Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

Han Fei and Zhang Ruiyi entered the Innovation and Intelligence Building and stood in line in front of the elevator.

"Why would your programmer work in a place like this?" Zhang Ruiyi asked. She took off her hair clip, shook her head from side to side to let her hair fall in front of her, then tied it up again and secured it with the hair clip.

"Well," Han Fei rubbed his chin, "it's a last resort. I can't make him a full-time employee of the publishing house right now."

Zhang Ruiyi turned her head to the side: "I thought nothing could stump you."

The elevator made a "ding" sound and the doors opened. The two stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the eighth floor.

"Was that a call from my dad?" Zhang Ruiyi asked.

"Um."

"What did he say?"

He said... NetEase might be keeping an eye on my new project.

How did Wangyi know? Han Fei pondered. There were probably no more than ten people who knew the details of the new project to begin with. Subtracting Zhang Qiming and Han Baohua, the only remaining people were the publishing house editor and Wen Jie. Since the publishing house editor had agreed to delay salary payments, it was unlikely he would have leaked any information to Wangyi. Could something have gone wrong with Wen Jie?

"Wangyi?" Zhang Ruiyi said, "Is that the company that does whatever's popular, always following in other people's footsteps?"

Han Fei couldn't help but laugh: "It seems you know them quite well."

The elevator doors slid to both sides.

The two arrived at the entrance of the office area. Han Fei saw through the glass that Wen Jie was sitting at his workstation with his back to them, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

Han Fei pushed open the door and went inside. Perhaps because Zhang Qiming's phone call had served as a warning, he subconsciously scanned the room quickly as soon as he entered. Then he suddenly stopped and immediately pushed Zhang Ruiyi out.

Only a handful of people worked in this office. Although Han Fei couldn't make out everyone's faces, he clearly remembered that the workstation behind Wen Jie was originally empty. However, he had just seen a man sitting in that seat.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Ruiyi asked.

Han Fei pulled her to sit in the waiting area in front of a trademark agency across from his office. He pretended to open a product brochure while raising one hand in a gesture of refusal, because the female receptionist of the agency was walking towards them with a smile.

"I see a newcomer," Han Fei said.

Zhang Ruiyi blinked. Han Fei could tell from her expression that she understood.

"How many days has it been since you last came here?"

"It's been four or five days, hasn't it?"

"What's so strange about that? Anyone can rent here, right?"

"But the man's computer screen was showing a screensaver, he wasn't working. Of course, I might be overthinking it, let me wait and see."

Han Fei leaned back in his chair, just in time to observe the scene inside the office area through the glass door.

The receptionist seemed unwilling to give up and came over again.

This time, Han Fei didn't refuse. Instead, he told her that they were waiting for an important client who was very interested in the agency's products and had even asked if she could bring over two glasses of water. The receptionist was delighted and brought over a pot of freshly brewed tea.

The two drank their tea and waited quietly.

Half an hour later, they saw the man get up from his workstation, walk around behind Wen Jie, stop and linger for a few seconds, and then leave the office area and step into the corridor.

The man was about 1.75 meters tall and quite strong. Han Fei noticed that he had unusual bowlegs, making it seem as if he had a rugby ball between his knees when he walked. The man walked into the door marked with a men's restroom sign and put something into his pants pocket.

Han Fei looked at Zhang Ruiyi. Zhang Ruiyi's eyes widened.

"Wait here for me for a while." Han Fei stood up and followed him.

Han Fei stopped at the toilet door, took a breath, and wondered how long it had been since he had exercised properly. Then he quietly pushed the door open and went in.

This restroom is like a microcosm of the entire Innovation Building: clean, tidy, innovative, and spacious.

There are six cubicles along the main wall, none of which have red squares on the door locks. The shorter wall has two sinks, while the longer wall has four ceramic urinals at hip height.

The man stood in front of the urinal by the window, his back to Han Fei. The window next to him was closed, and there was nothing on the windowsill.

It is international etiquette for men to avoid looking at each other in public restrooms, as even unintentional eye contact can be dangerous. Therefore, the man did not turn to look at Han Fei. Even after Han Fei carefully locked the restroom door, slowly walked behind the man, and cleared his throat, the man still did not turn around.

Han Fei silently counted to three in his mind, then suddenly reached out, grabbed the man's collar, and forcefully dragged him to the side, causing him to lose his balance.

A pale yellow liquid spun along the axis and flew through the air, landing on Han Fei's thigh.

Han Fei rushed forward and pinned the other man against the windowsill, pressing his right forearm against the man's throat.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the man roared.

"Shouldn't I be asking you? What did you just do?" Han Fei said, freeing his left hand to search the man's trouser pocket.

The man tried to break free, but Han Fei held him tightly, so he had no choice but to give up. The man's head hit the windowsill with a muffled thud.

"Let me see..." Han Fei took out a Sony Ericsson phone, the screen of which displayed the text message sending interface.

He checked the records and found that the man had sent several photos to an unmarked number. The photos all showed the back of Wen Jie's head and various programming pages on Wen Jie's computer screen.

"Who are you?" the man roared. "Why are you meddling in other people's business?"

"Who sent you?" Han Fei asked.

no respond.

Someone outside shook the doorknob, cursed a few times, and then left.

"It's okay if you don't tell me." Han Fei smiled. "More than that, I'm curious about your boss's reaction if he saw you hanging your genitals outside your pants."

Han Fei opened his phone's camera, took a picture of the man's crotch, and sent it to that number.

The man closed his eyes, let out a desperate sigh, and his facial muscles twitched uncontrollably.

Han Fei put the phone back in the man's pocket and turned to walk towards the door.

"Fuck you! You XXXXXXXX!!!"

The toilet door closed behind Han Fei, and the man's shouts ceased.

Han Fei stepped into the corridor and headed towards the office area. At that moment, a security guard rushed up from the stairwell.

"Hey!" the security guard called out to Han Fei, "I heard there was a fight in the restroom, did you hear about it?"

"I didn't see the fight, but there was an exhibitionist in the men's restroom."

Han Fei returned to the entrance of the trademark agency. Zhang Ruiyi stood up and looked him up and down with a questioning gaze.

"What's that on your pants?" she asked.

Han Fei looked down at his jeans and saw a curved, splash-like water mark on each of his thighs, forming a rounded letter "M".