🐥 DAY 4 of Anniversary Celebration 🐥
He was only doing suggestive content, not actually a pervert. What respectable person would go to work wearing a thigh chain?
Ji Ran turned around and opened the security door, only to see his roommate standing outside his apartment. When the roommate saw him come back in, he calmly raised his head.
“Why are you back again? Forgot something?”
How did he know Ji Ran was about to leave? And why was he standing outside his door?
Ji Ran became slightly wary. “Why are you standing outside my door?”
His roommate replied casually, “Just passing by.”
Ji Ran glanced at him without saying anything.
“Going back inside?” his roommate asked again. “I’ll let you through.”
“No.”
Ji Ran turned around and walked out through the main entrance. There was something strange about the look in his roommate’s eyes and it made him uncomfortable.
Ji Ran had rented his single room through an agency, so he didn’t know much about his roommate. He only knew his name and occupation. The roommate next door seemed to work as a bartender and kept odd hours, sleeping during the day and going out at night. They had barely crossed paths before.
As for the thigh chain, he would find an opportunity to take it off once he was outside. It was winter anyway and with his coat covering it, no one would be able to tell.
Han Shen’s car was parked at the entrance of the residential compound. Today, he was wearing a dark gray suit, with one centimeter of white shirt cuff showing beneath the sleeves. The overall impression was cold and serious, carrying a distinct sense of order.
Ji Ran liked that kind of sense of order. It made him feel safe.
Han Shen might be a ruthless boss but at least he wasn’t some kind of weirdo.
Ji Ran put down his backpack and sat down but there was one thing he couldn’t quite understand.
“Why are you downstairs at my place?”
“I came here from the airport. It was on the way.”
It was a reason that was impossible to find fault with.
Ji Ran gave an “Oh” and said nothing more.
The black sedan merged onto the main road. After a while, Ji Ran asked again, “Then where are we going?”
“To attend a bidding meeting.”
After saying that, Han Shen sent him a set of company documents.
“Read through the tender documents and project proposals on the way.”
Ji Ran hadn’t had much contact with this kind of thing before, so he opened the document with some curiosity.
The sedan continued along the main road, its movement accompanied by a faint, almost imperceptible vibration. Normally, the slight bumps caused by the road would have had virtually no effect but Ji Ran happened to still be wearing the thigh chain.
With every slight jolt of the car, the metal chain began sliding upward toward the root of his thigh, pulling painfully against his skin.
Moreover, because he was sitting down, the shape of the chain was becoming rather obvious. Several distinct bulges had appeared beneath Ji Ran’s suit trousers. Anyone with even a little experience could probably guess that whatever was underneath was not exactly proper.
Ji Ran’s ears turned red with embarrassment. He hurriedly tugged at his suit, trying to cover himself but the suit had side slits, so whenever he covered the front, the sides became exposed instead.
Desperate, Ji Ran finally opened his laptop and placed it on his knees, praying that it would block Han Shen’s line of sight.
The laptop’s battery had deteriorated badly and without being plugged in, it wouldn’t last very long. Ji Ran looked around the car but couldn’t find a power outlet.
He didn’t really dare ask Han Shen about it, so he lowered the brightness of the laptop screen and began reading with difficulty.
The bulky computer successfully concealed the outline of the thigh chain but the old laptop was also extremely heavy. His thigh was already being painfully constricted by the chain and with the added pressure of the heavy computer pressing down on it, his leg soon began to go numb.
Yet he couldn’t exactly throw the laptop aside.
Ji Ran had no choice but to keep shifting where he placed the weight, alternating between his two legs.
Left leg, right leg, left leg, right leg, left,
“Julian.”
A deep, cold voice suddenly fell into the car.
“Stay still.”
Ji Ran’s movements stopped at once and he instantly became as quiet as a chicken.
Han Shen continued checking the project materials. About five minutes later, he heard the young man’s somewhat desperate voice.
“Samuel…… My leg is numb. Can I apply for permission to move it?”
Han Shen stopped working with a slight headache.
The IPO project he was responsible for had reached the application stage and as the person in charge, Han Shen was conducting the final review of the materials.
Due to recent policy adjustments, IPO registrations had temporarily tightened. The issuance review process had become stricter and there had already been quite a few companies whose applications had been withdrawn. Although they could submit their applications again, they would have to wait six months before doing so, which was a major blow to both the securities firms and the companies involved.
With the overall environment tightening, companies have become more conservative when choosing securities firms. They were only willing to cooperate with top tier, leading institutions and quite a few companies even specifically requested that Han Shen be appointed as the person in charge.
Han Shen’s ability was widely recognized but he only had one head and two hands. No matter how efficient he was, he simply couldn’t handle every project at the same time.
At present, he was trying to delegate more authority, handing some of the relatively straightforward projects over to senior vice presidents and executive general managers, but cultivating capable people was not something that could be accomplished overnight. For the time being, most projects still had to pass through his hands.
The week before the application materials were submitted was always Han Shen’s busiest period.
His subordinates would confidently claim that they had checked the final version of the materials several times yet Han Shen could still find countless problems in them.
Of course, not every problem necessarily needed to be corrected. As long as it did not affect the chances of passing the review, some wording issues could be given a certain amount of leeway. As long as the core points were expressed clearly, that was enough.
The employees of Feng Sheng considered him a perfectionist. Asher would occasionally tease him about it as well but Han Shen did not think of himself that way.
He simply had relatively high standards.
He did have a certain degree of controlling tendencies but after leading his first team, Han Shen had come to understand that neither society nor people could operate one hundred percent according to his expectations. He could not impose the standards he held for himself on everyone else.
Even though Fengsheng’s employees were already exceptionally capable and considered the prospectuses they produced to be perfect, in Han Shen’s eyes, they were worth eighty points at most.
No one could completely meet his standards and no one could completely act according to his instructions.
He had already been trying his best to lower his expectations for his subordinates.
Yet even so, most of the employees were still quite afraid of him.
Yes.
Take the person sitting right in front of him, for example.
The young man was sitting stiffly beside him, both hands gripping the hem of his clothes tightly. His eyes were even red, making him look like a small animal trembling with fear.
“Julian,” Han Shen looked at Ji Ran, his tone calm but carrying a hint of confusion. “What exactly am I in your eyes? A boss who controls your every action?”
Ji Ran: “……?”
Excuse me but weren’t you the one who told me not to move?
“I don’t know what happened to give you such a frightening impression of me,” Han Shen told him. “But once we’ve worked together for a while, you’ll realize that my temper isn’t as bad as you imagine and I don’t have that many rules either. Although I’m your superior, the two of us are equal individuals. You don’t need to ask for my permission just to move your own body.”
Ji Ran felt a little awkward and at the same time, somewhat speechless.
It was obviously such a tiny matter. All Han Shen needed to do was say whether he agreed or disagreed yet he had to give him such a long lecture instead.
And just a moment ago, it was clearly Han Shen who had told him to stay quiet!
Now he was saying, “You don’t need to ask for my permission just to move your own body”?
Han Shen had somehow managed to say both the good things and the bad things himself. No matter how he looked at it, Ji Ran was the one at fault.
Perhaps Ji Ran’s resistant expression was too obvious, because Han Shen added, “I only told you to stay quiet. I didn’t tie your hands and feet together.”
“What’s the difference? Isn’t it basically the same thing?” Ji Ran was starting to get annoyed and there was noticeably less respect in his tone. “If you don’t let me make a sound, doesn’t that mean I might as well tie my own hands and feet and not move at all……”
Wait.
What was he even saying?
What did he mean by tying his own hands and feet? And not being allowed to move at all?
Had he been doing suggestive content for too long lately, to the point that his entire brain had turned yellow?
Ji Ran’s face instantly went completely red and he simply shut his mouth.
Han Shen, however, asked, “Why did you stop?”
Ji Ran: “……”
How was he supposed to continue?
If he continued, they were going straight into an eighteen plus conversation……
“In front of me, you can express your thoughts freely.”
Perhaps Ji Ran’s expression was too restrained. After a brief pause, Han Shen added, “As long as it isn’t a matter of principle, I won’t get angry.”
Ji Ran: “What counts as a matter of principle?”
Han Shen: “You’ll know when you cross the line.”
Ji Ran: “……”
And he still claimed his temper wasn’t bad.
Liar.
“Ding ding”
The computer suddenly gave a low battery warning, then quickly dimmed.
Oh no. It needed to be charged.
Ji Ran looked around the car again but still couldn’t find a charging outlet.
Should he ask Han Shen?
But would his boss think he was being troublesome?
Then again, Han Shen had just said that his temper was actually pretty good and that he wouldn’t get angry over things that weren’t matters of principle. Borrowing a charging outlet for a while shouldn’t count as a matter of principle, right?
Ji Ran glanced at Han Shen, still struggling with whether he should say something. Before he could make up his mind, the other man spoke first.
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
Ji Ran finally opened his mouth. “Excuse me, is there a three prong outlet in the car?”
“Yes.”
Han Shen opened the center armrest, revealing a power outlet hidden inside.
So it had been right here all along.
Ji Ran breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, “Thank you.”
As he watched the battery percentage in the lower right corner of the screen slowly increase, Ji Ran felt somewhat incredulous.
So it really was that simple.
It had only taken one sentence. There had been absolutely no need for him to agonize over it for so long.
He realized that he might have misunderstood Han Shen.
Thinking about it carefully, Han Shen really had never lost his temper. Even when Ji Ran made mistakes at work, Han Shen merely pointed out the problems calmly. He had never once blown up at him.
It was just that Han Shen’s presence was too overwhelming and his position was far above Ji Ran’s. As a result, Ji Ran became nervous every time he saw him, carrying an almost instinctive sense of fear and awe toward him.
Perhaps he really had misunderstood Han Shen.
If Han Shen’s personality were truly that terrible, Asher and Lu Ke probably wouldn’t have been able to work under him for so long either, right?
But why was Han Shen still looking at him?
Had he done something wrong just now?
Sensing the gaze from beside him, Ji Ran suddenly became uncertain again.
He cautiously asked, “Is there something you need me to do?”
Han Shen looked at Ji Ran, then lowered his gaze toward the laptop resting on his thighs.
“No.”
He withdrew his gaze and lowered his head, continuing with his work.
From the moment Ji Ran had gotten into the car, Han Shen had noticed the thigh chain he was wearing but he had no intention of prying into his subordinate’s private affairs, so he had said nothing.
That was, at least, until Ji Ran began feeling uncomfortable because of the chain.
Han Shen was a meticulous and responsible superior. He would not allow a subordinate’s private circumstances to interfere with work.
If it had been something else, he would have simply instructed Ji Ran on what to do.
But this happened to be a thigh chain, something so private……
With Han Shen’s level of upbringing and self restraint, there was no way he could bring himself to question Ji Ran outright:
Are you really planning to give a presentation while wearing that thigh chain?
So, throughout the journey, Han Shen had been creating opportunities for Ji Ran to speak up. He had repeatedly hinted that he was not an unreasonable person and if Ji Ran brought it up himself, Han Shen certainly would not refuse.
But Ji Ran didn’t.
Han Shen thought to himself that, sure enough, Ji Ran was still afraid of him.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
Statistically speaking, coffee would be appreciated.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · A cold-hearted bossChapter 2 · “Your skirt?”Chapter 3 · Ji Ran was caught off guardChapter 4 · Relax, you bit your lip until it bledChapter 5 · Don’t want toChapter 6 · Women’s clothing and DaddyChapter 7 · Ji Ran hunched over and began to sob softly.Chapter 8 · Rebellion, offense, and self-rewardChapter 9 · I hate it when people flaunt their wealth in front of meChapter 10 · CompensateChapter 11 · Why are you following me?Chapter 12 · Damn, he forgot to take off his leg chainChapter 13 · Ji Ran was indeed still afraid of him.Chapter 14 · A message came from OrcaChapter 15 · Self-blame, anger, and tears.Chapter 16 · You have to pay more!Chapter 17 · Did you come here just to yell at me?Chapter 18 · Just bear with it a little longerChapter 19 · Women’s clothing live streamChapter 20 · Could you come and pick me up?Chapter 21 Part 1 · It’s all an actChapter 21 Part 2 · It’s all an actChapter 22 · The actions could be even more brutalChapter 23 · A slapChapter 24 · He wanted to surrender a part of himself