Chapter 11: Luxury Car

Chapter 11: The Luxury Car

Before Zhou could respond, Ye Ru waved her off. "Go on, get to work."

Only after leaving the office did it dawn on her—wasn't Ye Ru's way of working with her just like her own dynamic with Zhan? she thought.

Guess it's true—like boss, like subordinate.

Though Zhou had never organized such events before, she had been to plenty of working lunches. She'd mentally noted a few places with good food and nice atmosphere, and after consulting a few familiar colleagues, she quickly got it sorted.

Early the next morning, Ye Ru announced the evening gathering in the team chat.

The colleagues’ reactions varied—some were happy to join, while others complained it was a hassle. Still, given how rarely the department organized activities, and with the excuse of welcoming a new colleague, it was a good enough reason.

So, complaints aside, everyone naturally split into cars and set off after work.

Zhou had a driver’s license but had never bought a car, so she usually caught rides with colleagues, taking whatever seat was available.

She had planned to drag Zhan along to Luo's car, but the latter flashed his car key at her.

"Luo, why not ride with me?"

Zhou knew nothing about cars, but she recognized the bold logo on the key. Without hesitation, she agreed.

Nearby, Luo couldn’t help but exclaim at the sight of Zhan’s key, "Whoa, sweet ride!"

Hearing this, Zhou beckoned him over. "Come on, let's check out this fancy car."

Luo had originally planned to drive himself, but her words swayed him. His car was always available, but this chance might not come again.

Zhan was also generous, warmly inviting Luo. "Luo, let's go together. I’ll drive you back later."

"Sounds great! Thanks, man."

"No big deal."

By then, the other colleagues had already paired up for rides, so the three of them headed to the parking garage.

On the way, Luo and Zhan chatted nonstop about cars, leaving Zhou bored. She started texting Du Yu.

Coincidentally, Du Yu was asking to meet up over the weekend to introduce her new boyfriend.

Compared to cars, Zhou was far more interested in this.

She messaged Du Yu daily—whenever she arrived at work, she’d automatically open their chat.

Though they barely exchanged more than a few sentences a day, their communication was like those message-in-a-bottle apps—replying whenever they happened to see a message. Still, she’d long grown accustomed to it.

She rarely visited the parking garage and didn’t know the way, so she simply followed the two men. Only when they stopped did she finally look up.

Zhan’s silver-gray coupe had sleek lines. Zhou’s eyes lit up as she praised, "This car is seriously cool!"

"Of course it is—it’s one of their most iconic models," Luo said, totally captivated. He couldn’t take his eyes off it as he studied it.

Zhou wasn't a car expert, but she knew what looked good. She turned to Zhan. "Your car kinda looks like the one the protagonist drives in *Black Tech*. Looks awesome!"

Zhan said excitedly, "Exactly! That movie car was based on this model."

"If the hood was a little longer, it would look even more similar!" Zhou Zuofei gestured while examining the car.

"I was gonna mod it," he replied, "but my friend said it'd be better not to, so I left it alone."

Luo Jing couldn’t follow their conversation at all, but based on his understanding of Zhou Zuofei, he guessed they were probably discussing something from anime or games.

He ribbed her, "Finally found a coworker as deep into weeb stuff as you, huh?"

"Kinda," Zhou Zuofei replied seriously. "But a loaded weeb and a broke weeb are two different species."

"Oh boy, here we go, Zhou-jie!"

Zhan Zilang muttered as he pressed the car key, and the sleek light lines of the vehicle instantly illuminated, blending with the dim garage lighting. It looked straight out of a game cutscene—total eye candy.

At that moment, Zhou Zuofei had only one thought in her mind—man, being loaded rules—you can even cop the in-game car IRL.

Inside, the fancy interior didn’t wow her like the exterior had.

Sitting alone in the backseat, she listened to Luo Jing and Zhan Zilang chatting, occasionally chiming in.

The younger crowd kept things loose and casual. Plus, the administrative department didn’t have many young, single employees, so they naturally formed a close-knit circle and got along well.

Work was the only thing that ever caused tension.

At the restaurant, everyone enjoyed a lively meal. Aside from Ye Ru’s obligatory opening remarks, there was none of that cringey forced-drinking nonsense.

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways.

Zhou Zuofei was just figuring out her ride home when Ye Ru suddenly said to her, "It’s Friday—let’s keep the party going! The others are tied down with kids, but you young folks don’t have to worry about that."

A married colleague passing by overheard Ye Ru’s words and nodded in agreement. "She’s right, Xiao Zhou. Live it up now—you’ll be too tired later."

Zhou Zuofei joked, "Simple fix—skip marriage, skip the hassle."

"No joke," Ye Ru gave her arm a light smack. "We don’t hang like this often. You should arrange something."

"Then, Ye-jie, are you coming?"

"Not me, I’ve got too much to do at home." Ye Ru then turned to another single colleague and repeated the same suggestion.

Zhou Zuofei understood perfectly—Ye Ru was making it clear that she *had* to organize something.

"How about karaoke?" That was the usual after-dinner move.

"Your call. Ball’s in your court," Ye Ru said before waving and leaving.

Before long, most of the group had dipped, leaving only six young colleagues from the department.

Zhou Zuofei asked for suggestions, "Thoughts? If not, I’m grabbing a KTV room."

"I’m down."

"Yeah, roll with it."

"Works for me—anything to avoid going home."

Just as everyone seemed agreeable, Zhan Zilang threw up a lazy hand and said, "So, uh, I got a thought."

The second he opened his mouth, everyone locked onto him.

Zhan Zilang continued, "I've got some bottles stored at New World, and they have performances on Fridays. Let's go there."

The suggestion was a hit, with everyone agreeing.

"New World? I went there once before—it's got a cool atmosphere."

"Whoa, never been somewhere that fancy."

"Sounds good to me! What do you think, Xiao Zhou?"

Zhou Zuofei thought it over carefully. Whether it was karaoke or a bar, it didn’t make much difference to her—just another place to munch on fruit.

"Sure, New World works for me."

They headed off separately, agreeing to meet up at the bar entrance later.

Zhou Zuofei still rode with Luo Jing in Zhan Zilang’s car.

Zhou Zuofei didn't go to bars often. She had gone a few times with Du Yu during holidays, but she disliked noisy environments, so Du Yu eventually stopped inviting her.

If it were up to her, she’d much rather stay home and play games at night.

Zhan Zilang navigated easily to New World’s entrance, dropping off Luo Jing and Zhou Zuofei before going to park.

The others hadn’t arrived yet. Zhou Zuofei noticed a recruitment poster at the entrance and automatically read it. When she saw the listed salary, she gasped.

"Holy crap! The pay here is so high!"

Hearing this, Luo Jing leaned over to take a look. "That tracks. Bar jobs aren’t for everyone—working overnight is exhausting."

Zhou Zuofei realized he had a point. She could already feel her energy fading. Back then, she could pull all-nighters gaming without issue, but now, losing even an hour of sleep left her groggy the next day.

"Money doesn't come easy."

"And they have pretty high standards for the servers’ looks," Luo Jing added knowingly.