Ye Zhen didn’t think being an assistant was hard at all. Since Jiang Xiaoyi’s side had nothing much for him to handle lately, Ye Zhen simply went back to the Project Incubation Department. But since Ye Zhen wasn’t familiar with the projects the department already had going, he couldn’t handle any of the core business—aside from odd jobs, all he did was answer phones.
Although Li You’ai didn’t dare openly suppress Ye Zhen anymore now that he’d “regained favor,” the sarcastic jabs never stopped.
“Some people, relying on shady connections, get themselves into a position, and then still want to leech off our department’s resources, thinking they can pad their resume here and then get promoted.”
“Don’t worry, I, Li You’ai, will absolutely never let something like that happen. In our department, everyone earns their place through real skill. When it’s time for the monthly performance review, anyone without a project has zero performance—an automatic fail! I absolutely will not show favoritism! Anyone thinking they can coast along in our department is dreaming!”
Normally, when a new person joins a project department, they can’t possibly already have projects on hand—integrating into the team relies on their superior initially giving them a leg up: the superior brings the new hire along on projects they can’t finish alone, which not only helps the new hire quickly get up to speed on business and department workflow, but often, in the process of serving one client, also helps develop new ones.
But Li You’ai clearly still held a grudge against Ye Zhen for snatching away his nephew’s chance to marry into a wealthy family, and now was determined not to make things easy for Ye Zhen. Not only would he not give Ye Zhen any project leads, he wouldn’t even let him touch the follow-up service for existing projects.
But this man could still put a righteous spin on it: “Little Ye, you’ve only been with our Project Incubation Department a short time, so you can’t handle core business yet, but you’re very important—you’re the lubricant of our department once you’re here. Whatever help our colleagues need, that’s what you’re here for. Also, all of our department’s business calls will be handled by you from now on—there might be quite a few new projects coming in through there!”
It sounded nice, but translated, what Li You’ai had actually assigned Ye Zhen was grunt work.
Reliable projects all relied on existing connections to unearth—the ones that came in cold-calling through the phone were mostly immature ones that couldn’t even pass the investment approval process, and quite likely, in large part, scams trying to solicit investment.
After answering phones all morning until his ears were nearly ringing, Ye Zhen finally grasped this valuable lesson.
“Relying on odd jobs and answering phones not only eats up huge amounts of time and drags you down, it’s basically impossible to unearth any good projects this way.”
Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t seem the least bit surprised at Ye Zhen’s ordeal. Lying on the sofa at the villa that evening, she gave him a pitying look and spoke like someone who’d been through it herself: “I have to tell you, everything you’re going through now, I’ve already been through. This is Li You’ai’s standard playbook—first make the newcomer sit on the bench, let you understand that you’re nothing in this department, break your spirit, and once your fighting spirit is worn down, Li You’ai will act like a savior and toss you a few scraps of leftover projects, and then you’ll be grateful for it. After that, you’ll fall in line.”
Jiang Xiaoyi smiled: “See, now that you’ve personally experienced my life firsthand, can you finally fully understand why I used the Fire-Extinguishing Club? And how hard it is to be a working person?”
She sighed magnanimously: “All you need to do is apologize, admit you were wrong, and we can still be good friends.”
“Who’s your good friend?” Unfortunately, Ye Zhen wasn’t buying it at all. “I don’t have a good friend who uses my head to extinguish her fire.”
Having thrown down such harsh words at Jiang Xiaoyi, it wasn’t Ye Zhen’s style to not produce some results.
Odd jobs and answering phones truly couldn’t unearth good projects, but Ye Zhen was still confident, because…
He could cheat!
Back when he was still President Ye, though Ye Zhen hadn’t paid much attention to the details of every department, and wasn’t familiar with the Project Incubation Department’s project list, there was one particular flagship project the department had once led that he did have an impression of.
It was a comics studio under a gaming company, developing derivative comics for a game IP. When the project first came in for discussion, the game company’s game hadn’t launched yet and it was just a small company, but once the game launched, it became a massive success, and the derivative comics that Ruiyi had incubated alongside it made a fortune too.
Ye Zhen specifically checked the news and found that, in this world, this game hadn’t launched yet, so…
So all he needed to do was find this gaming company’s small-time boss, get ahead of the game and settle an investment and incubation deal, and his performance results for the year would be more than enough to make Jiang Xiaoyi and Li You’ai sit up and take notice!
Easy win—it really was that simple!
Things did indeed turn out easier than Ye Zhen expected. He quickly tracked down the game company’s contact through online leads and successfully reached out to them. When Ye Zhen proposed investment and incubation intentions, the small-time boss, who had no idea his future net worth was about to skyrocket, agreed almost gratefully.
In just five days, Ye Zhen had rapidly signed a letter of intent for a cooperation framework agreement with the other party, needing only to finalize the details of the investment and incubation contract before they could formally sign.
And it was during those same five days that this game company’s new game launched—a dark horse hit smash, exactly as expected.
“Ye Zhen, you’ve already signed a cooperation framework agreement for the comics studio under this game company, right?”
“Ye Zhen! You’re amazing! How did you have such sharp eyes to spot such a promising project!”
“Are you a lucky charm, Ye Zhen? Let me rub off some of your luck!”
…
The admiration and praise from Wang Yani and the others was thoroughly gratifying to Ye Zhen. Best of all was the gritted-teeth expression on Li You’ai’s face, which left Ye Zhen practically glowing with triumph. He finally understood, for the first time, a saying he used to sneer at—there’s nothing quite like watching someone who can’t stand you but can’t do a thing about it.
At this moment, Ye Zhen could only feel—the peasants had overturned the household, and the spring breeze of socialism was sweeping across the land!
But it seemed luck really did balance out. Ye Zhen was humming a tune on his way back to the villa when Jiang Xiaoyi grabbed hold of him—
“Ye Zhen, we’re doomed! My mom is bringing a whole group of relatives over tomorrow evening to inspect your coursework progress! She wants to check on your cooking skills too!”
Although Jiang Xiaoyi had arranged cooking classes for Ye Zhen, he’d never actually properly attended them. Jiang Xiaoyi hadn’t skipped forcing him to make her breakfast once before, but after eating it that one time, her will to survive made her abandon that dangerous idea for good.
Ye Zhen froze for a second, only mildly panicked, but quickly regained his composed smile: “What’s so hard about that?” he said confidently. “As long as there’s money, there’s nothing that can’t be solved.”
The man glanced grandly at Jiang Xiaoyi and declared shamelessly: “The ultimate trick for solving any work problem is outsourcing.”
“Whatever your mom wants to eat, have her make a list early, and before she arrives, I’ll find someone to come make it in advance—won’t that solve it? And don’t clean up the kitchen either, leave it looking like I just cooked, then stuff some extra vegetables, fish, shrimp, and meat in the fridge to give it that everyday-cooking vibe—won’t that be foolproof?”
Jiang Xiaoyi had originally been quite anxious, but hearing Ye Zhen’s plan, she immediately felt a huge weight lift off her: “Then who are you planning to have make it? Timing’s a bit tight, there’s no time to interview anyone—can you find someone whose cooking is good, won’t mess it up, is reliable, and will keep their mouth shut?”
“I have a very good candidate.”
“Who?”
Ye Zhen raised an eyebrow: “I told you, leave it to me and don’t worry about it. Or do you have a better candidate?”
“…”
Jiang Xiaoyi had no better plan either, so she could only work her mother over with soft persuasion to get the menu, then went with Ye Zhen to the supermarket to buy groceries according to the recipe.
On the afternoon of the dinner, Jiang Xiaoyi finally met this reliable candidate—it turned out to be none other than the noble etiquette home tutor Ye Zhen had hired before.
“Director Jiang, hello, hello. For tonight’s dinner, I’ll prepare everything according to the menu and serve you!”
After the home tutor finished speaking, he tied on an apron and headed straight into the kitchen.
Jiang Xiaoyi watched his retreating figure, completely dumbfounded—she’d heard this tutor was famous for being hard to book and quite arrogant, and yet here he was, willingly showing up to be a one-time cooking nanny?
“How did you manage to hire him?”
Facing Jiang Xiaoyi’s astonishment, Ye Zhen just smiled with an air of having quietly accomplished something great: “I promised to teach him etiquette and how to show off elegantly.”
Fighting magic with magic, Ye Zhen fighting showing-off with showing-off… he really was a peculiar character.
But regardless, this home tutor turned out to be thoroughly reliable. Before long, he’d prepared an entire table of hot, steaming dishes exactly according to Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother’s specified menu, gave a few notes on how to enjoy each dish, and then the home tutor swept off, having accomplished his task without seeking credit.
By the time Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother arrived leading a whole crowd of relatives, the timing was perfect—Ye Zhen had just put on an apron for show, and the kitchen still bore obvious signs of recent use.
Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother had originally not been very satisfied with Ye Zhen, but looking at the steaming, fragrant table of food before her, her expression softened somewhat. She glanced at Ye Zhen: “Sit down and eat.”
Ye Zhen smiled with reserved composure and was just about to untie his apron and sit down, when Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother stopped him—
“This is the main table.” Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother pointed to the side. “You sit over there.”
More guests had come than expected today, and one table couldn’t seat everyone, so Jiang Xiaoyi had hastily brought in a desk to make up the numbers, originally intending to sit there herself with a few of the kids. But Jiang Xiaoyi found she didn’t even need to arrange the seating—the guests had already sorted themselves out perfectly on their own.
The women had automatically taken seats at the main table, and the men had automatically gone to sit at the desk.
A harmonious scene, entirely natural.
Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother smiled at Ye Zhen: “Little Ye, you’re basically half the man of the house too. Go help entertain the other male guests over at that table today, alright!”
“…”
Ye Zhen was banished to the little desk, and it took him a full ten minutes to catch his breath. The men receiving the same treatment as him seemed to all be male relatives from Jiang Xiaoyi’s family—quite a few handsome, well-composed middle-aged men among them—and yet, despite ending up unable to sit at the main table, these men, who looked to have plenty of social standing themselves, didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. In fact, they’d already started chatting away naturally and animatedly—
“Old Chen, thanks so much—that question bank you recommended to me last time was amazing. I used it to tutor my kid, and their midterm exam ranking jumped up about fifty spots.”
“Told you I wouldn’t steer you wrong. Oh right, I’ve got another great spot to recommend to you—the South City Wholesale Market. From now on, never buy fruit at a fruit shop—they rip you off badly there. Just follow me to the wholesale market, you can get wholesale prices! Way cheaper!”
“No wonder my wife’s always nagging me, telling me to learn from you being thrifty and managing the household well. She says a real man should be like you, so his wife can go out and hustle in the world without worrying about things at home…”
“By the way, did you get some cosmetic treatment recently? I feel like your skin’s smoother than usual…”
…
Ye Zhen sat there with a dark expression, lips pressed tight, listening to these men chat back and forth, then looked over at the women at the main table, clinking glasses and laughing in high spirits—he felt utterly suffocated, practically seething with frustration.
Men! How could they live like this! Not a shred of resistance in them at all!
The awakening of men depended on every single man’s heartfelt cry from within!
For the first time, Ye Zhen felt a sense of shared destiny as part of the male collective. He even suddenly felt he understood the meaning and mission behind his having crossed over into this timeline—to liberate men!
But just as Ye Zhen had worked himself up, ready to deliver a passionate speech to awaken his enslaved brothers in this room, Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother’s voice suddenly cut through everything—
“Little Ye! This plate of chicken slices stir-fried with asparagus is so good, it’s almost gone! I just noticed there’s still extra ingredients in the kitchen and fridge—go fry up another plate!” …?
Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother was quite satisfied overall today, so her tone remained gentle: “What are you standing around for? Go on! Everyone today—your aunts, sisters, uncles, brothers—they’re all very pleased with this spread you made. They think highly of you, you understand what I mean, right? Go on, whip up another plate of chicken slices with asparagus for everyone, show off your skills again!”
Ye Zhen’s body went almost rigid as he stood up. Old Chen, the man beside him who’d been driving Ye Zhen up the wall with frustration, immediately stood up eagerly too, and as if passing down some kind of masculine tradition, solemnly tied an apron on Ye Zhen: “Little Ye, here, let me tie this on for you. Us men, the kitchen is our battlefield!”
Several men who’d also been relegated to not being able to sit at the main table were instantly moved by their own words, breaking into enthusiastic applause for Ye Zhen.
Amid the applause, Ye Zhen’s face turned grim, while Jiang Xiaoyi’s face at the main table looked even grimmer than his.
This was going to be the death of her!
That entire plate of dishes hadn’t actually been made by Ye Zhen at all! Jiang Xiaoyi had no idea her mother would suddenly get the bright idea to make Ye Zhen cook something on the spot! Wasn’t this going to blow their cover?!
As Ye Zhen, looking flustered and panicked, was pushed into the kitchen, Jiang Xiaoyi quickly pretended to accidentally drop her chopsticks on the floor and shot to her feet: “Mom! I’ll go grab a new pair of chopsticks from the kitchen!”
A minute later, Jiang Xiaoyi slipped into the kitchen. Ye Zhen, wearing the apron and holding a knife, though his expression looked composed, was clearly at a total loss.
“Give me the knife, I’ll do it.”
If her mother discovered Ye Zhen couldn’t cook, having him kicked out would be a minor issue—but if she herself ended up being forced back into arranged dates, that would be the real disaster! This dish couldn’t be left to Ye Zhen—she needed to save herself and come to Ye Zhen’s rescue!
But before Jiang Xiaoyi’s clever plan could fully take shape, her mother’s voice came drifting over from the dining room: “Xiaoyi! Come quick! What’s taking you so long to get chopsticks? Didn’t I say women shouldn’t be in the kitchen, it’ll throw things into chaos? What are you doing in there? Let Little Ye handle it, don’t go in there and mess things up!”
Watching Jiang Xiaoyi about to be dragged away, Ye Zhen grew a bit anxious. He lowered his voice: “What am I supposed to do once you leave? I don’t know how to make that damn dish!”
“Grit your teeth and make it anyway! I’ll figure out how to handle it!”
Unfortunately, Jiang Xiaoyi only had time to mouth these words before her mother pulled her away, leaving Ye Zhen alone in the kitchen once again.
Ye Zhen stared at the chicken slices and asparagus in front of him, his heart filled with the desolation of a warrior about to sacrifice his own arm—a gentleman stays far from the kitchen, and yet here he was, Ye Zhen, an imposing, formidable man, a man who was supposed to be in some high-rise office building watching over financial statements, casually reducing his rivals to dust with a laugh, now reduced to doing battle with a pile of asparagus…
Thinking of the shabby little apartment that should have rightfully belonged to Jiang Xiaoyi instead, and the cat, Ye Zhen decided there was no way he was willing to leave the villa no matter what.
Faced with this crisis, Ye Zhen glared at the asparagus in front of him and felt he had no choice but to go all in.
**
It took Ye Zhen a full half hour of fumbling before he finally brought out a plate of asparagus, by which point the dishes on the table had nearly all been eaten. Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother had sharp eyes and spotted Ye Zhen right away, calling out to him: “Come here, Little Ye, bring the dish over here—your Aunt Zhang wants to have some more. But is this asparagus a new recipe made with soy sauce? Why is it so black, and there’s smoke coming off it…”
Just as things were about to go south, before Jiang Xiaoyi’s mother could even finish saying the word “smoke,” Jiang Xiaoyi swooped in like a hero snatching the chicken and asparagus right out of Ye Zhen’s hands.
“Mom, let me eat it, I’m still not full, I’m starving!”
After saying this, as if to back up her words, Jiang Xiaoyi immediately grabbed the plate and began wolfing down the chicken and asparagus.
Since she couldn’t secretly cook a replacement dish for Ye Zhen, all she could do was destroy the evidence by eating Ye Zhen’s dish herself, body and soul!
But….
But exactly how much salt had Ye Zhen put in this asparagus? And why were parts of it burnt while other parts were clearly still raw when chewed? How much soy sauce had he even used?
“Oh my? Xiaoyi, why are you crying?!”
Jiang Xiaoyi was eating and crying at the same time.
She didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t help it, because this maniac Ye Zhen had not only added soy sauce, he’d also added wasabi…
“Mom.” Jiang Xiaoyi genuinely choked up. “It’s, it’s just so delicious, I got moved to tears.”
“You’re such a kid, honestly. Even if it’s that delicious, you shouldn’t just grab the whole plate and eat it all yourself! Your Aunt Zhang likes this asparagus too, and hasn’t even had any yet—look at yourself, what kind of manners are these? Put the plate down and leave some for the other guests!”
But how could she possibly do that!
Jiang Xiaoyi could have wept bitter tears right then and there.
This wasn’t rudeness on her part—this was self-sacrifice.
This dish of Ye Zhen’s would genuinely kill someone if they ate it!
Jiang Xiaoyi, tears streaming down her face, kept eating faster and faster, like an emotionless eating machine, forcibly suppressing the urge to vomit, stuffing the asparagus and chicken into her mouth while grinding her teeth and swallowing blood, all the while putting on an impassioned performance: “Delicious! It’s so delicious!”
She was going to die, she was really going to die!
Her taste buds couldn’t deceive her—Jiang Xiaoyi’s tears kept flowing uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, several relatives beside her, oblivious to the truth, couldn’t help chattering away lightly: “Oh, don’t blame Xiaoyi—that’s genuine emotion right there. Look at the boyfriend she found, made this whole table of dishes, so virtuous and capable, he’s definitely going to be a wonderful helpmate for your family in the future—no wonder our Xiaoyi loves eating it so much!”
“That’s right, look at this child—it must have been so delicious she was moved to tears.”
“Exactly. I remember Xiaoyi never used to like asparagus, and look at her now—so much for being a picky eater, hasn’t Little Ye cured her of that? Look, the whole plate’s gone just like that!”
…A group of middle-aged relatives, utterly oblivious to the suffering happening right before their eyes, with no idea whatsoever of the pain of the human world.
Meanwhile, Ye Zhen, who knew the whole truth, stood off to the side, eyes wide, watching Jiang Xiaoyi eat that plate of chicken and asparagus he’d made. Emotions flickered across his eyes in succession—first great sympathy, then a small trace of guilt, then moderate conflict, and then, as Jiang Xiaoyi’s actions continued, what replaced them in Ye Zhen’s eyes was—overwhelming, sweeping admiration.