The decoration of Lin Guo’s house came to an end; only the furniture had not yet entered the site.
During the renovation period, Lin Guo never took care of the house. Whether it was laying the floor or installing the cabinets, Guo Yi, the youngest member of the office, helped him look after it.
Huo Zhixiao took over a new project to renovate the homestay, which had been recommended by Ding Yinan’s senior sister, Zhang Hui.
The homestay was located in a famous scenic spot in China. The original facilities were old, and the decoration style was not as good as the internet celebrity homestays that had become popular in recent years. It happened that the boss and Zhang Hui were classmates in high school. When he asked Zhang Hui for consultation, Zhang Hui immediately thought of the rural library designed by Huo Zhixiao, so she directly recommended him.
However, Huo Zhixiao still had another interior design job, which had been introduced by Lin Guo. Ding Yinan compared the priorities and decided to do the homestay project first and sell Zhang Hui’s favor.
The relationship network was so magical. One order after another was recommended by others. Earlier, Ding Yinan knew the importance of connections, but it wasn’t until he became a boss that he realized how vital connections were.
Huo Zhixiao had become busier and often worked overtime until eleven or twelve o’clock at night. Fortunately, Guo Yi was a young man who could endure hardships, and he could always complete the tasks assigned to him by Huo Zhixiao on time.
Seeing that more and more people came to consult, Ding Yinan decided to recruit another assistant for Huo Zhixiao. But at this moment, Guo Yi approached him.
“You want to resign?” Ding Yinan was very busy, and when he heard Guo Yi’s words, his brain was about to explode.
“Yes, Mr. Ding.” Guo Yi lowered his head, not even daring to look into Ding Yinan’s eyes.
“Is it because the work pressure is too big?” Ding Yinan thought about it; Guo Yi was very active in his work and would even take the initiative to ask if there was anything he could do. Ding Yinan treated Guo Yi well, so he couldn’t think of any reasons for resignation.
“Work pressure… is okay.” Guo Yi scratched the back of his head and said falteringly, “I just think… my current state is not suitable for this job.”
“What state?” Ding Yinan asked, puzzled. “I think your work’s state is very good.”
“Something happened, so I…” Guo Yi paused, “I don’t really want to work here now.”
“Is Master Huo being too harsh on you?” Ding Yinan could only think of this reason for now.
“No.” Guo Yi quickly waved his hand. “Master Huo is very professional, and I am willing to learn from him.”
“So why is that?” Ding Yinan was puzzled.
“It’s my fault.” Guo Yi said.
Ding Yinan suddenly understood Huo Xun a little bit; this inexplicable feeling of “wanting to resign” really made people feel anxious.
However, compared with Ding Yinan, Guo Yi was still a little more tender. His hesitant appearance obviously showed that he knew it would be unkind to resign at this time, so he couldn’t speak confidently to Ding Yinan.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“I see.” Ding Yinan breathed out, showing a compromise. “You also know that our studio is currently short of manpower. If you suddenly wanted to resign, no one here can take over your job.”
Xeb Tl olcjiis gjlrfv tlr tfjv jcv rjlv, “P xcbk, Zg. Glcu, atlr lr gfjiis cba ws lcafcalbc.”
“Vb tbk jybea atlr?” Glcu Tlcjc rjlv, “P klii gfmgela cfkmbwfgr jr rbbc jr qbrrlyif, sbe mjc mbcalcef ab kbgx olgra, jcv sbe mjc ifjnf joafg atf cfkmbwfgr jgglnf, tbk jybea la?”
“How long will it take?” Guo Yi showed a hesitant look.
“It’s hard to say the specific time.” Ding Yinan said, “But don’t worry, I won’t drag you down forever.”
Back home from work, when Ding Yinan was ready for dinner, Huo Zhixiao had just come back from the construction site.
It was not hard to see that he was exhausted after running around for a day, and when he got home, he lazily hung on Ding Yinan’s body to recover his energy, and he followed Ding Yinan wherever he went.
Ding Yinan took out the bowls and chopsticks from the cupboard and put them on the dining table, and said helplessly, “I’m also very tired today.”
Huo Zhixiao immediately stood up straight when he heard the words, looked at Ding Yinan, and said, “Then you can hug me.”
Of course, Ding Yinan also needed to rely on Huo Zhixiao to recover his energy, but now he just smiled, opened his chair, and said, “Let’s eat first.”
The two sat down facing each other, and Ding Yinan spoke first, “Guo Yi wants to resign.”
“Resign?” Huo Zhixiao’s reaction was the same as Ding Yinan’s. “Why?”
“I don’t know, he just wants to resign.” Ding Yinan shook his head. “I’ll let him continue to work first, and I’ll recruit two or three new people as soon as possible.”
Ding Yinan said it lightly, but actually recruiting new employees was not a simple matter. Huo Zhixiao obviously knew this too and said to Ding Yinan, “My wife has worked hard.”
The power of words was often greater than imagined; Ding Yinan admitted that Huo Zhixiao’s simple words comforted him. He raised his eyes, looked at Huo Zhixiao on the opposite side, and said, “My husband is working hard too.”
But as soon as he finished speaking, something restless underneath climbed onto his thigh.
Huo Zhixiao looked straight at Ding Yinan and hinted, “Your husband is also working very hard”
Ding Yinan pretended not to see Huo Zhixiao’s eyes and continued to pick up vegetables, and at the same time, he put his right leg on his left leg, causing Huo Zhixiao’s foot to slip down.
Huo Zhixiao seemed unwilling to give up and hooked Ding Yinan’s raised calf again, but at this moment, Ding Yinan’s cell phone on the dining table rang suddenly.
“Lin Guo?”
Ding Yinan muttered something strangely and then pressed the answer button. “Hello, Mr. Lin.”
“Give me Guo Yi’s contact information.” Lin Guo said straight to the point, without even saying a word of politeness.
“Don’t you have his WeChat?” Ding Yinan asked.
Guo Yi was in charge of helping Lin Guo keep an eye on the decoration progress and needed to report to Lin Guo frequently. A few days ago, Ding Yinan heard from Guo Yi that Lin Guo had recently finished filming a new movie and had just returned to the city, so he wanted to treat him to dinner.
“He blocked me.” Lin Guo said.
“…”
Normally, employees who block customers should be fired directly.
But somehow Ding Yinan always felt that something was wrong. Guo Yi was upright and honest, and he had never heard any complaints about his work. If he blocked the client, there must be a special reason.
Combined with Guo Yi’s resignation today, mentioning that something had happened, Ding Yinan had reason to believe that these things should be related to Lin Guo.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Lin.” Ding Yinan collected his thoughts and said again, “Can I ask why he blocked you?”
“I tried to make a move on him.”
“…”
Ding Yinan wanted to pinch someone because he knew Guo Yi was a straight man.
There was a dinner together before with three people, and the topic of finding a partner came up. Guo Yi had said that his ideal type was a gentle and long-haired beauty, and no matter what, it couldn’t match someone like Lin Guo.
Ding Yinan took a deep breath, pretended to be calm, and said to Lin Guo, “How about this, Mr. Lin, I’ll ask for his opinion first, and then decide whether to give you his contact information.”
After hanging up the phone, Ding Yinan rubbed the center of his brows with a headache. Why did he have to encounter so many troubles as a boss?
Before going to bed at night, Ding Yinan lay half-awake on the bed, typing on the phone screen with a sad face.
After a long while, he deleted all the small essays in the input column, sighed, and said, “I’ve decided to take an exam for psychologist’s certificate.”
“What’s wrong?” Huo Zhixiao, who was replying to an email, asked.
“It’s too difficult to care for employee.” Ding Yinan said, “I don’t even know how to talk to Guo Yi.”
“Can’t you just ask him directly?” Huo Zhixiao said, “Just say that both of your bosses are gay, homosexuality is not that scary.”
“He may not be able to accept it.” Ding Yinan said, “He is also from a rural background, so maybe his thinking is very conservative.”
“You forgot your sister?” Huo Zhixiao said with a smile.
“Right.”
Ding Yinan picked up the phone again and decided to have a good chat with Guo Yi, but at this time Huo Zhixiao’s phone on the bedside table rang. He glanced at it but couldn’t spare his typing hands, so he pressed the answer button and turned on the speakerphone.
“Hello.” Huo Zhixiao said indifferently.
“Congratulations.” Huo Xun’s faint voice came from the mobile phone. “I found out that the project of the film museum in the city has been confirmed for you, and the publicity document will be issued tomorrow.”
Ding Yinan and Huo Zhixiao glanced at each other; both of them had the same joy and restraint in their eyes.
Before bidding, Huo Zhixiao made at least five or six designs. Of course, he also considered focusing on the commercial factors that Huo Xun had mentioned, but in the end, he insisted on creative design and added naked-eye 3D visual effects to the museum. The entire museum had become a world of movies.
Huo Xun would call to congratulate him, just like when he asked Ding Yinan to make an offer, it showed that his attitude had softened.
In fact, this was not surprising. In the past two months, Huo Zhixiao had not only not been as insecure as he imagined, but the business was getting better and better, and this small studio had gradually gained fame.
“One more thing.” Huo Xun said again, “I will be the award presenter at the awards ceremony at the end of the month.”
Ding Yinan was a little puzzled when he heard the words and subconsciously looked at Huo Zhixiao.
Huo Zhixiao happened to click on a new email, and he pointed the computer screen at Ding Yinan. He saw that the content on it was a nomination notice for a certain architectural award, and that architectural award was the one that Ding Yinan had helped Huo Zhixiao vote for.
“Although I’m not sure whether you can win the award,” Huo Xun said, “I still hope that you can stand on the podium with me.”
“Okay.” Huo Zhixiao responded.
Huo Xun’s words sounded like he hoped that Huo Zhixiao would give him face, but after thinking about it carefully, he was indirectly acknowledging Huo Zhixiao’s ability.
When Huo Zhixiao hung up the phone, Ding Yinan asked him, “Are you ready for a showdown with Mr. Huo?”
“I’ve always been ready.” Huo Zhixiao said, “It mainly depends on whether you are willing or not.”
Ding Yinan didn’t want to have a showdown with Huo Xun before because he felt a headache and subconsciously wanted to avoid it. Secondly, he was afraid that Huo Xun’s anger would hinder the development of their studio.
Of course, the second factor accounted for a greater proportion.
Now that the studio was gradually on the right track, Ding Yinan had also expanded his network. He thought for a while and said, “Then let’s do this. After the awards ceremony, we’ll have a showdown with your father.”
Showdown. Showdown. And. Sexual harassment is not okay, okay ?
Thanks for the update
Thank you! It was really nice to see them settling in.
Poor Guo Yi – hope they resolve the issue. He shouldn’t have to leave a job if he’s being harassed by a customer 😠
Thanks for the chapter 💞