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nChapter Forty-One: Making Trouble Again

nAfter continuously playing Toxic for the next few days, Xiao Yu would level up on his own when Lin Zhou was offline. Very quickly, Xiao Yu found the knack that he had from his previous life. He even surprisingly found out that the body of a hamster actually made it much easier for him to play the game.

nMaybe it was because he didn’t need to utilize all of his fingers and hence had a lower chance of misfiring the wrong (comical) skills?

nRegardless, every time Xiao Yu killed off the opponent, an eerie rush would emerge from his heart.

nDid any of their opponents know that this flirtatious, strong and supportive handsome mage, who could easily hit five kills, was in fact a hamster? Did they know that a hamster was messing with them?

nOhmygod, the more I think, the more thrilling it gets.

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nFrom a certain aspect, Xiao Yu thought that he finally understood why some people out there ended up with gaming addictions.

nNo matter what identities they held in their real lives – poor or wealthy, unlucky or blessed – the moment they put on that imaginary exterior on the Internet, every person could be the character that they wished to become, without any restrictions, able to express their innermost feelings. It did not matter if they could only become a hero in a game; it would fill their empty souls throughout those endless nights.

nAs for Xiao Yu, he was no doubt a human in the game. He would have teammates who praised him, and also enemies who vowed for revenge. Yet none of them could see that he was not a human, but only a soul that belonged to one.

nYan Jin had not interacted with Xiao Yu for the past two days, which probably meant that he was very occupied with his work and had no time to spare on him. Nannan had returned from his vacation, claiming that he needed to spend two days on his online shop matters, which Xiao Yu generously granted him.

nDIDI. There was yet another new message from Lin Zhou.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: You there?

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Yes, up for a match?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: I’ll invite you.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: I attained the gold rank last night and was able to get into the board rankings. Still on?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Sure.

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nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Not worried that I’ll pull your rank down?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Fret not, I happen to have safeguard against rank dropping now. Plus, I’m capable of leading even in the gold rank battles.

nThe two with different ulterior motives then proceed to play for a few rounds. There were wins and losses, sarcastic remarks were made when they met lousy players, and whenever either of them took the lead, the other person would generously give their praises.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: That mage is a joke, otherwise we would have won for sure.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Still up for another round?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: It’s almost twelve. Chairman Yan sure is relaxed, don’t you need to work on the Autumn Release Conference?

nIt’s here! Finally, onto the main topic! After playing for so many days, he’d finally shown his fox tail!

nXiao Yu smiled coldly in his heart – Of course Yan Jin is busy. Where can he find such free time to be gaming, unlike someone who holds a sinecure, plotting schemes every single day?

nThis time, Xiao Yu didn’t dare to overreact. After all, Yan Jin’s character was a known fact. If he reacted badly, then he would be put under suspicion and the situation would worsen.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: That being said, don’t you also have to be busy with the Autumn Release Conference?

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nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Our main focus was on the original jewelry design competition for this conference. The company arranged for me to enter as an individual participant, so I had it easier than the rest of them.

nLIAR!

nIf this conversation was really between Yan Jin and Lin Zhou, it might really get brushed off by Lin Zhou. But the person behind Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both was Xiao Yu, the chief designer of SI! How could he not know about the strategy that was planned? The company surely would not arrange anyone for the individual competition, otherwise Xiao Yu himself would have given all he had to fight for that quota.

nThere was a possibility that the company really had given the spot to Lin Zhou. Nevertheless, that possibility was almost impossible. Even if that was the truth, based on his relationship with Lin Zhou, it did not make sense for the human Xiao Yu to have no knowledge about it. Lin Zhou could have hidden the truth on purpose, but what could he gain from doing that?

nXiao Yu really wanted to expose his lie and see Lin Zhou’s repulsive face under the mask. However, he had no choice but to hold back the fury burning within him and play along to get more information out of Lin Zhou.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Is it really alright to tell me SI’s confidential information just like that?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: That doesn’t count as confidential. You can easily find out about it, Chairman Yan.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Plus, I’m sure Chairman Yan knows what I’m thinking.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Still plan on job hopping?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: A talented person chooses a patron of integrity; that’s human nature.

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nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: SI shouldn’t be too different compared to YL, right?

nXiao Yu had wanted to ask this question for a very long time. From the first time he realized that Lin Zhou wanted to job-hop to YL, he had been wanting to ask. Putting aside that both jewelry groups’ capabilities were evenly matched, when Xiao Yu came along and revealed his outstanding talents, SI eventually won over YL by a bigger margin. So why did Lin Zhou think that SI was incomparable to YL?

nXiao Yu still remembered what Lin Zhou mentioned in the email to Yan Jin the other time, that he was outcasted in SI. Afterwards, Xiao Yu had carefully analyzed that sentence and concluded that Lin Zhou lied about it because he wanted Yan Jin to pity him.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Chairman Yan must be joking. A straightforward person does not resort to insinuation. There’s no need to pretend to be naïve. How could SI compare to the Yan family?

nYan family? What Yan family? How does that relate to the Yan family? Yan family would mean the Yan Group, which also means Yan Jin, doesn’t it?

nIt seemed that the topic could not continue further. After all, the most crucial issue might be Yan Jin himself.

nXiao Yu decided that he would thoroughly investigate who Yan Jin was in a while. But for now, he should change the topic first.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: I remember telling you to enter YL through proper channels before.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: I have my difficulties. I only hope that chairman Yan would give me some leeway.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: But you’ve lost the bet.

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nXiao Yu purposely mentioned the previous deal. He was quite curious to see what Lin Zhou would do to redeem himself.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: I overestimated myself for that deal. I apologize, Chairman Yan.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Chairman Yan seems to have a really good trump card. I wonder where you found such a person.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: If you’re planning on asking about Mr. Mystery, then I advise you to give up.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Sorry, I’m just curious. I don’t mean to pry.

nXiao Yu scoffed at Lin Zhou’s reply. How could he not know what Lin Zhou was thinking? Such an actor.

nAt this point in time, everyone in SI had been asking around about the mystery designer’s origin. Lin Zhou was no exception. After all, he was the one who had suffered the greatest loss in that deal.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Since you’ve lost the bet, why are you still approaching me? It can’t possibly be that you thought I would give you an exception just because you played a few days’ worth of games with me?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Obviously I know that Chairman Yan is an impartial person.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: It’s just that I believe Chairman Yan would be interested in the bargaining chip I have this time.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Oh? Tell me.

nCome on, tell me. Let me see that so-called bargaining chip of yours that’s worth a deal from Yan Jin – Lin Zhou’s hidden secret.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: My bargaining chip is very simple. It’s the original jewelry design competition – Ragnarok.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Oh?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: I’ve mentioned that I would be entering the competition as an individual right? After I get the placing, I will have an exhibition booth. The original plan was to let the company buy that exhibition booth from me, but since I’m entering the competition as an individual, then I’ll have the freedom to decide who I want to sell to, am I right?

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: So, you’re saying that you plan on giving it to me?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Just treat it as an introductory gift when I join YL. I believe that a top-ten exhibition booth would allow YL to have a satisfactory ending for this Autumn Release Conference, and it’s a very good win-win situation as well.

nThere were so many things that Xiao Yu wanted to ridicule about Lin Zhou’s mysterious confidence. There were two important questions; one was, why did Yan Jin need that exhibition booth? What if YL had a design that won a better placement? The other question was, why Lin Zhou was so assured that his product would place among the top ten?

nAccording to the results from his previous life, the answer to the first question was – It was true that YL was unable to win any good placements for the exhibition booth. YL’s advantage had always been in their steady marketing sales. Their shortcomings had always been hiring a competitive designer who had unique styles, which meant that YL was not good at such competitions.

nThe YL from his previous life had won the seventeenth place with their corporate product design. It was a big pity that they had missed the chance to get into the top ten. Of course, that was putting aside the fact that the mystery designer had turned the tides later on.

nAs for the second question, the SI from his previous life earned the ninth-place exhibition booth. But that was from the human Xiao Yu’s corporate product design and not Lin Zhou’s individual design.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Seems like you’re very confident about your drawing this time. You should be aware that even a professional design might not win the voting selection.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: What are you saying, Chairman Yan? Passing the voting selection would only need some effort on the first draft, then presenting them to the audience in a simple effective drawing. Everyone knows that. Only those fledgling, young designers would make such an amateur mistake. I hope Chairman Yan would have more confidence in me.

nFledgling, young designers.

nI see, so Lin Zhou was talking about him.

nXiao Yu laughed bitterly.

nIt turned out that Lin Zhou knew long ago that something was wrong with his drawing, and he knew right from the beginning that Xiao Yu would not be able to pass the voting selection.

nXiao Yu had gained his fame at a young age. In his second year of university, he was hand-picked by SI’s then chief designer and everything had been smooth sailing from then on. Going overseas to study, and getting a job right after he returned to the country. Compared to Lin Zhou, who had climbed his way up to where he was, the difference was just a little experience, just a little.

nLin Zhou obviously knew how hard Xiao Yu was trying to cope with the corporate product drawings while drawing his own individual product. Lin Zhou knew for sure what his drawing’s problems were, but why was he not willing to tell him?!

nEven if they were not as close as they seemed on the surface, but such a small matter was all Xiao Yu needed to pass the voting selection. So why was Lin Zhou not willing to help him?

nAfter calming his emotions, Xiao Yu continued the conversation with Lin Zhou.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: So, you’re really confident in your product this time around as well? Just like the proposal ring?

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: Seems like I have no choice but to remind Chairman Yan again. The other time, Chairman Yan had a good trump card in hand. Victory was supposed to be mine.

nIn fact, Xiao Yu could not refute that claim.

nLil’ Ye-Zhou: As for this time…

nTwo files had been sent over.

nXiao Yu stopped breathing for a moment when he was caught off guard by what he saw as he clicked on one of the files.

nSo that’s how, so that’s why!

nLIN ZHOU!!

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