Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

Han Fei observed Ma Yongxing, who seemed completely unaffected.

"What is it?" Ma Yongxing asked.

The head waiter stood there, panting, "The guest in room number three drank too much and insisted on taking Xiao Hong out for the night. Xiao Hong refused, so he hit her and slapped her. He's still making a scene."

"Who is it?"

"He started yelling that he was the manager of some Tencent branch and had brought a friend over. He'd been here a few times before and his spending was decent, but today he was completely drunk and acting like a complete idiot."

Tencent?

Han Fei frowned, instinctively feeling wary of the name. At this point in 2004, although Tencent already had a massive user base thanks to QQ, in many people's eyes it was still a chat software company that made "OICQ," and was even struggling with its profit model.

But Han Fei was well aware that Tencent was currently in a period of rapid growth, and was planning how to make money on the Mobile Dream Network.

He knew that Tencent's upcoming QQ membership, QQ Show, and even later games were all based on SP (Service Provider) fee collection.

This drunken manager doesn't represent a mere drunkard; he's clearly a behemoth awakening.

While they are still growing wildly, the Bluebird must run faster.

At this moment, Zhang Ruiyi had come to Han Fei's side, looking at him inquiringly. Han Fei winked at her.

"Since you're a regular customer, Elephant, come with me to take a look," Ma Yongxing said, walking downstairs.

Han Fei followed him, telling Zhang Ruiyi to stay in the private room and wait. But Zhang Ruiyi followed him anyway.

The group hurried downstairs and saw a curious crowd gathered at the entrance of private room number three on the first floor. Several security guards were squeezed in the crowd, unable to move forward or backward.

Han Fei stood on the third step of the stairs and looked into the third private room. He saw a man holding a young woman's wrist tightly.

The man looked to be around thirty years old, with a buzz cut, wearing a suit, and his face was flushed.

The girl was sobbing helplessly, her makeup ruined by tears, and there was a clear handprint on her cheek.

Several young people were gathered around the entrance to the private room; some were trying to persuade the others, some were making a fuss, and one was recording a video on his phone.

"I paid for this!" the man roared. "What are you pretending to be innocent for? If you don't come with me tonight, I'll make sure this place goes out of business!"

Ma Yongxing waved to the elephant, and the elephant immediately pushed through the crowd and moved forward.

Han Fei was surprised that the enormous body could move so fast.

The man looked at the elephant, but before he could even raise his hands, his feet were already off the ground, and he was being held tightly, like a teddy bear he had just won at an amusement park.

The girl named Xiaohong hurriedly ran out.

Cheers and hesitant applause rang out from the crowd.

The man twisted and turned, trying to break free, but each time he released air from his lungs, the iron clamp tightened, like a python compressing its prey's breath.

At this moment, Ma Yongxing entered the private room and signaled the elephant to stop.

The man was finally freed and was flying through the air before landing on the sofa after crossing the entire private room.

But he seemed unconvinced, got up again, and strode towards the elephant. His upper body was wobbly, like a flagpole bent by a sudden strong wind, and he even slipped and fell to his knees when he reached the coffee table.

"Oh my god..." Zhang Ruiyi gasped.

Several girls in the crowd covered their mouths with their hands.

The man got up.

"My friend," Ma Yongxing said in a deep voice, "come at me if you have any problems, don't make things difficult for the young lady."

The man looked up, opened his mouth, and glared at Ma Yongxing: "You're the boss? Perfect timing! What kind of service is this place? I came to patronize a business, and she doesn't give me any face. What are you going to do about it?!"

"She's my employee, not a product," Ma Yongxing said calmly. "You've had too much to drink. I'll waive your bill tonight. Come back another day when you're sober, and I'll personally have a drink with you."

The man sneered, "Free meal? Do you think I'm short of money? Let me tell you, I work for Tencent. With just one word from me, this shop can be closed tomorrow!"

Zhang Ruiyi looked at Han Fei: "Is Tencent really that powerful?"

"When you're drunk, you'll brag about anything," Han Fei laughed, only then noticing another man sitting in booth number three. The man was sitting on the sofa, wearing a white shirt, the spotlight overhead making him almost blend into the white sofa. "Wait here for me, and don't wander off."

"You're going to..." Zhang Ruiyi hadn't finished speaking when Han Fei had already stepped down the stairs.

Han Fei walked through the crowd, watching his step to avoid stepping on broken glass, and entered the private room, clearing his throat.

Ma Yongxing looked at him questioningly.

Han Fei smiled at Ma Yongxing and walked to the man's side: "Brother, Tencent is a big company. You've become a manager at Tencent, so you must be someone important. What are important people most afraid of when they're out in the world? Losing face."

The man squinted one eye: "Who the hell are you?"

Han Fei smiled slightly, lowered his voice, but it was still clear enough for those around him to hear: "The person who came to give you a way out."

The man's eyes darted around, he shifted his weight, and quickly glanced at the crowd outside the door.

"If you stop now, and you sober up tomorrow, we'll pretend this never happened. But if you make a big fuss, and word gets out tomorrow... have you thought this through? A Tencent manager assaulting a young girl at a nightclub—isn't that sensational enough? How are you going to explain that to your company's PR department?"

The man's expression changed like a traffic light, and he swallowed hard.

Ma Yongxing seized the opportunity to chime in, "We were inadequate in our service today. Here's what we'll do: if you've had your fun, I'll have someone take you home. If you haven't, I'll have someone arrange a clean private room for you and find a friendly girl to have a couple of drinks with you as an apology. Just calm down, and when you wake up tomorrow, just pretend nothing happened."

The man hesitated for a moment, then grinned crookedly, "Hmph, that's more like it. Let's find a private room with a window; this one's too stuffy."

Ma Yongxing instructed the supervisor to take Xiao Hong to rest and calm her down, then arrange a new private room. He also gestured to the security guards to disperse the crowd.

Discontented murmurs arose from the crowd.

The man followed the manager out of the private room and looked around.

Another man in the private room also stood up, draped his suit jacket over his arm, and smiled and nodded as he passed by Han Fei and Ma Yongxing.

Han Fei noticed that the man's demeanor was very elegant. He had broad shoulders, long limbs, fair skin, and a very prominent aquiline nose. Although he looked older, probably around forty years old, his eyes were very bright.

Zhang Ruiyi patted Han Fei twice before he came to his senses.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh," Han Fei smiled, "It's nothing, I'm just a little curious how those two got together."