Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five: “Lifetime” Contract

“I’ll keep my promise.”

Xiao Yu curled his lip, unsure of why that sounded unreliable.

Yan Jin chuckled, shuffling Xiao Yu deeper into his chest.

Both of them were reclining on the sofa while they chatted lovingly.

“What would you like for dinner?” asked Yan Jin.

Xiao Yu thought for a bit before reasoning, “I should probably return home.”

Originally, he hadn’t planned on staying overnight yesterday, but the ears on top of his head wouldn’t go away. At that time, it really was too inconvenient to leave the house. Furthermore, there were too many things he wanted to talk to Yan Jin about, so he ended up reluctantly staying.

Since he’d already reverted to his human form, he should probably pack up and return home.

With such a logically obvious response, Xiao Yu didn’t know why Yan Jin looked so confused.

“Return home? Why do you want to go back home?”

“What do you mean why? I can’t live here forever.”

“Can’t you?” Yan Jin was very confused. “Isn’t living with your beloved normal?”

“Who taught you to be so narcissistic?” Xiao Yu pushed Yan Jin aside and sat up. “You’re also YL’s chairman; it probably wouldn’t be too good for you if news got out.“

Yan Jin grudgingly also sat up, surrounding Xiao Yu in his embrace again. “Isn’t it enough that I think it’s fine? Why should what other people think matter?”

“Hmph! I’m not shameless like you.” Xiao Yu ridiculed him. “It’ll seem as if I’m entirely dependent on you.”

“Hmm, you have a valid point.” Yan Jin appeared to deliberate for a moment. Then he proposed, “How about this: I go live at your place then? Then it’ll seem like I’m entirely dependent on you instead.”

That’s not any different!

It was never an issue of who’d be living at whose place.

Once anyone saw that they were eating and living together, no matter if it was at Yan Jin’s priceless villa or at Xiao Yu’s very normal flat, they would definitely think Xiao Yu was the one living off of Yan Jin.

Following this line of thought, Xiao Yu sighed sadly. Gossip is a scary thing. Maybe since they’ll misunderstand either way it’s better to choose for ourselves instead of worrying about what others think…

Wait wait wait, isn’t this just falling for Yan Jin’s tricks?

Xiao Yu felt it was better to just accept it, but he didn’t want to say it so straightforwardly. That would just feel too shameful.

“How about it?” Yan Jin persisted.

“That’s not great either…” Xiao Yu changed the topic. “Speaking of which, don’t you have to go to work? It’s not like this is the weekend.”

“Today’s one of my rare vacation days.”

“Hmph, I doubt it!” Xiao Yu clearly didn’t believe him. “Your interim chairman was just complaining to me about how you skived off work.”

“Nonsense, I’ll have to deduct his pay.” Yan Jin kept up the pretense.

“Stop joking around.” Xiao Yu really was helpless against Yan Jin’s eloquence. “I really don’t understand how you can bullshit so well when everyone says Chairman Yan is a man of few words.”

“It just goes to show that you can’t believe those false rumors.”

Xiao Yu snorted again but had no reply. He wasn’t clear on whether or not to believe the rumors, but he understood that he too had been one of the many sheep that believed Yan Jin to be the silent and aloof type – at least until he slowly wisened up as a hamster.

But really, Yan Jin’s true self was hidden too well and deeply. Most people would neither encounter nor understand it.

Who asked Xiao Yu to be so fortunate?

The man who had captivated all the unmarried designers at Xiao Yu’s workplace had unexpectedly been taken by Xiao Yu himself.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but feel supremely satisfied with himself.

Sensing Xiao Yu’s shifting mood, Yan Jin seized the opportunity to assert, “So that’s about it for you joining YL. I’ll hand the rest off to human resources to finish the contract work.”

“Hmph.” Xiao Yu snobbishly shook his head to the side. “I’m not signing if the contract conditions aren’t good.”

“No worries.” Yan Jin nodded.

Not that drafting a contract was slow in the first place, but with so many employees at YL, there were many types of contract templates available. Furthermore, this was the first ever contract the chairman personally ordered. Human resources immediately dropped everything to work on this “special” contract at full speed.

That afternoon, interim chairman Shao Yue, sensing he was about to be finally released from his hellish prison, came groveling in-person to the front door to deliver the contract.

“That was really fast. Did you clarify all the conditions properly?” Even Yan Jin had some doubts about the speed.

“Relax, I supervised the entire process,” Shao Yue replied, full of confidence. His entire face screamed “I’m infinitely reliable”.

“Your supervision is useless. You know neither law nor management.”

“Fuck, why did you become so hateful? While you’ve been exploring your own insanity, who’s been managing YL under all the pressure?”

As Shao Yue cursed, he invited himself into the villa, but was stopped by Yan Jin after just one step.

“Your delivery is complete. You may leave now.”

In spite of such treatment, Shao Yue didn’t get angry. He chuckled and softly said, “After what you’ve done, what’s the Nan family going to do?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb. We’re all brothers. If there’s any hardship, speak up and your brothers can still help.” Shao Yue smiled maliciously. “On one side you’re getting married and on the other you’re still taking care of an unknown guy. Aren’t you afraid that Nan witch is going to tear you a new one?”

Yan Jin suddenly became ice-cold. “You can get lost now.”

“Fuck, burning bridges after crossing…”

Before he could complete his thought, Yan Jin shut the door in his face.

……

Yan Jin scanned the contract and felt there weren’t any problems, and so started heading upstairs with the contract.

Sleepy from lunch and perhaps still slightly hungover, Xiao Yu had fallen asleep on the sofa. Yan Jin had carried him into the bedroom, but now it was about time to wake him up to sign the contract.

Yan Jin was in the best of moods as if he held a marriage registration form rather than a contract of employment.

That’s right, if he wanted to marry, it would only be to the person snoring on his bed.

As for the woman being gossiped about outside…

Hah.

Before dinner, Xiao Yu read the surprising contract.

“Fifteen million annual base salary not including the performance bonus. Weekly salary not to exceed two hundred thousand. Three months of paid vacation per year. Three story ocean view employee dormitory provided, parentheses – because of housing shortage, an equivalently valued villa can be substituted. On your second month of employment, our company will provide a blind date and a husband…”

Xiao Yu read halfway before tossing the contract back at Yan Jin’s face.

Setting aside the salary worth more than his own life, the line about the equivalently valued villa lacked only the address for Yan Jin’s personal villa. And what’s this crap a blind date and husband; shouldn’t it say “girlfriend” instead?!

Seeing this contract that had been designed to cause trouble, Xiao Yu had all the reason to believe Yan Jin had already publicized their relationship to the world.

Yan Jin could almost see the anger rolling off Xiao Yu. Suppressing his laughter, Yan Jin said innocently, “All I did was to relay your demands exactly.”

“I’m looking for a job, not to sell my entire life!”

“No one’s asking you to sell your life.” Feeling wronged, Yan Jin straightened the crumpled contract and pitifully offered, “If you’re not satisfied, I’ll tell them to fix the contract. Don’t be mad. It’s not healthy for your body.”

Yan Jin acted as if Xiao Yu had been bullying him. The grand chairman acting pitiful was unbearable to watch. Yan Jin helplessly showed a warm expression. When he acted cold, no one dared to approach. When he acted cute, no one could stay angry with him.

Because of Yan Jin’s act, all the fury ballooning inside Xiao Yu escaped as if it’d been poked by a needle.

“I’m not mad. It’s just hard for me to understand.” Xiao Yu retrieved the contract from Yan Jin and pointed at one of the clauses. “Show some sincerity. How can this be real?”

“Why can’t it?” Yan Jin was confused. “Aside from the household permit transfer which requires more work, the rest can be fulfilled immediately.”

It was true. From Yan Jin’s point of view, even the “husband” condition wasn’t an issue.

All that was required was an overseas church, something that was only a phone call away.

But Xiao Yu hadn’t criticized the contract starting from the “husband” condition. That troublesome clause could essentially be ignored. He picked the clause he thought least plausible. “The fifteen million annual salary, are you preparing to pay it out of your own pocket?”

“… I’ll first say that you already have my secondary account card. Its withdraw limit is more than fifteen million.” After stressing that he didn’t care at all for money, Yan Jin pointed out, “So why would I look for unnecessary problems? You’re among the top designers in the industry. What’s the issue with this valuation?”

This contract template was the one YL used to recruit chief designers. Salary was the only thing Yan Jin hadn’t modified in the contract. The rest of the conditions Yan Jin definitely could cover, but salary was a sensitive topic that the financial department was more strict on. A salary that didn’t match the market value was only asking for trouble and wouldn’t be of any use to Xiao Yu anyways.

Yan Jin didn’t expect Xiao Yu’s complaints would start with the salary. The teasing part of him roused itself. “What was your salary before at SI?”

Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment. Things like salary and compensation should be kept confidential, but he’d already been fired by SI. He had fewer qualms about honestly saying, “Last year it was one and a half million.”

Yan Jin was shocked. “Monthly?”

“How would that be possible?”

Yan Jin exhaled a cold breath. With a complicated expression, he asked, “How did SI trick you into joining?”

“Your proposed salary is the one with problems. Where in the industry would anyone have such a high salary? Probably only the best designers in the world would have such a salary.”

“For others, not having such a high salary is normal, but for you…” Yan Jin really was quite helpless. He finally understood why Xiao Yu had stuck around SI for so long. Most people with no self-awareness tended towards arrogance, but Xiao Yu instead had no self-confidence whatsoever.

“What about me?” The previously extinguished anger inside Xiao Yu began to build again from Yan Jin’s strange ridicule.

Yan Jin couldn’t help but laugh at his lover’s angry face.

“Nothing much. You’re very good.” Yan Jin rubbed his curly hair to comfort him. “But I hope that you’ll attach more importance to your strong points. Even compared to the best worldwide, you still shine above them all. Of course you should command such a salary.”

“I’m definitely not that good. If I were, I’d already have led SI to crush YL.”

Xiao Yu’s cute naivety melted Yan Jin’s heart into a puddle. Avoiding the major details, Yan Jin said placatingly, “You’re a designer by profession. All you need to worry about is how you compare against others of your profession. But, competition between companies is more complicated than you think: the design is only responsible for the basis. Marketing, publicity, and policy are all effective in the success of a product. SI can’t defeat YL because Zhou Jinrong isn’t as good as me. But as for you – you were the most dazzling existence in a rotten corporation.”