CH 8

T­here were too many part-time jobs posted on the street; however, this was not the point. The point was, those easily sought part-time jobs weren’t very profitable.

Having witnessed the arrogance of K Club that could earn 1,200 yuan in just one night, An Wuyang faced those troublesome, mediocre part-time jobs with distinct disgust on his face. “…” Clearly, they couldn’t pique his interest at all.

Not until he passed by a luxurious hotel with shiny glass doors and windows, which were glistening as the sun hit the frames. The distance between the front door and the road was equivalent to a small public square, which was very notable and could be said to be for highly wealthy and deep-pocketed individuals. 

An Wuyang raised his eyes and read the word silently, “Lafayette Castle Hotel.”

It sounded foreign and stylish for a hotel name.

Wuyang applied for a waiter job last summer and got accepted in the restaurant. Despite the low income, being a server was a great job, but he grew tired out of it.

“Do I want to become a waiter again?” An Wuyang stood in front of the glass doors, contemplating his choices for a while. When he couldn’t come to terms with decisive action, Wuyang resorted to the least mental toll and fished out a coin from his pocket. “I’ll go when it’s heads.”

The shining silver one-yuan coin was tossed into the air from the young man’s hand, casting subtle lights in every direction. When he was ready to catch it with confidence in his heart, his eyes were pierced by the sunlight, and he wasn’t able to catch it. 

“Ah, my coin…” An Wuyang anxiously followed the place where the coin rolled to and chased after it.

Once the round piece of yuan touched the floor, it bounced up and rolled smoothly on the floor. Behind it was An Wuyang panting as he chased it down. When the coin finally ceased its momentum, the young man happily squatted down to pick it up. 

However, a leather shoe suddenly appeared and actually stepped on it. 

“…” An Wuyang’s hand froze in midair, and a few seconds after, he said uneasily, “You stepped on my money, sir.”

Generally speaking, as long as the people weren’t deaf, most of them would move their feet immediately after hearing such a fierce reminder from An Wuyang. However, the owner of the polished leather shoe, which could even reflect Wuyang’s figure, didn’t respond nor did he move.

An Wuyang looked up, trailing his sight up along the leather shoe with his face flushed red from the sun and his chase. When he saw the shoe owner, his expression suddenly changed from fierce to a foolish dog. “Louis XIII…”

Huo Yunchuan was initially in a bad mood and looked like he was about to murder someone in particular from the sudden encounter of the opposing forces. But, when this line of verse was said, it made him break free from his terrible mood, and his face became darker. “I’m worth only two bottles of Louis XII in your eyes?”

An Wuyang’s face blushed as he received the murderous stare of the man before him, as he realized that he had been bewitched by his recent transformation of a financial miser. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean that,” he said. “Hurry up, lift your foot. My yuan is still under your foot.”

“What does it mean if it doesn’t mean that?” Huo Yunchuan felt that he had just received a stimulant. “Since I’m so despised that I spent my money on you, why bother thinking about Louis XIII?”

“It’s not right for you to say that,” he snapped. Wuyang sat down on the ground but quickly got up because the ground scalded his buttocks. “I made the bill by my skill, and the money was collected with a clear conscience. How come you arrive at that statement where I couldn’t even see anything?”

As he stood up, he patted his buttocks rapidly. “Contrary to what you expect, I have a small stomach. Hence, I was unable to refuse Brother Quan from firing me. And who was it? If I have a family waiting for my money, won’t your conscience hurt?”

“It’s ridiculous. Wanting to save the family but coming to a club to work?” Huo Yunchuan faced the hot sun and didn’t understand why he should stand there and talk to an unfamiliar teenager. It felt a little childish. “Forget it. It doesn’t make sense if I talk to you.” 

He calmed himself first before taking his strides. 

An Wuyang, who was despised, stood still outside with a bulge on his cheek. When he saw the other party move his foot, he instantly rejoiced, crouched down to pick up his coin. 

“No, it’s positive.”

He still remembered the determination he couraged up just now. 

Sensing that someone was following him, he didn’t have to think further. He knew it’d be the boy.

Huo Yunchuan was in a complicated mood. When he walked to the glass doors of the hotel, he finally couldn’t endure it and turned his head back. His tone was mixed with confusion and arrogance as he asked, “Why are you following me?”

‘Did you finally realize that you’ve missed a good man?’

“You are so funny,” An Wuyang mumbled as he gave him a side glance and ran forward ahead of him. Soon, the slender silhouette of the young man disappeared inside the hotel. 

The person was left outside under the sun and remained in place. “…” His face was black and blue. He couldn’t believe that in just a few days he would suffer a series of cold shoulders from the same person—one after another. 

“Hello.” An Wuyang walked to the front desk and asked with the mentality of giving it a try, “May I ask if you’re recruiting waiters here?”

The young lady wearing an exquisite American-made uniform looked up with a smile on her face. Her beauty was enhanced by the rosy make-up she’s wearing. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. We’re not hiring people for the time being.”

An Wuyang’s face expressed his disappointment, but in truth, he wasn’t exactly feeling that dismayed since he was only thinking of giving it a try. He nodded at her. “Okay, thank you.”

“Are you looking for a part-time job?” A leveled voice came from behind him coldly.

“…” An Wuyang nodded unhappily before turning his attention to the man. He thought that he could enjoy the nice air condition here for a few minutes by engaging with Yunchuan and resumed his job hunting after. 

As for the fact that the other party was the reason why he was fired from the K Club, to be honest, he did not hold any grudges or negative feelings. 

“Since I asked someone to fire you, I can give you a part-time job in return,” Yunchuan said. 

Under An Wuyang’s surprised eyes, he took out a pocket pen from his coat and asked the front desk for a paper and wrote something down. Wuyang looked down at the paper handed to him. Written on it was a string of phone numbers. “From 9 to 5, with a monthly salary of 4000. You can look for him if you think you don’t have too much money.”

“Where?” An Wuyang asked in a daze as his brain slowly processed the man’s offer. 

Huo Yunchuan put away his pen, and replied, “The law firm, Chen Chu, you’ve seen him.” 

As soon as he said that, An Wuyang immediately remembered the impression he put on the people. “Is that… the gentler person?” On that night, that man stood out from the rest of the group and could be said to be the Mr. Right of young women. 

Huo Yunchuan chuckled. Indeed, Chen Chi seemed to be the most approachable and friendly among them. “I’m still busy, so go find him by yourself.” After all, Huo Yunchuan was president of this hotel, and it was only natural that he was busy. He turned his back from Wuyang and left with confidence and ease in every stride. 

“Wait, Mr. Huo…” An Wuyang said behind his back, “Why are you helping me?”

Yunchuan stopped in his tracks, but he didn’t look back. “Didn’t I just say it?  I asked them to fire you.”

“But—” An Wuyang knitted his brows, thinking that it was only right that he should know. “I don’t blame you for making Brother Quan fire me. Even if you didn’t do that, I’ll eventually figure out that work in that place wouldn’t be suitable for me.”

Hearing the boy’s reply, Huo Yunchuan was slightly astonished, but this couldn’t affect him. He was aware that An Wuyang was a person very different from the world he lived in, so he couldn’t appreciate it. “I know what you are thinking. Goodbye.”

After saying this polite reply, he took a steady and unhurried step again, leaving An Wuyang staring at his back. 

Even the youth who hadn’t seen the vast part of the world could see that man’s clothing was expensive and define the tall and upright figure in a stellar way, just like the noble men he watched on TV.

“…” When a nobody, like An Wuyang, met this kind of successful person, they neither wanted to bow down nor feel and act as if they had little to no self-esteem. But they had to admit that some people were just outstanding. 

Seriously speaking, it was a natural tendency for people to seek for a strong one to depend on. An Wuyang felt that the main reason he calmly accepted the fact that he had slept with Yunchuan was probably because the other party was excellent enough. 

But he knew that it was also enough to put a stop there. 

He didn’t contact the phone number given by Huo Yunchuan. 

And in the end, unable to endure the time he had wasted, An Wuyang randomly found a chain bakery with a decent distance between his home. He applied for it and learned how to bake as he worked there as a staff.

“How many scores did you get on the test?” The results of the examination had been released two days ago, and Ding Wei was patient enough to not ask with a temper. 

Bringing some cookies home from the bakery and preparing milk for his younger brother to drink, An Wuyang was in the middle of stirring his brother’s glass of milk when he heard his mother ask. He froze for a second and answered, “I haven’t checked the results yet…”

Recently, the majority of his time was greatly devoted to his part-time jobs, and reading seemed to be a thing from the last century.

“Take out your admission ticket and check it now,” Ding Wei said, as she heard her son’s reply.

“Hmm…” Wuyang hummed in response, searching for his ticket.

The undergraduate teenager was under a lot of pressure. He wasn’t born to excel in his studies nor was he born to read books. As the student himself, Wuyang knew, first hand, how many points he could take on the test.

Ding Wei didn’t want to embarrass her son either. The expectations and requirements for him could be rated to be pretty low in contrast to his siblings. “I don’t expect you to take one exam. And it’s okay to take a second one if you need to.” At least after finishing his studies, he could find a stable job to support himself. 

Ding Wei wasn’t the least bit concerned about her son’s future state, as she knew he’d be successful in his life. As for buying a house in the capital of their country, marrying a wife, and raising children, she felt a little worried. 

An Wuyang found out that the score he got was a little bit higher than he received in the mock test. These subtle points were an extraordinary achievement for him, and a spectacle too horrible to look at for Ding Wei.

‘This score is really unsuccessful ah.’

For the second school, it should be adequately strong ah. 

She and An Cheng were both academic masters and graduated from top schools in their country. Otherwise, it’d be impossible for both of them to find a well-paid job in a large company. 

Only in the past year or two, the company’s efficiency had gone downhill.  As an ordinary employee, Ding Wei shouldered a lot of pressure, which made her think of such terrible things during the midlife crisis. 

The second child was about to attend college. The tuition and other miscellaneous items would have to be kept track of. Moreover, the eldest child would also be taking a graduate school entrance examination in the United States to deepen her studies. 

She could only pray now that the news about the company being acquired by someone else was not true. 

Noticing their youngest son heading towards them, Ding Wei got up and said, “You eat. I’ll go lie down for a while.”

An Wuji trailed his gaze on their mom, and focused his confused gaze on An Wuyang as she disappeared. “What’s wrong with Mom?”

“I don’t know,” An Wuyang said. “She may have been blown by my score.”

The younger brother wrinkled his nose in disbelief. “How can your lousy scores still attack Mom?” Back in her times, their mother was an expert in the college entrance examination¹.

“No, she will never get used to my score.” An Wuyang put away his cellphone, not waiting to watch the carnival of those in the class chat. He just wanted to eat up this jar of cookies with his brother comfortably. 

Taking a cookie from the jar, An Wuji said with his usual serious face, “That’s true. Only you can get this score in our family.”

“Eat cookies, you.” An Wuyang stuffed the milk-soaked cookies into his brother’s mouth. 

Wuyag wasn’t at ease in his heart, and he felt that he was very useless. 

Just like Ding Wei had said, go to the second school obediently. After graduation, come out to find a stable job, which could get him four to five thousand, or if more fortunate, seven to eight thousand as salary. Anyway, that should be fine for sufficient life with food and clothing. 

There was no mind and money to do business and no expertise in any talents. 

“…” An Wuyang sighed silently; fortunately, he was good at baking. 

If there was an opportunity in the future, he might be able to open his own pastry shop, he thought to himself. As if he prayed to the god of energy, Wuyang went to work full of energy the next day.

On the other end of their world, after Huo Yunchuan gave Wuyang the phone number, he was on the edge. He was waiting for Chen Chu’s call intentionally or unconsciously for the past few days, but Chen Chu remained silent. 

He was confused. Even though Chen Chu’s personality wasn’t like Ji Mingjue’s troublesome bluffing, it was still impossible for him to not give out a call.

After thinking about it, Yunchuan took the initiative to call Chen Chu. “Cough, Old Chen.” 

“Yuchuan?” Chen Chu was very surprised. It could be concluded how often Huo Yunchuan called him. “What’s the matter? Will your family be doing weddings or ribbon-cutting for a business opening?”

“…” Another blow, it could be surmised that his friend, Yunchuan, only called him when something big was happening and needed company. “No, you… have you had any employees in the firm recently?”

“Yi²?” Perplexed, Chen Chu looked at the sky to see if it was raining red. Mr Huo, who was always diligently buried in stacks of papers and work3, actually had the time to care about his work. 

Unaware of the reason, Chen Chu was ecstatic for this call of concern, but he didn’t know how depressed his friend was behind the phone. 

At this time, Huo Yunchuan was under the impression… of deep feelings of powerlessness. 

[1] 高考 gāo kǎo – college entrance exam

[2] 咦 yí – an expression of surprise

[3] 日 理 万 机 rì lǐ wàn jī – a Chinese idiom, which means extremely diligent work. It originally meant that the emperor dealt with complicated government affairs every day, but now it is often used to describe heavy work.