042 Tattling, Phone Call, Truth
Smack—
In the deserted corner of the break room outside the corridor, Qin Ren had one hand on his hip, while the other slammed heavily against the wall. He glared at the pretty girl blinking her big eyes in front of him.
“So when you were ‘passing by’ last time, you were actually here for an interview at my company, right?”
Qin Ren’s gaze was more helpless and speechless than angry. He felt that this sister-in-law was just too mischievous, treating even finding a job like a game.
“What do you mean ‘your’ company…”
Cheng Siyu nodded slightly, looking up at Qin Ren innocently. Her fingertips fiddled with the new formal blazer she was wearing, and the tips of her 5cm high heels tapped against each other lightly.
“You’re just a corporate slave. Do you even own a part of this company…”
“You!…”
Qin Ren couldn’t refute this fact, but that wasn’t the point.
He held his forehead and spun around, then smack, he slammed his hand against the wall again. His brows were tightly furrowed, and his tall, large frame once again cornered Cheng Siyu, giving off a very oppressive feeling.
“Cheng Siyu, you usually love to tease me. I’m used to it and don’t hold it against you, because you’re Cheng Siyun’s sister…”
Qin Ren tried to persuade her nicely, not noticing the fleeting gloom that flashed across Cheng Siyu’s eyes.
“…because you’re Little Orange, so I let you mess around and don’t get angry. But about finding a job, speaking from a perspective of what’s good for you, I sincerely hope you don’t treat it as a joke…”
“How am I treating it as a joke?”
Cheng Siyu interrupted him, looking up. Her ponytail swayed, lacking the chivalrous and stern feeling of Yu Yourong’s, but full of a lively stubbornness.
“Brother-in-law, isn’t Qianhe Architecture one of the best architectural design firms in Rongcheng?”
“…”
With this one sentence from Cheng Siyu, Qin Ren’s imposing manner instantly deflated by a large margin.
Tsk, it seems so…
“In terms of compensation, isn’t Qianhe Architecture one of the best among companies of the same tier in Rongcheng?”
It seems so too…
“Like you and your sister Gu Qing, I also majored in architecture. My major is a perfect match. What’s wrong with me interviewing at Qianhe Architecture?”
It seems there’s nothing wrong…
“But!”
Qin Ren reminded her.
“Qianhe Architecture, like many companies, is very averse to relatives working together. Even if they’re not immediate family, even if it’s not a superior-subordinate relationship. In short, it’s like an office romance, they’re rather against it, so…”
“That’s why I’m pretending not to know you~”
The sister-in-law thought she was very clever and demanded that Qin Ren be clever along with her.
“Brother-in-law, from now on in the company, we’ll just pretend to be seniors and juniors who have just met. I’ll call you Engineer Qin, you’ll call me Engineer Cheng. We can hide our relationship and also have a sense of role-playing.”
The sister-in-law tilted her head and stood on her tiptoes with a grin.
“How about it? Isn’t it exciting~?”
“Exciting my ass!”
“I don’t have an ass, but you can excite my sister’s.”
“…”
Qin Ren always felt like he was punching cotton when dealing with Cheng Siyu. He lowered his eyelids and stared at her with a dark face. After staring until Cheng Siyu felt uncomfortable, he poked Qin Ren’s stomach with a finger.
“How about it, Engineer Qin? Shall we agree then? We’ll start slacking off together from today?”
“Slack off my ass!”
“I told you I don’t have a sister. Go slack off with my sister.”
“What are you talking about… have you no shame?”
Cheng Siyu was indeed a little ashamed. Her ears grew slightly hot, then she gave up.
“Anyway, if you’re still not satisfied and try to stop me from working here, I’ll tell on you to my sister.”
Telling on her sister meant tattling, a childish way of putting it. But Qin Ren couldn’t treat Cheng Siyu as a child and immediately became alert.
“What are you going to tell on me for?”
Cheng Siyu glanced sideways at the arm Qin Ren had propped up by her ear, lowered her head, and blushed secretly.
“I’ll tell her you pinned me against the wall…”
“???”
“Twice.”
“…”
Qin Ren pulled his arm back, straightened his clothes in embarrassment, and had completely lost his temper with Cheng Siyu.
“You go back first. We’ve been out together for so long. Sister Yun will get suspicious.”
“Received! Engineer Qin~”
Cheng Siyu happily shook her work ID. Qin Ren raised his hand as if to hit her, but she dodged it nimbly and then went into the office.
Ring, ring, ring—
Just as she went in, Qin Ren’s phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Wai wai wai? Qin Ren, Qin Ren, can you hear me~”
It was the Pixiu.
“I can hear you. Go ahead.”
“Hello?!”
“I can hear you! Go ahead!”
“Strange, there’s no sound…”
“…”
Qin Ren didn’t know what was happening. Anyway, he looked at his phone. His side seemed to be fine. When he put it back to his ear, he heard Yu Yourong’s voice faintly from the other side.
…
“Luo Yao, I think you’re holding it backwards.”
“Oh, like this?”
“No, I don’t think it’s front to back, I think it’s upside down…”
“Like this?”
“Mhm, try again.”
…
After the speechless conversation, a loud, slightly milky voice came from the receiver.
“Hello—?”
“Turn it down, you unlucky thing!”
Qin Ren almost threw his phone.
“So what’s the matter?”
“Nothing~”
“…”
Qin Ren felt that if he were a character in a comic, there would definitely be several veins popping on his forehead at this moment.
“Didn’t I tell you not to call randomly if there’s nothing?”
“Oh, then let’s say there is.”
Luo Yao shooed away Yu Yourong, who was beside her, then held the phone and mumbled in a low voice.
“Qin Ren, if I say… say that I suddenly miss you, does that count as something…”
“It doesn’t.”
“Think again!”
“It counts, it counts…”
The great Spirit Beast was suddenly fuming. Considering that she was still on her period, Qin Ren didn’t want to provoke her and simply compromised.
“Qin Ren, I was just learning to type, and now I’m supervising Little Fish hanging the clothes. Are you drawing?”
“Not yet. I’m slacking off.”
Luo Yao didn’t know what “slacking off” meant, but after glancing at Yu Yourong beside her, she felt that Qin Ren’s behavior was very annoying.
“Qin Ren, you’re not allowed to touch fish anymore,” the High Immortal announced mercilessly.
“Why?”
“No reason. Just not allowed.”
The Pixiu was very domineering. Qin Ren agreed verbally, but in reality, he would definitely still slack off when he should. Anyway, she couldn’t control him.
“By the way, does your stomach still hurt today?”
“It doesn’t. Can I drink iced Coke now?”
“You can’t. Let Yourong answer the phone.”
“Tch…”
————————
On the utility balcony at home, Yu Yourong, who was hanging the clothes, was staring blankly at the cleanly washed “Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate” in her hand. She didn’t know what she was thinking, but she was blushing in waves. Just then, Luo Yao, who was beside her, patted her bottom very unwillingly.
“Little Fish, Qin Ren is looking for you.”
“A phone call?”
“Mhm.”
It was also Yu Yourong’s first time answering a phone call, and it was from her brother no less. She was a little nervous. After taking the phone, she was not as careless as Luo Yao. She carefully checked the positions of the earpiece and microphone, front, back, left, and right, and then held it to her ear with both hands.
“Ge?”
“Yourong.”
A familiar voice came from the receiver. Yu Yourong’s heart relaxed. She secretly thought to herself that she was indeed a genius. Her first phone call with her brother was so successful. If it were her master, she would definitely be no better than Luo Yao.
“Ge, I’m hanging the clothes,” Yu Yourong reported her current activity.
“Mhm, mhm, good girl.”
“Ge…”
It was the first time he had praised her with this word. Yu Yourong’s heart skipped a beat, and she felt a little strange.
“No, that was a slip of the tongue.”
Qin Ren also realized.
“I’m used to coaxing Luo Yao. It should be ‘thank you’… Anyway, I mainly wanted to tell you to keep an eye on Luo Yao for me. Don’t let her drink iced Coke or eat popsicles. In short, don’t let her touch anything cold.”
Yu Yourong looked down at Luo Yao, who was squatting on the ground feeding Tuantuan dried fish.
“What if she doesn’t listen?”
“Then threaten her. Just say that I said, if she doesn’t listen, I won’t hold her at night.”
“Oh…”
…
After a few simple instructions, Qin Ren hung up the phone. After Yu Yourong relayed his message to Luo Yao, she couldn’t help but feel puzzled by this strange threat.
Not hold her…
Is there some special feeling when being held by Qin Ren…
She couldn’t help but ask Luo Yao this question. Luo Yao shook her head like a rattle-drum.
“It’s not special at all. This eminence doesn’t like being held by Qin Ren at all. You must remember this, Little Fish.”
Only Luo Yao could be in Qin Ren’s arms. In Earth terms, this was called the truth.
Translator’s Notes
-
Wai wai wai (歪歪歪): A playful way of saying “hello” on the phone, mimicking the sound of a bad connection.
-
Slacking off / Touching fish (摸鱼): “Mōyú” is a popular Chinese slang term for slacking off at work. It literally means “to touch fish.” Luo Yao misunderstands this literally, thinking Qin Ren is touching Yu Yourong (whose surname means “fish”).
