Chapter 96 You Can’t Either

Chapter 96: Not You Either

Chen Chu: "..."

He glanced at the closet, filled with brightly colored, youthful clothes, and couldn't for the life of him imagine his boss wearing any of them.

"No, these clothes were all bought by the boss for you. He doesn't wear these styles himself."

As a competent assistant, Chen Chu felt it was his duty to uphold Zhan Jiayu's image, so he replied in a businesslike tone.

Such vibrant styles, he guessed, wouldn't have been worn by Zhan Jiayu even ten years ago, let alone now. Though he wasn't with the Zhan family back then, he knew Zhan Jiayu well enough to be certain he disliked wearing such styles himself, though he definitely enjoyed seeing others wear them.

"Oh."

Yan Zhoubai's tone carried a hint of disappointment. He had hoped to uncover a little secret about Zhan Jiayu.

"Then where did he find so many clothes so quickly?"

"I don't know." Chen Chu shook his head.

In truth, he knew exactly. In his spare time, Zhan Jiayu would browse major brand websites and follow fashion influencers. Whenever he saw clothes he thought would look good on Yan Zhoubai, he'd make a note and then have Chen Chu purchase them. Both recent batches of clothes had been acquired this way.

But he couldn't possibly reveal that. The idea of the formidable head of the renowned Zhan family, an arms dealing dynasty in Country A, spending his free time tracking fashion trends and picking out clothes for a young man—it simply wasn't a very imposing image.

Yan Zhoubai didn't dwell on the matter, shifting his attention to something else.

As if to confirm Yan Zhoubai's words, Huihui suddenly trotted into the room.

First, it happily panted at Yan Zhoubai, circled him a few times, then went over to circle Chen Chu’s legs, clearly showing its affection for him.

Chen Chu bent down to pet Huihui’s head, his expression visibly relaxing.

"Yes, I’ve kept some dogs in Country A."

"Did you keep any after returning to China?" Yan Zhoubai asked eagerly.

"After returning, I adopted a local mixed-breed dog."

Chen Chu hadn't had any particular opinion about this Young Master Yan before. To him, Yan Zhoubai was simply his boss's beloved, and his job was to serve him well. But if you also like dogs, then we're friends.

"That's great! Could you bring it out sometime to play with Huihui? I think Huihui would love to have a friend."

Yan Zhoubai had similar feelings about Chen Chu. As Zhan Jiayu's assistant, he was like his elder brother's Assistant Zhang—highly capable but not someone he had much interaction with. However, if they both liked dogs, that changed everything. Shared interests meant plenty to talk about.

"Sure," Chen Chu nodded.

"Awesome!" Yan Zhoubai was thrilled.

"What's so awesome?"

Zhan Jiayu’s voice came from outside the room, and he soon appeared at the doorway.

His tone gave nothing away, but Yan Zhoubai noticed Assistant Chen quickly take a step back, putting distance between them.

Yan Zhoubai was puzzled but answered Zhan Jiayu’s question first. "Assistant Chen said he has a local mixed-breed dog, so I suggested they could bring it to play with Huihui sometime. That way, Huihui would have a canine friend and would be thrilled."

As if understanding Yan Zhoubai’s words, Huihui happily jumped twice and looked directly at Zhan Jiayu.

"That's great. Be sure to bring your dog to play with Huihui often from now on," Zhan Jiayu said, smiling at Chen Chu.

"Okay."

Chen Chu acknowledged the instruction and then subtly slipped out of the room. He felt that staying even a second longer would reveal the murderous look in his boss’s eyes.

The jealousy was overwhelming—a true workplace hazard. It wasn't as if he had initiated the conversation with Young Master Yan; the young master had started it himself.

"You and Assistant Chen seemed to be getting along well?"

Zhan Jiayu was quite pleased to see Chen Chu quietly leave. Of course, he knew the two were just making small talk, but emotionally, he couldn't quite accept it.

Now that he had brought Yan Zhoubai into his territory, he strongly resisted the idea of Yan Zhoubai’s attention being drawn to anyone else. Yet, he didn't want Yan Zhoubai to think he was petty or controlling, so he endured the discomfort internally.

"Yeah, he likes dogs too."

Yan Zhoubai didn’t notice Zhan Jiayu’s mood shift; he was just happy to have found another dog lover.

"You were so busy chatting with him—do you remember you promised to introduce Huihui to me? It kept getting delayed, but can you formally introduce us now?"

Yan Zhoubai had a feeling that Zhan Jiayu’s tone sounded somewhat aggrieved.

"Sure, let me formally introduce you. This is Huihui. He’s six years old—a dog I found near my home when I was little. He’s very cute and well-behaved. Huihui, say hello to him."

Yan Zhoubai looked at Huihui, signaling it to greet Zhan Jiayu.

Huihui didn’t actually know how to do such tricks, as Yan Zhoubai had never trained it to interact with people. Any reaction would suffice.

Huihui walked over to Zhan Jiayu’s legs and circled him twice.

The reaction was neither enthusiastic nor cold, but it was nowhere near as warm as its behavior toward Chen Chu.

Zhan Jiayu bent down to pet Huihui’s head. "So well-behaved. From now on, you’ll eat the best dog food and play with the best toys, okay?"

As if understanding Zhan Jiayu, Huihui suddenly licked the back of his hand enthusiastically.

Zhan Jiayu didn’t know much about raising dogs, but he had money and time—plenty of opportunities to grow closer to Huihui.

Yan Zhoubai found the scene heartwarming. Back at the Yan family, Huihui had enjoyed the best material conditions, but no one in the family particularly liked pets. No one played with it—only the servants kept it company.

Now, living with Zhan Jiayu, even without servants, they could take good care of Huihui themselves.

…

On the second day after moving into Chenjing Apartments, Yan Zhoubai started his job as Zhan Jiayu’s secretary.

Zhan Jiayu had initially thought there was no rush, wanting Yan Zhoubai to take a few days to settle in. But Yan Zhoubai insisted he had been idle for too long in the hospital and was eager to find something to do.

So, the next day, Yan Zhoubai woke up early, dressed in a casual suit, and followed Zhan Jiayu to his company.

As Zhan Jiayu had said, Chenjing Apartments were very close to the company—less than twenty minutes by car.

Yan Zhoubai had initially thought the entire impressive office building belonged to Zhan Jiayu’s company and had been observing it closely along the way.

"Stop looking. There are three companies in this building. Those people aren’t my employees."

Noticing Yan Zhoubai observing intently with a puzzled expression from time to time, Zhan Jiayu immediately realized what he was thinking.

“Huh? Really? There are three companies in this building?”

Yan Zhoubai was somewhat surprised. First, his family’s company, Yan Group, occupied an entire building, so he had assumed all companies operated that way. Second, the system kept telling him how capable Zhan Jiayu was—not just in Country A but also back home—so he naturally assumed Zhan Jiayu would also have a large-scale company.

“That’s not necessarily true, right? How impressive a company is shouldn’t be solely based on its size. Besides, he’s only been back in the country for six months—it would be shocking if his company were already as large as Yan Group. Don’t forget, it took your parents nearly twenty years to build Yan Group to its current scale.”

The original storyline didn’t provide specific details about the size of Zhan Jiayu’s company, so the system thought it didn’t matter what his company looked like—as long as he was impressive, that was enough.

“That’s right. My company has only been established for a few months. If you compare it to your family’s Yan Group, it naturally can't compare. Currently, we have fewer than a hundred employees, but they’re all top talent I poached. Quality matters more than quantity.”

As Zhan Jiayu explained this to Yan Zhoubai, they stepped into the elevator.

Although the office building was shared by three companies, Zhan Jiayu had arranged a private elevator exclusively for his company, so they wouldn't have to share with other companies.

“You still haven’t told me what your company does,” Yan Zhoubai asked curiously.

Yan Group was a long-established conglomerate with its fingers in many pies, making it impossible to define its focus with a single industry. However, Zhan Jiayu’s company was still in its early stages and likely specialized in one particular area.

Yan Zhoubai knew the Zhan family dealt in arms trading in Country A, but since Zhan Jiayu had returned to China, he couldn’t possibly continue that line of work—that's not allowed here. Yan Zhoubai was quite curious about what Zhan Jiayu had chosen to do instead.

“Investment. Since I've got money to burn, that’s why many in Jing City are eager to get in good with me. No one turns down an opportunity to make money.”

Zhan Jiayu smiled. He didn’t have a particular interest in business, but if he wanted to establish himself upon returning to China, investment seemed the simplest path—making money work for him.

“Oh?” Yan Zhoubai was surprised. Although he didn't know much about it, he knew investment was complex. He found it surprising that Zhan Jiayu had chosen this path so soon after returning. “But you haven’t been back long and aren’t very familiar with the domestic situation. How do you make decisions?”

“That’s why I hired a bunch of pros—they handle those matters. Even if we lose money, it’s fine. The operations in Country A aren’t going to stop.”

Zhan Jiayu spoke casually, as if the vast sums of money he invested were as trivial as pocket change. Throwing money at it was the fastest way to establish a foothold domestically.

Yan Zhoubai understood—Zhan Jiayu’s focus remained on the Zhan family’s arms business in Country A. The company in China seemed more like a pet project for him.

Was this essentially using profits from Country A to plow money back into the homeland?

The elevator was occupied only by Yan Zhoubai and Zhan Jiayu, as it was reserved for Zhan Jiayu’s exclusive use. Staring at Zhan Jiayu’s reflection in the elevator doors—well-dressed in a suit, with broad shoulders and long legs—Yan Zhoubai couldn’t help but mumble to himself:

“Then what am I supposed to learn from you? It sounds like you don't really know what you're doing either.”

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Author’s Note:

Xiao Chuaner: You don’t sound all that impressive either.

Zhan CEO: Are you sure? [Dog head emoji]