Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven: Twists and Turns I
……
The world-shaking question made Yan Jin freeze instantly, speechless.
It was more than just being puzzled, it was more like he had malfunctioned.
For Yan Jin, it was probably his first time having such a strange experience.
In the dimly lit room, Liu Ye’s expression was hard to understand. It made Yan Jin unsure if the other person was joking.
With no other choice, Yan Jin gave up the only spot in which he could stand upright. With much difficulty, he crossed over several unknown boxes and walked up to Liu Ye. He frowned, asking, “What do you mean?”
Liu Ye initially thought that his question should be simple enough to understand – what exactly was Yan Jin up to? Judging from Yan Jin’s reaction, he was puzzled. “You mean there’s something that you can’t even tell me, or?”
“I really don’t know anything. I have not done anything for the past six months,” Yan Jin replied in a serious tone as he looked at Liu Ye. “I can swear to that.”
Liu Ye pondered for a moment before he spoke again. “The account ‘Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both’ was created in July last year. Let’s start with what you have done from that time onwards and most importantly, who was holding onto Chu Ge’s iPad.”
“In July…” Yan Jin took a deep breath as he answered honestly. “Old gramps found out that I like men in late May last year. I only managed to settle it in July. What do you think I dared do?”
“That’s true.” The incident when Yan Jin was caught red-handed at a hotel with a man caused a sensation in their circle. Although it was contained in the end, Liu Ye heard about it nonetheless. He did not question the chairman’s answer. Instead, he asked again. “Then, could it be that guy from SI picked up the iPad that Chu Ge misplaced?”
Yan Jin’s expression became very weird. “That’s impossible.”
“Why not? Maybe he was a hacker as well and could fake his location, decode the pa.s.sword, and create this misunderstanding?” Liu Ye speculated.
“Because Chu Ge’s iPad has always been with me.” Yan Jin paused before he added: “It was always with the pet I raised and was never missing, not even for a day.”
The confusion in Liu Ye’s eyes was identical to Yan Jin’s.
The two super geniuses whose IQs were over three hundred were now looking at each other in dismay as confusion surround them.
“I think we need to properly a.n.a.lyze this question. I need to know everything, all of it.” Liu Ye got up from his chair, took the sweater hanging on the back of it, threw it over his shoulder, and hunched a little as he unhurriedly walked out. “Let’s change our location.”
“What a coincidence, that’s what I thought long ago.” Yan Jin appreciated Liu Ye’s suggestion.
……
“Which means to say that hamster you raised is a demon that had the intelligence of a human and could play games with the iPad. And you even started a war just because this demon has now fused back into his human form?” Liu Ye clicked his tongue in wonder as he browsed through the pictures on Yan Jin’s mobile. “If you had told me earlier then none of this would have happened.”
“I thought he was gone back then.” Yan Jin grumbled as he browsed through the conversation history from Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both’s account from the creation date and on. “If you had been monitoring this person’s information, none of this would have happened.”
“Do I look very idle to you?” Liu Ye retorted angrily. “Don’t you dare forget that you still owe me half a year of leave.”
“With such substandard work, you are still demanding a holiday? Rejected.”
Yan Jin went through the entire conversation history and felt more and more upset towards the end. Especially when he saw the ‘Forget it then’ by Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both, he instantly decided to deduct all of Shao Yue’s bonus for the year.”
“Can you be reasonable? What the fu-“ Only Yan Jin could push a person as gentlemanly as Liu Ye to speak such vulgarities.
Yan Jin ignored the insult as he dug into his pocket and threw something to Liu Ye.
“What’s that?” Liu Ye did not catch it, and a rustling sound was heard as the heavy object fell to the floor.
It was a bunch of keys.
“Compensation.” Yan Jin rubbed his temple. “I’m giving you three days. Take Nan Wei away.”
“I know Nan Wei is at your place.” Liu Ye lowered his head, too lazy to pick up the keys. “I have been chasing after him for a month. I’m worried that if I continue to force him…”
“Which is why I said it’s compensation.” Yan Jin raised his eyebrow. “I’ll help you.”
“If you wanted to be useful, you shouldn’t have kept me waiting till now.” Liu Ye did not look up.
“It couldn’t be done in the past. But I can help now.” Yan Jin pointed at the keys on the floor: “That’s the key to unlock a safety deposit box in G bank. There’s five percent of the shares of NN inside it.”
Liu Ye’s eyes immediately widened. “And you dare claim that you did nothing? Where did you get that?”
“From a tyc.o.o.n by accident.” The edge of Yan Jin’s lips curled with a tinge of emotion in his eyes. “The profits from that deal were simply beyond my imagination. Fishy is indeed my lucky star.”
“No way, tell me in detail.” Liu Ye pushed his luck.. “The Nan family is in a huge mess now, and what are you planning to do with that? I’ll decide whether to sever ties with you depending on your answer.”
“I’m giving you that for free. What else could I be planning?” Yan Jin was displeased with Liu Ye’s untrusting behavior.
“You are not that kind of person who would not take a bite out of the meat that’s in front of you. Plus, why are you helping me?” It was exactly because he understood Yan Jin’s horrid nature too well that he was extremely doubtful of the chairman’s generosity.
“Because I’m going to pick up my little pet that ran away from home, and for that I’ll need your help.” Yan Jin smiled mysteriously. “If you don’t want it, that’s fine. I’ll give it to Nan Wei directly, and you can chase him till the end of the world.”
“Let me off.” Liu Ye sighed with his usual nerdy style. He bent over to pick up the keys and sighed again. “The problem is, I don’t see how Nan Wei would get together with me just because of this. I know him better than you.”
“But you don’t know the Nan family.”
Yan Jin revealed a nasty smile. “They can sell anything for the sake of their interest. A heir that has no talent in managing business happens to be the perfect candidate for connections through marriage.”
Liu Ye opened his mouth in astonishment and then nodded his head thoughtfully.
The two of them shared the gaze and the smile of old co conspirators.
In a faraway place where Nan Wei thought that he was completely safe, he sneezed several times in a row as his eyelids twitched crazily.
……
“Meoww.”
Faye used her soft paws to tap Xiao Yu’s upset head and leaned her entire body over.
Xiao Yu returned the gesture and rubbed Faye’s little head and spoke nonchalantly. “I’m fine.”
But the words that came out of his throat were very hoa.r.s.e.
“Meoww.” If you have anything upsetting you, just speak your mind.
Faye sat in Xiao Yu’s lap and quietly looked at Xiao Yu.
“Thank you. I’m really okay.” Xiao Yu sniffled as he buried his face into Faye’s soft tummy. He ridiculed himself in a soft voice saying,
“I’ve been dreaming for a long time. I should wake up now.”
Faye remained silent as her gaze filled with doubt.
For some reason, she seemed to understand that feeling.
It was like the desperation she felt as the world abandoned her.
……
Two days later, Xiao Yu, who was still unaware that he had been exposed, laid on his bed as he scrolled his mobile.
After experiencing the despair from the conversation with the current chairman of YL, Xiao Yu felt like he was no longer the person he was before.
He had endured adversity with no hopes at all and was still willing to move on. He knew that it was a bottomless abyss ahead, yet he still chose to walk right into it. It was probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience, he thought.
He had given up on looking for a new job. Although he was unsure what exactly happened, it seemed like it was impossible to find a suitable job in real life. Xiao Yu felt helpless as he could only change his target to online platform.
Accepting a.s.signments from online studios was not particularly better. The salary could not be compared to what he could have earned from an actual office job. However, he was left with no other choice as his life still had to go on. Moreover, he still had a large amount of debt to repay.
His previous designer account was rather well-known. However, he had no choice but start anew with a new account. To a rookie designer, it was very important to stand out as conspicuously brilliant right at the beginning, so Xiao Yu’s first task was to look for suitable studios and a.s.signments.
About halfway through the list, Xiao Yu received a notification from his QQ app.
He opened it and to his surprise, it was a message from his university group of friends who were organizing a cla.s.s gathering.
Xiao Yu casually browsed through and muted the group’s notification.
He would never attend that cla.s.s gathering.
Firstly, he did not complete his university studies and had gone overseas halfway through. He did not have close ties with those cla.s.smates who had finished their four years of study together. Hence, he did not have anyone he was close to. Secondly, the cla.s.s gathering would probably end up being held in S City. Anyone could have heard of what happened to him recently, and it would be like an invitation for them to humiliate him. Lastly, he was currently unemployed. If he had free time, he might as well use it to look for a job.
Xiao Yu could find many excuses not to attend that gathering. However, when a notification appeared on his mobile once again, all those excuses were swept away because of an emotion called anger.
[Lin Zhou]: I’ll be coming to the cla.s.s gathering. There are things that ought to be said in person.
Seeing that name alone could make Xiao Yu explode in anger, much less seeing how impolite the other party was behaving.
[FISH]: What is there to talk about between us? Still trying to act like a senior?
[Lin Zhou]: I just want to make things clear between us. Aren’t you curious why I’m against you?
[FISH]: Is there a need for me to be curious about what thoughts could a person like you would have? Without you in sight, I’m living a very happy life.
[Lin Zhou]: What use could there be trying to show off now? Come to the gathering. I’ll tell you everything.
[FISH]: Hah. Reverse psychology has no effect on me. Even if you kneel before me now, I will not attend it.
Perhaps it was because Xiao Yu’s att.i.tude in his replies was abnormally resolute that the other party replied after a long wait.
Just when Xiao Yu thought that Lin Zhou had given up, a message appeared from the top bar of his mobile.
……
[Lin Zhou]: Don’t you want to know why your car crashed?