Chapter 21: Work for me?

Translator: _Min_  Editor: Lis_, Rundi

Why don’t you work for me?

He stared out the window as night fell. It was getting pretty late. He peeked at the clock, and it pointed directly at 12.

At that moment, he realized there was something wrong. There were only three pairs of female shoes there, but he always thought she had a boyfriend.

“I am staying pretty late, is your friend not going to be jealous?” Jiang Chen casually asked but soon noticed the gloom on Xia Shiyu’s face.

Immediately, he realized what happened. He knew someone as smart as Xia Shiyu would not borrow money from sketchy sources. Then the only option was that after she had lost her job, he loaned under her name.

That also explained why she was left helpless in this old and torn down apartment.

“Your man’s a trash and a half.” Jiang Chen stood up for her.

“He’s not my man.” Xia Shiyu replied with the same emotionless tone.

“Why don’t you go home?” Her apathetic tone made Jiang Chen quite shocked. So to avoid the awkwardness, he changed the subject.

“I don’t want to bring trouble home.” The resilience on her face touched Jiang Chen. She was definitely capable. He thought that maybe it was because upper management had a thing with her. But he was too quick to judge. For a renowned brand, the upper management was not the type to think with the lower half of the body.

“To be honest, I am impressed.” Jiang Chen said to Xia Shiyu with sincere.

“Really?” The tone of her voice was filled with self-mockery.

For some strange reason, the second she opened her mouth, Jiang Chen saw a glimpse of wretchedness in her eyes. Perhaps it was not that, perhaps it was weariness.

As a woman, after all the ups and downs she has gone through, she still stayed strong.

Jiang Chen didn’t know what would comfort her. He was not too good at comforting woman in general. Or else he wouldn’t be single for 20 years.

Silenced ensued again.

“Do you want to listen to my story?”

Jiang Chen nodded.

She told him everything that happened after she fired Jiang Chen. The store was facing sales problems, and the headquarter was questioning her ability. From a bunch of anonymous complaints to holding the notice of termination, she felt a mixture of emotions when she left the place. Unemployed, cheating, and gang harassment, she was running out of options, and she finally decided to flee from her apartment and hide there.

What pushed her from despair to hopelessness was hearing the proud voice of her parents on the other side of the phone. However, she couldn’t express her sorrow to them. She could only answer against her will that she was okay, and everything was fine. Her parents were too old to accept this travesty.

Jiang Chen also felt the same heartache when he lost his job. She was not seeking sympathy; she only wanted someone to talk to because she was too tired. However, this person only showed up now.

“You are very strong. If there’s anything I can do to help, feel free to call me.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need sympathy.” Xia Shiyu smiled as she rubbed her teary eye.

Smiled?

Her?

Jiang Chen was stunned.

“Is there something on my face?” Xia Shiyu felt quite shy after Jiang Chen’s eyes were locked on her.

“No… But this is my first time seeing you smile.” He blankly nodded. He knew that if he looked in the mirror right now, he would look extremely foolish.

Haha, Xia Shiyu burst out in laughter. She was also stunned because she realized that she was laughing. Not only was she laughing but she was laughing joyfully.

“Well, is it that funny?” Jiang Chen pretended to cough as he awkwardly rubbed his head.

“You, are very funny.”

[Why is it in a questioning tone?] Jiang Chen rolled his eyes as he looked defeated.

“Now that I told you my story, can you tell me yours?” She rubbed her eyes. Her softened expression made her face as pristine as snow.

[She has such an adorable face, why would she remain so cold every day?] Jiang Chen murmured in his mind.

“Me? There really is not much to say. I made some money with my own business.” Jiang Chen guiltily made up an unsophisticated lie.

Xia Shiyu slightly frowned and looked unhappily at Jiang Chen. She didn’t even realize such a girly expression appeared on her face.

“Hmm? I don’t believe it.”

“Well, there is nothing I can do about it.” He opened his palms. Some secrets must be kept hidden forever. “But, I do believe you’ll be an excellent manager. Are you interested?”

This was Jiang Chen’s other consideration.

Open a company and let Xia Shiyu work for him.

Exchanging for gold is not a long term strategy. One day people will question his source of income. If the government noticed him, he would have to live on the other side of the earth. The best way was to open a company. He even thought about the name. It will be called “Futuristic Technology”!

His plan was to gather all the “garbage” from the apocalypse and introduce ground-breaking, innovative products.

iPhone, Microsoft, and Samsung will all be names of the past. Could they be as innovative as technology from 200 years later? Even the computer screen was made by full-sensory technology. If they produced the technology that only existed in sci-fi, all the consumers in the world would go insane.

This was only in the electronic devices.

Blizzards, EA, and Ubisoft would go lunatics over the virtual reality technology. Once a matured virtual reality technology debuts in the market, no one would want to play with a mouse and controller anymore.

Then it would be home appliances, cars, military tech, and even technology for space exploration! The possibilities were endless.

The reason why he chose Xia Shiyu was simple. He couldn’t find anyone else, and he trusted her ability. Although they had a conflict in the past, Jiang Chen realized he forgave her quite easily. Maybe it was because she was not a bad person, or maybe it was because of how similar their experiences are.

So when Xia Shiyu hit rock bottom, Jiang Chen reached out to help her and recruited her.

“Interested?” Xiao Shiyu was still unclear about what Jiang Chen meant.

“How many years would you have to work in the flower shop to pay me back? And since you are unemployed, I just found a job for you.”

“You own the company?” Xia Shiyu looked at him questionably.

“What, I can’t? I am excited to see my ex-manager work diligently under me.” He said jokingly. But he looked quite serious.

She closed her eyes to consider the proposition for a moment. It was quite attractive to her. She didn’t have any reason to reject it.

“I accept.”

“Excellent.” Jiang Chen laughed and extended his hand. “Welcome on board, Manger Xia. You are hired by Futuristic Technology, and you starting salary will be 10,000.”

The salary was comparable to her previous job. Jiang Chen’s generosity made her feel confused. After so long, he already made this much progress in his career?

She shook Jiang Chen’s hand. The warm but coarse feeling made her slightly tremble.

“That’s a hefty salary you are paying. However, just to be clear, I will not do any sexual favors.” Astonishingly, she was surprised she got the job.

Jiang Chen was completely stunned. He was amazed by the glimpse of charm she displayed. The icy beauty made a dirty joke.

“Haha, of course not. But the company does not condone nor prevent employees from seducing the president.” The righteous beauty was obviously no match with Jiang Chen in terms of dirty jokes. After she heard the word “seduce”, her face flushed with anger.

But to her surprise, she was more embarrassed than angry.

[What’s the reason?]

“Can I get a brief description of the company?” Known for her professionalism, she quickly recollected herself. She headed straight to business. “Futuristic Technology, the company sounds like a firm that specializes in the technology sector. What am I in charge of? Sales, or research and development? If it is R&D, although I don’t any experience in the area, I am confident that I will be familiar with the responsibilities within a month…”

“Stop, stop right here.” Jiang Chen signaled Xia Shiyu to stop talking. With her question-filled eyes fixed on Jiang Chen, he cleared his throat. “In simple term, you are the CEO. Therefore you take care of everything.” Let the secretary do everything was the way Jiang Chen imagined to be a boss He didn’t have the energy to manage people.

Xiao Shiyu’s face all the sudden turned concerned. She never heard of the Futuristic Technology at all.

“Currently, the company is still in planning stage.” Jiang Chen answered the question she was worried about as if it was not a big deal at all. “Don’t you feel excited? You’ll be the Steve Jobs of Hua, and I will be the Bill Gates of Hua!”

With passion, he stated the quote that he always wanted to say. He finally had the opportunity to say it.

“…”

“Wait, why do you have your phone out?”

“I am reserving a hospital bed for you.” Her look expressed which type of hospital she was sending him to written all over it.

“Wait, you…”

She grabbed her phone and convinced her to let him finish.

“If you don’t join us right now, you’ll regret it in 5 years! Just like how no one believed in Jack Ma. Wait, don’t call.” Jiang Chen calmed the almost furious Xia Shiyu with a smile. He was not talented in giving pep talks. He didn’t know how to recruit and excite people. He wanted to use what he has learned through WeChat marketing, but it made him even more suspicious in the end.

“Simple, your position is the CEO. However, since the company doesn’t have a lot of business right now, why don’t you take care of the position of general manager as well. At this stage, I’ll pay you 10,000 a month. You don’t need to repay me with this money. I really don’t care about such a small amount of money. Maybe in the future, your salary would be far above the amount of loan. Don’t look at me like that. I am not joking. Your next task is simple. I’ll wire you 500,000 so you can incorporate the company. You don’t have to worry about what happens next. In two months, you’ll be extremely busy.”

She sighed as she stared at the Jiang Chen who was feeling great about his speech. “Are you not afraid I’ll take the money and run?”

“You are not that kind of a person,” Jiang Chen disagreed. “Also, 500,000 to learn about a person is worth it. Compared to what the company will be worth in the future.”

Since she still couldn’t find a job and owed money, Xia Shiyu made up her mind and agreed.

Years later, Xia Shiyu would still be grateful when asked about this day. When media asked about how she almost rejected Jiang Chen’s offer, she would just emotionally say one sentence. “Sometimes a split second decision makes a difference between a billionaire and poverty.”

“It’s late now. I’ll head back.” It was almost one in the morning.

“Mhmm.” She stood and walked Jiang Chen to the door.

“Don’t forget to send me your bank account number. I’ll prepay your July salary. You’ll get paid at the end of the month. Also, find somewhere nice to live. It’s not safe to live here, especially for a beauty like you.” The exact contract can only be made when the company is incorporated. However, Jiang Chen was not too bothered by the details. He had faith in her loyalty.

Xia Shiyu blushed when she heard Jiang Chen call her a beauty. A lot of people called her that before, but this was the first time her heart started to pump faster. She didn’t display her feminine side this time and nodded calmly.

“Ok.”

“That’s all from me. I have to leave for a couple of days, so you might not be able to reach me.” Jiang Chen turned around and left.

“Wait…”

“Hmm?” Jiang Chen turned back.

“Thank you… You looked very… handsome when…”

At Jiang Chen’s surprised look, Xia Shiyu slammed the door shut.

[This girl, is she interested in me?] Jiang Chen thought joyfully.

But, it could just be a simple thanks.

He didn’t think too much of it.

She leaned behind the closed door and slowly slid onto the ground. The cold feeling of the porcelain tile pressed against her smooth leg made her mixed emotions slightly calmer.

[What happened there? Why did I say something so embarrassing…] She covered her face as she tried to hid the tingling sensation in her hands. Her lips slightly trembled.

[That was so embarrassing… I want to die… Ahhhhh!]

In “humiliation” she hid her head between her legs.