Qian Xiaoke believed that hard work would always pay off. When the company suddenly offered him free accommodation, he saw it as the greatest reward for his dedication!
When he was called into Chairman Cheng’s office, he was informed, “This is a reward for outstanding employees. But just like salary confidentiality, this must be kept secret. If word gets out, the reward will be revoked.”
Although Qian Xiaoke didn’t quite understand why such a reward had to be kept confidential, he nodded firmly and vowed never to speak a word of it.
With tears in his eyes, he left Chairman Cheng’s office, clutching the address and keys in his hands.
After he left, Cheng Sen made a call to Jiang Tongyan. “He’s moving in tonight.”
Jiang Tongyan replied, “Thanks.”
“What about you? When are you moving?”
“I’m not.” Jiang Tongyan said, “Our project is wrapping up soon. My flight to New York is the day after tomorrow.”
Cheng Sen chuckled. “Are you really willing to leave?”
Willing or not, he had to go.
Jiang Tongyan thought to himself—he wasn’t the kind of person to let a fluffy rabbit disrupt his work schedule.
He, Jiang Tongyan, was a career-driven CEO.
“My flight ticket has been booked. Once I’m back, I’ll start the resignation process,” Jiang Tongyan said. “But I won’t be back for a while—probably by the end of the year.”
It was only late September now. After handling his resignation and tying up other loose ends, even if things moved quickly, he would be busy until winter.
He suddenly realised it might be quite a while before he saw that fluffy rabbit again. That thought was…
Better left unsaid.
“Alright, don’t worry about things here. I’ll keep an eye on them for you.”
“What exactly are you keeping an eye on?”
Cheng Sen laughed. “Qian Xiaoke, of course! If any suspicious people show up around him, I’ll report to you immediately so you can rush back and eliminate your competition.”
“…What nonsense are you talking about?” Jiang Tongyan scoffed, his words firm—at least firmer than certain other things at the moment. “Stop making up things of me!”
Jiang Tongyan’s blatant denial was so amusing that Cheng Sen, still on the call, leaned back in his chair laughing. Qian Xiaoke at the front desk outside, wondered if his boss had secretly inhaled laughing gas.
But a laughing boss was always better than an angry one. When the boss was happy, everyone under him benefited.
This dormitory was proof of that.
Normally dedicated to his work, today Qian Xiaoke found it tormenting to stay at the office. He couldn’t wait to see his new place and to escape that rundown apartment that had been under police surveillance for who knows how long.
It wasn’t that he was ungrateful for his ‘faithful wife through hardshipe1Qian Xiaoke treated the home as his partner through hardship‘—but that ‘faithful wife’ had made his life unbearable.
After enduring the day of torment, the moment the clock hit the end of his shift, Qian Xiaoke was the first to punch out and rush into the elevator.
His coworkers were stunned. “A miracle! Qian Xiaoke is the first one off work!”
He grinned sheepishly, offering no explanation. When someone asked if he was off to a date, he nodded enthusiastically.
Yes!
A date with his new dormitory!
Qian Xiaoke raced toward the apartment like he had wheels of fire under his feet. The location wasn’t too far from the company. In the past, he had to transfer multiple times on the subway and dealt with a tedious commute. This time, it was just three stops, followed by a short three-minute walk.
Standing at the entrance of his new residential complex, Qian Xiaoke was completely stunned.
This place was seriously high-end. So high-end that even entering required a keycard.
Keycard for the main gate. Keycard for the building entrance. Keycard for the elevator.
It was the first time Qian Xiaoke had ever lived in a place like this, and suddenly, he felt like he had become a rich man!
‘Rich man’ Qian Xiaoke walked out of the elevator with excitement, only to notice that each floor had just two units. As he walked toward his apartment door, he inserted the key and stole a glance at the neighbouring unit, wondering what kind of person lived there.
A coworker, maybe?
Earlier, he had asked Cheng Sen if anyone else was staying in these company-provided apartments, but Cheng Sen had simply said, “That’s not something you need to worry about. Everyone has their own unit; no one will disturb you. Don’t ask too many questions.”
Being the obedient employee he was, Qian Xiaoke took that advice to heart. He wasn’t about to ask unnecessary questions—what if annoying his boss meant losing the apartment?
That would be an absolutely foolish mistake.
But when he stepped inside, he was completely dumbfounded.
When Cheng Sen first mentioned a dormitory, he had imagined something like a shared space with colleagues, similar to a university dorm. Later, when he heard it was an apartment, he assumed it was a shared unit with separate bedrooms—still impressive, considering the company was footing the bill for a place that probably cost thousands a month.
But this—this was a fully furnished one-bedroom apartment.
He stood frozen in the doorway, too afraid to step inside.
Completely inexperienced with this environment, Qian Xiaoke trembled as he pulled out his phone from his small backpack and sent a message to Cheng Sen: “Chairman Cheng, are you sure you didn’t give me the wrong address and key?”
At the time, Cheng Sen was still at the office, waiting for Zhou Mo to drop by. Seeing the message, he called Qian Xiaoke directly.
“What’s wrong?”
“This—this—this doesn’t make sense!” Qian Xiaoke stammered. “A fully furnished one-bedroom apartment?!”
Cheng Sen was full of questions. “What about it?”
“It’s too much!” Qian Xiaoke exclaimed. “Chairman Cheng, are you planning to sell me off to Africa?”
“…What?” Cheng Sen thought Qian Xiaoke might be crazy, “What are you talking about?”
“I can’t think of any other reason,” Qian Xiaoke insisted. “I just spent three minutes reviewing my entire career, and I’m certain—I haven’t done anything particularly outstanding for the company. Unless… unless you’re shipping me off to Africa, I really can’t figure out why you’re being this generous to me.”
Well, actually, he had considered one other possibility—Could it be that Cheng Sen has taken a liking to me? Is he trying to keep me as a personal pet?
But he didn’t dare say that out loud.
He couldn’t make such assumptions about his boss. And more importantly—he couldn’t make such assumptions about his best friend’s husband!
“Our company has no business in Africa,” Cheng Sen said, both amused and exasperated. Suddenly, Jiang Tongyan’s fondness for this guy seemed much easier to understand. In Jiang Tongyan’s rigid and structured world, someone like Qian Xiaoke was completely out of the ordinary—so much so that he was practically ther4p3utic.
“Besides, you’ve contributed more than you think.”
Not just a little—his contribution was huge.
For years, Cheng Sen had tried convincing Jiang Tongyan to return and join him in expanding the company, but Jiang Tongyan had hesitated, dragging it out for nearly two years. Only recently had he finally agreed.
Jiang Tongyan might insist he was coming back for filial reasons, but in Cheng Sen’s eyes, the biggest reason was undoubtedly Qian Xiaoke.
“Really?” Qian Xiaoke’s eyes lit up. “What did I do?”
Obviously, there was no way Cheng Sen was going to tell him that.
“I’m busy, so I won’t talk too much. The apartment should be fine—just live there.” With that, he hung up.
Holding his phone, Qian Xiaoke remained frozen at the doorway, still in disbelief.
He stepped into the apartment, glanced around, and felt as if he had been struck on the head by a giant embroidered ball—just like that, he had married into wealth.
Thankful for the company.
Thankful for the boss.
Thankful for fate.
Qian Xiaoke thoroughly cleaned the apartment, marvelling at how spotless it was as he worked.
He had no idea that the agency had already hired a cleaner to deep-clean the place before renting it out. In his experience, agencies never provided such good service.
Of course, he wouldn’t know—because the agencies he had dealt with were the kind that might disappear halfway through a transaction.
After tidying up, Qian Xiaoke checked the time. Although it was already dark outside, he decided to rush home immediately so he could move in that very night.
Dashing into the subway station, he felt as if he was spreading his wings to embrace a new life. He was so overwhelmed with emotion that he nearly shed a ton of tears on the spot.
When he returned, he spotted a tall man standing outside his residential complex from a distance.
Jiang Tongyan was undeniably handsome—impossible to overlook. He was standing there, watching a street vendor grill oysters and his brows furrowed as if he were conducting some kind of experiment.
“What are you doing here?” Qian Xiaoke ran over, his mood so bright that even the tone of his voice lifted.
Jiang Tongyan certainly wouldn’t tell him that he had been waiting there on purpose—to help him move, to let him give him a little pat.
How embarrassing!
“Just taking a walk,” Jiang Tongyan said casually. “Where have you been messing around? Why are you only getting back now?”
“You’re the one messing around! I was tidying up my new place!” Qian Xiaoke said proudly, straightening his back and puffing out his small, flat chest as he spoke.
Jiang Tongyan chuckled. “Oh? Who’s so blind that they actually decided to support you?”
“What are you talking about?” Qian Xiaoke glared at him. “I’m an outstanding employee! Chairman Cheng arranged a dorm for me! The place is great, and the apartment is beautiful.”
Seeing how happy he looked, Jiang Tongyan figured he must really like the place, which put him at ease.
He laughed. “Outstanding employee? Can’t tell.”
“There are plenty of things you can’t tell about me.” Qian Xiaoke waved him off. “No time to chat—I need to go back and move my stuff.”
Jiang Tongyan followed him, and Qian Xiaoke turned back. “What are you doing?”
“What, you don’t need help moving?”
Qian Xiaoke was slightly surprised.
“You’re this nice?”
“Not really,” Jiang Tongyan said. “I’m still not fully healed. Helping you move gives me an excuse to check out your place—so you don’t run off on me later.”
Qian Xiaoke thought that made sense. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to have Jiang Tongyan over for a visit in the future.
“Alright then, come along.” It was just right that there was one more person to help him move, so it would be easier for him to move.
In fact, Qian Xiaoke didn’t have much to pack. He didn’t own many clothes and never wasted money on unnecessary items, so packing was quick—just two suitcases and he was done.
Jiang Tongyan glanced at his things. “Do you really need to bring that old, ill-fitting bedding? Doesn’t your new place already have fresh bed linens?”
Qian Xiaoke immediately caught on to the important details. “How do you know there are new ones?”
When he had cleaned the apartment earlier, he had discovered that the bedroom was already set up with brand-new bedding—a four-piece set with adorable little rabbits, which he absolutely loved. A note had been left stating that the bedding was fresh, washed, dried, and sanitised, ready for use.
Jiang Tongyan had accidentally let the cat out of the bag. He quickly covered, “I was just guessing. Wait, there really is new bedding?”
“There is!” Qian Xiaoke was still easily fooled. “But I still need to bring my own. If Chairman Cheng ever stops letting me stay in the dorm, I’ll have to find my own place. I might need them then.”
Thrifty and practical.
Thinking ahead.
Qian Xiaoke felt like he was truly, truly doing a great job!
Support the author by buying the author’s works and/or throw some bombs~
(It’s very easy to buy for jjwxc because they support Paypal payments~)
We have a discord server for those who want to receive an update ping and various announcements~
Join here ^^
And please buy me some kofi if you like the translation~
Also leave some ratings if you like this series here~
Leave a Reply