Chen Nian entered the Black Box through the back door. In the Underground City, there’s no distinction between day and night, and as the top nightclub, the Black Box is open 24 hours a day. Chen Nian didn’t dye his hair specially for today, just wore color contacts and had his jacket slung casually over his shoulders. He wasn’t here to entertain clients today.

In the lounge, several companions were chatting and touching up their makeup, waiting to be picked by clients. As soon as Chen Nian walked in, they all fell silent, seemingly unwelcoming towards him joining their conversation. Chen Nian didn’t care. He scanned the room, his gaze sweeping over his colleagues who pretended to ignore him, and asked, “Where’s Li Shu?”

“Who knows?” someone said sarcastically, “Aren’t you her favorite? If you can’t find Li Shu, how could we possibly know?”

Chen Nian glanced at the speaker, locking eyes in the mirror, but said nothing and turned to leave. He asked a waiter and finally found Li Shu in a private room on the third floor. The owner of the Black Box was resting. Seeing Chen Nian, she propped herself up with one hand, her voice hoarse from alcohol, “What’s up?”

“Li Shu,” Chen Nian got straight to the point, “I want to resign.”

“Resign?” Li Shu was momentarily stunned, her drunkenness fading rapidly. She frowned, staring at the young man before her, “Why bring this up all of a sudden?”

“There’s been some trouble at home recently, it’s not suitable for me to continue here.”

Li Shu’s look became more probing. This was her most obedient kid, everything seemed fine yesterday, and suddenly this… She spoke patiently, like coaxing a child, “If there’s any difficulty, you can tell me. We can think of a solution together. Don’t be so impulsive.”

“This is a well-considered decision,” Chen Nian paused, “I’m sorry, Li Shu, I know you’ve taken great care of me and I appreciate it, but I’ve made up my mind. I really have to go.”

Seeing Chen Nian’s resolve, Li Shu’s expression cooled. “Chen Nian,” she articulated each word clearly, “I’ve always treated you the best. Whenever you went out, I made sure others were with you just in case.”

“I know.”

“When you said you were short on money, I was willing to pay your salary in advance; you skipped work for a few days, causing many clients to be unhappy, and I covered for you; just a few days ago, a client’s family member came to make trouble, almost smashed the door, and I took the blame for you.”

“And this is how you repay me? Chen Nian, isn’t this a bit heartless?”

Chen Nian listened to her without taking it to heart. He knew this was the typical manipulation tactic used by superiors—playing the emotional card. If he fell for it, he would lose.

“I thought you knew by now, Li Shu, I’m heartless.”

Chen Nian’s lips curled into a genuine smile, “I believe I’ve brought you considerable profits, always performing my duties whenever entertaining clients. Now, this tool wants to rest. You should take it well and not make it ugly.”

Li Shu was shocked by Chen Nian’s direct confrontation. For months, Chen Nian had always been compliant, but now the young man’s bared fangs and sharp spikes fiercely pricked her, making Li Shu tremble with rage.

“If you resign, you won’t get a single penny from the job Nick Foley arranged for you yesterday. I won’t pay you any more wages.”

“That’s fine,” Chen Nian smiled, his eyes curving up, “I don’t need money now.”

After saying this, he turned around and didn’t look at Li Shu’s expression anymore. Opening the door, Chen Nian saw the rest of the companions eavesdropping. He suddenly yanked the door, nearly causing the person at the front to fall.

Chen Nian sidestepped quickly, avoiding the person bumping into him. A blonde Omega mockingly said, “Yo, to quit without needing a salary, must have hooked up with a rich guy, huh?”

Chen Nian looked at him, feigning surprise, “How did you know?”

He patted the other’s shoulder, speaking earnestly, “I never thought I’d make it out in just eight months. I hope you can find a rich guy to escape this miserable life like I did.”

“You—!”

Ignoring the envious glares around him, Chen Nian cheerfully whistled, walking away with ease. Instead of being the butt of their jokes, he had given them a taste of their own medicine, making them grind their teeth in frustration.

Back in the lounge, Chen Nian grabbed his things, thinking of his colleagues’ jealous remarks, almost laughing. These Omegas and betas, young and barely educated, knew only the crudest methods to sideline him.

But they were right; he indeed had hooked up with a rich guy. And this wealthy patron cherished him, willing to let him enjoy the high life, even tidying his room for him. Although appearing cold and reserved, he was actually warm and easy to get along with.

Chen Nian quickly packed his belongings and saw Charlie approaching. “Chen Nian,” Charlie’s eyes were filled with undeniable surprise as he stared at the suitcase in Chen Nian’s arms, “Are you really going?”

“Yeah,” Chen Nian threw the last can of hairspray into the suitcase, smiling, “Why, going to miss me?”

Charlie shook his head, “I never thought… I thought you were joking yesterday.”

“My leaving should be a good thing for you. You can go back to being the most popular Omega at the Black Box, no need to be so upset every day.”

Chen Nian’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, catching Charlie’s momentary panic, “Alright, no need for long goodbyes. We probably won’t see each other again, so just do your best to grow your career.”

Charlie steadied himself, his voice trembling as if hurt, “…Chen Nian, how can you think that? I really considered you a friend—”

“Save it, I’m not working here anymore, no need to put on an act.” Chen Nian waved his hand, striding away, “I’m off.”

Chen Nian, holding his suitcase, reached the nightclub’s back door where several security guards stood, expressionless, waiting for him. Li Shu’s message was clear: he could leave, but it would cost him something today.

Chen Nian’s smile slowly faded. Was it time to tear off the mask? Indeed, relationships tangled with interests were more fragile than soap bubbles under the sun.

Facing several burly Alpha security guards, Chen Nian looked up innocently. “Brothers, could you let me through?”

The lead guard replied sternly, “Li Shu said you’d have to stay a bit longer tonight.”

Chen Nian sighed softly. As the guards reached out to stop him, he gathered his mental power into a net, enveloping them! Since realizing he possessed mental power, Chen Nian had been silently practicing. Perhaps due to his talent, he quickly mastered the necessary skills.

He couldn’t reach the exaggerated level of Chen Ci, but a slight use was still effective. As they were entangled by the mental power, the Alphas’ movements suddenly stiffened, losing control of their bodies, their arms hanging mid-air—

Chen Nian ducked and swiftly slipped through them, vanishing in an instant.

Returning home with his box, Chen Nian still wasn’t used to using mental power; just that brief use had started to give him a headache. He couldn’t fathom how Chen Ci managed such strength.

Chen Nian quickly put his things down and lay on the bed to rest. Overall, he had managed to resign quite smoothly. From now on, whatever happened at the Black Box had nothing to do with him anymore. Once Chen Ci came down, he wouldn’t be burdened by his past too much.

Of course, Chen Nian wasn’t naive enough to think it was over. Li Shu, losing her cash cow, wouldn’t let things go easily, and it was very likely she would create more obstacles. And the Alphas he knew from the nightclub would probably come looking for him.

Staying home these next few days would be safer, especially since he had finished buying medicine for Uncle Jiang. There was no need to go out.

Chen Nian detailed the events of his resignation in his journal. No matter what, if Chen Ci wanted to live in the Underground City using his identity, trouble was inevitable.

This made Chen Nian feel a rare pang of guilt; as he had said to Li Shu an hour ago, he was heartless. He seemed emotional, but in reality, he was colder than anyone else.

But Chen Ci was his brother, and had always been good to him. Now, he had to face potential trouble because of Chen Nian.

Chen Nian irritably ruffled his hair, hating the fact that he couldn’t directly communicate with Chen Ci. If they could plan together, things would probably be much easier.

After resting a while, Chen Nian’s headache eased slightly. He opened his terminal and found his chat with Fu Tianhe. Six hours earlier, the Alpha had messaged him. Chen Nian had seen it but hadn’t replied immediately.

This was Chen Nian’s first tactic for cold handling: treating chats like delayed email responses. Typically, after sending a message, an Alpha would anxiously await a reply, emotions shifting from eager anticipation to unease, disappointment, irritation, and eventually vague anger.

But once they received a response, their hopes would be rekindled, eagerly awaiting the next reply, in a continuous cycle.

Six hours ago, Fu Tianhe had mentioned he was off work the day after tomorrow, asking if Jiu Yue wanted to hang out.

Lying in bed, feet in the air, Chen Nian typed, “The day after tomorrow? Might be tough, got a bit of a situation at home.”

True to form, just seconds after he sent it, Fu Tianhe’s reply arrived. “I see, take care of what you need to. If there’s anything I can help with, just let me know.”

He even included a goofy dog emoji.

Chen Nian didn’t know what this Alpha looked like. It was too dark in the alley that night; he only saw one golden eye. The man seemed well-built; hopefully, his face wasn’t too unfortunate.

Chen Nian swiped away Fu Tianhe’s chat window. In another six hours, he’d reply with a simple “Okay.”

He just hoped Fu Tianhe was reliable enough to pass his first test, so he could feel a bit more at ease and temporarily entrust his brother to him.

Fu Tianhe stared at his chat screen, his message following right after Jiu Yue’s reply, but the screen eventually went dark without any new messages popping up.

Fu Tianhe took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He locked his terminal and stopped staring at it.

—That’s fine, he still had a visible injury on his face, not fit to be seen by Jiu Yue.

They could meet when his injury healed.