Chapter 98: Replication Experiment 22
Logically speaking, both Qing Gang and Zhong Mu became civil servants through formal examinations. Their ability to handle interpersonal relationships in simulated scenarios and respond to emergencies should at least meet the passing standard. Yet, at this moment, both of them had burrowed into a dead end, losing their ability to think, and could only stare blankly at each other.
The sun had completely set by now. The office was dim, and the whole building was terrifyingly quiet. Only the central air conditioning vents were working tirelessly, blowing continuous chilly gusts that effectively heightened the horror of the situation. After a while, Qing Gang squatted on the ground, rubbed the goosebumps on his arms, and continued to discuss: “So what should we do next? Should we slightly… stop Little Yi, prevent him from going further down the wrong path? After all, if this kind of thing blows up, it will have a bad influence on both the individual and the unit.”
Zhong Mu: “How do we stop him?”
Qing Gang hadn’t figured out how to stop him yet, but it definitely had to be stopped. Little Yi was a man with a wife, yet he was two-timing, and with Captain Zhuang no less. As expected, young masters from wealthy families were more or less tainted with such playboy vices. But then again, how did he dare? Although Captain Zhuang was indeed beautiful as a flower, his fists when beating people up were equally impressive. He could kick a monster weighing several hundred pounds off a skyscraper with one kick… By the way, what floor does Little Yi live on again?
Zhong Mu: “Why did you suddenly gasp again?”
Qing Gang replied with a grave expression, “Because I suddenly remembered that Little Yi has photos of Captain Zhuang wearing pajamas in his phone.” And pajamas were obviously something you wore only when preparing to sleep.
Zhong Mu: “…”
Suddenly, footsteps approached from the corridor. The two people in the office, guilty as thieves, instantly sprang apart. Amidst a clatter of noise, they moved their chairs and sat down properly. Qing Gang even started typing nimbly on a keyboard that had no monitor. The footsteps outside the door paused slightly, then faded away again without pushing the door open.
In the parking lot, Zhuang Ningyu had just opened a pack of gummy candies in the passenger seat. Before he could eat one, Yi Ke opened the car door. He asked puzzledly, “Didn’t you go to shower?”
They were going to eat Japanese food, and since Yi Ke had spent the whole day at the training ground, he had planned to shower and change clothes before eating. But the situation had changed. He said, “Qing Gang and Zhong Mu are currently in the office.”
So they’re there, so what? That was Zhuang Ningyu’s first reaction. But soon, with a gummy candy dangling from his mouth, he turned his head in shock and squeezed out words through his teeth: “Really?”
Yi Ke met his gaze and poked that round strawberry gummy into his wife’s mouth. Yes, that’s right, it’s exactly what you’re thinking. The concrete evidence was that the two figures were originally close together, but upon hearing his footsteps, they immediately shot off in different directions. Even though the office door was double-layered frosted glass, it couldn’t hide the blurry chaos.
Zhuang Ningyu swallowed the gummy, still finding it unbelievable. “How could that be? Didn’t Qing Gang go on a blind date at a coffee shop just last week?”
Yi Ke answered him: “But love is a sudden downpour.”
Zhuang Ningyu was deeply convinced by these words. Love was indeed a sudden downpour. Actually, thinking about it carefully, apart from Qing Gang not being Zhong Mu’s ideal type and Zhong Mu not being Qing Gang’s ideal type, there didn’t seem to be any major problems. Besides, from a realistic perspective, if we’re talking about outrageous relationships, who could compare to his own?
Yi Ke suddenly leaned over.
Zhuang Ningyu closed his eyes.
Yi Ke buckled his seatbelt for him.
Zhuang Ningyu opened his eyes.
He fell into deep philosophical contemplation. For example, to what extent are human choices shaped by past experiences? What is the nature of consciousness, and what is the nature of free will? If behavior can be stimulated by the environment and form patterns, then where does human autonomy lie?
Outside the window was heavy traffic. The rain of late spring and early summer began to drift down densely. As the asphalt road got wet, the world became increasingly upside down. That day, it wasn’t until they finished the Japanese food, returned home, showered, lay in bed, and Yi Ke clingily moved in to kiss him again that Zhuang Ningyu finally regained his home-court advantage. He shot a glance: “Didn’t you say no kissing?”
Yi Ke’s eyes widened, asking with immense grievance, “When did I say no kissing?”
Zhuang Ningyu couldn’t be bothered to answer. He pushed him away, grabbed a book from the nightstand, and prepared to continue reading. However, Yi Ke snapped the book shut with a thud, cupped his face with both hands, and insisted on a domineering CEO-style forced kiss—not just a kiss, but a fierce one! But just as their lips touched, the phone tossed on the duvet started vibrating. Once or twice could be ignored, but ten or eight times demanded attention. At this hour and with this density, it was likely a new job. Yi Ke climbed off Zhuang Ningyu, unlocked his phone casually, and his face immediately showed extreme confusion—
Qing Gang had sent him twenty or thirty photos in one breath, including but not limited to red roses, white roses, pink roses, yellow roses, blue roses, black roses, rainbow roses, as well as desks piled high with coffee and milk tea, various exquisite fruit platters, Chinese pastries, Western desserts, stacks of VIP cards for private hot spring baths, and even the toilet, sink, and faucet in the Action Team’s office restroom at the Order Maintenance Department?
“What is this stuff?” Zhuang Ningyu asked.
“I don’t know, just random messy things.” Yi Ke replied with a bewildered voice message, asking if he sent it to the wrong person.
“No mistake.” Qing Gang replied quickly. His loud voice sounded very, very clear in the quiet bedroom, like a poetry recitation. “I was just suddenly thinking, if only I had as many pursuers as Captain Zhuang! Ah, who knows what a beautiful, fulfilling, decent, healthy, and blessed love life he will have in the future!”
Zhuang Ningyu: “?”
Yi Ke: “?”
Qing Gang: “What do you think?”
Yi Ke: “Are all the things in the photos sent by the same person?”
Zhuang Ningyu reached out to rub his temples.
That’s the question I was waiting for! Qing Gang finally got his chance to perform. Holding his pre-written draft in one hand, he gushed eloquently: “How is that possible? People chasing Captain Zhuang could line up from Jincheng all the way to Juliaca. These pictures, every single one, were sent by different people. I only took photos of these few; as for the ones I didn’t photograph, there were even more.” Juliaca—he had specifically looked up this city. 30.66° South latitude, 75.94° West longitude, located on the exact opposite end of the globe from Jincheng.
Later, there were more and more suitors, forcing the Order Maintenance Department to add a specific rule for the gate guards—anything sent to Zhuang Ningyu was absolutely not allowed inside. Qing Gang continued his introduction: “But Captain Zhuang’s charm is simply too great. A few years ago, a wealthy lady doing import sanitary ware business in Jiangcheng, just so Captain Zhuang could use the toilet comfortably during breaks, didn’t hesitate to replace all the toilets in our entire building with high-end ones under the name of sponsorship!”
Zhuang Ningyu didn’t want to listen anymore and stretched his arm to grab the phone, but Yi Ke dodged sideways, pressing him heavily back into the duvet with one hand. Qing Gang on the phone was still continuing: “This wealthy sister didn’t reveal her true intentions until the renovation project was over, saying she wanted to invite Captain Zhuang to dinner.”
“Did he go?” Yi Ke glanced at the person lying depressed in the duvet.
Zhuang Ningyu: “…”
Qing Gang’s loud voice babbled on: “Of course he went.”
Zhuang Ningyu gritted his teeth and pushed himself up.
Qing Gang’s tone was full of emotion: “For this meal, we even used public funds to buy Captain Zhuang a set of high-end Italian handmade suit and hired a dedicated stylist for him, to show respect for the wealthy sister.”
No one in the Action Team objected to this expense. They even stated that if the team didn’t approve the cost, they were willing to crowdfund it out of their own pockets! during the entire renovation of the office building, Zhuang Ningyu was in a thick fog and had no idea what was happening outside. After that mission ended, as soon as he left the Rules Zone, he was urgently dragged for a routine check-up. immediately after the check-up, he was picked up by a luxury SUV and taken to a luxury suite in a five-star hotel. A swarm of waiting stylists with headsets rushed forward. Although slightly puzzled, Zhuang Ningyu ultimately attended the appointment just so his colleagues could wash their butts with pure hot water in the dead of winter! The wealthy sister was very nice and had no other intentions. She said it was just a meal, and it was indeed just a meal. After dining, she even personally drove him home in her Rolls-Royce.
Yi Ke thought in shock: So the toilet I use several times a day was exchanged for by my wife’s beauty!
Qing Gang: “And there’s also the luxury Austrian crystal chandelier in our corridor, the same model as in five-star hotels, which has been complained about by the public at least a dozen times—”
“Enough!” Zhuang Ningyu couldn’t bear it anymore, snatched the phone, and snapped, “Shut up!”
Qing Gang’s voice on the other end stopped abruptly. He made a hiccup sound like a choked quail and stammered a greeting: “Heh heh heh, Captain Zhuang Zhuang Zhuang, why are you also also good evening.”
Zhuang Ningyu took a deep breath. He wanted to curse but didn’t know where to start. What is wrong with this person, running over in the middle of the night to spread rumors and destroy my family relationships? He stuttered for a long time, unable to form words, so he simply hung up and ordered Yi Ke: “Sleep.”
“Sleep?” Yi Ke asked tremblingly. “Aren’t you going to explain to me?”
“I don’t know.” Zhuang Ningyu pulled up the duvet, wrapped most of his head in it, and turned his back to him.
Ten minutes later, he sat up resignedly, messy hair and all, saying: “You… I really… I… just ate a meal!”
Yi Ke maintained the sorrowful pose from ten minutes ago: “You didn’t just eat a meal; you specifically put on makeup.”
Zhuang Ningyu raised his hand for a slap. What do you mean I put on makeup? That was hair styling—wait, I was forced!
Yi Ke didn’t care: “Being forced to style hair is also putting on makeup.”
Zhuang Ningyu didn’t want to deal with such unreasonable trouble making and asked recklessly, “So what?”
Yi Ke cried werwer and hugged him, wearing a heartbroken expression as if discovering his wife had cheated on him behind his back, accusing: “You even specifically wore an Italian imported handmade suit. You’ve never worn a suit for me!”
Zhuang Ningyu: “I can wear one for you tomorrow.”
Yi Ke: “Really?”
“Really.”
“…Then then then can you wear something else?”
“Yes yes yes, I’ll wear whatever you want me to wear.”
“You said it!”
Yi Ke recovered his calm in a second, planted a loud “mwah” on his cheek, and lay down happily: “Wife, let’s go to sleep quickly.”
This time, the person who lost all sleepiness was Zhuang Ningyu. Hugging the duvet and sitting on the bed, he asked vigilantly, “What does your sudden smile mean?”
