Ch121.2 – Criticism

Yu Hao could feel like he was flaring up again. He had to finish revising this manuscript today, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep at night. After exchanging a few words with Zhou Sheng, Zhou Sheng asked if he wanted to hire a ghostwriter. Of course Yu Hao would insist on doing it himself, so Zhou Sheng went to his meeting. He had to listen to financial reports that day until 10pm.

【Before my meeting ends, you have to get off work and go home.】Zhou Sheng left him a message,【Otherwise you’ll never finish.】

Yu Hao:【Okay, I got it.】And thought that’s impossible, I don’t believe I won’t be able to finish this today.

Zhou Sheng:【If you don’t go back, I won’t go to work.】

Yu Hao, “……”

Zhou Sheng always uses the action of ‘won’t go to work’ to threaten him, and Yu Hao could only answer:【I’ll go back at 8pm, keep going to work properly, behave yourself.】

After coming to Beijing, Yu Hao hardly complained about his work to his friends. After all, no matter how tough or irritating or tiring it was, it was still his own choice in the end. But Yu Hao’s friends were almost all guys, and between good bros, as soon as they heard each other’s complaints, the signal they would get was never that of needing comfort and instead one of, “this is a cry for help”, so everyone would start offering solutions or intervene as much as they could.

Just like how Yu Hao told Zhou Sheng that his guiding mentor was too demanding, he often felt like he was at a loss for what to do. If he had gotten a girlfriend, the other party would listen to him and calm his agitated mood. But with a boyfriend, what he got was “I’ll outsource someone to write it for you?” or “I’ll get someone to beat that teacher up” and other such solutions. Of course, in the end all problems would be resolved with “forget it just quit, don’t work there anymore, I’ll support you”.

At 7pm, there was a knock on the door. Lin Ze came in, “Your friend’s here to see you, Yu Hao.”

Yu Hao had his earphones on and looked up impatiently. He saw Chen Yekai standing outside the door with a potted plant in his hand.

“Chen Laoshi!” Yu Hao immediately took his earphones out and got up.

Chen Yekai nodded at Lin Ze. Lin Ze said to Yu Hao, “Get off work and go back first?”

“Let’s have dinner together?” Chen Yekai said, “I came over today to report to the college, so I came to visit you too.”

When Yu Hao saw Chen Yekai, he suddenly felt like the whole world calmed down without any forewarning.

Chen Yekai’s Porsche was parked on the road outside, “Get in, what do you want to eat?”

Yu Hao, “You bought a new car again? Where did you get the license plate from?”

“Anything ba.” Yu Hao said feebly, “I won’t AA with you, I can’t afford to A.”

Chen Yekai took Yu Hao to a private club. It was in a siheyuan and was extremely quiet. One table, two sets of tableware, and there was a small pond outside with koi swimming around in it. Chen Yekai wiped his hands with a towel, “You should be so busy that you haven’t been able to eat anything good ba? I’m guessing you’ve barely gone out for a stroll in your first month.”

Yu Hao looked at Chen Yekai. This guy was always so handsome wherever he went and always carried with him a kind of calmness as if his countenance wouldn’t change even if Mt. Tai collapsed. Today, he had only eaten a small bowl of sausage claypot rice that Situ Ye had made, while most of the pot had been resolved by Jin Weicheng. Now he just felt even more hungry.

“Are you out on a business trip?” Yu Hao asked.

“A job transfer.” Chen Yekai said, “Our college established an exchange program with a college here, and young lecturers will be on exchange for a year.”

Yu Hao said, “The students in our college must be heartbroken then.”

Chen Yekai laughed reluctantly, “Well, I can’t help that. Have a drink?”

Yu Hao quickly waved his hand, “I still have to go back and write manuscripts later.”

Chen Yekai looked displeased. “Why are you so much thinner now?”

The appetizer arrived, and Yu Hao finished it in two or three bites. The two of them continued idly chatting. Chen Yekai only asked if he was up to the task, and Yu Hao didn’t really answer truthfully when he said that everything was going well. Chen Yekai could tell that he was putting on a brave face, so he didn’t say anything else. The waiters continued serving food. Yu Hao hadn’t eaten normal food in a very long time. Although there was still a huge difference between the food here and what Zhou Sheng made, it was still better than the canteen’s. Yu Hao was also starving like crazy, so he was like a whirlwind that made a clean sweep of scattered clouds. Chen Yekai poured him some water and asked him to drink it slowly.

“Are you in a bad mood?” Yu Hao observed Chen Yekai’s expression, he barely talked today. Yet when he came to the office with the potted plant, he was still obviously quite happy when he talked to Lin Ze.

“No.” Chen Yekai answered, “Just thought of some things. Right now I don’t have any classes, and I’m not familiar with Beijing either. I’ll come find you for dinner again tomorrow?”

Yu Hao said, “I have to go out with Laoshi for an interview tomorrow?”

Chen Yekai thought about it for a bit, “Then, I’ll come find you when you don’t have to work overtime.”

Chen Yekai drove Yu Hao home. When they arrived at his apartment, Chen Yekai said, “Aren’t you going to invite me up for a cup of coffee?”

“Next time ba.” Yu Hao said, “I haven’t tidied up the apartment yet, it’s too messy.”

Chen Yekai looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t in the end. Yu Hao hurried back with his laptop and continued revising his manuscripts. Late at night, Zhou Sheng seemed drunk and video called Yu Hao again. Yu Hao said, “Your face is as red as a monkey’s, how much did you drink?”

“I miss you, wifey.” Zhou Sheng collapsed onto the bed and undid his tie a little. His shirt was messy, and he hadn’t taken off his shoes yet. He laid down on his side, his handsome face still a little flushed after being drunk while he stared at Yu Hao in a daze.

At that moment, Yu Hao’s heart ached so much he could barely endure it, and he almost cried.

“I……” Yu Hao looked at the manuscript on his laptop, then looked at Zhou Sheng.

“Continue with your work, don’t mind me.” Zhou Sheng muttered to himself, “I just want to look at you……this is fine, this is pretty good. Un, it’s really good.”

Yu Hao remained silent, and the two of them gazed at each other quietly.

“Did Kaikai go see you today?” Zhou Sheng fiddled with the Golden Crow Wheel between his fingers, twirling it around like a coin, still quite nimble with his movements.

“You know he’s here?”

“I asked him to go.” Zhou Sheng said, “I was afraid that you’d work overtime and not eat, did he take you out to eat something good?”

Yu Hao wore a gloomy expression on his face and looked at Zhou Sheng.

“When will you come?” Yu Hao asked, “I miss you.”

“Next week ba —— ai.” Zhou Sheng turned over and faced the ceiling. He closed his eyes, rubbed his eyebrows a few times to get his spirits up, then rolled back and faced Yu Hao with an encouraging smile, “Hubby’s gonna go take a bath now, it’s almost 12. Take good care of yourself and sleep earlier, behave.”

As he spoke, Zhou Sheng ended the video call. Yu Hao let out a long sigh. After the holidays, Beijing’s weather was gradually cooling down.

Yu Hao didn’t even take a bath or tidy up anything. He even forgot to wear his earplugs and fell asleep just like that.

Another few days passed, and Yu Hao faced the revised manuscripts in his office.

Situ Ye watered his potted plant, then watered Lin Ze’s head. Lin Ze shouted and tried to snatch it away, but Situ Ye quickly dodged. Lin Ze was extremely distressed as he said, “The hit count on this public number never goes up, is there any way to promote it?”

Yu Hao had been thinking about something else, and this thought had been whirling around his mind for several days.

“Ah Ze.” Yu Hao suddenly said.

Lin Ze, “?”

Yu Hao saw Situ Ye and Lin Ze’s relationship, but when his words reached his mouth, he couldn’t spit them out. He said, “Shall I ask my friend for help?”

“Is that okay?” Lin Ze wasn’t too sure. He looked at Situ Ye.

Situ Ye, “The one who drives the Porsche?”

“How did you know?” Yu Hao thought that Lin Ze was probably the one who told him. His two superiors must have discussed it in private before.

Situ Ye said with a stern expression, “I even know his heart aches for you because of how exhausted you are.”

“There’s no such thing.” Yu Hao said.

Situ Ye continued, “Otherwise why would he be fine when he walked through the door but immediately pull a long face as soon as he saw you?”

—