KC | Chapter 111

At the end of the quarter, it was time to push for performance, and Lin Yiran stayed as steady as an old dog, while Chen Xi was anything but calm.

“Brother Lin, we didn’t go to Zao Wang City yesterday, should we call Director Zhang and explain?”

Lin Yiran: “There’s nothing to explain.”

“……”

“Brother Lin, when will Zhongcai Education pay the final installment?”

Lin Yiran: “I don’t know.”

“……”

“Brother Lin, Ole changed store managers, what do you think…”

Lin Yiran: “Chen Xi, what are you going to choose?”

“……”

“I need to think about it.”

Lin Yiran: “You’re sitting on my bed, wearing the waist chain I gave you, and your phone wallpaper is even me. What is there to think about?”

Chen Xi’s phone wallpaper was a candid photo of Lin Yiran sleeping in the evening, which he quietly changed back in his own hospital room yesterday after Lin Yiran told him to make a choice.

It seemed the phone really did need a privacy screen.

Chen Xi said, “This is a major life decision, so of course I have to think carefully.”

Hm?

A major life decision?

Lin Yiran suppressed the corners of his mouth that were trying to lift, and said with a straight face, “Oh, then think about it. Tell me before the end of the month.”

Chen Xi rolled his eyes hard. “Trash salesman, you’re not even积极 about chasing payment, why are you催 me?”

In order to steady KA’s morale, the fact that the two of them had been in a car accident was not told until New Year’s Day.

Chen Xi said to Zhang Yuanji, “The client didn’t pay, Brother Lin went head-on mid-lane against him at the end of the month, and his arm got broken.”

The next day, the Leaky Lad brother brought the KA army to sweep through the ward. Seeing Chen Xi’s legs and feet were not working well, he cried out, “What kind of status does this client have, able to take down both of you with bones broken in a 1V2?”

Li Hua: “Is there a possibility that the two of them are just too trash?”

The whole KA crowd nodded.

Lin Yiran was so pissed at this bunch of idiots that his temples throbbed. The KA director quickly came to the rescue: “President Lin, although Yu City KA didn’t get a bonus last quarter, our overall annual ranking was number one across the three provinces, so there is a bonus twice as large as the quarterly one that can be spent. Given your physical condition, after discussing with the group, the bonus spending date can be extended to the end of Q1 in 24. KA will await your return at any time.”

The whole KA crowd clapped enthusiastically, clapping so hard that Lin Yiran felt a little embarrassed. The atmosphere had been pushed this far, the leader had to say a few words.

Lin Yiran was just about to speak when he heard Chen Xi frown and say, “Last quarter Brother Lin had 3.2 million, I had less than 1 million, and adding everyone else’s together, we should have gone over 6 million in gross profit no matter what. Yu City KA had a target of 5.5 million, how could we not get the quarterly bonus?”

Zhang Yuanji looked like he wanted to speak but hesitated, Li Hua lowered his head to play with his phone, and Ma Longfei looked up at the ceiling.

Their sworn enemy Wang Shuang tore down the stage: “Because your Shine stopped last quarter, the overall consumption market in Lanhai only hit 90 percent, down 14 percent month-on-month.”

Chen Xi froze.

Lin Yiran changed the subject: “A broken bone is pretty good too, you get to take your two years of annual leave together with New Year’s.”

Lanhai annual leave was linked to years of service. Employees with more than 10 years got 10 days of annual leave, employees with less than 10 years got 5 days. Lin Yiran’s annual leave plus weekly rest plus New Year’s made up a three-layer buff, adding up to roughly a month off.

The whole KA crowd: (⊙o⊙) I want to break a bone too…

Lin Yiran added, “The car being wrecked was pretty good too, finally I can drive the car I want to drive.”

The whole KA crowd: (⊙o⊙) So it really was a car accident…

A bunch of idiots argued and chatted nonsense, talking from morning until night. The ward had never been this lively.

As the sun set in the west, KA all went back to their own homes and their own mothers.

Chen Xi leaned crookedly by the head of Lin Yiran’s bed and looked into his eyes as he asked, “Brother Lin, did Shine stop because of me.”

Those clear eyes flickered with light, and Chen Xi was as bright as always.

Lin Yiran said, “You can be a good salesperson.”

Performance planning was Lin Yiran’s dead line. He gave up the work principles he had held for 13 years, all to protect the light in Chen Xi’s eyes.

“You can do everything you want to do.”

“Hey, bro, what are you doing? Wanna go out and drink a bit?”

Half a year ago, Chen Xi would never have imagined that the professional manager of a company in Yu City with assets worth over ten billion would become buddies with him.

“Brother Xu, I got into a car accident and broke my leg, so I can’t drink with you recently. Sorry about that.”

“Huh? Which blind fool hit a Mercedes 400L? Did he not think about whether the insurance would be enough to pay for it!”

Half a year ago, Xu Dongxu would never have imagined that he would be fortunate enough to scold a networking heavyweight who was tactful in every direction, rich and powerful, and capable of anything. He attributed this to the fact that Chen Xi had been too good-looking and too low-key at their first meeting, looking like a trashy slice-of-comic male lead, not like someone who could talk advertising through clearly.

“It wasn’t a person who hit it. I… I accidentally hit the guardrail a few days ago.”

“……”

At least he didn’t hit a tree ^(*￣(oo)￣)^

Rich people really could act up, not hitting bridges then hitting medians, your fracture was purely from having too much money burning a hole in your pocket!

Xu Dongxu sniffed the rotten smell of money and felt his nose sting with sourness. Not daring to snap at the networking heavyweight, he could only pick a soft persimmon to squeeze, dragging out their common enemy Lin Yiran and lashing him hard: “Brother has money to drive a Mercedes and smash it however he wants, while Lin the dog couldn’t even close the deal and has no money, so he can only drive a Cadillac. But this dog bastard is really weird, no movement for 10 years, then suddenly had a conscience and proactively went to apologize to Brother Wang.”

Chen Xi said in surprise, “How could that be, when did he contact President Wang?”

Brother Lin had extremely strong pride, he absolutely could not have bowed to a client, you were definitely making that up.

Don’t talk nonsense about Brother Lin ε＝ε＝ε＝(#>д

“Just before we started cooperating, he sincerely apologized to Brother Wang, and only then was Brother Wang willing to give him a chance to meet you,” Xu Dongxu said. “He probably knew we had a lot of ad spending this year and wanted to get a piece of the pie, but he didn’t expect you to beat him to it, haha, ended up as a stepping stone!”

Chen Xi first froze, then the corners of his lips lifted, and a trace of cunning flashed in his eyes. “Isn’t that right, he deserved it, the blisters under his feet were all ground up by himself.”

So that was it, for me, you apologized to the client.

You had already bent your pride for me.

On January 10, 2024, Chen Xi planned to be discharged from the hospital, because there was no annual leave left to take.

The doctor said his bone injuries had recovered well and he could be discharged. Lin Yiran suggested he rest for another week, because he was afraid that once Chen Xi left him, he might suddenly get stimulated by something and forget all about the “major life decision” in an instant.

Chen Xi insisted on being discharged, and Lin Yiran couldn’t out-argue him, so he used as tactful a tone as possible to talk it over nicely: “Let’s set up a ‘safe word,’ okay?”

Chen Xi frowned.

Lin Yiran explained, “It’s like using a code, I say: The heaven king covers the tiger of the earth, and you say the next line, only if it matches can I know you’re awake.”

What you said wasn’t wrong either, I thought that after not eating meat for half a month, you were going to play something dirty.

Chen Xi nodded and said, “The code is Lin the dog, woof woof. I say: Lin the dog, you say: woof woof!”

“……”

Lin Yiran pressed a hand to his forehead and said, “Because we can’t be sure whether you’re awake, I have to start. I say: Baby, you say: Husband.”

“……”

Chen Xi: “What did I say?”

Lin Yiran: “Husband.”

Chen Xi: “Didn’t hear clearly.”

Lin Yiran: “Old… grass!”

Chen Xi laughed out loud. “Old immortal, daring to trick me!”

Lin Yiran didn’t say another word until Chen Xi was discharged.

The real reason Chen Xi was so anxious to leave the hospital was: he hadn’t renewed the rent.

The rent for the old, shabby little place had expired, and Chen Xi had to move.

There didn’t seem to be much stuff in the room, but after packing it up, it filled half a box truck. Chen Xi hummed a little tune and leaned on his crutch, supervising the move.

The minimalist large flat suddenly had some junk in it, and it felt a bit strange.

Chen Xi organized the walk-in closet, and Lin Yiran’s custom suit hung in the corner looking wronged, making room for the junk he had worn for several years.

Then he suddenly found a little thing that looked familiar, the Argentina team badge from Cotti Coffee.

The cheap freebie badge was stuck to the side of the Bose headphones, and the headphones had heavy signs of wear. It was obvious that Lin Yiran often wore them when exercising.

So, you didn’t throw it away.

You had already put me in your heart from then on, you just didn’t say it.

It was me who was too sensitive, and denied the feelings between us.

I made you sad.

Chen Xi didn’t answer Lin Yiran because he didn’t know how long he could stay with Lin Yiran.

He was worried that his unstable emotions would hurt Lin Yiran again, and also afraid that Lin Yiran would do dirty work.

I had always stubbornly insisted that Brother Lin was cheating, but what if he wasn’t?

The badge on the headphones made Chen Xi willing to give Lin Yiran one more chance, even if the result of verifying it might carry the risk of making him split into two personalities again.

“Hello, Brother Hai, is the execution for the One Brother wooden door event going smoothly?”

“Bro, One Brother is too particular, every time he finishes the work he treats me to a meal. If you have clients like that in the future, introduce them to your brother more often, for sure I won’t let you down!”

Because Zhang Yanrong had exposed Lin Yiran’s bottom line, Chen Xi had Meng Hai ditch his job.

Lin Yiran was a dirty dog, but only he himself could insult him.

Chen Xi couldn’t stand other people talking bad about Lin Yiran, even if it was Xu Dongxu, who had been “personally authorized” by Lin Yiran, that still wouldn’t do!

“Brother Hai, I want to ask something,” Chen Xi said. “In early October, what kind of job did you introduce to Brother Lin?”

Perhaps because he had taken someone’s money, Meng Hai gave the honest truth: “The client was in machine tools, I’d worked with them when I was in Lanhai. Old Lin couldn’t get a booking for a long time, and the client happened to ask me about it, so I helped bridge them. That kind of setting wasn’t really suitable for you, if there’s a suitable one later…”

“What kind of setting? You went to prostitute?”

Meng Hai stammered, “The client went to prostitute, and Old Lin and I were afraid of catching disease, so we ran in the middle of the night.”

Chen Xi continued to ask, “Oh, with such a good thing, why would you run?”

KA’s top dog Meng Hai picked up the implication, this was Chen Xi asking him about that day for the second time, his real aim probably wasn’t the wine…

Meng Hai’s brain spun fast: “I swear on Old Lin’s dick, if he went to prostitute, then he’d have to nourish his stomach for life.”

“……”

Chen Xi’s pause confirmed his guess, and Meng Hai continued to add fuel to the fire: “I asked him, was he not working, and Old Lin said he really couldn’t do physical labor. Oh right, that day he slept at the nearby Home Inn, if you don’t believe it you can go check the room records. Checking at Wanshow Glory would work too, you definitely won’t find his check-in record.”

Chen Xi’s words carried a knife: “You went to prostitute, why are you swearing on Brother Lin’s dick? You definitely can find your room record at Wanshow Glory!”

“……”

Meng Hai: Let’s just say, I’m not into you either, what are you checking me for?

Chen Xi hung up the phone, and while letting out a sigh of relief, he also started thinking about whether the new job from Pinsheng should be handed to Meng Hai.

The 4S store called and said the Cadillac was repaired, asking Chen Xi to come check the car.

The Cadillac 4S store was right next to Mercedes, and Chen Xi suddenly thought that the time Lin Yiran bought the car overlapped with the day he sent flowers, and a somewhat unrealistic guess rose in his mind.

Chen Xi limped into the Mercedes 4S store, and the receptionist seemed to think that a disabled person couldn’t drive, so his work attitude wasn’t very proactive.

“I picked up a Mercedes 400L on October 6 last year, and wanted to ask whether you can do maintenance here?”

The receptionist was completely dumbfounded, and helped Chen Xi to the front desk to verify the information. After Chen Xi gave his ID number and driver’s license number, the receptionist said with a red face, “Mr. Chen, the first maintenance for this car is free. Please see what time is convenient for you, and I’ll go bring the car over for you.”

Chen Xi stared at the owner information displayed on the front desk screen, shook his intact right leg twice, and said, “This car is automatic, no need to trouble you, I can drive it.”

“……”

So, Brother Lin didn’t tell me when he came back to Yu City on October 6 because he wanted to give me a surprise.

Brother Lin was calculated about gains and losses, and had said, “Only idiots make unnecessary investments,” but he still spent more than a million to buy me a car.

He tricked my driver’s license away and bought the car under my name.

The owner of the Mercedes 400L is me.

It wasn’t some “bought at random” at all, this car was originally meant to be given to me.

He bought the car and flowers, but it all got ruined by my suspicion and doubt.

I made a mess of things and treated him like a massage tool, and besides that one “Get lost,” he never once said another harsh word, because he couldn’t bear to.

What he gave me were all the best things, while I only ever gave him one Argentina team badge.

I suspected he was cheating outside, stubbornly refused to listen to explanations, and even said a pile of bullshit.

He was heartbroken, but still refused to let me go. I thought he only wanted to vent his desire, but what idiot could still protect the object of his desire with everything he had right when he was about to get into a crash?

Using key clients as leverage, making himself exhausted to the point of looking neither human nor ghost, was just because he didn’t want to let go.

Not letting me leave, not breaking up, not letting go, because he loved me.

Lin Yiran loved me.

He loved me, but had never had the chance to say it.

I missed his promise.

A week later, the real representative of skipping work, Lin Yiran, came to work. The gauze on his face had been removed, six stitches had been sewn, and they would be removed next week. His arm was wrapped in gauze and hung around his neck, and because he was afraid the steel pins would shift during the healing period, he didn’t dare walk too fast.

Chen Xi’s cast had been removed, but his legs were still weak, and he had to walk with a crutch.

One of them was missing an arm, the other was missing a leg, and they actually matched quite well.

The dirty dog who hadn’t had meat in a month looked at the rabbit’s crutch with some thought.

Those two weeks in the hospital were fine, Chen Xi would always find him for some closeness; after discharge, Chen Xi wouldn’t answer calls and replied on WeChat slowly, as if he had grown wings and was flying around outside with all his might.

Even Lin Yiran, that extremely self-confident KA heavyweight, couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

When sudden situations happened, the client’s mind would get confused, and the contractor would seize the opportunity to fan the flames, then the client would make decisions that were beneficial to the contractor.

When Lin Yiran forced Chen Xi to make a choice at that time, he wanted to tie him down, but Chen Xi’s one sentence, “major life decision,” made Lin Yiran feel a little floaty, and afterward it also wasn’t easy to keep pestering him about it, because he didn’t want to make it seem like some chaste woman being forced into marriage.

The longer the client dragged things out, the more unfavorable it was for the contractor. Now that it had dragged on for more than a month, Lin Yiran was a little panicked.

After a whole morning of meetings, Lin Yiran returned to the office during lunch break, and Chen Xi slipped in with lightning speed.

Chen Xi’s fair face was solemn, and he was holding a lot of materials in his hands. Lin Yiran’s heart thudded, and he thought: he can’t be holding labor arbitration documents, wanting to force resignation while demanding commission, right?

The office partitions had been torn down after Chen Xi carefully looked at the view below from the 20th floor. Outside, a few sparrows in the melon field were pretending to look at their phones, but were actually live-broadcasting in the “KA top dog proposal group.”

Chen Xi closed the door, walked to the chair in front of Lin Yiran’s desk, and sat down, putting on the posture of a business negotiation.

Lin Yiran saw that things were not looking good and got up to run, but Chen Xi blocked him back into the chair with his crutch.

“……”

KA’s top dog opened with a line that would easily extend the topic: “Just now downstairs I saw the sales rookie who had just passed the interview telling a friend on the phone that he was able to get hired because he rode a bicycle from Yu City to the North City for half a month during summer vacation. I was thinking, is Lanhai’s recruitment standard really this low now? Then I immediately thought, no, he got hired because he is very persistent.”

“As a salesman, what you’re fighting for is that one bit of willpower. If you don’t have the desire to close deals, how are you supposed to sign key clients.”

Lin Yiran was a little dumbfounded, and called uncertainly, “Baby.”

Chen Xi was pissed off by him and laughed, then said in a somewhat reluctant tone, “Husband.”

Only then did Lin Yiran’s hanging heart finally settle back into his stomach, but at the same time he was also a little nervous.

A negotiation expert had seen countless people, but he had never encountered such a strong, difficult, and smart key client. When something unusual happened, there was bound to be some trick, and when it concerned a “major life decision,” it was better to be cautious.

Chen Xi said, “My pre-sale house came down last week.”

Lin Yiran: “Oh.”

So you’re moving out?

Chen Xi: “But it’s very far from the company, I don’t want to waste more than an hour every day on transportation, so I put it up for sale and prepared to sell it.”

Lin Yiran: ?

Chen Xi placed the property deed and house book on the desk, then took a bank card out of his pocket.

Lin Yiran panicked completely: “Don’t return my things, just keep what I gave you. Besides, those of mine aren’t worth…”

Chen Xi cut him off, and said solemnly, “I said it, because it was the sales made by Brother Lin. Whenever I was about to be unable to hold on any longer, you would be on the mountaintop carrying a lamp, lighting the road ahead. It was you who ignited in me the desire to sign key clients, it was you who gave me the willpower. I used all my strength to reach the mountaintop only to stand shoulder to shoulder with you, you are the faith I have been pursuing all along.”

“I’m emotionally sensitive and suspicious, and I lashed out at Brother Lin without distinguishing right from wrong, thinking I had suffered a huge grievance. The harm Brother Lin endured was far more than mine, and all of that harm was brought by me. I’m sorry, really sorry.”

“It was my fault for being secretive about my condition. If I suddenly freak out again in the future, then lock me in a little dark room and do me for a whole day and night, once the stress is gone it’ll be fine.”

Lin Yiran pressed a hand to his forehead and squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth: “So, you’re being this solemn because you want to tell me that in the future I should help treat your illness and be your f*ck buddy?”

Even though the two of them had lived together for more than half a year, they rarely ever got on the same wavelength. The difference in thought brought by their life experience could not be resolved overnight, but as long as they gave each other a little more patience, there would always be a way to align their little particles.

Chen Xi stood up, limped over, and slapped the notebooks on the desk in anger. “Who the hell gets a house from a f*ck buddy!”

Afraid Lin Yiran would interrupt, Chen Xi spat out all his prepared words in one go: “Brother Lin, you can have the money from selling the house, but it probably still won’t be enough for half of Fuhai Zhibang, so I’ll give you my salary from now on too. I’ll give you all my belongings and the rest of my life, I’ll treat you well, and I promise I won’t let you be sad and upset again.”

“Please tolerate my bad temper, and occasionally endure the other 3 different versions of me.”

“I want to live together with you.”

An interleaved negotiation method was more suitable for fooling idiots, like stuffing bad fruit into a fruit basket. In a big fruit basket, with so much fruit, it was hard to notice if you slipped in one or two bad ones; Chen Xi only said three sentences, stuffing in one bad line, and adding a threatening tone, so it was hard not to notice.

Lin Yiran wanted to correct his logical mistake, but he was also afraid that if they kept talking, they would end up drifting into something else, so he stood up very neatly, extended his intact left hand, and said, “I respectfully wish you all the best in your business.”

Chen Xi froze for a moment before reacting, realizing that he had been “signed.”

The winter sunlight was dazzling, and Chen Xi stood in front of him, brighter than all the light.

Two dimples appeared faintly on his cheeks, revealing a row of neat little white teeth, and he smiled as he teased him, “Brother Lin has so many key clients, walking through a sea of flowers.”

Lin Yiran shook his head and said, “You have countless key clients, while mine are only you.”

A wrong beginning required more effort to get back on track, and only after the fake prosperity of mismatched frequencies collapsed and was rebuilt would it return to the real thing.

Lin Yiran bowed his head to the mistakes from 10 years ago for Chen Xi, and kept his promise. In order to guard Chen Xi’s principles, he broke his own.

He held up a piece of sky for him, letting him remain clear and bright.

Chen Xi was willing to honestly hand over everything, occasionally tolerating his filth and correcting his immorality.

Love was persistence that still refused to let go even when it hurt to the bone, love was a bet that risked everything on a single throw.

Love could stand above morality and principles, and there would be no more misunderstandings or missed chances between them after this.

Lin Yiran stood in front of him, just like he had four years ago.

All the various colors of the bustling world outside the window became a backdrop, and in Chen Xi’s eyes, all he could see was the black of the suit splashed with ink.

The two business elites wore solemn suits and together completed the sacred signing ceremony.

Chen Xi solemnly extended his hand, sealing the most important contract of his life, and said to his lifelong partner, “I respectfully wish you all the best in your business.”

Author’s note:

The full text is complete!

Today marks one year since I signed with CP, and I’m very grateful for your reading and companionship throughout this year.

The neighboring “Burning Heart” is updating passionately, click to bookmark it, and we’ll meet again in our next book!