TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 5

Maybe it was because of the “yu” in his name, but Zhuang Yanyu and fish seemed to be a perfect match.

With his fishing rod in hand, he didn’t need more than five minutes to catch a fish each time. And as time passed, the fish he caught kept getting bigger.

All the fish seemed to be heading toward Zhuang Yanyu’s spot, making Ji Zhiyuan and Li Xi, who had just teased Wen Chenxi for not catching any fish, quite envious.

Li Xi remarked, “Xiao Zhuang, didn’t you say this was your first time fishing? How are you this good?”

Zhuang Yanyu responded, “It really is my first time.”

Ji Zhiyuan said jealously, “Is this like playing mahjong, where beginners always have better luck?”

Li Xi chimed in, “Don’t joke; that might actually be the case.”

Zhuang Yanyu looked over at Wen Chenxi.

The young employee’s face showed clear anticipation, as if he was waiting for some praise.

Wen Chenxi smiled. “You’re really good; I didn’t catch a single one earlier.”

Zhuang Yanyu immediately became serious. “I’ll help you.”

He’d catch fish on behalf of his buddy, too!

Ji Zhiyuan, with his extensive background in the entertainment industry, was adept at engaging with all sorts of people. So, while Zhuang Yanyu waited for a fish to bite, Ji Zhiyuan began to ask casual questions—how old he was, where he went to school, who his family members were. On the surface, they were ordinary questions, but subtly, Ji Zhiyuan had already pieced together quite a bit about Zhuang Yanyu’s background.

Wen Chenxi frowned. He knew his friend’s tendencies, but this young employee looked too innocent—like the type who’d even help count the money if someone sold him.

Zhuang Yanyu asked, “Entertainment industry?”

Ji Zhiyuan replied, “Yeah! I guarantee you’ll become a star!”

Wen Chenxi couldn’t help but glance at Ji Zhiyuan, with a hint of warning in his voice, “That’s enough.”

Ji Zhiyuan suddenly realized he was poaching his friend’s employee! He quickly cleared his throat, “Old habits, old habits.”

He hurriedly pulled Li Xi with him downstream, avoiding Wen Chenxi’s warning gaze.

After they walked away, Wen Chenxi turned to Zhuang Yanyu. “You don’t have to pay attention to him. You also don’t have to answer any questions you don’t want to.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend, nor a boyfriend, and I have no desire to enter the entertainment industry,” Zhuang Yanyu replied calmly. “It’s not that I don’t want to answer; even if Mr. Ji hadn’t asked, I would have mentioned it myself.”

Wen Chenxi raised an eyebrow. “You would?”

Zhuang Yanyu explained, “Since you don’t know me well, I wanted to introduce myself.”

Wen Chenxi’s brow lifted slightly. So, this young employee wasn’t unaware of Ji Zhiyuan’s tricks; he had just gone along with it since he wanted to introduce himself.

Zhuang Yanyu asked sincerely, “Is there anything else you’d like to know? I can tell you.”

Wen Chenxi replied, “The company has your resume. If I wanted to know, I could look at that.”

Zhuang Yanyu shook his head. “That’s pretty basic. I’d like you to know a bit more about me.”

Wen Chenxi paused slightly, his deep eyes behind his frameless glasses lingering on Zhuang Yanyu.

Wen didn’t deny that he felt a bit of interest, even a hint of affection, toward Zhuang Yanyu. Maybe it was attraction at first sight, or something else he hadn’t quite sorted out.

Hearing Zhuang Yanyu’s words now left him slightly surprised.

Could it be that he also…

Zhuang Yanyu looked at him with eager anticipation.

Studies show that close friends are people who truly understand each other. The more they understand, the more they can help, trust, and maintain lasting friendships.

So, step one in strengthening their friendship was to let his buddy know him well!

Zhuang Yanyu stared at him: Ready, buddy? Let’s do an in-depth self-introduction.

Wen Chenxi looked away and placed Ji Zhiyuan’s sun hat on Zhuang Yanyu’s head. “Focus on fishing.”

Zhuang Yanyu looked a bit disappointed. “You don’t want me to introduce myself?”

For once, Wen Chenxi felt a faint sense of guilt.

Little did Zhuang Yanyu know, his information was already on someone else’s computer, with every detail of his background meticulously recorded and reviewed multiple times.

Wen Chenxi changed the subject, reminding him, “You’ve got a bite.”

Zhuang Yanyu turned and saw the float bobbing quickly with the fish’s movement. He immediately got up to reel it in.

This fish was big, likely a large one that had escaped from the upstream reservoir. It was heavy and struggled so much that the line was close to snapping.

Seeing this, Li Xi ran back over. “That fish is huge! Don’t reel it in yet! Let it tire out!”

“Damn, this fish must weigh over ten pounds!” Ji Zhiyuan, who had never caught such a big one, rushed over, worried Zhuang Yanyu’s thin arms wouldn’t handle it. “Xiao Zhuang! Let me take over!”

Zhuang Yanyu handed him the rod.

The fish was strong, and reeling it in too forcefully would break the line, so they needed to tire it out. The fish, still full of energy, swam downstream, refusing to give up.

Ji Zhiyuan followed along, urging Li Xi to get a fishing net.

They had only come for a relaxing fishing trip and hadn’t brought a net, so they had to borrow one from a nearby villager.

Fortunately, many locals had the necessary equipment since city people often came to fish here. Li Xi soon returned with a net, and with one person pulling and the other netting, they quickly managed to catch the big fish.

“It’s huge, haha!” Ji Zhiyuan laughed. “It must’ve come from the reservoir—it’s as thick as my thigh!”

Li Xi was equally excited, snapping pictures with his phone like a novice who’d never seen anything like this.

Though they’d eaten even bigger fish before, catching one themselves was a different sense of accomplishment for fishing enthusiasts.

“Let’s have a full fish feast tonight!”

As the hero of the day, Zhuang Yanyu received a warm invitation to join them. Refusing wasn’t an option, since he’d caught the big fish.

Wen Chenxi asked, “Do you want to keep fishing?”

Though he wanted to, having such a rare chance to hang out with his buddy, the number of fish they’d caught was enough—especially the last one, which would likely be too much for them to finish.

Zhuang Yanyu shook his head. “No, that’s enough.”

Wen Chenxi nodded. “Then let’s go back.”

“Okay.”

When Zhuang Yanyu went to pick up the bucket with the fish, Wen Chenxi had already grabbed it, handing him the fishing rod instead.

Wen Chenxi glanced at his slender arms. “Just hold this.”

Without a second thought, Zhuang Yanyu nodded at everything Wen Chenxi said.

Seeing his obedient demeanor, Wen Chenxi couldn’t help but take another glance. “Do you come back here every week?”

Zhuang Yanyu replied, “Not every week, every other week. My dad’s usually busy and tells me to come home less often.”

Wen Chenxi asked, “What keeps him busy?”

Zhuang Yanyu: “Farming.”

Wen Chenxi frowned slightly. “In the south, fields are usually planted with two crops each year.”

And now, in early June of the new calendar, it wasn’t planting season—it was nearly harvest time.

Zhuang Yanyu explained, “My dad doesn’t only grow grain. He plants things nearly every day, both in and out of season, all kinds of things. After vegetables, he grows fruit trees, and after that, he might plant some medicinal herbs to sell. So year-round, every day, he’s in the fields.”

He didn’t need Zhuang Yanyu’s help with farming; Zhuang couldn’t contribute much even if he came back, so he just visited every two weeks to check in.

Wen Chenxi: “…That sounds pretty tough.”

Zhuang Yanyu: “Not tough at all. He’s thrilled to have fields to plant, land to work, and things to grow!”

Old Zhuang—the former Farming System No. 03.

In his past life, whenever he was paired with a host, he’d travel back to a primitive era and plant fields to cover the world. He’d practically become a living farming system for the nation.

So now, even as an ordinary human, he couldn’t go a day without planting something—he’d feel uncomfortable otherwise.

But in others’ ears, this story simply sounded like that of a hardworking, honest farmer who toils day and night, hoping for a good harvest, living his whole life with his back to the earth, and tightening his belt in lean years.

Wen Chenxi recalled that Zhuang Yanyu’s records did indeed mention a farmer father.

Because of the family’s simplicity, the records only noted briefly that Zhuang Yanyu’s father went to the fields or mountains at dawn and returned after sunset.

At this moment, Wen Chenxi gained a clearer sense of just how modest the young employee’s family was.

After a brief pause, Wen Chenxi typed a message to Assistant Lin: [Raise the pay scale for all service center employees.]

Assistant Lin, receiving a weekend message from his boss: ??

Wasn’t the boss supposed to be on vacation? Didn’t he say no overtime and no work today?

Why the sudden decision to raise the service center’s pay?

Back at Uncle Liu’s door, Zhuang Yanyu was about to go inside with his friend when he heard Old Zhuang calling out, “Is that Xiao Eleven back? Time to come home for dinner!”

Zhuang Yanyu: “I hear you!”

Wen Chenxi turned to look and saw, about ten meters away, an old courtyard even more worn than Uncle Liu’s. The voice had come from there.

Wen Chenxi: “Your home?”

Zhuang Yanyu: “Yes, that was my dad calling me.”

“He calls you Xiao Eleven?”

Wen Chenxi thought of how, in the old days, people often named their children in birth order. Did the Zhuang family have that many kids? It wasn’t mentioned in the records.

Zhuang Yanyu blushed. “Uh… it’s just a nickname.”

It was actually his code name. In his past life, he was Dragonborn System No. 11. His dad got used to calling him that and never changed it.

When he was first created, Farming System No. 03 had taken care of him, teaching him everything he didn’t understand. 03 had such a big influence on him that he eventually chose, like 03, to retire as an ordinary human.

Zhuang Yanyu said, “I’ll go talk to my dad. Mr. Wen, please go on inside.”

Wen Chenxi: “Alright.”

Watching the young employee head home, Wen Chenxi’s gaze lingered on the old, creaky door. A gust of wind made it sway, deepening his frown.

He lowered his head and typed a message to Assistant Lin: [Double the performance bonuses too.]

[Assistant Lin: Understood, I’ll notify everyone right away.]

Zhuang Yanyu went home and told Old Zhuang that among the big bosses at the farmhouse next door, one was his own supervisor—the perfect friend the main system had matched him with—and they were having lunch together.

Old Zhuang was even happier than Zhuang Yanyu. “What a coincidence! But didn’t you say last time that you’d been with the company for almost two months and hadn’t met him? Now you’re acquainted?”

Zhuang Yanyu smiled, pressing his lips together. “Yes, we hit it off right away.”

He didn’t realize that his smile wasn’t a learned human expression—it was an uncontainable, genuine smile from his heart.

Old Zhuang sighed. “Just as expected, a perfect match for your personality. You’ve just met, and already you’re so in sync! That’s wonderful! Go on and enjoy lunch with him; don’t keep them waiting.”

Zhuang Yanyu: “Okay.”

He returned to Uncle Liu’s house and joined Wen Chenxi and the others for lunch.

After lunch, as the “local guide,” Zhuang Yanyu took the initiative to show them around. The village had beautiful scenery, with mountains and rivers, and wasn’t as stifling as the city. Especially after entering the mountains, a refreshing breeze blew in, clearing everyone’s minds.

He even took them to pick fruits grown by Old Zhuang, and each person left with a big bag to take back to the city.

After the evening fish feast, Zhuang Yanyu rode back to the city with Wen Chenxi in his car.

Since they had set out from different places, Wen and the other two had driven separately, so on the way back, it was just Wen Chenxi and Zhuang Yanyu in the car, with Wen driving.

At first, Zhuang Yanyu was a bit worried they’d run out of things to talk about on the drive back.

Though they’d hit it off and were rapidly becoming close friends, they’d only just met, so it wasn’t likely they’d have endless topics to discuss.

And that was indeed the case. The drive back to the city took an hour and a half, and they didn’t chat the whole time—there were moments of silence.

But during those quiet moments, Zhuang Yanyu didn’t feel awkward. In fact, he found the silence peaceful and comfortable.

Is this the joy of having a good friend?

Since Zhuang Yanyu’s place was on Wen Chenxi’s way home, he dropped him off first.

At the apartment complex, Zhuang Yanyu got out of the car, a hint of reluctance in his eyes. He waved his phone at Wen, still in the car, and said, “If you’d like to get to know me better, just message me on WeChat.”

The two had just added each other on WeChat that afternoon.

Wen Chenxi tightened his grip on the steering wheel, ignoring the question and instead saying, “Hurry inside. I’m leaving.”

“Alright, drive safely.”

“Mm.”

Zhuang Yanyu watched Wen Chenxi’s car until it was out of sight, then finally turned and entered his apartment complex.

At 10 PM, Wen Chenxi, now home, scrolled through his WeChat Moments and saw a new post from Zhuang Yanyu.

Zhuang Yanyu: “System’s joy—you couldn’t even imagine it.”

Attached was a picture of a computer CPU running at full capacity, red-hot.

System’s joy?

Wen Chenxi didn’t fully understand this young people’s internet slang but gave it a like anyway.

—

Author’s Note:

PS—

Though we know that in reality, companies don’t randomly raise salaries (speaking from experience as a former corporate worker who once shed tears over this), in novels, I get to indulge! Making the company give the protagonist bonuses, more bonuses, and salary increases galore!

Old Comrade Zhuang, who owns several plots of land and a few mountain peaks, tearfully accepted the living expenses sent by his son and sent him back a house. “Xiao Eleven, I used your savings to pay the down payment, so this is officially your house! You’re amazing!”

The down payment was a million, with Old Zhuang adding 880,000.

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