Chapter 4 Killing the Chicken

Chapter 4: Making an Example

Lin Jianyuan had no idea how long he'd been asleep. When he woke up, it was still light out, giving him the illusion that he had only nodded off for a bit.

But when he checked his phone, he was startled.

It was already the 13th! He had slept for two whole days!

WeChat and DingTalk were flooded with messages, too many to count. Lin Jianyuan absentmindedly opened the work group chat to see if his disciplinary notice had been issued. After searching for a while, he couldn’t find it.

Just as he was feeling puzzled, he clicked through the unread messages one by one, and a chat window suddenly bumped to the top.

Looking closer, it was from Pei Shuo.

Pei Shuo: "Bro, are you coming to work today? I brought you breakfast! [Picture]"

Lin Jianyuan found it strange and called him directly. Pei Shuo answered instantly, and the sound of a Golden Retriever, wagging its tail, came through the receiver: "Bro!"

Lin Jianyuan: "So, did Jiang Chen give you any more trouble later?"

"No! Hahaha, bro, haven’t you heard? Jiang Chen got reprimanded by the headquarters! Hahaha, it’s killing me! Bro, let me tell you…"

Lin Jianyuan was confused but finally managed to piece together what had happened.

It turned out that after he had stuffed that egg pancake into Jiang Chen’s mouth that day, Jiang Chen had indeed immediately gone to the headquarters to complain.

The headquarters listened and thought, *damn, an employee actually stood up to you in public. Shouldn’t you reflect on how you’re leading as a manager?*

After learning the specifics, they were like, *damn, the guy has a mental illness, and it’s acute psychosis caused by stress and exhaustion… Why would you even provoke him!*

"So Jiang Chen’s whining not only got him nowhere but also cost him his management bonus for the month, hahaha… It’s killing me. Hey, bro, who would’ve thought our headquarters is actually pretty decent and has a sense of justice! I’m starting to like our company again!"

Lin Jianyuan: "…"

"Anyway, bro, come quickly! Everyone says Jiang Chen is going to apologize to you! Oh, wait, no, you should rest more. Have you been sleeping these past two days? I noticed you didn’t reply to my messages. Have you eaten?"

The Golden Retriever once again showed his thoughtful side, fussing over Lin Jianyuan with concern.

Lin Jianyuan felt things weren’t as simple as Pei Shuo made them out to be.

Pei Shuo had just graduated after all—still young and inexperienced. Lin Jianyuan didn’t believe the headquarters would be that generous.

Maybe the company was handling it this way just to placate everyone, making a gesture to show their stance during this sensitive time. There might be other moves later.

The most direct evidence was that Jiang Chen was still the manager of their branch and still his direct superior.

If the headquarters really sided with Lin Jianyuan, why didn’t they just transfer Jiang Chen away or move him elsewhere?

He had already openly clashed with Jiang Chen—how was he supposed to work under him from now on?

Lin Jianyuan sighed but didn’t share his worries with Pei Shuo. He simply got dressed and headed to the office.

When he left, he didn’t run into that strange roommate. Lin Jianyuan didn’t think much of it and went to the company.

As soon as he entered the office, everyone looked up at him like a hero. Lin Jianyuan glanced around and asked, "Where’s Pei Shuo?"

Qin Shi replied, "He went to the bathroom? He was here just a moment ago."

Just as Lin Jianyuan was about to return to his desk, he heard someone cough above him. Lin Jianyuan looked up and saw Jiang Chen leaning over the railing, staring at him with a strange expression.

Lin Jianyuan frowned, crossed his arms, and returned a "What do you want?" look.

Others noticed Jiang Chen too and stopped what they were doing, eyeing him intently.

"Ahem." Jiang Chen coughed again, avoiding everyone’s gaze. He seemed to want to say something but hesitated, then closed his mouth. He hurried down the stairs and said to Lin Jianyuan, "Lin Jianyuan, you’re not too busy, are you? Come to my office. Let’s have a calm, honest talk."

His awkward tone made the onlookers’ eyes light up, as if to say, "Go on, hurry up!"

But Lin Jianyuan said, "I’m busy."

Jiang Chen frowned, "You just got here. What could you possibly be busy with—"

Before he could finish, Lin Jianyuan picked up the breakfast on his desk and said casually, "Busy eating breakfast."

It happened to be an egg pancake and hot soy milk.

Jiang Chen: "…"

Jiang Chen fought the urge to roll his eyes, squeezed out a smile, and said, "Alright, take your time. Come see me after you finish. Don’t overthink it—I just want to sit down and have an honest chat with you."

Lin Jianyuan said impatiently, "Yeah, got it. Go on."

Jiang Chen: "…"

Jiang Chen gritted his teeth but had no choice. He turned and went upstairs.

Only after Jiang Chen disappeared into the manager’s office did the colleagues gather around, whispering excitedly, "Go! Why aren’t you going?"

"Exactly, don’t be afraid of him! He’s definitely going to apologize! Did you see that awkward look on his face?"

"Right! I almost laughed out loud just now. It’s the first time I’ve seen Jiang Chen so humiliated! Lin Jianyuan, I really admire you. This is such a win!"

The office quickly turned into a buzz of laughter and chatter, but Lin Jianyuan frowned a little.

Because he saw frogs.

Frogs, hopping one after another. From the steps above, hopping down level by level.

"Ribbit."

One frog, two frogs, three frogs…

"Ribbit." Frogs were hopping all over the place. Everyone was chatting and laughing, completely ignoring the frogs. Only Lin Jianyuan discreetly pulled his legs in.

Ribbit. Ribbit. Ribbit.

Lin Jianyuan silently sat back at his desk and ate his breakfast amid the surround-sound ribbiting.

The egg pancake was in thermal packaging, still steaming hot and fragrant when he opened it.

"Hey, bro? Is that you? You’re back at work!" Pei Shuo’s voice rang out above him.

Lin Jianyuan looked up and saw his beaming, cheerful smile as he walked over, rubbing his eyes.

Thump.

Pei Shuo bumped into the corner of a nearby desk.

"Ah, sorry." Pei Shuo was clearly in pain, but his first reaction after wincing was to apologize.

"It's fine, it's fine. What's wrong? Your eyes bothering you?" Qin Shi at the neighboring desk looked at him with concern.

"Yeah... not great..." Pei Shuo obediently put his hand down and blinked hard. Still wearing his usual cheerful grin, he chuckled and said, "Maybe I stayed up too late watching TV dramas yesterday, everything looks a bit blurry today."

Qin Shi: "Your eyes are probably too dry."

Pei Shuo: "Right, dry and gritty. This morning, my eyelids felt like they were glued shut, couldn't even open them. By the way, bro, can I borrow your eye drops again?"

Pei Shuo turned around, his puppy-dog eyes sparkling.

In those gleaming, pitch-black eyes, two thick, long, lush green vines had taken over the entire pupils.

In just two days, the two vines had grown back, even longer than before. As if fed and thriving, their stems were thick and their leaves glossy. With Pei Shuo’s incessant rubbing of his eyes, the vines swayed gently.

Like two hands stretching out from the pupils, fingers splayed open.

Frogs were hopping about everywhere, croaking.

Green hands swaying and waving as they emerged from the eyeballs.

What the hell is going on?

What the fuck is all this?!

His chest tightened with anger. Lin Jianyuan, suppressing his rage, waved at Pei Shuo: "Come here."

Pei Shuo, leaning on the desk, shuffled over. Thinking he was going to get the eye drops, he reached out his hand.

"Like this." Lin Jianyuan grabbed his hand, made him form a fist, with the webs of his thumbs encircling the two vines.

"Huh?" Pei Shuo looked up blankly.

Lin Jianyuan didn’t say a word, just tightened his grip and yanked hard!

"Ah!" Pei Shuo’s eyes widened in surprise. "How does that work? My eyes feel better already!"

"From now on, whenever your eyes feel uncomfortable, just do this." Lin Jianyuan snapped. "I don’t know where I saw it or what the principle is, just do it."

"Okay, okay! So magical!" Pei Shuo mimicked his earlier gesture, making grabbing motions with his hands and repeatedly pulling in front of his eyes.

Other colleagues, curious, crowded around to examine what kind of eye exercise this was.

Only Lin Jianyuan silently made his way to the corner of the office to the sound of croaking frogs.

...That thing was alive.

Lin Jianyuan, with his back to everyone, clenched his fist expressionlessly.

The two vines pulled from Pei Shuo’s eyes now squirmed violently in his palm. Like earthworms thrown into a frying pan, exposed to extreme danger, struggling desperately.

Lin Jianyuan, face impassive, started the paper shredder.

The vines shrieked as the shredder consumed them.

Ten minutes later, in Jiang Chen’s office.

"You’re here, Jianyuan. Sit, sit." Jiang Chen smiled widely as soon as he entered. "Just to be clear, don’t feel any pressure—I just want to have a simple chat with you, have a heart-to-heart..."

"I need to take leave." Lin Jianyuan cut him off.

"What?" Jiang Chen was stunned.

"Sick leave. I need to see a doctor." Lin Jianyuan added, "I think my mental health is acting up again."

Jiang Chen: "………………"

Half an hour later, at 700 Jiangchuan North Road.

"This hospital is pretty big." Jiang Chen remarked while looking for a parking spot and eyeing the outpatient building of A City Mental Health Center.

"Thanks, Manager Jiang." Lin Jianyuan opened the car door. "You can head out, no need to wait for me. I’ll head back on my own when I’m done."

Jiang Chen: "..."

Although the sentence started with "Thanks, Manager Jiang," the tone sounded more like he was instructing a driver.

Jiang Chen’s jaw twitched involuntarily. Just as anger surged across his face, Lin Jianyuan suddenly turned back, leaned against the car window, and said, "By the way, Manager Jiang, on the way here, I suddenly realized something."

Jiang Chen barely suppressed the twitch in his mouth and forced a smile. "What is it?"

"About why the head office didn’t transfer you or me. I used to think it was to make an example of someone, to calm everyone on the surface but settle accounts later. But now I realize I was wrong." Lin Jianyuan scratched his head. "Turns out, I’m not the chicken."

Jiang Chen: "?"

Lin Jianyuan walked away after saying this, leaving Jiang Chen alone, completely baffled in the parking lot.

Two minutes later.

"Fuck!!!" Jiang Chen, suddenly realizing what he meant, raged, slamming his palm down hard on the steering wheel. The horn let out a long, frustrated blast.