CH 39

A certain fully packed eatery famous for their Wuhan noodles had a party of four inside. There were three men and one woman, two of the men were wearing casual shirts and pants while the other man was wearing a three-piece suit. The woman was wearing a casual sundress that seemed more appropriate for the occasion compared to the man, but he had no sense of awkwardness as he kept on eating his food.

"I have to be honest, I was expecting you two to decline." Zel was now holding on to a pair of chopsticks while eating a bowl of dry noodles.

His face was getting numb from the spiciness, but he just inhaled using his mouth to cool it off. The sweat he had been building up was because of the punishment that Emilia had given him.

'I got an idea!'

'What is it?'

'The punishment was too light? I got an idea about that now, hehe.'

The spoonful of chili oil on his dry noodles were proving to be a problem, but he can't back out now. If he was being truthful, he actually really liked this numbing sensation he was having right now. But if he showed that, he might get more on his plate, so he acted the part.

"Well you asked, and I was still hungry."

Matthew was able to finally have his fill after so long. The food that he eats were not only delicious, he was also promised to have anything he wanted. The many dishes he hadn't tried before were now being handed to him one after another as he downed bowl after bowl. Billy on the other hand was eating rather slowly as he was thinking of something else.

"You don't have to worry about that foreman, he's not going to leave where he's going for a long time." Zel looked over and saw Billy's worried face. His comforting words seemed to make the man feel more anxious though and it was a different reaction from what he was expecting.

"Are there more things I should know about?" Zel asked him while he saw a pair of chopsticks holding a piece of dumpling hanging on his side. He opened his mouth and took it into his mouth while mouthing the words 'It's good!' quietly to the laughing Emilia.

"No, sir. Thank you for your help." Billy gave off a smile and started eating.

The boss said they would talk after eating so he didn't want to get ahead of himself and interfere with the meal earlier than intended. He looked at the young man beside him who was eating like there was no tomorrow.

"You should try their Peking Duck here! Zel, why don't you order one for them?"

Emilia elbowed Zel who was busy with cooling his mouth by breathing through it. He just nodded his head and raised his hands to get the waitress' attention. You would expect a packed restaurant not to get to you quickly, but the waitress seemed to have left a customer hanging as she left his side to get to Zel's in a heartbeat.

"What is it, big brother?"

The young waitress who seemed older than Zel was very close to say the least. Her eyes were locked straight into Zel's which made him flush as he was still sucking in air through his mouth, so he chocked a little and had to drink water to get back to normal. Thankfully, Emilia had handed him one before he even chocked so there wasn't any embarrassing moment from it.

The waitress who saw the interaction didn't seem to care about Emilia's existence as she only kept her eyes on Zel, causing not a small amount of worry to appear on the old owner of the shop to look at her daughter in worry.

'Oh Meimei, that's a married man.'

"Do you have any concerns, sir?" She shook her head in undisguised worry and went up to them herself and asked Zel instead of her daughter.

"Oh, auntie, can we get an order of Peking Duck?"

"Certainly sir, coming right up!"

The young waitress seemed to be a little bummed about not being able to talk to Zel more, but her mother was now pulling her away after receiving the order. They were heading straight to the kitchen, so the young waitress didn't realize that Emilia was looking at her with calm, unfeeling eyes. But her mother knew, it's why she dragged her daughter here.

"Meimei, that's not a man you should give your attention to! There's already a young woman beside that man, it's just not right!"

Su looked at her daughter in worry but her daughter was no delusional girl and accepted reality. It's not that she was intending to date the man, opting to just receive his attention, even for just a little while. Who wouldn't want to be thought of by such a handsome man?

"Don't worry ma, I don't really intend to do something about it. I've long realized how much I'm worth…" Mei gave a deprecating smile as she thought of how high she was trying to reach. She was about to go out of the kitchen again when she heard her mother's voice sound out from behind her.

"No! My daughter is not someone who cannot get a man she likes! I'll show you that you are someone that can be loved by whoever you want to!" Su's new conviction when seeing her daughter's depressed face as she belittled herself made her realize that maybe she hasn't been giving her daughter the support she needed. She wanted her daughter to know that she was worth more than the whole world in her eyes.

"Mom..."

Mei couldn't help but feel that her mother was giving her more love today than she normally would. Knowing how her mother would take things too far when she gets like this, she put an end to it herself to get the troubles out of the way beforehand.

"I understand Meimei, we'll get you that young ma-"

"It's fine ma, I know I'm not that worthless. Just wanted the love you know? I already got that now." Mei gave her mother a radiant smile unlike the one she had when she was about to leave the kitchen earlier.

Her need for attention was now replaced by a want to share the love with others, hoping to help someone feel better with her words and actions. After all, wasn't her mother doing the same?

'That man seems to be sad, maybe I should talk to him and help him out?'

Mei looked towards the side where a group of three men were eating. One of the men was looking awfully angry and sad, but that's when people needed help the most so she was going to try and cheer him up.

"Hello! Do you nee-"

"Fuck off!"

The man's sad eyes have turned murderous when Mei tried to talk to him. His red hair that was kept under a cap was almost exposed with how hard his neck twisted just so his face can be seen clearly by Mei.

"I-I see. Have a nice meal..."

Mei slowly backed out while hiding her arms behind her back. She gave a bow before darting back to the register counter where her mother was staying at. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that the man didn't chase her here.

'Man, being nice is hard'

"I'm full boss! Hey pops, you gotta eat more. That duck was just *chef's kiss*"

"You ordered too much! I can't finish all these!" Billy was looking at the three dishes left untouched that Matthew had ordered for him. It wasn't that the food wasn't delicious, it's just that he wasn't feeling all that hungry today. The series of events earlier were still lingering in his mind and he couldn't help but get a bad feeling about this.

"Just get them for take-out man, you don't have to finish everything now." Zel was now leisurely rubbing his full stomach while Emilia was feeding him an occasional scoop of ice cream that she was eating.

The soft and creamy texture, the sweet taste and the fact that it was cooling him down was making the stomach pain from eating so much fade away. Added to that was the fact that Emilia was feeding it to him.

"There's still that matter of your reward, so, what do you think you should get for a reward?"

Matthew looked at Billy and saw that Billy was looking at him. Both didn't know what to say as they weren't even expecting for them to be called by him to eat, let alone get a reward of sorts.

"I don't get it, why are you giving us rewards for anyway?" Billy thought that the boss was just treating so they won't follow up on that foreman incident, but it seems there was more to this than he thought.

"Oh, I guess you got me." Zel raised his hands as if surrendering while Emilia just chuckled on the side. Having seen what he was thinking at the time using her ability.

"So, I got a job you can both do. It's not really related to what you two did as construction workers though, it's more of a life or death thing."

"?"

Two confused men looked at the boss as they were getting lost along the way. Matthew thought this was a reward for being diligent while Billy thought about it as a disclosure fee for the incident. Why is there a job proposal now?

"I know who you both are, and I mean really, I know who you are. Bill Walker, the Coalition's first Level 4 ranker and Matthew Vaughn, the runaway heir of the Linton Family."

Both men stood up when they heard the titles, ones they had no absolutely no reason to hear from the boss' mouth. The fact that he knew and still talked about it nonchalantly showed that he was someone they couldn't mess with, but it didn't mean they would play around on his terms.

"Oh please, sit down."

Zel's control of his mana had reached a point where he can direct his intent on an area with relative ease. Right now, he was projecting a hundred points of mana in a single second over their bodies, making them sit without their control and not being able to react until after he let his aura dissipate.

"It's not that I want to do this, I just don't want there to be some kind of fight before you two realize just who I am." Zel was now sitting with his legs crossed while Emilia went towards the register to pay for the food. Their attitudes showed that there was nothing the two could do that would affect them, or even threaten them.

"Look at this and tell me your answers in four days, I'll be coming back then." Zel stood up and left the restaurant while holding the hand of Emilia. They went towards the nearby orphanage to check up on the kids they have to return with when they leave for Kanada.

....

"Have you read it yet?"

Matthew walked home with Billy beside him as he contemplated on what to do. The two choices in front of him had two very different outcomes. If he had to choose now, he'd rather not accept it. Even though he was good at what he does, it's not worth having to sacrifice his freedom for. Though the pay was good, the benefits too.

"It's a good deal. I've had a few offers like these before but turned them down due to reasons I... Choose what you want kid, but I really think you should consider this seriously"

Billy had already known Matthew for a while now. The way he moves efficiently, the calculating mind that made it hard to get something done behind his back. It was something he was well acquainted with. Maybe this was the reason he felt compelled to help him when he first came to his life.

"But you won't, is that right?" Matthew could see the implications of Billy's words.

The deal really was good, good enough that if it was offered to his family, half of his family members would retire just to take this proposal. The problem was that it was too good. Like there was a hidden payment he had yet to see, but even if there was, the whole deal was still good enough to let it slide.

'The good things are the freedom of movement, no forced missions, $15,000 base pay with bonuses depending on the quality of work provided, 30 Vacation days with a 10 day sick leave and best of all was that it is a 1 year contract with renewable terms that's got to have both sides' approval'

"A far cry from the construction job, so why won't you do it?" Even for just a year?"

"..." Matthew didn't mind the silence. There were some things he would also rather not look back on. To be honest, he really wanted to accept.

The job was something he could do naturally, as his whole life was done in preparation for such a thing. The problem was if he was found out by the family. He had chosen to go to this city because the family hadn't gone for this territory yet, seemingly being handled by the a newly rising house.

'Some private party was it?'

"I remember you asking me why I do those guys a lot of favors."

Billy suddenly stopped walking while placing his hands behind his back. The man's usual expression gentle expression was no more, replaced by a very unfeeling face like there was nothing but air in front of him. He watched Matthew who turned to him with a curious gaze.