After a brief struggle, I ultimately decided not to look at the business plan for Zhuomei that Mi Cai had left on the coffee table. Perhaps I’m not the most upright person, but I’m not willing to stoop to such petty theft. I constantly remind myself to know my limits in life. I would not harm Mi Cai and the Zhuomei Shopping Center she works for with such near-thieving methods for my own personal gain.

The sound of the washing machine drum turning came from the bathroom. After a while, Mi Cai came out of the bathroom and sat back on the sofa, picking up the monthly business plan again. But she treated me, sitting next to her, as if I were air.

I couldn’t find my sense of existence, so I said to Mi Cai, “By the way, I took a set of bedding from your room yesterday. You wouldn’t want me to sleep in your bed, right? That would disgust you even more. So, I think you wouldn’t be angry about this.”

“No, you can use it,” Mi Cai said indifferently.

Her sudden change of attitude made me feel a bit embarrassed. I felt like I had bullied her before. Although she is the CEO of Zhuomei, she is still a woman. My previous actions lacked a man’s grace.

“I’m going to bed now. You should rest early too. Don’t stay up too late,” I said to Mi Cai in a softer tone.

“Okay, I’ll go to bed after I finish washing the clothes.”

…

Returning to my room, I felt a sense of joy as if I had regained something lost. I could finally live in this room where I had lived for more than two years with a clear conscience. I thanked the heavens for their favor, my shameless persistence, and Mi Cai’s conscience.

After thanking everyone I could think of, I suddenly felt relaxed, and sleepiness hit me. As I drifted off to sleep, I knew that after more than a week of drifting, I could finally have a good night’s sleep.

As I expected, I slept soundly that night. I slept until dawn without dreaming. When I woke up, I quickly became alert.

I sat up in bed and looked out the window. Although the autumn wind was blowing the leaves around, the sunlight was good, and the temperature was comfortable. I wiped my face, completely shaking off the morning drowsiness. Looking at my watch, it was just past 7:30. It was the perfect time to get up.

After getting up and washing up, I planned to cook some porridge and go out to buy some breakfast. Of course, I would also buy a portion for Mi Cai. I felt that there should be no grudges between us. As a man, I could lower my posture and take the initiative to make peace with her. From then on, we could live in harmony in this house.

I went to the cabinet where the rice was stored, but to my surprise, the cabinet was locked. I was a bit puzzled, but didn’t think much of it. I was about to check the fridge, but when I opened it, I was completely dumbfounded. The fridge was empty. A sense of foreboding filled me.

I almost ran to the door of the house, turned the handle of the security door, and found it was locked… I suddenly realized that I had been confined in this room by Mi Cai.

“Damn it! No wonder she told me last night that I could stay as long as I wanted… How could I have been so stupid not to notice!” I cursed as I ran to my room with the last hope, only to find out in despair that the key to my room had indeed been taken by Mi Cai while I was sleeping.

In the face of danger, I remained calm and thought of calling a locksmith for help. I picked up my phone from the cabinet, felt it was much lighter, and when I opened the back cover, I felt like I was about to collapse. The battery of the phone was gone.

I walked back to the living room from the bedroom with a stern face, but I had no idea what to do. This room was on the fifth floor, jumping down would be suicide.

…

I spent the morning pacing around the room like a headless fly. If it were the weekend and I didn’t have to work, it would be fine. But today was the day Circle was returning to the company. There would definitely be a meeting in the department to discuss the recent promotional plan. The importance of this meeting goes without saying. If I didn’t attend, it would definitely affect the progress of the promotional plan. I could already imagine the angry and twisted faces of Chen Jingming and Circle…

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I really wanted to strangle Mi Cai, this vicious woman. At this moment, I was like a poor bug trapped in a box by her, but I had no way out. This time, she was literally trying to kill me. Not only was there no food in the house, but she had also cut off the electricity from outside. I couldn’t imagine how hard this day would be.

I lay anxiously on the sofa, each second feeling like a day. Several times, I ran to the balcony and yelled down, but no one paid any attention to me. It was as if everyone in the community had been bought off by Mi Cai, or maybe my luck was just that bad today. In any case, I was still trapped in the room, and my energy was rapidly depleting.

By noon, I was so hungry that I was dizzy. My hatred for Mi Cai increased. I didn’t believe she would dare to trap me in this room to death. At most, she would have to come back and let me out tonight.

In my rage, I decided: as soon as she comes back, I will call the police. This is illegal confinement, and she also stole my phone battery. She should be detained for these crimes. She must be detained. She’s too damn bullying!

…

A few birds were chirping and hopping around on the window of the balcony, flaunting their freedom. The weak evening sun was reflected on the curtains. Like the sun, I was powerless, lying weakly on the sofa. I felt as if there were stars circling around my head, praying for this hellish day to end soon.After a long while, the last ray of sunlight disappeared from the balcony, and the sky turned completely dark. I was lying on the sofa, too weak to even turn over. Yet, that wicked woman, Mi Cai, still hadn’t returned. Fear gradually crept into my heart. Although I knew she wouldn’t dare to leave me trapped here to die, if she didn’t return tonight, I would be as good as dead by tomorrow morning.

There was no light in the room. In the darkness, my anxiety from the loss of freedom intensified. I felt bouts of madness in my heart, but I didn’t even have the strength to vent. Thus, the torment of anxiety and rage was like a hundred claws scratching at my heart. My vision started to darken, and I could faint at any moment.

Time crawled forward like a snail, and I was still struggling to survive. Finally, the sound of a key unlocking the door came from outside. I instantly woke up as if injected with chicken blood, and tried to stand up from the sofa. However, my body couldn’t keep up with my consciousness. With a “thud”, I rolled off the sofa, my shoulder hitting the corner of the coffee table. The pain was so intense that I couldn’t even cry out, and my head spun…

Suddenly, all the lights in the room turned on. Then, I heard Mi Cai’s “surprised” voice, “Zhao Yang, why didn’t you turn on the lights? And you’re sleeping on the floor, aren’t you cold?”

——————–

Recently, many readers have expressed dissatisfaction with the update speed. I feel it’s necessary to explain. Those familiar with my work should know that I’m not a fast writer, especially when it comes to this type of material.

This genre is hard to fit into the normal category of web novels. Firstly, it’s written in the first person, and it doesn’t have the leveling system typical of web novels. The usual web novel settings are also not applicable, so it’s hard to form a fixed template. Without a fixed template, of course, I can’t churn out chapters quickly.

I write each of my books with emotion. When writing the second book, I wanted to make this genre mainstream in web novels and get more people to like it, and more authors to write it… But when I finished the book, I realized I had overestimated myself. My ability was not enough.

But I don’t want to give up on this genre. We all live in the reality of the city, so why can’t books with this realistic theme become mainstream in web novels?

Under this mindset, I really want to do well with the third book of my writing career, to do my best, and care more about the book’s performance on the website. So, I always emphasize the need for your support more than before. I admit this emphasis is not right, but I hope you understand.

Mainstream web novels have a larger audience and readership, and there’s a huge gap between them and me. If I don’t strive, the gap will only grow larger. So, I still hope for your understanding.

I will try to update as much as I can within my abilities. I hope you can also contribute to this book. That’s all for now, good night everyone.