NTNH CH.1

Life Management Consulting Company.

In March, Yu Zhengdu arrived at Fu City’s Science and Technology Development Zone to start work for a small company.

“Welcome to Luofeng Life Management and Consulting Co. Ltd.” The manager of human affairs, Lu Lingxi, was tall and beautiful. She applauded and smiled brightly taking a relieved breath. “We have been looking for software developers for a very long time now, finally we’ve hired someone.”

Yu Zhengdu was silent for a moment before asking “Is it hard to find someone for this position? Isn’t it just a regular developing job? Although the company doesn’t seem very well known, it shouldn’t be too hard to hire.”

“Mainly it’s because our bosses’ requirements for us are relatively high,” Lu Lingxi sighed regrettably , “I did interview a few suitable candidates before, but they all were bald.”

Yu Zhengdu: “…”

The requirements really are high. It’s not easy to find a good developer who isn’t bald these days. He certainly didn’t think his possession of hair was the reason he was selected. Yu Zhengdu subconsciously reached up to touch his lush and fluffy hair. He was beginning to have some [B1] doubts about the company’s professional standards.

Yu Zhengdu was a senior university student. Xinxing Technology, a well-known tech manufacturer, had offered him an internship after the new year that would make him a permanent employee by his graduation. He hadn’t expected to have a small accident after the New Year, and the offer had fallen through. Apart from Xinxing Technology, several other highly praised companies came to offer him placements. He didn’t take the offers though, instead choosing to scout around on the job network himself before finally applying to this unremarkable company.

Luofeng Life Management and Consulting’s profile on the job site looked upscale with a good atmosphere, and claimed to ‘manage life planning’, although Yu Zhengdu had to admit he had no clue how the life planning actually planned out. But judging from the size of the office, Yu Zhengdu figured there would be no more than twenty staff. The area was somewhat lacking[B2] , and it was clear the financial resources they had were less than what they presented online.

Yu Zhengdu was a very sensible man[B3] , and he did not forget to ask, “By the way, what about my labour contract?”[B4]

Lu Lingxi paused and said “Don’t you want to first get accustomed to the environment before you sign it?”

Yu Zhengdu glanced at her silently before saying slowly “If I don’t sign the contract, will the company still pay my social insurance?”

Lu Lingxi slapped her hand on her forehead. “I almost forgot you need to pay social insurance.”

Yu Zhengdu: “…”

Is this the standard operating procedure for suspected illegal businesses?

In any case, he still signed the labor contract and Lu Lingxi sincerely promised that he would get his social insurance.

When the entry procedures were complete, Lu Lingxi took him to see the separate departments and get acquainted with his new colleagues. Yu Zhengdu counted along the way, in addition to himself, the whole company only had fifteen members. Given the size of the office space it didn’t surprise him at all. Not only that but he was the only person in the Technical [B5] Department.

Yu Zhengdu was shocked. “What? The Technical Department is just me?”

Lu Lingxi raised her hands and said somewhat sheepishly “Unfortunately we can only hire one living person for the moment.”

Yu Zhengdu was so surprised he was the only developer, he didn’t notice that Lu Lingxi had said ‘only one living person’.

At that moment, the door to the private office not far from where they were suddenly opened. A man walked out, asking “Lingxi, has the new Technical Department employee arrived[B6] ?”

“Yes,” Lu Lingxi said, “I was just about to take him to see you.” After saying that she turned and introduced Yu Zhengdu. “Xiao Yu, this man here is our boss, Shang Que.”

Yu Zhengdu raised his head towards him and was wholly shocked. The Boss was an extremely good looking young man, his features so pretty [B7] they almost transcended gender. Even in the era where technology is so developed, he can see beauties any time he wants to on the internet,, his features are still enough to make all of those who see him look in awe.

Yu Zhengdu said subconsciously: “Laoban, good [B8] to see you.”

“En, hello,” Shang Que looked over his head and nodded with satisfaction. “Not bad,” he said, “there is quite a bit of hair.”

Yu Zhengdu complimented him as well: “Laoban has a lot of hair too.”

Shang Que: “…”

Lu Lingxi: “……”

Shang Que was expressionless for a moment, before remembering to wave at him: “Come to my office, let’s talk.”

Lu Lingxi pushed Yu Zhengdu towards him: “Go, go, our technical team is rather simple, Laoban wants to check in personally.”

Yu Zhengdu squinted at Lu Lingxi and looked askance, thinking to himself that this technical team should rather classify itself as both simple and a scam[B9] . It’s not at all any good!

Lu Lingxi acted as if she didn’t see his disdain, immediately turning around and walking away.

Yu Zhengdu followed Shang Que into the bosses office. It wasn’t very big, the furnishing quite plain. There was a large bookcase on the left wall, only it didn’t hold many books but plenty of bottles, both big and small.

Yu Zhengdu took a quick glance at it. There were wine bottles, spice bottles, milk bottles…… even already drunken bottles of cough [B10] syrup.

It could be said there was no consistent style, and it was completely contradictory to how an pretty little boss should act. Yu Zhengdu had no clue what the purpose of the bottles was for, and why Shang Que collected them.

“En,” Shang Que looked at Yu Zhengdu, though for a bit, took ahold of his computer screen and turned towards him: “How about you fix my computer for me first.”

Yu Zhengdu: “…”

He said with a blank expression: “Laoban, software development [B11] isn’t actually the same as fixing computers.”

Shang Que looked unconvinced. “It isn’t?”

Yu Zhengdu said without the least bit of hesitation: “It isn’t.”

“What a shame,” Shang Que’s tone was utterly regretful. He blinked his beautiful eyes once and complained: “I don’t know why my computer is always especially stuck. I suspect the seller cheated me with it.”

Yu Zhengdu’s eyes followed as he gestured to the screen, then looking Shang Que up and down: “…”

Several online games were open on the screen’s interface, which directly contributed to the computer being frozen.

Yu Zhengdu stood motionless for a good few moments before silently pressing the restart button on the computer.

Shang Que: “……”

Pretending to have nothing to do, Shang Que leaned back gracefully on his chair. Folding his hands in front of him, he said: “So, let’s talk about your next job, yeah?”

Yu Zhengdu pulled out a chair and sat down. “Laoban, please go ahead.”

Shang Que looked at him and said: “It’s like this: our company’s business intake has increased by a large volume the past few years. Colleagues often make mistakes at work from day to day. I hope you’re able to develop a better quality system for the office to improve efficiency and reduce errors.”

Yu Zhengdu looked at the bosses’ pretty face and asked slowly: “Am I going to develop it alone?”

“En.” Shang Que nodded his head. It sounded like a joke but wasn’t, and the boss said plainly: “The funds in our account are only enough to afford one person.”

In an instant Yu Zhengdu thought of handing in his resignation there and then. He controlled the pit growing in his stomach and asked: “In that case, what about the budget distribution?”

Shang Que wondered: “What about the budget? Isn’t the computer enough to develop it?”

Yu Zhengdu: “…”

It’s over. The unprofessional is in charge of the expert.

Yu Zhengdu: The call of resignation is becoming stronger.

He placed his hand on his forehead and said seriously: “I’m sorry, laoban, it’s impossible for me to do your request.”

“Is it very [B12] difficult?” Shang Que fixed his gaze upon him. His eyes were deep and there was no reflection in his black pupils yet it was still difficult to leave his sight.

Yu Zhengdu originally wanted to take all his things and leave, but with Shang Que staring at him like this he couldn’t help but be somewhat soft-hearted. He let out a sigh and started to explain the process of technology development and how it was related to work flow in manufacturing.

After listening intently, Shang Que’s face became grave and he sat up: “I didn’t expect developing a system like this would be so expensive.”

Yu Zhengdu nodded, rejoicing in his head. At least Shang Que wasn’t the type of boss to act on his own and completely ignore any objective facts.

Shang Que tapped his index finger on the desk lightly, his face looking rather worried. “This is troublesome. Our account has no money left in it, only enough to pay for rent, water and the electrical bill. Please understand, money is very hard to save.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

The boss speaks too broadly, he couldn’t help but worry about the possibility he might not get a regular wage.

Yu Zhengdu left Shang Que’s office and returned to his own work station, beginning to think very carefully about how he would word his letter of resignation. Although he intentionally found a job at a small and humble company, the financial situation of this one was too unstable. He was worried he would be forced to demand his salary very soon.

As Yu Zhengdu was hesitating, the consulting department’s landline rang not too far away from him. Though it rang loud and clear for quite a while, nobody came to pick it up and when Yu Zhengdu looked around he found that all of his colleagues were gone.

Yu Zhengdu: “……???”

Looking at the time he discovered it was already lunch break. There was no choice but for him to quickly go and pick up the phone. “Wei[B13] , hello?”

An old man’s voice came from the other end of the phone: “Hello, may I ask if this is the Luofeng Life Management and Consulting Company?”

Yu Zhengdu: “It is. Can I ask what the matter is?”

The other party’s voice was somewhat anxious: “Comrade[B14] , hello, my name is Chen Kang. I received a text from you guys early this morning notifying me that tomorrow I will be reincarnated, but the message says that my reincarnation will be a pig. Did you guys get confused and make a mistake? How can I be reincarnated into a pig?”

Yu Zhengdu: “??????” [B15]

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The author has something to say: Cross your fingers and start to count, today's a good day to dig a pit! My heart is determined to say: I will be the best author at digging pits and I will update at 12 every day! I ask everyone for much support!

The translator has something to say: me too yo. trying to update every day? uafgaajdksan ljfesnx my brain meltttts. and im ashamed to say that halfway through this chapter i realized that it used traditional characters and that's why it was so long to slog through. *smacks head*

[B1]Lit. concerning the company's professional standards, deep doubts were beginning to arise (about them) [B2]Lit. crude [B3]Lit. yu zhengdu's mentality/psychology was very stable. [B4]Very literal, see if it fits by lu lingxi's response [B5]YZD is a software developer (CS student like meee), but the technical department covers both IT, hardware and software because these people are dinosaurs and have no clue how things work. [B6]Technically he asked something like 'Have the tech dept. employees entered the company are here' and lu lingxi says 'here' [B7]Technically it's either pretty/handsome, I wasn't sure which one to use as the features are supposed to transcend gender [B8]First: Laoban= boss. Second: Its late and im tired but this sounds like it could be another play, hao is the same hao used in hello, a different meaning could be hao (same character different pronunciation) where it's indicating something to be fond of. In anycase, this character is also used in talking about good looks. With Yu Zhengdu saying it subconsciously, that's emphasized that it's not just a regular 'hey boss', but instead something that popped out. Therefore I said 'good to see you' as a cheap pun where it's a play on nice to meet you and it's nice to look at your feautures. [B9]Term is pengci, or touching porcelain, where a porcelain object is put in the way where someone would easily break it and then the owners would depamnd they pay exorbent prices. I don't know if there is an english equivalent. [B10]Look it up, lit. oral liquid. like, cough syrup and the like. [B11]Lol me in cs because people think it's both hardware and software and all I know is how to turn it off and on again (Im getting a diploma in hardware because everybody asks) [B12]I was reading this in the traditional characters and wndering why only the pinyin made sense smh im a dumbass [B13]I'll keep this one in as it's when you answer the phone. I'm not sure if it's something that's common enough to understand or if I just hang out with my friend whose mom calls her all the time too much. [B14]Lmaoooo this is the same slang that's used for calling a person gay [B15]YZD's line the whole chapters: "……" But no I adore where he compliments SQ's hair as well and both SQ and LLX are like "...wtf"