n

nChapter Forty-Three: Ending on Bad Terms

nThese were not confidential matters. If Xiao Yu had put in effort to find out, he could easily obtain such information.

nDuring this period in his previous life, he had been slaving away to get the drawings out and submit them before the deadline. He simply did not have any extra time to go through gossipy news about the competition. In addition to that, the company forbade him from entering the individual competition privately, which was why he did not have the opportunity to investigate further and thus missed out on this important information.

nXiao Yu did not expect that under such freakish circumstances, he could receive the things that he had once missed out on.

nXiao Yu had to admit that he was once again thoroughly moved by Yan Jin’s actions.

nPerhaps for Yan Jin, these were just things he did with little effort. But for Xiao Yu, this information was like the daybreak light at dawn that explained why he had put in so much effort in his previous life to enter this competition.

n

n

nIt was like a beam of light that shone down on a human (hamster) who had lost his way inside the deep endless sea that had no boundaries. As he looked up, the surface of the sea was finally within reach.

nAt this moment, Xiao Yu felt that it was like a mysterious and inexorable fate, an inevitable destiny.

nAs if Yan Jin had not stirred up enough emotions, he sent another message.

nGrey-white SS: I’m not sure if you had experience participating in such individual competitions before. YL does have one designer that could provide you with some suggestions. Would you like to visit YL to meet him?

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: I don’t want to be in contact with too many people. It’s okay.

nGrey-white SS: Okay then. (disappointed.jpg)

nGrey-white SS sent a document.

nGrey-white SS: The experience summary.

nAs far as Xiao Yu was concerned, Yan Jin’s thoughts were obvious – To spare no pains nor efforts to lure him out. It was a pity that Xiao Yu was determined to reject him at all cost, and hence there was nothing to be done for Chairman Yan.

nOpening the document, there were ten suggestions. The first one was how to attract attention during the voting selection.

n

n

nA simple yet extremely critical suggestion.

nXiao Yu quickly turned to look at the ceiling, forcing his disobedient tears back.

nI cannot cry, that’s too embarrassing.

nGrey-white SS: I can’t help much for the other areas. A chairperson’s job is very busy after all. (shrughands.jpg)

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: It’s more than enough. Thank you, I mean it.

nGrey-white SS: If you really get a placement at the exhibition booth, all these things aren’t even worth being called investments.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Hold on, I thought you didn’t have any confidence in me two days ago?

nGrey-white SS: We shouldn’t erase the probability of even the smallest possibility. That was learned from the previous deal.

nXiao Yu sent a gloomy emoticon.

nYan Jin was probably still observing Xiao Yu’s capabilities even at this point. Seeing how Yan Jin had sent over the information, Xiao Yu almost thought that the chairman had already changed his mind. Oh well, even though the wedding ring deal had given Yan Jin a stunning experience, that incident alone was indeed not enough to convince him.

n

n

nXiao Yu understood Yan Jin’s thoughts, which was why he could only try out other methods for this Autumn Release Conference.

nAccording to the level of trust Yan Jin had in him now, if he asked to be involved in YL’s exhibition works – impossible. Xiao Yu did participate in the previous Autumn Release Conference, and he knew how terrifying the competitive exhibition work was. The internal fight within the company was tough enough; how could they leave it to an outsider like Xiao Yu?

nXiao Yu didn’t even sign any contracts with Yan Jin. He was considered to be a type of informal temporary staff.

nWith that in mind, Xiao Yu’s intent to ask more about the amount of exhibition works was extinguished.

nNo matter how many there were, there would not be a chance for him.

nHowever, even if he could not interfere with YL’s exhibition work, it was not like he did not have other ways to go about it.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Oh right, if I really earned an exhibition booth that had a better placing than YL’s corporate work, you would buy it, right?

nGrey-white SS: Of course. At that time, it will become a seller’s market. It’s more worrying whether or not those designers will sell their booths.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: My thoughts are as such. Let’s not buy or sell. We’ll exchange booths.

nGrey-white SS: To exchange booths with YL’s corporate work booth? If it’s a better display position… I’m sorry, I don’t get the meaning behind it.

n

n

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: If we don’t exchange, then won’t you guys have two exhibition booths? The extra one will be useless, won’t it?

nGrey-white SS: You won’t have to worry about that. Naturally, there are other corporations that have lower placings that would want them.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: I don’t care. If you’re not exchanging, then I won’t sell it.

nGrey-white SS: Then wait until you win it and we’ll parade our wealth. (bye.jpg)

nXiao Yu was speechless. It was true that he could not win over Yan Jin when it came to being unreasonable.

nHis motive for this request was indeed to throw people off his trail. But no matter what, he had to give Yan Jin a precaution and parade his wealth when the time came.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: I’m serious. What if I must exchange the exhibition booth?

nGrey-white SS: Why do you need the exhibition booth?

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: To display an exhibit? What else?

nGrey-white SS: Can I once again question your identity?

n

n

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: You’re going too far.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: I’m doing this because I don’t want to take up YL’s employee quota. Even if I’m putting forth my own exhibit, I would name all of my drawings under YL. You’ve taken more than enough advantage of me, so don’t push your luck.

nGrey-white SS: How are the preparations for your exhibition work? What about the materials? High-quality imitations?

nXiao Yu felt a little guilty, but he was not to be outdone.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: Weren’t there 3D effects? Even if I can’t get the actual product out, the hologram would work too.

nGrey-white SS: Unheard of. I’m impressed.

nFish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both: bye.jpg

nXiao Yu, who was on the verge of exploding from his rage, ended the conversation with Yan Jin and switched off his QQ.

nHn. You look down on me now? I’ll make you kneel and beg me at the Autumn Release Conference.

nIn the evening, Yan Jin came home after work and realized that something was very strange – the cute and adorable hamster who had always been very obedient had suddenly decided to ignore him.

nWhen he left home this morning, the hamster was still obediently stretching out his little paw and waving goodbye to him. So why was he suddenly ignoring him?

nYes, his hamster would wave his little paw at him when he leaves for work and give him a flying kiss when he comes home. If he was lucky, he would even receive some peeled melon seeds or cracked walnuts.

nYan Jin did not feel that there was anything wrong about that. In fact, he flaunted around his overly-intelligent hamster on all forms of social media every single day. Every time he did that, he would receive a lot of positive feedback.

nYan Jin attempted to use melon seeds to attract his hamster’s attention while he thought about whether he had done anything wrong recently.

nCould it be because I was too busy with the company and I haven’t spent enough time with him?

nCould it be because the exercises were too much and there wasn’t enough food?

nCould it be… he had done something bad and was trying to bluff his way through?

nYan Jin squinted his eyes and pinched the hamster’s cheeks with his agile fingers.

nNothing came out.

nThe wrong guess resulted in even more avoidance. The hamster who wouldn’t go back to his cage if he wasn’t going to bed, ended up dashing back into his cage. The whole hamster body was stuffed into the little house as he refused to come out.

nYan Jin couldn’t understand.

n“Fishy, what’s wrong? You’re not happy?”

nYan Jin put down his twenty-centimeter thick documents and focused on attracting Fishy’s attention.

n“There’s extra food for today. If you come out, I’ll give you some snacks, okay?” No reaction.

nFood temptation, failed.

n“If you don’t come out, I’ll be angry.” No reaction 1.

nIntimidation, failed.

n“Come out and play for a while, okay? There’s no need to run the wheel this week, okay?” The little house seemed to move a bit, but very quickly, there was no movement again.

nBribery, failed.

nAfter trying out countless methods with no success, Yan Jin had no choice but to give in: “Okay then, you have a good rest. I’ll go settle my work.”

nXiao Yu’s ears twitched when he heard the word ‘work’.

nAlthough Xiao Yu wanted to continue sulking at Yan Jin, he was very curious – his work must be about the Autumn Release Conference.

nAfter persisting for a while, Xiao Yu could not hold back after all. And so, the hamster peeped out from the house.

nA little pinkish nose poked out from the little house first. The tip of his nose twitched as if sensing for any possible danger. A few seconds later, the round, grey-colored furball showed himself as he made a sprint towards the edge of the cage.

nDammit, that idiot Yan Jin went so far as to close his cage door.

n“Squeakkk!”

nXiao Yu’s loud screech, plus the sound of claws scratching the plastic door, successfully alerted Yan Jin, who was working diligently.

n“Fishy?”

nThe second that Yan Jin opened the cage, Xiao Yu fell entirely into his palm.

n“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to sleep?”

nXiao Yu swayed his body parts above his tummy and it looked like he was shaking his head very vigorously.

nThe truth was, that was exactly what he wanted to express.

nThat comical image gave Yan Jin an urge to record it on video. Too bad his phone wasn’t beside him.

n“Not sleeping yet? Accompany me while I work then.”

nXiao Yu was settled onto the desk and Yan Jin even considerately moved the running wheel over: “If you’re bored, you could play with this.”

n“Squeak.” I’m not bored. Scram. Mention that wheel again, and I’ll whack you to death.

nYan Jin helplessly put the running wheel back in its original spot. Then, he use his ballpoint pen to tap on Xiao Yu’s little head: “For a hamster, don’t you think that your mental activity is kind of overly complex?”

n“Squeak.” No such thing.

nJust like how Yan Jin thought that Xiao Yu’s actions were normal, the hamster was also immune to the fact that the chairman could always guess his thoughts correctly. The idiom ‘A person on the spot is baffled, the onlooker sees it clear’ was probably referring to such a situation.

nAfter fooling around for a while, Yan Jin’s focus returned to his documents.

nYan Jin rarely brought company work home. He would rather work overtime late into the night at his company, and not return home early. But that was routine long before Xiao Yu had come into this home.

nEver since this residence had the addition of this pretentious and fragile little creature, Yan Jin almost never came home later than 10 p.m.

nThat was because Xiao Yu’s bed time was at 10:30 p.m., and Chairman Yan would always want to snap a before-sleep photo of his little hamster.

nFor that reason, Yan Jin even purchased some mini sleeping cap and mini nightgown related products, although he rarely succeeded in making Xiao Yu wear them.

nIf Xiao Yu really wasn’t cooperative, then he would have to forgo the before-sleep photo. However, saying goodnight was a must. Something like –

n“Goodnight Fishy, see you tomorrow.”

nThe drawback to coming home early was that he would have documents that he couldn’t finish going through and work that had not been completed yet.

nYan Jin was a little nearsighted. He would wear contact lenses at the most important events and take them off when he got home. But most of the time, there wasn’t a need to see things too clearly at home, which was why he would put on a pair of black-framed spectacles when he needed to do something that required his attention.

nJust like this situation right now.

nThe plain, modest spectacles briefly obstructed those pair of slightly cold-blooded eyes. It made Yan Jin’s overall appearance look docile. It might be because they were at home. Yan Jin was in a relaxed mood as his constant oppressive presence was nowhere to be seen. Regardless of whether he was any different from how he looked like at work as he held that sharp ballpoint pen in his hand, it still failed to make him look like that formidable and ice-cold chairman.

nHe looked more like an exam student in one of those idol dramas.

nXiao Yu almost laughed at his own imagination.

n