Volume One: High School Days Chapter 75: Don’t Regret It

The next day, because of his habit of lingering in bed, Yagyu was late for work, which aroused the displeasure of Supervisor Zhu.

“What’s going on with you two? Late on your second day? Do you think this is not a real company?” Supervisor Zhu berated them angrily.

Yagyu took it in stride, but Ren Xiaodong’s fiery temper could not tolerate such words. “So we were late, what’s the big deal? Is it worth getting so worked up? If you want to dock my pay, go ahead. I honestly don’t care about your measly salary!”

Hearing Ren Xiaodong’s retort, Supervisor Zhu’s anger flared even higher; and worse, this was in the office area, in front of all the employees, making him lose face.

He snapped, “Do you think this is your home? You come and go as you please? Are you living up to the company’s expectations? Are you living up to your parents?”

“What does this have to do with my parents? Watch your words, will you? I hate it when people use my parents to pressure me!” Ren Xiaodong shot back, undaunted.

This time, Supervisor Zhu was thoroughly incensed, pointing at the two and shouting, “Get out! I don’t need employees like you!”

Yagyu remained silent. Yesterday, he had almost been dismissed for smoking, and only Manager Sun’s intervention had allowed the two of them to stay. Supervisor Zhu had been disgruntled about that, so now he was especially “attentive” to the pair. Yagyu understood this well, which was why he let Ren Xiaodong talk back.

“The company’s leadership, such a big deal, but his mouth reeks!” Ren Xiaodong laughed as he spoke.

Everyone in the editing department snickered quietly. At this moment, Wang Yi stepped forward and addressed Supervisor Zhu: “Supervisor Zhu, they’re new, probably haven’t adapted to the work schedule yet. Give them another chance.”

Because Yagyu had helped her yesterday, Wang Yi felt grateful and spoke up for them.

Supervisor Zhu looked at Wang Yi, heard the laughter of the staff, and finally said, “Well, since Wang Yi asks, I’ll listen to her.”

Then he glared at Yagyu and Ren Xiaodong, threatening, “This is your last chance. Otherwise, I really will kick you two out!”

Ren Xiaodong was so furious at Supervisor Zhu’s insults that she almost wanted to hit him, but Yagyu quickly stopped her, saying, “Supervisor Zhu, it was wrong of us to be late, but it’s not appropriate for you to curse at us, is it?”

Supervisor Zhu retorted, “So what if I curse at you? With one word, I can have you both packing up and gone! Today, each of you must finish twice the amount of work others do before you can leave! If you can’t, prepare to sleep at the company!”

For the sake of fulfilling their tasks, Yagyu pulled Ren Xiaodong back to their desks. Once seated, Ren Xiaodong grumbled, “Why’d you pull me back? I could teach that little punk a lesson in minutes!”

Yagyu replied, “Once we finish our tasks, you won’t need to do anything. I’ll show him how to treat people. What’s the rush? Besides, today really was our fault.”

Soon, Supervisor Zhu assigned them an enormous amount of work. Yagyu looked at his list, smiled, and muttered to himself, “Who does he think he’s underestimating?”

Before starting, Yagyu glanced at Wang Yi, who was working diligently, and asked, “Why does that pig listen to you so much?”

Wang Yi was so absorbed in her work that she didn’t hear him. Yagyu chuckled to himself, then snatched Wang Yi’s keyboard. Before she could react, he was already typing rapidly.

By the time Wang Yi realized what had happened, Yagyu had finished her day’s work. She stared at the completed tasks on the screen and asked, “Is it done already?”

“Of course!” Yagyu replied with a grin.

“My god, I haven’t even figured out how it works, and you’ve finished! Are you some sort of immortal sent to earth?”

Yagyu ignored her question and instead asked, “Why does Supervisor Zhu listen to you so much?”

Wang Yi thought for a moment and said, “Alright, I don’t mind telling you, everyone knows anyway. Supervisor Zhu’s uncle is the deputy director of Human Resources. I was interviewed by Deputy Director Zhu, and after I started working, he told me that my abilities weren’t up to their standards, but he intervened behind the scenes to keep me.”

Ren Xiaodong, puzzled, asked, “Why would he do that?”

Yagyu answered, “Isn’t it obvious? Because our Wang Yi is a beautiful woman!”

Wang Yi laughed when she heard Yagyu praise her, replying, “Exactly. Later, Deputy Director Zhu kept pursuing me, but then I found out he was married, so I rejected him. After that, he kept harassing me, but I never responded.”

“No wonder Supervisor Zhu listens to you,” Yagyu remarked. At that moment, Supervisor Zhu’s voice echoed, “Yagyu, Ren Xiaodong! If you two don’t want to work, don’t drag Wang Yi into it! With your status, you think you’re worthy of talking to Wang Yi? You’d better look in the mirror and see what you really are! Do you even know your place?”

Ren Xiaodong instinctively rose to her feet, but Yagyu stopped her again. She was so angry her teeth ached, the fire in her heart refusing to die down. If not for Yagyu holding her back, she would have bitten a chunk out of Supervisor Zhu.

After a long while, Ren Xiaodong finally calmed down a bit. Yagyu took five minutes to finish Ren Xiaodong’s work, then another five minutes to complete his own. At last, the two of them slumped over their desks and fell asleep.

Wang Yi, seeing how lightly Yagyu was dressed, felt a pang of concern and covered him with her jacket. Supervisor Zhu noticed everything.

Supervisor Zhu thought to himself, “If they fail to finish their work today, I’ll have my uncle fire them for incompetence, and use the excuse of harassing Wang Yi. If my uncle hears about that, it’ll be enough to ruin them!”

Five minutes before lunch break, Yagyu suddenly heard the sound of the boss’s office door opening. He quickly opened his eyes but remained slumped over. A moment later, the sound of the safe opening reached his ears.

From the noises, Yagyu deduced the sequence: two turns to the left, one turn back, then the sound of the keypad—password 7273.

Yagyu smiled, got up, woke Ren Xiaodong, noticed Wang Yi’s jacket on himself, and said to her, “Thank you, here’s your jacket back. Let’s go eat together.”

The three of them collected their lunch and sat together. Yagyu heard the boss’s office was empty, then paused time and entered the office. Following the method he’d heard, he opened the safe. Inside, besides cash and a handgun, there was a dossier.

Yagyu took out the dossier, quickly flipped through it, and smiled. “Finally found it!” He took out his phone and photographed every page.

The dossier contained records of transfers from Aochuang to the boss of Maier; every transaction was clearly documented.

After finishing, Yagyu returned the dossier to its place, returned to the cafeteria, relaxed his eyes, and restored time. He then excused himself to the restroom and called Steward Jin.

“Hello, Yagyu. Are you having difficulties?”

“Steward Jin, how’s your health lately?”

“I’m well. But you, why are you calling?”

“I’ve found what you asked me to investigate. The boss of Maier is indeed connected to Aochuang. I’ve seen their transfer records, and I’ll send them to you now.”

“Wait a moment, Master Hu wants to speak with you.”

The mention of Master Hu made Yagyu nervous. What did this mean?

“Hello, Yagyu.”

An elderly voice came through the phone.

“Hello, Hu... Master Hu,” Yagyu stammered.

“Yagyu, good job. You haven’t disappointed me.”

“I’ll send you the evidence I have right after we hang up.”

“That’s not necessary. I have more evidence than you do. I just wanted to test your abilities. I didn’t expect you to find clues so quickly, only on your second day.”

“What should I do next?”

“Aochuang, to expand its influence and eliminate rivals, bribed the boss of Maier. Using his admin status, Maier’s boss helped Aochuang take out three competitors. Aochuang violated the peace agreement, and Maier’s boss acted against Huayong as well. From now on, you don’t need to worry about anything—I’ll handle it.”

“So you knew everything all along. Looks like you just played me for a while.”

“How is that playing? Just wait until the end of the month, when you’ll take over Maier Film Company and the authority of the city administrator!”

“What? Maier is mine? And the management authority?”

“Yes. Originally, I thought it would take you much longer to find the evidence, so I wanted you to spend some time in the company to get familiar with it. But your efficiency is impressive. At the end of the month, little Jin will help you take over Maier. For this week, just remain an ordinary employee, make your undercover observations.”

With that, Master Hu hung up.

Yagyu thought to himself, “I’ve already learned everything about the company yesterday. Well, since I’m to be a regular employee for a week, I’ll play the part.”

He returned to the cafeteria, where Ren Xiaodong and Wang Yi were now joined by two others: Supervisor Zhu and his uncle, Deputy Director Zhu.

As Yagyu approached, Supervisor Zhu pointed at him and said, “That’s her, always pestering Wang Yi!”

Deputy Director Zhu, displeased, said, “You think you’re worthy of Wang Yi? A penniless nobody, and you dare to compete with me for a woman!”

Yagyu saw Supervisor Zhu smirking, instantly understanding that Zhu had embellished the story for his uncle. But since Master Hu wanted him to stay as a regular employee for a week, he said nothing.

Ren Xiaodong clenched her chopsticks tightly, but Yagyu shook his head at her.

Deputy Director Zhu grabbed Yagyu’s collar and growled, “I was going to fire you, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ll keep you here and torment you slowly!”

Yagyu still said nothing. Deputy Director Zhu, thinking he’d intimidated Yagyu, turned to Wang Yi and said, “How could you like a loser like this? Watch how I make him suffer!”

With that, Deputy Director Zhu left the cafeteria. Supervisor Zhu threw out, “Prepare to die!” and followed.

Ren Xiaodong said, “Yagyu! What’s wrong with you? Where’s your usual fiery temper?”

Yagyu picked up his chopsticks and ate calmly. “Don’t worry. They’ll regret it.”

Wang Yi wiped away tears and said, “I’m sorry, it’s all because of me.”

Yagyu smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ll help you with your work for the next few days.”

Wang Yi felt Yagyu was too good to her. She wanted to hug him, but quickly withdrew her hand, afraid others would see and report to Deputy Director Zhu, making things worse for Yagyu.

After lunch, Yagyu took Ren Xiaodong to the hallway to smoke. Ren Xiaodong began, “What is it about you? Another girl has fallen into your trap!”

Yagyu was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t pretend. You’re the type who gives hope to everyone but doesn’t commit. In short, you make people believe, but you never get involved!” Ren Xiaodong said, clearly disapproving.

Yagyu didn’t pursue the topic, but instead told Ren Xiaodong about taking over Maier. Once she understood, Ren Xiaodong was thrilled. “So, if we hold out for another week, we can settle old and new scores with those two pigs?”

Yagyu nodded.

Ren Xiaodong grew even more excited. “Damn, that’s going to be so satisfying!”