CH 2

Xu Yu's idea of giving way to them had been impractical. He had just rejected the other party and it would be embarrassing if he didn’t leave immediately.

So, Xu Yu stood up and left without looking back at him.

However, the corridor was too long and straight. For a long time, Xu Yu felt uncomfortable as he thought that there might be a group of people staring at his back.

Another turn would lead to the elevator door. When Xu Yu finally left the corridor, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sister Yun," Xu Yu said, "Go ahead."

Sister Yun was not worried. She asked first, "What's wrong? What happened just now?"

Xu Yu pressed the down button of the elevator and said, "Nothing. Someone tried to hit on me."

Sister Yun gave a long sigh, as if she was a little doubtful: "Why didn't I hear anything? How did they strike up the conversation?"

Xu Yu shrugged, looked at the elevator that was about to reach the floor, and said, "He picked up something and asked me my name." He said, "Botched attempt."

The elevator reached the floor and opened with a "ding".

Xu Yu walked in and turned to close the elevator. He heard a voice coming from the corridor. Then, those people he’d left behind appeared in his sight and walked towards the elevator.

Xu Yu *silently moved towards the number keys, looked ahead without expression, and quickly pressed the close button where others could not see.

*bu dong sheng se, direct translation( not a word or movement; idiom)- fig: remaining calm and collected/not batting an eyelid.

*Chua chua chua chua.

*onomatopoeia: crashing sound

At the moment when the elevator door was about to close, the man seemed to look inside.

However, Xu Yu may have been mistaken.

Xu Yu’s cousin had strongly invited him to this party, saying it would be quite fun. “You must come, cousin. I asked my father to get the ticket for a long time.”

On the way, his cousin was told that there was something wrong with his experimental data, and he was called back to school on the spot.

Xu Yu had already set aside the time for the evening. He simply went upstairs with the invitation letter, but he didn't expect that the reception would be so boring.

Before his cousin left, he’d begged Xu Yu to take photos for him if he came across anything interesting.

When going downstairs, Xu Yu sent a WeChat message to his cousin: It's boring, I'm leaving

What was the evening party even for?

Forget it. It was not important.

"I'll go on to the next point," said Sister Yun on the other end of the phone. "This is what the lawyer told me. You should pay special attention."

Xu Yu: "Hmm."

……

The past several days had been busy for Xu Yu.

Not only did he have unfinished work, but he also had to run between the company and the law firm several times a day.

He had already submitted an application to terminate his contract with the company. Perhaps the company also felt that he had no future prospects, so they only tried to persuade him a little before dropping the subject..

Next was to inquire on the procedure.

He still had money.

At the end of the day, Xu Yu went home tired.

As soon as he stepped through the open door, he made a beeline for the bathroom and filled the bathtub.

Before long, water vapor permeated the entire bathroom. Xu Yu took off his clothes and stood on the floor barefoot. He touched the water in the bathtub and stepped in.

He soaked in the bathtub for more than half an hour. Finally, the ringing of the cell phone in the room woke him up.

Xu Yu opened his eyes, turned his head and looked at the mobile phone beside his bed, and sat up.

Beside the bathtub was a floor-to-ceiling glass window, and on the other side was his bed.

When night fell, the bedroom lights had not been turned on, and at this moment, the glass window was like a mirror, which clearly showed Xu Yu’s frame.

Xu Yu kept fit all year round. Although he looked thin, he has a good figure, with clear muscles and perfectly straight legs.

Just after taking a bath, his hair drooped softly, partly covering his eyes and ears.

The cell phone in the bedroom has stopped ringing, so Xu Yu wasn’t in a hurry to get to it. He first took a towel and dried his hair against the window.

His hair was a little long, but he hadn’t had time to get a haircut recently.

Xu Yu wiped a few more times, threw the towel into the bucket, and went out wearing a bathrobe.

Just as he arrived at the bedside, the mobile phone rang again. When Xu Yu saw the call, he showed a smile that was rarely seen these days.

"Brother." Xu Yu answered the phone and sat on the bed.

The person on the other end of the phone gave a gentle hum and asked, "Are you off work?"

Xu Weichi always referred to his job as work. Xu Yu wanted to change it when he heard it the first time, but on second thought, it seemed that there was no suitable word to replace it.

To go to work and get off work was the most appropriate phrase.

"I’m off work," Xu Yu also asked, "What about you? It's early in the morning over there. Why did you call me at this time?"

Xu Weichi: "Happy birthday."

Xu Yu bit his lower lip gently and smiled: "It's not 12 o'clock yet."

Xu Weichi: "I'll call you again tomorrow."

Xu Yu smiled, "No, thank you."

Xu Weichi: "I sent you a gift, but it may be two days late."

Xu Yu knew that Xu Weichi couldn’t see, but he shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter."

Xu Weichi asked, "How are things going? I haven't had much time recently. I haven't called you for a long time."

Xu Yu hesitated for a moment, but still told Xu Weichi, "I'm going to terminate the contract with the company. No, it's not preparation. It's already in progress."

"Huh?" Xu Weichi wondered, "What's wrong? Why do you suddenly want to terminate the contract?"

Xu Yu bowed his head and said, "I don't want to stay here anymore. I still want to do what I like."

Xu Weichi asked, "Are you unhappy?"

Xu Yu nodded, "I'm a little unhappy."

Xu Weichi didn't ask more questions. Instead, he said, "If you are unhappy, then don’t do it." Then he asked Xu Yu, "Do you need money?"

Straight to the point, Xu Yu faltered after hearing this.

Xu Weichi recognized this and continued to ask, "How much do you want?"

Xu Yu estimated a figure and reported it.

If his brother hadn’t called today, he would have done so in a few days.

Xu Weichi was always straightforward with Xu Yu. There was no hesitation at all. He said directly, "I'll call you tomorrow. Do you have any other problems?"

Xu Yu shook his head and said, "No more."

Xu Weichi asked again, "Do you have a lawyer?"

Xu Yu: "Yes, you don't have to worry about it. It's a very powerful lawyer." Xu Yu smiled and said, "I'll pay you back when I earn money."

Xu Weichi said, "Don't worry, don't treat yourself unfairly."

Xu Yu: "Okay."

It was already time to rest, so he didn't say anything more.

Few people knew that today was his birthday. Since the beginning, it had only been his older brother who wished him blessings every year.

Xu Weichi *knew nothing about the entertainment industry. In Xu Weichi's eyes, Xu Yu probably found a star job.

*yi wu suo zhi, not knowing anything at all- fig: completely ignorant

Xu Yu seldom told Xu Weichi about what happened to him. For one thing, when he signed the contract, his brother had just bought a company. He had been very busy. Second, it was inconvenient for him to come and go between home and abroad.

So, every time Xu Weichi showed concern about him, he always said he was very good.

He didn't suffer any great grievances; he just didn't like what the company arranged for him.

Xu Yu slept better that night because of his brother’s birthday blessing.

The next morning, he received a lot more money than he’d asked for.

Xu Yu thanked Xu Weichi and started a new day's work.

Xu Yu's *scarce and unimportant work over the past few years had actually provided him with many conveniences for his current contract termination. He had no long-term endorsement and activities, without the seven or eight things, the formalities would be handled faster.

*ling sui, direct translation- scattered and fragmented

In terms of the details of the contract, his lawyer tried to help him fight for his best interests.

"It may seem like a hassle, but it's actually just the same thing when you do it these days."

In the evening, Sister Yun and Xu Yu were sitting in the office, eating takeout and chatting.

Xu Yu gave a hum.

Sister Yun looked up at Xu Yu as she bit into an egg, sighing in her heart, she asked him, "Do you have any plans next?"

Xu Yu shook his head and said, "No, I want to finish this thing before making plans."

Sister Yun nodded, paused for a few seconds, and then asked, "What about me? Can I continue to be your assistant?"

Xu Yu smiled. He looked at Sister Yun and said, "I'm like this. Are you still willing to follow me?"

Sister Yun immediately sat straight: "I would like to."

Sister Yun also belonged to Xu Yu's company, but her constraints were not so great. In addition to Xu Yu, Sister Yun was also the assistant of many people. She managed a lot of things in the company, but Xu Yu had the largest workload, so she had the longest contact time with him.

If Xu Yu wanted to leave, she could resign immediately and go with him.

The three years of friendship with Xu Yu was a major reason. They were used to working together. Another reason was that Sister Yun had been in this company for so many years. She could tell the good from the bad.

Going with Xu Yu would surely lead to better development than staying here.

She was optimistic about Xu Yu from the bottom of her heart, and always thought that Xu Yu had not been given suitable opportunities.

Xu Yu's songs were beautiful and sweet, and he had a good temperament. It was only a matter of time before he was recognized by the public.

However, the company had limited Xu Yu's development and also limited Sister Yun’s development. If Xu Yu was willing to let her continue being his assistant after terminating the contract, she would definitely have a better plan and do a good job.

"OK," Xu Yu nodded, "I wanted to ask you, but I just terminated my contract with the company. I still have to move forward to be a musician. I need an assistant."  Xu Yu said and smiled, "I'm was just afraid you wouldn’t want to follow me anymore."

Sister Yun shook her head forcefully: "No, I'm very optimistic about you!"

Xu Yu smiled happily.

Day and night begin to alternate, and night came very quickly.

During the meal, all the city lights were on.

After finishing packing the lunch box, Xu Yu's computer dinged and he received an email from the lawyer.

He was opening it when Sister Yun suddenly called out.

"Xuyu Xuyu, look!"

Xu Yu looked up, first at Sister Yun, then followed her finger to the window it was pointed at.

On a building not far from them, six large conspicuous characters with bright lights which said, "Happy birthday to Xu Yu!" could be seen.

"Is that you, Xu Yu?"  Sister Yun was very excited: "Happy birthday to Xu Yu. Is today your birthday?"

Sister Yun was a little confused but excited, and it took half a day for her to recall: "It seems that today is not your birthday, didn’t it already pass?"

Xu Yu's finger was hanging on the mouse. He stared at the blessing on the building and blinked.

"Today is my birthday," Xu Yu nodded. "Today is my lunar birthday. I spend all my lunar birthdays at home."

Sister Yun’s eyes widened in surprise, "So this is what the fans wrote for you?"

Xu Yu shook his head: "The company marked my Gregorian birthday for me. Fans, like you, know the previous one. Nobody knows about today."

Sister Yun was even more surprised. She pointed to the building and said, "Then what? Did your family write it for you?"

Xu Yu was also confused.

In his family, only his brother would do such a thing.

But his brother was not someone who would give him such a surprise.

Xu Yu frowned and shook his head. "I don't know."

TN: 

Mmmh! Hands up if you have an idea who the mystery extravagant birthday wisher is.

On the matter of MC having two birthdays. China uses two calendars, the solar/Gregorian calendar which is the one used worldwide, and the Lunar calendar which is based on the moon cycle. It is used when setting important dates like Chinese New Year or the Mid-Autumn Festival. So, the same day would have two different calendar dates which will not be repeated for the next 60 years! This means that the lunar birthday changes every year. Usually, young people will use the Gregorian calendar while older generations use the Lunar calendar for their birthdays, and some celebrate both like MC. 

On an unrelated note, I can't seem to be able to reply to the comments so I'll just put my thoughts here.

First of all, thank you to everyone who's reading this, it gives me the motivation to continue. Secondly, I'm an MTLER. *booo*. Trust me I know how off-putting MTLs can be. I've tried reading some of them and I could literally feel myself losing brain cells. I was practically cursing out the translations as I read. Coz why is it Xu Weichi in one line and then Gu Weidi in the next? Suddenly the ML is a she! #grammarleftthechat Alas, how the turns have tabled. Here I am now doing the same sh*t. I call this "The Birth of the Hypocrite". I can assure you I don't just directly post these chapters after MTLing them which is why I can't post daily. The unedited translations are so bad even Grammarly can't save them and are capable of turning you stupid. I spend a lot of time editing them to make sure they are logical and find any words or phrases like idioms, that may get lost in translation and then put them as notes(*). I can't assure 100% accuracy but I'll do my best. There are a lot of people who do MTLs but put in the effort to edit them and make the reading experience enjoyable. You wouldn't even know they're not fluent in Chinese. That's how good I want my projects to be.

Third, this novel has already been posted under another name on NU but the translator gave it up for anyone to pick it up.

And *end scene* Sorry for the word v*mit. I just wanted to make a few things clear. Again thank you everyone for reading.