President, Our Egg Is Lost Chapter 17-18

Then, Ji XiaoYu took the elevator down to the underground parking lot.

HongSheng's underground parking lot wasn't small in size; there were a total of 500 exclusive parking s.p.a.ces for the employees of the building. When Ji XiaoYu came down, he couldn't see anyone in the huge s.p.a.ce, just the whole area filled with all kinds of cars.

He can't help but feel a bit sad. HongSheng was really ostentatious. So many of the employees could afford to drive, but he just didn't know if he could earn enough money and become one of them.

Ji XiaoYu didn't know any of the makes or models, but as a male, he had an innate desire and love for these lumps of metal which represented speed and pa.s.sion. While walking, he looked around and stopped to enjoy the view whenever he saw a good- or cool-looking vehicle.

Pa.s.sing by an elegant model, a l.u.s.trous black, that seemed unusually upscale when he looked at it, Ji XiaoYu's eyes brightened and he couldn't help but reach out and want to touch the logo of a winged eagle on the front of the car (t/n: a Bentley). From not too far away, suddenly someone yelled, “Hey, what are you doing? Don't touch that car!”

The sound echoed as a roar in the empty, quiet parking garage, scaring Ji XiaoYu into jumping and quickly taking his hand back.

Then a security guard wearing a high-level dark blue uniform ran over and then, glaring at him as if he were a thief, questioned Ji XiaoYu, “Who are you? Sneaking around, what do you want?”

“Are you the team leader?” Ji XiaoYu, to defend his innocence, explained his intention, “I wasn't doing anything. I just saw that this car was pretty and wanted to touch it.”

Fang DaXing frowned, “You're the kid that Captain Yang said was coming from the Block A lobby? How do you not know the rules? Touching Cheng Zong's car so casually."

This is Cheng YuTang's car? No wonder, it feels quite like him. Ji XiaoYu was a little defiant as he muttered, “I wasn't stealing the car, and I wasn't sabotaging it, so what's the big deal with a touch?”

Fang DaXing looked at the puffed up "oops" pouting expression on the kid. “What's the big deal? If you get a scratch on this car's paint, you'll have to pay 100000 yuan. Can you afford it?!”

“How much?” Ji XiaoYu gasped as he s.h.i.+vered.

“One hundred thousand!”

“…….” Ji XiaoYu phased away leaving an afterimage with a "whoosh," jumping three meters away.

Just kidding, 100000 yuan, even if he sold everything, he couldn't afford it.

What a wicked, rich man!

At this moment, Ji XiaoYu was quite unhappy with Cheng Zong. The magical beast became a really infuriated beast. Even if he worked for his whole lifetime, he didn't know if he could afford just one tire.

Fang DaXing blinked his eyes and suspected that he was going blind. Then he gloated and said, “You can never think about it in this lifetime. It might be possible if you incarnate well in your next life.”

Ji XiaoYu was a little unwilling to listen those kinds of words, so he curled his lip and said, “Everyone's the same, born in the same boat1.”

Fang DaXing's face instantly turned black and he gave him a hard look, then he turned around and left.

Ji XiaoYu touched his nose, then lifted his feet and followed. Great, now I've offended my new team leader, my future days won't be easy.

After more than two hours, Ji XiaoYu was finally freed after suffering the howling wind and torrential rain of his new team leader's lecture. Leaving the parking garage, he was hungry so he took the elevator to the staff canteen on the 29th floor for dinner.

The entire 29th floor was for dining, divided into several areas, with a full range of food, Chinese and Western, j.a.panese and Korean, a coffee bar and so on, just like a food court.

However, although the security guards could eat for free, they are limited to eating in the ordinary Chinese canteen area. If they wanted to eat something else, they had to pay for it.

The taste of the meals in the Chinese canteen was far worse than that of masterpieces of Old Li. However, Ji XiaoYu didn't want to spend money and also wanted to eat as much as he could. Also, there were a variety of meals, there were dozens of kinds of meat dishes laid out. Even if the main dish was changed every day, there would still be no repeats in half a month. So what did he have to be picky about?

It was the peak mealtime, so the canteen was crowded and noisy with voices and the queue for rice was long.

Ji XiaoYu waited in line for a while before it was his turn and then he asked for two servings of meat, two servings of vegetables, and one winter melon soup, plus a kilo of rice. Although the chubby auntie at the window had already seen him a few times, every time she lamented that this young man ate a lot, as much as two other male employees combined.

The chubby auntie was happy upon seeing his pretty little face and, while serving him rice, she couldn't help but ask, “Young man, how old are you? Got a girlfriend?”

Ji XiaoYu said, “No. I'm almost 20."

“Younger than 20, so little." The chubby auntie looked a little regretful. "My oldest sister's neighbor's daughter is good, but unfortunately she's three or four years older than you. Being the older sister and supporting the man isn't the popular brother-sister relations.h.i.+p style right now."

Ji XiaoYu was stunned into laughing, "Thank you, auntie, for your good intentions. I just got a job recently, so I don't have any savings at all. If you find me a girlfriend, I'm afraid I'd starve, so forget it.”

"You're really honest and sincere, kid, so rare. Unlike many young people who are now smooth-talkers, putting on a big show in order to cheat on girls.”

“Auntie, you're flattering me. I'll just say, you don't beat around the bush……”

A male employee wearing a suit and tie behind Ji XiaoYu interrupted impatiently, “Isn't this just a little security guard? He's really sucking up to you. All this just for a free meal, and taking advantage of it so much he'll probably burst his stomach."

“Hey, hey, what are you talking about, what's wrong with being a security guard? I think it's much better than you. The young man's meal is so big but he isn't eating your rice anyway. What are you so excited about?!” The chubby auntie wasn't willing to listen to this. She thrust herself into battle and waved her spoon to fight for Ji XiaoYu.

"I, I didn't say anything…….” Seeing the tough chubby auntie was angry with him, the male employee didn't dare curse at her even though he wanted to, so he could only blush and restrain himself.

“Auntie, calm down, I take the blame for blocking the way. You're busy, so I'm going to eat.”

Ji XiaoYu was also pretty annoyed. According to his past temperament, he would have probably slammed his tray into the head of the insolent man, but the chubby auntie calmed down so quickly that he almost laughed. He secretly shot a thumbs up at the chubby auntie, then left for the dining area with his plastic tray completely full of the soup and the pile of plates.

Ji XiaoYu turned around in the canteen dining area and found that it was all full. There was a vacancy next to Fang DaXing, his new team leader, but he didn't want to sit with him, to save himself from unhappiness.

As he turned and looked, he saw a lot of empty seats on the side of the Western food area. The environment was comfortable and elegantly furnished. And Ji XiaoYu simply took his tray and went to the other side.

Just as he sat down and took a few bites, a waiter with a cloth came to clean up the table next to him. Inadvertently seeing the plastic tray Ji XiaoYu was using, he couldn't help but speak, “How could a regular canteen customer come over here for dinner?”

The waiter may have spoken mindlessly, with a soft voice, but it was enough for Ji XiaoYu to hear every word and he suddenly choked a little on the food in his mouth.

Wasn't he just eating a meal? How can there be so many problems? Human beings, these creatures, were really more troublesome than spiritual beasts.

Ji XiaoYu was considering whether he should pretend to be deaf and dumb and continue to eat on the Western food area or go back to the canteen area when suddenly a clear, cold voice came from his side, “The dishes on your plate look good, would you mind giving me a taste?”

Ji XiaoYu looked up and saw that it actually was Cheng YuTang.

Watching this President Cheng sitting down across the table nonchalantly, Ji XiaoYu was both confused and reluctant as he said, “I could say yes, but after I give you some, I probably won't have enough to eat.”

Cheng Zong, what's the problem here? You don't want to go to the cafeteria to eat by yourself? Why'd you come to beg me for food? He had just been envious of the rich and, at this time, he really didn't want to see this man whose family value was said to be incalculable.

Moreover, as a pheasant spirit, he was a very protective eater. He also didn't want to go back to the canteen to squeeze into the queue again for a long time.

Cheng YuTang: “……..”

Can this little thing be any more stingy? Does he really want to eat the canteen dishes that never sell out and can't even attract people's appet.i.te?! If it hadn't been for what I just heard…….

Forget it, he, the honorable Cheng Zong, didn't hold any regard for commoners2, and he wouldn't lower himself to argue with this cheapskate.

Cheng YuTang turned to the waiter on the side who had been petrified on the spot and said, “Give me an package – wait a moment.

“How well-done do you usually have your steak?”

Realizing Cheng YuTang was asking himself this question. Ji XiaoYu, with no knowledge, replied, "Me? Cooked however."

Cheng Zong, you're having a steak and asking me how I cook it, just to flaunt your wealth?

Although Ji XiaoYu had watched other people eat steak a lot, he himself had never properly eaten it. How would he know how well-done to cook it?

Not that he didn't want to eat it, he just couldn't afford to eat it. When he first came over to the Western dining area, he had glanced at the signboard outside. The cheapest one was more than 100 yuan. It was just too expensive for a poor man, no, a poor beast, like him. It was just too cruel.

Cheng YuTang told the waiter, "Cook it medium."

The waiter stammered, "Al-alright, Cheng Zong, please, please wait, I'll be right back," and then quickly went to the kitchen to place the order.

There were many employees around watching, seeing Cheng Zong and the new little security guard sitting at a table. They are both surprised and puzzled. Did Cheng Zong come here today to observe the mood of the ma.s.ses?

They were so jealous and envious, what kind of dumb luck does that kid have?! Release the president and let us come over instead!

Ji XiaoYu felt the heavy gazes and serious condemnation that were pouring onto himself and felt uncomfortable all over. Plus, the person opposite was staring at him without blinking an eye – at the dishes (?). This really made this pheasant feel extreme pressure.

Forget it, the president is taller than a mountain. By annoying this man, he was afraid that his job would be a shaky ground. If he wanted to eat, he'd just have to split with him.

So Ji XiaoYu got up and, taking a bowl and a pair of chopsticks from the other side of the canteen area, he split out about one-third of his own dishes and handed the bowl to the other man. He grudgingly said, “Now, Cheng Zong, eat.”

Cheng Zong: “……..Thank you.”

Cheng YuTang looked at the stirred-up mess in the bowl and couldn't tell how much of the other guy's saliva had been mixed in. His mood was a little complicated. He must have said that sentence earlier because of some sudden evil impulse. Was it too late to take it back now?

—

Footnotes:
1. Born in the same boat (彼此彼此): idiom meaning everyone is no better or worse than each other ↩
2. CYT uses DaRen ( historical term of address towards superiors) to refer to himself here and XiaoRen (historical term of address towards a person of low standing) to refer to others ↩

—

Cheng YuTang, it's an indirect kiss though ? be happy

Ji XiaoYu took a big bite and saw Cheng YuTang didn't move his chopsticks for a long time. While chewing, he vaguely said, “Cheng Zong, you're rude, ah. If you're rude, your future wife won't want to cook for you.”

Alright, I'll eat, I'll kneel down and eat all the dishes you want.

Cheng YuTang took a bite, his mind set, and began to eat.

After a while, the waiter came to serve a large steak on the iron plate, carrying an overflowing aroma of oil. Ji XiaoYu's saliva instantly started flowing.

Looking at his watering mouth, Cheng YuTang found it a little amusing. Picking up the knife and fork, he cut the steak and placed almost half of it in Ji XiaoYu's plate, gracefully saying, “Courtesy demands reciprocity1.”

Wow, so good! Cheng Zong, you're really generous!

Ji XiaoYu used a fork to lift up the steak and with an "ohmmm" took a big bite. Then he watched a drop of dark red liquid bleed from the meat, suddenly it seemed not so good.

What is 'cooked medium', this meat is still raw! Cheng Zong, you're actually just a wolf wearing human skin, right?

Cheng YuTang watched him with the large piece of meat, puffing out his cheeks and sitting stiff and motionless there, so he asked as he raised an eyebrow, “What, doesn't it taste good?”

On the side, the waiter's face blanched to white and with a pleading expression, he looked to Ji XiaoYu for pity.

The word "no" came to Ji XiaoYu's lips, but after all, this would be too harsh, it was the guy's job, life wasn't easy for everyone, so he chewed and changed his words in that moment, “Not bad, it's very tender.”

Besides, Cheng YuTang could eat it. If, as a big spiritual beast, he was afraid to eat it, he would lose too much face.

Besides, this steak costs 180 yuan, so my half is about 90 yuan. It's made to eat, not to waste.

The waiter was relieved, shooting Ji XiaoYu a look of grat.i.tude.

“That's good.” Cheng YuTang cut a small piece of beef and placed it in his mouth, thinking that the cook might have been showing off today, the steak seemed to be cooked a little more tender than ever before.

Because his principle of wasting nothing shamed him, Ji XiaoYu ate the entire not-too-small half of the steak and, together with the pile of dishes and large bowl of winter melon soup on the tray, it all disappeared.

It had to be said that Ji XiaoYu's eating wasn't elegant in the least, but this style of eating and delicious appearance made the appet.i.te of anyone watching increase. In addition, Cheng YuTang was also surprised by the size of Ji XiaoYu's meal. This little thing looks so thin, I can't see how he can eat all this. If anyone was going to support him, they wouldn't be able to afford it unless they earned a lot of money……

Ji Xiao Yu was completely satisfied. He stretched out the tip of his tongue, licking from one side of his lips to the other, catching the sauce at the corners of his mouth. That tender red muscle flicked back and forth playfully between his little white teeth.

Cheng YuTang's expression went stiff in an instant and who knew where a burst of heat came from within his body, going straight to his gut.

Ji XiaoYu saw that his look changed and he couldn't help but ask, “Cheng Zong, what happened to you? Are you not feeling well?”

Cheng Zong, of course, couldn't tell the truth, so he replied vaguely, “No, I'm just thinking about a work problem.”

He's truly worthy of being a president, so dedicated, even while eating a meal, he still worries about official business. Impressed, Ji XiaoYu said, “Then you think about it carefully, I'll leave first.”

Cheng YuTang gave a stiff, cold nod, but in his heart, he was crying out in chagrin. With a seemingly unintentional s.h.i.+ft of his seating position, he used the table to block the part that had reacted a little.

Ji XiaoYu was completely unaware, consciously gathering up his tableware to put it in the collection cart in the canteen. Then he left the restaurant humming a song.

……

Ji XiaoYu took the shortcut from HongSheng Building to return to the HongLe Garden dorm building. He threw the dirty clothes he had changed out of on his first day into the was.h.i.+ng machine and pressed the switch, then went to take a shower in the bathroom. After was.h.i.+ng, he sat cross-legged on the sofa in the living room, picking up the remote control once he sat down and turning on the TV.

Ji XiaoYu liked watching TV and he especially liked to watch all kinds of series with exaggerated dogblood plots, because they were a lot more exciting than real life. In the past, he was unable or he was too busy at work, so he rarely had the opportunity to watch anything. But since he had been admitted as a security guard to HongLe Garden, he now had time free to watch.

After skimming the channels, Ji XiaoYu settled on a certain station's broadcast of “Secret Garden on the Top Floor”. This was a modern day workplace emotional drama, telling the story of a company president who fell in love with a little clerk. The male and female leads were pretty eye-catching and he watched with great interest.

After he had watched the two episodes, at 10pm, Liang ShaoGang came back. Ji XiaoYu stood up and presented him with a standard military salute, shouting loudly, “The team leader has worked hard!”

Liang ShaoGang originally had a wooden face but after hearing this, he couldn't keep himself from smiling. He patted Ji XiaoYu's head. This kid is really such a living treasure.

When Ji XiaoYu had reported in, Yang YiPeng had made personnel adjustments to the dozens of security guards under himself, one of which was to promote Liang ShaoGang, who had been performing well since he joined the company, to the team leader position for the HongSheng Building Block A. Now Liang ShaoGang was in charge of managing and coordinating the work of all the Block A security guards. The working hours were more flexible, unlike his previous eight-hour s.h.i.+ft, but he was a little more busy than before.

However, since he promoted, his salary had been raised accordingly. Although Ji XiaoYu didn't know how much of a raise Liang ShaoGang had received and he wasn't his team leader since he had been transferred to the parking garage, he was still happy for Liang ShaoGang.

After a few words of greeting, Liang ShaoGang went to take a shower, so Ji XiaoYu hung his clothes up on the balcony and went back to the room to sleep and incubate his egg.

In the middle of the night, while sleeping, Ji XiaoYu heard the sound of a "bang" and instantly woke up.

Then, from next door, the tapping of footsteps and the creaking of a chair could be heard. It turned out that Liu WeiRen had returned from his night s.h.i.+ft.

Ji XiaoYu couldn't help but have a headache. Every time this person came back in the middle of the night, he made a lot of noise, like he had a grudge against something in the house, falling down and hitting everything around.

His and Liu WeiRen's rooms were separated by a wall, but it wasn't a load-bearing wall, so it was relatively thin and the sound through there was slightly louder than usual. Liu ShaoGang might not hear anything, but it would be transmitted to Ji XiaoYu. Plus Ji XiaoYu's hearing was more sensitive than an average person's, so the messy sounds that entered his ears were magnified several times and became an uproar.

During the National Day holiday, the same thing happened twice when Liu WeiRen returned in the middle of the night and, because of it, Ji XiaoYu couldn't sleep for a long time. On the first day, he endured, stuffing two lumps of cotton in his ears to deal with it. But the next day, he couldn't help but get up and knock at the door, to ask him to move a little softer. At that time, Liu WeiRen had probably been sleepy too, because he didn't say much in reply and had just agreed impatiently.

But here they were again today, did that guy forget or was he not taking it seriously at all?

Ji XiaoYu buried his head in the pillow, lying in bed, too lazy to move. He closed his eyes to meditate deep down, this little master will give you another 10 minutes to correct your ways.

Just as he started thinking this, the footsteps from next door went out into the living room and then went into the bathroom. It seems that Liu WeiRen was going to take a shower.

With the quiet outside restored, Ji XiaoYu gradually got sleepy again.

“I want to live in full bloom! Just like flying in the vast sky, just like pa.s.sing through the boundless wilderness, having the power to break free from everything…….”

In his momentary haziness, a high-pitched and impa.s.sioned song suddenly broke out from next door, shocking Ji XiaoYu so much he almost rolled out of bed.

After he howled for a bit, Liu WeiRen briefly quieted for a few minutes. Ji XiaoYu was in a state of suspicion. He heard a burst of a crackling, brittle noise and it took him a few seconds to react. This had to be the sound of tapping on a computer keyboard.

It was so late and this guy had just come back from his night s.h.i.+ft – did he still have the spirit and energy to play on the computer? Ji XiaoYu, who had always had a very healthy routine, really couldn't understand it.

“c.u.n.tianGuiHua, you gotta TMD2 jump!”

(t/n: a username)

“Jump at the airport, you idiot!”

“TNND dares to grab Laozi's M16, impatient to death!”

“f.u.c.k, Laozi 凸凸 at you!”

(t/n: he's probably playing PUBG, lol)

“……..”

Ji XiaoYu couldn't understand what Liu WeiRen was playing, but was shocked to his core by the sudden swearing. The feathers on his invisible tail blew open wide like flower petals and he was suddenly full of anger with nowhere to strike. NND, I'm still sleeping, d.a.m.n it.

This little master hadn't raised a hand to you, do you think I'm a weak pheasant?!

Ji XiaoYu turned on the bedside lamp, jumped out of bed from under the quilt, and went out to the bedroom next door, giving a "knock knock knock" to the door.

No one came to open the door. Liu WeiRen was still yelling in there.

Ji XiaoYu applied a little force with his hand, and the locked spherical k.n.o.b on the door popped open, then he pushed the door ajar.

The room was bright with light and Liu WeiRen was sitting back in his computer chair with his headphones on and his back to the door. While tapping on his keyboard, he shouted, completely unaware of Ji XiaoYu's entrance.

Ji XiaoYu took a few steps forward, grabbed the cup of cold water from the table, and directly poured it out over Liu WeiRen's head.

“Ah–”

Liu WeiRen was playing the game as he was suddenly drenched in cold water and he was so scared that he has threw his mouse as he jumped out of his chair.

Turning his head and seeing it was Ji XiaoYu, Liu WeiRen instantly hardened his expression. He pulled his headphones off and wiped the water off his face, scolding, “What do you TMD want?!”

Ji XiaoYu didn't want to wake Liang ShaoGang, so he resisted the urge to scold him and said, “If you don't want me to do anything, just keep your voice down and don't disturb my sleep.”

Liu WeiRen rolled up his sleeves, flexing his arm and showing off his muscles, and said fiercely, "So what if Laozi wants to make noise?"

Ji XiaoYu looked around and then picked up a steel barbell rod from the table on the side. He hefted it a few times in his hand and then, under Liu WeiRen's watchful gaze, easily bent it, as if he were playing with playdough. He messed with the rod until the ends met to form a ring and then placed it on Liu WeiRen's head. He said in a casual tone, “I'm afraid that you'll turn out just like this thing. What do you think?”

“…….”

Liu WeiRen, like a dog, ended up with a big collar hanging around his neck, shocked and stunned. His jaw dropped so far it could have been dislocated and he couldn't respond.

“Liu Ge, you're just having a dream right now. Don't tell anyone. Even if you say it, I won't admit it,” Ji XiaoYu kindly reminded him. He slapped his hands together to clean off non-existent dirt, then turned around and walked out. “I'm going to sleep early, good night.”

After that, there wasn't a single sound from next door. Ji XiaoYu could finally get a solid night's rest.

—

Footnotes:
1. Courtesy demands reciprocity (礼尚往来): saying based on an idiom, figuratively to return politeness with politeness ↩
2. TMD: f.u.c.king/f.u.c.ker, literally 'his mother'; TNND: f.u.c.king/f.u.c.ker, literally 'his grandmother'; NND: f.u.c.king/f.u.c.ker, literally 'grandmother' ↩

—

Cheng YuTang's control is being tested…. meanwhile let's all cheer for our little pheasant showing this jerk roommate who's the boss!