Chapter 17: The Pinnacle of Translation
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Jing Yi was roused awake by the sharp sting of something cold and hard. He blinked in confusion, realizing he was leaning against a stone, his face numb from the cold. Raising his hand to touch his skin, he found it dotted with uneven impressions where the smoothness had been marred.
Who was the audacious villain to ambush him like this?
To dare throw stones at his soft, round cheek! Such behavior was beyond the limits of civility and could not be tolerated.
Did they take him for a fool who would stay silent?
Jing Yi grabbed a nearby stone, ready to hurl it back. As sunlight flickered through the window crack, the object in his hand emitted a faint, unique gleam.
Jing Yi: Hmm?
Tilting his head slightly, he realized he was holding a golden watch, exuding an aura of nobility. The dial was bordered with tiny diamonds—just looking at it, its value was evident.
Wow.
Incredible—his soft cheek had somehow produced gold on its own.
Sitting cross-legged, Jing Yi examined the watch repeatedly, even biting it gently, nearly chipping a tooth.
Just as he was utterly puzzled, a voice echoed in his mind—
[You’ve done well recently; this is your reward.]
Jing Yi: ???
Jing Yi: !!!
A reward from the Second Young Master himself!
Holding the golden watch, Jing Yi’s eyes crinkled with delight. The Second Young Master was so generous. It seemed last night at the company, he had not only encountered the villain but had dealt with them thoroughly.
No wonder he was eager to share the joy with everyone at home even in the dead of night, casually gifting a golden watch even to the butler.
The novel was right—a domineering CEO with money to spare!
Jing Yi treasured the watch for a moment more, then carefully hid it away. Whistling softly, he jumped off the bed and headed to the bathroom to freshen up before work.
· · ·
After the banquet, the Li family home was unusually quiet.
Breakfast was prepared for three; Li Mingzhi had yet to rise. The three brothers sat around the table, their faces unusually solemn.
“I’ve investigated that person from the Hua family,” Li Ting spoke first. “There is indeed some illicit income, but whether it involves organ trafficking, I can’t be sure. The timing was tight, and they hid it very well.”
Though he said so, given the butler Jing’s demonstrated abilities, the illegal dealings of the Hua family were unlikely to escape notice.
Li Wenzhao asked calmly, “We report this to the authorities and do not intervene ourselves.”
Li Ting nodded and then looked toward their usually silent second brother. “Brother, how did it go last night? Did you catch the culprit?”
Li Xu paused before answering, “Yes.”
Not only had they caught them, but they had also secured the evidence. The culprit was now locked up with Qiu Minzhi.
“Second brother,” Li Wenzhao asked, looking up, “what do you intend to do?”
As family head and eldest brother, Li Wenzhao respected his siblings’ autonomy and seldom interfered in their affairs unless absolutely necessary.
Even now, he granted Li Xu considerable independence.
“Big brother…”
Li Xu put down his chopsticks, his expression troubled. “I can’t bring myself to act. You handle it.”
Li Wenzhao glanced at him. “Alright.”
With two major matters settled briefly, the atmosphere at the table remained heavy. Li Ting sipped his soup and smiled wryly, “Second brother, I heard from the household staff that you barged into Butler Jing’s room last night?”
Li Wenzhao’s movement faltered.
“Yes,” Li Xu admitted. “Without his help, I wouldn’t have caught the insider. I gave him a little something as a reward.”
Li Ting asked, “What was it?”
“Just a watch I bought last week.”
In his haste, he hadn’t brought anything valuable and had simply taken off the new watch he’d put on before the banquet.
Li Ting recognized the watch and clicked his tongue. “Second brother is truly generous.”
Li Xu kept his head down, eating.
Li Wenzhao’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You only gave it to Butler Jing? No one else?”
“Of course not.”
Li Ting quickly caught on. “That’s bad. If Butler Jing knows he’s the only one rewarded, can we really keep the leak under wraps?”
…
The dining room fell silent for two seconds before Li Xu stood. “I’ll go now.”
“Wait,” Li Wenzhao said.
Li Xu and Li Ting both looked toward him. Li Wenzhao took out his phone and tapped a few times on the screen.
“Install this app on your phone.”
Li Xu and Li Ting had no objections and complied.
The next moment, a familiar alarm sounded in the living room—
[Beep beep beep beep beep!]
[Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!]
The three Li brothers exchanged glances: “…………”
· · ·
At eight in the morning, Jing Yi finished breakfast.
As he stepped out of the kitchen, he saw Aunt Fang and Uncle Li, the cook, huddled together whispering excitedly.
Curious, Jing Yi approached. “Aunt Fang, Uncle Li, what are you discussing?”
“Oh, Butler Jing! You startled me.” Aunt Fang laughed heartily and showed him something. “This is from the Second Young Master. Since you’ve all been doing well lately, he’s giving out some rewards. I don’t quite understand, so I asked Uncle Li to look into it.”
She held a beautiful jade bracelet.
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Jing Yi didn’t understand, but it looked more elegant than the glass Qiu Minzhi had given last night. The whole bracelet was purple, like auspicious mist flowing from the east—a good omen.
Uncle Li received a jade ornament, the new maid Xiao Ke got a pendant… all valuable items. Even the dozens of bodyguards each received a prize.
Jing Yi was amazed.
Is the Second Young Master a real spendthrift?
He must be overjoyed.
At first, Jing Yi suspected this was connected to him somehow, but now it seemed he had overthought it.
Li Xu wouldn’t be so extravagant as to scatter wealth around the house just to keep him from uncovering the truth.
Even the God of Wealth isn’t this lavish.
Jing Yi dismissed his doubts and, around half past eight, continued to follow Li Wenzhao out to earn some extra money.
Upon arriving at the company, Jing Yi immediately sensed something was off. No hushed conversations, no one pacing around delivering files, no chatting in the tea room—the entire office was deathly quiet except for the rapid clicking of keyboards, the only sign of life.
Jing Yi’s face twisted as he looked around nervously.
He had only been away for a few days—what was going on?
Before he could ask, he and Li Wenzhao reached the elevator. Jing Yi tensed.
“Young Master, I’ll just squeeze into the staff elevator,” he said.
He couldn’t bear the CEO’s habit of surveying his empire from above and preferred to obediently remain a mere corporate drone.
Li Wenzhao, expressionless, pressed the button for the elevator.
[?]
[You don’t have to?]
[So it’s not that you’re scared.]
Li Wenzhao stumbled slightly.
Jing Yi was about to speak when the elevator chimed open, revealing inside… verdant mountains and flowing water.
Hmm?
[Is my eyesight failing? How did I just see a primeval forest inside the CEO’s elevator?]
Li Wenzhao was clearly surprised by this unexpected view, pausing for two seconds before stepping inside.
The elevator interior was completely covered with panels displaying highly realistic images of an ancient forest: towering old trees, twisting vines, dappled sunlight filtering through leaves, casting golden spots on the ground. Jing Yi could even see dewdrops on the grass clearly.
It felt as if fresh air was wafting in.
The elevator ascended slowly, swaying gently.
“Young Master,” Jing Yi said, “I think we’re like monkeys.”
[Swinging around in a primeval forest.]
Li Wenzhao glanced coldly. “Drop the ‘we’; you’re the monkey.”
“…”
Unfazed by Li Wenzhao’s coldness, Jing Yi’s mood was good. His mind wandered, and he curiously asked, “Hypothetically—just hypothetically, no jinx intended—if there were a natural disaster or fire in such a tall building, wouldn’t it be hard to escape from the top floor?”
[The lower floors make escape easier. In an emergency, employees would flee, but the CEO would be crying pathetically at the giant floor-to-ceiling window… ha ha ha ha ha.]
“…”
Li Wenzhao smirked slightly. “Add the ‘we’ back—you’re on the top floor now.”
Jing Yi: “…”
Pfft pfft pfft—jinx, jinx, jinx.
As they spoke, the elevator stopped at the 45th floor, where Secretary Fan was waiting neatly dressed.
Jing Yi greeted her, “Good morning, Secretary Fan.”
“Good morning, Butler Jing.” Fan nodded and handed an envelope to Li Wenzhao. “Mr. Li, the materials you requested are ready.”
Li Wenzhao gave a short grunt but didn’t take it. Secretary Fan understood and slid the envelope toward Jing Yi. “For you?”
“Yes, Butler Jing.”
Jing Yi took it hesitantly and opened it—
A thick stack of cash!
“Last night’s bonus,” Li Wenzhao said before striding away.
[Wow~]
[The Li family really is wealthy, and the employer so generous. As long as the Li family stands, I can shine in this position forever~ ha ha ha ha.]
Li Wenzhao entered the office briskly, a faint upward curl at the corner of his mouth.
Jing Yi’s happiness soared to 100%. Catching up to Li Wenzhao, he unusually took the initiative to ask, “Young Master… Mr. Li, where is today’s work assignment?”
Li Wenzhao glanced at him. “So eager?”
Jing Yi pursed his lips modestly. “Taking money to solve problems is only right.”
Li Wenzhao: “…”
Secretary Fan: “…”
Was that phrase appropriate here?
·
In the CEO’s office, Jing Yi sat at a small table, not far from Li Wenzhao, like a particularly troublesome student specially assigned a seat by the teacher.
Jing Yi blinked and slid the little table a bit further away.
“Butler Jing,” Secretary Fan brought over several documents, “these are Li Corporation’s project directions for the next few months. Please take a look.”
Five files lay on the otherwise empty desk.
Far fewer than before.
Jing Yi nodded. “Still want me to categorize?”
“No,” Secretary Fan shook her head, casting a strange glance at Li Wenzhao. “You read through them once, then summarize for Mr. Li.”
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“???”
[What is this?]
[Am I a voice recorder now?]
Secretary Fan wiped sweat from his brow. Since Butler Jing arrived, he seemed to have reached the pinnacle of his career, witnessing events on a whole different level. He didn’t understand them but respected the process. As long as his salary came on time, he could even read aloud word by word.
Fortunately, he was spared from this fate himself.
Adjusting his glasses, Secretary Fan turned to busy himself elsewhere.
Jing Yi glanced at Li Wenzhao, who showed no reaction, confirming Secretary Fan’s words.
“Alright then.” Jing Yi picked up the documents.
The next moment: subway, an old man, staring at a phone.
What the heck?
Why were the documents all in English?
Though newly graduated, Jing Yi was an art major with average academic performance. His English proficiency was barely at level four after three attempts.
Giving him technical documents full of jargon was tantamount to public humiliation.
Jing Yi: [speechless]
Not even the black-and-white spirits had said he’d be tested in English while dressed like this.
Was he still in time to change back?
“Something wrong?” Li Wenzhao noticed his hesitation and asked, “Any problems?”
[Yes, a big one.]
Li Wenzhao immediately went into alert mode.
Jing Yi stammered, “My vocabulary is limited. These technical contracts are a bit difficult for me.”
Li Wenzhao: “…”
He was startled by the butler’s heavy breathing, fearing another disaster had been uncovered.
“No problem. Just skip words you don’t know,” Li Wenzhao said like a teacher assigning homework. “After reading, summarize it for me.”
Jing Yi: “…” That was your instruction.
He opened the files, sat up straight, cleared his throat: “…Some island development… something something?”
Li Wenzhao: “…?”
Jing Yi: “…National development, something about industrial transformation, funds involved… (flips page) (flips page) (flips page) (flips page) (flips page), finally, signature: ______, date: ____ year ____ month ____ day.”
“………………”
The office fell into several silences throughout the day.
“‘Limited vocabulary,’ ‘a bit difficult’,” Li Wenzhao snapped back to reality, sneering, “Your resume must be padded.”
Jing Yi blushed. “That’s how job hunting goes.”
“…”
Li Wenzhao rubbed his forehead. “I’ll handle it myself.”
Jing Yi quickly tossed the hot potato aside and flattered, “Thank you, Mr. Li, for your hard work.”
Li Wenzhao: “Hmm, you should be thanking me. Your mistakes caused my trouble.”
“…” Jing Yi smiled. “Actually, there’s another way: the documents can be translated by Secretary Fan, and then I can summarize them in Chinese.”
Li Wenzhao sneered, “Outsourcing your work?”
Jing Yi blushed, “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.”
Li Wenzhao groaned.
Just as he was about to refuse, his phone rang with a work call. Waving his hand, he sent Jing Yi out. Let him deal with it.
The CEO was exhausted.
“Butler Jing! Butler Jing!”
Jing Yi clutched the files and rushed to the neighboring secretary room but found it empty.
He circled suspiciously, seeing no sign of Secretary Fan.
Just as he was about to give up, the elevator door opened. Secretary Fan looked up and their eyes brightened.
Jing Yi approached. “Secretary Fan…”
“Butler Jing!”
“Secretary Fan…”
“Butler Jing!!”
Jing Yi was speechless. “Secretary Fan, let me finish first.”
With hurried steps, Secretary Fan burst out of the elevator. “Let me speak first! Butler Jing, you graduated from M University, right?”
That was the original Butler Jing’s educational background. Jing Yi nodded. “Yes, why?”
Secretary Fan asked, “How is your foreign language proficiency?”
“…” Jing Yi: “Limited vocabulary… a bit difficult.”
“Butler Jing, you’re too modest.” Secretary Fan looked at the all-English files in his hands, assuming he was humbling himself. “The company has two foreign partners now and lacks a translator. Please help cover for us.”
???
“Me?” Jing Yi pointed to himself.
“Yes, exactly.” Secretary Fan glanced anxiously at his watch, then pulled Jing Yi toward the elevator. “It’s urgent. They are major overseas clients of Li Corporation. We can’t offend them. Please help me out, and I’ll treat you to a big meal tonight.”
Jing Yi: “…”
Before he could protest, Secretary Fan dragged him to the conference room downstairs.