it was because Shen Hua was very sociable.
An amazing social extrovert.
Out of the thirteen players, Xia Ran only knew Shen Hua so far. But when Xia Ran asked Shen Hua to invite him to do a quest, he found that this kid had already become familiar with almost everyone.
What a terrifying E-person.
They left Fenghuang Village, passed through the small town again, and finally returned to Sui Yuan Ju as dusk was approaching.
As soon as Shen Hua came back, the head chef rushed over with a spatula, looking fierce.
“You brat, slacking off on your first day of work?!”
Shen Hua quickly cried out, “How dare I! Who told you I went slacking off! I went to help Mr. Xie!”
Head chef: “Then how did I hear…”
The one-eyed man who was assigned an employee card like Shen Hua changed his face and quickly interrupted the head chef’s words: “Sorry, Head Chef, I couldn’t find Shen Hua today, so I thought he was slacking off. But, Shen Hua, where did you get the task from?”
Xia Ran frowned and glanced at the one-eyed man.
Why was this person so catty?
Shen Hua’s face turned pale.
“I…” he said angrily, “What did I do to provoke you? You couldn’t find me, and your first reaction was that I went slacking off? Who asserts must prove, if you say I’m slacking off, where’s the evidence?!”
One-eyed smiled: “You can’t prove that you took Mr. Xie’s quest either.”
Head chef: “That’s true. Mr. Xie doesn’t like people getting close. Shen Hua, why would he assign a task to you?”
Shen Hua: “…”
Shen Hua gritted his teeth.
He knew that in this game, there were good people like the boss who were calm and collected, cold on the outside and warm on the inside, and there were also evil people like One-eye who didn’t know right from wrong and were determined to die.
Shen Hua hadn’t offended One-eye. It was just because he and One-eye worked under the head chef, and there was a competitive relationship. One-eye just wanted to suppress him.
One-eyed: “Can you explain, Shen Hua, why did you meet Mr. Xie and receive his commission during your job?”
The head chef said unhappily, “Shen Hua, you must give me an explanation.”
Even if Shen Hua really got the commission, so what?
He still committed a workplace taboo. No boss likes subordinates working beyond their level.
One-eyed felt inexplicably happy.
Last night, he was entangled by the painting ghost all night. After staying up all night, he was full of resentment. The head chef was not an easy boss to get along with, so today, taking advantage of One-eye’s convenience in pleasing him, he asked One-eye to handle the rotten animal entrails. Now, the fire that had been pent up for a day could finally be vented on this stupid newcomer, Shen Hua.
Shen Hua was a newcomer, and a flamboyant one. The characteristics of newcomer players were very obvious in the eyes of the veterans. Such people were easily used as targets by veteran players to attract hatred. Even if it wasn’t him, others wouldn’t let Shen Hua go.
As for whether Shen Hua would be punished and die because of this, it was not within One-eye’s consideration.
After all, Shen Hua was a pure newcomer.
He had no capital to retaliate against One-eye.
Head chef: “Shen Hua?”
The tone was oppressive.
The head chef was a six-foot-two bald man, and he was especially terrifying when he lowered his face. Especially with a spatula in his hand. Shen Hua even saw his teeth slowly turn into sharp steel bars.
Was he going to die here because of a villain’s slander? No, he was not willing.
“That…” The youth in the darkness suddenly opened his mouth, “Didn’t you notice me?”
Shen Hua suddenly turned his head. Because of too much grievance and anger, his eyes were red: “Boss, you haven’t left yet?”
The black-haired youth showed a subtle and helpless expression: “I’ve been here all the time.”
It’s just that Xia Ran hadn’t said anything just now. In addition, his expression was indifferent, and he was quiet, so the head chef and One-eye present automatically ignored him.
One-eyed noticed Xia Ran, and his face changed.
The youth’s appearance was very distinctive.
The facial features were strong and flamboyant but not feminine, and because he was expressionless all year round, he even had a bit of dead fish eyes, which caused his whole person to be in a contradictory state. Beautiful but not captivating. Like a rose growing in the dark, only when you pay attention to it can you discover its beauty.
So One-eye recognized at once that this guy was the unlucky player who was chosen as a sacrifice last night.
He didn’t die?
Could it be that the young master of Sui Yuan Ju had a not low impression of him?
“Who are you?” The head chef looked at Xia Ran suspiciously.
Xia Ran: “Mr. Xie’s personal servant.”
He was wearing the standard employee uniform.
It’s just that his appearance was too attractive, so almost everyone subconsciously ignored Xia Ran’s chest badge.
The head chef’s expression became subtle: “Mr. Xie asked you to deliver a gift to the village chief’s house today?”
Xia Ran: “Yes.”
The black-haired youth didn’t show any fluctuations in his expression even when facing a head chef on the verge of rage. He was as relaxed and calm as if he were chatting.
This made the head chef look at him with admiration.
The head chef muttered: “When did Mr. Xie become so fond of humans?”
One-eyed said in a strange tone: “Mr. Xie asked you to pull people in?”
Xia Ran glanced at him.
“Yeah,” Xia Ran said, “are you envious?”
One-eyed: “…”
A chill ran down his spine.
What the hell.
Who wants to be the focus of the final boss!
Xia Ran didn’t like to talk, didn’t like to socialize, but that didn’t mean he was stupid. One-eye was about to bully Shen Hua.
“If you still have doubts about this…” He said to the head chef, “I can take you to meet the butler.”
“No need.”
An elegant and low voice rang out.
The butler had changed into a different outfit today. The modern trench coat looked especially slender on him.
His dark green eyes swept over the farce and finally landed accurately on One-eye.
“Mr. Xie thinks you should be back,” he said to Xia Ran, “let me see what’s keeping you.”
Head chef: “So it was a misunderstanding.”
He showed a fearful attitude towards the butler.
Xia Ran: “!”
He cared about him!
Although the black-haired youth didn’t have much facial fluctuation and didn’t respond, his eyes visibly lit up.
“It’s late, Sui Yuan Ju doesn’t advocate overtime, everyone should go to rest.” The butler ended the argument with one sentence.
One-eyed followed the head chef closely, not even daring to raise his head.
No one else noticed, but he realized that the butler saw through his dirty thoughts at first glance.
Originally, One-eye thought that the first player to be sacrificed should be that beautiful black-haired youth. But he didn’t expect the young master of Sui Yuan Ju to have an unfathomable and unusual attitude towards him. Nor did he expect Shen Hua to really get involved with this youth.
Now, he had indirectly offended the butler and the young master.
One-eye felt uneasy.
His face was pale, and he was somewhat absent-minded when the head chef scolded him in a low voice.
He felt like he might have made a big mistake.
“Mr. Xie wants to see you,” the butler said to Xia Ran.
Xia Ran: “Ah… but…”
He hasn’t picked flowers to make gifts yet.
Shen Hua poked him from behind: “Boss, you go get the quest reward first. I’ll pick the roses for you and make them first, and I’ll send them to the bamboo pavilion later.”
Actually, Shen Hua’s enthusiastic attitude towards Xia Ran at the beginning was just because he saw that Xia Ran was calm and the boss, wanting to hug his thighs and get some benefits. Not only Xia Ran, but he also smoothly pleased all the players. But only Xia Ran took him to do quests together. And he took the initiative to stand up when he was isolated and helpless, facing the risk of offending the head chef.
Although the boss was a little taciturn and had some strange tastes, his character was definitely unquestionable!
Xia Ran: “Alright.”
He followed the butler into the bamboo pavilion first and met Mr. Xie in the study at the end of the second floor.
The butler left the room.
Mr. Xie pushed his wheelchair to Xia Ran: “Why were you delayed for so long today? Did someone bully you?”
Xia Ran: “No.”
The black-haired youth showed a silent and shy smile.
“I wanted to prepare a gift for Mr. Xie, so I came to see you late.”
Mr. Xie: “…”
That sense of unease suddenly increased.
But the rare smile of the youth in front of him was beautiful and moving. It made people have the urge to hide him away.
Mr. Xie quietly admired it for a long time.
Finally, he reluctantly showed a faint smile.
“I’m looking forward to your… gift.”