Chapter 41: Employee Number One (32k)

No one was at the door of 0418.

Chen Yansen raised his hand to check his watch; it was 7:57 PM, three minutes until eight. He felt no sense of loss; instead, a trace of relief arose in his heart.

He pushed the door open, walked inside, and began unbuttoning his shirt from top to bottom. When he reached the last button, a "knock-knock-knock" sound came from outside the door.

Chen Yansen's expression instantly froze, a flash of annoyance passing through his eyes, but he quickly came to his senses, let out a long sigh, and replaced his look with a reckless, rogueish grin.

Women are all the same!

Chen Yansen sneered disdainfully, walked to the door, and slowly pulled it open.

Song Yuncheng stood at the door, clutching her computer, timid. Unlike her fierce demeanor when they first met, she now radiated defensiveness from head to toe.

"Why are you just standing there? Come in!"

Chen Yansen patted the door panel and said in a harsh tone.

"Oh."

Song Yuncheng bit her lip, glanced up at Chen Yansen. His face was sharply defined, a wicked smile hanging at the corner of his mouth; he was indeed handsome, but he really didn't look like a good person.

In an instant, the courage she had mustered with such difficulty vanished completely. Just as she wanted to step back and turn to run, Chen Yansen grabbed her collar by the scruff, dragged her inside with a face full of disgust.

"Clang!"

The heavy door slammed shut!

"Let's begin."

Chen Yansen sat on the sofa and instructed Song Yuncheng.

"Begin what?"

Song Yuncheng's heart pounded; she had thought she was prepared, but she never expected that just the sound of the door closing would throw her mind into complete chaos.

"Of course, the interview. I'm giving you one more chance; based on your performance just now, in the past, you would have been eliminated by me long ago."

Chen Yansen gave a light snort, his face showing dissatisfaction.

"Ah? Fine, fine, right away."

Song Yuncheng bit her lip hard, forcing herself out of her daze. She carefully spread out her notebook, plugged in the USB drive, opened a file, and said:

"Here is my portfolio, including product design sketches, e-commerce posters, and brand logos. Which one do you want to see first?"

"Look at all of them."

Chen Yansen said indifferently; graphic design works from over a decade ago were mostly ugly and tacky. He mainly wanted to examine Song Yuncheng's design philosophy and basic skills.

Song Yuncheng nodded, dragged the mouse, and introduced her design works to Chen Yuncheng one by one.

As he had predicted, her portfolio was like a millennium-era design courseware; there was really nothing outstanding to be seen.

"Are you short on money?"

Chen Yuncheng shook his head, then looked at Song Yuncheng and asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

Song Yuncheng half-squatted before the coffee table. Hearing Chen Yuncheng's question out of the blue, she answered instinctively, then immediately followed up with another question.

"At your level, you're not qualified to be a UI designer. How about I offer you a new role: my part-time girlfriend, ten thousand a month."

Chen Yuncheng said lightly; he had said this kind of thing many times before, only the price offered and the target were different each time.

"Chen Yuncheng, I knew you had no good intentions! I just want to earn money through my own abilities. You haven't even given a single design requirement; on what basis do you say I'm not good enough?"

Song Yuncheng was like a cat with its bristles standing on end; she suddenly stood up, shouted at Chen Yuncheng, and pulled out a brick the size of a palm.

No wonder her pocket was bulging; she was hiding a weapon!

She was fierce, looking as if she would smash the brick onto Chen Yuncheng's head at the slightest disagreement.

"You have one hour to design a cartoon character for a shopping website, similar to those of Taobao and JD. com."

Chen Yuncheng squinted, sized her up for a moment, then spoke.

Seeing Song Yuncheng raise the brick, he couldn't help but smile; there were many pretty girls, but he preferred the interesting ones.

"If you do this again, I won't be polite; I'll smash your head directly."

Song Yuncheng's cheeks flushed red, and she warned angrily.

"Yes, yes, yes. So, do you accept this interview requirement of mine?"

Chen Yuncheng crossed his arms, clearly not taking her threat seriously.

"Hmph! One hour it is."

Song Yuncheng picked up her computer, pulled out the chair beside the dining table, and buried herself in work on her own.

Chen Yuncheng smiled faintly, picked up his pajamas and bath towel, and walked into the bathroom without looking back.

A moment later, the sound of "splash-splash-splash" water came out.

Song Yuncheng's hand holding the mouse paused; she couldn't help but recall the scene from their first meeting: she was showering in the bathroom while Chen Yuncheng waited outside.

"Ten thousand a month; he's really paying a lot."

Song Yuncheng thought to herself. She had checked on recruitment websites; for a second-tier university graduate like her with small design skills, getting a monthly salary of six thousand after graduation was already a blessing from heaven, and that was only in first-tier cities like Shanghai, Beijing, or Shenzhen.

"Song Yuncheng, what kind of nonsense is this 'part-time girlfriend'? Sounds nice, but isn't it just being his mistress? Remember, you must never compromise!"

Sensing the wavering in her heart, Song Yuncheng hurriedly admonished herself.

When people are busy, an hour often passes in the blink of an eye.

After finishing his shower, Chen Yuncheng wiped his hair, glanced into the living room, saw Song Yuncheng still drawing, then walked back to the bedroom, lay on the bed, and started chatting with Meng Jie.

As they chatted, he actually fell asleep.

In the dream, Wang Ziyan wore a Chanel suit, radiating an aura of power, and beckoned to him, saying: "Chen Yuncheng, do you think being reborn means you can escape?"

"Wang Ziyan, I'd marry a pig or a dog before I'd marry you!"

Chen Yuncheng turned and ran; luckily, there was a bicycle by the roadside. He plopped onto it and pedaled furiously.

"Chen Yuncheng, wake up! Wake up quickly!"

In a daze, an urgent voice rang out. Chen Yansen felt the world ahead of him collapse rapidly. He jerked his eyes open and let out a long breath before realizing he had been dreaming again.

"Chen Yansen, I've designed it according to your requirements. Take a look."

Song Yuncheng looked at Chen Yansen with a strange expression, secretly wondering: Who is Wang Ziyan? How could she frighten this bastard so badly?

Chen Yansen sat up on the bed, turned his head to look at Song Yuncheng crouching by the bed, and said with a bitter smile: "I thought you'd left long ago. Let me see."

On the screen was a lively, cute little fox, orange and white in color, with a gold coin hanging from its ear and a gold ingot cradled in its paws.

"I've done my research. What you want is a rebate-type shopping-guide e-commerce platform—what ads call a CPS model. The little fox symbolizes cleverness and quick-wittedness, matching the site's feature of helping users shop smart and earn rebates…"

Song Yuncheng earnestly explained her design concept and the subtle clever details within it.

Chen Yansen gazed at her profile—very fair skin with a faint flush, a wisp of soft hair falling by her ear, a rounded nose bridge lending a touch of innocent charm, lips a little dry but an extremely pretty pale pink.

"Actually, you don't have to work this hard. Being my girlfriend isn't something shameful."

Chen Yansen suddenly spoke up.

"Do you still want your head?"

Song Yuncheng, interrupted, frowned and waved the brick as she spoke.

"Monthly salary 2000, two days off a week, six hours a day on the job. If you have classes, you can make them up on weekends. Pay at the end of the month."

Chen Yansen gave a dry laugh and said in a serious tone.

"You mean I passed the interview?"

Song Yuncheng pointed at herself and asked back in disbelief.

She knew Chen Yansen harbored ill intentions, but for that sliver of hope she had still prepared thoroughly. She had expected Chen Yansen to mock her a couple of times, then say smugly: "Sorry, you're not good enough. We can't hire you!"

"One-month probation. If you don't perform, get lost!"

Chen Yansen added harshly.

"Thank you, boss. I'll work hard!"

Song Yuncheng promised with a beaming smile, her grin radiant, the usual worry gone from her face.

"But what I asked for was one hour. Do you see what time it is now?"

Chen Yansen raised his hand and shoved the watch dial right in front of Song Yuncheng's eyes: "22:47. You took nearly three hours!"

"You slept for three hours. I couldn't wake you no matter what."

Song Yuncheng braced herself and lied—this job had not come easily, and she didn't want to lose it.

"In that case, you're not going back to the dorm—you plan to stay here?"

Chen Yansen raised an eyebrow, reminding her.

Song Yuncheng froze for a moment, then came to her senses. She grabbed the computer, flung open the door without hesitation, and bolted down the stairs.

Five minutes later.

Chen Yansen stood on the balcony and saw Song Yuncheng crouching in front of the girls' dormitory in the distance, looking as if she wanted to knock but didn't dare. He couldn't help finding it funny.

He picked up his phone and called: "I'm here. The sofa can still fit a person."

"No need. I'll… I'll go call the dorm supervisor."

Song Yuncheng's voice was listless, drained of energy.

"I'll wait for you at most five minutes. If you don't come, I'm locking the door. Let me be blunt—if you dare wake me up, don't bother showing up at the startup park tomorrow."

Chen Yansen didn't waste words with her and hung up decisively.

Knowing Song Yuncheng's temper, if she really dared call the dorm supervisor, she would have done so long ago—why wait until now?

If the dorm supervisor came, she'd first register the department, then the student ID, and later mark her down for staying out overnight.

Sure enough.

Song Yuncheng trudged back dejectedly, the broken brick clutched tight in her hand.

"The living room has air conditioning. Disposable underwear and a bath towel are in the storage cabinet by the door. Get them yourself. I'm going to sleep."

Chen Yansen gave a few brief instructions, turned, and went back to his room.

"Thank-thank you, Chen—boss."

Before Song Yuncheng could finish, Chen Yansen had already gone into his room.

She smiled awkwardly, rummaged through the spot Chen Yansen had mentioned, took out a pack of disposable underwear and a bath towel, and tiptoed into the bathroom.

That half-brick—she had been gripping it for most of the night.

It wasn't until the small hours that the brick fell to the floor with a "clatter." She had forced herself to stay awake for hours, but the thing she had been dreading never happened. In the end, unable to hold on any longer, she collapsed onto the sofa and fell fast asleep.

"Maybe Chen Yansen isn't that bad." That was her last thought before drifting off.

The next morning.

Chen Yansen found Song Yuncheng still sound asleep, her breathing heavy, her white T-shirt rolled up above her belly, exposing a stretch of fair skin, her little stomach without a trace of fat.

"Heh, with her stingy ways, it'd be a wonder if she got fat."

Chen Yansen chuckled, thought for a moment, took a blanket, and tossed it casually over her. Seeing no reaction, he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, changed into a clean set of clothes, and headed straight for the startup park.

Just as he entered the startup park, Chen Yansen saw Cao Dahua greeting him with a face full of smiles: "Xiao Chen, you came at just the right time. I saw you had some empty space, so I got you a few sets of office desks and chairs."

How could this guy be so kind?

Chen Yansen looked suspicious, instantly on guard.

(End of chapter)