Life's turning points always came in the most unexpected ways.
Gregor had thought that after explaining his loathsome background, this friendly young man would avoid him just like everyone else. But how could he have imagined things would develop like this instead?
Gregor stared dumbfounded at the kindly young man before him. The guy looked like he was practically sparkling all over, little stars flashing around him. The expression on his face was so easy to read that anyone with eyes could tell he looked like he had just won the lottery.
So stunned was Gregor by Zhou Zhuang's blunt invitation that he did not even react when the cigarette hanging from his lips fell. It was only when it burned a hole in his pants and the heat on his thigh finally registered that Gregor snapped back to reality, hurriedly snatched the cigarette up, and stuck it back in his mouth.
Looking at the excited Zhou Zhuang, Gregor glanced uncertainly from side to side, then pointed at himself.
"Kid… that invitation just now, were you talking to me?"
Seeing the disbelief on Gregor's face, Zhou Zhuang struck a pose like Uncle Sam, put on a grave expression, and answered with complete seriousness.
"Yes. I am very sincerely inviting you to join my company. I'm not joking."
With Zhou Zhuang looking that solemn and explicitly pointing at him, Gregor finally confirmed that the invitation really was meant for him.
He relit the half-smoked cigarette and took a deep drag.
"Kid, can I ask why? You should know I've got two identities on me that people despise like the plague. Normally, any halfway decent company would look disgusted and stay far away the moment they learned who I am."
"Oh, that?" Zhou Zhuang shook his head dismissively. "My reason is simple—I don't care."
Hearing that answer, Gregor continued,
"Kid, an answer like that isn't enough to convince anybody. A company doesn't just suddenly extend an olive branch to a stranger for no reason, especially not when that stranger has a past that's impossible to ignore.
"If I analyze your intentions based on your current situation, then there are only two possibilities. Either your company thinks it can get some kind of technology from me, or you want to use me as a bridge to get in touch with someone else. Only needs like that could make you overlook the identities of 'former G Corp employee' and 'participant in the Smoke War' and still invite me."
Closing one eye, Gregor patiently explained the chain of reasoning behind his guess to this inexperienced young man.
After hearing Gregor's deduction, Zhou Zhuang suddenly understood.
"Oh, so that's how it is. So I picked the wrong approach from the very starting point when it came to recruiting employees. Got it, got it. Learned something new today."
Seeing Zhou Zhuang looking genuinely enlightened, Gregor stared at him in surprise. He was so taken aback that he forgot to exhale after taking a drag, and predictably choked on the smoke caught in his throat.
"Cough, cough, cough… cough… Kid, you—cough—don't tell me you were just saying all that as a joke to liven up the mood?"
"No, I'm not joking. I really do want to invite you to join my company."
When Zhou Zhuang once again repeated that joke-like invitation with complete seriousness, Gregor finally put away the thought that the kid was joking around. Then he faced Zhou Zhuang seriously and asked his next question.
"Is that so? Then if that's the case, may I ask where your company is? And what it's called?"
Seeing that Gregor had turned serious, the dead-fish look gone from his face and replaced by the occasional sharp gleam in his eyes, Zhou Zhuang vaguely felt that the interview process had entered phase two.
So Zhou Zhuang met Gregor's gaze and slowly, seriously explained his company's situation.
"My company is located in L Nest. Its name is Lobotomy Corporation."
The moment Zhou Zhuang gave the company's name and location, silence fell over the scene.
Zhou Zhuang was waiting for Gregor to ask the next question. Angela, seated beside him, was taking small sips of the bottled water Zhou Zhuang had bought for her. Gregor and the old barbecue vendor, meanwhile, had both been completely stunned by the heavyweight name that had just come out of Zhou Zhuang's mouth.
After a silence that felt both endless and fleeting, Gregor and the old man finally recovered from the explosive revelation they had just heard.
The two of them looked at Zhou Zhuang in disbelief, then replayed his astonishing words in their minds.
Gregor pinched the bridge of his nose and asked again in a tone that suggested he thought he must have misheard.
"Kid… what did you say your company was called?"
"Lobotomy Corporation. It's in L Nest." Zhou Zhuang honestly repeated the company's name and address once more, then suddenly remembered that he had stuffed a few business cards into his pocket earlier from the drawer in his office. He turned, rummaged around in his clothing, then pulled out two cards and handed them to Bug Uncle and the old man.
Moving almost mechanically, Gregor accepted the card Zhou Zhuang handed him and examined the information printed on it carefully.
Lobotomy Corporation Supervisor, Zhou Zhuang. Contact: ×××××××××
He turned the card over and over in his hands, reading the front, then the back, then the front again. He even rubbed it between his fingers, discovering that it felt almost like some fine piece of metal. No matter how he looked at it, every detail of the card only reinforced the authenticity of its owner's identity.
Take the old man, for example, who had been relatively composed until now.
"Holy shit, Gregor, am I dreaming? A supervisor from a Wing—and from the most famous energy company around right now—came to my barbecue stand to eat skewers, invited you to dinner, and then tried to recruit you?"
The old man was so excited as he looked at the embarrassed Zhou Zhuang being praised that he kept slapping Gregor on the back and babbling out his shock.
Gregor, coughing repeatedly from being smacked so hard, hurriedly stopped the old man's hand. Then he turned to Zhou Zhuang with a serious expression.
"Kid, you're not impersonating a Feather, are you? You should know that anyone who insults a Wing's dignity gets hunted down by Taboo Hunters."
Chewing on the leftover grilled chives from the table, Zhou Zhuang answered with utmost seriousness.
"Relax. This is one hundred percent real, and my identity is also one hundred percent real. In a place like the City, where the Head's eyes and ears are everywhere, if I really had the ability to spend that much effort impersonating a Wing, then why wouldn't I just do something else instead?"
He swallowed the chives and picked up another skewer.
"Besides, look at me. I'm all skin and bones. I get out of breath just from moving around a little. Where would I get the strength to pull off something this fancy?"
Gregor and the old man looked Zhou Zhuang up and down. There was not the slightest trace of a powerhouse about him. Watching him eat chives, choke on his own saliva, and have to gulp down water, they both nodded in agreement.
After taking a swig from a water bottle to wash down the chives stuck in his throat, Zhou Zhuang rubbed his hands together like a scheming fly and looked over with hopeful eyes.
"So? Will you accept my invitation and join the company?"
As for the answer Bug Uncle and the old man gave to Zhou Zhuang's invitation—
...
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