"Packaging"
"What's going on?"
"Did the power go out because of the rain??"
"Tsk... Just as things were getting exciting. When will it be restored?"
"Don't say it, don't you think it's quite atmospheric in the pitch-black? Hm?"
"Fuck, which idiot is touching me!!"
"..."
The sudden power outage caused a chorus of complaints from the people playing in the Cabaret, and it became a noisy mess. Even the singer stood on the pitch-black Stage with a microphone, at a loss for a moment.
Li Ruohong sat in the booth, his brows tightly furrowed. He stood up and asked into the darkness beside him:
"I don't know, boss... It seems the power went out."
"Then what are you standing there for?! Hurry and go repair it!"
"I'll go check right now!"
After the bodyguard finished speaking, he felt his way in the dark towards the direction of the main switch. Li Ruohong remained sitting in booth number 888. After a moment of somewhat awkward silence in the darkness, someone still spoke up first.
"It's raining outside today, and it seems there's thunder... It's normal for the power to go out."
"Yeah, I reckon it'll be restored in a bit."
"Come, come, come, let's keep drinking, don't spoil the fun."
"..."
Seeing this, Li Ruohong had no choice but to hold his wine glass and drink with people in the dark. However, hearing the growing commotion around him, with some people already trying to leave in the dark, Li Ruohong completely lost the mood to drink, sitting restlessly in the booth.
Just then, a few more drops of wet liquid landed on Li Ruohong's cheek. He recalled the rainwater that had dripped on him on the second floor just now, and the irritability in his heart grew stronger.
Rain leaks and power outages... He definitely had to talk to the Beidou Consortium when he had time, ask for money to renovate the entire Cabaret!
In a corner of the chaotic Cabaret, the red cocktail swirled slightly in the glass.
In the darkness where everyone's vision was obstructed, a pair of eyes dyed apricot-red took in everything, like a Director-Screenwriter sitting behind the scenes, or a member of The Audience sitting Off Stage.
Chen Ling took out a sticky note filled with characters from his pocket and played with it casually at his fingertips. As the chaos and disorder gradually fermented, he dipped his fingertip in a little liquor and lightly wrote two words on the table.
—[Scene] √
Rumble—
A flash of lightning swept past the Cabaret's window, briefly illuminating a corner of the Cabaret. A half-drunk red cocktail swirled slightly on the small table in the corner. Beside it was an inconspicuous white sticky note...
And at this moment, the seat next to the small table was completely empty.
Meanwhile,
Li Ruohong drank two glasses of wine in a row, but the power still hadn't been restored, and more and more guests were getting up to leave. Just as his patience was about to reach its limit, the bodyguard's voice rang out from the darkness again.
"Boss, things don't seem quite right."
"What's not quite right?!" Li Ruohong said angrily in a low voice, "What are you guys good for! Is it still not fixed?"
"There seems to be a problem... Boss, you'd better come and take a look personally."
"A bunch of trash!"
Li Ruohong stood up from the booth, suppressing the anger in his heart. After explaining a few words to the friends around him, he felt his way out in the dark.
—[Actor] √
Due to the extremely dark surrounding environment, Li Ruohong could only barely make out the situation beneath his feet. The bodyguard's burly figure walked ahead. Occasionally, a few flashes of lightning flashed past the window, illuminating the dim Cabaret for a moment.
"Hey, what went wrong?" Li Ruohong asked in a deep voice.
"The malfunction with the wiring is quite serious. There's not enough manpower for emergency repairs, so you need to personally direct them."
"Fuck... Something like a wiring malfunction needs me to go personally??"
"We truly don't have enough manpower..."
"Not enough manpower? With so much money spent on the Cabaret every month, where did you spend it all?! If you know there's not enough manpower, can't you hire more?!" Li Ruohong was incredibly irritable right now and directly cursed loudly in the dark.
Before he finished speaking, a lot of rainwater pattered down from above, all drenching Li Ruohong. Li Ruohong, who was already on the verge of exploding, now felt his lungs were about to burst from anger. When a person is unlucky, all sorts of crappy things really do pile on!
"And this broken roof! Look how badly it's leaking! Are you trying to wash my fucking face?!!!"
The more Li Ruohong thought about it, the angrier he got. Just as he was about to curse some more, an invisible giant python bypassed the dark corridor, slowly wrapped around his body, and opened its bloody maw. A chest full of anger instantly vanished without a trace, and his entire person suddenly calmed down.
"...When the power is restored, send someone to fix it." Li Ruohong said mildly.
"Yes, boss."
In the darkness, the giant python coiled around Li Ruohong's shoulders silently flicked its red tongue. A pair of eerie vertical pupils constantly stared at his head.
—[Emotion] √
Li Ruohong followed behind the bodyguard and walked for a long time. In the darkness, he didn't know where he had walked, only feeling that the chaos and noise of the guests around him were getting louder and louder. Just as he was puzzled, the bodyguard in front suddenly stopped.
"We're here, boss."
"Where's the wiring?"
"In the electrical box in this corner... Boss, please hold the tools for me first."
As he spoke, the bodyguard handed something to Li Ruohong. In the darkness, he could vaguely see it was a wrench. Li Ruohong's brows furrowed subconsciously, but under the devouring of the Heart Python, his anger had disappeared. Being incredibly calm in his heart, he still conveniently took the tool and gripped it in his hand.
—[Prop] √
Drip, drop—
More and more rainwater leaked from the darkness above and dripped onto Li Ruohong's face.
Gripping the tool in one hand, he wiped his face hard with the other, then dried it on the corner of his clothes, asking in a deep voice:
"How long will it take to fix this thing?"
In the darkness, the bodyguard had his back to him, motionless like a statue in front of the electrical box.
A low thunderclap sounded outside the window, and the noise not far away grew louder. As the Heart Python's mouth gradually opened, surging anger began to flow back into Li Ruohong's mind, and his brows furrowed visibly.
"I'm fucking talking to you! Didn't you hear me?!"
Li Ruohong growled angrily.
In the darkness, that figure slowly turned around. A pair of eyes full of disdain and sharpness glared at Li Ruohong.
"Are you annoying or what?"
Hearing this sentence, Li Ruohong was first taken aback, then as if finally reacting, an unprecedented anger and disbelief surfaced on his face!
"What did you say???"
"I said, are you annoying or what?" The bodyguard walked in front of Li Ruohong and looked down at him. "Just because I call you boss, do you really think you're a god? You just know how to chirp and blabber all day. I've been displeased with you for a long time!"
"Fuck... I think you're rebelling against the heavens!"
Li Ruohong's chest heaved violently, and his neck flushed completely red. He fiercely slapped his palm toward the bodyguard in front of him, but the moment his fingertips touched the other party, the latter seemed to have been hit head-on by a tank. With a miserable scream, he was sent flying backwards with a bang!
Li Ruohong's palm was halfway through its swing, and he froze stiffly in place... A deep bewilderment and incomprehension surfaced in his eyes.
What the fuck is this situation???
...
A few hours ago.
On the second floor of the Jinghong Theater, Chen Ling looked down at the few people slowly walking back to the Cabaret, and an idea suddenly surged into his mind.
He took out a sticky note from his pocket. While pondering, he slowly wrote down two lines of text:
—How to clear the suspicion of the people from the Dusk Society?
—Package a new "Dusk Society". [√]