Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Sky-priced Hamster House

Xiao Yu sulked as he lay on top of ‘Fishy’s iPad’, completely ignoring Yan Jin’s teasing.

“What’s wrong with your hamster? It doesn’t seem energetic.” There was no sense of worry in Chu Ge’s tone, it was filled with joy in other people’s misfortunes instead.

Yan Jin withdrew his hand: “He’s throwing a tantrum, probably holding a grudge against me for giving him someone else’s belongings.”

For a moment, Chu Ge did not know where to start insulting him. He paused for a few moments and then slowly said, “You can even understand that? Is your brother Gol. D. Roger?¹”

Yan Jin rolled his eyes.

Without anyone reminding him, Xiao Yu had never noticed before. But now that Chu Ge mentioned it, he suddenly felt that Yan Jin really seemed to be controlling his emotions when dealing with him.

Not only this time but also that time with the tomato-stewed fish. Yan Jin realized that he was angry – most people would have thought that their hamster had gone mad or something. But Yan Jin apologized to him instead. That was too incredible.

Or should he say… he had a high affinity with animals?

What a joke. If it were others, maybe, but this is Yan Jin they were talking about.

“Oh right, almost forgot the main issue while I was messing with you.” Chu Ge slapped his head as he nagged, “The cage is still in my car. Coincidentally, today is my day off so I rushed here to give it to you.”

Yan Jin asked puzzledly, “You said you were going to order one just yesterday, and it has already been delivered today?”

“It’s all because of your good fortune. My neighbor happens to be doing such a business. I made an inquiry with them when I got back yesterday. Turns out coincidentally, someone ordered a cage from them two months ago but did not collect it. So, they gave it to me instead.”

Yan Jin widened his eyes in disbelief: “You got a cage that someone else ordered and passed it on to me?”

Chu He fearlessly gestured his hand in the air: “The model is special. It usually takes about ten days to half a month for a made-to-order product. Just use it for the time being. When there’s more time, well… you can get a new one. I’m just worried your little Fishy can’t wait till that day.”

That sentence didn’t sound auspicious at all. But at this moment, Xiao Yu simply did not know what Chu Ge was hinting at.

Xiao Yu felt that not only he could afford to wait, he was not even anxious at all. Or more accurately, he didn’t even want to stay in a cage. If he was hungry, he could find food by himself. If he needed to use the toilet, he could find a piece of tissue and dump everything into the dustbin after he was done.

But he couldn’t convey such thoughts to others, much less reveal his uniqueness. If he was adopted by someone else, Xiao Yu might have thought of a way to tell them about his mystical experience. Yet it had to be Yan Jin. Dealing with the opposing company’s chairman, Xiao Yu still had lingering fears against Yan Jin for his previous one-sided discussion.

The plagiarizing issue wasn’t over yet. Now that he had this unique advantage, he would not expose his identity. At the very least, he would need to wait until he found evidence that Yan Jin’s subordinate was indeed stealing his work. Then he would expose their identity and slap it in his face.

In fact, Yan Jin felt indifferent about the cage; he had kept other pets before, it’s just that he had never brought a cage for them. He was the only one staying in this villa and there were cleaners scheduled to come over for cleaning. He didn’t mind the pets running around his room, and there was no need for these kinds of things to restrict his pets. When he had that Scottish fold cat, he even knocked down the walls of the two bedrooms on the second floor just so that the kitten could use it as a playroom. Too bad that kitten never lasted till that day.

Yan Jin indeed realized that for a small-sized pet like a hamster there was probably a need to have a cage, otherwise, he might accidentally step on it if he ran about randomly.

“Fine. I’ll let you atone for your crime.” Yan Jin concluded.

Chu Ge perked up: “Then what about my iPad?”

“Once taken, no returns.” Yan Jin smiled.

With that, Chu Ge dejectedly walked out to retrieve the cage.

Xiao Yu had no idea what a hamster cage should look like. But the cage from before was indeed too small and way too restrictive. There was nothing much to do while living inside it, and even the view from inside was narrowed. That left Xiao Yu with some deep, haunting memories, which made him lower his expectations for the cage this time around.

Which was why when Chu Ge carried the cage in with much difficulty, Xiao Yu’s entire hamster body shook.

It was too big. The new cage was at least seven or eight times bigger than the previous cage. The entire cage was at least fifty to sixty centimeters in height and it even had two levels. There was a transparent staircase in the middle connecting the two levels and it looked ridiculously broad. Both levels had a bunch of things and lots of free space; the top level had two swings, an extended bathroom, a glass food dish, and a cylinder-shaped seesaw; on the bottom level was a small house with an extended garden and balcony. The small house had a flat roof that was connected with a ladder, and climbing upwards would lead to a spacious platform, not to mention the spiral slide and cushioned nest at the side. Other than that, there was also an external watering can, with a rainbow running wheel and a lighthouse with a bell on top.

Way too extravagant.

Such a large cage with so many toys would have cost at least a few hundred dollars. Xiao Yu could feel his entire being staring into the haze. No matter how he imagined it, he would never understand why some people would spend so much money on their pets.

Was it because it was a symbolic thing for a chairperson? Xiao Yu recalled the Lamborghini and felt that a mansion would go well with it.

When Xiao Yu received that chairperson-labeled ‘mansion’, he quickly realized how naïve he had been. Poverty had restricted his imagination — there’s nothing you can’t do with money.

That’s to say that getting adopted by Yan Jin didn’t seem that bad after all. Xiao Yu couldn’t help but feel delighted.

Chu Ge painstakingly placed the cage onto the coffee table and shifted the iPad and Xiao Yu onto the sofa. Meanwhile, Yan Jin simply stood at the side and watched without even lending a hand nor pouring a glass of water. As if he was used to that setting, Chu Ge habitually managed everything by himself and demonstrated the way to open the doors and how to turn on the watering-can bathtub.

Contrary to what they expected, Yan Jin lacked interest in the cage. He was still thinking about the playroom that he had made accessible. In his opinion, the cage wasn’t particularly big. Those toys weren’t completely made of wood, and if the plastic were to be ingested by the hamster, who knows what would happen. Plus, the quality of the wood didn’t look superior.

In fact, according to Yan Jin’s understanding, the concept of a made-to-order should start with the selection of material, then the designer would pass the completed draft to the professional factory to process it. But for Chu Ge, made-to-order simply meant approaching a store owner, telling them the sizes you wanted and that was it. Just like going to a cake shop and ordering a cake, customizing the name and such would do.

“How is it, how is it? I think it’s not bad at all. It’s more spacious compared to my girlfriend’s.” Chu Ge proudly looked at Yan Jin, but he did not see any joyous expression on his face. “… You don’t think it’s good?”

From the moment the cage was brought into the house, Yan Jin was staring nonstop at Xiao Yu. He withdrew his gaze and plainly said, “I think it’s not bad, just not big enough.”

“It’s enough, Mr. Chairman. This bachelors’ apartment converted to a real housing is easily worth a few million.” Chu Ge exaggeratedly commented.

Yan Jin declined to comment on that. Instead, he asked, “How much did you spend on it? I’ll transfer the money to you.”

“Not that much, so no need.”

Yan Jin shook his head. Xiao Yu thought they were going to say something like ‘they’re like close brothers, no need to be so calculative’ or something, but it wasn’t as he said with a serious expression,

“It’s my hamster, how could I let it say in a cage that someone else bought.”

At that very moment, Xiao Yu saw Chu Ge’s face that spelled out ‘obnoxious idiot’.

Don’t ask him how he deduced that – if someone could understand a hamster’s expression, then they would have seen the same words from Xiao Yu’s face.

Then, a very interesting incident happened.

Chu Ge demanded an exorbitant price, “It’s a second-hand product after all. Since we’re quite close, I’ll charge you six thousand.”

Six thousand? SIX THOUSAND?!

Even if Xiao Yu wasn’t familiar with the price range for pet products, he definitely understood that it couldn’t be that expensive!

Xiao Yu almost instantly noticed that the price Chu Ge mentioned wasn’t the cage, but –

The iPad underneath him! The ‘Fishy’s iPad’ that Yan Jin passed on to him!

Yan Jin did not doubt him as he took out his phone and made the transfer.

Xiao Yu raised his head and looked at the two people, simply not understanding who was acting like the idiot in this case.

Or maybe both of them were acting like idiots?

He wouldn’t understand the world of the big bosses. He decided to obediently continue being a hamster.

Chu Ge who arrived like the wind did not stay for too long, he soon bid his farewell.

He indeed had things to do next and spending more than half a day at Yan Jin’s place was nearing his limit. Before he left, Chu Ge honestly admitted the mistake he had previously made:

“I went to check it. It’s better if you give him hamster food. Hamsters can eat human food, but there’ll be lots of problem after that. When he’s good, just give him some melon seeds.”

Yan Jin had a face full of disbelief. “Are you sure? I’ve given it a few meals already and it’s all been good.”

“You can check the internet if you don’t believe me. The pet is yours, it’s your responsibility.”

Yan Jin objected to that theory; he used to do extensive research on his pets’ lifestyles, but all of that was no use — none of them survived. So now, for him to not be too hung up about it, he’d do it however he wished.

After Chu Ge left, Yan Jin moved the cage into his bedroom. There weren’t many things on this desk so there was a lot of free space after some minor arrangements. He placed the cage against the wall. Xiao Yu put up an act and pretended to play in his new house for a while. Little did he realize that he had forgotten about the time as he indulged in this hard to come by entertainment.

When Xiao Yu was finally tired out from playing, he realized that Yan Jin wasn’t in the room anymore.

Unsure if it was on purpose or not, Yan Jin hadn’t closed his cage.

Xiao Yu slid down from the cage’s second level, landing with a bloop on the first level. Then after maneuvering around a few toys, and taking a shortcut, he successfully left the cage. He observed his surroundings and the first thing that came into his view was Yan Jin’s computer that was still on and glowing with blue light.

It was as if it were God’s will.

Xiao Yu thought, in the YL chairman office, if Yan Jin were to leave the room, he would have shut his computer before leaving. But now that he’ was in his own house, even for a person like Yan Jin, he would also let down his guard.

There was no other person in this villa, who would have guessed that there would be a human soul inside this soft and adorable body of a hamster?

Xiao Yu ran to the front of the computer and shifted the mouse.

The computer might contain Yan Jin’s biggest secret, or YL’s greatest, most secretive information. That also meant that it would contain information about the ‘designer’ that had won several grand awards within the next year.

Before this, Xiao Yu had checked Yan Jin’s phone. But there was no related information on Yan Jin’s QQ. Xiao Yu thought of several possibilities, and the highest possibility was that Yan Jin did not have just one account.

Xiao Yu’s gaze landed on that piece of carpet not too far away.

Le Temps Des Cathédrales

Without a doubt, that was his work. Even if it was some time way back ago, he could still recognize that it was a piece from his designs.

Xiao Yu still remembered the history of this order, that was a piece that his senior, Lin Zhou, gave him at SI; therefore, Yan Jin must have requested the order from SI. It didn’t matter if he did that to scout for information or any other reason, as a chairperson for YL, Yan Jin would never use his work account.

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Which meant that Yan Jin had to have another side account. Not as YL’s chairperson, but Yan Jin’s personal account.

Xiao Yu did not know if this account was a QQ account. He could only give it a try. He opened QQ, and surprisingly, the account that popped up was indeed not the account on Yan Jin’s phone. What was even better was that Yan Jin had set the computer to remember the password.

Xiao Yu tapped on the login button with his shaking paws.

Translator’s Note:

[1] Gol. D. Roger – Famous Japanese animation character from One Piece; Chu Ge was making a joke on why YJ knows everything.