Are You Addicted?

It was not until the next day did Liu Chong come to know that the person he treated with such hostility last night was the idol he so wholeheartedly praised.

"What? He"s Gu Hai? The young entrepreneur that likes to take unusual paths?"

Without looking at him, Bai Luo Yin smiled indifferently, "Yeah, and he"s also General Gu"s son."

Liu Chong"s pupils immediately lit up with astonishment, "Gu Wei Ting? Oh my G.o.d! He"s already the Regional Deputy Commander.[1] In less than two years, he going to be promoted to Lieutenant General. No wonder he"s able to set foot in the military compound without any problems. As it turns out, he has such a powerful patron behind him! Phew…luckily, I didn"t say anything drastic yesterday. He wouldn"t retaliate against me, right?"

Bai Luo Yin looked at Liu Chong, maintaining a smile that somehow does not seem like a smile, "Not necessarily."

Hearing that, Liu Chong"s eyes widened even more, "No way? He would hold a grudge over such a trivial matter?"

"A person like him is extremely petty and short temper. Think about it. When the two of us fought at the hotel the other day, that was only because I opened the door and b.u.mped into him. He immediately turned around and attacked me."

Those words came out of Bai Luo Yin"s mouth as if it was the truth and nothing else, and Liu Chong listened to the point that he too believed it was the actual truth.

"c.r.a.p. That day, I threw a couple of punches at him when I was trying to stop the fight. I"m sure he remembers me. Otherwise, he wouldn"t have asked me for the dumplings last night. If I had known earlier, I would"ve given it to him!!"

Looking at him, Bai Luo Yin could only hold his forehead with his hand.

Your f.u.c.king point of view is truly firm!

"Okay, I won"t tease you anymore. He won"t make a fuss over such a trivial matter like this."

Liu Chong heaved a sigh of relief and patted his chest before asking, "Then, why did he come to look for you last night?"

"He wants to collaborate with us on this project, and the main reason he came here last night was to talk about it."

"So, that"s what it was about." Liu Chong scratched his head in confusion for a moment then asked, "Then, did you agree to it?"

"No."

Liu Chong looked on, unable to comprehend his words, "Why didn"t you agree? The terms and conditions proposed by their company are quite superior, and look, they"d even taken the initiative to come here bearing a sign of peace.[2] So, why didn"t you agree? Aren"t you afraid of hurting him?"

"I"ve already hurt him to the point there"s nothing left…"

The sentence that Bai Luo Yin threw out left Liu Chong bewildered, failing to completely understand any of the words. Before he could even ask any further, Bai Luo Yin had already walked out of the research laboratory.

–

Three days later, Bai Luo Yin went to the Dean[3] of the Research Inst.i.tute"s office to report on the progress of the project.

"This is a list of the names of all the people that has been selected to be a part of the strategic groups. If you look here, some of them have already signed the contract. And here is a list of the enterprises that has been selected to collaborate on the project. Written inside are ours and their agreement on the terms and conditions that has been set for this collaboration. If you don"t have any objections, I will send people over to sign the contract."

With his brows weaving rather tightly together, the Dean thumbed through the paperwork, carefully reading each statement, line by line. The truth was, Bai Luo Yin was particularly nervous since they were certainly taking chances on some of the enterprises that were selected. Added on the fact that this was his first time being in charge of such a large-scale project, he could not help but feel a bit uncertain.

Unexpectedly, after the Dean silently finished reading through everything, he praised Bai Luo Yin with much enthusiasm instead.

"This is pretty good. The details of the project have been meticulously executed with the terms and conditions being clearly outlined. And, from the look of it, areas that need to be confirmed have all been properly settled, with no room for any loophole[4]. Surely, it"s better to have the mindset of a youngster. Nowadays, it"s already impossible for us older generation to keep up with the trends of the new world. At the most, we can probably give some suggestions as an input but when it comes to making actual decisions, we still need to depend on the lot of you for strength and support."

Bai Luo Yin smiled in relief, "For now, we"re just blindly moving forwards, without your guidance we wouldn"t be able to succeed."[5]

Giving him a glance, the Dean then laughed heartily, "Hahaha… ah, that"s right. This should be the first time that the company Haiyin Technology will be collaborating with us, right?"

Without looking at him in the eyes, Bai Luo Yin"s heart suddenly throbbed, "Yes, but they have collaborated with the Army and Rocket Force[6] before on many occasions. In addition, the price that they have proposed is relatively low. So, taking that into consideration, I decided to select this company."

"Not bad, not bad at all," said the Dean with satisfaction as he patted Bai Luo Yin"s shoulder, "At first, I wanted to mention this company to you so that you can take it into consideration, but who"d expect that we would be on the same wavelength."

After that positive meeting, Bai Luo Yin walked out of Dean"s office br.i.m.m.i.n.g with joy. Without wasting any time, he immediately sent some men to all the major companies that they have selected to discuss the details of the collaboration.

In the end, an unfavorable news came through in the afternoon, stating that Haiyin Technology refused to collaborate.

Bai Luo Yin suffered an instant slap in the face.

"Why?"

"They said our terms and conditions are too demanding and highly unrealistic, while completely overlooking and or not taking their company’s interest into consideration whatsoever."

Those words caused Bai Luo Yin"s face to immediately darken with a gloomy atmosphere hovering above him.

Were we the ones that proposed the terms and conditions? It was obviously proposed by the person they personally sent here during negotiation. Now, they actually have the nerve to point the fingers back on us?! That"s just too f.u.c.king unethical!

I"m giving you face by collaborating with you. How dare you try to take advantage of me by going this far!! [7]

Raging with anger, Bai Luo Yin called the Dean but his attempts merely received a few beeping noises indicating a busy line. Unable to reach the Dean, he ended up locating the Department Chief of the Research Inst.i.tute and explained the situation. Upon hearing Bai Luo Yin"s decision, the Department Chief rejected it right on the spot, giving him no room to further continue.

"You cannot tell the Dean about this."

A grave expression crept on Bai Luo Yin"s face, "Why?"

The Department Chief sighed, somewhat disheartened, "It would"ve been fine if you hadn"t mentioned it in the beginning, but the moment you mentioned it, the Dean honestly took it to heart. If it was any other company, it would"ve also been fine, but unfortunately, this is General Gu"s son"s company. The Dean and General Gu have always had a really great friendship. If by chance, he had mentioned this to General Gu already, then how are you going to take your words back?"

Bai Luo Yin secretly gritted his teeth beneath his breath.

"Why did you suddenly changed your mind?" ask the Department Chief once again.

"I didn"t change my mind," said Bai Luo Yin with resentment swarming his tone, "They"re the one that didn"t keep their words. Before, when the cost was set at a relatively low price, we had already placed the budget amount to the side, ready to deposit it. But now, they suddenly want to increase the price of the contract. Not only that, they proposed an even more sever set of terms and conditions that were never clearly stated in the beginning. Do you think that we need to collaborate with a company like that?"

Looking at him, the Department Chief merely smiled helplessly, "The business and bureaucracy world are indeed one and the same. If you have the power, you can control me, but if I have the power, I can control you instead. Hence, before the contact is properly finalized, everything can still change. The key point depends on whether or not you are able to adapt to the changes when it come rushing towards you. How about this, send someone there again and try to negotiate once more to see if they are willing to relent."

Listening to him, Bai Luo Yin could only press his lips tightly together, without uttering any words.

The Department Chief patted his shoulder once he noticed the slight annoyance riding his face, "From the way I see it, this problem is neither big nor small, so it is best for you not to let your emotions affect your decisions. If necessary, it"s also fine to seek other avenues. What is more important, you"ll have to weigh it yourself."

After hearing these words, Bai Luo Yin was finally able to see through everything with absolute clarity. He had completely fallen into Gu Hai"s trap. At this point, he was fuming with rage between gritted teeth.

 Gu Hai, you are f.u.c.king ruthless! You really didn"t waste these eight years. You"ve actually gone as far as to scam me!!

The next day, without any other option, he reluctantly sent someone over to negotiate again. However, before noon even arrived, the person returned and advised Bai Luo Yin that the negotiation was unsuccessful since he was never given a chance to enter the building. He further explained that the person in charge of this project must personally go in order for entry to be allowed.

After carefully considering it for an entire night, Bai Luo Yin decided he will endure the humiliation and suffer in silence by personally going head first into the battlefield.

Just as he stepped into the first-floor lounge of Gu Hai"s company, a rather dense stream of fragrance a.s.sailed his nostrils. Bai Luo Yin suddenly felt as if he did not walk into a company but rather a brothel instead. Even more so, he did not come here to find the boss of the company, but rather he was here to see the brothel owner.

"Sir, how may I a.s.sist you?"

By now, Bai Luo Yin had already become increasingly skeptical towards the legitimacy of Gu Hai"s operation.

The elevator went up nonstop until it landed on the sixth floor. As he walked pa.s.sed every department along the way, countless of s.e.xually engaged gazes from all the ladies vigorously pursued him. When Bai Luo Yin finally arrived at the conference room, he was the first male who has been granted entry inside this company.

"Sir, please take a seat."

As Bai Luo Yin said down, a tall and beautiful woman with a rather coa.r.s.e voice poured him a cup of tea. Without taking note of his own action, he carelessly shot her a glance and immediately noticed the dense hairs on her legs. Bai Luo Yin"s throat tightened uncontrollably before he continued to look upwards and this time he saw that this woman has a very masculine physique. There were even a roll of muscle sculpting her arms, and the more he looked, the more the silhouette of her face resembled that of a man.

 Could it be the recruitment conditions were too demanding that even a few cross-dressing men were able to mix in here?

The beautiful woman was undoubtedly sharp. With just one glance of Bai Luo Yin"s eyes, she was immediately able to guess what Bai Luo Yin was thinking.

"I am a woman," she said with great emphasis.

Bai Luo Yin has never ever felt this awkward or embarra.s.sed in his entire life.

Gu Hai pushed the door open and entered only to see Bai Luo Yin sitting on the chair in the middle. He was dressed in well-ironed military uniform that wrapped nicely around his tall and formidable figure. His heroic and courageous face carried a hint of murderous chill that seemed to crowd the atmosphere. All the while, his piercing gaze remained on Gu Hai the moment he entered the room until he sat down. He has his lips pressed firmly together, looking as if he was not here to negotiate, but rather, he was here to declare war.

The beautiful woman bent over, and moved in close to Gu Hai before whispering something into his ear. A moment later, Gu Hai merely nodded and the woman simply took her leave.

Now, there were only Bai Luo Yin and Gu Hai left in the large conference room.

"The person just now isn"t a woman, she"s a transs.e.xual." Gu Hai stated rather matter-of-factly.

Lifting his eyes, Bai Luo Yin shot Gu Hai a respectable glance, "Your taste has become more excessive."

"Before you got here, I was thinking, how should I receive you without it being considered an impolite gesture? At first, I wanted to send out a few beautiful women to greet you, but then I thought that it would be inappropriate to do that. Since you"ve been in the military for so long, you must have restrained yourself from physical desire for quite some time now, so you might not be able to endure it if you suddenly saw a beautiful woman, right? That"s the reason why I served you a light appetizer first so that your stomach can slowly adapt to it.”

A flickered of light crossed Bai Luo Yin"s dark pupil as the corner of his lips stiffly pulled back into a smile.

"Thank you!"

Seeing that, Gu Hai laughed rather joyfully, "What brings you here to me today?"

Bai Luo Yin returned to the subject, "I"m here about the project collaboration."

Just as those words escaped Bai Luo Yin"s lips, Gu Hai lit up a cigarette and starting to calmly take in a few drags.

Due to the sudden change in how things have turned out, their roles were swapped from how it was two days ago. This time around, it was Gu Hai who created all kinds of difficulties for Bai Luo Yin, while the lad himself calmly controlled his temper and patiently explained the advantages of entering into a collaboration with them.

"This is a grand opportunity. There are many enterprises that are fighting over it now. If you don"t take it while it"s sitting right in front of you, someone else will soon replace you."

Gu Hai formally nodded his head, "This, I completely understand."

Watching him casually nodding, Bai Luo Yin secretly cursed to himself.

You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! If you f.u.c.king understand, then why don"t you just quickly accept it?

Although he thought that, Bai Luo Yin still adjusted his own tone of voice before calmly facing Gu Hai again, "Therefore, it"s best if you think it over again."

"You guys should be the ones to think it over," said Gu Hai as he unfolded his hands and his eyes swept toward Bai Luo Yin"s imposing glare, "We never said we were going to halt this collaboration. So as long as you guys agree to increase the price, we will immediately sign the contract without any hesitation."

Standing his ground, Bai Luo Yin stubbornly said, "The price will remain at the current rate. If you agree, then sign it. If not, then forget this ever happened."

At those words, Gu Hai glared directly at Bai Luo Yin, and remained there, without even so much a blink.

Is it really that hard for you to admit defeat?

Bai Luo Yin suddenly stood up when a rush of violent took hold of his heart.

I would rather quit than stay here and take your bulls.h.i.t! [7]

「What is more important, you have to weigh it yourself…..」

The Department Chief"s words suddenly flashed in Bai Luo Yin"s mind as a reminder to uphold his patience.

His footsteps came to a stop before he turned around, and with an impeccable resilient, he walked toward Gu Hai and stood in front of him.

"I agree to increase the price, sign the contract!!"

Gu Hai faintly smiled, "I"ve changed my mind, I don"t want to collaborate with you anymore."

Bai Luo Yin"s face abruptly darkened as he firmly grasped Gu Hai"s necktie with one hand.

"Gu Hai, you"re f.u.c.king doing this on purpose, aren"t you?

"I did it on purpose right from the start," replied Gu Hai as he hooked his arm around Bai Luo Yin"s neck, "As if you couldn"t tell?"

Bai Luo Yin"s elbow ruthlessly jabbed Gu Hai"s stomach as angrily spoke, "Gu Hai, don"t try to take advantage of me by taking it too far!! You f.u.c.king know full well why I"m collaborating with you. Stop giving me all this bulls.h.i.t! These are my final words for today, the price will remain as it was before and not a cent more. If you sign the contract, we can keep in contact. If you don"t, I"ll take it as I don"t know you!!"

A refreshing gust of wind flowed from Bai Luo Yin"s lips and blew all the way into the core of Gu Hai"s heart.

"If you had been straightforward from the beginning, would we have wasted so much time?" Gu Hai cheerfully patted the back of Bai Luo Yin"s head, changing from a malicious businessman to an extremely approachable big brother from next door in just mere seconds.

Bai Luo Yin gritted his teeth furtively.

For the sake of revitalizing this great nation, and for the people to live in peace and work with contentment, I will endure this!

Gu Hai inhaled a mouthful of smoke and blew it all on Bai Luo Yin"s face. [8] Once he spoke again, his voice was drugged with a breath of air that beckoned chills down the spine.

"Were the dumplings from the other day delicious?"

Translator"s Note:

[1] 副大區: The Regional Deputy Commander. There are 5 regions in China. Eastern, Western, Northern, Southern and Central Theater Command Regions. I"m going to a.s.sume our Papa Gu is the Northern Deputy Commander.

[2] 橄欖枝 Olive branch - Symbol of Peace

England and the United States in the eighteenth century, pigeons with olive branch has become a symbol of peace. In 1771, at the time of two pounds on North Carolina, the white pigeon olive branch was printed with a short t.i.tle “reply to peace”. On the forty dollar bills of Georgia in 1778, there was a white pigeon’s olive branch and a short knife, and the short t.i.tle was “Peace of Peace, all prepared” Printed in the same period. In January 1775, the London magazine’s volume was printed with “clouds from the house of business, peace came from the clouds,” and show the G.o.ddess of peace to the Anglo-American olive branch. In July 1775, in order to avoid a complete war with the British Empire, the United States Congress launched a pet.i.tion, its name is “olive branch pet.i.tion. 橄欖枝

[3] Dean of the Research Inst.i.tute – He is the Major General from chapter six. We change it to just "Dean" because it is more appropriate to the original t.i.tle and shorter than saying "MG" all the time. (To be technical, his exact t.i.tle is "Head of…" but to say, "the head" is weird, that"s why we opted to Dean)

[4] loophole – 突破 – breakthrough; in this case, he’s saying that the contract is airtight so if something happened, the enterprises wouldn’t be able to find a loophole to get out of it.

[5] "For now, we"re just blindly moving forwards, without your guidance we wouldn"t be able to succeed." 我们现在就是摸黑前行，没您这盏指路灯是不行的. – direct translation is, "Right now, we"re just groping in the darkness, without the lamp from your light to guide us, we wouldn"t be capable of any of this."

[6] 二炮 Rocket Force

The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) 中国人民解放军火箭军. Formerly the Second Artillery Corps 第二炮兵部队, is the strategic and tactical missile forces of the People’s Republic of China. The PLARF is a component part of the People’s Liberation Army and controls the nation’s a.r.s.enal of land-based ballistic missiles – both nuclear and conventional. The military arm was established on 1 July 1966 and made its first public appearance on 1 October 1984. The headquarters for operations is located at Qinghe, Beijing. The PLARF is under the direct command of the Chinese Central Military Commission.

[7] I (me) – 老子 lǎozi is a p.r.o.noun used in anger or out of contempt, hence when Bai Luo Yin used this term, he is a saying it out of anger. It can also be used "arrogantly".

[8] Gu Hai inhaled a mouthful of smoke and blew it all on Bai Luo Yin"s face. = Per our Empress Nancy => "Did you know there is a saying, if you blow smoke on someone’s face it means, “I want to f.u.c.k you.”

–