Chapter 346: Jealousy |
"Hello, excuse me..."
"Oh, you're here for the internship, right? Brother Zhang hasn't arrived yet, so you can wait in the Office over there."
A programmer stared intently at his computer screen, typing on the keyboard while replying to Yan Huan's inquiry.
"The Office?"
Yan Huan paused for a moment, looking toward an office enclosed by frosted glass at the far end of the backend team's area.
The office was average in size, and there was no sign like "General Manager's Office" hanging at the entrance. No matter how he looked at it, it did not seem like a place where a department leader would sit.
"That office was specially arranged by Brother Zhang for you three interns. All the equipment and everything else is already set up."
"..."
'Three?'
Gulp.
Looking at the blurred interior of the office, Yan Huan mustered his courage and walked toward it.
"Click."
The door was unlocked. Yan Huan pulled it open slightly and peered through the gap, seeing only two desks and not a single person.
This could not help but make Yan Huan breathe a sigh of relief.
"..."
Stepping inside and placing his ID badge on the desk, Yan Huan surveyed the comprehensive set of supplies provided. He thought to himself that it was indeed a major tech company; even the computer's specifications were quite impressive.
"Click."
But heaven did not give him much time to admire his work equipment. The very next second, as the office door was pulled open behind him, he suddenly felt a wave of coldness creep into his heart.
Yan Huan turned his head, and his pupils involuntarily shrank.
"..."
Standing behind him was a tall girl with long, straight, black hair, her hand gripping the door handle.
From head to toe, she was dressed in a black satin suit skirt, a stark contrast to the pure white lace from his dreams.
A tailored women's suit jacket was draped over a V-neck vest worn underneath, revealing the delicate contours of her collarbones.
A high-waisted skirt perfectly accentuated the graceful curves of her thighs, but it could not fully conceal her tall stature, exposing her fair calves.
A pair of pure black stiletto heels, about two inches high, served as the most gorgeous and perfect finishing touch.
Even Yan Huan, who harbored a deep fear of her, had to admit one thing.
Today, Ye Shiyu was exceptionally beautiful.
This was especially true now that Yan Huan, due to her Hypnosis, had his reproductive desires for other girls completely cut off.
Because of this, he felt that Ye Shiyu was like a pristine lotus rising from the mud, possessing an ethereal and unrivaled beauty.
'Wow, a golden legendary drop!!'
Just as Yan Huan had thought, there was no harm without comparison.
After two days of forced abstinence, his heart immediately began to race uncontrollably.
'Calm down, Yan Huan. She is a terrifying hypnotic demon lord. You absolutely cannot fall into her trap!!'
"Sister Shiyu..."
Yan Huan shifted his gaze away rather unnaturally, and from the corner of his eye, he happened to catch sight of the mobile phone tightly gripped in her hand.
Upon seeing the phone, he managed to calm down significantly.
Especially since her phone screen was currently lit up, and he was now alone with her in a single room.
'In that case, it is highly likely that she is about to hypnotize me.'
Thinking this, Yan Huan quickly focused his mind. The moment there was even the slightest hint of trouble, he would immediately activate his Mask of Perfect Poise to parry her attack!!
"..."
Watching Yan Huan, whose expression had clearly become unnatural, Ye Shiyu tilted her head. A faint glimmer of a 'successful scheme' flashed deep within her eyes.
Seeing that Ye Shiyu remained completely silent, Yan Huan's heart beat faster and faster, yet he forced himself to calm down and attempt to take control of the situation.
First of all, no matter what, she had not replied to any of his messages over the past few days. Yan Huan felt it was imperative to explain the matter regarding the High Table Dinner.
"Sister Shiyu, about the High Table Dinner, I actually..."
However, just as Yan Huan opened his mouth, he saw Ye Shiyu's slightly tilted head suddenly straighten up.
Along with that movement, she abruptly tightened her grip on her phone, which flickered with a faint light.
'Here it comes!!'
Yan Huan's heart instantly tensed up, and he directly activated his Mask of Perfect Poise.
'Parry!'
"..."
However, Ye Shiyu merely clutched her phone with an overwhelming sense of oppression, giving off the feeling that she was about to strike at any moment but never actually doing it. This caused Yan Huan's expression to darken.
Left with no other choice, he could only attempt to 'feint his parry'.
That meant putting on the mask and then taking it off, cycling through the process repeatedly.
By doing this, he tried to perfectly catch the exact frame of Ye Shiyu's zero-frame activation.
But it was entirely useless...
Because the very next second, after staring at him for a long time, Ye Shiyu did not raise her phone. Instead, she shook her head and spoke.
"Regarding the High Table Dinner... Over the past few days, I have actually thought about it very carefully, Xiao Huan."
"Huh?"
Still trying to 'parry' and execute a perfect block, Yan Huan paused in surprise at her words, blinking as he looked at Ye Shiyu, who was pursing her lips with lowered eyes.
"I was wondering if I was being a bit... overly presumptive."
"Huh??"
"I thought that if I gave Xiao Huan flowers, Xiao Huan would absolutely have to accept them. I didn't consider at all that we've only known each other for a single semester. Furthermore, there are also the obstacles of Mama and our status as Sworn Older Sister and Sworn Younger Brother."
"Huh???"
"Who Xiao Huan likes is completely your freedom. As long as you know the meaning behind the flowers I gave you, that is enough for me."
'Ye Shiyu...'
'Please don't be like this, I'm scared.'
Listening to Ye Shiyu's expressionless face as she spoke words of 'Turning Over a New Leaf,' Yan Huan did not feel relaxed in the slightest. On the contrary, the goosebumps on his body only multiplied.
Especially when he combined this with everything that had happened to him over the past few days.
Cutting off his desires, the surveillance, transferring all the girls away...
'Believing that Ye Shiyu had truly changed was as absurd as sending me fifty bucks and expecting me to crown you a great general once I conquered the world.'
"So..."
Yan Huan swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Just as he tentatively spat out that single word, an icy-cold hand suddenly grabbed his right hand tightly.
"Smack!"
'I parry!!'
Acting on pure stress response, Yan Huan immediately activated his Mask of Perfect Poise.
But...
She still did not use her Hypnosis on him.
Instead, she merely pursed her lips and said softly,
"So, Xiao Huan, let's make up, okay?"
"Make up?"
Speaking softly, she leaned closer to Yan Huan bit by bit.
"Mhm... It was my fault for not replying to Xiao Huan's messages earlier. I was just... throwing a childish tantrum.
"From now on, I am still Xiao Huan's Older Sister. And from now on... I won't ignore Xiao Huan's messages anymore.
"Xiao Huan also doesn't need to worry about Mama's side. We will just focus on our internship, alright?"
Her hand was soft and icy cold, quickly seeming to overlap with the sensation of her touch from his dreams.
Her black hair faintly emanated a light floral fragrance. He didn't know what its source was, but...
It smelled wonderful.
"Mhm."
Yan Huan pondered for a moment, completely unable to figure out her true intentions.
However...
Right now, he could only bite the bullet and agree to it.
Seeing Yan Huan agree, Ye Shiyu's icy hands gently let go of his wrist.
Following that, the corners of her lips slowly curled up into a breathtakingly beautiful arc.
"Ding."
Right at that moment, Yan Huan's phone suddenly rang. It was a message notification from Plane.
"..."
Yan Huan pretended not to hear it, merely smiling as he said,
"Speaking of which, Brother Zhang hasn't arrived yet. I wonder what time he'll—"
"Xiao Huan, you seem to have a Plane message."
However, Ye Shiyu pointed at his chest and stated bluntly.
"..."
"Is that so..." Finding it hard to bear, Yan Huan pulled out his phone. He looked down and discovered that it was sent by that idiot, Yurianna.
Seeing it wasn't An Le, Sakuramiya Hitomi, or Aruiya, Yan Huan breathed a slight sigh of relief.
But the content...
"President, wu wu wu, we've only been apart for a few minutes and I already miss you... Everyone in the group feels so scary..."
'Stop spouting such nonsense, you idiot!!'
Seeing this, Yan Huan's forehead broke out in a slight sweat.
Especially since he could already feel Ye Shiyu's gaze falling squarely onto his phone screen.
"Sister Shiyu, you should have met Yurianna before. She's the Secretary of the student council..."
"I know."
"..."
Her tone remained as usual, yet it made Yan Huan completely unsure of how to reply to that idiot for a moment.
Thus, he could only dryly send an emoji, followed by a brief "Good luck."
"Oh right, President, how about we grab lunch together at noon?!"
"..."
Under Ye Shiyu's watchful gaze, Yan Huan trembling raised his finger, just about to type out something along the lines of, "How about you get familiar with your new colleagues and eat with them?"
"It's fine if Xiao Huan goes with her to try the Cafeteria's food. Like I said, I am only Xiao Huan's Older Sister right now. I won't overthink things."
But right in front of him, Ye Shiyu tilted her head and looked at Yan Huan.
"Of course, I've familiarized myself with the environment over the past few days. If you don't know what to eat, it's fine to let me recommend something."
"..."
'Ye Shiyu, seriously, stop acting like this, I'm begging you.'
Yan Huan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, but instead of replying to Yurianna immediately, he put his phone back into his arms and said with a smile,
"Mhm, we can talk about it when the time comes. Let's focus on work first, Sister Shiyu."
"Alright."
Ye Shiyu nodded with an expressionless face, showing no extra emotion.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Right at that moment, a series of knocks came from the office door behind them.
"Come in."
Ye Shiyu turned around and saw the main door open, revealing a middle-aged man standing outside. An ID badge hung around his neck, displaying his name: "Zhang Xiaojing".
"Shiyu, Yan Huan, you've arrived. Come on, you two should first go and introduce yourselves to the department and your colleagues, and then I'll show you around to understand our work processes."
It seemed this was the Brother Zhang that Sister Xiaoting had mentioned, the Person in Charge of the department.
"Alright, Boss Zhang."
"Haha, just call me Brother Zhang like everyone else."
Saying so, he smiled faintly and held open the office door.
"Here, try this. It's the unreleased 2.0 version of Yezi."
The people in the department were much friendlier than Yan Huan had imagined. After Brother Zhang finished explaining the general team structure and work process, the backend developers introduced Yan Huan to the projects they were currently handling.
"The current 1.0 Yezi is still quite limited in what she can answer, but once she reaches 2.0, she will become far more human-like.
"At that point, she will record every user's questions and information to build a detailed user profile...
"This way, she can intelligently provide suitable suggestions based on each user's specific needs."
A backend developer handed a mobile phone to Yan Huan; it appeared to be the test device they were using for the 2.0 beta version.
Behind him, Ye Shiyu stood with an expressionless face, looking as though she had already experienced all of this long ago.
"Hello, I am your exclusive intelligent assistant, Yezi. I am very happy to serve you~
"May I ask if you authorize me to outline your user profile by answering dozens of questions, so as to customize your very own dedicated AI assistant?"
'It can even do this...'
In his past life, Yan Huan had indeed seen many people train their AI assistants into all sorts of bizarre personalities, but he hadn't expected Yezi to be capable of such exclusive customization.
'Speaking of which, I wonder what method Ye Shiyu used to enable Yezi to perform Hypnosis.'
"..."
Yan Huan simply answered a few questions regarding his age and hobbies. After a brief wait, Yezi's speaking style suddenly changed completely.
He saw her cross her arms and smile sweetly at him, acting exactly like a charming, beautiful young girl of his own age as she spoke softly to him.
"Master, your exclusive assistant Yezi is ready~
"It is currently 9:13 AM. Would you like to drink some Black Tea to refresh yourself?"
Looking at the petite girl appearing on the mobile phone screen, Yan Huan blinked, somewhat surprised by the high level of intelligence this product displayed.
But...
Because this thing was directly linked to Ye Shiyu's Hypnosis, Yan Huan still felt a lingering sense of caution toward it.
Therefore, he did not experiment with it much further, casually typing a simple "No need."
"Mhm, that's perfectly fine too~
"No matter what, do your best today! Yezi will be right here waiting for you to come back~"
'Mhm...'
'It really gives off the vibe of a little virtual girlfriend living inside the phone.'
'If this goes to market, it will probably be extremely popular, right?'
Yan Huan thought to himself.
Under Ye Shiyu's watchful gaze, Yan Huan placed the mobile phone back onto the desk and got straight to the point.
"So, Brother Zhang, what exactly will the work responsibilities be for Sister Shiyu and me moving forward?"
Hearing this, Brother Zhang leaned against a desk and began to explain.
"Well, it's like this. Our Yezi AI is being jointly released with the Jinshi Group. Especially here in Linmen, nearly all distribution channels are inseparable from the Jinshi Group.
"Later on, this software will also enter the overseas market, so we'll need to coordinate certain business operations with the Jinshi Group and set up a branch office there.
"When the time comes, Shiyu and you will need to frequently run over to the Jinshi Group. The specific tasks will depend on the situation as it develops... but rest assured, it won't be too troublesome."
'Yes!'
'As long as I can go to the Jinshi Group, that's perfect. After all, Sakuramiya Hitomi, Bai Yi, and Aruiya are all over there. I really have no choice but to go.'
However, he didn't show any of this on the surface, merely nodding.
"I see."
"Come on, next I'll take you around the building to get familiar with the layout. You need to understand what operations each floor handles. When you need to get things done later, you have to know which floor to go to and who to look for, right?"
"Sounds good, Brother Zhang."
Yan Huan was just about to follow Brother Zhang out, but behind him, Ye Shiyu stood firmly in place without moving an inch. She simply said softly,
"I'm already familiar with it. I will just wait for you two here."
"Sure, no problem. We'll be right back."
Yan Huan turned his head and glanced at Ye Shiyu, who stood motionless, as tranquil and quiet as a porcelain doll.
She waved a hand at Yan Huan. Although she maintained an expressionless face, her aura truly resembled that of a beautiful, kind-hearted older sister who was simply inarticulate...
"..."
"Click."
For the time being, Ye Shiyu was the only person left in the room.
She slowly lowered her hand, then turned her head to look at the mobile phone used for testing on the desk, picking it up.
On the screen, the Yezi AI that had acted like a little virtual girlfriend remained absolutely motionless. Only a single notification page was displayed:
[Turn Over a New Leaf · Part Two]
[You have begun to successfully play the role of a well-liked older sister. Detected that Yan Huan's affection towards you has increased by 5%]
[When this value reaches 50%, you will receive a reward]
Ye Shiyu stared with an expressionless face as the Yezi AI inside the phone reported this good news to her. Deep within her eyes, however, there was not the slightest trace of emotion.
She merely gripped the phone and spoke in an apathetic tone.
"You were chatting rather sweetly with Xiao Huan just now, weren't you?"
It seemed that even the Yezi AI had not anticipated that Ye Shiyu would actually get jealous over her.
The immense sense of oppression made even the Yezi AI involuntarily freeze for a second. Only after that did it reply in a formulaic manner:
"I apologize, I do not understand what you mean. If you require assistance... K-k-k-k-k!!"
But before the sentence could even be finished, the sweet and adorable image of the Yezi AI on the electronic screen violently distorted.
Because right there in Ye Shiyu's hand, the phone screen was actually being crushed inch by inch, emitting a piercing shriek of static.
The initially bright display grew rapidly dim as more and more cracks spread across its surface.
The AI's voice coming from the loudspeakers began to contort, becoming completely unrecognizable...
"Crack!!"
The next second, by the time Ye Shiyu finally released her grip, the phone housing the Yezi AI had already been shattered beyond recognition.
It crashed onto the desk, scattering tiny fragments, and never made another sound.
"..."
The entire office fell deathly silent. It was as if even the AIs on the other devices didn't dare to poke their heads out, entirely devoid of sound.
And amidst that absolute silence, only Ye Shiyu remained, withdrawing her hand with an expressionless face...
Before seamlessly returning to her state as the 'Older Sister who had Turned Over a New Leaf'.