The Comfort of Crushing Scum
Chapter 21

Page 21

1,175 words4 min read0 views
1d ago

After finishing the report and confirming that Xie Ran had no questions, he finally exited work mode and switched the sound in his headphones to soothing light music. The electronic voice said softly, "Sleep, sir."

"Mm." Xie Ran responded quietly.

Before falling asleep, the last thing he heard was Meng Feixuan's cold sneer: "Trash Quest Technology. They still underestimated my worth today!"

Xie Ran: "..."

His system had learned some strange new phrases today, too.

Fang Huiwang knew nothing about this. Since Xie Ran said nothing, he took it as tacit permission to continue reminiscing. As he recounted each old memory one by one, he gradually ended up genuinely moving himself, becoming more and more emotional and affectionate.

At last, after finishing a bottle of water, Fang Huiwang had said everything he could think of and could no longer find anything to add. Only then did he stop and say gently, "Xiao Ran, I remember all these things. I haven't forgotten them for a single moment."

Xie Ran still responded with silence.

Fang Huiwang waited for a while, but Xie Ran never spoke. A bad feeling could not help rising in his heart.

Unable to believe it, he abruptly stood and walked to Xie Ran's bedside.

Then, his expression completely fell apart.

At some point, Xie Ran had already fallen asleep.

And!

He was sleeping very, very soundly!

The next morning, by the time Fang Huiwang woke up, Xie Ran was already gone. It was obvious that Xie Ran kept good hours, sleeping early and rising early.

Fang Huiwang, on the other hand, had been so angered by Xie Ran that he barely slept all night. He had needed a thick layer of concealer to cover his dark circles, and he looked utterly exhausted.

He did not know where Xie Ran had gone, nor did he want to know.

Fortunately, Xie Ran was not working with them, so they did not need to see each other for the time being.

After drinking a huge cup of black coffee, Fang Huiwang forced himself to perk up and set off with the other two groups of guests to work at the scenic area.

In the end, he chose souvenir sales. Since Xie Ran had gone mad and run off to trade stocks, he could only shoulder the burden of making a living by himself.

If Xie Ran's analysis was correct, then this job was his only chance to close the gap with the other two groups on his own.

For the celebrity guests, who were ordinarily accustomed to comfort and privilege, the working hours felt especially long. When quitting time finally arrived, the five of them returned to the hotel exhausted and gathered in the restaurant to review the day's work.

"Xiao Ran isn't here yet." Jiang Wei looked around and, seeing no sign of Xie Ran, joked, "Looks like he was pretty busy today."

At that, everyone exchanged knowing smiles.

Meng Xixi asked curiously, "I wonder how much Brother Ran made today?"

"Overseas stock markets are different from domestic ones. They don't have daily price limits," Jiang Wei said. He was clearly familiar with the stock market and immediately explained, "If you're especially lucky, it's possible for a stock to rise by dozens of percentage points in a single day."

He paused for effect before continuing, "But that kind of thing is very rare. I've traded stocks for more than ten years, and I've never encountered it even once."

Even those who did not trade stocks understood what he meant.

The reason lucky people were called lucky gods was because that kind of luck was rare—exceptionally rare.

What was more, even if Xie Ran really got lucky in the stock market, he would not make much money.

The reason was simple: his principal was too small.

The production team had given each person only one thousand dollars in starting funds. In the stock market, even if he got lucky and gained a few percentage points, he would only earn a few dozen dollars. If he was unlucky, he could lose money instead.

Meanwhile, their jobs guaranteed two hundred dollars a day.

That was why, the moment Xie Ran chose to go solo and trade stocks, everyone had directly concluded that their group was out.

No one took Xie Ran seriously. After casually mentioning him a couple of times, they turned their attention to the others' earnings.

Other than Fang Huiwang, the other two groups had ultimately competed for their jobs. Zhu Chuanjia and Jiang Wei got positions giving Chinese-language tours and earned a total of four hundred dollars for the day. The girl-group pair worked as restaurant servers, and just as Xie Ran had predicted, their base pay plus tips came to three hundred and eighty-seven dollars, almost no different from the senior group's earnings.

What surprised everyone was Fang Huiwang. He had actually earned three hundred and twelve dollars all by himself.

"Wow, Brother Wang is amazing!" Chen Xiaoxuan exclaimed sincerely.

Meng Xixi patted her chest, looking frightened in retrospect. "Good thing Brother Ran didn't go sell souvenirs with him, or we wouldn't have stood a chance!"

At the mention of this, Fang Huiwang was filled with resentment again.

The facts proved that Xie Ran's analysis of the various jobs yesterday had been completely correct. With cameras filming, tourists were more willing to buy things from him. Following Xie Ran's reasoning, he specifically targeted Huaxia tourists, and his sales were indeed higher. Whenever he happened to meet audience members who recognized him, the transaction amount would directly double.

If Xie Ran had not gone mad and run off to trade stocks, their group could have taken a huge lead.

Fang Huiwang gave a bitter smile and said hoarsely, "Xiao Ran was trying to find a way to make money too."

"Oh my God, Brother Wang's voice is hoarse." Meng Xixi looked deeply sympathetic. "You really worked too hard."

Fang Huiwang still looked helpless and did not respond.

He really had worked hard and put in a lot of effort today, but half the reason his voice had become like this was because he had talked too much last night.

And all of it had been for nothing!

As a senior figure in the entertainment industry, Jiang Wei could not help feeling that this was too much. His tone carried a hint of reproach. "Xiao Ran really wasn't being considerate this time..."

Before he could finish, Xie Ran's calm voice suddenly came from beside them. "What's wrong?"

Everyone looked up toward the sound and only then realized that Xie Ran had returned at some point.

Xie Ran wore a casual-leaning shirt, neat without looking stiff. His hair was still simply combed back, and a long trench coat he had just taken off rested over his arm. With his long limbs and unhurried stride, he looked like a supermodel, yet even colder than one.

He looked relaxed, tidy, and composed, forming a stark contrast to the other five guests, whose makeup had been completely ruined by exhaustion.

End of Chapter
Novel
How was this translation?