Chapter 41: Forty-One: There was a faint look of complete, desperate madness

After leaving the supermarket, the two men carried the bunch of shopping bags to the parking lot to load up the car. There was a man right next to them at the neighboring car, who was stunned at first when he saw them and then he said in delight, “YuTang, what a coincidence, you also shop here. Long time no see. I’ve called for you with your front desk several times and couldn’t reach you. I couldn’t even get through to your cell phone directly. Is this big president so busy?”

Ji XiaoYu was stuffing a shopping bag into the trunk and looked up at the sound. His embarrassment from before instantly turned into displeasure, coincidence my butt, how could we just happen to run into this surname Han?

Cheng YuTang gave a little nod, “Mmm, I’ve been very busy recently. Today is the first day that I’ve been a bit free.”

He had specifically addressed his front desk staff, telling them to just not forward the calls. This old classmate had always been a smart guy, so why did he have to pretend to be clueless regarding this matter?

Han QingShi laughed, saying, “No wonder. There’s a class reunion the day after tomorrow, what do you think about it?”

“If there’re no big surprises, I should be able to go.”

“Great, I’ll welcome you!” Han QingShi couldn’t restrain his excitement. “Since today I happened to run into you, why don’t we get lunch together? This time, I’ll treat you!”

Cheng YuTang replied lightly, “Sorry, there’s something to do at home, we just bought some things and we’re heading back.”

We? Who? When Han QingShi caught on to that keyword, he couldn’t help but turn his head and look around. Just then, Ji XiaoYu shut the trunk and their gazes met and his heart suddenly sank.

It was a bit odd when they ate together at HongSheng last time. Today was the weekend and Cheng YuTang had actually brought this kid along to the supermarket. He can’t help but wonder what the relationship between these two people really was.

He didn’t reveal anything on his face. He smiled and quipped at Ji XiaoYu, “Isn’t this the little security guard who we ate together with last time? What, have you been drafted as an able-bodied man for shopping by your Cheng Zong today?”

Thanks to an anti-Japanese drama that he had watched previously, Ji XiaoYu actually knew what it meant to “draft an able-bodied man”, so with a glance out of the corner of his eye, he said, “I’m Cheng Zong’s personal bodyguard and driver now, so driving him is part of my duties.”

(t/n: JXY uses a subtle/obscure term for duty here)

It’s that simple? Han QingShi paused for a moment, still holding some doubt in his heart.

Ji XiaoYu couldn’t be bothered to talk to him. He pulled open the door and sat in the driver’s seat, then he closed the door with a “bang.”

“Part of my duties”? Although the little thing didn’t read much, this phrase was a bit exquisite. Cheng YuTang’s lips curved slightly and he had a thought of how to make the situation a little more obvious. So he bent down and took a thermos cup from the passenger’s seat. He opened the lid and took a sip himself first, then handed it to Ji XiaoYu, saying softly, “Are you thirsty? Drink some water.”

After walking around in the heated supermarket for so long, Ji XiaoYu really was a little thirsty and he didn’t feel like being polite right now. Anyway, this wouldn’t be the first time they shared a water cup, so he drank a few mouthfuls after taking it.

Han QingShi: “……”

There was no doubt in that. If you couldn’t see the relationship between these two people, you’d have to be a moron.

He felt both frustrated and indignant for a moment, why?! Isn’t this kid just a little younger than me, besides that, how else could he be better than me? This kind of person can be found by the handful in a nightclub, he’s not valuable at all!

When I first met with Cheng YuTang, I’m afraid this kid was still wearing a diaper and playing in the dirt. Shouldn’t this be ‘first come, first served’?!

Cheng YuTang had achieved his aim, so he said, “You head out slowly. We’ll go back first. I’ll see you at the reunion the day after tomorrow.”

Resentment sparked up and then faded in Han QingShi’s eyes. He barely managed to squeeze out a smile that looked uglier than tears, “Okay, see you the day after tomorrow.”

Driving the car out of the parking lot, when he finally couldn’t see Hang QingShi anymore, Ji XiaoYu still felt like he was out of breath from anger. He furrowed his brow and asked, “Are you really going to join that surnamed Han classmate’s reunion?”

Cheng YuTang asked with a smile in his eyes, “You don’t want me to go? Why?”

“What why.” Ji XiaoYu puffed out his cheeks. “I hate looking at that guy. And, what’s so fun about a reunion? I’ve heard they’re boring.”

He had neither gone to school nor had any classmates, so he didn’t know what an ‘alumni reunion’ was for. But, he had felt uncomfortable when he had heard Han QingShi and Cheng YuTang discuss it together.

Cheng YuTang pretended to be helpless, saying, “It doesn’t mean anything, but I have already agreed. It would be bad to not go. Some of my classmates will probably give me a hard time, pouring drinks for me or something, so I need you to be with me. Escort me or I’m afraid it’ll be difficult to leave.”

Ji XiaoYu took this to heart when he heard it, but his expression seemed a little reluctant, “How troublesome, but okay.”

This man was once again difficult to deal with. He really can’t survive without his personal bodyguard, ah.

After bringing the president back to the villa community, Ji XiaoYu ran back and forth to help him move the large and small bags and boxes from the trunk into the house. In the end, he vaguely felt like something was missing. But Cheng YuTang didn’t say anything and he himself didn’t ask. There were just so many things that had been bought, so he had been a bit confused.

In the end, Cheng YuTang said with a kind expression, “You’ve worked hard, eat here for lunch. You eat some from this fruit tray first, I’ll cook and it’ll be ready soon.”

Ji XiaoYu glanced over and saw a bunch of little yellow bananas in with the fruit on the table. He jumped up as if he had sat on a needle. “No, no, I’m not hungry at all right now! So, uh, I-I’ll go first. I have to go back and wash my sheets!”

Wash your sheets? What kind of sheets have to be washed on such a cold, cloudy day? Cheng Zong laughed, his head spinning a bit. Seeing that he was so uncomfortable and not wanting to force him, he said, “Alright, I’m afraid that it will rain, so be careful on the road.”

“Got it!”

Halfway through Ji XiaoYu’s drive back, it started to rain, rain heavily. When he got back to HongLe Garden, he remembered that there was an umbrella in the trunk, so he went to the rear of the car to get it. As soon as he opened the lid, he found a large bag of things in the trunk, a bunch of snacks and drinks, and even a “Chicken Run” chicken stuffed animal. It was coincidentally the one he had wanted earlier, but unfortunately hadn’t been able to afford it.

He couldn’t help but take out the chicken stuffie and squeeze the fluffy belly. While hugging it, he couldn’t help but wonder, strange, how did this bag get in my car, weren’t they all put in Cheng YuTang’s car? Is it that I wanted it so much that I moved it to my car without realizing?

He smiled to himself for a bit, then found the number of “YuTang” in his phone and dialed, “Yu…… uh, Cheng Zong, there’s a big of things you just bought that, I don’t know how, ended up in my car. I’ll bring it to you when I come back to pick you up to go to work.”

Whoops, almost called him the wrong thing.

Cheng Zong said in a financial-worry-free tone, “No need, I didn’t pay much attention to those things when I bought them. I don’t really need them. Also I don’t want them to take up my space. You can handle them yourself. If you don’t want them, then just throw them away.”

Ji XiaoYu: “……”

Throw away? To say that so lightly, what a wicked, rich man! he secretly whispered in his heart, and then he went back to the dorm with the big bag of stuff. Heh heh, lunch has fallen into my lap, no need to order delivery!

In his room, Ji XiaoYu pulled out the little white egg to place on the bed. The he put the chicken stuffie gently on the little white egg, in the pose of a hen incubating an egg, and said as if offering a treasure, “My child, Daddy is giving you a toy, do you like it?”

Although Cheng Zong didn’t want it, he himself didn’t dislike it, so presumably the baby wouldn’t hate it either.

Just as he thought, the little white egg seemed to really like this toy. It knocked the chicken down with a single roll, then rolled back and drilled under the chicken’s belly, making Ji XiaoYu feel amused.

After laughing for a while, Ji XiaoYu felt a little hot and took off his coat. Because of the shaking, as he was about to hang it in the closet, something suddenly fell out of his coat. The little pheasant’s brain was struck. It was the box of evil little bananas.

He had forgotten this embarrassing thing. But seeing this box, he couldn’t help but think of the ugly moment in the supermarket before and his face suddenly heated again. When he picked it up in annoyance, he wanted to throw it into the trash can.

However, when he lifted his hand, he got reluctant. This box was very expensive, the one box worth three or four boxes of the other brands. It would be a pity to thrash it. Anyway, no one would see it now anyway.

Having said that, how the hell was this thing even used? Ji XiaoYu sat cross-legged on the bed, looking the small box up and down, blushing red from his thoughts. All he knew was what the TT was for, he didn’t know exactly how to use it.

Do I want to open it and try one out? He was a little bit tempted inside, but when he thought about it, he remembered how a certain someone smiled and laughed. It felt like there was someone in the room watching him, making him really not want to open it up to study.

Forget it, forget it, put it away for now and come back to it later!

So he stuffed the still-intact box of little bananas back into the inner pocket of his coat and instead took out the promotional materials of the “Big Baby” brand baby formula milk powder. He spread it on the bed and put the little white egg on it, asking, “My child, this milk powder is very expensive, but it’s said to be good. Do you like it?”

The little white egg swayed like a tumbler and he didn’t know if it was nodding or shaking its head.

Ji XiaoYu laughed a little, “Yeah, these advertisements are all hype. Who knows whether it’s good or not. Anyway, there are still three months left. Daddy will look more and compare a bit. I’ll be sure to pick out the best one for you!”

He paused and then pouted his lips and said, “When I was in the supermarket today, as soon as your father heard me say there might be a baby in the future, he made a stinky face. You wouldn’t want to see it, as if he wanted to eat someone. Sometimes Daddy really wants to the expression he’ll make on the day he sees you. Let’s not talk about it. My child, you play with the chicken for a while, Daddy wants to eat something.”

He sat in a chair, holding the large bag of snacks and began to happily unpack it.

I went to the supermarket and got this bag, not bad!

……

That night, at dusk, Cheng YuTang in his villa received a call from the gate guard, “Mr. Cheng, hello. There is a Mr. Han, who claims to be your classmate and came to see you, but he doesn’t know your specific house number. Should I tell him, sir?”

Cheng YuTang instantly frowned, just about to refuse, but changed his mind and said, “Tell him and let him in.”

“Okay, Mr. Cheng.”

After more than ten minutes, Han QingShi appeared in the living room. Cheng YuTang was struck a bit speechless when he saw him. His old classmate had actually applied makeup and there was a faint look of complete, desperate madness flickering behind his expression.

Han QingShi’s face was powdered and his eyebrows and eyes were all lined. Although the makeup was very clever and ingenious, he still could see it. This kind of makeup added to his originally neutral appearance a bit of femininity. His skin was pretty delicate. On the whole, he looked a few years younger too, so at first glance, he looked like he was in his early 20s.

Of course, that was just at first glance. After all, the years were not forgiving and, no matter how much powder, the sophistication and coldness from the world in his eyes couldn’t be covered up.

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Footnotes:

1. Able-bodied man (壮丁): historical term for men that were subject to conscription for war

2. TT: slang for condom, from the term taotao meaning sheath/sleeve

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author: ~~drama~~ me: ?? evil little bananas ??