After a Traditional Straight Man Was Hypnotized by an Evil God - Chapter 3

My immediate superior’s name was Zhou Lin. Young, successful, and strikingly handsome.

As luck would have it, we had attended the same university. We had even worked in the same research group.

But he had been a celebrity on campus. I knew who he was; he had no idea I existed.

We never truly interacted until Zhou Lin was parachuted into the company as my boss.

He looked human enough. Underneath, however, he was pure beast.

In private, my coworkers called him Zhou the Skinner.

And no one’s hide got skinned more often than mine.

He singled me out in meetings, picked holes in every proposal, and expected me to remain on call twenty-four hours a day. Whether I was reporting on my work or suffering through a business dinner, I had to bear the full force of his temper at all times.

One wrong word, and he docked my bonus.

I was supposed to have a technical job, yet I lived like an ancient slave.

Still, I needed to earn a living. All I could do was swallow my anger and greet him with a smile.

Working under him left me haggard beyond belief.

Fortunately, he had gone abroad to study six months ago. Without him tormenting me, and with my wife’s attentive care, I had finally recovered the shape of a human being.

Now the good times were over.

Zhou Lin had returned to the company and specifically ordered me to report to him.

The moment I entered his office, he pinned me with a stare.

“Why didn’t you answer my messages?”

I smiled.

What decent human being was awake at three in the morning checking the work chat?

Pretending not to hear, I offered him the proposal with a thoroughly false smile. “Manager Zhou, this is the progress we’ve made over the past six months.”

Zhou Lin lowered his gaze and started to reach for it. Then his voice shot up.

“What’s that on your hand?”

“My wedding ring.”

“You got married?!”

I had no idea why Zhou Lin was overreacting, but he had always been like this. The safest approach was to answer whatever he asked.

“Yes. I’m married.”

Zhou Lin’s lips trembled, and his face turned ashen. “How long?”

“Six months.”

“Six months? While I was abroad?!”

His eyes reddened. His chest heaved.

“I was only gone for six months.”

“Who gave you permission to get married?”

“Why did you get married?!”

…

My boss was so strange.

Why was he angry about my marriage? It wasn’t as if I had asked him for a wedding gift.

After I escaped Zhou Lin’s office, my work buddy sidled up to me.

He whispered, “Shi Mo, Zhou the Skinner didn’t give you too much trouble, did he?”

I stretched my mouth into a stiff smile. “You should be asking when he doesn’t give me trouble.”

I had no idea who had upset Zhou Lin over the past six months, but he had spent the last hour taking every bit of that anger out on me.

Picking apart my work wasn’t enough. He had to attack me personally too.

Fortunately, I was strong. He hadn’t broken me.

I was still miserable, though.

Because now I had to work overtime.

Unable to resist, I took out my phone and complained to my wife.

【Waaah, wife, I have to work late tonight. I can’t come home early to keep you company.】

【That horrible Zhou the Skinner says I have to fix the proposal today or he’ll dock my bonus. (ㄒoㄒ)】

My wife’s comfort arrived almost immediately.

【Hugs, husband. You’ve worked so hard. Kiss kiss.】

【That Skinner is human garbage. I’ll teach him a lesson for you.】

I knew my wife was joking, but my unhappiness still melted away.

Smiling, I replied:

【You’re so good to me, wife. I love you.】

【I love you too, husband.】

I worked until eleven thirty that night before I was finally allowed to leave.

I thought I could go straight home. Instead, the sky split open in a sudden downpour.

Rain crashed down, soaking me like a half-drowned rat.

A Maybach glided to a stop behind the curtain of water. The window lowered, revealing a face that made me sick.

“Going home?”

My false smile appeared by reflex. “That’s right, Manager Zhou.”

“Want me to drive you?”

I declined as tactfully as possible. “There’s no need to trouble yourself, Manager Zhou. We aren’t going the same way.”

Zhou Lin clicked his tongue and raised an eyebrow. “The subway is closed. The buses have stopped running.”

“You won’t find a cab easily at this hour.”

“And even if you do, the company won’t reimburse you.”

“Are you sure you want to stand out here in the wind and rain?”

How did this damned capitalist have the nerve to say that?

Whose fault was it that I had worked this late?

Disgusting.

I was about to refuse again when a heavenly voice rang out behind me.

“Husband!”

I turned. My wife was walking toward me with an umbrella.

The rain was heavy, and more than half of their clothes were wet. Delight and concern struck me at once.

“Wife, what are you doing here? What if you get sick?”

My wife raised the umbrella over my head, shielding me from the storm. “It started raining. I knew you didn’t have an umbrella, so I came to pick you up.”

My heart ached and softened, flooded with sweetness.

Then an ill-timed voice cut in.

“Shi Mo, is this your wife?!”

Zhou Lin’s expression was peculiar, and his tone was aggressive. His gaze kept roving over my wife’s rain-soaked body with an insinuating, ill-intentioned air.

Without showing my displeasure, I stepped forward and blocked his view.

“It’s late, Manager Zhou. Drive safely.”

Zhou Lin tilted his head at me. I glared right back.

What are you looking at? Have you never seen another man’s beautiful wife?

At last, the bastard looked away and sneered. “Well done, Shi Mo.”

With that baffling remark, he floored the accelerator and sped off.

Before I could relax, my wife leaned close behind me and asked curiously, “Husband, who was that?”

I took the umbrella from them and answered casually, “My boss.”

“Zhou Lin?”

“That’s right.”

My wife hummed in acknowledgment and looked in the direction Zhou Lin had gone. A faint gleam passed through their eyes.

My chest tightened at the sight.

My wife rarely showed interest in my coworkers, but now they had asked about Zhou Lin without prompting.

Could it be…

Before I could follow that thought, a powerful gust drove the rain forward.

Crash—!

A thunderous impact came from the elevated roadway.

Red hazard lights pulsed violently in the dark mist. Voices rose in confusion.

It sounded like someone had gotten into an accident.