FIO CH62

Chapter 62: You Didn’t Tell Him About Something So Important?

Lu Fangchi’s eyes twinkled with amusement as he pressed the answer button.

Zhou Zheng’s urgent voice came through the receiver, “You haven’t come to pick me up yet, have you?”

Sensing something was amiss, Lu Fangchi’s upward-curved lips flattened into a straight line, “What’s wrong?”

“If you haven’t come, don’t bother coming to pick me up. I’ve already left because of something unexpected,” Zhou Zheng spoke rapidly, as if in a hurry.

“What happened?” Lu Fangchi asked.

“Nothing,” Zhou Zheng paused briefly before explaining, “Just some company matters, it’s fine.”

Lu Fangchi responded with a half-hearted “Ah,” his tone skeptical.

“Let’s talk about it later,” the alpha said abruptly, not waiting for Lu Fangchi’s agreement before hastily ending the call.

Lu Fangchi stared at the disconnected call screen for a minute, then put away his phone, fastened his seatbelt again, and drove back home.

Pushing open the door, the faint scent of tea and incense filled the air. In the dim light, the flickering candlelight cast a warm glow over the table, where a variety of delicious-looking dishes were laid out.

What a pity, Lu Fangchi thought.

Sitting at the dining table, Lu Fangchi took a photo of the spread before him. The result was quite impressive—there was meat, fresh flowers, and candlelight, making it look extremely romantic.

Perhaps because the guest of honor was absent, Lu Fangchi found the food tasteless. After a few bites, he couldn’t eat any more. When he put down his utensils, the dishes looked almost untouched.

Lu Fangchi sat on the sofa and started playing a game, but he was distracted, occasionally glancing down at the phone on the coffee table. Since the call had been disconnected, there had been no activity.

Another hour passed, with the game going poorly and his performance abysmal. Finally, Lu Fangchi gave up on torturing himself, picked up his phone, and clicked on the note for “Zhou Puppy,” pondering what to write.

What should he send? Lu Fangchi’s finger tapped on the back of his phone as he thought.

The cake was still in the fridge, and there was still time before midnight. Could they blow out the candles together?

After hesitating for a while, Lu Fangchi sent Zhou Zheng a message: “What time will you be back?”

Silence, no response.

Half an hour later, the reply finally arrived: “I won’t be back today. I’ll be busy for the next few days.”

Well, it seemed there was no chance.

Lu Fangchi put down his phone, got up, and took out a small four-inch cake from the kitchen fridge. It wasn’t particularly exquisite, but it looked decent, with a blue and white design, decorated with chocolate and blueberries, giving it a very refreshing look.

Lu Fangchi inserted two numbered candles, “2” and “6,” and muttered quietly, “Happy 26th birthday, Zhou Zheng.”

He lit the candles, and as the flames flickered, Lu Fangchi clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and made a simple birthday wish for the alpha—good health, peace, and happiness.

After blowing out the candles, Lu Fangchi scooped a bit of cream with a spoon and tasted it. It was sweet but not greasy, quite delicious.

Lu Fangchi only took two bites before putting the cake back in the fridge. He sat on the sofa for a while, then got up and went to the bathroom to wash up.

How could he not feel a bit down? But there was a reason for it, and there was nothing he could do.

After taking a shower, Lu Fangchi had adjusted his mood. Lying in bed, he took out his phone and sent a message to Zhou Puppy before midnight: “Happy birthday.”

He fell asleep without receiving a reply.

At first, Lu Fangchi didn’t think much of it, assuming Zhou Zheng was too busy to reply.

But it couldn’t be that he was busy every single moment of the day, could it? Lu Fangchi looked at the phone screen. The latest message was his own “Happy birthday,” with no response since.

It was strange. Lu Fangchi scrolled up twice to check the chat history. Except for the planned meeting, their contact had never been interrupted, with more white bubbles than green ones most of the time.

Lu Fangchi’s heart felt as if it were being squeezed by a hand, sinking downward. This familiar feeling uncontrollably overlapped with the previous episode when Zhou Zheng had suddenly disappeared without a trace…

Zhou Zheng was in a small mobile phone store with only two counters, selecting a phone. He tapped on the glass counter and said, “I’ll take this one.”

The salesperson, with legs crossed and constantly shaking, was leaning on them with both arms, holding a phone horizontally, battling in a game while chewing gum. Without even looking up, he grumbled in a local dialect, “Yours…”

Zhou Zheng, who didn’t understand the dialect, asked, “What?”

“I said,” the salesperson raised his voice and replied in Mandarin, “Wait until I finish this round.”

Zhou Zheng frowned. He was anxious, but given the situation, he swallowed his impatience and waited.

It was a good twenty minutes before the salesperson finally finished his intense game. Apparently having lost, he cursed in the local dialect for a few seconds before getting up with a displeased expression and walking to the counter. He opened the cabinet and took out the phone next to the one Zhou Zheng had chosen.

Absentmindedly checking his game results, he tapped on the phone and recited in a formulaic manner, “This model is on promotion now. Prepay six hundred for phone credit and get the phone for free. You get twenty back every month for three years. It’s like getting the phone for free and even earning an extra forty in credit.”

This kind of deal was quite popular among the elderly, suitable for rural households who wanted a smartphone without too many advanced features and liked to get a good bargain. It fit the positioning of this place.

Prepaying for phone credit meant having to register a new SIM card, which Zhou Zheng didn’t need. He was in a hurry and said, “No, I’ll just buy it outright.”

“Then pay nineteen hundred and ninety-nine directly,” the salesperson pointed to the QR code for payment nearby.

Zhou Zheng took out his own phone from his pocket. The screen was shattered into pieces, with cracks spreading like a spider’s web. He licked his lips and tried to negotiate, “Could you put my SIM card into it first? My phone is broken, and I don’t have cash on me. I can’t make the payment.”

The salesperson looked up and scanned the alpha from head to toe. He was well-dressed but unfamiliar, clearly not a local. His appearance was a bit disheveled, as if he had fled from somewhere.
He’s still an alpha; this kind of person is dangerous. The salesperson immediately took away the phone on the counter and refused, “No way, once the phone is turned on, it can’t be returned. What if you change your mind and don’t want it anymore? What am I supposed to do?”

“It won’t happen,” Zhou Zheng said, “Otherwise, could I borrow your phone to insert my SIM card and log in to WeChat? I’ll transfer the money to you right away.”

Seeing that the salesperson still looked reluctant, Zhou Zheng quickly added, “I’ll transfer you twenty-five hundred.”

Hearing that he could get an extra five hundred and one, the salesperson’s expression softened, and he confirmed with a hint of disbelief, “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely,” Zhou Zheng nodded, his expression anxious, “I’m in a hurry. Could you please hurry up?”

With some hesitation, the salesperson handed over his phone to the alpha in front of him. He swiftly removed the original SIM card from his phone, inserted it into his own, logged into WeChat, and scanned the QR code to make the payment.

“WeChat has received twenty-five hundred yuan,” as the announcement sounded, the salesperson’s slightly suspended heart was completely put at ease.

Zhou Zheng quickly logged out of WeChat, removed the SIM card, and returned the phone to the salesperson. He raised his hand and asked the salesperson, “Is that okay?”

Money talks, and the salesperson, who had been indifferent before, changed his attitude completely and smiled broadly, “Shall I wrap it up for you?”

“No need,” Zhou Zheng declined, reaching for the phone on the counter, and immediately removed the protective film covering it, inserting his SIM card into the slot.

The salesperson rubbed his hands together and ingratiatingly said, “How about a tempered glass screen protector and a phone case? There’s a discount if you bundle them together. It’ll be fifty-eight yuan, a lucky number.”

Zhou Zheng didn’t have the time for this, “No, thanks.” He secured the SIM card slot and waited for the phone to turn on.

The salesperson continued to persistently sell, “Boss, why not get them? It’s a great deal, and your new phone will be easily damaged if it’s not protected, right?”

The phone had no brand and very poor performance. The screen took a long time to load during startup, and Zhou Zheng became a bit annoyed. The salesperson’s chatter was like a fly, buzzing and disturbing.

Without a word, he walked out of the store, encountering two middle-aged women who were about to enter the phone shop.

Zhou Zheng stood at the entrance of the phone store, waiting for the phone to turn on.

The middle-aged women had loud and shrill voices, discussing the biggest gossip recently in a high volume, “Did you know that woman in the street is dead?”

This aunt might have married from another place, as her accent wasn’t that strong, and Zhou Zheng understood what she said. As soon as the word “dead” came out, the finger he was tapping on the back of the phone stopped.

The other one chimed in, “Yeah, she wasn’t that old, right? In her fifties? What a pity.”

“What’s there to pity? In my opinion, she deserved it.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Back when she was around, she dressed up all flashy, her face painted as white as a ghost, wearing a cheongsam that split up to her thighs, and she’d strut around the street, acting all flirtatious with some fake macho men. I say men are blind, loving such a trashy woman.”

“Later she moved to the city and became quieter. This time she was brought back in a coffin. Do you know what happened to her…”

Perhaps it was the truth, or perhaps it was exaggerated. Zhou Zheng couldn’t bear to listen anymore and walked away without hearing the even more unpleasant words that followed.

Zhou Zheng turned into a small alley and leaned against the wall. The phone in his hand had successfully turned on, and the screen was lagging as it downloaded WeChat and logged in.

The top circle loaded, and it paused for about five or six minutes before the messages loaded. Red dots jumped up one by one, mostly real-time work messages.

He clicked on the pinned Lu Baby, but the screen was blank. Zhou Zheng guessed that the messages must have been received by the original phone, which was why he couldn’t see them now.

Calculating the time, he realized he had been missing for over thirty hours. Would Lu Fangchi be worried? What excuse should he use to explain?

Zhou Zheng’s eyebrows furrowed into a frown as he stared at the Lu Baby page and began to bite his nails.

As he bit into the hangnail on his index finger, the phone screen lit up with an incoming call. Zhou Zheng recognized the number—it was Liu Zhu.

Pressing the answer button, Zhou Zheng raised the phone to his ear.

“Ancestor, you finally answered the phone!” Liu Zhu sighed in relief, then immediately asked, “What’s going on? Why did you suddenly go off the grid?”

“I had a bit of a conflict with them, and my phone got smashed,” Zhou Zheng explained.

“Ah,” Liu Zhu murmured, then asked, “Do you want me to come over?”

“No need, just take care of the company. It might take a while here. Go to my place and pack two sets of clothes and toiletries for me and send them over,” Zhou Zheng said. The incident had happened suddenly, and he had left in a hurry without bringing anything. Although there were stores on the street, the quality was questionable. After wearing the clothes for a day, he was itchy all over and had developed small red rashes.

“Alright, I’ll go pack for you right away. Send me your address, and I’ll send it express,” Liu Zhu agreed without hesitation.

“Okay, how’s the company been these past few days?” Zhou Zheng asked.

“It’s been great,” Liu Zhu joked, “When you didn’t come back to work for three months, the company didn’t go bankrupt. Don’t worry.”

Zhou Zheng let out a soft laugh, then couldn’t help but ask, “By the way, has Lu Fangchi been asking you about me lately?”

“…” Liu Zhu was silent for a few seconds, as if just realizing something, and raised his voice, “You didn’t tell him about something so important?”

Zhou Zheng swallowed and rubbed his face, “It’s not glorious…”

“It’s not your fault. What’s there to be ashamed of? I don’t even know how to talk to you…” Liu Zhu sighed, then asked, “So you haven’t contacted him these past few days either?”

“Yeah.”

“He really hasn’t asked me about it.”