Su Yang and Wang Dong arrived at the restaurant. They asked the waiter for the special of the day and ordered two dishes first while waiting for Manager Zhang to show up.
They also told the waiter to serve the dishes first when they were ready, and Manager Zhang could order more when he arrived.
A while later, Manager Zhang finally arrived. He still looked like how he was when Su Yang first met him: a bloated, oily-looking man in a suit.
However, this time around, he was much friendlier to Su Yang and Wang Dong. He smiled and put his hand out for a shake. “My, my, I’m sorry that I’m late.” He was just trying to be courteous.
Su Yang shook his hand and said, “No, no, we are the ones who are early.”
The three of them sat down and ordered more dishes. Su Yang told the waiter to serve some alcohol first, but Manager Zhang waved his hand. He said, “Oh, spare me the alcohol. I’m not as healthy as you young folks. Why don’t we drink tea for our little gathering?”
Su Yang was not a drinker anyway, so he happily ordered a pot of tea.
When the tea was served, Wang Dong automatically stood up and poured a cup for Manager Zhang and Su Yang before getting a cup for himself.
Manager Zhang looked at Wang Dong with an impressed gaze. He then told Su Yang, “Wang Dong’s good, isn’t he? He was my best right-hand man back in the days.”
Such words were nothing other than courteous flattery. Su Yang glanced at Wang Dong and smiled. “Brother Dong has really helped me a lot.”
Manager Zhang took a sip of tea and said after an emotional sigh, “I originally thought that Wang Dong would have a hard time when he said he wanted to join your startup. Who would have expected that your company would grow so fast? I must say, I’m really old now and I can’t keep up anymore.”
It was then Wang Dong skipped to the point. “Brother Zhang, did you say Junqing is going to acquire our company? What’s going on?”
Manager Zhang fondled the teacup in his hand and admitted, “I…have no idea either.”
Wang Dong was anxious when he heard the answer. “Brother Zhang, with your position and status, you must know something.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to help, but I’m not in the position to speak. You should know that it’s confidential. All I can say is that this isn’t the worst-case scenario, but it isn’t good either,” Manager Zhang smiled at Su Yang and explained.
Manager Zhang was subtly hinting to them. Su Yang and Wang Dong exchanged a gaze as both of them knew what he was referring to.
However, Su Yang was not happy with the answer and wanted to know the entire process. Of course, he knew Manager Zhang would never reveal the truth, so he had to rely on himself to get to the bottom of this.
With that in mind, he smiled at Manager Zhang and said, “Brother Zhang, please excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
He then told Wang Dong, “Brother Dong, keep Brother Zhang company. I’m going to the washroom.”
After that, he walked out of the room.
Manager Zhang smiled at Su Yang’s back and said to Wang Dong, “I never noticed this before, but now at a second glance, I have a feeling your boss is no ordinary man.”
Wang Dong smiled awkwardly.
After he went out of the VIP room, Su Yang walked to the counter and asked, “Hi, I want to know if you have any live chicken here?”
Surprised, the waitress responded, “Y-yes, we do kill our chickens on the spot.”
“Great. Can you kill one for me?”
The waitress was even more confused. “Kill a chicken? Sir, what kind of dish are you trying to order?”
“Mushroom chicken stew. But I have use for the chicken blood, so keep it in a bag for me.”
Maybe because Su Yang’s request was a little out of the normal, the waitress said, “O-okay, please wait for a moment. I’ll ask my manager.”
“Of course.”
A while later, the manager arrived and the waitress shared Su Yang’s request with him.
The manager was also a little shocked. Su Yang quickly stepped in and explained, “Back in my hometown, we use chicken blood to ward off evil things. I’ve not been feeling too well recently, so I want a bag of chicken blood.”
The manager understood the situation after Su Yang explained it. He assured, “Very well, Sir, please wait a moment.”
Soon enough, a bowlful of warm chicken blood packed in a plastic bag was passed to Su Yang who took the bag of blood and said, “Thanks.”
He took the bag to the toilet and tossed the hourglass into the blood.
He had been wondering about the requirements of the hourglass before this. The description only said 100 ccs of blood and did not say anything about what kind of blood. Therefore, he planned to try it with chicken blood first, and if it failed, he would have to cut his hand.
After all, even though Su Yang was a resolute person, he was not a masochist. He did not want to cut himself just for fun.
Fortunately, the chicken blood worked!
When the hourglass was soaked in the chicken blood, it shone brightly and the light even pierced the thick blood. The light caused the blood to ripple and the blood started to decrease exponentially.
The sand in the hourglass started to flow back to the other end. When more than half of the blood was absorbed, the hourglass returned to normal.
Su Yang took the hourglass out. A strange red light shone from it when he took it out.
He pocketed the hourglass, tossed the bag of remaining blood away, and washed his hands before returning to the dining table.
Back in the VIP room, Wang Dong was asking a question, but Manager Zhang shook his head and did not say anything.
When Su Yang came back, the two of them stopped conversing. He went back to his seat and said with a smile, “What are you guys talking about?”
“We are still talking about the acquisition,” Wang Dong said with a bitter expression.
Su Yang patted his shoulder and then picked up the chopsticks. “Come on. Let’s put it aside and have dinner first!”
“Mr. Su…” Wang Dong wanted to persuade Su Yang but could not find the right words.
Su Yang patted his shoulder again. “I know what I’m doing.”
Wang Dong might have suspected Su Yang’s unusual confidence before today, but after he witnessed the miracle that his boss created that afternoon, he trusted him unconditionally, so he nodded and kept quiet.
Su Yang smiled at Manager Zhang and said, “Brother Zhang, we are here for dinner. It’s a private gathering, so let’s not talk about business.”
Manager Zhang laughed. “Yeah, sure! Let’s not talk about business.”
Dinner went on smoothly.
After dinner, Su Yang asked, “Is everyone full?”
Wang Dong nodded and Manager Zhang said with a face full of smiles. “The food is not bad.”
“I’ll go get the bill.” Su Yang put his hand into his pocket and grabbed his phone together with the hourglass. He propped his hand on the table and got up.
When the hourglass stood on the table, time stopped. The space in the VIP room started to swirl rapidly like a whirlpool.
Since he had already experienced it once, Su Yang was not worried at all, he patiently waited for the hourglass to transfer him into Manager Zhang’s memory.
A moment later, Su Yang arrived inside Manager Zhang’s memory sequence, and this time around, he did not wander as he had done with Little Hus. He swiftly went through the sequences and locked onto the matters about the acquisition.
Twenty minutes later, he went out of the Memory Maze after grasping most of the details.
‘Now, I see…’
Back in the real world, Su Yang stood up and got out of the room. He called the waiter and paid the bill. He also asked for a receipt for the meal.
After they left the restaurant, the two of them sent Manager Zhang off.
Wang Dong then nervously looked at Su Yang and asked, “Mr. Su, we didn’t get anything from Brother Zhang tonight!”
Su Yang smiled and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I’m getting to the bottom of it.”
He did not say why despite the confused look on Wang Dong. Instead, he told Wang Dong, “We will be focusing on the larger clients from now on. Didn’t you say something about having contacts with Junqing Intermediary’s clientele? Try your best and get them over here. We won’t be working with them anymore.”
He also added, “Try your best to fill the remaining job listings by this weekend. I hope I won’t have to go to the client’s side to talk about the weekend jobs anymore.
Wang Dong nodded repeatedly and nervously. “Yes, sir! I’ll do my best!”
Su Yang nodded. He then parted ways with Wang Dong and headed home. After he reached his basement, he jumped into the virtual space.
After a tedious day, he had settled most of the troublesome matters, but they almost exhausted him. He collapsed on the couch like a dead person. He shut his eyes and enjoyed all the rest he could get.
A while later, a petite figure snuck up to him. She put her soft hands on his shoulder and started massaging him.
Su Yang’s eyes remained closed, but he knew it was Deeny based on the massage. He asked, “What brings you here automatically today? I usually have to call you and you are always reluctant to massage me.”
Deeny put on a wide, flattering smile and said, “Master, I have a tiny request.”