Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Su Jianglou stared at his disconnected call, then tossed his phone aside, about to close his eyes and try other contact methods.

But it was as if the other end had entered a signal black hole—his attempts vanished without a trace, leaving no response.

Yet, if someone had truly entered a signal-dead zone, how did his cake disappear just twenty minutes ago?

From the moment he went to call his elder brother to share the cake—a mere two minutes—until he returned, his cake was gone!

By now, the entire Su family villa was shrouded in a dark mist. The floors, sofas, and coffee tables rattled and trembled incessantly. Su Jianglou’s meticulously maintained human facade, perfected over recent days, finally cracked open with several terrifying fissures, beneath which dark, molten lava seemed to surge faintly.

“I’ll kill him!”

“I’m going to kill him!”

The enraged supernatural being slammed the table with his fist in fury, and the already trembling dining table finally shattered into two pieces.

“Jiang Lou, don’t say such things when you’re angry,” Su Xuanxiao said disapprovingly, glancing at his younger brother before mercifully instructing the butler to take the table away for repairs.

Su Jianglou paid no heed, continuing darkly, “Just give me a chance, and I’ll mix him into concrete, embed him under the floorboards, and trample on him for ten years.”

Since he had stopped outright calling for murder, Su Xuanxiao didn’t intervene further. Otherwise, it would seem like he, as the eldest brother, was taking sides.

To be fair, Ju Zi had really crossed the line this time. What reason did he have to take Jiang Lou’s cake when he was perfectly fine?

This made Su Xuanxiao recall the past once more.

He, Ju Zi, and Jiang Lou—the birthdays of the three brothers were all quite close.

In order: first Jiang Lou, then him, and finally Ju Zi.

In the earliest years, they were lucky to even remember their own birthdates, let alone have any concept of celebrating birthdays.

That is, until later…

Their family welcomed a fourth member.

He gave them his surname and, pointing to the stars in the sky, chose names for them.

Amid the joy of receiving his own name, Jiang Lou celebrated his first birthday.

Ju Zi had an easygoing temperament but was jealous by nature.

When Jiang Lou celebrated his birthday, Ju Zi could still hold back. But when it was Su Xuanxiao’s turn, Ju Zi, whose birthday came last, ultimately couldn’t restrain himself and secretly started crying. Their youngest brother, seeing this, sweetly tried to comfort his second brother for a long time.

Now, years later, Ju Zi was no longer the child who cried secretly after seeing his brothers celebrate their birthdays first.

He just takes what he wants now.

Still, aside from certain specific incidents over the years, Ju Zi had generally maintained a respectful and harmonious relationship with his brothers.

Who knew what had gotten into him this year, suddenly provoking Jiang Lou on his birthday of all days.

***

As Su Ximu watched Group Leader Lan242 light the candles and then signal for him to close his eyes and make a wish, he genuinely felt as if the two of them were the ones celebrating a birthday, a strange sense of role reversal.

Group Leader Lan242 was in high spirits, so Su Ximu obliged, closing his eyes. Hearing Group Leader Lan242 even make a wish on behalf of his brother, Su Ximu couldn’t help but wonder silently whether Group Leader Lan242’s relationship with his brother was good or not.

If it was good, why would Group Leader Lan242 secretly take his brother’s birthday cake?

If it was bad, why would Group Leader Lan242 still remember to make a wish for him?

After making their wishes over the candles, the two opened their eyes and blew them out together.

When it came time to cut the cake, Group Leader Lan242 placed the first slice in front of Su Ximu, casually scraping off the excess frosting.

As he cut his own slice, he asked offhandedly, “Xiao Xi, what kind of wishes do you usually make when you’re faced with a cake?”

Su Ximu thought for a moment. “There are quite a few—I can’t really recall them clearly.”

Since he ate cake several times a year, each time he felt he ought to make a wish, but he could never quite recall what those wishes were.

He only remembered wanting to eat tangerines.

“Then, Group Leader Lan242, do you make wishes every time you celebrate a birthday too?”

Group Leader Lan242 nodded. “Yes, I make wishes four times a year.”

While Su Ximu and Group Leader Lan242 were cutting the cake and talking in the cafeteria, it was as if an invisible barrier had formed around them.

It wasn’t that few employees came to the cafeteria—on the contrary, there were many, including one wearing an orange hat.

The restless longing was directed at Su Ximu.

The envy and resentment, naturally, were aimed at Group Leader Lan242.

Before Tourism Park was acquired by Su Financial Group, most employees had only vaguely heard that a rather brazen “connected individual” had arrived in the park.

Later, after Tourism Park was acquired by Su Financial Group, everyone grew uneasy. Many speculated that this connected individual had ties to Su Financial Group, though the individual himself only admitted to being “somewhat familiar with Mr. Su of Su Financial Group.”

It wasn’t until a couple of days ago, right in this very cafeteria, that a powerful supernatural being arrived carrying a bag of snacks to visit the connected individual who was “experiencing life” in Tourism Park.

After delivering the snacks, the supernatural being turned around, dragged Old Man Ma from the Folk Park into the director’s office, and openly called Mr. Su “Big Brother.”

The supernatural being who came to deliver snacks to the connected individual called Mr. Su “Big Brother”!

The connected individual also shared the surname Su.

What did that imply?

Everyone who understood, understood.

Unfortunately, recalling the warning, scrutinizing gaze the powerful supernatural being had swept over all of them as he left the cafeteria, they could only covet yet hesitate before this tantalizing opportunity, deciding to observe discreetly for the time being.

In this context, Group Leader Lan242—who had managed to get familiar with the connected individual, or rather, Young Master Su, on his very first day at work—naturally stood out.

The very connection everyone wanted to cling to had been seized by a low-level supernatural being like you?

All the supernatural beings thought their covert stares were well hidden, but with dozens upon dozens of hidden gazes converging in one place, how could Su Ximu not notice?

After finishing the cake and returning to the dormitory, he thought it over and finally took out the hundred-yuan bill from his pocket, saying to Group Leader Lan242, “Group Leader, maybe we should go buy another cake to give back to your brother.”

Group Leader Lan242 peeled a tangerine-flavored soft candy and handed it over, still shaking his head. “No need. He’s done the same to me before.”

At that, Su Ximu fell silent.

So it was a matter of give and take.

"Then it's settled."

Since there was no need to buy another cake, after the lunch break, Su Ximu headed to work as usual.

During the Tourism Park's reform period, the folk culture area was temporarily closed.

The actor staff, like the others, were temporarily assigned to do manual labor like moving equipment in the folk culture area.

Su Ximu was assigned a very cushy job as usual. He was responsible for sitting in the shade of a tree with a small notebook, keeping track of how the other employees were doing and rating them.

It was somewhat like being the area foreman in the folk culture area.

After a day's work, Su Ximu looked at the notebook in his hand, sighed softly, and was deep in thought.

That night, before bed, after finishing his washing up in the dormitory, he heard a knock at the door again.

He thought Group Leader Lan242 had brought over some tasty food for a late-night snack.

Group Leader Lan242 always came up with all sorts of tasty treats, and the names of the foods sounded very healthy—either sleepytime tea, stewed chicken soup, or stewed ribs...

Group Leader Lan242 said he made all these himself in the dormitory.

Su Ximu didn't have those culinary skills, so if he wanted to return the favor, he could only share his own snacks with Group Leader Lan242.

He thought tonight would be the same, so out of habit, he didn't even bother to check the peephole.

But when he opened the door, he found a complete stranger standing outside.

Like him, the person wasn’t wearing a hat but had a badge pinned to his chest, indicating he was also an actor from the folk culture area.

Su Ximu was taken aback but still politely asked the seemingly nervous colleague, "Hello, is there something you need?"

"I, I..." The visitor was a little over six feet tall, with a straight nose, thick eyebrows, and big eyes—a very rugged, masculine look that didn’t quite match his nervous demeanor.

Under the questioning gaze of the young man opposite him, he mustered his courage, raised his hand to tear his clothes off, and tried to step inside.

!

Su Ximu’s eyes widened, and he ducked down quickly, slipping under the man’s arm and out the door.

He acted on instinct, but he still didn’t fully understand the situation: "What are you doing?"

The tough-looking man turned around, feeling he couldn’t leave empty-handed, and continued to sell himself: "You don’t like me like this? It’s fine, just take a look—I can also be a woman, or even neither male nor female!"

Su Ximu lowered his head, his brain working furiously, almost overheating as he processed the words. The next second, he turned on his heel and bolted.

Su Ximu felt like he kept running and running until he accidentally bumped right into Group Leader Lan242.

Group Leader Lan242 was still holding a lunchbox.

Seeing this, Su Ximu pursed his lips, a hint of reluctance in his eyes, but this was a real emergency!

"Group Leader Lan242, I might not be working here anymore."

"You... you’re my only friend here."

Blue 242, who had just returned from outside, was taken aback. He didn’t yet know what had happened, but he followed up on the young man’s sudden mention of changing jobs: "Why are you leaving so suddenly?"

After asking, he didn’t forget to respond carefully: "You’re also a very important person to me."

"A very important person" versus "a friend"—the difference was clear at a glance.

Su Ximu felt even more upset inside.

Although he had worked part-time jobs to support himself before, his lack of social skills and education meant most of his jobs involved manual labor with little need for interaction with colleagues.

So, despite his past experience, for a young man who was not even twenty years old this year, his attitude toward the workplace was still somewhat naive.

He genuinely tried to make friends in the workplace.

Moreover, Group Leader Lan242 was the person he had interacted with the most since arriving in this new world and had taken extra care of him, so there might also be some imprinting effect at play.

Under the night sky, the two decided not to return to the dormitory immediately and instead took a walk along the brighter main paths of the park.

With Blue 242’s gentle guidance, Su Ximu finally talked about what had just happened and shared his worries: "I might not be able to continue working here, but I can’t go home yet either. I made a big mistake at home. Actually, my third brother secretly helped me hide here because he’s afraid my second brother will be very angry when he returns and come after me."

"So, once I find another job, I’ll probably have to leave here."

"Have you thought about talking to your brother about this?" Blue 242 asked.

Su Ximu thought for a moment but remained silent, lowering his head.

Blue 242 gently offered advice to the young man who had unconsciously grown closer to him: "How about I help you find a job? You can go there first. Coincidentally, I’m planning to change jobs in a couple of days too."

Su Ximu slowly looked up: ^_^

***

Under the streetlights

The young man holding the phone was still explaining to his brother on the other end of the line: "It’s a legitimate job; you can look it up online. Group Leader Lan242 is a very good person."

"No, third brother, Group Leader Lan242 isn’t tricking me. He’s different from the others here—I can feel it."

"He didn’t befriend me because of my status."

"He’s been very good to me. We’re good friends."

Su Jianglou gripped the phone tightly, grinding his teeth, his ears still echoing with Xiao Mu’s words: "He’s a very good person," "He’s different from the others," "He’s a very good person," "He’s different from the others"...

Author's Note:

From Little Mu’s perspective: A good friend not approved by the family.

From third brother’s perspective: Blue 242, huh? Might as well just kill him.