Chapter 12
“I don’t know whether this deal can still be discussed, but bring the person first and we’ll talk.”
“Besides, you’re hardly the only one who wants to work with our president. It depends on who shows enough sincerity.”
The other side kept calling him you in the polite form, but there was not a trace of respect in the tone. It sounded more like every word was laced with mockery, sneering at him for being an old fossil. She was not even pretending.
President Fang’s assistant spoke with obvious dissatisfaction, then hung up with a beep.
Yang Liwan ground his teeth. How dare she speak to him like that.
On the other end, the young woman chewed her gum and rolled her eyes. Who wanted to watch some old man dance? Didn’t he know how old he was? A few students flattering him and he really started thinking he was some young man in his twenties again. An old cucumber painted green.
Last time she saw him dance, she had practically needed workers’ comp.
Yang Liwan was burning with rage.
If he did not need something from them, when had he ever suffered this kind of humiliation—being talked down to by a girl in her twenties.
At the last drinking party, Xia Fengsheng had not been there, and President Fang, who had originally shown interest in cooperating, had looked utterly bored the entire night.
President Fang was a woman, a few years older than him, forty-nine this year, and what she liked most was watching young male students in their twenties dance.
Of course, not just any young man could catch her eye.
He had to have a good figure and distinctive looks. Back when Yang Liwan first brought Xia Fengsheng over, he had privately wondered whether President Fang might feel hesitant because Xia Fengsheng’s features leaned too yin. Unexpectedly, Xia Fengsheng’s looks landed perfectly right in her heart.
Everything had originally been progressing in an orderly way, but then Xia Fengsheng ran into trouble and turned into his biggest headache.
The Xia Fengsheng from before the amnesia and the Xia Fengsheng after it were worlds apart. Never mind contacting him—Yang Liwan was already being annoyed to death by him.
Their team was not the only one competing for this project.
And Xia Fengsheng was hardly the only person who could dance to girl-group songs. Their rival side also had a famous trump card in the field, someone about the same age and educational background as Xia Fengsheng, with high emotional intelligence, excellent speaking skills, and a silver tongue that could rival Xia Fengsheng’s.
Their looks were two completely opposite styles, but both of them had made a name for themselves in the finance world over the past year.
Thinking of that woman in her twenties on the phone, relying on her superior’s backing to speak to him in that strange, mocking tone, Yang Liwan was so furious he nearly jumped. He lifted his hand and flung his phone onto the sofa.
The screen had not been locked. Somehow something happened to touch it, and the music that had been paused on the home screen suddenly started playing again.
gee gee gee gee~ baby baby baby baby~
Yang Liwan: ……
The memory of forcing himself onto the stage and then being booed off it came vividly back to him.
Before the next round of cooperation, he absolutely had to get Xia Fengsheng back in line! Whether by coaxing or tricking, the man had to show up!
He pulled out the student roster and started flipping through it, looking for a few people who were on decent terms with Xia Fengsheng. When the time came, even if they had to carry Xia Fengsheng there by force, they would carry him.
When several students received the call from their advisor, they felt both joy and alarm. He did not tell them why, only said that he wanted them to come to his office.
Each of them thought they had been called alone, but when they pushed open the door, there were already three or four people standing inside.
Everyone felt vaguely nervous. When the advisor suddenly called for students, it was never a good sign.
Yang Liwan looked at the students. Before, he had seen the few of them walking together with Xia Fengsheng on campus.
“Are you close with Xia Fengsheng?”
Jing University’s workload was heavy. After Xia Fengsheng’s accident, no one had the extra energy to look after him, and for the past few days none of them had contacted him.
When no one answered, Yang Liwan asked again, “Which one of you is closest to Xia Fengsheng?”
A male student slowly raised his hand.
Yang Liwan’s brows relaxed. “How close? To what degree?”
The student opened his mouth. “We know each other.”
“……”
The other students all looked toward him. If that counted as close, then they were not bad either.
“Teacher, me.” Another student raised his hand.
Yang Liwan asked, “How close are you?”
“We breathe the same air.”
“……”
Yang Liwan wanted to open the door and tell all of them to get out.
“Who else usually has a good relationship with Xia Fengsheng?”
The students looked at one another. Truthfully, they were all about the same. No one was especially close to Xia Fengsheng, but no one had a bad relationship with him either. Seeing him, they would smile and nod—that counted as a greeting.
Usually Xia Fengsheng was a nice person. As long as you asked, he would help. His taste in clothes was on point, he had high emotional intelligence, and talking with him felt comfortable.
But graduate school was different from undergrad. Liberal arts students might still have it easier, but science and finance students were so busy their feet hardly touched the ground. Who had the energy to go around building deep friendships with classmates? Especially in finance. It was already good enough if people were not competing viciously.
Money could make ghosts grind the mill. The students standing before him now did not come from poor families. What they lacked was connections.
“You all know Qunxing, right?”
After hearing that, several students exchanged shocked looks. Wasn’t that the big project their advisor had been handling? He had always brought Xia Fengsheng into it before, and plenty of people had envied him.
Negotiating cooperation with Qunxing—during that process, who knew how many important people one might get to meet? Many people looked on with envy.
Put on a résumé, it would shine brilliantly.
Yang Liwan said, “Whichever one of you can bring Xia Fengsheng to the gathering next Friday, I’ll take one extra person from that student on the project cooperation.”
.
Another Monday.
Very few people ever had a good face for Monday.
I don’t need a lot of love. I need a lot, a lot of Saturdays.
At seven in the morning, Xia Fengsheng stood in front of his wardrobe with deep bitterness and resentment, pulling out yet another pair of fleece pajama pants.
If it were up to him, he truly did not want to go out looking this embarrassing.
His distinctly male-boned arm held up the pants. In terms of offensiveness, they were even more explosive than the duck pajama pants.
Black base, covered all over in multicolored floral prints—the sort of style elderly grandmothers loved.
Xia Fengsheng just held them in his hand, unable to force himself to put them on.
It hurt.
It hurt too much.
The moment he put those pants on and walked out, his taste would vanish completely.
The thing Xia Fengsheng could least stand was people questioning his taste and eye for style. In order to squeeze into glittering, decadent circles, he had spent precious money, and every time he bought clothes, he selected them with painstaking care.
Bit by bit, his taste had been cultivated. Whenever he went out dressed up, there were always plenty of people asking where he had bought his clothes, affirming his taste and coordination.
And now, the whole image he had worked so hard to build before was gone.
In the end, Xia Fengsheng still put on the floral fleece pajama pants.
He Qiang came over and asked, “Sheng’er, are you okay?”
Xia Fengsheng looked like he was about to shatter.
With a smile, Xia Fengsheng said, “I’m fine.”
When he headed out, Xia Fengsheng put on a white down jacket. While putting on shoes, he looked at the dazzling array of leather shoes and little heeled boots, then, with pain in his heart, put on a pair of yellow puffy slippers.
Shi Ye was waiting for him at the school gate. The two had agreed to meet at seven-thirty.
Xia Fengsheng walked out of campus and swept his eyes around, spotting Shi Ye leaning against a car not far away, waiting for him.
Shi Ye had his head lowered, one hand in his pocket and the other scrolling his phone. Today he was wearing a black turtleneck, with a Patek Philippe Nautilus on his wrist. His legs were absurdly long, and with those broad shoulders, one could only marvel at how hard it was to find proportions this good. His looks and physique were so outstanding that passersby almost always turned back to look at him.
Xia Fengsheng was dressed thickly and trudged over with heavy steps. Before he even got there, Shi Ye had already lifted his head because he heard those excessively weighty footsteps.
Their eyes met, and the first thing Shi Ye saw was that pair of granny pants.
“……”
Xia Fengsheng clearly saw the shock in his eyes.
“Today I’m going for a vintage look.”
Shi Ye: ……
Shi Ye asked him, “How many pairs of pants like this do you own?”
He was also curious where on earth Xia Fengsheng had even bought such ugly pants.
Xia Fengsheng instantly replied, “You like them too? Want a pair?”
“….”
“Sure. I’ll give you one later. Then we can wear matching couple ones out together.”
Shi Ye refused. “Since you love them so much, keep them for yourself.”
Making him wear those would be no different from asking him to die. There was no way he was putting on Xia Fengsheng’s ugly pants.
Xia Fengsheng changed the subject and looked at the supercar behind him. “Is this your car?”
“Mm,” Shi Ye said.
Xia Fengsheng looked at the sports car worth eight million, then looked at Shi Ye.
He had asked for too little in meal money.
Instead of getting in right away, he handed his phone to Shi Ye.
Shi Ye looked puzzled. “What for?”
Xia Fengsheng was already standing in front of the car. “Take pictures.”
He wanted Shi Ye to think he was some vain poser who worshipped money.
Shi Ye, however, said nothing. He accepted it readily. He also loved taking pictures in daily life anyway. “Oh.”
Besides, taking photos was a required course for being a boyfriend.
Shi Ye: 😀
Watch me use my superb photography skills to make him fall hopelessly in love with me.
He took the phone and began finding angles for Xia Fengsheng. He was very professional at taking pictures. The instant he opened the camera, his eyes met Xia Fengsheng’s through the lens.
With one hand braced against the car, Xia Fengsheng asked him, “How’s this?”
In the frame, the golden morning sunlight shining down made his skin look almost translucent. As a boy, his eyes had been more mouse-like; now that he had grown, they had opened into a fox-like shape, gazing off into the distance. He was taller and more mature than in his youth. His Adam’s apple jutted out, his arms showed fine lines, and there was the unconscious aura he naturally carried.
Anyone would think he was a successful man—with a cool head, gentlemanly manners, and calm, distant eyes when he looked at you.
Over seven years, Xia Fengsheng had transformed utterly from a rat in the gutter.
For a brief moment, Shi Ye was dazed. Then he took several shots from different angles. His photography skills were excellent, and he was very satisfied with his own work.
He walked over and handed the phone to Xia Fengsheng. “How is it?”
Xia Fengsheng was startled by how good the photos had turned out. He had not expected Shi Ye to actually be this good at taking pictures. The challenge he had been planning to make suddenly became unusable, so he changed it to, “Feels like something’s missing.”
Having received no praise, Shi Ye looked puzzled. “Missing what?”
“Don’t people usually sit on the hood when they take pictures?”
Anyone who loved their car would absolutely not tolerate that kind of behavior, and Shi Ye’s car was a limited edition on top of that.
Yet Shi Ye did not even blink. “Sure. Climb up and I’ll take a couple.”
Xia Fengsheng was momentarily speechless, as if something had grabbed his throat. “Won’t it get damaged?”
“If it breaks, I’ll just replace it. I’ve got plenty of cars.”
Xia Fengsheng: ……
Just die, you wastrel.
After climbing up, Xia Fengsheng even deliberately unzipped his down jacket. The visual effect was explosive beyond words.
After shooting outside the car, Xia Fengsheng took a few more in the driver’s seat.
From the passenger seat, Shi Ye practically twisted himself into a pretzel to get a good shot of him.
Xia Fengsheng asked, “Are these turning out well?”
Shi Ye said, “Absolutely.”
Fortunately, Xia Fengsheng was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt under his down jacket, so in the driver’s-seat shots, only his upper body showed, looking natural and relaxed.
Once the photos were done, Xia Fengsheng moved into the passenger seat and started editing his Moments post. Since he was acting, he might as well act thoroughly and firmly strap the image of a pretentious show-off who loved flaunting wealth onto himself.
He would call things that were not his own his own. Once Shi Ye saw the Moments post, he would understand exactly how hypocritical and vulgar he was as a person.
The photo he chose was one Shi Ye had just taken in the driver’s seat, deliberately revealing the car logo on the steering wheel and the starlight ceiling overhead.
Very soon, someone liked his post and left a comment.
Lin Xingcan: “Rented, right?”
