In the restroom, Chi Liu quietly looked at himself in the mirror, crystalline droplets of water tracing paths down his jawline—he had just splashed his face.

Aside from a slightly pale complexion, nothing seemed amiss.

But what was with that retching just now? Was there something wrong with the food today?

If it got any worse, perhaps he should go to the hospital.

Chi Liu took out a clean handkerchief, wiped his face, tidied his appearance, and returned to the shop.

Secretary Wen looked at him: “Are you alright?”

Chi Liu smiled slightly: “It’s nothing serious.”

Secretary Wen glanced subtly at the shadow behind the glass door, which had returned to normal, sighed inwardly, stood up, and said with a smile, “I’m going back to work overtime. I’ll bring you the contract and materials tomorrow. Welcome to our anniversary celebration.”

Chi Liu nodded happily. After seeing Secretary Wen off, he locked the shop door and went straight home.

…

Yingwang Tower.

In front of the office, Secretary Wen took a deep breath to prepare himself mentally. When he pushed the door open, his movements froze: ?

He wasn’t seeing things, was he?

Everything in the office was perfectly fine!

The glass wall of his cubicle was also perfectly fine!

Moreover, his boss was at his desk, working overtime to review documents!

Good heavens! Had he drunk Mr. Chi’s wine and fallen into a beautiful dream?

A sickeningly sweet look of relief spread across Secretary Wen’s face. Then, Chu Qi raised his head and looked at him, a smile radiating a dark aura on his handsome face: “I’ll be on a business trip for the next week, so I’ll be working through the night tonight.”

Secretary Wen: !!!

His boss! Not only had he started working properly, but he had also proactively requested a business trip!

Secretary Wen was so moved that he was on the verge of tears: “Boss, all the employees of Yingwang will study your spirit together at our anniversary celebration!”

Chu Qi smiled: “All of your work for next week must also be completed tonight, all of it.”

Secretary Wen: “…”

This was definitely revenge!

But who told him to be a miserable corporate slave who couldn’t refuse his boss’s orders…

Damn it, you evil god capitalist!

Secretary Wen forced himself to utter a “Yes,” then entered his perfectly intact cubicle and discovered that his expensive ergonomic chair had been reduced to dust—damn it! It was newly bought!

Tearfully, he dragged over a conference chair, turned on his computer, and resigned himself to confirming the progress of the “Yingwang Anniversary Celebration Plan” item by item.

This year’s celebration required both NPC employees and night shift workers to participate, ensuring everything went smoothly.

Especially the final lottery segment. The live lottery box had to be sufficiently filled to ensure it functioned properly. The gifts that only NPC employees could draw, the gifts that only night shift employees could draw, and the gifts that both NPC employees and night shift employees could draw must not be mixed up!

Secretary Wen’s keyboard was practically sparking as he typed. When his mind was completely overwhelmed with work, he thought, feeling a bit dizzy: Had he told the boss that Mr. Chi was also going to the celebration?

Ah, never mind! Work! Anniversary celebration!

…

A week later, the grand Yingwang anniversary celebration arrived as scheduled.

Chi Liu, dressed in a bartender’s outfit of a black vest and white shirt three-piece set, stood behind the bar in the venue with his newly hired probationary employee.

Yingwang’s celebration focused on freedom, happiness, and substance. They reserved three banquet halls on the top floor of the Cloud Tower. Each banquet hall was adorned with flowers and an extravagant array of dishes and desserts. They also invested heavily in inviting the most renowned actors, singers, and even stand-up comedians to perform.

The president and major shareholders wouldn’t be attending, so after Secretary Wen gave a brief speech on stage to announce the official start, the employees were free to eat, drink, chat, and watch the performances in any of the three banquet halls.

Rumor had it that there would also be an incredibly generous lottery segment and a fireworks show overlooking the river at the end of the celebration!

As Chi Liu placed fresh lemons into the refrigerated section for preservation, he asked the purple-haired man beside him, who was excitedly playing with a shaker, “Yingwang’s benefits aren’t bad. Why did you resign?”

That day, he had chatted with the man and learned his background. He had opened that disastrous dark cuisine restaurant after working at Yingwang.

The purple-haired man’s excited face immediately fell: “I don’t want to work the night shift.”

Chi Liu: “Can’t you work the day shift?”

The man’s face fell even further: “Wuwuwu, I can only work the night shift. Boss, you don’t know how black-hearted Old Wen is—” He threw him into the dungeon with the most high-level players! How treacherous was that capitalist’s lackey!

“Qiteng?” Secretary Wen arrived at the bar with Xiang Xiang, his lips twitching as he looked at the purple-haired man. He asked with a look of disgust, “What are you doing here?”

Chi Liu blinked in surprise: “You know each other?”

Secretary Wen pushed up his glasses, his eyebrows twitching for a moment: “…Not really, just a former colleague. Boss Chi, this guy—” This guy had no talent for the NPC culinary industry to the point of being appalling. Was he sure he wanted to hire him?

Qiteng widened his eyes and threw a green lemon at him: “Old Wen, don’t you dare say bad things about me in front of my new boss!”

Secretary Wen easily caught it, gave him a cool look, and didn’t continue the topic.

He looked at Chi Liu and pushed Xiang Xiang, who was shyly hiding behind him, forward: “Boss Chi, would it be convenient for you to take care of him for a while?”

“He’s a bit timid and doesn’t like to talk, so he’s not very comfortable in this kind of setting. I think he’d rather be with you than with other colleagues.”

Chi Liu paused, bent down slightly, and looked thoughtfully at the boy who only showed half of his delicate face. He gently curved his eyes: “Would you be willing to help me here?”

Xiang Xiang blinked, his cheeks turning rosy. He said nervously and hesitantly, “Y-yes, I would.”

With that, he lowered his head and walked out from behind Secretary Wen, coming to Chi Liu’s side.

Secretary Wen’s expression softened as he watched their interaction. He handed Chi Liu a temporary employee card: “Boss Chi, welcome to participate in the final lottery segment.”

He could use this employee card to draw prizes from the lottery machine.

Chi Liu raised an eyebrow: “I can participate too?”

Secretary Wen smiled: “Of course. We’ve prepared some pretty generous prizes.”

Chi Liu: “Thank you.”

Qiteng’s eyes lit up: “Then I—”

Secretary Wen smiled slightly: “Not for you.” With that, he waved goodbye to Chi Liu: “I’m going to get busy. Contact me anytime if you need anything.”

…

After Secretary Wen left, employees came to order drinks intermittently.

Before long, more and more employees gathered around. A large portion of them were night shift employees.

Chi Liu smiled as he handed a dazzling Sidecar to a red-haired, red-eyed woman, then immediately went to mix the next drink. Qiteng hadn’t been trained yet, so he could only assist him with Xiang Xiang.

After mixing a few drinks, Chi Liu realized that distinguishing between Yingwang’s day shift and night shift employees was quite simple. For example, night shift employees, such as Qiteng, often wore colored contact lenses and dyed their hair bright colors. Day shift employees mostly had normal eye and hair colors.

The night shift employees surrounding him now looked like a lively vegetable garden, with every color imaginable.

“Ah, this wine tastes so good…”

“It’s so nostalgic…”

“Oh,” a girl with green pigtails stroked her face and looked at the wine in her hand, saying with surprise and confusion, “This wine… isn’t it the same as the one I drank in ‘that place’ a few years ago…?”

…

Time passed, and before long, night fell.

The sound of firecrackers rang out outside the banquet hall, and the lottery segment that everyone had been looking forward to finally began!

The employees cheered and gazed at the huge, red, circular lottery box on the stage.

A vast, comical smiling face was painted on its surface. After swiping their cards, employees would draw prize number cards from their wide-open mouths.

Chi Liu looked at his employee card with interest: He had heard that Yingwang’s prizes included 888,888 in cash.

That was probably the grand prize, right?

He really hoped he could win it.

He looked at Xiang Xiang beside him: “What do you want to win?”

Xiang Xiang blushed and said a little shyly, “I want canned eyeballs.” Eyeballs were so delicious…

Chi Liu: “?”

Was this a popular novelty snack in this world?

Just then, Qiteng rushed over with a plate, looking excited: “Boss, you must be hungry after not eating for so long, right? Look, Boston lobster! For you!”

He had heard that NPCs loved to eat this!

In the silver platter, the plump lobster meat was snow-white and glistening, topped with steaming creamy garlic sauce, making one’s mouth water just looking at it.

But when Chi Liu saw it, his face turned pale. He subconsciously covered his mouth and blurted out, “I’m going to the restroom,” and hurried out.

Leaving Qiteng standing there dumbfounded with the plate—ahhhhh, he hadn’t been officially hired yet, would he offend the boss?

Xiang Xiang looked at Chi Liu’s back with concern.

…

In the restroom, Chi Liu finished retching, his pale, delicate face flushed with an unnatural redness.

He gently stroked his abdomen and breathed softly. After rinsing his mouth, he rewashed his face.

After a long while, he finally recovered.

He looked at himself in the mirror with confusion: He clearly loved seafood, but now he felt like throwing up as soon as he smelled it.

Was he really sick?

It seemed like he really needed to go to the hospital.

After tidying his appearance, Chi Liu returned to the banquet hall.

Xiang Xiang stood behind the bar, looking dejectedly at the numbered ball in his hand.

Chi Liu ruffled his hair and asked gently, “What’s wrong?”

Xiang Xiang: “I didn’t win canned eyeballs, I only won 888,888 yuan in cash.” This was a prize that both NPCs and night shift employees could win. And canned eyeballs could only be won by night shift employees.

He was really stupid, and he couldn’t even win the lottery…

Chi Liu blinked: “!” The little guy won the grand prize! That was great!

Only then did Xiang Xiang react. Just as he was about to ask Chi Liu if he was okay, Chi Liu’s temporary employee card number was called on stage, and it was his turn to draw a prize.

Chi Liu took a deep breath, silently chanting “big prize, big prize,” and went on stage with a smile—if he didn’t win the grand prize, winning another big prize would be fine too.

Thinking this, he reached into that giant mouth.

For some reason, he felt like he was really putting his hand into the warm mouth of some creature.

His abdomen started to heat up again for some reason, and a number ball suddenly flew into his hand automatically.

It was as if the lottery box was afraid and spat the number out to him.

Chi Liu: “?” Were even lottery machines made this advanced now?

He took out the numbered ball and handed it to the host.

The host looked at the ball and widened his eyes in surprise: “Friends! Our grand prize for tonight has finally been drawn!!”

The employees below the stage immediately cheered.

Chi Liu’s eyes suddenly lit up: Grand prize!

If even 888,888 was just a regular prize, how much money could the grand prize be! The bar hadn’t even opened yet; was he about to achieve financial freedom through this lottery draw?

Loud music sounded, and the host announced loudly: “Let’s congratulate Mr. Chi Liu on winning the grand prize—”

Chi Liu smiled, ready to welcome the huge surprise.

He heard the host continue: “Which is! The chance to spend a day at your leisure and have dinner alone with our Yingwang’s greatest President Chu!”

The smile completely froze on Chi Liu’s face: “…”

A certain baby in a warm place guiltily shrank his still-undeveloped body: Mommy said he wanted a big prize, so he threatened the lottery box to spit out the biggest prize…

But now, why isn’t Mommy happy… QAQ