Chapter Forty-Six: Drunk

While becoming speechless at how wonderful fate could be between people, Xiao Yu was once again in contempt at Lin Zhou’s actions.

He couldn’t believe how Lin Zhou managed to use someone else’s design and gave it to the Yan family’s Yan Jin as a token of goodwill.

Perhaps Lin Zhou had used the same trick and claimed that this was his own design.

If Xiao Yu was who he was back then, he probably would have just felt more disgusted at Lin Zhou. But for the present Xiao Yu, he couldn’t help but direct his frustrations onto Yan Jin.

Seriously, he was YL’s Chairman for goodness’ sake. How could he not know Lin Zhou’s worth? To make things worse, Xiao Yu’s designing style was so different from Lin Zhou’s that even a peasant could tell.

Yet Yan Jin did not even doubt it. That could only mean that he…

He didn’t even pay attention to SI’s chief designer, FISH.

Xiao Yu got even angrier.

At that moment, Xiao Yu had completely forgotten that he rarely designed items other than jewelries. In any case, he simply decided to get angry at Yan Jin as he mumbled to himself.

– No matter what, it was all Yan Jin’s fault! It must be his fault!

From a certain aspect, for things to have developed to this point, Yan Jin was in fact reaping what he had sown.

After all, the hamster was spoiled by his own hands. (shrughands.jpg)

Back to the topic. That silver cufflink on Yan Jin’s sleeve cuff had indeed originated from Xiao Yu’s hand. More accurately, it was a pair of cufflinks.

The silver bases decorated with fragments of apatite aligned to form the English word YES.

The apatite stones on Yan Jin’s cufflink were arranged from grey to emerald. If Xiao Yu remembered correctly, the apatite stones on the other cufflink should be arranged from emerald to grey.

It was originally a pair of cufflinks. If the other piece wasn’t lost by Yan Jin, then that could only mean that he had given it to someone.

It was perfectly logical to  guess that the cufflink was given as a present.

The decorations on these pair of cufflinks weren’t the same. The piece that Yan Jin had was YES, but the other piece was not a NO.

These pair of cufflink designs were not YES and NO, but YES and I DO.

Yes, I do.

This sentence could be translated as the usual ‘Yes, I can do it’, ‘Yes I can’, or even some other special meaning.

It was considered a small surprise that Xiao Yu had set up when he was designing it.

Xiao Yu couldn’t remember where those thoughts and inspirations had come from back then. Perhaps it was Lin Zhou saying ‘I have a friend whose love life is in a critical situation. I plan to give him a present to comfort him’?

The achievement after Xiao Yu had finished designing it and the anticipation to see their counterpart’s love and resonant restlessness – they all turned out to be meaningless.

Because the meanings behind this pair of cufflinks were not blessings, but raw ambition and desire.

As matters stood at this moment, Xiao Yu was almost numb from everything that had happened. It wouldn’t have mattered if there were more cases like Lin Zhou appearing, or even if the car accident from his previous life was caused by Lin Zhou. Xiao Yu wouldn’t be too surprised anymore.

The only thing that comforted Xiao Yu was probably the fact that this pair of cufflinks had reached Yan Jin’s hand and legitimately been used for what it was intended.

It turned out that his destiny with Yan Jin was in fact so intertwined.

Too bad they were just strangers in their previous lives even until his last breath.

So, here comes the question.

Who was that little bitch who seduced Yan Jin?

This pair of cufflinks was like the second button on a dress shirt¹, which categorized it as something that people wouldn’t give away easily as souvenirs.

Since one of them was given away, then the other party’s status was also abundantly clear.

Xiao Yu was in deep thoughts as he turned on his iPad and logged in to Yan Jin’s QQ side account.

The hamster looked through the conversation list and he did find a suspicious account.

Xiao Yu took a quick look at the account’s information: Male, twenty-three. Xiao Yu did not pay it any attention. After all, there was a lot of fake information on QQ. It was too easy to fake an identity to whatever one preferred.

The last conversation was a week ago. The nickname was a string of words that Xiao Yu could not understand. That account user suddenly contacted Yan Jin and asked him out to ‘our old hangout’.

Just from the situation on QQ, Yan Jin had not replied to him. This kind of cold treatment of not blocking that person, yet not completely ignoring them made Xiao Yu feel apprehensive.

If Xiao Yu had taken into consideration Yan Jin’s reaction after he had picked up the call, could this be a melodrama where the chairman’s secret lover was forced to break off their relationship because of their lower status?

The more Xiao Yu thought, the greater the possibility increased, making the hamster itch to get a clear answer from Yan Jin.

Too bad Xiao Yu had no way of asking those questions. Regardless of whether it was Yan Jin or Chu Ge, the hamster had no ways of contacting them in reality.

Plus, what kind of identity could he use to ask such private questions?

They were not even friends, and he was just a hamster.

Xiao Yu suddenly felt unsure. He realized that he had been focusing on Yan Jin a lot. Was it because it was the unfinished curiosity about that low-profile and young YL’s Chairman that was left behind from his previous life, or could it be that untold feelings were planted long ago…

Later that day, the helpers came over to clean up the room. After staying in this house for two months, Xiao Yu knew that these people were helpers hired by the Yan family. The Yan family mentioned here referred to the Yan family’s main branch. Although Yan Jin was not in his early twenties anymore, he was still considered a member of the younger generation. Hence, despite living independently, Yan Jin would still receive some concerns from them.

Xiao Yu hid back into his cage and gnawed on his melon seeds while he eavesdropped on those people talking outside. Even though they were not even in the picture, these people seemed to be more concerned about the gossip surrounding Yan Jin. When Xiao Yu heard one of the older ladies sighing as she used a tone of concern and sincerity – “Young master has been dragging this out for years. He’s not young anymore. How could he not get married? How is that going to end well?” – Xiao Yu almost held his belly with both paws and laughed.

Previously, Xiao Yu also had such worries. But now, he knew for sure that Yan Jin had a prospective partner.

Seemed like Yan Jin had kept the secret well.

Then again, if it was like what Xiao Yu had thought, then Chairman Yan’s wifey-courtship didn’t seem as easy.

The laughter began to slow down as Xiao Yu started to feel confused again.

If Yan jin got married, then he would become even busier. If he had a child, then where would Yan Jin find time to accompany his hamster every day?

Sigh, forget it. After being reborn into a pet, he should have realized that he would end up being prioritized after someone else.

After the helpers left, Xiao Yu came out from his cage to game for a while and kill time.

Ever since Lin Zhou had revealed his motives the other time, he had not invited Xiao Yu for any more game matches. Even if Xiao Yu were to initiate an invitation, Lin Zhou would use the excuse that he was busy with the original jewelry design competition to reject him. If Fish and Hamster – You Can’t Have Both was indeed Yan Jin, such actions would probably gain some favorable impressions of professionalism. As for such performance that was at a best actor’s level, Xiao Yu could only feel deeply venerated yet was unwilling to go near such a person.

These routines were almost too well played. To say that Lin Zhou was an extreme case of egotism was almost an understatement.

Xiao Yu estimated that Yan Jin would probably come home late tonight. His original plan was to wait for Yan Jin to come home before he went to bed. But somehow, or rather, perhaps their routines were too regulated lately, making Xiao Yu, who was very used to staying up all night, feel drowsy by the time it hit twelve midnight.

As Xiao Yu got sleepy, even the air conditioning felt slightly colder.

Then, Xiao Yu thought, why not head back to the cage for a quick nap.

Proceeding to do so, Xiao Yu fell asleep.

The nap was unusually disturbed. When a person was troubled by something, they would easily have dreams.

In that grotesque and variegated dream, Xiao Yu heard arguing noises. In a scene where the people were blurred out, the sound of a woman’s screaming and crying was mixed with the sound of a heart beating. It was weird and realistic. The image ended with a white dove slamming hard into the sun roof as it tried to escape. Following the cracking sound, the image of white feathers scattered everywhere as the dove with broken wings laid there motionlessly.

Xiao Yu was startled awake.

He did not realize when he had fallen asleep, but the scene before him made him feel like he was still dreaming.

Yan Jin’s room that was just tidied up not long ago was now in a complete mess.

The messy bed was covered with goose down feathers. The floor was not excused from the tragedy either. One of the bedside cabinets was toppled over, and the little items inside the drawer were scattered all over the floor. The chandelier was smashed as the broken pieces dazzled the eyes.

What the hell, a break in? The house got robbed?

“Scram.” It was a low, deep voice.

It was Yan Jin.

Xiao Yu’s gaze landed on the person sitting at the end of the bed.

Yan Jin had his head lowered as he covered his eyes with one hand. Xiao Yu could not see his expression, but the usual elite image was nowhere in sight. Instead, there was a kind of dejectedness.

If Xiao Yu saw it correctly, there seemed to be some red markings on Yan Jin’s nails.

It seemed like there was someone besides Yan Jin.

Xiao Yu had no idea what had transpired and started to feel anxious. He didn’t bother considering the risk as he charged out of his cage. He thought that even if there was a killer on the loose, he must help Yan Jin no matter what. Even if he could not be of much help as a hamster, Xiao Yu could try to find a way to send a distress signal to the outside world instead.

“Don’t be like that. Why can’t we talk this over nicely?”

The other voice spoke – It was a man.

At this point, Xiao Yu had already run to the side of his iPad as he prepared to send the help signal at any moment.

The angle of the cage had blocked part of Xiao Yu’s view earlier. Now, he could very clearly see what the person Yan Jin was talking to looked like.

A fairly-young adult, delicate and pretty looks, estimated to be about twenty-five years old, and didn’t seem like a bad person.

But as soon as that thought appeared, Xiao Yu had rejected that idea immediately.

Even a hamster could hide dangerous little thoughts, much less a human. After Xiao Yu had been reborn, his thoughts on good appearances had already been decreased to a negative level.

When the iPad lit up, no one had noticed it.

Xiao Yu logged in to Yan Jin’s QQ straight away and found Chu Ge’s account.

The sentence ‘Help, call police’ was almost halfway done, but he stopped when Yan Jin said something.

“It’s impossible between us anymore. Stop pestering me.”

Xiao Yu always thought of himself as someone who could very quickly comprehend every situation. Any small matters that he heard could immediately be magnified into a big chunk of story. It was considered part of his professionalism after years as a designer. But when he heard that sentence, his mind blanked.

If that young man was swapped with a lady, then this scene would seem really familiar – That melodrama on the midnight segment had such a scene. However, of all people, that person was a man.

… A man?

Xiao Yu couldn’t process the confusing information that he just heard, but the conversation between the two of them had already continued.

“Why is it impossible between us? Touch your heart and say that, Yan Jin.” The young man slowly kneeled in front of Yan Jin and grabbed hold of the chairman’s other hand: “Give me another chance, okay? I know it’s my fault…”

“Yi… Chengcheng, we…”

For whatever reason, Xiao Yu felt that Yan Jin’s words seemed to be broken. Even his words weren’t articulated properly. It was as if, as if he was drunk.

“We… are not fated to be together.”

The young man reacted like he had heard the world’s biggest joke as he screamed in disbelief: “Not fated? Is that how you define our relationship?”

“Fate, fate!”

“Yan Jin! Tell me, do you still love me? Do you still think about our relationship?”

A long sigh was heard.

Yan Jin suddenly raised his head. At that moment, Xiao Yu spotted the unusual blush and eyes that were more ruthless than any other time.

And the obvious blood stain at the edge of his eye.

Xiao Yu instantly went into a frenzy – If he was a human, he would have charged forward with a weapon already.

Regardless of what grievances they had, why couldn’t they talk it out peacefully? Why must they get physical?

Getting physical was one thing, but you shouldn’t hit a person in the face, got it? Yan Jin’s face was not lacking compared to any idols out there. Why was there a need to hurt his face?!

Xiao Yu gritted his teeth together as he tried to keep himself calm.

Yan Jin was really drunk. Otherwise, he would not have let that person cause trouble in the house. If Chu Ge found out about this matter, the doctor would probably make a joke out of it for his entire lifetime.

However, even if Yan Jin was drunk, he could still give a clear and calm rejection:

“Yi Chengcheng, without me, you’re a dead man now.”

And this was the last of their ‘relationship’.

You accompanied me for three years, and I saved your life.

Let’s end it here.

Translator’s Note:

[1] Second button on a dress shirt – I’m quite sure it was referencing from Japan, where graduating students will give the second button of their uniform to the person they love/confessed to(?). Because the second button was the closest button to their heart (aka giving their heart to someone).