Daily Life in the Pet Shop Ch. 232

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The movie he starred in had also been released. This time, Fang Yi didn't bother booking out a whole cinema—he just dragged Du Qianze along to watch it with him. Honestly, Du Qianze didn't like watching movies he was in. Every time he watched, all he could think about were the scenes from filming. He just couldn't enjoy it properly. But since Fang Yi liked dragging him along, he didn't have the heart to say no.

After the movie came out, its ratings kept climbing, and the box office wasn't bad either. It couldn't compare to the big-budget blockbusters, sure, but it made its money back and turned a profit, which was already pretty good.

Du Qianze even won a not-so-prestigious Best Actor award for it. That was already way better than what he'd expected at the start.

To celebrate, Fang Yi took him out for rounds and rounds of grilled skewers. Then, while Du Qianze's mind was fuzzy from all the food, Fang Yi took the chance to throw out a bunch of requests. Du Qianze saw those gleaming muscles, got a little hot-headed, and agreed to everything. Of course, the next morning he totally regretted it. When it came to Fang Yi, his self-control was practically nonexistent.

But Du Qianze didn't get to enjoy his little victory for long. A single phone call shattered his good mood. Chi Rui said he wanted to treat Du Qianze and Fang Yi to a meal to celebrate his Best Actor win.

Du Qianze really didn't want to go to that dinner, but he couldn't say no. He had no choice but to agree. To try and avoid any accidents, he even offered to be the one treating Chi Rui—thanking him for all the support over the years. The location was set at the Pei family's restaurant, so Chi Rui probably couldn't pull anything shady this time.

Truth be told, Du Qianze was a little annoyed. He seriously thought it over—when exactly did he ever piss Chi Rui off? It definitely wasn't because of his face. In this industry, everything was in short supply except for good-looking faces. And as far as he knew, he'd never done anything to go against Chi Rui. So why was Chi Rui always so fixated on him?

"Hah..." Du Qianze let out a long breath and called Hai Yang, planning to bring a few more people along for backup. There was strength in numbers, after all. Ever since he found out the truth about Chi Rui, he felt like he couldn't even look him in the eye anymore—seeing him was scarier than seeing a ghost.

"Him again?" Hai Yang groaned when he heard, clearly just as unenthusiastic about seeing Chi Rui.

"Yeah, it's him. I already agreed. We're meeting tomorrow morning at the hotel," Du Qianze said, totally out of options.

"Got it. Can I bring someone along? I've noticed Zhou Chongwen's got pretty good moves," Hai Yang asked.

"Yeah, bring someone." Even if Chi Rui didn't like it, knowing his personality, he definitely wouldn't kick Zhou Chongwen out once he was already there.

Du Qianze and Hai Yang spent a while talking through all the possible scenarios and how they'd deal with them. Then he went downstairs and asked Fang Yue if she'd been in touch with anyone from the Pei family lately. Since the Pei family was insanely powerful, he and Fang Yi basically never contacted Pei Datou or Pei Daniu unless Naima missed them—then Fang Yi would call Pei Haoyan to bring them over.

Because of the foundation work, Fang Yue often stayed in touch with Pei Sisi, but they only ever talked business—never anything personal.

Du Qianze knew quite a few people in the company, but none of them really had access to upper management. Even if he asked around, he wouldn't get much. Maybe Tian Yanming knew something, but if Du Qianze asked him directly, he'd probably find it weird. Du Qianze ran through everyone he knew in his head and figured Pei Haoyan was still the most reliable option.

When Pei Haoyan picked up the call, he said he hadn't seen Pei Haobo in a while and didn't really know much about Chi Rui's situation. But he offered to help Du Qianze ask around.

Not long after, Pei Haoyan called back. He said Chi Rui hadn't been doing so well lately, but didn't go into details—said it was classified.

Hearing that only made Du Qianze even more anxious. But he quickly talked himself out of it. It was a society governed by law now. Chi Rui was a civilized man; he probably wouldn't do anything to them. Besides, whatever trouble Chi Rui was in had nothing to do with him. He didn't have the power to be a thorn in Chi Rui's side anyway.

"No worries, he's weak. I can take him," Fang Yi said right after Du Qianze finished talking.

Du Qianze: ...

If fighting could solve this, he and Hai Yang would've gone for it ages ago.

The next morning, Du Qianze nervously brought Fang Yi to the hotel. Hai Yang and Zhou Chongwen had already arrived. The private room had been booked in advance, and after waiting a bit, Chi Rui finally showed up.

"Got held up by something. Just got here," Chi Rui said when he saw Hai Yang and Zhou Chongwen. His eyebrows knitted together—clearly annoyed—but he didn't say anything and turned to smile at Du Qianze instead.

"Hai Yang said he's never been to such a fancy hotel before and insisted on coming. You don't mind, do you, President Chi?" Du Qianze asked with a smile. The second he finished speaking, Hai Yang gave his thigh a sharp pinch.

"It's fine. The more, the merrier," Chi Rui said with a smile.

During the meal, Chi Rui kept pouring drinks for Du Qianze and Fang Yi. Fang Yi passed out after just one glass—his alcohol tolerance had always been terrible. Hai Yang and Zhou Chongwen were busy eating and drinking too, and it didn't take long before Chi Rui had pretty much drunk them under the table as well. His presence was way too overwhelming—by the time Hai Yang even thought about turning him down, the drink was already down his throat.

Before long, it was just Du Qianze and Chi Rui left at the table.

"To you." Chi Rui raised his glass.

"Drinking too much isn't good for you. I'll finish mine first—President Chi, drink at your own pace." Looking at the people laid out across the table, Du Qianze actually started wondering if maybe he should just lie down too.

"Don't be scared. I really won't do anything to you. I just want to talk," Chi Rui said. Even though Du Qianze was doing a good job covering it up, Chi Rui could still tell he was scared.

"President Chi, you've got a strong presence. I'm kind of a coward—it's normal I'd be scared," Du Qianze said, not bothering to pretend anymore since he'd already been seen through.

All credit goes to the original author
Feel free to pinpoint us if there are any grammar error or typos
Please don't use Guazi's translation to re-translate in other languages

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