Chapter 41: Encountering the Sleazy, Wage-Docking Boss Again

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Encountering the Sleazy, Wage-Docking Boss Again

Rian Sinclair sat in her car. She had originally thought this was just a quick bathroom break, but she hadn’t expected one thing after another to pop up.

She casually tossed the check and business card she had received into her purse.

[DING! Special mission triggered! Rescue Simon Beckett, prevent him from being trafficked to North Boro, and save him from psychological trauma along the way! Reward: Ten lucky draws!]

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Rian was a bit surprised by the notification. "There are special missions?" Then, thinking of Cody’s situation, she wondered, "Why didn’t Cody’s ordeal trigger one before?"

[Special mission notifications only appear upon completion. This is to prevent the Host from forcing themselves into dangerous situations to complete missions, which could result in physical or psychological harm.]

"That’s surprisingly humane," Rian remarked as she started driving. "Let’s do the draws."

[BEEP—Commencing ten consecutive draws.]

[DING, thank you for playing.]

[DING, congratulations to the Host for winning a Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta. Congratulations to the Host for winning Villa No. 1 at Red Maple Lake. Congratulations to the Host for winning a 30 billion venture capital fund.]

[DING, thank you for playing.]

[DING, congratulations to the Host for winning a mud ball.]

[DING, congratulations to the Host for winning an Interstellar Omnipotent Butler (Identity information has been registered in the Blue Star database).]

[DING, congratulations to the Host for winning a pair of slippers.]

[DING, congratulations to the Host for acquiring the Skill: X-ray vision. Congratulations to the Host for winning Nova Tech, a subsidiary of the Varden Group.]

Rian ran her tongue over the roof of her mouth. She was highly satisfied with these drop rates.

The villas at Red Maple Lake formed the most luxurious residential area in Argent. The construction cost of Villa No. 1 alone was vastly more expensive than the other forty-nine estates combined.

As for the Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta, only three were ever produced globally. Each was priced at over fifty million...

US Dollars.

She now had a villa, a sorted-out butler, a newly delivered luxury car, and a thirty billion venture capital fund. Finally, she had even drawn a Skill.

Rian wondered, "What is X-ray vision? It can’t be what I’m thinking, right? Seeing the essence through the fog?"

[X-ray vision allows the user to see through obstacles to the interior. You can see human anatomy, inspect the inside of rough jade stones for gambling, and reveal the rewards on scratch-off lottery tickets.]

She thought, "I don’t really have a use for this right now." After all, spending money on her target characters yielded a five-to-tenfold cashback system. While finding rare jade with good water transparency could make her a bit of money, the cashback was far more lucrative.

However, she could always take people with her to buy things in the future. Whether it was buying raw stones or jadeite. As long as she could obtain more money, it was fine.

While waiting at a traffic light, Rian received a call from the Red Maple Lake property management. She made a turn, heading over to sign the paperwork.

Stepping into the massive sales center, Rian contacted the management representative. While waiting, she browsed the other properties on display, casually eavesdropping on the sales pitches given to other clients.

After looking around for a bit, her desire to buy more properties was piqued. A sales agent who had just freed up approached her to introduce various layouts and models. The agent highlighted a few specific villas that had caught Rian’s eye.

Yes, a few villas—plural.

The sales agent simply assumed Rian wanted to understand the community first before selecting a specific listing, so she patiently continued her detailed introduction.

Suddenly, a familiar, sleazy male voice rang out.

"Well, well. If it isn’t Rian Sinclair, the part-timer from my restaurant?"

Rian didn’t even turn her head. Just hearing that greasy voice made her stomach churn. Talk about awful luck—she had run into her former boss, the very man who had docked her wages and, despite being old enough to be her father, had tried to prey on her.

Seeing that Rian ignored him, the man briskly walked over with his entourage and blocked her path. "Rian, what’s wrong? Can’t even say hello to an old acquaintance?"

Rian stared at the hulking mountain of a man blocking her way, a dull ache throbbing in her temples.

She thought, "Why do I always run into this kind of crap! What is up with my luck? This is pure torture!"

"You know, old man, even a good dog knows not to block the road," Rian shot back with biting sarcasm. You couldn’t use normal logic when talking to someone like this.

The man’s flab jiggled in anger. "Rian Sinclair! Who are you calling a dog!"

Rian shrugged helplessly. "Whoever barks first, I guess."

The sales agent beside Rian covered her mouth and chuckled, shooting a meaningful glance at the agent accompanying the man. The other agent caught the hint and tried to intervene, but no matter what she said, the man wouldn’t budge.

The two sales agents were at a loss. Rian’s agent looked at her for guidance, but Rian simply shook her head. The man remained locked in a stubborn standoff with her.

Suddenly, a slightly plump, wealthy-looking woman stormed over and grabbed the man by the ear. "You old geezer! How old are you, hitting on a young girl? She’s gorgeous—do you really think she’d give you the time of day? You’re ugly as sin but still acting like a playboy!"

The man winced as she twisted his ear. "Flora, ow, ow, ow! We’re in public! Give me a little face!"

Flora smacked the back of his head. "Screw you! You despicable scumbag! If I ever catch you fooling around on the side, I’ll divorce you and make sure you walk away with nothing but the clothes on your back!"

The man’s face went deathly pale for a second before he quickly recovered. "Honey, how could I possibly cheat on you? Don’t falsely accuse me!"

He then pointed a fat finger at Rian. "It’s this woman! She’s young and unemployed, so I gave her a job at my restaurant. But she just wanted a free ride. I told her I was married, but she still tried to crawl into my bed! I fired her, and now she’s tracked me down all the way here! Honey, I didn’t know what to do, thank god you showed up."

After the man finished speaking, the entire hall fell uncharacteristically silent. Then, Flora began spewing a litany of curses. "You son of a bitch, do you hear the garbage coming out of your mouth? Are you braindead or just blind? Look at this girl! You couldn’t score her in your wildest wet dreams!"

The man’s face turned blue, then pale, under her barrage.

Rian chuckled. "Old man, just because you have a mouth doesn’t mean you should talk out of your ass."

"Rian Sinclair, even if that’s true, what is a young girl like you doing here? You’re obviously someone’s sugar baby! There’s no way you can afford a house here. If you could, why were you working part-time at my restaurant?" Old Man Landon yanked his ear free from Flora’s grasp, rubbing it as he backed away from his wife.

"Old man, you need evidence when you make claims. If you keep spouting this nonsense, I’ll sue you for defamation," Rian retorted. Then she glanced at the furious Flora. "If you end up in jail, it would be awfully embarrassing for your wife to have to come bail you out, wouldn’t it?"

Hearing this, Flora slapped the man across the face. "If you ever make me bail you out, we’re divorcing the second you walk free! And you’re leaving with absolutely nothing!"

Old Man Landon cowered. He opened his mouth to argue back, but before he could make a sound, a shrill female voice cut through the air.

"Old Man Landon! I’ve picked out a house! Let’s put this one under our son’s name!"

The voice drew closer until the woman linked arms with the man. In an instant, the entire sales center descended into dead silence.

Flora ruthlessly slapped the newcomer across the face, followed by another vicious backhand to Old Man Landon. "Well, well! Not only are you keeping a mistress on the side, but you even knocked her up?! If you wanted a divorce so badly, you should’ve just said so! How dare you cheat on me! Screw your ancestors!"

She whirled on the mistress. "And you, you cheap slut! How dare you seduce my husband! You unraised little tramp! You stupid bitch! Go to hell! All you know is how to steal other women’s men, you cheap town bicycle!"