Yingxing was so angry that he almost lost his grip and nearly crushed the jade message slip in his hand.
'Don't get angry. Don't get angry.'
'The person on the other side is a godly client, and the beloved of Jingliu's heart.'
'He's already given you eight figures' worth of credit points, then another hundred million this time. He solved your debt problems and made sure you never have to worry about contribution money again…'
'This is a godly client, generous, easy to talk to!'
'You can't curse him. Absolutely not…'
He silently repeated this to himself several times, took a few deep breaths, and finally calmed down.
Yingxing held it in and held it in, until he couldn't anymore. Finally, he typed back, annoyed.
[Yingxing: Why didn't you say so earlier?!]
He absolutely never expected that the three hairpins he'd just drawn up blueprints for, not even officially started yet, were actually confession gifts that Zero was preparing for Jingliu.
As the famous workaholic of the Crafting Division, Yingxing had plenty of projects besides Zero's commission, all weapons urgently needed on the battlefield.
He originally hadn't planned to take Zero's order. But Zero kept insisting that only Yingxing, the Hundred Forge master himself, could make the kind of jewelry he wanted, so Yingxing finally agreed.
But never, even after racking his brains, would Yingxing have guessed, these were confession gifts. Whether Jingliu and her beloved could get together actually depended on the hairpins he made?
Yingxing felt like Zero was going to make him suffocate from sheer frustration.
He took a deep breath and tried to comfort himself.
After all, Zero's only twenty. By the standards of the people of the Xianzhou, that's just a…
Yingxing froze halfway through the thought.
'Wait, why does it sound like Jingliu's the one not acting human here?'
He hurried to patch things up in his own head, never mind, it's fine, not a big deal, not illegal. Besides, Zero's just a kid; it's normal for him to act a bit rashly.
Yingxing glanced at the unfinished weapon blueprints on his desk, then recalled the three yet-to-be-made hairpins.
'Ah. This must be hell.'
Soon, he managed to calm himself down again.
Please, he was Yingxing. The famous Hundred Forge master.
The most competitive craftsman in the entire division. Even those long-lived species who can go without eating or sleeping couldn't outwork him.
Yingxing kept reassuring himself, 'It's just overtime, just a pile of unfinished work…'
'A little overtime? An all-nighter or two? As if that could stop me! What a joke!'
At worst, he'd just pull seven all-nighters in a row, he'd squeeze out the time somehow to finish the hairpins.
But facing Zero, facing a client, he knew the art of communication well, you can't speak too absolutely.
The experienced craftsman who'd dealt with countless clients typed seriously.
[Yingxing: The fastest I can manage is ten days.]
Then Zero transferred him another hundred million credit points.
Yingxing, "…"
'Stop transferring money! Please! If you keep going, I'm seriously going to die! Seven all-nighters is already my limit!'
'Can you please spare this short-lived species?! I want to see you and Jingliu get your happy ending!'
Never in his life did Yingxing think that one day, he, who's always broke at the end of the month, would actually worry about having too much money fall into his lap.
He even ended up voluntarily rejecting it…
Then he suddenly realized something. 'Didn't Zero say he had an allowance of one hundred million per day? So why was he transferring money again?'
[Yingxing: Wait, isn't it a hundred million per day?]
[Zero: Oh, to be precise, each card has a daily limit of a hundred million.]
Yingxing, "…"
He shouldn't have asked...
Without hesitation, Yingxing sent the credits back.
No matter how obsessed he was with work, he still valued his own life.
[Zero: Take it. I already feel bad for making you work overtime.]
[Zero: If you don't want credit points, then I'll send rare materials instead. Whatever you need, tell the company executive, he'll get it for you. Don't worry about the price, it all goes on my account.]
The words "rare materials" made Yingxing's heart flutter, his last bit of resentment instantly vanished.
He thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth.
[Yingxing: The fastest is seven days. I can't promise it'll be done.]
After seeing that, Zero didn't send more money, just stopped cleanly and said nothing else.
As a seasoned office worker, he knew all the unspoken rules, don't talk too big, don't make work seem too easy…
If you had a tough boss, you were doomed, not only couldn't you leave on time, you'd end up staying late.
Otherwise, your boss would think you're not dedicated enough, not hardworking enough.
Same logic applies to clients.
As for whether Yingxing's words were true or not… that didn't matter. Zero didn't care.
As a worker and former superior himself, he knew what workers needed, just give them enough incentive, and everything would go smoothly.
No one's going to repair a starship destroyer for a few walnuts and dates.
He just didn't expect that Yingxing preferred rare materials over credits, returning everything except the initial payment.
'What kind of spirit was that?! Rather work for free for the Luofu than take the money! Worth every credit! It's all for the Xianzhou anyway!'
Whether as the Marshal in his past life or Zero in this one, he never mistreated any subordinate or talent working for the Xianzhou.
Truly worthy of being Jingliu's friend.
Zero sighed inwardly, then told the company executive to find the materials Yingxing needed and charge it all to his account.
After all, with over a hundred billion given out already, that should cover the executive's commissions for years.
The executive eagerly agreed, also mentioning that the clothes Zero had picked out recently had already been delivered to the Luofu.
[If you trust me, please give me your address, I'll personally bring the storage specialists to organize everything for you.]
Zero scrolled up through their chat, remembered he'd bought dozens of outfits, and readily sent his address and temporary access code.
The executive then asked which rooms his people could enter.
Zero excluded the one set aside for relics from his past life.
Hua had sent him too many things, and Zero himself had a pile of unopened packages. After some thought, he separated the relics and deliveries into two rooms.
After his morning of slacking off at work, he was eating takeout when the executive messaged again, saying they'd also hired cleaners for his home.
Everything except the relic room had been cleaned spotless.
The executive asked whether he should also open and sort the piled-up packages.
Zero, "…"
As expected of a company executive, meticulous to a fault. No wonder he could thrive in the Interastral Peace Corporation…
So smart, he clearly understood the benefits of keeping on Zero's good side.
He knew that if Zero could throw out over a hundred billion credits now, there'd surely be more later.
As long as he stayed on Zero's good side, he'd never have to worry about performance reviews, promotions would come just from those credits.
Zero had no reason to refuse, so he agreed happily.
Who could say no to such an enthusiastic, proactive worker?
He loved these purely transactional relationships, as long as the price was right, there was no risk of betrayal.
Feeling quite content, Zero used his lunch break to message Jingliu, through the pig-cat that Jing Yuan was temporarily fostering, to ask how it was doing.
…Then he received a bunch of pictures of Jade, including selfies of Jingliu holding Jade.
The ever-stoic Swordmaster, expression barely lifting her lips by two pixels, holding a glossy, chubby cat.
Zero lowered his eyes and saved the photos of Jingliu and Jade.
As for the cat, well, that was one plump creature, about to round up like a gas tank if it kept eating.
While they were chatting, Jingliu disappeared again, probably something urgent came up.
That was how it always went back when she was on the battlefield, their conversations were sporadic, like messages in bottles drifting on the tide.
When it was nearly time to clock out, Zero ordered takeout in advance, then leisurely chatted with his coworkers before leaving early.
But the moment he stepped into his house, he went silent.
The air was filled with a fresh, soothing fragrance, scented oils?
And this house, the one whose artificial mountain was now polished to a shine, was this really his home? 'Wait, polished?!'
Normally, he was too lazy to clean and just hired cleaners during work hours.
But even the rockery was cleaned? That's overkill.
He turned to look at Jade's favorite cat bed, a delivery box.
Yes, the pig-cat's favorite was a cardboard box. No matter how many highly rated cat beds Zero bought online, she refused to sleep in them.
'Such a stubborn cat, ignoring the expensive beds just to curl up in the cheapest box…'
And this time, the delivery box in the courtyard had been decorated with an elegant bow.
Zero, "…"
He was deeply shaken. 'So this is the power of a company executive? No wonder they made so much money!'
He didn't even need to check to know the inside would be even more ridiculous.
He braced himself mentally, and still got stunned when he stepped through the door.
The floor gleamed as if polished; the layout looked unchanged, but somehow everything felt different.
His eyes moved from the decanter and wine on the table, to a large bouquet of dewy fresh flowers, and finally to the elegant plates.
If he remembered right, he'd never bought such expensive-looking tableware.
Each plate even held delicate little desserts.
He opened his jade slip, and the executive cheerfully explained that the setting had been decorated romantically, they'd chosen the manta roses most loved by women and the most popular desserts, sure to make his evening with his lover unforgettable.
Zero, "…"
'It's not that fast, okay?! According to the forum, it should take years! And for long-lived species, even longer…'
He wanted to say something, but in the end said nothing.
He just noted down the flower variety in his memo, quietly clearing the table.
If he were to send flowers, they'd have to be his, no way he'd use something prepared by another man.
After hastily finishing his takeout, he went around checking the rooms, finding rose petals and towel swans on every bed, even in the guest rooms.
Finally, unable to take it anymore, he pulled out his jade slip and told the executive not to do any of this flashy stuff again, then forced himself to clean up.
After confirming there was nothing extra in the house, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and set his alarm.
He felt that alarms ringing every fifteen minutes might still not wake him, so he changed it to every ten.
Before sleeping, he double-checked the alarms. Satisfied, he finally went to bed, but when he opened his eyes again and saw the time, all sleepiness vanished.
The jade slip displayed 8:30. Zero's heart stopped.
He'd slept straight through the time he was supposed to clock in at the Divination Commission.
In disbelief, he opened Jingliu's messages and the picture she sent.
[Jingliu: Just this once. Don't let it happen again.]
[Jingliu: Also, remember to eat.]
The photo showed his dining table, with breakfast laid out on it.
Zero, "…"
'I'm hopeless!'
'Tomorrow... tomorrow I will wake up!'
He hurriedly washed up, took Jingliu's prepared breakfast to his workstation, and ate there.
And the next day, he overslept again.
Jingliu's tone this time was full of helplessness.
[Jingliu: Set more alarms tomorrow.]
[Jingliu: Don't oversleep again.]
Zero, "…"
He stared at the alarms ringing every five minutes, deep in thought.
Twice is enough, but no third, no fourth.
Maybe he should just not sleep at all. After all, in his past life, he barely slept or ate, and he was fine.
For Zero, skipping sleep or meals was as natural as breathing.
Before his past memories returned, he'd rarely eat outside of necessity, unless something tasted especially good or was new, he'd just skip it.
As for all-nighters? Please, he was practically nocturnal in his past life, thousands of years of staying up experience.
So Zero made up his mind, he'd just stay up.
At three in the morning, he got a message from Yingxing.
Yingxing said part of the hairpin design needed adjustment. Zero replied instantly, telling him to handle it as he saw fit.
[Yingxing: …Why are you still awake?]
Zero thought about it. Yingxing was a proud, loyal man, and since this involved his friend, he wouldn't spread gossip.
No need to hide it. So Zero decided to be honest.
Considering how easily he could be misunderstood, he carefully typed,
[Zero: Waiting for her. Waiting for her to teach me swordsmanship.]
Yingxing replied first with a whole line of question marks, then asked.
[Yingxing: Huh? But it's the middle of the night! You two are training now?]
Even a straight-laced engineer like Yingxing could tell something was off.
It was beyond comprehension, and then he remembered the harsh training Jing Yuan once endured, utterly shocked.
'Who practices swordsmanship with their crush at four in the morning?! Jingliu, what are you doing?! Are you going to make poor Zero, a desk worker, swing a sword ten thousand times like Jing Yuan?!'
Yingxing tried putting himself in Zero's shoes.
If a client kept rejecting his blueprints again and again, only to say "I just want to get closer to you"…
His blood pressure would explode...
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/XenosX
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰