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nChapter Sixty-Four: The Misery Continues

nAt the beginning of November, Yan Jin boarded the plane towards City H together with a few of his trusted aides.

nBefore the plane departed, Secretary Fang noticed that Yan Jin was still busy typing on his phone. A sense of crisis that could only be detected by a woman’s sixth sense began to arise.

n“Chairman Yan, it’s best to switch off your mobile device now.”

n“Alright. I’ll switched it off once I’m done with this sentence.”

n“May I ask what you are doing, Chairman Yan?” Secretary Fang tried to probe, not expecting that she would get a response from Yan Jin.

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nHowever, because of Yan Jin’s pleasant mood at that moment, the chairman replied to her: “I got my friend to take care of my pet. Fishy can be a little playful, so my friend might have some problems dealing with him.”

nSecretary Fang rubbed her temples.

nHow can it be possible for Chairman Yan to keep any pets? I’ve never heard of that before. It must be that little vixen that enticed Chairman Yan to keep it!

nWhen the plane stabilized later, secretary Fang released this piece of information to the chat group and instantly caused a wave of people wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves.

nBy the way, the chat group’s name was 24

/7 Support Group for Chairman Yan.

n“What kind of pet does Chairman Yan keep?”

n“It’s called Fishy, so it’s most likely a cat.”

n“Seems like I should bring my kitty to work next time.”

n“Are you mad? The company rule states very clearly that pets are forbidden in the office. You don’t want your bonus anymore?”

n“If I get to date Chairman Yan, a one-month bonus is nothing.”

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nAnd that was why on the first day back after Yan Jin had returned to YL when the Autumn Release Conference ended, he discovered a strange phenomenon. It seemed like during the time he was away from the company, there was a trend of employees bringing pets to the office. That caused many employees who were allergic to furs to suffer tremendously. The ‘kind and understanding’ Chairman Yan called for an emergency meeting, set up a room dedicated to pets, and established one day every month to be ‘Pet’s Day’. On that specific day, all employees could bring their pets to work on the condition that they must be placed in the pet room so that there would not affect other employees.

nIn addition, although rules were set by humans, every employee who broke the rule that day for bringing their pets to work had their one-month bonus deducted.

n“Fishy, Fish bro, Master Fish.” Chu Ge was almost kneeling on the ground as he begged: “Please be magnanimous. Let’s take a shower and go eat, okay?”

nXiao Yu shook his head as he stepped on his bag of melon seeds, refusing to budge. He pointed at the words on his iPad:

n“I don’t want to bathe.”

nTwo days ago, after seeking an opinion from Xiao Yu, Yan Jin told Chu Ge about his hamster’s ‘real identity’.

nAt that moment, Chu Ge’s brain only had one thought – between him and Yan Jin, someone must visit the psychiatrist.

nThen, the doctor saw this master hamster switch on the iPad that had once belonged to him and start tapping away.

nAt that moment, Chu Ge suddenly recalled something that had happened a very long time ago – he felt that the worst mistake that he had ever done in his life, was probably provoking that seemingly reserved ‘good boy’ Yan Jin when he was eight years old.

nHe was then doomed for this tragedy over the next twenty years.

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n“Squeakk!!” Why are you dazing out!?

nXiao Yu pat Chu Ge’s sleeve discontentedly and received the doctor’s resentful gaze.

nXiao Yu felt a little speechless.

nReally? Didn’t he accept my identity a few days ago? Aren’t demons and supernatural things really common nowadays?

nNo imagination at all. Hn.

nIf Chu Ge had known Xiao Yu’s thoughts, he probably would have taken a flight to City H and bawled in front of Yan Jin.

nThis was not about whether he had imagination or not! He was an atheist!

n“Squeakk.” Why is there a need to shower when I don’t even leave the house?

nWhen that sentence appeared on the iPad, Chu Ge actually agreed with it internally.

nIn the end, Chu Ge compromised with Xiao Yu on the bathing issue.

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nAfter all, aside from bathing, there were many other things to do. Before Yan Jin left, the chairman wrote an eight-page long list of things to note, neatly stating the arrangements for every single day. It was so detailed that it described what the hamster should be doing every twenty minutes. Chu Ge looked at the piled up papers and was deeply suspicious of whether Yan Jin’s own working schedule was that packed.

nYan Jin would be away for seven days. The seven days’ worth of scheduling took up seven pieces of paper. The last piece of paper only had one sentence – bear your own consequences.

nWhat does he mean by ‘bear your own consequences’?

nChu Ge pondered about it for a while and came up with countless possibilities.

nFor example, he must not reveal the hamster master’s identity, otherwise bear his own consequences. Or maybe, take good care of the hamster master, otherwise bear his own consequences. Or perhaps, don’t goof off, otherwise bear his own consequences.

nThis strategy that Yan Jin planned was well-played. An unclear way of threatening was more terrifying than holding a knife to his neck.

nXiao Yu watched Chu Ge daze out again. He decided to ignore the doctor and opened his QQ.

nNannan had finished the final drawing. The results were quite good. Although it could not be compared to the results if Xiao Yu was to draw on his own, from a non-professional perspective, it could be considered a beautiful piece of work.

nNannan deserved the biggest credit this time. No matter how it would turn out in the end, Xiao Yu had to thank him properly.

nSpeaking of that, when Xiao Yu contacted Nannan yesterday, he mentioned doubling the remuneration for every drawing. However, he was rejected by Nannan.

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nNannan’s original words were: “Oh Guru, I’m considered one of those people who lurks around the edge of this circle. I do have some knowledge about the market price of a drawing. Five hundred thousand is already more than enough. Plus, the guidance from Guru is what makes this deal priceless. In fact, it’s perfectly okay even if you don’t give me any money.”

nThat reply was so well-said that it won everyone’s heart and moved Xiao Yu greatly.

nAnd what was the truth?

nNan Wei looked at his childhood sweetheart very awkwardly and asked: “No matter how I reject him, Guru insists that he must pay me. What should I do with this money?”

n“Immediately return it to Yan Jin.” The childhood sweetheart replied without even lifting his head.

n“That wouldn’t work for sure.” Nan Wei instantly overruled him and came up with his own solution: “Why don’t I save up this money and use it as gift money at cousin’s wedding?”

n“If you dare to give a few hundred thousand as gift money, Yan Jin would surely chase you out on the spot.”

n“That’s not the same. It’s not the amount of money that matters.” Even when Nan Wei was sneered at, he still felt that his idea was very feasible: “This money is the proof of my future in-law’s silent efforts for cousin. It has special meaning to it.”

n“…… If that’s what you think, then why did you still ask me?”

n“Tch. You’re such a boring person.”

nA certain childhood sweetheart scoffed internally. They weren’t sure what was going on with Yan Jin’s side, but Nan Wei insisted on covering up the truth. He hoped that things would not go wrong afterwards and both sides would suffer.

nIn a certain sense, the childhood sweetheart was a man who had seen through everything in this incident. It was a pity that after years of being violently bullied by Nan Wei, he would not dare to say anything that opposed Nan Wei’s views.

nNan Wei turned to look at the calendar and asked: “Speaking of which, the opening ceremony is starting soon. How’s the voting for Ragnarok?”

nWhen he was finally asked about something related to his profession, the childhood sweetheart promptly switched on his computer and showed Nan Wei the statistics that he had arranged: “I’ve been following it closely during this period. There’s no problem at all for the voting and popularity rating. But I accidentally discovered that there was a work that’s very similar to your Guru’s design. His popularity rating wasn’t low either, and it’s also from SI…”

n“Oh, that’s nothing. It’s very common to be plagiarized at such open competitions.” Nan Wei did not think that such a small matter was a problem at all.

nThe other man was left with no choice but to swallow his conspiracy theory and continue to discuss the main issue.

n“Yan Jin placed your Guru’s drawing under the name of an unknown designer. I’ve investigated a bit and it turns out that this designer isn’t even YL’s employee. He’s probably Yan Jin’s friend. The consultant, however, is a senior employee at YL. Yan Jin was indeed thorough.”

n“As expected of my cousin.” Nan Wei praised smoothly even though he wasn’t sure where his cousin was being thorough.

nAs the website scrolled further, Nan Wei immediately noticed something important: “Ehh? The organization committee includes the Nan family?”

n“I’m puzzled about that as well. There’s no news about that previously.”

n“Haha! Even the Gods are helping me.” Nan Wei said excitedly: “With the Nan family involved, it’s such a minor thing to get things done under the table. The victory is in the bag.”

nThe childhood sweetheart laughed: “Will the Nan family help Yan Jin?”

nThere were no permanent friendships in the business world. Moreover, problems had surfaced long ago between the Nan and Yan family’s relationship. Now that the Nan family was declining, they were desperate to get Nan Chan to marry Yan Jin.

n“That’s impossible. It’ll be a miracle if the Nan family doesn’t create trouble.” Even Nan Wei agreed with that: “We can’t depend on the Nan family. But it’s a different case if it’s Nan Chan. Plus, I didn’t say I’m helping Yan Jin. Cousin will figure it out on his own with YL’s cooperate works. I’m just helping my own friend~”

nThe other man declined to comment as Nan Wei ignored him and excitedly went to make a call to Nan Chan.

nXiao Yu idled his time away on QQ as he waited for Yan Jin to poke him.

nHe could not make it to the Autumn Release Conference and he could not watch it live like how he had previously. Hence, he had no choice but to reluctantly wait at home for updates.

nThere would be updates and videos uploaded after the conference ended, but if he were to wait until then, it would all be too late.

nAlthough he had become a hamster, Xiao Yu still hoped that he could be at the front line during the battle. It turned out that he did have a way to fulfil this far-reaching ambition of his – Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both.

nNot too long ago, Yan Jin had contacted Xiao Yu through Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both. Apart from informing him about the situation with the Ragnarok competition, the chairman also asked about the exhibition product that Xiao Yu had prepared for the conference.

nApparently, after Chairman Yan had seen how Xiao Yu’s work had gained popularity among the top few ranks. He was basically convinced that Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both’s work would passed the voting round for Ragnarok.

nIn fact, Xiao Yu had received information much earlier than the chairman. Although his work was placed under the name of another person arranged by Yan Jin, the QQ account stated in the registration was his. Two days ago, the staff from the organizer had already informed him that he had passed the voting round. They also invited him to be present for the Autumn Release Conference and offered the condition to undertake the costs of the air ticket, food and lodging.

nXiao Yu had obviously rejected to attend without any hesitation.

nWhat a joke, is the honor and glory of the great demon meant for you peasants to admire?

nIn the end, Xiao Yu ‘reluctantly’ joined a private chat group under the staff’s magnificent hospitality. Xiao Yu had been lurking in the chat group for a while. He could see that the chat group was full of amateur designers that had passed the voting round. Among them, there were many who hoped to use this competition to boost their careers.

nPerhaps in that group chat, only Xiao Yu would be the salted fish that turned over¹.

nWhen Yan Jin inquired about the exhibition item, Xiao Yu even kept him in suspense about it. Remembering that Yan Jin had not believed in him at all previously made the hamster unwilling to talk about it.

nHn, it’s a secret. You’ll find out about it when the time comes.

nFor some reason, seeing such a familiar tone made Yan Jin, who was on his way to the airport, suddenly think of his hamster.

nI wonder how’s Fishy doing. Is Chu Ge really going to be okay dealing with him?

nChairman Yan expressed that he was very worried.

nTranslation notes:

n1 Salted fish that turned over – to experience a reversal of fortune.

nHey all! I’ll be taking a break next week, which means no update till 9th July (Monday)! I’ll be settling my real life issues then get back to translation! – iamfeiii

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