Chapter 21 – Bath Time
Lin Yan left President Lu’s office. After stepping outside, he suddenly remembered something and took out his phone to delete the post he had previously sent.
Back at his workstation, Lin Yan stopped overthinking and focused completely on his work.
Because of the equipment and account permissions, along with the modules submitted by others, all he needed to do was integrate everything. The process went very smoothly, and he finished this part before the end of the workday and sent it to Zhao Ming.
Lin Yan waited at his desk for a while, expecting Zhao Ming’s reply.
Just a few minutes later, a message came.
Director Zhao: [Not bad, Xiao Lin.]
Lin Yan replied with a smiling emoji.
Since Zhao Ming didn’t ask him to revise anything, that meant the work would be uploaded to Secretary He.
Earlier that morning, when President Lu had called him into the office to ask about the project, Lin Yan had been a little flustered. He was afraid President Lu might think he was intentionally dragging things out or working inefficiently.
If President Lu formed that impression of him, forget about bonuses — he might not even get assigned to future projects. Even though he had only been in charge of this project for a few days, leaders always liked it when tasks were completed ahead of schedule.
No matter what, Lin Yan had to finish it as quickly as possible.
Seeing that it was almost time to leave work, Lin Yan packed up his things and went home to cook for Meiqiu.
He stopped by the pet supply store downstairs and bought some items for Meiqiu. A cat teaser wand on the shelf, with fur that looked exactly like Meiqiu’s tail, immediately caught his attention.
Even though he already had one at home, Lin Yan still couldn’t resist buying it for Meiqiu. Just imagining Meiqiu chasing the wand and leaping into the air made him impatient to get home and play with him.
The price: 59.9 yuan.
Lin Yan hadn’t expected a single cat teaser wand to be so expensive. The one he bought last time only cost 9.9.
Still, he bought it anyway. Who could refuse a fluffy teaser wand that looked just like Meiqiu’s tail?
He also picked up a bottle of cat shampoo. Meiqiu had been living with him for a while now, and who knew how long he had been wandering before that — it was definitely time for a bath.
These two items alone cost him nearly two hundred yuan. Lin Yan finally realized that as long as a product had the word “pet” attached to it, the price instantly doubled.
When Lin Yan got home, he heard noises coming from inside and quickly opened the door.
Looking inside, he saw Meiqiu standing on the robotic vacuum cleaner, as if he were commanding it to clean the floor.
Lin Yan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Was Meiqiu unhappy with how dirty the floor was? He was actually supervising the robot himself — such a clever little cat.
The robotic vacuum at home was the newest model at the time, and also the most expensive. Appliances like this were just like phones — they updated incredibly fast. He had only used this one twice before a newer model came out.
It was as if the company was waiting specifically for suckers like Lin Yan to buy the last batch of old stock before quickly taking it off the shelves.
The newest model only added video capability; otherwise, the functions were basically the same. It could be controlled through the cloud and could recognize obstacles automatically.
If something is suddenly left in one spot for a long time, the robot can recognize it and update the map as well.
Lin Yan thought it was very practical.
This one seemed to come out and roam around for a bit whenever it was even slightly bumped, then return to its base on its own.
It was probably Meiqiu who had accidentally knocked it out of position.
When Meiqiu saw Lin Yan, he hopped off the robot and jumped over to him.
Lin Yan squatted down. The moment Meiqiu saw him do that, he launched himself straight into Lin Yan’s arms.
“Meiqiu, baby~” Lin Yan called.
He didn’t see Meiqiu’s expression — Meiqiu was currently rolling his eyes.
Didn’t you call me President Lu this morning? And now I’m ‘baby’?
Hmph… fine, I’ll forgive you.
Meiqiu rubbed his head against Lin Yan’s neck again and again.
Lin Yan prepared dinner for Meiqiu again, adding some goat milk powder today. It smelled rich and milky.
Meiqiu lowered his head and ate with great enthusiasm.
Seeing the little cat eat so happily, Lin Yan felt warm inside and started eating as well. His cheeks were puffed as he chewed.
“Meiqiu, our big boss talked to me today.”
Meiqiu, who had been busily eating, suddenly lifted his head and looked at Lin Yan.
Lin Yan was waiting to swallow that mouthful of food. Seeing Meiqiu staring at him like that, he thought, Is this little guy telling me to continue?
After swallowing, Lin Yan didn’t disappoint him.
“He asked me if I was raising a cat.”
Meiqiu leaned in a little closer. And then?
“He said that if I like it, I can keep it.” Lin Yan scooped another bite and kept eating. “Didn’t expect President Lu to be so easygoing.”
Perfect answer.
Meiqiu turned his head away and went back to eating.
Was this little guy actually listening, or not?
Lin Yan didn’t think much of it and continued, “President Lu isn’t just approachable — he’s also handsome. I wonder who’s worthy of him.”
Meiqiu’s face felt as hot as a stove, but he kept eating as if nothing was wrong.
Lin Yan continued chatting away to Meiqiu.
After the meal, Meiqiu had already collapsed on the table and taken a short nap before Lin Yan finally began cleaning up.
After resting for a bit, Lin Yan went to the bathroom to run hot water. He found a storage bin to use for Meiqiu’s bath.
Meiqiu was drawn over by the sound of running water.
Lin Yan tested the temperature — it was just right. He turned around and saw Meiqiu standing at the bathroom door, then said, “Meiqiu, come take a bath.”
A bath?!
What is this nonsense? Absolutely not.
Meiqiu kicked off with his back legs and bolted.
Lin Yan chased after him. Although his apartment wasn’t large, it couldn’t withstand a small cat’s frantic parkour.
Meiqiu sprang from the entryway to the dining table, then from the table to the sofa, and with another leap, up onto the bookshelf.
The top shelf of the bookshelf had already been converted by Lin Yan into a cat bed, lined with a soft blanket. When Meiqiu climbed up, his paws touched the fluffy bedding, and he finally stopped running.
Lin Yan sighed helplessly, looking at the papers and plastic cups scattered all over the floor by Meiqiu. Smiling, he picked them up and put everything back in place.
The cat teaser wand and the bottle of shampoo Lin Yan had bought for Meiqiu had both been kicked onto the floor.
The shampoo rolled to the side, about to disappear under the bed. Lin Yan stepped forward to grab it.
Meiqiu suddenly darted over in front of him, intercepting the bottle just before it rolled under the bed.
A moment earlier, Meiqiu had rushed over like a gust of wind — in a flash, he was there.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lin Yan spotted him and quickly scooped Meiqiu up, carrying him straight into the bathroom.
Meiqiu let out a helpless meow.
…
After receiving Lin Yan’s file, Zhao Ming was somewhat surprised. As he scrolled through the content with his mouse, even though he didn’t fully understand that field himself, he could still recognize Lin Yan’s exceptional work ability.
Leaning back in his chair, Zhao Ming took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he opened his eyes again. His office faced the outside, separated from several others by a wall of glass.
He had worked here for more than ten years. The only visible difference now was that he sat inside this office, separated by a sheet of glass, while everyone else remained outside.
It had taken him ten years just to reach this office, yet those people separated by the glass might get here in only a few years.
He rubbed his eyes, then opened them again and removed Lin Yan’s name from the document.
tf is this old geezer doing removing yanyan’s name?!