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nA A- Chapter 31

nChapter Thirty-One: The Goal was the Autumn Release Conference

nAfter Xiao Yu uploaded his post, he then proceeded to save a copy of those pictures in the image gallery.

nWhen everything was done, he energetically went off the desk – he did not jump off the desk, but he instead walked down the steps.

nNot long after he had fallen off the desk, Yan Jin ordered a custom mini-spiral staircase that connected the desk to the floor so that it would be convenient for Xiao Yu to get off the desk to play.

nInitially, Yan Jin did pay extra attention and would only put the stairs out when he was at home. After he realized that Xiao Yu didn’t really run out of the room, the stairs were then placed there permanently.

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nXiao Yu reached the floor and subsequently climbed onto Yan Jin’s bed using the bedsheets.

nThe morning sunlight shone into the room through the gauze curtain as it gently landed on the face of the man deep asleep, making it unclear which was complementing which. The tall nose bridge, those sensual thin lips, and those long eyelashes that created a small shadow underneath it – every feature he had was obviously a blessing from the creator.

nXiao Yu did not want to wake Yan Jin up, so he quietly watched the man for awhile and then obediently ran back.

nThe incident yesterday was still clear in his mind. Now that Xiao Yu recalled it, his heart was filled with more warmth than before.

nTo be taken care of by Chairman Yan, he really felt that he had no regrets left in life.

nXiao Yu thought absent-mindedly – the apple he ate yesterday tasted really delicious; he had never eaten such a delicious apple before.

nXiao Yu’s gaze then landed on the bag of melon seeds not too far away and a thought came to his mind.

nDilidadilida –

nWhen it was about nine in the morning, Yan Jin woke up because of his ringing phone. He subconsciously reached out towards the bedside cabinet, but it was to no avail. That was when he finally woke up completely from the constant ringing and followed the noise – he got off the bed and walked to his desk.

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nThe phone was lying on the desk, and the incoming caller was Chu Ge. He probably called to ask about Fishy’s condition, so Yan Jin did not answer the call, but he instead sent a message that he would call back later.

nFishy was not on the towel anymore. Yan Jin turned his gaze and looked at the cage and realized that the little thing was indeed back hiding in his

nhouse, deep asleep. His little whiskers trembled which made him look even more adorable.

nSeems like everything is fine.

nYan Jin sighed in relief. When he was about to go out of his room to return Chu Ge’s call, he noticed that there was a pile of peeled melon seeds on the desk.

nIt was piled up neatly into a small mountain just like the autumn bumper harvest’s rice crops, golden, bright, and dazzling.

nYan Jin became confused at that moment.

nFishy guards his food well, it’s impossible that he would forget to eat them after peeling them. So the remaining possibility would be…

nYan Jin’s heart softened instantly.

nFishy was indeed too intelligent that sometimes Yan Jin even suspected that there might be a human soul in Fishy’s body. But such a ridiculous thought was quickly brushed away.

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nIf that was the case, it would be so wonderful. Yan Jin would not even think that it was eerie; he would instead feel very lucky.

nAnd he’d be grateful for the mysterious luck he had.

nWhen Xiao Yu woke up again, it was already eleven. He went out from his cage and immediately noticed that the pile of peeled melon seeds was already gone. Substituting that was a white ceramic bowl.

nXiao Yu waddled over to the bowl. Using both his paws to hold on to the edge of the bowl, he peeked into it.

nA small bowl of apple slices.

nThat bowl with the apple made Xiao Yu realize something. No matter how many favors he owed Yan Jin, he would probably never be able to repay them back in full.

nFine, I’ll do my best for the Autumn Release Conference, that would be the best payback for Yan Jin.

nXiao Yu wondered if and when Yan Jin would finally realize that Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both was, in fact, his own hamster. He wondered and concluded that it would be better if Yan Jin never found out the truth.

nSpeaking of the Autumn Release Conference, Xiao Yu was actually still trying to recall his memories. After all, the Autumn Release Conference would not be competitive in nature like competing over a deal. Back then, Xiao Yu was in charge of the designs for the entire team. But now, he couldn’t remember what had happened back then.

nThe only thing he recalled was the mystery designer’s work.

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nThis time around, the three-day Autumn Release Conference would have a special display segment. The organizer had formed an alliance with several other jewelry associations from other cities. It would be an original jewelry exhibition and its theme was Ragnarok. In addition to that, there would be an online voting system aside from the live

nlive scoring panel from other professionals. Ultimately, the selected top three would then receive prize money, the best exhibition booth location for the Autumn Release Conference, priority rights for the exhibition booths for all events held by the participating jewelry associations for the next three years, and publication rights to the highlighted sales section for most major online shops.

nSuch generous rewards were simply too attractive, which was why the themed exhibition had gained so much attention from a majority of large-scale enterprises.

nBecause the themed exhibition would be utilizing 3D techniques, even if the submission was just a drawing, so long as the details were filled correctly, it would also be possible to present the image of the final product through the electronic screen. That was also why many designers had submitted their work as individuals instead, and that included Xiao Yu.

nXiao Yu still remembered that he was dealing with so many details simultaneously for the exhibition back then, and yet he insisted on burning midnight oil several times for almost half a month as he forced himself to draw the themed product meant for the exhibition. Every designer would definitely want to showcase themselves on the big stage to let more people see their works.

nBut it was a pity that he fell behind in the end.

nHowever, it was exactly because of this that the mystery designer’s name became renowned in the entire designing business.

nThat was also when Xiao Yu realized that the mystery designer’s design style resembled his own, which lead him to suspect that person might be plagiarizing his own work.

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nXiao Yu had not come up with the detailed design for the Autumn Release Conference. However, he already sent Nannan the contents of the themed design – and that was the work of the mystery designer in his previous life.

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nWhen Xiao Yu opened his iPad, he saw that Yan Jin’s reply.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Congratulations, Chairman Yan. (This was sent yesterday by Xiao Yu.)

nGrey-white SS: All thanks to you for your assistance, otherwise we wouldn’t have the confidence in fighting this battle.

nGrey-white SS: I would like to discuss the follow-up from this point onwards. Are you really not able to sign the contract?

nToday was a Saturday. Yan Jin was at home and would probably be in the living room. Xiao Yu thought for a moment and finally decided that it would be better if he waited till Yan Jin was at work on Monday to discuss further the Autumn Release Conference.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: I have something to do this weekend. We’ll discuss further on Monday.

non Monday. I definitely won’t be able to sign the contract, but I am indeed prepared to continue to work with your company from here on out.

nWith that, Xiao Yu closed his iPad. Knowing that Yan Jin would be at home on the weekends, it would be better if he was more careful and not let himself get caught red-handed.

nThe moment Xiao Yu closed his iPad, Yan Jin suddenly pushed open the doors and came into the room, giving Xiao Yu a big shock.

n“Fishy, do you feel better?” Yan Jin acted like he was treating a patient and placed his hand on Xiao Yu’s little stomach: “Is it still painful here?”

nXiao Yu shook his head and extended his tongue to lick Yan Jin’s finger. Yan Jin smiled at the act and held Xiao Yu in his palm. The hamster cooperatively exposed his white tummy in return.

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nThe human and hamster played for a while more before Yan Jin brought Xiao Yu to the second level.

nEvery weekend, Yan Jin would bring Xiao Yu to the mini town to play the entire afternoon. Xiao Yu liked playing in there too, which was why he was reluctant to be taken away from it every single time.

nHowever, taking into consideration that Xiao Yu had just recovered from his upset stomach last night, Yan Jin did not dare let him move about too much. So, he took out another interesting little plaything.

nXiao Yu only realized that when he got to the second level that there was another small table beside his mini town. It was about the same height as the mini town, but the size was a lot smaller. On top of that table was a rectangular maze that was about twenty centimeters in height and one-meter long.

n“We’ll play this today. I’ll tie a string around you. If you really can’t find your way, then just pull the string, okay?”

nYan Jin then proceeded to tie the red string around Xiao Yu’s stomach as he reminded him once again as if Xiao Yu could really understand his words.

nXiao Yu was eager to try it out. When he was a human, he had never played in a maze before. Never had he expected that he would have such an entertaining activity to do now.

nSuddenly, he didn’t feel like becoming a human anymore.

nYan Jin was acting out of character as he nagged like an old lady, informing this and cautioning that. Xiao Yu quickly nodded his head to show that he already understood and then squeaked in annoyance before Yan Jin finally put him at the entrance.

nXiao Yu held his head high and chest out and chest out when he entered the maze.

nPreviously, he heard before that when walking through a maze, it was best to walk with one hand touching the wall, which would make it easier to find a way out. But he did not do that. Even if he did not make his way out, there wouldn’t be a problem. After all –

nThe moment he looked up, he could see Yan Jin’s gigantic, anxious face.

nXiao Yu lowered his head again and ran forward cheerfully.

n“Fishy, slow down, don’t run.”

n“Fishy, it’s a dead end up ahead.”

n“Fishy, don’t climb over the walls. Do that again and I’ll take you out.”

n“Fishy, ……”

n“SQUEAKKKKKKK!” You’re so annoying! Shut up, shut up, shut up!

nYan Jin really stopped talking as he resentfully kept his lips together.

nIn fact, ever he was young, Yan Jin was very sensitive to animals’ emotions. It was like an unexplainable superpower, and that made him really happy. He initially thought that he would end up keeping a whole mansion full of pets, but regretfully, his “abilities” were also applicable to humans.

nWhich was why he emerged quickly from the pool of inheritance candidates and became the only child in the Yan family.

nEven Chu Ge was not aware of that.

nHe did not tell anyone about it as it was the deepest, darkest part of his life that he had buried deep in his heart like a sealed room that no light could penetrate.

nYet at this moment, the small black room was finally breaking apart with a tiny, unnoticeable crack.

nA small, foolish, and weird little thing had fallen in.

nXiao Yu spent the entire two hours and finally walked to the center of the maze.

nHe did not have the energy to walk out again as he was completely burnt out. Although Xiao Yu did not want to admit defeat, his stamina was indeed falling apart.

nXiao Yu sat on the floor, sprawled out.

n“Squeakkk.” Too tired, I’m dead, I can’t walk anymore.

nThe maze was exquisitely done. No doubt about it — it had to be another custom-made item by Yan Jin. The wall was printed with different drawings. Every area would have a different series of drawings. From Xiao Yu’s initial investigation, it was probably divided into the four seasons for each area. The area that he just left was summer and most of it consisted of oil paintings. Now that he was in the central area, it was a mix of autumn and winter also covered with oil paintings.

nThe central area had a bigger platform. Xiao Yu sat on it and stopped moving after that.

nThen, he realized that the maze underneath him was starting to move.

n“SQUEAKK!!”

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