Chapter 9: The words “failed” had never appeared in his life!
After several rounds of testing, the “mosquito repellent and extermination device” designed by Jiang Chi was officially activated.
At 3 a.m., a mosquito flew into the electric grid, making a soft ‘pop’ sound, accompanied by the smell of protein being burnt.
Awakened again, Qin Yan couldn’t bear it any longer and went downstairs to find Jiang Chi, hoping that Jiang Chi could turn off the mosquito extermination light.
The light was still on in Jiang Chi’s room. Qin Yan thought Jiang Chi hadn’t fallen asleep yet, so he knocked on the door.
After a moment, Jiang Chi responded, “The door isn’t locked.”
Qin Yan pushed the door open. “The electric grid is a bit noisy. Can you turn it off for now?”
Jiang Chi, who was a light sleeper, woke up as soon as he heard Qin Yan coming downstairs. At that moment, his eyes were clear, showing no sign of sleepiness.
He sat up in bed. “Sorry, I didn’t expect there to be so many mosquitoes.”
Qin Yan agreed, “You do have a lot of mosquitoes here.”
Jiang Chi opened his computer and started re-planning the circuit design. “Hmm, it might be the problem with the apartment’s ventilation pipes. Maybe they didn’t install a check valve during the renovation, so the mosquitoes are flying in from the ceiling… Also, the central air conditioning could be letting them in too. This apartment is like that—not suitable for long-term living.”
Qin Yan was very tired, propping himself up with one arm. “Living here is fine, just the mosquitoes are a bit annoying.”
Jiang Chi, a tech enthusiast, completely redesigned the plans, then booked a renovation worker online, planning to overhaul the room’s design and solve the mosquito problem from the source.
If it’s the ventilation pipes, installing a check valve would fix it. The central air conditioning could be resolved by changing to a finer filter. But what if it’s not from these two sources?
If that doesn’t work, he could take apart the chandelier and check. The connections to the outdoors are limited, and inspecting each spot would only take half a day. It would be a good excuse to go back to the boxing gym, where he could also take Qin Yan to practice some kickboxing and get some exercise.
Unknowingly, half an hour had passed. Jiang Chi finished modifying the mosquito extermination device, clicked the mouse, and all the mosquito repellent lights in the house turned off at the same time, plunging the room into darkness.
“Tomorrow I…”
Jiang Chi turned around. Under the dim blue light from the computer screen, Qin Yan sat at the foot of the bed, hands resting on the chair, eyes closed, breathing deeply. He had already fallen asleep.
Jiang Chi: “…….”
He really envied people who had good sleep quality, being able to fall asleep even while sitting.
He vaguely remembered that Qin Yan had come to him just to turn off the mosquito light, but once he started modifying the design, he became so absorbed that, without realizing it, he had redesigned the entire device.
Jiang Chi patted Qin Yan’s shoulder. “Ji Yu, Ji Yu?”
Qin Yan wasn’t in a deep sleep, and quickly woke up. “Jiang Chi?”
Jiang Chi said, “The mosquito lights are off. You can go back upstairs to sleep.”
Qin Yan nodded, stood up casually, showing no sign of just waking up. There was no trace of sleepiness in his voice. “Okay, thanks.”
After saying that, Qin Yan walked out of the room.
Jiang Chi yawned and lay back down on the bed.
Just as he lay down, a loud ‘clang’ sound suddenly echoed!
Jiang Chi jumped up from the bed in a hurry. “What happened?”
Qin Yan’s voice was steady and calm as ever. “It’s nothing. It’s a bit dark. I didn’t see the dining table.”
Jiang Chi leaned over and turned on the light. “Did you bump into something?”
Qin Yan shook his head and headed upstairs.
*
The next afternoon, in the boxing gym locker room.
Jiang Chi stopped changing his clothes and looked at the large bruise on Qin Yan’s waist, hesitating to speak.
Qin Yan’s indifferent gaze landed on Jiang Chi’s face, as if asking, ‘What do you want to say?’
Jiang Chi scratched his nose. “You’re being too stubborn. Why didn’t you say anything when you bumped into it yesterday?”
Qin Yan looked down at the bruise on his waist. “There’s nothing to say. It happened, and that’s that.”
Jiang Chi clicked his tongue. “Love tip number two: Never be too stubborn when facing problems. Skillfully asking for help from others can achieve twice the result with half the effort, and it also gives the other person a chance to shine.”
Qin Yan questioned, “But we’re not in a relationship.”
Jiang Chi patiently explained, “It’s the same with friends. Emotional exchanges are always two-way. Today you help me, tomorrow I help you. Gradually, the relationship becomes stronger. You’re hurt this badly and didn’t tell me, which makes it seem like we’re not close. It’ll make me feel like you don’t see me as a friend.”
Qin Yan thought for a moment and felt that Jiang Chi’s point made sense.
He nodded slightly in agreement. “Got it. We are friends, and friends should help each other.”
Qin Yan had some reservations about Jiang Chi’s IQ, but he highly appreciated Jiang Chi’s emotional intelligence.
Jiang Chi was the most emotionally intelligent young person Qin Yan had ever met.
His approach to interactions was intriguing, completely different from the self-interested elite education that Qin Yan had received.
Jiang Chi was empathetic and used to helping the vulnerable. This sense of responsibility gave him a unique aura, providing a strong sense of security and making him very reliable.
If Qin Yan could properly utilize this style, he would certainly gain an advantage in certain business negotiations.
Although the cold and forceful approach usually works wonders, Qin Yan knew in his heart that not everyone would bow to power, especially some of the younger generation of technical talents.
Many young people still hold onto ‘dreams’ and ‘original intentions.’ Before life knocks them down, money and power aren’t their top priorities. The unfortunate part is that after these people are defeated by reality, the spark in them tends to fade away.
Qin Yan chose to get closer to Jiang Chi, learning qualities from him that he lacked, and aiming to attract more young talents to join the Qin Corporation, ensuring the company’s growth and stability.
He set up a learning task for himself, divided into two phases, with Jiang Chi being the subject of observation and study. His goal was to integrate faster and better into the lives of the new generation.
The learning progress was going smoothly.
Jiang Chi was ordering some Yunnan Baiyao on his phone when he asked Qin Yan, “How about we skip practice today?”
Qin Yan stretched a bit and didn’t feel that the bruise on his waist affected his movement.
His skin was very fair, and his blood vessels were fragile, so any bruising or bumping would appear severe, though it didn’t actually hurt.
“It’s fine,” Qin Yan changed into his sportswear. “It won’t affect my movement.”
Jiang Chi took off his T-shirt. “After practice, if others see you, they might think I did this to you.”
Qin Yan said, expressionless, “It was you who did it.”
Jiang Chi frowned. “Don’t spread rumors. I’ve been so good to you.”
Qin Yan glanced at Jiang Chi. “I learned from you. You’re the master of rumors.”
Jiang Chi: “???”
When did I start spreading rumors?
Really.
*
The next morning, an unexpected visitor arrived at the apartment.
It was Jiang Chi’s older brother, Jiang Feng.
At 7 a.m., Jiang Chi had just woken up.
He had only just gone to sleep at 3 a.m. that morning, and now his head was spinning and his eyes were blurry as he groggily opened the door.
The moment he saw Jiang Feng, Jiang Chi thought he was seeing things. He closed the door, then reopened it.
Jiang Feng was still there, and his expression was even darker than before—darker than the bottom of a pot.
Suddenly, Jiang Chi found himself face to face with his older brother’s anger.
Jiang Feng sneered. “What’s this? Jiang Chi, have you finally found your true love? Are you planning to marry this man, have kids, and never return to the Jiang family again?”
Jiang Chi: “……”
It seemed that no matter the world, his older brother remained as irritable and exaggerated as ever, and incredibly good at making assumptions and exaggerating matters.
He had only been living here for a few days, and now he was supposed to be getting married and having kids?
Although same-sex marriage was legal in this world, there still wasn’t any technology for men to have children together, was there?
Probably not.
Jiang Chi became slightly unsure. After all, he hadn’t finished reading that novel, so who knew if it was one of those “childbearing” stories?
It couldn’t be a “childbearing” story, right?
Jiang Chi, a bit nervous, cautiously probed, “Big Brother, men… men can’t have children, right?”
Jiang Feng was almost driven mad by his younger brother: “Of course not!”
Thank goodness, it wasn’t a “childbearing” story.
Jiang Chi let out a sigh of relief. “Big Brother, you saw that I’m sleeping downstairs. There’s really nothing between us. Don’t be in such a hurry. Getting angry this early isn’t good for your heart.”
Seeing how careless Jiang Chi was, Jiang Feng couldn’t help but worry about his own heart: “If you’re willing to mess around with those men, then don’t ever call me your big brother again! I can’t bear the shame!”
Jiang Chi was only wearing pajama bottoms, his upper body bare, having just been pulled out of bed by his older brother. He looked exhausted. “When did I mess around with men? Don’t wrong me. I definitely haven’t done anything.”
The last time Jiang Feng had seen him, Jiang Chi hadn’t been bold enough to say he hadn’t messed around with anyone, but now he was certain the original owner hadn’t either.
Because the original owner couldn’t. There was no way to “mess around” with this body.
Thank goodness.
Ah, no. He wasn’t thankful that the original owner couldn’t; he was thankful that he himself hadn’t messed around.
At the same time, he thanked the heavens that the original body owner’s issues didn’t carry over to him—he was still capable.
Thank goodness x2.
Throughout the entire conversation, Jiang Chi remained emotionally steady. Though Jiang Feng was angry, he couldn’t start a fight alone.
“You are speaking nicely now,” Jiang Feng said, sitting on the sofa with his long legs crossed, speaking slowly. “Every time, I have to kick you out of the house before you learn a lesson for a few days.”
Jiang Chi leaned against the chair, presenting a valid point. “Whether you kick me out or not, I’m still a Jiang family member. Can you really just ignore me?”
Jiang Feng: “……”
Though there wasn’t much logic behind it, Jiang Chi’s argument made a lot of sense.
Jiang Chi suddenly remembered something and asked, “Big Brother, did you stop my card?”
Jiang Feng made a nasal sound, as if he didn’t care about whether Jiang Chi lived or died. “Mm.”
Jiang Chi wasn’t worried. He had known since he was a child how to handle his older brother.
Jiang Feng might be tough on the outside, but he was soft-hearted inside. He could never truly punish Jiang Chi. If Jiang Chi ever really got into trouble, no one would be more worried than him.
Jiang Chi threatened, “You better open it back up quickly. I’ve been using Huabei to buy books these past couple of days. If I don’t pay it back, I’ll end up on the blacklist. CEO Jiang, I’m sure you don’t want your little brother to become a person with bad credit, right?”
Jiang Feng sneered, “You can still buy books?”
Jiang Chi responded without hesitation, “Why can’t I? The books for our major are expensive. We need to test the smart locks in the studio. I haven’t even bought all the equipment yet.”
Jiang Feng stiffened, his gaze like a bolt of lightning. He suddenly looked at Jiang Chi intently, his eyes full of suspicion. “What major are you in?”
Jiang Chi didn’t hesitate. “Security engineering.”
Jiang Feng stood up abruptly, his expression complex, as if he was seeing his younger brother for the first time. He stared deeply at Jiang Chi.
Jiang Chi’s heart skipped a beat.
What the hell, could it be that in this world, the original body owner didn’t study an engineering major?
He couldn’t have exposed himself, right?
But even if he did, he was still Jiang Feng’s brother!
“Wait, did I not study this major?” Jiang Chi asked carefully.
Jiang Feng breathed heavily, seemingly holding back his emotions. “You did study this major.”
Jiang Chi secretly let out a sigh of relief, but before he could even fully relax, Jiang Feng’s next words choked him.
Jiang Feng said, “But from the second semester of your sophomore year, your grades plummeted. You failed two retakes, and in your senior year, you failed the resits. The school gave you a delayed graduation notice, and since then, you never went back to school. You didn’t even submit your graduation thesis.”
Jiang Chi: “?????”
Failing? How could that be?
Jiang Chi had always been a top student. The words “failed” had never appeared in his life!
He was truly passionate about his engineering major. Back in his original world, he even got a recommendation for postgraduate study. How could it be that in this world, he didn’t even finish university?
Impossible. This couldn’t be true.
Jiang Feng spoke slowly, carefully considering his words. “You can contact the university yourself. Don’t think about graduating on time.”
Jiang Chi: “…”
Jiang Feng was never one to joke around, and with him saying this, Jiang Chi had no choice but to accept it.
This really… was awful.
Ever since he transmigrated into this world, the setbacks had been one after another.
Life was truly difficult.
Seeing Jiang Chi hanging his head in dejection, Jiang Feng surprisingly showed a hint of a smile. “You should come home for a meal sometime. Mom and Dad haven’t seen you in a long time.”
Jiang Chi nodded. “Alright, I’ll come back tonight.”
Jiang Feng glanced at him again. “I’m going to the company. Call me if you need anything.”
Jiang Chi slouched back in his chair, listless. “Bye.”
Jiang Feng’s temper was even harder to read than the protagonist’s in the original book. He had come in all angry, but unexpectedly, he left in a good mood.
Before leaving, he even ruffled Jiang Chi’s hair, as if, suddenly, he was very pleased with his younger brother.
