NOVEL NEXT Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-seven: Bad Friends
“You need to take off from work early again?”
When Xiao Yu saw He Xinjia’s handbag on the desk, he was astonished. It was He Xinjia’s third time taking off early from work that week, and it was only Thursday.
The design industry wasn’t extremely restrictive in this regard. As long as you could finish your designs, the work hours weren’t really enforced. But Xiao Yu, who had grown accustomed to SI’s typical nine to five workday, felt that this behavior of arriving late and leaving early wasn’t too good. At the very least, it was a bad influence.
As he was responsible for the design department now, He Xinjia was essentially asking him for approval to leave.
“Oh, right! I’ve been wanting to bring this up for a while now. Geez, there’s been so much going on recently…” He Xinjia suddenly became angry. “Sometimes I think Chairman Yan isn’t human. No matter the time, he always seems to be in the mood to flirt around with you. That’s fine and all, but when regular people pursue their romantic interests, usually their IQ drops to the negatives. But not him! He does it so casually.”
Xiao Yu: “…is that a compliment or insult?”
“Anyway, I’ve become extremely busy thanks to Chairman Yan. *Sigh*, there’s really no place here for an unmarried dog like me.”
“Xiao Yu: “…S-sorry.”
He Xinjia hurriedly waved her hands. “It’s not your fault. You’re the most faultless out of all of us. Keep working hard! Right, here are the designs. I’ve finished them ahead of schedule.”
Xiao Yu accepted the flash drive and went back to looking at He Xinjia packing up her stuff, a complicated expression on his face.
“Hey, why are you still here?” He Xinjia had finished packing up her stuff. Doubtfully, she said, “Didn’t you say you needed to quickly return to Chairman Yan? Aren’t you going?”
“Yes, I need to go, but…” Xiao Yu hesitated. “Is everything okay at home? This is the third time this week that you’ve left early.”
He Xinjia’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? Chairman Yan didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Xiao Yu tilted his head, puzzled.
“Seriously, what is that guy thinking…” He Xinjia muttered to herself.
“What?”
“Nothing, nothing much.”
Although she didn’t know why Yan Jin didn’t tell Xiao Yu anything about it, He Xinjia’s first thought was that she shouldn’t say too much in front of Xiao Yu, responding instead like Yan Jin’s other subordinates or best friends would have.
Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment before saying, “I feel like you can just directly take a day off. Come back after you’ve settled your personal matters. As long as your designs are high quality, it’s fine. For you, it’s not much of a problem.”
He Xinjia sized up Xiao Yu. In the end, she was unable to bear it any further and said, “I say, you should stay more aware of what’s going on.”
“What?”
“My family name is He. Don’t you see the issue?”
Xiao Yu was confused. “Is… is there an issue?”
“Haven’t you heard of the He Family that controls the entire entertainment industry?”
“If you’re talking about the entertainment company YH, then yes, that one I’ve heard of…”
He Xinjia nodded. “So don’t you find anything strange with someone from that all-powerful He family working at a small designer company?”
“Erm, yeah, a little.” Xiao Yu considered it for a few seconds, but then replied, still just as puzzled as before, “But I thought YH’s chairman’s daughters both had single-syllable given names.”
“Wow, you’re really obstinate. Do you not think that people have mistresses?” He Xinjia had no qualms about speaking about her own distasteful past. Moreover, this wasn’t even related to the point she was trying to make. “You still haven’t realized that I’m not the one producing these designs? I’m merely the intermediary.”
“What?! That’s a crime!” Xiao Yu was shocked.
“Lower your voice.”
He Xinjia looked around. Fortunately, it was lunchtime, so most people were eating in the cafeteria. The remaining people still in the office wore headphones to watch videos or listen to music. No one noticed them.
Xiao Yu had also realized his mistake and quickly covered his mouth before repeating, “That’s a crime. Hurry up and stop.”
“Have I really fallen to such a state?” He Xinjia rolled her eyes. “Of course the drawings were done by someone else. As long as I provide money, my overseas friend doesn’t really care about who gets the credit.”
“Is that safe? If that person ever goes back on their word, you’ll be doomed!”
After going through his experience with Lin Zhou, Xiao Yu began to bitterly hate plagiarism. Originally, Xiao Yu could appreciate Nannan’s cheap imitations and even chat with him, but now he wanted nothing to do with plagiarism.
“Is there any need to be worried? Those people were contacted by Yan Jin. The Yan Family is well known for not leaking anything.”
He Xinjia lowered her voice and hastened closer.
She had even dropped the “Chairman” title that she had used as part of her deception.
“What? Yan Jin? Why would he need to do something like that…” Xiao Yu felt that he had heard something disastrous. He didn’t think his heart could take anymore.
“I’ve already told you. I’m not a designer. In the end, although I can still fake being busy at work in front of the computer because I took a few design-related courses in college, I can’t complete a design project from start fo finish.”
“So you mean that you’re doing this by Yan Jin’s orders?” The moment these words left his mouth, Xiao Yu felt that something was off.
He Xinjia unhappily pouted. “Is it really not clear enough?”
“But didn’t you post on job-hunting boards for employment that time? I even recommended you for SI.”
“If you think a little more, you’ll understand. It was all an act. Otherwise, how could I make others believe that I was a normal junior designer?”
He Xinjia seemed to have thought of something funny and laughed. “Seems like my acting was really effective. I was completely undetected.”
Xiao Yu nodded with admiration.
“The people of the He Family are naturally skilled in deception. Even an illegitimate child can’t escape this. It must be in our genes.” He Xinjia noted awkwardly.
“… So you’re leaving now because you have other things you need to take care of? Or is it more stuff related to Yan Jin?” Xiao Yu lowered his voice.
“Exactly. Seems like it’s worth it to teach the young.” Satisfied, He Xinjia nodded her head and continued seriously, “It’s not a major issue if you end up revealing these things about me. Yan Jin can’t really trouble me about those things, but I can’t say too much about the things related to Yan Jin. However, you must remember: aside from Yan Jin, don’t trust anyone else from the Yan Family, don’t be fooled by any bait or threat, and no matter what happens, make sure to tell Yan Jin.”
Xiao Yu was quite intimidated by her warnings. After a while, he said doubtfully, “Is Yan Jin’s relationship with the Yan Family really that bad? According to news reports, he’s become YL’s largest shareholder.”
“My goodness. It can’t be that you still don’t know that YL is just…”
“Jia Jia.”
An unexpected voice suddenly cut across the office.
He Xinjia’s voice ground to a sudden halt. Her face paled.
“Oliver.” Xiao Yu pleasantly greeted him. “Where did you go just now?”
“I went to get a cup of water. Also, just call me Little Mo. Only my juniors call me Oliver.” Jing Mo replied.
“O-Oliver.” Caught red-handed, He Xinjia stammered out a greeting.
“You haven’t left yet? Lunch time is almost over.” Jing Mo was clearly smiling, but his gaze was incomparably cold.
He Xinjia trembled and tried to justify herself. “I… I-I only said a little extra.”
“Chairman Yan hates gossipy people the most.”
“Bah! Let him fire me. I won’t have to deal with all this pressure then. Sheesh, I can’t even say anything anymore,” she said hotly to cover her embarrassment. Tucking her handbag in her arms, she said without turning her head, “Who wants to work under Yan Jin for nothing? I’m going home. Hmph.”
Xiao Yu had silently watched all the events without an opportunity to say anything. Only when He Xinjia’s back had disappeared from view did Xiao Yu suddenly realize. “Wait, wait! I haven’t signed your request for leave!”
“Don’t worry, “ Jing Mo said calmly. “Chairman Yan won’t deduct her salary.”
“That’s… that’s true.” Thinking of He Xinjia’s identity, Xiao Yu nodded his head in agreement and asked, “Are you also working directly for Yan Jin? Do you know what Yan Jin’s up to? I still don’t really understand what’s going on…”
Mo Jing directly admitted it. “Yes sir, I am working directly for Yan Jin. However, Senior, there’s no need worry about such matters. Chairman Yan would never involve sir in any trouble, no matter what happens. Sir only needs to focus directly on his work.”
“Right.” After his explanation, it was immediately clear to Xiao Yu. “I wouldn’t be able to help in the company business matters anyways, so regardless of what Yan Jin does, my only job is to deliver the best designs.”
Seeing Xiao Yu so motivated, Jing Mo felt it would be too awkward if he clarified that by “focus directly on his work”, he had meant focusing on his role as Yan Jin’s lover.
He had meant that even if Chairman Yan wanted to conquer the world, all that was needed from Xiao Yu was a gentle kiss.
Well… whatever.
“Right, Jia Jia said you were looking for me. What’s up?” Xiao Yu finally set aside the matter with He Xinjia.
“Mmm. Regarding the senior classmate that sir requested me to investigate, I have found all the available information that sir asked for. Some of the findings are is quite interesting. It is all in here.”
Jing Mo fished out a flash drive from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Yu. He added, “However, I’m not a hacker that can delve into the dark web after all, so the amount of information I could find is limited. If sir is looking for more detailed information, it’s best to find a professional hacker. Chairman Yan might have such a friend.”
“It’s fine. This is already enough. Thanks very much. Let’s eat together sometime, on me.” Xiao Yu gratefully received the flash drive and carefully put it away.
Jing Mo couldn’t help but laugh. He quietly thought:
*Sigh*, This senior ought to be taken advantage of by Yan Jin after all.