FIO CH42

Chapter 42: What’s Wrong with Your Husband?

Initially, no one thought much of it, assuming Jiang Mingyi had simply mistaken someone due to his drunkenness. However, after about another fifteen minutes, when Zhou Zheng still hadn’t returned, Lu Fangchi couldn’t sit still any longer: “I’ll go check on him.”

Jiang Mingyi, with red eyes and a drunken expression, nodded and waved his hand, “Go ahead, go ahead.” As he waved, he lurched forward, but Yu Yao, with quick reflexes, grabbed his arm just in time to prevent him from face-planting.

“You go, I’ll keep an eye on him,” Yu Yao said, straightening Jiang Mingyi and constantly adjusting his wobbly sitting position.

“No discipline,” Yu Yao muttered under his breath, frowning. The very person lacking discipline lunged forward and collapsed into his arms. Yu Yao’s hands hovered awkwardly for a couple of seconds before awkwardly maneuvering Jiang Mingyi onto the sofa with his arm.

Even drunk, Jiang Mingyi wasn’t behaving properly. He reached out to wrap his arm around Yu Yao’s waist as he was about to get up, and stumbled, almost falling.

Lu Fangchi nodded, got up, and walked towards the restroom.

In front of the sink, someone was washing their hands. As Lu Fangchi walked in, he was met face-to-face with an alpha whose face was flushed red. The alpha blew a breath of alcohol in his direction with a frivolous expression. Lu Fangchi slightly furrowed his brows and stepped aside to avoid it, then walked into the restroom, checking each stall one by one.

The first four stalls were empty. The fifth one was filled with the sound of vomiting, while the sixth one was silent.

Lu Fangchi leaned against the wall and waited. Half a minute later, the door to the fifth stall opened, and a beta with tearful eyes and unsteady steps walked out.

After waiting for another seven or eight minutes, the sixth stall still showed no signs of activity. Lu Fangchi raised his hand and knocked on the door, softly calling out, “Zhou Zheng, are you in there?”

A strange voice replied from inside, “You’ve got the wrong person.”

Lu Fangchi withdrew his hand and apologized, “Sorry.”

So he wasn’t here. Lu Fangchi left the restroom and walked around the KTV, even checking the pool hall, but there was no sign of Zhou Zheng.

Something must have happened. Lu Fangchi thought Zhou Zheng was mature enough not to disappear like this, but not seeing him made him worry.

Frowning, Lu Fangchi walked up to the front desk and asked, “The alpha who came in with me earlier, about six feet three, with a pompadour hairstyle, wearing a hoodie and track pants, do you remember him?”

The group Lu Fangchi was with was quite memorable due to their outstanding appearance and demeanor. The front desk attendant nodded in recognition, “Yes, I do.”

“Have you seen him recently? He went to the restroom and hasn’t come back. I’m not sure if he got drunk and fell somewhere,” Lu Fangchi explained.

“He left,” the front desk attendant pointed towards the exit.

Lu Fangchi’s eyebrows raised slightly in surprise, “Hmm?”

“About twenty minutes ago? I can’t remember the exact time, but he left by himself. His gait was quite steady, and he didn’t seem drunk,” the front desk attendant explained, swallowing the latter half of his thoughts about the alpha’s intimidating gaze, which had been so fierce it made one’s heart race just looking at it.

Lu Fangchi’s brows furrowed tightly as he acknowledged, “Got it, thanks.”

He turned and walked back to the private room, took out his phone, and initiated a WeChat video call to Zhou Zheng. The call automatically disconnected without anyone answering.

Exiting WeChat and switching to the contact list, Lu Fangchi dialed Zhou Zheng’s phone number. After a round of waiting music, an electronic voice message played, “Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later…”

What was going on? Lu Fangchi pursed his lips into a straight line, reached for the door handle, and pushed open the door to the private room. Jiang Mingyi, who was inebriated and in high spirits, was playing rock-paper-scissors with Yu Yao, with the loser having to drink. Hearing the door open, he drunkenly said to Lu Fangchi, “Let’s play a game of odd or even.”

Ignoring the drunkard, Lu Fangchi walked past the two and bent down to pick up his overcoat, draping Zhou Zheng’s jacket over his arm, “I’m leaving first. You guys have fun.”

Jiang Mingyi, with half his face flushed red, drunkenly grabbed Lu Fangchi’s arm, preventing him from leaving, “We haven’t hung out in ages. It’s not even that late. You can’t leave!”

Yu Yao, with clear eyes, noticed something was off with Lu Fangchi’s expression. He had gone out to look for Zhou Zheng but hadn’t brought him back. Quickly, he pulled Jiang Mingyi’s arm, which was entangled in a fuss, and nodded at Lu Fangchi, “You go. I’ll stay here and take him home later.”

Jiang Mingyi, not willing to give in, stretched his neck and was about to protest when Yu Yao covered his mouth, producing strange “mumbling” sounds.

Suddenly, he stopped struggling, and Yu Yao’s face changed. He let go and glared at him fiercely. Jiang Mingyi half-raised his eyebrows, licked his lips with his tongue, and looked at Yu Yao with his charming eyes.

Lu Fangchi, preoccupied with thoughts of Zhou Zheng, had no time to pay attention to their interaction. He patted Yu Yao’s shoulder, opened the door, and left.

He walked straight to the KTV entrance in one go. The breeze dispersed the smell of smoke and alcohol on him. While waiting for the designated driver, he tried calling Zhou Zheng again.

As expected, there was no answer.

Did he feel unwell and go home early? Lu Fangchi tried to convince himself.

Lost in thought, the designated driver arrived. Lu Fangchi stopped his wandering thoughts. He decided to wait until he got home to confirm if Zhou Zheng was there. He couldn’t afford to worry unnecessarily.

“Ding——” The elevator door opened.

Lu Fangchi stepped out and strolled to the door. He raised his hand to scan his fingerprint. With the electronic greeting “Welcome home,” the door lock opened.

He pushed the door open, and it was pitch black inside. Zhou Zheng hadn’t come back.

Lu Fangchi pursed his lips into a straight line, stepped into the foyer, reached up to turn on the light, sat on the shoe-changing stool for a daze of two seconds, then took out his phone to send a message to the alpha.

Lu Fangchi: Where are you?

He couldn’t understand what had happened to Zhou Zheng. One second he was drinking fine, and the next he disappeared without a word, not answering calls or replying to messages, playing hide-and-seek.

Lu Fangchi: Let’s talk face-to-face. I’m waiting for you at home.

After sending this, Lu Fangchi bent down to change into his slippers, walked slowly to the sofa, leaned back, and sighed.

As he slumped down, Lu Fangchi closed his eyes and fell asleep. Later, it was the cold and the sudden “ding-dong” from the coffee table that jolted him awake like a monk striking the morning bell. He quickly sat up and reached for his phone.

He struggled to open his eyes and blinked several times, only to find it was just a news push notification.

Lu Fangchi’s sleep quality was dubious at best. He usually switched his phone to Do Not Disturb mode before bed, but tonight he had deliberately left it on to wait for a message from Zhou Zheng.

He unlocked his phone and opened WeChat, only to find the top conversation empty and devoid of any replies. Judging by the silence, it seemed unlikely that he would receive a response.

Getting up, he trudged to the bathroom with stiff and sore legs to take a hot shower. When he got back to bed, he picked up his phone again and sent a message to Zhou Zheng.

Tell me what’s on your mind so I can explain. Otherwise, I have no idea what’s going on with you. Delete.

Ignoring messages and playing hide-and-seek is childish. How old are you? Delete.

You just said you’d be good. Little liar. Delete.

After deleting and editing, Lu Fangchi finally sent just two words: Goodnight.

He decided to wait until Zhou Zheng cooled down before talking things through.

The weather around the beginning of spring was highly variable, with sudden changes in temperature and a significant diurnal temperature difference. Perhaps due to drinking last night and dozing off on the sofa for a while, Lu Fangchi woke up this morning with a splitting headache, his temples swelling as if about to burst, his nose congested and unable to breathe properly, making it difficult to catch his breath.

A sour sensation hit the tip of his nose, and Lu Fangchi slightly opened his mouth and sneezed with an “Ah-choo,” causing two tears to well up at the corners of his eyes.

He raised his hand to wipe away the moisture from the corners of his eyes and reached for his phone on the bedside table to call in sick, but he stopped when he glanced at the date on the screen.

Alright, there’s an important meeting today; I have to get to the office.

Resigned, Lu Fangchi got out of bed, feeling lightheaded as he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He hastily ate a couple of pieces of bread, popped two pills into his mouth, and washed them down with mineral water.

The virus was aggressive, and the two pills didn’t seem to work; instead, his condition worsened. During the meeting, Lu Fangchi’s mind was foggy, and he couldn’t concentrate. The data being reported by the employees seemed to go in one ear and out the other; he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

With no other choice, Lu Fangchi raised his hand and called for a halt, “Let’s stop here for today. Dismissed.”

Lu Fangchi’s illness was evident on his face; anyone who cared to look could see his flushed cheeks, his eyes glistening with moisture, and his pursed lips and furrowed brows giving off an air of fragility. The usual aloof and unapproachable boss now appeared more approachable and vulnerable due to his illness.

With unsteady steps, Lu Fangchi walked out of the conference room and instructed his assistant, “Send me the key points from the meeting. We have a client to meet in the afternoon, right?”

“Yes,” the assistant nodded in response, noticing that Lu Fangchi was veering off course and almost bumped into a colleague’s desk corner. He raised his hand to steady him, but the young man corrected his path on his own. The assistant whispered, “We do have a client meeting in the afternoon, but we can reschedule. Mr. Lu, are you alright?” He veered off course again.

“I’m fine,” Lu Fangchi finally made it to his office, pushed the door open, and sat down in the swivel chair with a sigh of relief, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Let’s reschedule then.”

“Okay,” the assistant agreed and quietly exited the office.

Everyone in the office had seen Lu Fangchi’s condition during the meeting, and within half an hour, the news had spread throughout the entire building. For the next two hours, no one disturbed him.

Lu Fangchi took a nap in the lounge and was awakened by his phone vibrating incessantly. He felt a bit better, but only slightly.

He rubbed his muddled temples, unlocked his phone, and sent a single digit “1” in the three-person group chat.

Jiang Mingyi: Zhou Zheng is a jerk!

Jerk!

Jerk!

Jerk!

…the flood of messages finally came to an end.

Seeing Lu Fangchi respond, Jiang Mingyi began to complain, and a series of white message boxes popped up on the screen: What’s wrong with your husband? Last night he just threw me out the door and I almost broke my leg.

[Picture] A photo of a leg, so long and white that it couldn’t fit on the screen, with a large bruise that stood out starkly against the fair skin.

Jiang Mingyi: Pay up!

Lu Fangchi wasn’t in the mood for nonsense and listlessly opened a red envelope, entered 0.01, and sent it.

Only after sending the red envelope did he see that Yu Yao had transferred 10,000 yuan to Jiang Mingyi before him.

Oh? He probably won’t accept that.

Lu Fangchi thought to himself, and then saw Jiang Mingyi quickly claim the red envelope and accept the transfer.

Jiang Mingyi: @Lu Fangchi I’m insulted by your one cent. Let Zhou Zheng compensate me. [Smile]

Lu Fangchi, teased by Jiang Mingyi’s nonsense, replied: Well, you could at least find him.

Jiang Mingyi: [Picture]

Upon enlarging, it showed Zhou Zheng sitting in a restaurant with Liu Assistant opposite him.

Lu Fangchi: ?

Jiang Mingyi: Stop pretending. Go and demand a 1 million compensation for me.

Lu Fangchi recognized the restaurant as the one he and Zhou Zheng had visited before, located in the adjacent mall, just a five-minute walk away.

Lu Fangchi: Wait there.

He got out of bed, changed his clothes, washed his face with hot water, and looked much more spirited before heading out to find Zhou Zheng.

He entered the mall and took the escalator to the third floor, pausing outside the restaurant to observe. After confirming that Zhou Zheng was inside and at the correct table, he walked in.

“Sir, how many people are you dining with?” The hostess approached.

“I’m looking for someone,” Lu Fangchi said, having spotted the back of Zhou Zheng’s head.

“Which table number? I’ll show you the way,” the hostess nodded and inquired.

Lu Fangchi pointed to Zhou Zheng’s table.

As he got closer, thinking about Liu Assistant still being there, Lu Fangchi prepared a more gentle opening remark, such as Jiang Mingyi’s claim for compensation, which would be a good starting point.

He stood by the table and met Zhou Zheng’s gaze, but the words on the tip of his tongue got stuck.

It was a look of unfamiliarity, no, the same disdainful gaze as before, as if he were looking at trash.