Chapter One Hundred and Six: Before Lunar New Year
Whether it was the jewelry industry or the gaming industry, a large-scale collaboration like this was a first. Many insiders were observing the contract that YL had won. Some even thought that YL would suffer losses over the contract and cause an opposite reaction to the company’s development.
After half a month of doubtfulness, the contract that YL s.n.a.t.c.hed from SI’s grasp had proven its worth when the game had a major update at the beginning of February.
The unimaginable sales volume and fame swiftly secured the game merchandise accessories’ number one placing on S City’s jewelry ranking. On the day that the physical merchandise was released, its rank even skyrocketed to the number one spot in the nation.
How well did this gaming merchandise sell? Look at it this way, YL’s year-end bonus had been fixed half a month earlier. This year’s year-end bonus – according to reliable resources – would be worth ten months of the employee’s salary plus bonus.
This was actually the first time S City ever saw this level of profit in the jewelry industry since its development.
YL was exhilarated after a hard-won victory. All sorts of partners.h.i.+ps came knocking on their doors, some of which were even willing to terminate their contracts with SI. Contracts and proposals instantly filled the chairman’s office. For lack of better option, YL could only temporarily announced to the public that they were not accepting any partners.h.i.+ps. They would consider it again once they finished evaluating the current contracts and proposals they had on hand.
Making use of this wave, YL resolved their biggest ongoing concern – the lack of professional designers. This was also part of the chain reaction brought by the jump in fame. Many experienced designers job-hopped over to YL and increased the strength of YL’s design department exponentially.
Compared to YL’s magnificent situation, SI was a lot more tragic.
The t.i.tle of S City’s number one jewelry group had been taken away. Countless partners.h.i.+ps discontinued their contracted. Some were even willing to pay the contract termination fees just to work with YL. To SI, this was doomed to be an upsetting year.
……
Yan Jin looked at the ten mile high stack of doc.u.ments on his desk as he started to consider the possibility of skipping work.
“Squeakk.” Look through the doc.u.ments quickly. We can play a little longer in the afternoon.
Xiao Yu gestured at the stack of doc.u.ments while he talked. It was as if he was the chairman who was making decisions, and Yan Jin was his little office runner.
Yan Jin turned to look at Xiao-Mascot-Yu and instantly felt his mood lighten.
As to why Xiao Yu suddenly appeared in Yan Jin’s office, it went like this: A few days ago, Yan Jin estimated that he would receive about half a year’s worth of contracts and proposals for the next two days. He felt that it was definitely impossible for him to finish it before the upcoming holidays. Thus, he decided to stay in the office for the next one week and settle everything before he returned home to celebrate Lunar New Year.
Thus, Xiao Yu was brought to the company as Yan Jin’s family member.
Yan Jin’s office itself was a suite – bedroom, bathroom, and everything needed was available. The conditions were comparable to a five-star hotel. If he got hungry, he could call a direct line and someone would send food over. Even though it could not be compared to the Four Seasons Manor, it was on par. Xiao Yu was quite satisfied.
How much money YL had was something that many people speculated about. As a new establishment, YL’s software was a bit outdated, yet their hardware facilities were considered extremely top-notched. As the headquarters, they moved once. Furthermore, that one move placed them directly into S City’s most expensive business district, directly opposite of the former S City’s number one jewelry group, SI. YL was well renovated internally. Yan Jin’s office was not an exception.
For those few days, the only thing that displeased Xiao Yu was how little free time Yan Jin had.
Xiao Yu originally thought that if he stayed at the company with Yan Jin, the chairman would have more time to play with him. But as soon as he arrived, he found out that Yan Jin had been settling his work from the moment he woke up in the morning until it was time for bed. He did not have time to play with Xiao Yu and even his meal time had to be timed.
Xiao Yu was clueless about the scale of Chairman Yan’s work load. Afterall, he had never been a chairperson.
However, in his general impression, a chairman was a person who would distribute his work to others and then enjoy his time however he liked. He referenced the chairman of his former company. Xiao Yu felt that Yan Jin was so busy because he had done a bad job as a chairman.
It must be because Yan Jin had not appropriately distributed his work load, or he was doing it too slowly, indirectly slacking on his work.
“Squeakk.” You have not played with me for the past few days.
Xiao Yu climbed onto Yan Jin’s wrist aggrievedly and reached out to pluck the ballpoint pen in his hand. He literally did not want Yan Jin to work, but to accompany him instead.
Yan Jin looked at Xiao Yu’s little act and felt his heart melt at the adorable sight.
Luckily, Chairman Yan snapped out of it at the last moment before he abandoned his rationality. He did not let Xiao Yu pull his ballpoint pen away as he said: “Be good. Once I’m done with these doc.u.ments…”
“Squeakk!” That’s what you said yesterday!
Xiao Yu was extremely displeased.
“Squeakk.” Can’t you let others settle those for you?
Yan Jin felt troubled. He had already distributed the work that could be settled by others. With ten months’ worth of bonus in mind, the majority of the employees did not have many complaints to the increase in workload. Those that were left in his hands were doc.u.ments of greater importance. These were similar to those memorials meant for the emperors in ancient times. It was not that he could not let others settle it, but he would feel worried about it.
When it came to work, Yan Jin was a self-proclaimed enlightened lord (?).
Xiao Yu saw Yan Jin’s hesitation. He slapped Yan Jin’s wrist away and angrily sat in a corner, refusing to respond to Yan Jin regardless of how he was poked.
“Fishy?”
Yan Jin brought over a bag of melon seeds in an attempt to appease Xiao Yu.
In fact, Yan Jin could use this time to quickly settle his work. Once he was done, there would be two possibilities. One would be that Xiao Yu’s anger had been long forgotten. He would play his game and give Yan Jin a kiss for completing his work. The other possibility was that Xiao Yu would still be angry, really angry, so angry for three to four hours, and then completely ignore Yan Jin, refusing to utter a single squeak.
In reality, the chances of the first scenario happening were as high as ninety percent. After all, Xiao Yu was not a rodent that held grudges to begin with (?).
However, when it came to Xiao Yu, Yan Jin would not even dare to risk a five percent of chance.
After his failed attempts of using melon seeds, walnuts, and beef jerky temptations, Yan Jin helplessly took out his mobile.
“h.e.l.lo. I’m in the office. Make a trip here…”
“It’s almost the end of the year, what are you busy with? Just come over when I tell you to.”
After the phone call, Yan Jin got up and squatted down in front of Xiao Yu: “Let’s go to the couch to game, okay?”
“Squeakk.” Didn’t you have work to do? Go settle it.
Xiao Yu did not buy it.
“Fishy is most important.” Yan Jin said sincerely.
Half an hour later, Chu Ge looked at the human and hamster entertaining themselves on the couch. He felt like he had opened the door incorrectly.
“Come on in.” Yan Jin saw Chu Ge as he stood up to greet the other.
“Squeak.” Xiao Yu also waved his paw.
Chu Ge crossed over to the doc.u.ments that could not be placed on the desk and had to be left on the floor. With great difficulty, he managed to stabilize himself in an empty spot: “What are you two doing? How did it end up this way?”
Yan Jin looked at his own crumpled suit and undone tie, then glanced at the countless stacks of doc.u.ments all over the room. He asked: “Which are you referring to?”
“… All of it.” Chu Ge took off his scarf and hung it up as he increased the heater’s temperature: “It’s so cold today. It’s almost below freezing point. Asking me to come over in such weather… Do you still have any humanity left?”
“Aren’t you already outside?” Yan Jin retorted: “You drove over anyway. You couldn’t have been cold.”
“My car’s heating system broke down two days ago. I have not had time to fix it.” Chu Ge explained coldly.
Yan Jin replied with an “oh”. Then he suddenly remembered something: “I happened to change cars recently. One of them is at the company. If you don’t mind, just take it two days later?”
Chu Ge took a step back: “One who is unaccountably solicitous has hiding evil intentions. Spill it, why are you looking for me?”
Yan Jin pointed at the doc.u.ments on the floor.
Chu Ge thought Yan Jin wanted him to help tidy up the messy doc.u.ments. It was not that he was unwilling, but it felt strange: “Where’s your secretary? Or get a cleaner to clear the mess for you.”
“… Since you’re here, might as well.”
“I really don’t understand you. How confidential could these mess be.” Chu Ge rolled up his sleeve anyway as he squatted: “That’s not what you’re calling me over for, so what do you want me to do?”
Yan Jin’s gaze was evasive: “Not a big deal. Since you’re free, might as well.”
“Might as well my a.s.s. It’s so rare that there’s nothing much going on in the hospital. I still need to accompany my girlfriend. If you have something you need help with, spill it.”
After a short moment, Chu Ge realized something was amiss: “Hold on. You can’t possibly mean ‘might as well’ look through these doc.u.ments for you?”
“Promising young man indeed.”
“Dafug?!” Chu Ge stood up immediately and toppled the doc.u.ments that were just tidied up: “What’s wrong with you? Calling me over to settle your work? Why can’t you settle it by yourself?”
“You’re making a racket. Can’t you see there’s too much to be finished?” Yan Jin stroked the furball in his hand and pretended not to notice the frustrated doctor: “We’ve been friends for years. Can’t you do a tiny favor for me?”
Chu Ge: “My biggest regret in my entire lifetime is meeting you.”
“Sure. Once you’re done helping out, we can part ways and never see each other again.” Yan Jin replied.
“No, I’m not going to be duped. If you can’t give me a good reason today, I’ll never agree to it.”
Chu Ge was determined to stand his ground and never give in to the evil forces. He could see that it was not because Yan Jin felt that the workload was too much. Instead, he simply did not want to settle them and was prepared to abandon his duties and escape.
That was something Yan Jin was capable of doing. He remembered their school days, when all of Yan Jin’s homework completed by him.
Yan Jin unhurriedly took out a crumpled invitation card from his pocket: “There is a wine reception next month for old man Xia. It’s his eightieth birthday celebration. I don’t think you’re invited?”
“What do you mean? Since when am I invited to those wine receptions?”
“A famous doctor was invited to the event. I heard he’s a neurology specialist.” Yan Jin watched as Chu Ge’s eyes brightened up and suppressed that little guilt in his heart. He waved the invitation card in his hand: “I’ll solve your problem in exchange for three days of work on my behalf. I don’t think it’s a bad deal?”
“…… Fine.” Chu Ge submit to his tragic fate: “I’ll only go through the doc.u.ments. I’m not attending any meetings.”
“It’s the end of the year already. What meeting could there be?”
“What kind of fake company are you running? Don’t you hold any Lunar New Year’s Eve parties?”
“Well excuse me. We are bringing the Lunar New Year holiday forward.”
“…… d.a.m.n.”