Chapter 5
The Baihe Group was built by Xu Ting from the ground up. He was a shrewd businessman, adept at navigating the tides and avoiding reefs. From a solitary self-service restaurant at the start, he had grown the company into a chain of hundreds, dedicating considerable effort along the way.
Xu Ye, who had inherited the family business, was assigned to a chain self-service restaurant as a junior manager when he first entered the company. He started from the bottom, participating in inventory purchases, store layouts, work assignments, and account management. He learned quickly and diligently; to understand the freshness and cooking methods of different ingredients, he even spent two months as a kitchen assistant, moving around the kitchen every day. Two years later, he was promoted to regional manager, responsible for managing over a hundred stores in the Southeast region.
In recent days, Xu Ye's mood had been quite poor. His subordinates speculated that it was due to a quality issue with the ingredients at one of the stores, which had led to customer complaints. However, his secretary, Lily, suspected there was another reason. Several times, when she entered the manager's office to deliver coffee, she noticed him staring blankly at his phone, as if waiting for a call.
During the meeting on Friday afternoon, he displayed obvious anxiety, sitting in the middle of the large conference table with a dark expression, listening to his subordinates present revenue analyses, his gaze frequently shifting from the PowerPoint slides to the phone resting at the edge of his folder.
This piqued Lily's curiosity. She had been Xu Ye's secretary for a year, and when she first joined, she had faced jealousy from female colleagues who thought she had an advantage being so close to him. At first, she harbored some small hopes, thinking her good looks and figure might attract his attention and help her rise in status. Thus, she dressed carefully every day, seizing every opportunity to showcase her various qualities. However, she soon realized she was like a peacock spreading its feathers, receiving no special attention from him at all. Over time, frustration set in. It wasn't until she saw him socializing with the young master of the Liu family that she understood he was not interested in women, which helped her regain a bit of confidence.
However, Xu Ye was indifferent to everyone and did not seem to have any steady companions. These past few days, he had been distracted by his phone; could it be that he was finally experiencing a romantic interest? Lily wondered as she handed him the prepared documents.
"Are these all for signing today?" Xu Ye frowned at the thick stack of papers.
"The first three pages are for the financial director later," Lily had organized everything very meticulously.
As the weekend approached, the anxiety in Xu Ye's heart intensified. The message from the man in the mask was still absent, which nearly drained him of patience. He was eagerly awaiting that text, and the waiting had turned into a torment. He forced himself to focus on work, trying to concentrate on the stack of A4 sheets filled with text, but ultimately just skimmed through and hastily signed his name. "Let's deal with the rest next week. You can leave for now," he said, closing the folder and rubbing his temples.
Just then, his phone suddenly rang.
Xu Ye jolted awake, grabbing the phone. "Hello?"
The other party said something briefly, and Xu Ye, usually calm, nearly shouted, "What do you mean you can't find anything?" Lily, startled, quickly shut the door behind her, knowing how to navigate her role as a secretary.
The caller was Liu Jing. Xu Ye had entrusted him to investigate the man in the mask, but Liu had come up empty-handed. This left Xu Ye in disbelief. With their connections, how could they fail to uncover any information about that person?
"Continuing to dig deeper could lead to trouble, Ah Ye. Reaching into the eastern part of the city isn't an easy task; not only might you not find anything, but you could also get hurt," Liu warned him.
The leads pointed to the eastern part of the city, the territory of the Black Eagle Society, and the location of the club.
He sighed reluctantly. Indeed, he should not dig any deeper.
Dinner was settled at a nearby restaurant owned by his family. Although the self-service buffet appeared to have a variety of dishes, he walked around twice without picking up much, ultimately just sipping on some mushroom soup and eating a small piece of lamb chop. In fact, he had been exhausted from handling quality incidents and media responses these past few days, resulting in little sleep and poor quality rest. He was too drained to drive himself home and called for a driver.
He was already tired of the endless pursuits between Xu Ting and Zhou Jia. He had moved out to rent his own place as soon as he entered university. Although Xu Ting had handed him the key to a villa, he declined it. Later, he earned his own money to buy a duplex apartment, designing and decorating it himself. Although small, it was comfortable to live in.
Physically and mentally exhausted, Xu Ye took a shower and fell asleep. He woke up once during the night, groggily reaching for his phone to check the time. Once he saw the screen, all his drowsiness vanished.
A new message appeared on the screen:
"Saturday morning at 9 o'clock, Building 8, Hanguan, Huashan Road, North City. — Your Master"
Here's the translation of the provided text:
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Xu Ye sat up and examined the message several times, saving the number in his contacts under the name "Mask Man," which he later changed to "Y." He remembered that was the name on the door plaque of the mask man's room.
Hanguan. He knew that place; it was a beautifully scenic villa area. Built about ten years ago, it occupied the best land near K City, nestled between mountains and lakes. The developer was the Golden Eagle Group, which had been washed clean by the Black Eagle Society. The houses in Hanguan were not on the market, and there had been no reports of any transfers in recent years. A year ago, a wealthy young man in their circle had boasted about acquiring a unit but ended up unable to secure one despite trying all methods and using his connections. He ultimately had to forfeit and perform a striptease in front of them, providing enough laughter for everyone for months.
Could the Mask Man really be connected to the Black Eagle Society?
The deep black pupils behind the mask, his long fingers gripping the whip, and the subtle aura of danger he exuded all stirred a subconscious excitement in people.
Xu Ye pondered this for a long time, eventually drifting off to a hazy sleep.
When he woke up the next morning, the time on his phone showed it was already past 8:45. Last night's excitement had made him forget that he hadn't set an alarm for Saturday, and his exhaustion from the past few days had caused him to oversleep.
Even without traffic, it was clear he wouldn't make it by nine.
Realizing this made him feel a bit dejected. After contemplating, he decided to reply with a text message.
"Master, I apologize. Due to urgent matters at the company, I will be half an hour late. — Your slave."
He carefully composed the message in a respectful tone, and after sending it successfully, he began to get up and dress at a leisurely pace.
When he arrived at Hanguan, it was ten minutes to nine-thirty.
This villa area had strict security; it could be described as heavily guarded. A polite security guard in black attire asked Xu Ye to exit the vehicle and stood in front of an electronic eye. He pressed the "8" button, connected the call, and asked, "Sir, is this your guest?"
The other party confirmed, seemingly saying something else as well.
The security guard responded, "Okay, sir." He then walked to a nearby black Audi and opened the front passenger door. "The sir has instructed me to take you inside. Please don't worry; my colleague will park your car."
Xu Ye felt a bit gloomy but didn't say anything, tossing the keys to another guard before getting into the car.
The area was vast, but the number of buildings was few. The villas were spaced far apart, and the abundant greenery obscured the view with tall trees, allowing only parts of the rooftops to be seen from the driveway. It was indeed a place with great privacy, he thought.
In front of a courtyard marked with a brass plate reading "No. 8," the car slowly came to a stop. The security guard opened the car door for him and pressed the doorbell. "Please notify us when you want to leave," he said before bowing and departing, leaving no extra words—clearly well-trained.
The electronic lock clicked open, and Xu Ye pushed the door open.
The high ceiling made the living room on the first floor feel very spacious, and the large floor-to-ceiling windows enhanced the sense of openness. Sunlight streamed through the white sheer curtains, softening the stark black-and-white color scheme of the room. The use of beige and gray soft furnishings mellowed the room's colors, while numerous plants echoed the tall trees visible through the glass windows, adding vitality. The fireplace and the hanging deer antler decorations brought a touch of Nordic style. The furnishings were simple, clean, and tidy, creating a comfortable atmosphere.
Xu Ye quickly scanned the surroundings, his gaze landing on a black leather sofa opposite him.
The man was sitting with his arms crossed, still wearing a mask that covered most of his face. Its deep blue color obscured his features, adorned with small diamonds that sparkled in the sunlight, reflecting the star-like shine of the earring in his right ear.
Noticing the pair of deep, inscrutable eyes staring at him, Xu Ye couldn't help but feel nervous and awkwardly called out, "...Master."
"Have you finished dealing with the company matters?" The man's voice remained deep and relaxed.
"Yes." Xu Ye answered, feeling somewhat guilty; lying was not his strong suit.
"Good." The man stood up. "Now I will familiarize you with this place, which you will come to every week. I will clearly outline the expectations of you in the designated areas. You can ask questions during this process."
"Oh." After responding, the man glanced at him. Xu Ye bit his lip and corrected himself, "Yes, Master."
The man began his explanation. "This house offers absolute privacy, constructed with suitable building materials to block sound and sight. I can ensure that any actions within the house cannot be spied upon. Your information will not be leaked, and you are safe here. Therefore, I require you to remain naked in this room."
This request made Xu Ye feel a bit tense, mixed with an inexplicable excitement.
—I really do have a bit of a masochistic streak, he thought with a hint of self-loathing.
"Can you cook?" The man paused in the open kitchen.
"I can cook some things, but I'm not very good at it." He had indeed worked as a kitchen assistant for two months; what he made was edible, but the taste was definitely not exquisite.
The man thought for a moment and said, "You will prepare breakfast every Sunday from now on. I will have a chef come for the other meals, but I expect you to learn as much as you can."
"A chef will come here to cook?!" Xu Ye widened his eyes. "But just now you... you asked me to remain naked…"
The man smiled slightly, "I will allow you to hang a long bathrobe on the coat rack on the first floor when the chef arrives. If you feel uncomfortable, it would be best to learn how to cook quickly to meet my tastes."