Chapter 29: Twenty Nine: Colorful little light bulb

Looking at Cheng YuTang’s face and seeing that his expression looked awful, with his lips trembling as if he were about to have a stroke, Ji XiaoYu quickly added, “I’m not lying to you. See for yourself if you don’t believe me!” Saying that, he ran into the room, pulled the little white egg from under the quilt, and ran back to Cheng YuTang and raised it up in front of his face.

Cheng YuTang struggled to steady his thoughts, looking intently. A small, white round thing lay in Ji XiaoYu’s palm, much like a chicken egg, but just a little smaller than an average egg. Moreover, the eggshell was warm-toned and delicate, and the texture was a bit like some kind of jade. This was different from an ordinary egg.

He didn’t know why, but some part of his heart trembled, as if it had been gently poked by an invisible finger.

At the same time, the little white egg glinted slightly, like a jewel, emitting a faint dazzling glow.

Ji XiaoYu was surprised and delighted. He could hardly believe his eyes. He had been incubating the egg for over than six months and this was the first time he had seen this phenomenon from the little white egg. Caught up in the moment, he was so excited that he pulled Cheng YuTang’s sleeve and cried out, “Look, look, it’s shining! Isn’t it beautiful?! Isn’t it?!”

Cheng YuTang was sour and salty in his heart, numb and heated – let’s not bring up that feeling. He wanted to say like hell it was beautiful, that it was just like some shoddy 15 yuan trinket from a market stall. But that would be speaking against his conscience. This mysterious egg really was beautiful. Even though he was knowledgeable, he had never seen this kind of thing before. He almost couldn’t keep himself from reaching out and touching it just now. And also, Ji XiaoYu was so happy, his eyes bright like stars, his expression so exuberant, so it would be difficult to say the ugly lie and he could only answer in a perfunctory way, “It’s alright, like a colorful little light bulb that glows when it is energized. It must have a battery inside.”

Ji XiaoYu sighed in happy relief. He had been so excited just now that he had gotten dizzy and almost let the cat out of the bag. Fortunately, Cheng YuTang didn’t notice anything unusual. He had been given a reasonable explanation, so he quickly echoed: “Yeah, yeah, this egg is called Xiao DengPao. Cheng Zong, you’re so smart!”

(t/n: deng pao literally means light bulb and is also slang for ‘third wheel’, CYT is being sarcastic calling it this; going to use the pinyin for this name for the rest of the novel for….reasons)

Cheng YuTang: “……”

Cheng Zong had been praised, but he wasn’t happy at all. His eyebrows twitched and he asked, “Who was your previous partner? A man or a woman? How come I’ve never heard you mention them before?”

Ji XiaoYu replied slyly without answering, “Whether it was a man or a woman, it’s all in the past. There’s nothing more to say, it’s boring to talk about.”

“Since it’s a former partner, what are you still doing with the thing they gave you?” Cheng YuTang felt so jealous that he couldn’t stand it anymore, but he couldn’t explain why he was unhappy.

Ji XiaoYu laughed. “Although the other one wasn’t a good person, the thing that was given is still good. It’s okay to just keep it.”

Cheng YuTang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this sentence. This little thing didn’t seem to have a good impression of his former partner, no nostalgia at all. This was, of course, very good news. But knowing that the partner wasn’t a good person, he still keep the thing given by that fucker. Shouldn’t it be nauseating?

Where is this little light bulb even from, I’ll give you a car instead!

Forget it, forget it, if he likes it, he can keep it.

I’m not now and won’t ever be qualified to interfere with Ji XiaoYu’s past, so he can keep it. As long as the present and future of this little thing belongs to me, that’s enough.

He went over this psychological debate with himself for a long time and then Cheng YuTang was finally relieved.

Ji XiaoYu suddenly remembered something, so he asked, “Cheng Zong, is there some sort of robust safe that’s difficult to open without a key?”

“There are some,” Cheng YuTang was quite surprised. “What do you need a safe for?”

This little thing was poor in funds and culture, could he even use a safe? The most valuable thing he had was himself, so there was no need for a safe, he could only be safely locked up at home.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ji XiaoYu answered in a vague way, “It would be useful anyway.”

Cheng YuTang looked at this guy who was so obsessed with money that he was afraid he’d be robbed. He couldn’t keep from laughing. “If it’s for a treasured object, it’s not secure to put it in a safe. Even if the thief just takes the safe away, regardless of whether they can open it or not, you lose it all the same.”

Ji XiaoYu heard this and was stunned. Yeah, how could he have forgotten such a simple fact? It really was like he had been kicked in the head.

Originally, he had been thinking that the little white egg wasn’t particularly safe to carry on his body every day. If something happened unexpectedly that made it fall out of his pocket and break, then it would be all over, so he had planned to endure the pain of spending a ton of money to buy a good safe and lock it up. However, he didn’t expect that even if he used a safe, safety was not guaranteed.

In the case where the thief couldn’t open the safe, if the safe was smashed in anger, then it was also doomed.

Cheng YuTang watched him furrow his brow while wearing an expression of distress and he got a little curious to know what he was thinking about that was so important, so he added, “You can put something in the bank, but it’s expensive, so you probably can’t afford it on your salary. I have a collection room that’s safer, where I installed the most current high-end security system. It’s difficult to brute-force it open from the outside. You can put the thing in there, I won’t charge you. How about it?”

Whoa, that’s awesome! Ji XiaoYu’s instinctual response was to agree, but then he thought it over and thought it wasn’t right. He had to incubate the egg every day; if he put it with Cheng YuTang here, how would he incubate? Not to mention that he couldn’t run over here every day, even if he did come over, he couldn’t incubate the egg under Cheng YuTang’s nose every day. No, no, absolutely not!

So he had to decline, saying politely, “Thank you for the kind offer, Cheng Zong. But I won’t need it for the time being, I was just casually asking. When I really have a treasure someday, I’ll come back and trouble you, eh?”

(t/n: the word for treasure is the same for baby, take that as you will)

Cheng YuTang: “……”

Was it fun to lead me on for so long?

At this moment, the doorbell of the villa rang. It was probably Zhao BaiXin.

Cheng YuTang had originally wanted to say something more. But after hearing the doorbell, he could only add a few more words, “Assistant Zhao is here, I have to go deal with something.”

Ji XiaoYu took the opportunity and said, “Cheng Zong, you go work, I have to leave too. I have to go to work today.”

Cheng YuTang didn’t want to just let him go like this, but now there was an extra irrelevant outsider here now. Also, it wasn’t good to force someone to stay, so he had to give in and say, “That’s fine, I’ll call you a car and pay the fare. We can continue this conversation later.”

“Okay, thank you, Mr. Cheng!”

Ji XiaoYu patted his chest. Aiya, it had been so dangerous, he almost hadn’t been able to deceive him. Things had been intense since last night and thankfully, he would finally be freed.

Cheng YuTang called for a call while they went downstairs. He opened the door to take a look, sure enough it was Zhao BaiXin.

“Cheng Zong, good morning.” Zhao BaiXin greeted him diligently as soon as he came in. “Is your arm alright? After hearing from Wang Qiang yesterday, I was so worried that I broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, heaven helps the worthy like you. Such good skills, subduing the traffickers and rescuing the kidnapped child, so amazing!”

Cheng YuTang was by now very disgusted with this kind of praise, so he said with a blank face, “The biggest hero of this incident wasn’t me. Did Wang Qiang not tell you?”

“If not you, who could it be?” Zhao Bai paused after these words, then cracked a joke, “It’s not like that kid suddenly transformed into a fierce little King Kong and defeated the traffickers before you, haha.”

“This kind of thing isn’t funny at all.” Cheng YuTang was too lazy to talk nonsense with him, so he said coolly, “Zhao BaiXin, I hope that you won’t listen to gossip in the future and speculate on things you don’t understand. Just do your job well.”

This was quite a harsh thing to say. When he heard this, Zhao BaiXin’s face went white and he nodded over and over. “Yes, thank you for the guidance, Cheng Zong. I will pay attention to it in the future!”

“Come on. Come sit down, I’ll take a look at the files.” Cheng YuTang went to the living room.

Zhao BaiXin breathed a sigh of relief and sat down opposite of Cheng YuTang. He took a stack of documents from his briefcase, “Cheng Zong, it’s like this…….”

As he spoke, there was a pattering sound on the staircase, someone was coming down.

Zhao BaiXin sneaked a peek. His eyes suddenly almost popped out of their sockets. Why is this kid in Cheng Zong’s home early in the morning? This is impossible. Did he sleep here last night?

Alright, so very skilled, able to hug the golden thigh of Cheng Zong so quickly. Someone like myself who is always there at his beck and call, who spares no effort for my tasks, nevertheless, can’t be compared to someone who sells their ass to beg for favor.

Ji XiaoYu put his hand in his jacket pocket and touched the little white egg. Then he greeted Zhao BaiXin when he saw him, “Assistant Zhao, how are you?”

Zhao BaiXin smiled and said, “Hello, good.”

Since this kid had climbed into Cheng Zong’s bed, he couldn’t offend him right now, but he only offered a grudging display of respect.

Ji XiaoYu checked outside the door and said to himself, “How come the car hasn’t come yet?”

“Don’t worry, just sit down and watch TV for a while.” Cheng Zong, who had been wearing a cold expression, changed to a gentle look in a split second. He picked up the remote control and turned on the TV, adjusting to a children’s channel as if by muscle memory while continuing to look at the file.

“Okay!” Ji XiaoYu sat down on the armchair in front of the TV, watching with great interest.

Zhao BaiXin: “……”

Why did he feel like he was extraordinarily redundant?

There was an animated cartoon on the children’s channel called “Chicken Run”. The plot was very funny. The protagonist and Ji XiaoYu were also relatives of the same species, so he watched with relish, laughing over and over.

Zhao BaiXin watched and thought harshly, such a grown-up but still watching this three-year-old kid’s movie, how childish!

However, when he saw Cheng YuTang’s lips were slightly curved up, in a completely indulgent and resigned look as he listened, Zhao BaiXin had to suppress the resentment in his heart.

Over ten minutes later, a car horn sounded outside the door, the car Cheng YuTang had called.

Ji XiaoYu had only seen part of the cartoon and he was a little dissatisfied. Although his feet moved towards the door, his eyes were still glued to the TV and he couldn’t pull them away.

Cheng YuTang got up and led him out, while comforting him, “I have the DVD of this cartoon. Next time you come, you can go to the projection room and watch it from beginning to end.”

He hadn’t watched cartoons since he was ten years old, so, of course, there was no movie like “Chicken Run” in his home, but since the little thing liked it, then it should be here.

Ji XiaoYu was instantly happy, “Okay!”

Although he didn’t know when next time would be, it was always nice to have something to look forward to!

When Ji XiaoYu got in the car, he listened as Cheng YuTang said, “You go back first, there will be good news for you to hear later.”

Ji XiaoYu’s eyes went wide, “What good news?”

Cheng YuTang smiled mysteriously, saying, “You’ll know later.”

Well, since Cheng Zong liked to keep people in suspense, then he could only wait. Ji XiaoYu waved politely towards the window, “Cheng Zong, goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

Cheng YuTang watched the car leave and returned to the living room only when he couldn’t see it anymore.

Actually, there were several cars in his garage, which he could have let Ji XiaoYu drive back on his own. But the little thing had just got his driver’s license, so he wasn’t really comfortable, afraid that he might get into an accident if he wasn’t experienced enough. Also his car was too conspicuous, so he was afraid it will cause unnecessary trouble if he was allowed to drive it.

So, let’s just do it this way for the time being.

(Originally posted at tailor31415.wordpress.com, please read there)

……

Today, Ji XiaoYu should have still been on the mid-day shift, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. But the morning at Cheng YuTang’s house delayed him by a while, so he was nearly half an hour late when he got to HongSheng.

Fang DaXing, always all business, said, “Why are you here so late? According to company regulations, one hundred yuan will be deducted. This month’s full attendance award is also gone.”

Ji XiaoYu’s face went bitter as soon as he heard that. The full attendance award was calculated as 5% of the salary. He earned 4500 yuan a month, so it was 225 yuan. With the deduction, that penalty was 325 yuan in total.

Ay, I really shouldn’t have slept so late this morning. So great, almost one and a half cans of milk powder are gone.

My child, Daddy is sorry!

He worked dejectedly until noon, then Ji XiaoYu had lunch. After, he was heading back to the parking garage and, on the way, he was suddenly intercepted by Yang YiPeng. He looked at him with a complicated expression and said, “Let’s go, come to the security department office with me.”

“What’re you going to do?” Ji XiaoYu was surprised and alert as he said, “Captain, I was late this morning, but Team Leader Fang has already deducted my salary and full attendance award. There won’t be any other punishment, right?”

With black lines on his face, Yang YiPeng said, “This isn’t a punishment for you, it’s a good thing!”

“Oh, what good thing?”

“You’ll know if you come.”

Alright, it’s not a bad thing. Since everyone is drawing it out, I’ll cooperate with them. Ji XiaoYu followed Yang YiPeng to take the elevator to the security department.

Halfway up, Yang YiPeng quipped, “You did it, kid. Made the news after less than three months here.”

Ji XiaoYu was confused so he said, “What news?”

(t/n: YYP uses some fancy phrases/characters with double meanings after this, just know JXY is missing about half this context)

“Even at this time, you’re faking me out!” Yang YiPeng patted his shoulder and hummed while smiling. “Don’t think I can’t see what you’re hiding, kid. Before, this captain used to look down on you. Come on, do a good job later and keep increasing the reputation of our security department.”

What’s ‘disguising’ myself? What’s ‘brightening the luster’? Ji XiaoYu was still in a fog of confusion.

Yang YiPeng added, “Wait. Don’t talk nonsense and involve Cheng Zong if the reporter asks about him. He wants everything to be low key and to give you all the credit. And also, don’t get in trouble by bringing up something irrelevant. And don’t smear our HongSheng’s reputation. You understand?”

And what’s ‘mountain pass’ Cheng Zong? Is it……

While Ji XiaoYu was pondering, the two have arrived at the place.

He was stunned. Ooh, a lot of people! In addition to some of the guards from the security department, many HongSheng employees were also watching from a crowd and several people were mixed in holding both large and small cameras. The building’s spacious atrium was crowded with hundreds of people on all three floors.

Liang ShaoGang was also standing at the edge of the crowd and when he turned and found Ji XiaoYu there, he offered a rare smile, “Xiao Yu, you’re really something, congratulations.”

Ji XiaoYu was about to answer when suddenly there was the sound of the gongs and drums like something out of a TV drama.

Then the crowd parted into two sides, making a passage, and a young woman holding the hand of a little chubby kid and a man holding a red scroll in his hand walked quickly toward him together.

When they arrived before him, the young woman shouted with a powerful voice, “Thanks to our savior!”

The man shook out the red scroll and showed the banner to the crowd. He had written eight golden characters: “见义勇为, 情暖人间.” (“To act heroically for a just cause, warm feelings between people.”)

Ji XiaoYu: “……”

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Footnotes:

1. Heaven helps the worthy (您吉人有天相): idiom, good men are blessed, to have a life full of lucky escapes

2. To brighten the luster (增光添彩的): to increase the good reputation/name

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shine, little egg, shine!