Chapter 2 - A Drunken Cat Encountered at Night

Drunken Girl Encounter at Night Buried in work till midnight, Lu Liang was about to go to bed when he suddenly heard a faint, clinking sound of metal. The noise was soft yet irregular and piercing. His fully-furnished studio apartment was convenient in every way—easy to move into and hassle-free. But it had a major flaw: low floor, thin walls, and terrible sound insulation, nothing like a proper residential compound. What's worse, most of the residents were young people who loved to sing and dance till two or three in the morning—it was practically their daily routine. Lu Liang initially ignored the racket, even burying his head under a pillow, but the noise just wouldn't stop. "Who on earth is it?" he growled, getting up and yanking the door open. Outside stood a long-haired girl with her back to him. It was late March, and the temperature in Shanghai still hovered in single digits. Yet she was wearing a short skirt, a wool coat draped over her shoulders, and a pair of Lolita platform shoes with thick white cotton stockings. Her skin between her calves and thighs was completely exposed to the early spring chill, and she didn't look to be very old. Her forehead pressed against the door panel, she held a key in her hand and kept jabbing it at the keyhole—that was where the noise was coming from. A strong whiff of alcohol hit Lu Liang's nose, and he frowned deeply. "Can you keep it down? Some people need to sleep, you know!" The girl turned around, her face flushed with drunkenness. "Uncle, alcohol tastes so bad… why does everyone love drinking it so much?" She burped loudly, then gagged and vomited all over the floor. The air was instantly filled with the stench of booze and sour vomit. Lu Liang yelped and jumped back to avoid it. But when he saw the girl swaying unsteadily, about to collapse, he quickly reached out to support her. No matter how pretty she was, looking like this—covered in her own vomit—he couldn't muster the slightest bit of affection. He glared at her with undisguised disgust. "Where's your phone? Call your friend to come pick you up." The girl threw up a few more times, then rummaged through her bag with her head down, giggling foolishly. "Oh right! I forgot to bring it with me." "…Do you remember anyone's number, then?" "Nope, can't remember a thing~" Lu Liang's face darkened. He really didn't want to deal with this *drunken mess*. He picked up the key covered in vomit, planning to open her door for her and then leave her there to sort herself out. But as he examined it, he noticed something was wrong—the key was already broken off inside the lock. No wonder she'd been jabbing at it for ages without any luck. "Hey, why's this key so short?" The girl stared blankly at the key fragment, her head spinning. Her entire weight gradually shifted onto Lu Liang. Lu Liang's foot slipped, and he plopped down hard on the floor. His palms, elbows, and forearms were all smeared with the sticky vomit. Staring at his soiled hands, he trembled with rage. Without a second thought, he pulled out his phone and called the police to have the girl taken away. ... It was past six in the morning at Qiaotou Police Station. "Officer, can I leave now?" Lu Liang asked, yawning sleepily. He couldn't wrap his head around this— the girl had sobered up long ago, so logically, this had nothing to do with him anymore. Why had they dragged him into an interrogation room alone? Things were starting to feel weird. The officer glanced at Lu Liang's file. "Lu Liang, you didn't lay a finger on that young lady, did you?" "Don't tell me she's accusing me of harassment?" Lu Liang's sleepiness vanished in an instant. He wasn't naive enough to fall for that trick. "Calm down, please," the officer said with a wry smile, trying to placate him. "The girl's only nineteen—she's young and insecure, you have to understand. This is just a routine inquiry. My colleagues have already gone to your apartment building to check the surveillance footage." It was no wonder people were less and less willing to help others these days—good Samaritans often got stabbed in the back. Not only did they waste their time, but their kindness was also taken for granted, leaving them with a bitter taste in their mouth. Next time, they'd probably just turn a blind eye. But faced with such a situation, the police were helpless—after all, the girl had filed a complaint, and it was their duty to investigate. "I get it." Lu Liang's expression turned cold. He answered every question the officer threw at him truthfully. Ten minutes later, he walked out of the interrogation room. The girl was sitting on a bench on the other side, sipping water and avoiding his gaze. Lu Liang shot her a glance but said nothing, waiting patiently for the officers who'd gone to collect evidence to return. Thankfully, the apartment building was fairly new, and the surveillance cameras had captured everything clearly. "Li Manli, do you have any more questions to ask?" the officer said after reviewing the footage several times. The video clearly showed Li Manli throwing herself at Lu Liang and vomiting all over him. Li Manli blushed bright red, too ashamed to say a word. "Apologize to him properly," another officer urged her. "He was kind enough to help you, and look how you repaid him—wasting his whole night." "Uncle, I'm so sorry… I really am." Li Manli bowed deeply, her voice trembling with embarrassment. "Whatever. I'm leaving now." Lu Liang's tone was icy, and he had no intention of accepting her apology. Uncle, really? Did he look that old? The officer hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "Lu Liang, thank you for cooperating with our investigation." "Cooperating with law enforcement is every citizen's duty." Lu Liang forced a smile and walked out of the police station. Li Manli looked anxious, tugging at the hem of her coat. "Officer, he lives right across from me… do you think he'll get back at me?" "Go buy him some fruit later and apologize sincerely," the older officer advised her. "He doesn't seem like the petty type." The younger officer chimed in to reassure her: "Don't worry. If anything happens, you can always call us." "Thank you both." Li Manli hesitated for a long time before deciding to take their advice. She'd just moved in and didn't want the hassle of finding a new place to live. She bought a bag of fruit and headed back to the apartment building, intending to apologize to Lu Liang. But she lingered outside his door for ages, too nervous to knock. Her mind was racing with all sorts of terrible thoughts: What if he was a bad guy? What if he tried to pester her after this? Just then, she heard faint rustling sounds coming from inside the apartment. Panicked, she immediately forgot all about apologizing and wanted nothing more than to scurry back to her own room. But when she tried to insert her key into the lock, she found that the keyhole was completely jammed with the broken fragment. Li Manli felt tears welling up in her eyes, on the verge of crying. Suddenly, the door behind her creaked open. Lu Liang stepped out, and Li Manli froze. She forced an awkward smile and waved at him weakly. "Uh… hi." Lu Liang's face was expressionless. He acted as if he didn't even see her, walking straight past her and into the elevator. Li Manli let out a sigh of relief, but her lips twisted into a scowl. She glared at the closing elevator doors and muttered under her breath: "Stingy old man." ... On the other side of the city, Lu Liang strolled slowly into his office. "Brother Lu! You're finally here! Mr. Liu is absolutely furious!" a young girl said, rushing over to him with a worried look on her face. She'd only started working here at the end of last year. When she'd first joined, she couldn't even make enough to hit her base salary. It was Lu Liang who'd given her a few client leads, helping her close her first deal—and she'd been grateful to him ever since. "It's no big deal," Lu Liang said nonchalantly, walking toward his desk. But he stopped short when he found his computer locked with a password. Zhou Xiaowen leaned in and whispered: "Mr. Liu came in first thing this morning and told Manager Wu to lock your computer." A voice boomed from the inner office: "Xiaowen! You haven't closed a single deal this month—aren't you supposed to be out drumming up business instead of loitering around here?" Lu Liang followed the sound and fixed his gaze on the speaker. "Well, well. Mr. Liu, long time no see. You're looking more and more like a decent human being these days." Snickers broke out across the office. Everyone knew what he meant—*if he looks like a decent person now, he definitely wasn't one before*. Liu Jianchun's face turned purple with rage. He slammed his fist on the desk and shouted: "Lu Liang! This is working hours! You're no longer an employee of this company—get out of here right now!" Lu Liang poured himself a glass of water, sat down casually on his desk, and crossed his legs. "Mr. Liu, the company policy says that an employee is considered to have resigned voluntarily only after three consecutive days of absence without leave. So tell me—how many days have I been absent now? And who do you think you are, trying to fire me? Do you even have the authority?" "You—you—!" Liu Jianchun stammered, pointing a trembling finger at Lu Liang. Strictly speaking, he *didn't* have the right to fire Lu Liang. Lu Liang was a senior employee of Lvjing Real Estate, a former top salesperson with a permanent contract and a guaranteed basic salary. Without a valid reason like a major violation of company rules, firing him would require paying severance compensation equal to N+1 months' salary.