Chapter 9

The Qi Ning couple were quite peculiar, with theatrical tendencies bordering on lunacy.

The “detailed discussion” Zhou Jingshuo mentioned late last night transformed into a car sent to pick up Chi Zhihan the next morning, giving her a day off and driving her directly to her company.

Chi Zhihan’s boss was something of an eccentric. Having built his business from scalping queue resources, he now managed various social media influencers and livestreamers on Weibo. The company wasn’t large, but it had a warm, human touch that Chi Zhihan had always appreciated.

But today, the company had been acquired.

One purpose of the car bringing her to the company was to re-sign her contract.

The news was too sudden. While other colleagues only needed to sign supplementary agreements with their respective HR departments, Chi Zhihan and Lin Jingwu were specifically called to the general manager’s office.

Inside sat their boss alongside a stern-faced, suit-clad professional who handed contracts to both Chi Zhihan and Lin Jingwu.

Chi Zhihan’s eyelid twitched when she saw the legal representative’s name on the contract.

Zhou Jingshuo…

The Qi family had acquired their company.

“You just went to cook for ten days. How did it come to this?” Lin Jingwu, who had also just received the news this morning, asked through gritted teeth in a low voice.

Chi Zhihan gave him a look that said she was equally bewildered.

“Your company’s operations won’t change. Mr. Zhou acquired your company simply for easier management,” the professional kindly explained, then nodded to Chi Zhihan. “Apart from the legal representative, your contract terms remain the same. Miss Chi has an additional supplementary agreement. Please review it, and if anything is unsatisfactory, we can discuss it.”

That agreement was the one Zhou Jingshuo mentioned yesterday. Surprisingly, its content was simply to remove the clause in the original contract that prohibited communication with the person across the hall.

…

Just for this clause?!

“That’s it?” Chi Zhihan felt her voice trembling.

Were they insane? Buying her entire company just to add this supplementary agreement?

“Yes, just this clause,” the professional maintained his expressionless face while handing Chi Zhihan a pen, indicating she could sign.

She wanted to tear up this absurd pile of agreements and storm out.

But in reality, under the desperate looks from Lin Jingwu and their boss that screamed “if you don’t sign, we’re all doomed,” she gritted her teeth and signed her name.

There was no choice…

The Qi family’s so-called “detailed discussion” truly exemplified their peculiar nature.

“What exactly does your boss want me to do?” Chi Zhihan was utterly baffled. Other private chefs for the Qi family had all left unscathed. Why was she the only one caught in this mess?

If everything stemmed from her asking, “Does it suit your taste?” she would gladly strangle herself now.

“Since that clause has been removed, naturally we hope Miss Chi will engage in more communication,” the professional said, packing up his things and preparing to leave without a hint of sentiment. “Of course, Mr. Zhou went to such lengths because he hopes Miss Chi won’t make any more mistakes. The contract terms are very detailed. All your actions during your service to the Qi family must comply with these terms.”

…

The company suffered no losses. The Qi family had offered a price higher than market value. After the acquisition, they only had requirements for Chi Zhihan and left everything else unchanged. The boss had made a tidy profit and was quite pleased with the situation.

Lin Jingwu kept sighing, patted her shoulder, but ultimately said nothing.

This time, Chi Zhihan finally understood with crystal clarity that when Qi Ning had negotiated with her about the camera’s audio recording, he had actually been showing her considerable respect.

This wasn’t just about pride anymore.

This family was not to be trifled with, and there was no point in trying to fight a hopeless battle. Obedience was her only option.

It was just communication, which she was good at.

Moreover, she no longer had any desire to challenge the Qi family’s authority. She would follow the contract to the letter, not stepping even slightly out of line.

…

A private car also picked her up to return to the villa. Chi Zhihan brought along her homemade doubanjiang sauce, rice wine, and other time-consuming preparations.

As she entered, she instinctively glanced back at that vermilion door, which remained tightly shut as always.

Chi Zhihan pursed her lips slightly. This time, she successfully suppressed her curiosity.

Whatever was happening across the hall had nothing to do with her. It wasn’t something she could interfere with. All she needed to do was communicate…

But communication should be a two-way street.

Chi Zhihan sighed as she looked at the beautifully handwritten menu in her hand. It was already the third day, and the menu only had six characters – “whatever you like” written after each meal.

What should she do if the neighbor completely refused to communicate with her…

He had written such a long explanation about the camera issue before, but after she took just one day off, his attitude seemed completely different.

Heaven really wanted to destroy her…

With a smile plastered on her face, she took the menu into her bedroom, closed the door, hugged her pillow and vented her frustrations silently, then sent her friend Xi Qing a series of “I’m going to die, help me” emoticons. Finally, she smoothed her hair, put on her smile again, opened the door, and quietly began preparing the third day of “whatever you like” meals.

“The weather’s been getting cooler lately, suitable for high-protein, high-calorie foods. For lunch, how about spicy beef stew with white radish and mushrooms, paired with some light stir-fried lettuce stems?” She looked up at the camera, smiling. “For dinner, chive flowers with shredded pork, tomato and corn dice, carp soup with Chinese yam. Late-night snacks shouldn’t be too heavy – how about potato pancakes? I brought some homemade rice wine that pairs really well with them.”

The camera stared back at her emptily, its blinking red light almost mocking.

Chi Zhihan smiled back mockingly. By the third day, she had run out of things to say in her monologues, but there was still no response from across the hall.

“Living alone here, do you get bored?” Chi Zhihan asked softly, looking down.

Not expecting a response, she smiled after asking and continued with her chef duties.

Qi Cheng, half-lying on his bed sketching storyboards, paused his pen for a moment, looked back at the monitoring screen, then expressionlessly returned to his drawing.

An episode consumed a lot of energy, and these past few days he had mostly been resting in bed. Meanwhile, the person across the hall remained as noisy as ever.

The day before yesterday, she had made stir-fried rice cakes with crab for lunch. After tasting it while seasoning, she started endlessly praising herself, from being talented and refined to being devastatingly beautiful…

Her praise was so excessive he couldn’t continue drawing, and when the food was delivered, he actually tried a bite.

Though the taste wasn’t exactly earth-shattering, it was indeed delicious.

The slight displeasure he felt about her concealing her knowledge of the camera’s audio function was also somewhat diminished by the taste.

She was just doing her job after all, and it was better that she didn’t know about his illness.

Even though he knew that anyone would suspect he had some hidden condition, given how he stayed locked up here never going out, behaving so strangely, it was better if she didn’t know the exact nature of his condition.

His recovery from this episode had surprised many people. All his medications had been changed, and he could feel that his hallucinations were becoming less frequent and his sleep quality was improving.

When family members called, they were all elated, as if he could step outside and become normal at any moment.

It seemed only he believed that a cure was impossible.

He even felt that maintaining things as they were now, with occasional episodes, living quietly, was quite good.

Yet she asked if he was bored.

Even after clearly being disciplined by Qi Ning because of his episode, she still remained abrupt, occasionally saying something startling.

He could guess that Dr. Zhao must have included Chi Zhihan in the treatment plan, otherwise, as one of the triggers for his last episode, she wouldn’t still be allowed to stay here.

He didn’t care about the treatment plan, but he was happy that Chi Zhihan was still living across from him after he woke up.

At least she hadn’t lost her job because of his episode.

Writing “whatever you like” on the menu wasn’t meant to make things difficult for her. Recently he lacked the energy to think about menus, and previous private chefs would also write “whatever you like” for a few days when they ran out of ideas.

But she seemed quite upset about it.

His drawing hand paused again, and Qi Cheng turned his head, squinting at Chi Zhihan’s composed cooking movements on the monitor.

Her posture would be perfect for drawing in a manga.

So he wasn’t actually bored, being locked up here, watching the vibrant life across the way.

There might be some envy, but he really wasn’t bored.

…

After delivering the mung bean pancakes, Chi Zhihan hesitated for a moment, ultimately not daring to bring out the rice wine, opting for barley tea instead.

After confirming he had received it, there was the usual silence.

Back in her bedroom, she called Xi Qing to complain, sprawling out on her bed.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, the doorbell rang.

Chi Zhihan opened her eyes, stunned. It was now 12:50 AM.

Did her place even have a doorbell?

She stumbled out groggily to open the door, and the moment she opened it, a chill ran down her spine.

This villa only housed two people. The person across the hall couldn’t possibly be ringing her doorbell, so who was at the door?

Damn it, she hadn’t even checked before opening the door.

“Miss Chi.” The man at the door quickly wedged his foot in to stop Chi Zhihan from closing it and quickly explained his purpose, “I’m here for the rice wine.”

“…Huh?” Chi Zhihan recognized the security guard from the villa entrance, who appeared to be in his forties and also seemed to have just been dragged from his bed, smiling awkwardly.

“Well…” The security guard rubbed his hands, his face showing an expression that said ‘I’m just an innocent victim here,’ “The rice wine… you mentioned it on the menu earlier.”

…

Chi Zhihan scratched her head.

The security guard also scratched his head.

Both disheveled people simultaneously looked toward the vermilion door across the way.

“…Can he drink alcohol?” she asked hesitantly.

“If he couldn’t, why would he ask for it on the menu?” the honest security guard replied equally hesitantly.

“…Let me call and confirm first,” Chi Zhihan finally regained some sense.

“…I’ll go back to the security room,” the guard waved goodbye. He had also been nearly scared to death – woken up in bed by his phone, only to find a bizarre text message from the Qi family’s young master that he had to read four or five times to make sure he wasn’t mistaken.

Absolutely terrifying…