Chi Yumeng was unaware of her boyfriend’s troubles and rode the elevator down to the R&D department with a stiff expression.
Su Lin, the person that she disliked the most, was being buried in praises when she stepped outside. All the senior researchers had gathered near him and were throwing out compliments and animated questions about whatever matter they had been discussing.
“Everyone, leave Mister Su alone. We’ll discuss more with him about the new project at tomorrow’s meeting, for now just hurry and get back to your work!” The head researcher in a white lab coat shooed the employees away, sending a meaningful glance to Su Lin before the crowd dispersed. “Sir, let me know if you need anything from our staff during your time here.”
After giving a deep bow of respect, the man left and the stone faced Su Lin was left staring blankly at his retreating back.
If he was being honest, he was baffled as to why the people of this world were so fascinated by his words. Although he had been labeled a genius in his own world, wasn’t this too much excitement for these low level observations?
All he had done was explain some of the problems that they were facing and carefully walk them through the steps to enhance their technology, wasn’t this something that could be done by any expert in the field? Su Lin, who possessed not even a grain of common sense, concluded that the scientists had merely had a low opinion and expectations for him.
The assistant strolled up to him with an ugly expression, her heart filled with dissatisfaction at seeing him quietly contemplating. If it was the past Su Lin, he would’ve been smirking like a villain to himself! It’s only a small improvement, but this person wasn’t revealing his true nature even a bit, when did he become self aware!?
“You must be satisfied. Isn’t having a bunch of brain dead underlings your dream?” Chi Yumeng sneered and paid no attention to his complicated mood… well, she couldn't see past his stoic expression to begin with. “Su Lin, you have a lot of guts to show your face in this place again!”
“Do I know you?” Su Lin, who genuinely didn’t recognize who this person was or why he was being scolded, asked her innocently.
“I’m Chi Yumeng, your sister’s assistant!” The little assistant puffed out her chest and her scowl increased tenfold, the hands on her hips trembling with indignation. “Don’t play dumb, I’m the person that knows about your true self! Doesn’t that jog your memory!?”
“Ah?” Su Lin was prone to forgetting faces and names, but how could he not remember someone that knew he had suddenly transmigrated here? He thought long and hard for a few awkward minutes, but in the end he could only tilt his head at her.
“F-Fine, keep playing dumb! I’ll just show everyone the truth!” The woman reached into her suit pocket and produced her cellphone, scrambling to tap a few buttons on the screen before turning the display to him with a boasting smirk. “I wonder what that sister of yours would think if she saw this video!”
The original Su Lin was, frankly, an idiot. He would often imagine himself to be a great schemer; never revealing his true feelings, and playing the role of a quiet and obedient little brother while he moved his pawns as easily as waving a hand.
In reality, this kid was incapable of suppressing his feelings of superiority for more than a moment. After every meeting with his sister, he would loudly monologue his plans not far away, smirking viciously and laughing at the thought of his victory. Although Su Jia was mostly ignorant to this because of her weakness to anyone in her family, her little assistant naturally took note of his oddball behavior. It was because of incidents like this that the original Su Lin began to gain a reputation for being incompetent, not to mention that he didn’t bother to project his obedient appearance to anyone lower than him inside the company.
“Is that person Su Lin?” The man in front of her continued to stare indifferently, adjusting his glasses and squinting as though he couldn’t quite make out the sight.
“Like I said, get new glasses…” Chi Yumeng grumbled quietly to herself, her confidence shaken by his truly unaffected appearance. After clearing her throat, she continued on with a righteous expression. “Isn’t it obvious that this is you? You’re talking so openly about overthrowing your older sister, don’t you remember when I showed you this before!?”
Su Lin was at a loss for how to handle this situation. After he suddenly woke up inside this stranger’s body in a foreign world seemingly two hundred years or so behind in technology, he had simply gone with the flow for a few months. Even now, there was no sign that he would suddenly return to his old self, he assumed that he may in fact spend the rest of his life as Su Lin.
That said, there was a lot about the original Su Lin that he was concerned about. According to Su Jia, he was a harmless and docile guy, but every other person including his parents treated him as an incapable idiot or a troublesome person.
If it wasn’t for his parents and sister’s protection, this person would surely have been crushed by all the people with a grudge against him… In simple terms, he was just like a cannon fodder character. Not knowing his limits, he seemed to antagonize anyone and everyone that he pleased.
At the time that Su Lin had transmigrated into his body, he had already been making moves against his sister. Wasn’t that equivalent to biting the hand that feeds? The current Su Lin hurriedly put an end to it and whole heartedly apologized to his sister that had been alerted to his actions beforehand.
After resolving that matter, Su Lin mucked through whatever matters applied to the body’s former owner through apologizing or asking for his sister’s help. If that same sister learned the extent of the old Su Lin’s bad personality, wouldn’t he be helpless to defend himself?
However, the current Su Lin is normally a slow person when it comes to matters not related to his work. The time it would take him to formulate a plan to combat Chi Yumeng’s threats would be much longer than the time allotted in a normal conversation, so he only stared blankly at her while she scowled.
“If you don’t want that to happen, then you’d best tell me whatever you’re up to!” She stated coldly, turning the phone back to her and typing a few things before pocketing it. “I know you’ve been acting weirdly these past few months, isn’t it because you’re thinking of doing something big?”
“I’m not plotting anything.” He stated simply, his paralyzed face that had even followed him through transmigration unable to show his depressed mood properly. “Would you please keep this matter secret from my sister?”
“Why should I?” She spat back immediately, her eyebrows knitting together as he still maintained his composure. In the past, Su Lin had immediately lost his haughty expression and begged her to keep the video to herself, letting her easily negotiate with the distressed youth. As she stared at him holding the same indifferent face, she only felt a sense of wrongness in her heart.
“I’m sure I mistreated you in the past, and I apologize for that. If my sister sees this, I’m afraid she’d be very disappointed…” He explained slowly, hoping that his sincerity will somehow be transmitted through his words. “I don’t have any intentions to plot or scheme against anyone, I’m just working normally.”
“You…” The little assistant was dumbfounded by his behavior. She really hadn’t heard about him causing trouble recently, she only thought he was finally smartening up a bit and biding his time. Who would expect that the Su Lin lacking any sense of reality was really trying to change, even going so far as to apologize to her?
After a long moment, her face tinged slightly red from his words and she turned away with a grumpy look.
“What are you apologizing for? Is there something to apologize to me about?” Chi Yumeng waved a hand, as though no longer interested in pursuing the conversation with him. “For now, I’ll believe you. Just don’t you dare do anything strange, else I’ll reveal everything to Su Jia right away!”
“Thank you, Assistant Chi.” Su Lin was pleasantly surprised at her change in demeanor. The knot in his stomach from anxiety and worry lessened, allowing him to breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Whatever. I’m heading back upstairs now, don’t cause any trouble.” The little assistant glared threateningly and turned to leave, before suddenly thinking of something. She glanced back to him with a disapproving frown, which deepened when he tilted his head at her in curiosity.
“Nothing. It’s just…” She paused, glancing to the floor before returning a dissatisfied gaze back towards him. “You really don’t remember me at all, do you?”
Su Lin shook his head helplessly. He didn’t have any of the former body’s memories, what could he say to her? He only knew that Su Lin had few close relationships and this person hadn’t spoken to him until now, months after his transmigration. It was thoroughly unlikely that the two shared a very deep connection.
“Okay.” Chi Yumeng gave a complicated smile, finally turning and leaving without another word.
Su Lin felt a bit apologetic towards her, but he was unable to recall Su Lin’s memories regardless, so he brushed the matter from his mind and returned to work.
