Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Confession on the Ferry Boat II (1/2)

The deal was indeed a unique order. Instead of its use of an ornament, the ring signified an incomplete love of greater importance. Even if it was not specifically indicated, everyone knew that they had to design a ring – an engagement or proposal ring.

Xiao Yu had thought so too in his previous life.

It should be a ring, a ring that the young lady was wearing before she had to board the ferry.

After knowing about the details of the order, Xiao Yu took his leave and visited the country that was in that story. After many decades, that harbor had been completely changed. There was no sight of any boat on the calm blue horizon. Only the seagulls loitering above were present as their squawking echoed. Xiao Yu tried to collect some information from the locals. But, no one had any impression of that normal looking couple from back then. However, the elderly residents did know where the jewelry shops near the harbor had relocated.

That was a method to get the best at the least expense. Xiao Yu avoided designing based on love as the theme, but instead, he turned his attention to search for the memories back then. In the end, Xiao Yu’s work was not considered a design, but a drawing of a normal-looking silver ring that had heart shapes engraved on the inside. There was no decorative aspect besides that, and yet it stood out for its uniqueness among the other drawings.

Silver rings were not the only thing the accessory shop sold. But combing through his assumptions after his research, Xiao Yu had guessed that the millionaire was in fact a poor lad back then. The young lady was returning to her hometown to visit her bedridden father. However, they could only afford to purchase just one ferry ticket. So, how would they have had money to buy an expensive ring? And thus, they must have taken an alternate approach and chose a normal-looking ring instead.

In addition to that, Xiao Yu looked at Lin Zhou’s familiar face as his memories started flooding in. If he remembered correctly, that deal should have been sealed in secret by SI. Even if they claimed that it was a fair competition, SI had long interfered with the deal under the table and bribed Mr. Ji to speak well of them in front of his father.

Lin Zhou had told him that. Xiao Yu despised such despicable methods the most. That was why Lin Zhou could successfully use the excuse of helping stand in for him, as he took the leadership rights of this deal from his hands.

Back then, Xiao Yu even felt grateful towards Lin Zhou. He knew that it was not right to push responsibilities onto others, which was why he felt guilty to pass these duties that he did not want to deal with onto Lin Zhou. He even treated Lin Zhou to several meals because of that. Now that he thought back about it, Xiao Yu really wanted to slap himself to death.

Sima Zhao’s intentions were obvious to everyone¹, yet Xiao Yu was the only oblivious one in this situation and was toyed around like a clown.

Lin Zhou desperately wanted to prove to SI that he was more outstanding. Moreover, Xiao Yu was the silly one providing all those opportunities to Lin Zhou.

……

As the elderly man finished his story, he still did not mention ‘that designer’. Instead, he made Mr. Ji show the drawings of the rings on the display screen.

At first glance, Xiao Yu saw his own work. It was no different from his memories. It was still that normal-looking silver ring. Due to the restrictions of the screen, only the frontal view of every drawing was shown. The exterior carvings weren’t too eye-catching, and the heart shapes on the interiors were even more nonexistent. If they had not looked closer, they would not notice all those details. That drawing stood out distinctively among those glamorous designs.

Among all the designs, Xiao Yu’s design that had SI’s endorsement was the first to draw the crowd’s attention.

The low muttering echoed in the meeting room, but was very quickly replaced by other noises.

If such an original design had won the client’s liking, then naturally it would be well liked by others. If it wasn’t, then there would only be mockery.

For our twenty-five year old gifted designer, FISH, compared to the people who admired him, there were more people who had their doubts about him.

Becoming a chief designer at such a young age? There must be someone in the background supporting him.

Not even one certificate from an overseas university? His standards must be average.

He must be a good-for-nothing. Look at that design, it cannot even be compared to a newly arrived intern.

Those unharmonious voices could not be heard in the video, but Xiao Yu knew that those people in the screen were saying that.

He had not only heard those conversations once. The people who said that would wear similar expressions on their faces, every single time.

That expression that made him revolt in disgust.

They could not even understand his design, yet they assumed that they had discovered the gifted man’s shortcomings. Those opinionated, twisted faces – Xiao Yu had seen them far too many times.

If he was still the original Xiao Yu, he would probably be frustrated over it for a long time. But the Xiao Yu right now –

Was squatting in front of an iPad as he leisurely gnawed on his melon seeds, as if he were watching a comedy show.

There was no point in bothering himself with this mob after all.

The next drawing that Xiao Yu saw was Lin Zhou’s drawing.

Xiao Yu stared at the screen and snorted coldly – the self-assumed snort was in fact just a weird “squeak”.

He had known since a long time ago that Lin Zhou’s design style was different from his. That ring on the screen was made with the most expensive materials available on the market. That was the uniqueness that belonged to Lin Zhou’s glamorous designing style.

After Lin Zhou obtained Xiao Yu’s drafts, he was inspired. Lin Zhou understood that the design began with simplicity. Which was why his final drawing was a platinum ring that was decorated with a single white flower embedded with diamonds in the end. The shape of the ring had more details – not only was it decorated with a flower engraving, it was looped by a chain of flower petals. The inner side of the ring had an ‘ILoveU’ engraving and was filled with expensive sapphires.

It was not the first time for Xiao Yu to be wowed by such a design style that did not consider the user’s feeling after wearing it. What made him cringe was how the higher-ups actually preferred Lin Zhou’s design. When he had just joined SI, a majority of the release conferences depended on Lin Zhou’s glamorous yet unrealistic designs. That was also why whenever they had a difference in opinion, Xiao Yu would always be the one to give in – because Lin Zhou was the more experienced person.

Back then, SI ended up not winning this deal, which was why Xiao Yu did not pay much attention to it. Hence he did not notice the how weird Lin Zhou’s drawing was. Now that Xiao Yu had a closeup view of that design, Xiao Yu could guarantee that this design was based on his draft, which was then transformed into such a tragic sight as a result.

It indeed was a tragic sight. How could he force a supposedly glamorous design style into a rustic look? The result – at least how it looked like to Xiao Yu – had too much burden and had no charm at all.