CH 10

Lu Chengyu was silence for a moment when Liang Deyou and Chen Jin walk to him. For a while, three of them didn’t speak about anything.

Liang Deyou knows himself well, that he liked Chen Jin. Therefore, has a sense of rejection towards Lu Chengyu, his potential rival, and very happy to see Lu Chengyu feel depressed.

He’ll make Chen Jin understand that such a man as Lu Chengyu is not worth liking at all. The only person worth to accompanies him is Liang Deyou.

He has a good family background and has been favoured by his elders since childhood. Everyone around him flattered him and wanted some benefit from him. Only Chen Jin is different from these people, and naturally, he will not let such a special person leave his side.

As for Lu Chengyu, he lives in a circle of people who he(LD) has never seen. Lu Chengyu is an exquisite person. This kind of person usually pays more attention to interests than justice. In the critical moment, the first person to run away must be Lu Chengyu.

Maybe he looked at Lu Chengyu with prejudice from the beginning. So he believes that the other side has no good quality. Liang Deyou hates many people these years, and Lu Chengyu is just one of it, isn’t it easy for him to hate a person without any reason?

As long as these two people who tired with each other stands together, they emanate a kind of unexplainable rejection aura surround them. Lu Chengyu looked at Chen Jin with a smile and said nothing.

“Your speech today is wonderful,” Chen Jin said after a long silence. “A lot of people are crazy about your speech.”

“Thank you,” Lu Chengyu smiled. “We’re going to have lunch later. Shall we go together?”

When Chen Jin heard the word “we”, he found a man who a few steps behind Lu Chengyu wearing a white shirt and place a suit coat on his arm. He had never seen the man but guessed that the man was Lu Chengyu’s relative. Then, he nodded to the man and said, “No, I’ve already discussed with Deyou about a place to eat.”

Liang Deyou, unlike Chen Jin, saw at a glance that the person behind Lu Chengyu was not a simple person. He smiled and said, ” Mr Lu’s friends are really extraordinary.”

Lu Chengyu’s smile remained unchanged: “Mr Liang don’t have to belittle yourself, you are not ordinary either.”

Liang Deyou laughed and said, “A man who talks smoothly often strong in appearance but weak in reality.” He turned around and hug Chen Jin’s shoulder as if unintentionally do that, “Xiao Jin, where is the store you just told me? I’m hungry.”

It turned out that from the beginning, the two of them had an affair. Lu Chengyu looked at Liang Deyou, who deliberately showed his affections in front of him. He put his hand in his trousers pocket and said gracefully, “Now that you two have a place to go, I won’t bother you either. Goodbye.”

Chen Jin moved his lips, looked at Liang Deyou, who was still hugging his shoulder, and eventually, he didn’t say anything.

Liang Deyou, however, found it a little boring. Lu Chengyu had a graceful manner from beginning to end, which made him seem to make trouble out of nothing [1]. If he knows that it’s going to be like this, he wouldn’t reject Lu Chengyu’s resume in the beginning. If Lu Chengyu was working in Liang’s office now, Liang Deyou believes that he wouldn’t dare to use this kind of attitude towards him.

[1] 无理取闹 [wú lǐ qǔ nào]: be deliberately provocative; find fault with no reason whatsoever;

Lu Chengyu is a man who is good at seeing the wind and steering the rudder and disregard moral principles in pursuit of profit [2].

[2] 见利忘义 [jiàn lì wàng yì]: forget honour at the prospect of profits; to sell one’s soul for gain

When Lu Chengyu moved away from them, Chen Jin pushed Liang Deyou aside and frowned. “You are going too far with what you said just now”

“Where is it going too far?” Liang De sneered and looked at Lu Chengyu’s departure direction. It didn’t take much to clean up such a powerless person.

“Those two were your classmates just now?” After reaching to the Q University’s gate, Yan Mu asked, “Is there any problem?”

“One of them is my classmate and the other is his friend,” Lu Chengyu bought a bag at a boutique on the roadside and put all his certificates and bachelor’s robe in it, “There are indeed some problems.”

They walked side by side along the roads which have stalls selling various kinds of food on both sides. Yan Mu, whose appearance is a little out of tune with the surrounding, walks on this road and looks at people that come and go. He tries to remember words that have to do with easing someone out from his anxiety, until a few moments later, he dryly said just three words, “Don’t be sad.” (T/N: I thought he’s going to say “I love you” hahaha)

Faced with his boss’s lack of vocabulary, Lu Chengyu has accepted the words calmly. He took Yan Mu to the restaurant he used to go to and found a good place to sit down. Then he said, “The price of this shop is not comparable to Baiweixuan, but it tastes good.” After that, he passes the menu to Yan Mu.

Yan Mu looks at the menu in his hand. The name and price of the dish printed on A4 paper are sealed with plastic film, to protect it from oil and water. There is no pattern on it. The only advantage is that the black characters on the white background can be seen at a glance.

Two popular dishes were ordered. Yan Mu handed back the menu to Lu Chengyu. He ordered several dishes skillfully. He didn’t even need to look at the menu. The waiter who wrote down the names of the dishes beside him also speak in familiar ways, “Do you want to add a boiled fish? This morning, fishes from Huang He River just arrived and still alive and jumping. If you want, we can prepare one for you.”

“Well, don’t pick too big, or we can’t finish it,” said Lu Chengyu while smiling. After the waiter to left, tore up a set of disposable utensils in front of him, “There will be few opportunities to eat in these places in the future.”

Yan Mu silently tore up his disposable utensils and waited for the dishes, cups and chopsticks set, he said: “If you want to eat later, you can drive over.”

Lu Chengyu smiled, but he knew very well that in the future, he would have less time to spend in these places. He has so much to do that he doesn’t know if he can achieve it.

A dish was served quickly and the last one served was boiled fish. After the meal, both of them eats till their stomach stretch out. Yan Mu could not believe that he would eat so uncontrollably after he walks out of the restaurant.

The afternoon in June is not suitable for walking. Yan Mu didn’t say that he would leave immediately. Lu Chengyu took him to a book bar near Q University to pass the time. The book bar offers free books, but the seats, coffee and tea cost money. It’s a good place for some poor middle-class’ young people to spend their time.

Yan Mu ordered a cup of coffee while Lu Chengyu ordered a cup of tea. They chose a small round table by the window to sit down. They took the books they wanted to read and sat quietly. Although they did not speak, the atmosphere was very good.

After reading prose, Yan Mu took his eyes off the book and looked up to the opposite side. He saw that the young man had fallen asleep on the sofa, and there was a joke book on his knee. It’s unexpected that someone would sleep in such an elegant manner and read a joke book.

With a smile on his lips, Yan Mu dropped his head down and continued to read his prose. Suddenly he felt that it was interesting to occasionally leave his circle on a quiet afternoon and just quietly relax.

Lu Chengyu woke up after nearly an hour’s sleep. He rubbed his sore neck and saw Yan Mu holding a collection of essays. He looked out of the window and see the white sunlight. He took a pen and note paper in the box on the table and drew a kitten.

Yan Mu saw his action and knew that he was bored, so he closed his book and made a gesture ‘lets-go’ towards him.

Two people walk out of the book bar around 3 or 4 o’clock. Both of them stare at the afternoon sun and decided to stroll around Q University. They saw a lotus pond in which the lotus blossoms just right, the grove where lovers often go and other interesting places.

On their way, Yan Mu saw people who knew Lu Chengyu greet him from time to time when they saw him. When they found a bench under the shade of a tree and sat down on it, they both realized the beauty of shade.

Yan Mu pulled up his shirt sleeve and looked at a teaching building hidden behind a tree shadow. “Your university is beautiful.”

“After watching it for four years, I have got used to its’ beautiful appearance,” said Lu Chengyu while unscrewing the drink bottle’s cap that he bought on the road. Lu Chengyu smiled and shook his head, “At the beginning, my parents told me that when I graduated, I must choose the most beautiful place in the university and take a picture with them. As a result, the loving couple left me to take pictures here alone, and the place that I thought was beautiful became ordinary.”

Yan Mu nodded: “When I graduated, I was the same as you.” When he was studying abroad, his mother had died of illness, but his father only cares about his lover’s illegitimate son. Grandpa was old and could not go abroad freely. Therefore, there was no family to accompany him during his graduation ceremony.

“Since we are talking about this, I want to thank the boss for accompanying me for so long,” Lu Chengyu holds a cold drink bottle. “Without you, I would really be taking a photo alone.”

“Don’t mention it.” Yan’s eyes moved from Lu Chengyu to the green grass, still expressionless, “I just happen to come here.”

Lu Chengyu looked at Yan Mu expressionless, few words man, he suddenly feels the rumours about number one man in Most Highly Eligible Bachelor ranking doesn’t seem true. Yan Mu isn’t t seem so cool, noble or difficult to get along with.

Yan Mu left at about 5 p.m., and Lu Chengyu was going to attend the class graduation party at 6 p.m. So he did not hold Yan Mu up. By the time he arrived at the hotel, half of them are the students arrives are from his class which have more than forty students.

When he arrived, his classmates greeted him and soon a group of people gathered together to talk about what they had encountered in their work. After going out to work only for more than a month, many students have become more mature than before.

Some people asked Lu Chengyu about Huading. Lu Chengyu said helplessly, “If I had known the inside information of Huading, I would have been the Huading senior executive and have been a successful person by now.” Now that he has entered the workplace, he has to remember his identity and can not disclose the company’s affairs. Who knows, maybe the classmates are from the rival company?

“What a brag!”The boys laughed loudly. Everyone was a fresh graduate. Even if they came out of a famous school, the company could not permanently hire them immediately. So no one felt that Lu Chengyu had told a lie, but started to play a joke on Lu Chengyu. Lu Chengyu was not angry. He immediately made fun of each other with these boys. Anyway, he would not lose anything by doing that.

When the atmosphere was right, the class monitor counted the number of people and found that there seemed to be one person missing. For a while he did not know who was missing, so he had to ask his roommate to check who was not here. If he finds out who hasn’t come, he would call that person immediately. After all, everyone else is ready for dinner.

Zhu Guanglin pulled Zhang Hong and Lu Chengyu aside and whispered, “It seems that Chen Jin hasn’t arrived yet.”

Lu Chengyu did not speak. He was not fit to take care of Chen Jin’s affairs. So he to show helpless look to Zhu Guanglin. When he was about to ask the other party to call Chen Jin, he saw Chen Jin come in from outside. Chen Jin chose a place that has some distance from Lu Chengyu and sat down without saying a word.

Zhu Guanglin has a fierce temper. Seeing Chen Jin like this, he could not help frowning, but he noticed that neither Zhang Hong nor Lu Chengyu had much reaction, so he had to bear his heart’s discontent, and the three men sat down side by side, just as if nothing had happened.

Other interested students in the class also found that there was something wrong with several people, but Chen Jin was usually alone and arrogant. Most of them had a better relationship with Lu Chengyu. Seeing that the three of them did not say anything, others certainly would not open their mouths. As soon as the dishes were served, they began to pour wine to each other.

At this time, no one has any scruples. After all, it is the last time to be crazy in their university life. Even girls like Chen Ya began to roll her sleeves and toast. In a place like Q, the most beautiful woman is not a delicate woman, but a beautiful paper woman [3].

[3] 女汉纸 [nǚ hàn zhǐ]: a girl or a woman who is strong or independent, she can deal with various problems just like a man.

After Chen Ya and other girls fill up several boys’ cup, Chen Ya put a bottle of cold wine in front of Lu Chengyu again, “Lu Chengyu, in the future we will go to different places. Everyone gathers, will you drink or not this wine?”

“A wine from a beauty, even if I have to lie on my stomach down the table, I will drink it,” Lu Chengyu picked up the bottle, smiled at Chen Ya and drink the whole bottle in front of the whole class.

Chen Ya looked at the way he looked up and drank. His eyes were calm with friendship. When he finished drinking, Chen Ya reached out and patted him on the shoulder. She looks at him like a good brother, “Okay, sister won’t embarrass you. Later on, when you come to eat my mother cooked dinner, don’t tell that sister drink wine ah.”

(T/N: Chen Ya called herself ‘sister’ when speaking to Chengyu)

“No problem, Lord Queen.” Lu Chengyu knows that Chen Ya accepts him as a friend. He remembers that Chen Ya was the same in his past life. She dared to love and to regret, able to put an end to her feelings and finally she married a good man who could cook.

The rest of the class started to fuss when Lu Chengyu drank the whole bottle of wine in one breath. After hearing what Chen Ya said, everyone finally believed what Lu Chengyu said before. It seems that Chen Ya really has no other meaning to Lu Chengyu. Of course Chen Ya treat Lu Chengyu different from other people, it turns out that because the two families have known each other for a long time.

It’s not a secret in the class that Lu Chengyu’s parents died unexpectedly. So during this time, nobody made fun of Chen Ya and Lu Chengyu. Instead, they rushed together to fill Lu Chengyu and the class flower’s cup that challenges Chengyu to drink.

A group of people drank in disorder. Someone came to Chen Jin to propose a toast, but Chen Jin refused the toast directly. The toaster was quite drunk. He said directly, “You don’t have to drink this wine, but it really doesn’t give face to your buddies ah.”

(T/N: the toaster means that Chen Jin can choose to reject his toast, but that means Chen Jin, as a friend, didn’t give face to him)

Chen Jin looked at the glass of wine in front of him and remained motionless. “Drinking is bad for your health. Even if you don’t drink this glass of wine, whoever is your buddy, remains your buddy, whoever isn’t your buddy, remains not your buddy. Regardless of how much not your buddy drink wine, if he’s not your buddy, then he won’t be your buddy.”

“If you don’t want to drink, just say so, don’t have to give so many reasons,” the toaster took the glass and was somewhat unhappy with Chen Jin’s words, he starts complaining, “go on with that attitude, looks who’s gonna like you.”

The atmosphere was awkward and the speaker was drunk, but many people were still sober. Chen Jin, who had not drunk, was even soberer. He looked at the speaker calmly and said, “Wang Yang, what do you mean by that?”

“You don’t understand what I mean?!” Wang Yang slams his glass on the table and spilt most of the wine, “Always put on an unhappy look, did someone owes you something?”

“Wang Yang, what nonsense are you saying when you were drunk?” The monitor didn’t want to spoil the graduation party because it was the last meal in their college life. So he took Wang Yang to his side and ask him to sit down. He poured him a cup of tea to him and saw that he seemed to be sobering up. The monitor said to Chen Jin, “Chen Jin, don’t bother with a drunkard. He is angry at work and drinks madly.”

Wang Yang also knows that he has made a mistake. Although he does not appreciate Chen Jin’s behaviour, the other side has not done anything to pit him. He just not satisfied with Chen Jin’s looks and Chen Jin’s words are not pleasant to listen to, so his tempers somewhat rises. Now that he a little bit sober, realised that his words were incorrect, he apologized to Chen Jin using the monitor’s statement: “Chen Jin, I’m sorry, I was out of my mind just now. You don’t have to worry since whatever I said was nonsense.”

“The monitor may not be quite right. Everyone says the truth when they are drunk. I think Wang Yang is the same,” Chen Jin’s face was condensate and he watched the muddy-look of the class monitor and Wang Yang. These people were always like this on the surface and hide their real appearance behind. If they were the same as the rich second generation like Zhao He in their class, they would have been another face long ago, “I would also like to ask Wang Yang what do those words mean. Better explain the meaning of those words, there’s nothing to be concealed.”

Originally, after Wang Yang apologized for this, it was just to soothes their relationship or trouble in front of everyone else. Even if there was something they don’t satisfied with, they could deal with it privately. But since Chen Jin said these words openly, the class leader and Wang Yang face feel so heavy that they can’t lift it up. Other classmates couldn’t enjoy any more, all the sudden, they feel not fun anymore.

Seeing that the class monitor and Wang Yang were silent, Chen Jin stood up with a mocking smile on his face, “Well, since I’m not welcomed here, and I don’t want to affect your mood, I’ll leave first.”

The whole class watched Chen Jin leave. After a moment’s silence, the rich second generation, Zhao He said: “Fuck, Chen Jin is brainsick. Just don’t drink that motherfucking wine, why need to stir up trouble?”

Lu Chengyu remembered that in his past life’s graduation party, it seemed that Wang Yang and Chen Jin had some disagreements, but the scene was not as uncomfortable as it is now. Later, when he attended a class reunion, some people talk to Chen Jin, but Wang Yang, Zhao He and others seemed reluctant to talk to him from beginning to end, and Chen Jin did not seem to like these people either.

After dinner, they went to KTV set up by Zhao He’s family to sing together. Zhao He’s parents also left them a luxurious private room. All student from their class screaming and howling until midnight before they were picked up by their relatives or friends.

Zhao He wants to arrange a driver to take the drunk Lu Chengyu to the hotel for a night’s rest. As a result, he found that Lu Chengyu’s mobile phone rang and he answered the phone. After that, he realizes that the other party was Lu Chengyu’s boss.

When he heard that the other party was coming to fetch Lu Chengyu, he told him the KTV’s address. As soon as he finished speaking, the mobile phone shut down automatically because it had no battery. He looks at the black screen on the mobile phone and looks at Lu Chengyu sleeping on the sofa, Zhao He shook his half-drunk head. It’s a pity that such a competent, handsome man, doesn’t have parents and apathetic relatives. Fortunately, he met with a humane boss, although….his boss’ tone sounds quite cold.