Jason Ford didn’t go to work in the afternoon, and many colleagues knew about it, but no one stopped him from going to the restroom—after all, times have changed. Even passersby on the street can come in to use the restroom, so why shouldn’t he be allowed?

The restroom at Hongjie Club is quite high-end, living up to the club’s image—at the very least, there are stalls and doors that can be locked from the inside.

Jason Ford entered one of the stalls, and half an hour later, he came out with a gloomy expression.

It was gone, the encounter was gone, everything was gone. He couldn’t even re-enter that space after opening QQ Farm again. Helpless, he could only scatter a handful of pasture seeds.

He planned to wait until the pasture matured to see if he could “grab grass” again.

Anyway, during this half hour, he tried all sorts of things, but unfortunately, an old phone is just an old phone—no surprises happened.

The phone only had 83% battery left. The two circles in the percent sign seemed like a pair of eyes, coldly staring at him, silently releasing a strong sense of mockery: I’m just a phone, aren’t you overthinking things?

However, Jason Ford was a rather confident person. He didn’t believe that last night’s encounter was just a hallucination.

Something must have happened that I didn’t notice!

As a double-degree holder, he certainly didn’t lack a spirit of inquiry. In fact, he loved challenging all kinds of difficult problems.

Jason Ford quickly adjusted his mood, then strode toward the door. Just as he was about to walk out of the club, a beautiful woman in her thirties approached him at a brisk pace.

The woman was quite tall, at least 1.7 meters, with a graceful, curvy figure. She wore a light brown office summer outfit, and beneath her nearly knee-length skirt, her fair calves and a small section of rounded thigh were exposed.

She wasn’t wearing stockings. For a woman of this age, how confident must she be in her legs to dare go without stockings?

Jason Ford stopped and greeted her respectfully, “Hello, Ms. Ford. You’re here so late?”

The woman was none other than the general manager of Hongjie Culture and Entertainment Co., Ltd., Emily Bolton. She didn’t like being called Manager Zhang, but preferred to be addressed as “Ms. Ford.”

It’s said that the reason the club is named Hongjie is also a play on the homophone for “Ms. Ford.”

Ms. Ford has tremendous influence in Zhengyang City, with a very mysterious background. Just imagine—a woman, and a beautiful one at that, able to establish herself in the entertainment industry… well, the cultural and sports industry. How could she be an ordinary person?

Rumor has it that the reason Emily Bolton started this fitness club was simply to give her close friends a place to hang out. In her own venue, they could have fun without any worries, and on top of that, they could work out—why not?

Upon hearing his greeting, Ms. Ford turned her head and glanced at him, but didn’t react at all, as if she were looking at thin air, then quickly walked inside.

Jason Ford didn’t mind. The boss had always been this aloof toward her own employees, and everyone was used to it. Everyone knew she was a woman with her nose in the air. Words like “kind” or “maternal” were her natural enemies.

Jason Ford returned to his dormitory and fiddled with his phone for another two hours. When the battery dropped to 40%, he stuffed the phone under his pillow and drifted off to sleep. His last thought before falling asleep was: I need to buy a charger tomorrow.

Yes, he had already made up his mind to go back to work the next day.

As for the reason? Simple. He couldn’t be sure whether the encounter was related to the room he was staying in. Before figuring things out, he definitely shouldn’t leave rashly.

Compared to the encounter, the troubles he faced at work were really nothing.

Early the next morning, he arrived at the club to start the pre-opening preparations, such as turning on the air conditioning and water dispenser, checking the cleanliness, and cleaning up any areas that weren’t tidy.

After finishing all this, it was already 7:30 a.m. Four or five members had already arrived at the club for their morning workout.

Jason Ford planned to grab some breakfast. As he walked to the entrance, the young receptionist girl came in from outside. When she saw him, she called out, “Double degree, are you going to buy breakfast? Get me one too.”

The girl’s surname was Li. She usually got along well with him. Although calling him “double degree” was a bit of a tease, at least she didn’t call him “graduate student.”

Jason Ford hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t annoyed by the nickname, but suddenly remembered that there was actually a phone charger at the front desk, provided as a convenience for guests, and sometimes used by staff as well.

But in the end, he didn’t ask to borrow the charger. Since he was going to buy a new one anyway, why bother with this small convenience?

After he finished breakfast and brought a portion back for Little Smith, it was almost 7:50. He’d eaten more than twice his usual amount for breakfast today.

However, his poor old phone still hadn’t gotten any energy. Now it only had twelve percent battery left, and it definitely wouldn’t last through the morning.

At this hour, some members were already leaving the gym for work. Jason Ford made his rounds in his assigned area and found a treadmill with sweat stains, so he immediately grabbed a cloth to wipe it down.