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nChapter 75: To be a Self-Aware Hamster

nThat should be Chu Ge coming back. He knew that Chu Ge wasn’t a troublemaker.

nReflecting on their previous interactions, Xiao Yu decided that he should probably do something nice for Chu Ge. After all, Chu Ge did toil hard to care for him these past three days and two nights. In return, he had not really treated Chu Ge all that well.

nXiao Yu propped his iPad up higher and wrote: “Let’s pull an all-nighter and I’ll power level you.”

nAs Xiao Yu was typing, the person coming in had already made it into the living room. By the time Xiao Yu finished writing that sentence and turned around, the other person was standing behind him.

nSeeing the black suit and navy blue tie, Xiao Yu froze in place.

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nHmm? It didn’t seem like Chu Ge was wearing those clothes when he left earlier.

nAlso, had Chu Ge always been this tall?

nXiao Yu’s line of sight continued climbing up until he saw an unexpected face.

n…Yan Jin?!

nFrom high above, Chairman Yan stared down at the stunned Xiao Yu, his gaze searching. He might have been mistaken, but after not seeing Xiao Yu for two days, he felt that Xiao Yu’s fur looked duller.

nXiao Yu blanked for ten seconds before finally reacting.

n“Squeakkk!” Wow, Yan Jin you’re back!

nIn this kind of situation, it would ruin the mood if he pondered too much over why Yan Jin suddenly came back. Instead, Xiao Yu just happily opened his arms to welcome Yan Jin home.

nYan Jin stooped down, reaching out a hand.

nXiao Yu came forward two steps and hugged Yan Jin’s finger, his tiny head moving over to rub against it.

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nThen, in the next second, the finger curled and lightly flicked.

nThe round hamster rolled over twice before finally stopping. The defenseless Xiao Yu, who got pranked, pressed a paw against the spot on his forehead. Then, he made a little fist as he accused angrily:

n“SQUEAKKK!” What are you doing?!

n“Pulling an all-nighter to power level, hmm?”

nYan Jin’s quirked brow instantly broke Xiao Yu’s momentum.

nXiao Yu turned back to look at the big words displayed on his iPad. He really wished he could rewind time and prevent his own stupidity.

nDammit.

nSince he had been exposed, Yan Jin severely limited his time playing on the iPad. When Yan Jin was home, he would take away the iPad once Xiao Yu played three to four matches. Staying up late was the highest of crimes. If Yan Jin caught him playing after midnight, then he was just courting death.

nOf course, Xiao Yu was never that stupid. He would get his fill of playing earlier on so that there was no need for him to mess around in the middle of the night. Even if he did have something to take care of, he would only do it under the condition that he was one hundred percent certain he could keep it a secret from Yan Jin.

nHe never imagined that he would let his guard down thinking that Yan Jin would be away and get caught red-handed.

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nAh, pulling an all-nighter was just an expression. It wasn’t as if he was really going to stay up all night.

nXiao Yu really wanted to explain, but under Yan Jin’s menacing glare, he couldn’t come up with a single excuse. He could only hug his little head and shrink into a ball, acting pitiful to earn some sympathy.

n“Squeak…” I know I was wrong…

n“No use acting pitiful now. Didn’t I say before that if you dare to stay up late again to play games, I’ll take away your iPad permanently?”

nChairman Yan squinted his eyes, the threat clear in his words.

nHearing those words, Xiao Yu didn’t care anymore. He flopped onto his back and threw a tantrum, waving his limbs around.

n“Ssqueakkk!” No no no. I already admitted that I was wrong.

nYan Jin coldly watched his hamster’s cute antics and waited for Xiao Yu to wear himself out. Finally, Xiao Yu lay there with his little belly billowing in and out as he panted heavily–

nUnable to help himself, Yan Jin poked at Xiao Yu’s soft little downy belly.

nAs his fingertip sank into the warm and fluffy white fur, the slightly itchy feeling made his heart tremble.

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n“Squeak.” Xiao Yu had been waiting carefully for his chance to grab Yan Jin’s finger. Holding on, he widened his eyes to look pitifully at Yan Jin. Earnestly acting cute in hopes of being granted a lighter sentence.

nYan Jin tried to pull his finger back, but he was helpless against Xiao Yu’s death grip. In the end, he admitted defeat.

n“There won’t be a next time.” Chairman Yan informed him very seriously.

n“Squeakk!” I swear!

nXiao Yu quickly agreed without a single care for what he had just promised. Even if there was a next time, he was sure that he could get Yan Jin to compromise.

nYan Jin, who constantly had his bottom line broken, helplessly rubbed Xiao Yu’s little head. Then, as if taking revenge, he used a fingertip to poke him on the forehead. Realizing that it was the same spot he had flicked before, he asked: “Did that hurt?”

nTruthfully, Yan Jin’s pokes never hurt.

nBut now that the danger had already passed, how could Xiao Yu let him off so easily? Of course he had to milk this for all it was worth.

n“Squeakk.” It hurts terribly.

nXiao Yu said as he made a wronged expression.

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nAlthough he was aware that Xiao Yu’s exaggerated expression was only a trap, Yan Jin still willingly jumped right in.

nIt pained him to think that he might have hurt his hamster.

nIt looked like there might even be some redness.

nAt this thought, Yan Jin held Xiao Yu in his palm and raised him to eye level before seriously studying the dark grey fur before him. Yan Jin finally let out a light sigh when he did not see any red marks on his forehead.

nXiao Yu watched as Yan Jin’s lips came closer and closer to him. Feeling surprised and embarrassed for what was to come, he even forgot to blink.

nBut the soft touch he was imagining did not happen. Instead, he only felt a warm breath.

nInstantly, he felt both disappointed and moved at the same time; sweet and sour.

n“Does it still hurt?” Yan Jin asked.

n“…Squeak.” Not anymore.

nXiao Yu’s tone was a bit low spirited.

nSuch a pity he wasn’t able to reap any rewards.

nAs if he could tell what Xiao Yu was thinking, Yan Jin laughed lightly: “Although this sort of thing shouldn’t be rushed, but I’ll give this to you ahead of time.”

nHe pushed a little toy into Xiao Yu’s hands.

nXiao Yu hugged the ‘little toy’ that was half his size and let out a soft squeak.

nIt was a hollow golden tomato, fat and round, with leaves that were beautifully carved.

nThis was the third golden sculpture that Xiao Yu had received from Yan Jin. Other than feeling moved, he couldn’t help but think that Yan Jin must have some sort of misconception about gold accessories. Up until now, he still didn’t know which designer would draw out such rotten designs.

nThere were absolutely no complaints that could be made about the carver’s skill if you just took the actual sculptures into consideration. Whether it was hand-made or machine crafted, the details on all three sculptures were extremely clear.

nHowever, Xiao Yu really couldn’t bring himself to compliment them on account of their terrible designs.

nXiao Yu even wondered at one point, whether these toys could have been something Yan Jin personally designed.

nBut the moment Xiao Yu came up with this irrational conjecture, he quickly tossed it out. Yan Jin was usually so busy with work. Where would he find the leisure time to draw? Drawing a design blueprint was a time consuming activity. It was not something that could be completed in a day or two. Yan Jin couldn’t have been the one who made them.

nFacing the plump tomato, Xiao Yu looked over it with disgust for a long time before carefully transporting it into the cage. Then he stuck his head out and let out a lively squeak to express his thanks.

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nAfter dinner, Yan Jin went to the bathroom to take a shower while Xiao Yu stayed in the living room.

nYan Jin originally planned to move Xiao Yu and his cage back into the bedroom, but was refused by Xiao Yu.

nHis reasoning was simple. Since Yan Jin took advantage of the Autumn Release Conference to ‘sneak’ back, he was just in time for the weekend. And during this short three day break, there would be no need for him to stay in his bedroom to take care of official business, and thus Xiao Yu also had no need to return to the bedroom.

nThe logic behind this reasoning made absolutely no sense, but in the face of Xiao Yu’s unyielding insistence, Chairman Yan could only allow him to play around outside for a while longer. Xiao Yu would return to the bedroom when it was time to sleep.

nXiao Yu, whose plan succeeded, took advantage of the time Yan Jin went back to his bedroom to shower to open his QQ and switch accounts.

nHe stayed up too late last night, and after watching the Autumn Release Conference so earnestly, Xiao Yu had forgotten something.

nXiao Yu only remembered this ‘one thing’ because Yan Jin unexpectedly rushed back from H City.

nAlthough it could be said that Yan Jin’s reason for rushing back was because he missed his beloved pet hamster, Xiao Yu felt that it wasn’t the whole story.

nWhile it made sense for Yan Jin to miss him, Xiao Yu did not think it would be to the point that Yan Jin would come back at the expense of the Autumn Release Conference. Also, given the fact that Yan Jin was able to make it back before dinner time, he must have bought the plane tickets well in advance. Xiao Yu was self-aware and didn’t believe that he had such a big presence in Yan Jin’s heart.

nNot to mention, if Yan Jin really did think so highly of him, then he could have simply not gone to the Autumn Release Conference at all.

nThere must be another reason for Yan Jin to go through all this hassle.

nAs expected, the moment Xiao Yu logged onto his Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both account, he was flooded by a heap of messages. Other than the system’s own notifications, the rest came from Grey-white SS.

nDIDIDIDIDIDI

nAh, save me!

nXiao Yu instinctively turned the screen off, then ran over to the side to turn off the volume. Once he put an end to the notification sounds, he nervously stared at the open doorway of the master bedroom and held his breath.

nAlthough it was faint, the sound of running water continued on without any sign of stopping.

nHe should be safe…

nXiao Yu let out a small breath before bringing the screen back to life.

nThis was his first time using his Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both account to check his messages while Yan Jin was nearby.

nAs he checked his messages, his mood was extremely bad due to the suffocating feeling that an impending crisis might spring on him at any time.

nThere really was no way of understanding Yan Jin’s thoughts. He was willing to overlook yesterday night’s craziness. But now, looking at these 99 messages, he really didn’t know what Yan Jin’s major malfunction was.

nThe first twenty something messages were regarding the contract about the exhibition items and the exhibition booths. Even though Yan Jin already got the contract signed, as a humanitarian person, he still sent it over for him to have a look. It was sent after midnight, and Yan Jin even said that it wasn’t urgent. It was followed by a message saying that in the event he did find a problem with it… it would be too late for the exhibition to be changed, so Yan Jin could only offer him monetary compensation.

nSpoken like a true wealthy tyrant.

nHah, it wasn’t like Xiao Yu was the kind of person (hamster) to be swayed by money. He really didn’t care about them using the mysterious designer’s name to advertise their products. In his previous life, YL had done the same thing. Since the mysterious designer in his previous life didn’t mind it, why would he?

nAfter the matter about the contract, Grey-white SS sent him a message to let him know that the release conference was a tremendous success.

nXiao Yu glanced at when the message was sent. 12:10.

nWas he crazy? At that time, the venue had only been open for ten minutes. How would he know if the conference would be successful or not? Not everyone had even entered yet.

nBy the time the second half of the conference was underway, other than Grey-white SS sending messages to complain about how Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both had not replied to his previous messages, he also sent a couple of compliments that were simply unbearable to look at. Reading those inexplicably poetic words made Xiao Yu feel embarrassed for Yan Jin.

nIt would have been enough to just praise his skills. What was all this about “causing him to reminisce about the past”, “like a lighthouse shining in the pitch darkness”, “fate had always been within reach, just waiting to be discovered”?

nMy god, my eyes are going blind.

nXiao Yu rubbed his eyes, and skipped over the compliments that made him break out in goosebumps before he finally got back on topic.

nGrey-white SS: You really don’t remember me?

nGrey-white SS: Then can you tell me if you still remember this bell?

nThe last message was a picture. It was sent half an hour ago, right before Yan Jin went to take his shower.

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