**Chapter 15: I’ll Hang Upside Down and Eat Shit on Live Stream for You…**
That night, Lin Siyi finished her daily 15 pages of the original English FRM Level 2 textbook as usual. Since it was still early, she thought about chatting with Song Yunxiao on WeChat.
It was rare that this workaholic wasn’t working overtime today. Lin Siyi sent an emoji over, and within seconds, she got a reply.
Song Yunxiao typed a string of words: “Typing is too slow, and voice messages waste time. If you’re free now, let’s just video chat.”
“OK, no problem.”
Lin Siyi called back with a video chat. Because the network was a bit laggy, it took a while to connect. As soon as her friend picked up, she was greeted by a full-screen face covered with a Japanese geisha mask. “Wow, if you scare me into paralysis at night, I’m going to demand a huge compensation from you,” Lin Siyi exaggeratedly pretended to be frightened.
“Come on, you rich girl who uses ex-boyfriend, plum blossom, and Ginza masks, do you really need to extort me? You should see the difference in our living expenses; it’s like the equator and the North Pole!”
Lin Siyi couldn’t wait to share the gossip from the past two days: “Hey, let me tell you, I cooked something for the boss next door today, but something went wrong, and the dish failed.”
Song Yunxiao gave a look that said, “I don’t believe you.”
Even though Lin Siyi couldn’t see her real expression, since the mask on her face already made her scarier than a ghost, “You really need to wake up. Getting drunk like this, not even a peanut is innocent. You dare to cook for someone else? Is that person a hero forced to the edge?”
“And you’re a new employee who just joined the company. Is your relationship with the boss that good? Even as his assistant, you shouldn’t be this familiar, right?”
Seeing her friend didn’t believe her, Lin Siyi quickly recounted how Cheng Yixiu came to help her in the middle of the night and took her to the hospital. She also mentioned how he saved her during an accident while they were attending an event at the securities firm this morning.
To show her gratitude, she decided to cook something for him, thinking it would be a nice gesture!
But her bad luck seemed contagious these past two days, leading to her burning the pot and failing to cook anything.
Song Yunxiao: “…Haha, I think that non-existent fire might have saved you. Even if the dish looked good, it doesn’t mean it would taste good. You’ve only been at the company for three days, and you’re already suspected of trying to take down the boss. No company would dare hire you easily.”
“This could become a big scandal in the financial circle and go viral online. By then, Lin Siyi, you’d become an internet celebrity, maybe even debuting in the spotlight.”
Lin Siyi rubbed her forehead: “Sis, are you complimenting me or mocking me?”
“My meaning is so obvious, and you still can’t tell? Truly, a child who can’t be taught.”
Lin Siyi immediately retorted, “You’re the one who can’t be carved!”
“But Song Song, I have to say, your divergent thinking is impressive. In just a few minutes, you’ve already written a script for me. All that’s left is for me to verify it.”
Song Yunxiao: “I’ll take that compliment. I’ve even prepared another script for you. Want to hear it?”
Lin Siyi: “…” I was just casually praising you, and you’re getting carried away?
“Look, Yiyi, you and your boss live so close to each other. It’s possible you could develop a romantic relationship. Since neither of you is married, and you’re both long-term single dogs, and your boss could be considered an old dog, though he doesn’t look old. But with you two living so close, why not give it a try?”
Lin Siyi complained, “You haven’t seen my boss’s mysterious confidence. I swear, most people couldn’t handle it. It’s really torturous, both physically and mentally. I’ve been suffering under his torment every day.”
Song Yunxiao peeled off her face mask and rolled her eyes at her friend, “You don’t get it. They say when you get stronger, you also go bald. But look at your boss, he hasn’t gone bald, yet he’s gotten stronger. He’s already surpassed the industry average. In your fund industry terms, he’s far exceeded the performance benchmark.”
Lin Siyi: “…”
“Besides, the private equity industry is high-intensity and stressful. Your boss probably speaks directly. Many straight men are like that, but as long as he’s not a straight man cancer, it’s fine. Didn’t you tell me before that he doesn’t handle external affairs? His personality dictates his behavior. Otherwise, compare him to the other partner, Gu Zhaoyang, and you’ll see he speaks much more normally.”
“You not becoming a matchmaker is a real waste. Why don’t you switch careers and become an online matchmaker? The live streaming and self-media industries are booming. You could easily register a company, get some venture capital, and make it big.”
“I wouldn’t dare. But if you manage to win over your boss, as your good sister, I’d benefit too.”
Lin Siyi: “Let me tell you something, you’re overthinking it. If I ever end up with my boss, I’ll hang upside down and eat shit on live stream for you.”
Song Yunxiao burst out laughing: “Remember what you said today. I’ll be waiting for you to eat your words.”
“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Your little brother came to the office looking for you a few days ago. He thought you were still working with me at the firm. But I didn’t tell him you found a new job.”
“I admire his persistence. No matter what happened with the previous generation, it shouldn’t affect you two. And he was born after your dad remarried, right? Didn’t your dad tell you they divorced long ago but didn’t tell you to avoid affecting you before you turned 18? Legally, there’s nothing wrong.”
When the topic switched to this, Lin Siyi’s attitude became noticeably sharp, “But my mom’s condition in her last years was off, and that’s a fact. I don’t know whose words between them are the truth, and I don’t want to know.”
“As a father, he was impeccable before I turned 18. But in the years after, he was indeed absent. That’s something that can’t be made up for. It’s not something he can fix just because he wants to, nor can he call me whenever he wants just because I’m his daughter.”
“Legally, we’re related by blood, but emotionally, let’s forget it.”
Song Yunxiao sighed, unsure how to comfort her: “What if your brother comes looking for me again?”
“Just tell him I’m traveling and don’t know when I’ll be back. Tell him not to keep coming to the office looking for me since I’m not there anymore. Oh, my mom’s death anniversary is coming up. If you’re free, accompany me. I’ll hitch a ride with you. I’ve always gone alone, and it feels too lonely.”
“Alright, let’s pick a day when I’m not working overtime, and we’ll go together.”
“Okay, I’ll hang up now. The signal here isn’t great, but I can’t complain too much about free internet, especially since the owner doesn’t know there’s a third person using it.”
Song Yunxiao: “I think you should just spend a few hundred bucks to get a cheap broadband connection. You can bundle it with your phone bill to meet the minimum usage requirement.”
“No way, the boss next door uses high-end broadband. I can watch TV in the living room with the home theater smoothly. Installing a cheap low-end one feels like a loss. Maybe the signal in my room is just weak. Next time, I’ll video chat with you from the living room; it shouldn’t be too bad.”
Song Yunxiao was speechless: “I really want to ask if your boss knows you’re shamelessly and greedily using his WiFi for free?”
Lin Siyi was anxious: “He probably… doesn’t know. He’s not home all the time.”
“But if he’s not on a business trip, he’s usually home working late,” Song Yunxiao couldn’t help but remind her forgetful friend.
“Once I get my first paycheck, I’ll get a new broadband connection. For now, I’ll just keep using the free version.”
“Just remember that.”
What Lin Siyi didn’t know was that while she was discussing this with Song Yunxiao, her wealthy boss next door, Cheng Yixiu, was also puzzled about why his home broadband speed was sometimes fast and sometimes slow.
For instance, tonight’s speed was relatively smooth and fast, but sometimes it was so slow that downloading a slightly larger file almost made him die waiting.
He planned to call the broadband service tomorrow to check what the problem was. If he didn’t solve it soon, it would seriously affect his money-making.
After all, he believed in the saying “money never sleeps,” and as the big boss of the company, he couldn’t waste his limited time on such trivial matters.
At half-past midnight, Lin Siyi, unable to sleep, got up from bed and went to the living room. She casually grabbed a bag of discounted chips she bought from the supermarket yesterday from the coffee table, opened a can of cola that was also on the table, and lay back to continue watching her drama.
Meanwhile, Boss Cheng next door was downloading an 8G file and watched as the internet speed dropped from four digits to two.
Cheng Yixiu: “???”