Getting Outsmarted By The CEO - Chapter 108

Chapter 34.1 TL: Bara Chou

The shampoo bottle landed in the shopping cart with a light clunk.

Xue Zhao quickly typed that out and sent it in the group chat. He finally felt some relief from the constant boasting he’d been hearing tonight.

Turning back to see a bottle of shampoo newly added to the cart, he sneered, “Oh? Aren’t you picky about the scent?”

Gu Jue: “What?”

“Doesn’t Your Highness’ girlfriend prefer something minty?” Xue Zhao rolled his eyes, “Why were you insistent with the body wash but not the shampoo?”

“Because I realized…” Gu Jue started, “The reason she likes mint is probably because I’m the one who smells like it. After all, I’m the one she likes. In that case, she would like it no matter what scent I use.”

Xue Zhao: “…” Time to cuss some more in the chat.

In the bustling grocery store, two men shopping together in the personal care section stuck out like a sore thumb, especially when both had outstanding looks.

Xue Zhao had already noticed several young women casting glances their way. Some were staring at Gu Jue, complete with heart-shaped eyes and their frantic attempt to notify their friends. However, the others…

They were casting meaningful looks that lingered between the two.

“…”

I’m telling you, this is a misunderstanding. My taste is limited to humans only.

Xue Zhao immediately took a step away from that boastful dog.

Noticing Xue Zhao’s reaction, Gu Jue glanced around his peripherals and immediately understood.

He mocked, “That’s my good boy.”

“…”

The two friends kept a meter between them as they moved out of the shampoo aisle.

Once they were away from peering eyes, Xue Zhao finally blurted out, “Seriously, your looks are too eye-catching. I don’t even f?u?c?k?i?n?g? know how your girlfriend can bear with it. Getting love confessions twice a week and mating invitations once a week, I’d be drowning in jealousy if my girlfriend was this popular…”

Even if they were all one-sided, it was definitely still something to mind. Girls are quite sensitive, would she be able to withstand it?

“She doesn’t need to bear with this.” Unexpectedly, Gu Jue laughed, “You can grab any random girl at our school and ask if they know me. If they don’t, whatever, but if they do…” Emphasizing the next part, “Then there’s no way they don’t know I’m not single.”

“…” Xue Zhao’s mind was processing.

Unbelievable! He kicked the cart, “Gu Dog, speak properly. Do you think the more layers of f?u?c?k?i?n?g? negatives you use, the more right you seem?”

To be fair, that did remind Xue Zhao of how this friend of his usually rejected people.

The most common reply he gave during high school was — “Sorry but I have a certain medical condition called prosopagnosia. So, you are…?”
TL/N: prosopagnosia – difficulty/inability to recognize people by their faces

At first, Xue Zhao thought that was just an excuse, but then he realized that Gu Jue really couldn’t tell one girl from another unless he had especially taken time to remember. He was genuinely confused every time he asked “Who’s this?” “Who’s that?” and “Have I really met her before?”.

What kind of magical being is his girlfriend?

Since he hadn’t even seen a picture, Xue Zhao grew curious, “Gu Dog, that girlfriend of yours… is she pretty?”

In his memory, of the wide variety of girls Gu Jue had contact with, be it the School Flowers during high school, the various “Flowers” in university, or the socialites who were rumoured to have fallen for him… and even the one girl who lost her mind over him… he had never heard Gu Jue compliment on anyone’s looks.

“Of course,” Gu Jue’s answer was short and concise, “She’s better-looking than me.”

“…”

What a god!

That must’ve been the highest praise to come from a narcissist.

…

Another half-hour passed, and Gu Jue was done his shopping. The two parted ways and each drove home.

The first priority after getting home was feeding the cat.

Gu Jue had bought a lot of generic dried fish snacks and cat food at the grocery store. Tonight’s meal would probably mark the last time that Dummy would have his premium cat food. From now on, it would just be ones that cost only a couple bucks per kilo. The expensively out-of-character dried fish had to be hidden away.

He wondered how long it would take for his precious spoiled son to get used to it.

Gu Jue suddenly felt a sense of guilt. Sighing, “Dummy, it’s not that Daddy doesn’t love you anymore…”

Dummy: “…”

Gu Jue stared at the cat who was devouring his food. Petting the cat’s head, he sighed, but his tone was determined, “When Heaven is about to confer a great office on a cat, just push through it.”

Then, it was time to put away his haul.

Gu Jue completely reorganized the bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom.

To Ruan An’an’s knowledge, he had already lived there for a while, so it wouldn’t make sense if everything was brand new. He removed the packaging on the shampoo, body wash, and toothpaste, then squeezed out a bit of each before placing them each in their spots. His new manual toothbrush also lost its packaging so he could start using it today…

It was already 9 p.m. by the time he was done.

After taking a shower, Gu Jue messaged Ruan An’an.

…

Ruan An’an was sitting on the floor, taking the tag off her 5th piece of clothes and adding it to the laundry pile when her phone sounded with a notification.

She had it all planned out. Even though the move had been decided on abruptly, it was just past 9 p.m. and she had a dryer. She could just run the dryer overnight and the clothes would be packed and ready for the move the next day.

Ruan An’an checked her phone and smiled.

She sat on the bed to reply.

Then, she decided to send another message:

What was that supposed to mean?

Ruan An’an was confused, but then, she received a voice message.

Ruan An’an: …

Gu Jue’s voice sounded different over the phone. It had a special resonance.

Judging from the upward inflections, he must’ve been smiling when he recorded the message.

It was embarrassing, but…

This is so cute~

Ruan An’an bit her lips. Did she lose her mind thinking she could tease him?

Her teasing was gracefully handled and tossed right back at her. How was she supposed to reply now…

Ruan An’an raked her brain and came up with nothing. She gave up and decided to just send a reaction meme.

Once, she was chatting with her best friends. They joked that the memes saved on a girl’s phone take on a completely different style once they’re in a relationship. No matter how unsightly her meme album was when she was single, it would become all cute and adorable after.

Maybe Ruan An’an was used to being a wild single girl, but she hadn’t gotten many cutesy reaction memes even after she started dating. Even the ones she did save, she rarely used them. The ones she’d been using were all still the unhinged ones.

Ruan An’an was about to send [Oh stop it, you.jpg], but her finger slipped to the one next to it.

She stared at her screen in shock.

The image was… a seductively posed panda.

“…….”

M?o?t?h?e?r?f?u?c?k?e?r?! That’s why you shouldn’t have too many unhinged memes!!!

Even though Ruan An’an never minded what she said in front of Gu Jue, and even swore occasionally, never once had she said anything raunchy.

Her face exploded with heat. Her fingers worked swiftly to recall that message. The moment she had completed the action, though, her phone screen turned dark.

It was a voice call from [gj].

Reason told her Gu Jue wasn’t going to let her off easy. No way. She definitely should NOT pick up the call.

Regrettably, certain reactions bypass the brain—

Ruan An’an answered the call. Gu Jue sounded the same as in the voice message: “My girlfriend, unfortunately, despite your best efforts to recall the message, I still saw it.”

Ruan An’an’s face was beet red. “…No! That was a fatfinger!”

“I see,” Gu Jue replied earnestly, accepting her explanation. Then, out drifted another phrase, “So, you like that position…”

“…!!!”

Ruan An’an gritted her teeth and hung up.

Ruan An’an didn’t have a lot to pack and finished early in the night. The whole time, Gu Jue was sending messages to make up for teasing her too much.

Ruan An’an almost exploded even more when she saw that message.

But right after, Gu Jue decided to change tactics.

Followed by a voice message—

…

Don’t bring our child into the fight!

The cat’s sugar-sweet voice melted Ruan An’an’s heart.

All things considered, the whole thing wasn’t a big deal, and now that he’d used Dummy to de-escalate, she was willing to back down as well.

Once the couple made up, Ruan An’an confirmed with Gu Jue the timing for tomorrow, which had left the Sunday morning open for her to pay a visit to the company.

Ling Songbai was the one who ordered her visit. She gave him a call on her way over.

“You told me last week that you thought the best online game on the market is Six Realms,” The old man still packed a lot of energy in his voice, “You weren’t the only one who did the reviews, our team at the company also did it.”

Ruan An’an: “Oh? And their conclusion?”

“Same as yours.” Ling Songbai said, “You’re playing games anyway, so you might as well be doing it for the company. I have an assignment for you. The Xu Xi who showed you around Fan Lin last time will give you the details.”

“Oh and, once we’ve confirmed the collaboration, we’ll be communicating directly with the Gu’s starting around the middle of next year… Hmph, I’m not dealing with Old Man Gu, so you better pay more mind to it. The latter portions will be all yours. You’ve had plenty of practice all those years abroad, it’s time you do it for real.”

“Tsk,” Ruan An’an sprawled on the backseats of the car. She had heard this line at least once per year — he repeated it every time he had an assignment for her, as if a staple. “Has there been a time you haven’t asked me to ‘do it for real’?”

Ling Songbai scolded her, “Young lady! Watch your attitude!”

Ruan An’an woke up early, so she was still drowsy. Yawning and fighting against the weight of her eyelids, she complied and was finally able to end the call.

Once she arrived, the secretary led her to the office where Xi Xu was. Both being straightforward people, Xu Xi skipped directly to explaining her assignment.

Ruan An’an couldn’t believe her own ears.

“Mr. Xu, you said to participate in the testing…” She asked carefully, “Is that all?”

Xu Xi nodded, “Since you said you’ve taken courses related to VR adaptation, did some self-study, and have an interest in it… Mr. Lin thought you’d be suitable for the testing group. How about it?”

Ruan An’an: “And from my understanding, the testing group’s job is to play Six Realms…”

Xu Xi nodded again, “Simply speaking, that is correct. Their main task is to play the game.”

“…”

Play the game?

Is this reality???

Ruan An’an was starting to doubt her life.

During her university years working at the overseas headquarters, crazy workloads weren’t unfamiliar to her, but never had she been given tasks that were easy and fun.

Pleasant surprise filled the girl’s face, it was obvious to see. Xu Xi smiled, “Of course, a report is required for every instance. Details must be included, adding gameplay recordings when necessary… If possible, you can also analyze which 3D scenes would be the most suitable to be converted into virtual reality and which function keys into what hand gestures. Additionally…”

Ruan An’an: …

Ruan An’an’s expression of joy gradually disappeared as Mr. Xu continued on for another minute.

Once he finished, Runa An’an nodded. “… Alright, Mr. Xu. Leave it to me.” Her voice was now monotoned.

Heh, she knew an assignment from her grandpa couldn’t have been that easy.

…

TL/N:
lol I’m not dead, and this translation is also not dead… for various reasons, life has gotten busy, but I will keep doing this novel