Chapter 76 Breakup

"Are you pleading for him? Or threatening me?"

"No." Feng Ran said a little bored, "I'm tired. Let me rest for a while, okay?"

Under the effect of the drug, he closed his eyes and slept soundly. When he woke up, it was noon and Chen Zhi was gone.

There was only a needle in his hand, the drip had ended. He sat up and couldn't find his mobile phone.

His clothes were neatly folded aside. He got up to change, and just then the door was pushed open. It was Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi was holding a bag in his hand. It looked like food. The aroma caught Feng Ran's eyes and his stomach growled immediately.

He had long forgotten his morning annoyance and happily took it. "What did you buy? I'm just hungry."

"All your favorites,"

Feng Ran said as he unpacked the lunchbox. "Actually, we could go out for dinner. I'm fine now."

"The doctor recommended staying one more day for observation," Chen Zhi said. "I've already paid the bill, so you can just stay here and relax. You'll be discharged the day after tomorrow." Feng Ran

nodded, then remembered something and said, "Then I might need to use my laptop. I have some work to do."

"You're still going to work so hard for him?"

Although he had agreed to resign, he couldn't just leave. Feng Ran thought so, but didn't say it out loud. "No, I just need to finish the work so that others can take over."

Chen Zhi remained silent and put down his chopsticks.

Feng Ran added, "It'll only take a month or two... I'll definitely do what I promised you. Besides, I still have to think about what to do next."

"A month or two? Do you think Chen will let you go?" Chen Zhi was being particularly unreasonable today.

Feng Ran felt he was giving in step by step, but the other party was clearly not buying it.

He suppressed his temper and said, "Could you please stop reinforcing his idea of me? We only knew each other before, and we weren't that close. Not everyone clings to me like you do. If you don't believe me, I'll call him right now and tell him I'm leaving in a month. Look, he—"

"Too late." Shen Zhi tilted his head. "It's past midnight."

"What?"

Feng Ran was puzzled. Shen Zhi had placed his phone on the table; it was his.

He suddenly realized something and grabbed the phone.

Shen Zhi was watching him from the side. While he was asleep, his phone had been turned off and saved with Shen Zhi. Now, when he opened it, messages poured out.

He was dazzled, trying to discern the information in the words—"email photo," "bed photo," "secretly photographed," "dismissed"…

word by word, piecing together a fact:

Chen Shuze had been dismissed because, at twelve o'clock today, someone had sent a mass email to everyone in the company, including the leadership at headquarters. It was a black and white photo of Chen Shuze in bed, taken with the same camera model, with the exact time recorded in the lower right corner.

In the previous month, there had been as many as thirteen targets.

Feng Ran's whole body was cold. He used stiff fingers to click on Jiang Huiyi's chat box.

"Brother, check your email quickly." "It's over, it's over." "He really offended someone!" "Do you know the inside story? What's going on, brother?" "!!"...

He read these words connected by exclamation marks again and again as if in a dream. No information entered his brain. Then he opened Chen Shuze's chat box again. The conversation message stopped at the message sent by the other party a few days ago: "The coffee has been ordered, remember to pick it up ." Feng

Ran didn't even raise his head: "You did it."

"He got into the bed by himself," Shen Zhi sneered, "No one forced him."

"What about the photos? Did he take the photos himself?!"

"How do you know it wasn't."

Feng Ran grabbed his coat and went out.

Chen Zhi followed closely behind him and asked, "What are you doing? Looking for him?"

Feng Ran stopped in his tracks and said, "Don't follow me."

Chen Zhi paused, then said, "I just want to know where you're going."

"To the company, to pack my things."

"Feng Ran, are you sure you want to... because of him..." Chen Zhi paused, then changed his tone. "You're going to choose him, right?"

"If I chose him, I'd just call the police now."

Chen Zhi said indifferently, "It's useless. It wasn't me. If you want to catch me, you might have to start somewhere else."

Feng Ran gave him a deep look. "You've got a good dog."

Shen Zhi's expression finally cracked a little, his lips moving but no sound came out.

He hailed a car on the side of the road, and Shen Zhi finally let him

go. On his way alone from the hospital to the company, he opened his email with an indescribable feeling. It was an internal company system, and he had no idea how Chen Zhi or Shen Yuan had managed it. Sure enough, there was a picture of Chen Shuze at the top. He downloaded the file—a package containing thirteen photos.

The picture wasn't clear, but it was recognizable enough. The angle wasn't tricky; the camera seemed to be right next to the bed.

He took a quick glance and closed them.

It was undoubtedly Shen Zhi. It was self-evident why Shen Zhi did this.

Chen Shuze had gotten into such a disaster because of him.

He had a feeling that his road with Shen Zhi had come to an end. It was Chen Shuze who got into trouble today, but it might not be him tomorrow.

As long as Shen Zhi achieved his goal, he didn't care about the means.

He walked into the company with a shaky step, and almost everyone was whispering. Since Chen Shuze came here, almost all the original employees have left, and now the ones left are newcomers, who have passed Chen Shuze's interview one by one, with an average age of about 30 years old. Everyone did not appear to be so averse to homosexuality, but they all knew what it meant. Besides, this is not the same as simply coming out.

Jiang Huiyi ran over to Feng Ran and said, "Have you contacted Mr. Chen? Has he called the police?"

"I don't know," Feng Ran said. "I don't know if I should contact him now."

Jiang Huiyi, confused, said, "Yeah, yeah. It's so pitiful. Maybe he doesn't want to see anyone right now. We're probably going to get a new leader, I wonder if it'll be the same one as before."

The future had nothing to do with Feng Ran. He shook his head and headed to his desk.

The cardboard box was too conspicuous, so he deliberately carried only an empty backpack. Since his workstation didn't have many personal items, he quickly packed them up and left.

Before leaving, he explained some work details to Jiang Huiyi. The girl was quite astute, and she understood most of what she had seen. She asked if Feng Ran really wasn't coming back.

Feng Ran didn't answer. Of course, he couldn't just walk away, but his resignation was already on the agenda; it was just a matter of time. He vaguely told her to keep it quiet.

Then he took a taxi and rushed to Chen Shuze's house.

He stood downstairs and rang the doorbell. A few minutes later, Chen Shuze called.

"What's up?" he asked, his voice languid.

Feng Ran said, "Open the door."

"I asked you to come before, but you refused," Chen Shuze said, still in the mood to joke. "Why are you clamoring to come now? Did you see the photos and think they were good? Are you regretting it and ready to change your mind?"

"I'm resigning."

Chen Shuze was silent for a moment, then said with a forced smile, "Tell me something."

"What are you going to do next?"

"I've lost everything. I'm planning to jump into the Yangtze River tonight."

Feng Ran said, "Can you even tell me the truth? Open the door! It's scorching hot."

Chen Shuze finally opened the door. Feng Ran entered the room, which was filled with mist. Behind an ornate screen, empty wine bottles littered the floor. Chen Shuze, his hair disheveled, was slumped on the sofa, wrapped in a bath towel. A horror movie was playing on TV.

Feng Ran opened the window, and Chen Shuze shouted, "Don't open the window! The heat is coming in. Why is it so damn hot today?" Feng

Ran had no choice but to turn on the air conditioner and ventilation fan.

Then he sat down on the sofa. Chen Shuze asked, "What's with that expression? What are you going to say? 'I take responsibility for all of Shen Zhi's actions?'"

Feng Ran was stunned. He could see Chen Shuze was deeply hurt. He chose his words carefully, "I know saying these things is useless, but..."

"You know it's useless, yet you still say it!" Chen Shuze pressed his cigarette hard into the ashtray. "Feng Ran, you know that's our internal system. Have you ever thought about how that person got in? Or to put it another way, who are his accomplices? Don't you understand?"

Feng Ran suddenly understood. He was suddenly speechless. He did often handle work while Shen Zhi was hospitalized. Perhaps it wouldn't be difficult for him or Shen Yuan to hack into this simple system while he was unprepared.

He opened his mouth when Chen Shuze said, "Don't say sorry. Go away."

In this large, cold, and choking room, Feng Ran felt uneasy, a chill running down his spine to his fingertips. He suspected that coming here was a mistake. Chen Shuze's haggard appearance made him feel guilty, but this guilt served no purpose other than tormenting himself.

Of course Chen Shuze also understood, and he swallowed those sharper words. It was hard to tell who benefited, it seemed that everyone was a victim.

Feng Ran whispered: "Don't think too much. I'll transfer your money... I hope it can alleviate your..."

"I want to be alone." Chen Shuze suddenly buried his head in his arms, his voice muffled, "Please leave quickly, please."

Feng Ran really couldn't stay any longer, so he had to hurriedly say "If you need anything, feel free to contact me."