Mortal Kombat: Scumbag Men Stealing Away Yandere Girls

He lost Friday after only calling it twice.

The little orange kitten had plenty of food and water and was warm. Having been a stray, the kitten understood the importance of being well-fed and warm. It was very obsequious. As soon as Aunt Chen picked it up, it snuggled into her arms like a child, meowing and purring. The clingy kitten was naturally more popular than the spoiled fat parrot. Aunt Chen scolded it a couple of times and then gently let it go, placing the kitten in front of the goat milk.

"Eat well so you can grow up beautiful. I'm going inside to get busy, so don't cause any trouble, little Friday."

On Friday, she slurped up her goat milk and even rubbed against Aunt Chen's hand before she left, which was incredibly cute.

"Oh, so good."

As soon as Aunt Chen entered the kitchen, the little orange cat's pupils immediately narrowed. It nimbly pounced, jumped onto the sofa, and hung back on the cage, reaching out its claws to steal the bird.

The chubby parrot started cursing loudly again. Aunt Chen, wiping her apron and looking suspicious, came out and saw a little orange cat obediently drinking goat milk and a parrot that was red-faced and cursing loudly.

Aunt Chen glanced at it, frowned, and muttered under her breath.

"This parrot's temper is getting worse and worse. It gets all worked up when it sees a kitten. Ah—kittens and puppies are definitely better; they're more intelligent. Birds just can't be tamed."

On Friday, the little orange cat won a decade-long life of luxury and privilege by simply putting on an act for a few seconds.

But this is all for later.

On a Friday afternoon a week before the Lunar New Year, Shile Company held its annual meeting.

They booked a banquet hall at a five-star hotel not far from the company.

Although Ah Chao hadn't finished the personnel process for the company's reorganization, he couldn't wait to come and sit at the same table with Bai Weiran's project team. The boss unceremoniously chose to sit next to Bai Weiran, with Guo Guo flanking Bai Weiran on either side. Ziwei's questioning gaze lingered between Guo Guo and Ah Chao.

The hotel food was good, served in a continuous stream, and the host on stage was very energetic, but not many people watched.

"Are you sure about that?" Guoguo asked Bai Weiran in a low voice as she peeled garlic shrimp, her hands dripping with oil.

The question was about the official recognition of the flavor.

It's February now, and Ziwei will graduate with her master's degree in July. Naturally, interns hope to get a full-time offer during their internship.

Lately, I've been working even more cautiously and diligently.

Guoguo saw this and felt very sorry for her.

"Yes, no problem, I can come down after the New Year." Bai Weiran put a piece of chopped chili fish head meat into his mouth and replied confidently.

Guoguo breathed a sigh of relief, smiled happily, and continued peeling her shrimp.

Ah Chao also leaned over and sighed.

"I thought I'd see the real-life version of the virtual streamer at the company's annual meeting, but I didn't. I'm a little disappointed!"

Achao is a loyal fan of the virtual YouTuber Shile, watching every single video.

However, he himself is not interested in the real-world mascots, and his affections are concentrated on virtual YouTubers. He does not follow the mascots' game live streaming channels. He clearly distinguishes between liking characters in anime series and liking the voice actors who voice those characters.

There had been rumors in the company that Mengmeng herself would attend the annual meeting, which sparked a lot of discussion among colleagues.

The IP business unit's planning team did extend an invitation, but Mengmeng declined.

Although she was a little curious about what the company's annual party was all about, after hesitating for two minutes at home, she decided to stay in the closet and eat potato chips.

Qin Ning also did not attend, maintaining a low profile.

Bai Weiran spun the round plate on the table, bringing the orange juice to himself and filling it for A-Chao and himself.

Ah Chao doesn't drink alcohol at all; he gets a rash from alcohol whenever he does.

"Get some rest, you'll have to work hard after the New Year." This changed the subject away from Mengmeng's.

The project has entered its second phase, and it's only getting busier.

Ah Chao chuckled and clinked glasses with him.

The news that there would be three grand prizes at this year's World Music Annual Meeting was released well in advance.

Internet companies are like this, they have an inherent nouveau riche vibe. As the company is like this, the employees also pick up some of the bad habits. During holidays, employees from different companies compare themselves to each other. Bai Weiran can find out about the annual party prizes of each company just by browsing his WeChat Moments at this time.

Employees even create memes, forming a hierarchy of contempt.

Last year's situation was also amusing.

Several major companies are competing with each other, keeping a close eye on each other. One company announces its annual meeting prizes and year-end bonuses, and another company, even better, will slowly release its own annual meeting prizes and year-end bonuses a couple of days later, each one a level higher than the previous one, creating a layered comparison.

Those who were better off than others sneered and slowly moved on.

Those who are worse off than others should quickly suppress their publicity and remain silent.

Last year, after everyone had revealed their true colors, all the corporate slaves turned their attention to the South Goose.

The eldest is always at the bottom.

Opinions were divided and speculations abounded, but when Nan'e made its move, the entire audience was shocked.

The boss directly issues shares.

Shares worth several tens of thousands.

Although there are conditions—such as employees having certain performance and holding certain positions for a full three years before they can sell and cash out—these conditions do not prevent the internet from its bad habit of exaggerating and making things up over trivial matters. It is perfectly normal to only take the first half of the story. As a result, news reports are everywhere, all about how the boss of South Goose gave several tens of thousands of shares to employees.

Whoever posted about the P-5, how many D-brand home appliances, or X-brand mobile phones, has become a laughing stock, adding fuel to the fire for the boss of South Goose.

Last year, a meme that went viral among colleagues online featured an emperor sitting on his throne, with a photoshopped goose logo on his face and a caption added.

"As long as I live, you will always be my subjects."

None of this has anything to do with Bai Weiran.

Because Shi Le doesn't even rank highly in terms of competition.

That was a contest between the big companies.

Whether the annual meeting is good or not, whether you get selected or not, you still have to work hard in the end.

These annual meeting prizes and bonuses can at most serve as a reference for understanding the current situation of a company before changing jobs.

As Bai Weiran was thinking, he caught a glimpse of Han Xin and the other company bosses approaching out of the corner of his eye, and hurriedly stood up.

As soon as he stood up, everyone at the table followed suit.

During the annual meeting, the boss and colleagues at each table would have a drink together to express their closeness and gratitude—that's an old tradition.

The person in charge of speaking was not Han Xin, but the company's CEO.

Normally, Han Xin is mainly responsible for game business development, while the CEO is mainly responsible for external affairs, dealing with various issues from investors and the public sector. However, when the founders get together, Han Xin will automatically step back and leave the speaking to the CEO. This is probably an unspoken understanding among the founders.

The company's CEO is a returnee from overseas, and he is very friendly to employees, asking them to call him by his English name.

However, his foreign name, which starts with Z, was very difficult to pronounce, and many employees couldn't pronounce it properly, resulting in all sorts of strange ways of reading it. In the end, everyone gave up and privately referred to the CEO as Mr. Z.

Unlike Han Xin, who was a Confucian scholar, Mr. Z is very cheerful and outgoing. He has been working out for many years and is in such good shape that he can work as a personal trainer at a gym. He seems to have inexhaustible energy. Wearing a well-fitting handmade suit, he looks more like a standard business elite than an internet boss.

He wasn't holding a non-alcoholic beverage, but real alcohol, and he greeted everyone with a smile.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone has worked hard."

Bai Weiran glanced at it and quietly replaced the orange juice glass with another full wine glass.

Before, I was just an employee, so it was okay to slack off. But now that I'm a producer, I need to be more discerning.

You can't expect the boss to drink while you make excuses.

How much funding a project can get sometimes depends on whether the boss likes you and is in a good mood.

Bai Weiran wasn't the kind of person who could be on friendly terms with the boss, but at least he knew how to give the boss face.

I'm glad I'm not someone who can't drink alcohol.

Mr. Z was quite pleased with his behavior and took the initiative to clink glasses with him. Mr. Z took a small sip, while Bai Weiran downed his glass in one gulp.

Ah Chao, watching from the side, felt his eyes turn into flames.

Ah! My brother Weiran, a man among men!!

Mr. Z was very impressed and took the initiative to chat with Bai Weiran for a while longer.

"I just came from the operations team. They told me about your project. Keep up the good work, I have high hopes for you guys."

In fact, Mr. Z never attended the first phase of review, let alone saw the project results.

But that's how bosses are; they're good at deceiving, and they'll try their best to deceive. A boss who can't deceive isn't a good boss.

Before Bai Weiran could speak, Shengnan arrived with Li Liang and joined the conversation with a smile.

Bai Weiran glanced at the two of them, then at Dong Zhengyuan, who remained seated motionless, and raised an eyebrow.

Oh ho, someone is being marginalized.

"Isn't that right? As I just said, they are both very outstanding. This year's anniversary sales reached the highest peak in two years, which is also thanks to Li Liang. With Wei Ran leading the project and Li Liang participating in the operation, we are very fortunate."

Sheng Nan is a veteran employee who went through the early days with the founders. She speaks with less distance than others, which immediately sets her apart from Bai Weiran, who is still a corporate slave who is trembling and trying to please the boss.

Mr. Z smiled and nodded, his attention drawn from Bai Weiran back to Li Liang. He then praised Li Liang's achievements at the anniversary event while sitting at Bai Weiran's table.

Compared to a research and development project that hasn't yielded any results yet, an operational project that can directly boost the company's revenue is obviously more important.

This subtle way of vying for favor was obvious to everyone present; they weren't stupid.

Bai Weiran's project team members exchanged glances, clearly dissatisfied.

Li Liang's good performance is your business, why are you trying to take credit for our producer's success?

Shameless! You're trying to piggyback on my brother's internet traffic!

Guoguo, who was in the know, could only keep a straight face and try her best not to let her expression betray the mole.

Sheng Nan's project team is doing very well lately. The team received a lot of year-end bonuses, and everyone is happy. As the producer, he is naturally happy too. Everything looks good to him, and he no longer targets Bai Weiran. He can even give Bai Weiran a couple of light, unintentional compliments.

But before leaving, he still made Bai Weiran drink three more cups of wine.

Despite the high alcohol content of the liquor, Bai Weiran remained unfazed and showed no reaction until the end of the annual meeting, his face clear and lucid. However, as soon as he got home, he lay down on the sofa, his arm across his eyes, and fell into a light sleep without moving.

The white-haired girl squatted down next to the sofa, rested her chin on her hand, and stared at him curiously.

"Bai Weiran," she called out.

Bai Weiran vaguely heard it, but the alcohol was taking effect and he felt sluggish, so he didn't respond.

His mind was a jumble of images. One moment he saw Li Liang winning a big prize at the annual meeting, with the entire operations team cheering for him. He was happy too, but he couldn't openly share Li Liang's joy. The next moment he thought of the unfinished requirements document before leaving get off work. Then he pictured the pitiful scene of the little orange cat huddled under a bus bench on Friday.

The hazy images and the girl's soft voice calling his name brought him into a more comfortable half-dreaming, half-awake state.

Seeing Bai Weiran not moving, Mengmeng found it amusing that Bai Weiran was so tired and slow to react, so she moved her little face closer.