“Xu Ge, didn’t I tell you that I don’t get off work until nine these days?”
Xu Bei, hands in his pockets, arrived at the convenience store, only to be told by Sun Xiaohui—wearing a puzzled expression—that she finished work at nine.
“Oh, is that so?” Xu Bei rubbed his face, then snapped back to reality and said, “Of course I know. I came to have dinner with you so you wouldn’t be lonely.”
“Mm-hmm?” Sun Xiaohui smiled brightly but looked at Xu Bei thoughtfully and asked, “There should still be some bento boxes at home. Xu Ge, why don’t you eat those first? I have my work meal here, so we need to save a bit.”
“Oh…” Xu Bei scratched his head a little awkwardly.
He sat down on the bench in front of the convenience store, sinking into thought, replaying the afternoon’s game and questioning his own life choices.
Looks like my head really got fogged up playing games—I’ve even forgotten when my girlfriend gets off work.
“Xu Ge, are you okay?” Sun Xiaohui asked with concern.
“I’m fine. I just got a little dizzy from teaming up with Sang Biao this afternoon,” Xu Bei replied with a bitter smile.
Sun Xiaohui went back into the convenience store, poured a glass of water, and placed it in front of Xu Bei before saying, “Xu Ge, I’m still working and can’t keep coming out.”
“You go back to work. I’ll sit here for a bit and then head home,” Xu Bei said.
So that means later he’d have to suffer through playing games with Sang Biao until nine?
Dun dun dun~ Xu Bei finished the water, stood up, and prepared to leave.
Wuwuwu~ A sleek black luxury car slowly pulled up beside him, the door quickly slid open, and several men in black suits jumped out.
“?” Before Xu Bei could even lift his butt off the bench, he was surrounded.
“Young man, let’s have a chat.” A smiling man in a suit with a beard gestured for Xu Bei to sit, then took the seat opposite him.
Three other men in black suits took triangular positions beside the man, completely surrounding Xu Bei.
Even if Xu Bei didn’t want to talk, there was no way to back out.
“Who are you? What do you want with me?” Xu Bei asked.
“We’re the cadres of the Ji’e Group. I’m Kimura, and I want to discuss some internal matters of our group. You’re the bartender from the Weiwo Bar, right?” Kimura explained.
“I’m no longer with Weiwo. If you want to buy information, find someone else,” Xu Bei replied truthfully.
“Weiwo is the biggest intelligence agency on Meteor Street. Their members hold many of Meteor Street’s secrets. You can’t just retire that easily,” Kimura said.
“What does your personnel turnover have to do with us? You dare interfere with Weiwo’s affairs? You want a cut from selling intelligence?” Xu Bei retorted.
“Ahem, you misunderstand,” Kimura quickly denied.
“I’m a legitimate employee of Weiwo Bar. I only handled bartending. The organization’s affairs have nothing to do with me. If I was fired, I’m free to leave. I don’t understand your underworld matters—I’ve left Meteor Street,” Xu Bei explained.
“We’re currently investigating people who recently left Meteor Street, so we came to find you. But this shouldn’t concern you,” Kimura smiled.
“What happened? I’m working for the Demon Suppression Bureau now,” Xu Bei feigned confusion.
“That’s a secret within our group, so I can’t say. Sorry to bother you, brother.” Kimura stood up.
Then with a wave of his hand, his smile and kindness disappeared as he turned and walked back to the black car with his men, the door closing slowly before they drove off.
Xu Bei watched the black car leave, his guard still up.
Once the car was gone, Xu Bei quickly stood and returned to his rented apartment.
Something’s wrong! Enemies have come knocking!
Even though it has nothing to do with me.
Back at another rented apartment, Sang Biao was smoking in the hallway when he was caught by another group of uninvited guests.
They were also men in suits, wearing glasses, looking refined and cultured, their faces smiling, giving off the vibe of salesmen.
“Miss, do you know where Mr. Xu Bei is?” the man with glasses asked Sang Biao.
“I’m not a miss,” Sang Biao retorted coldly.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that,” the man immediately apologized.
In fact, he had misunderstood. His “miss” was just a polite form of address. He thought Sang Biao was calling herself a streetwalker.
But when Sang Biao said she wasn’t a miss, she meant her spirit wasn’t that of a woman—she was a tough iron-willed man.
“You’re Xu Bei’s streaming teammate, right? We know you. Can you tell us where Xu Bei is?” the man with glasses pressed.
“What do you want with Xu Bei?” Sang Biao countered.
“We’re employees of Li Ge Media Company. We want to discuss live-streaming cooperation with Mr. Xu Bei,” the man replied.
Just then, the landlady returned. Seeing the second floor of her shabby building packed with people, she immediately shouted sharply, “Who are you? Why are you blocking my place and causing a ruckus?”
“Landlady, they look like salesmen,” Sang Biao answered.
“Salesmen? Get out quickly! I don’t welcome you here! Don’t bother my tenants! Get lost!!!” The landlady immediately advanced, shouting and scolding all along the street.
Faced with the unreasonable landlady, the men in glasses were quickly driven away without any resistance.
…
After the self-proclaimed media salesmen left, Xu Bei returned to his rented apartment.
He saw Sang Biao upstairs and immediately went up, ready for a proper talk.
“You yellow-haired brat! What kind of trouble have you caused outside? Don’t bring your mess here! Why is Xiaohui even sheltering a bum like you? You really are a scoundrel who tricks little girls!”
But before Xu Bei could respond, the landlady intercepted him and pointed at his face, launching into a tirade.
“What’s wrong with me? I just came back from visiting Little Sun,” Xu Bei said, confused by the verbal attack.
Still, he didn’t dare fire back at the landlady. After all, he was living under someone else’s roof, and in some sense, truly a jobless drifter.
“A group of men in suits came looking for you just now. Do you really think you didn’t cause any trouble?” the landlady shouted.
“Huh?” Hearing this, Xu Bei pushed past her and went to Sang Biao. “What happened?”
“They said they’re from a media company and want to talk about live-streaming work with you,” Sang Biao replied.
“Damn it, those damned bloodsuckers have found me in real life,” Xu Bei cursed.
This is the downside of real-name registration—it’s the infamous offline doxxing.
If I had to say, the only real benefit of real-name registration online is that netizens vent a little less. The drawbacks are many.
Like now, it wouldn’t matter if you’re not famous. But once you’re known, all sorts of unrelated people come knocking, and you can’t stop them because your personal info is out there on the internet.
If you want to avoid harassment, you need to be strong enough in real life to fend it off.