Chapter 37: Chapter 37 Sightseeing

Translated by foodie

Walking out of the office, I am greeted by a warm, breezy dawn. Indeed, it is a perfect day for sightseeing!

What a pity, with him as my companion, I am in no mood for sightseeing. It looks like today’s trip to the zoo will certainly dampen my mood.

Since Manager Wang spent a while looking for me everywhere, all other colleagues have already departed on their bikes. I had thought that today is quite tragic, but what is even worse is that all good bikes have been picked by now. I can only use this word to describe the last remaining bike. Appalling!

I use a finger to touch the back seat gingerly. I see the dust on the back seat falls off the seat. I cannot imagine what color my light-colored pants will be after I sit on this back seat.

I struggle for some time. I cannot convince myself into sitting on this bike, so I ask cautiously, “Manager Wang, do we really have to ride this thing to the zoo?”

Manager Wang looks quite serious, “It can’t be helped. The theme of our activity is eco-friendly and green. Secretary Xia, why don’t you put up with it.”

I give it a serious thought and then suggest, “Why don’t we just walk over there? That is also eco-friendly and green.”

“……” He looks at me silently. Suddenly, his eyes brighten up and fixate at something behind me. He looks like someone who is about to die of thirst in the desert, who has just seen an oasis. Or a dying person who has just seen a sign of hope.

I follow his gaze and look behind me. Instantly, my eyes also brighten up. I do not need a mirror to know, my gaze is just like Manager Wang’s. Who knows, I might look a lot more desperate than him!

Lu Jun is wearing clean and tidy casual clothes, riding a new bike that is parked just behind me. His well-proportion slender fingers are on the handlebar. His shiny dark eyes are directed at me.

This is the first time I have seen anyone looking so handsome and elegant on a bike. And this handsome man now belongs to me. As I think of this, my heart is filled with contentment and joy.

Manager Wang’s eyes turn to me and Lu Jun, he says quickly, “Since the general manager is here, I will leave first. Bye, see you at the zoo!”

After he speaks, Manager Wang rides the bike away in a flash before I have a chance to react. Leaving me only with a view of his back.

“Ding a ling…” A string of pleasing bell sound rings. Lu Jun looks at me with a faint smile, “Silly girl. What are you waiting for? Get on the bike.”

I joyfully hop and approach him, “General manager, didn’t you use to not participate in such company outing?”

He doesn’t object, “I used to think that going to the zoo to see monkeys and apes playing around is quite a boring thing to do.”

I ask curiously, “Then do you still find it boring now?”

He shakes his head, “I still find it very boring.”

I don’t understand, “Why do you want to go to the zoo today then?”

He answers seriously, “Because you will be at today’s outing.”

My heart is suddenly filled with colorful effervescent bubbles, so he is going because of me. I am the reason why he makes an exception to join this outing that he usually finds boring.

As I feel thoroughly moved, I hear him say, “Seeing you playing around is much more interesting than watching those animals.”

I: “……”

Are you giving me a compliment? Does anyone ever give compliments in this manner? Should I switch jobs, resign from my current job and just work at the zoo?

I angrily sit at the bike’s back seat. I pat on Lu Jun’s back and say, “Let’s go. We can leave now.”

He tilts his head slightly, “Your hands.”

I don’t understand, “What about my hands?”

He says, “The way I ride the bike isn’t very stable. Now that I put it this way, you understand what I mean, right?”

“Oh! I get it.” I have a sudden realization and nod, “You mean, we should switch and I should give you a ride instead?”

His handsome face darkens, his voice sounds like it was spoken through gritted teeth. “I say, Xia Ye. Is there anyone dumber and stupider than you in this world?”

He takes my hands and wraps them around his waist. With a sulk on his face, he starts pedaling towards the zoo without a word.

I hold him gloomily. I say Big Boss Lu, why couldn’t you have just told me to hold you? Why did you have to say your bike ride isn’t very stable. No normal person could have understood your intent! （All the normal people indicates they can understand. Don’t group us together in the same category as you -）

The bike moves forward unhurriedly, as the trees on the side of the street retreat. Accompanied by the gentle breeze by my ears and the sunlight from above. The gentle warmth gradually softens and lifts my mood, and I become a lot more relaxed.

Lu Jun’s clothes emanate a light fragrance of a pleasant clean smell. I cannot help lowering my head, resting my face lightly on his back. The instant when I touch him, Lu Jun’s body feels slightly stiffened. He leans his head a bit and looks at me unconsciously for a brief moment. Then he continues to focus on riding the bicycle. At that instant, I catch a glimpse of his slightly curled lips.

Our bike continues to move forward. With my arms tightly encircling his slim waist, I can feel his breath. Suddenly I feel joy radiating from the bottom of my heart.

In the midst of this quiet blissful happiness, suddenly the bike stops halfway to our destination.

I raise my head that had been resting on his back, and ask disaffectedly, “How come? You ran out of energy after riding this distance?”

Lu Jun turns his face to the side with a slight exasperation and says “I didn’t run out of energy. We have a flat bike tire.”

“Aaah?” The minute I hear this, I jump off the bike. I lower my gaze. Sure enough, we do indeed have a flat tire. I couldn’t help giving out a sigh and shaking my head, “This bike looks so exquisite. How come it looks great but not so practical to use. The quality must not be too good, don’t you think?”

Lu Jun looks at me with a raised eyebrow, disagreeing with a slight shake of head and says, “This bike quality is up to standard. I think the issue is that you must not have taken your body weight into account.”

“……” I show an expression of grief. That does strike me as a possibility, so I quickly change the subject, “Then what do we do now?”

“Wait here a bit. I’ll go over there to borrow an air pump.”

After he finished saying this, he glances at me from top to bottom.

He smiles as he guides the bike across the road. How vexing! He is mocking my figure. I look down dejectedly. Hmm. It does seem like I might have gained some weight lately. How did this happen? Don’t they say that women who are in love look more youthful and beautiful every day? How come when I’m in love, I get increasingly out of shape then?

In the midst of my bewilderment, I see a scruffily dressed middle-aged man with blind man glasses walking towards me. His left arm is holding a stick as a support crutch, while his right arm is holding a chipped bowl. He stops next to me and pleads with a small voice, “Beautiful, enchanting lady… Please… Please…”

As I hear this, my mood brightens and I reach into my purse and pull out some cash to give to him. The man bends down thankfully, accepts the cash and ambles away.

At that moment, Lu Jun happens to return with the bike. The tires had been inflated. He sees the back of the man and says, “I thought you are usually rather miserly. That man clearly looks like a con artist, pretending to be blind for money. The world is full of con artists these days. How come you are silly enough to give him cash?”

I smile contentedly, “General manager, did you not hear he called me beautiful enchanting lady earlier?”

“Oh? He called you that?” Lu Jun looks surprised. Then his expression turns serious. He says “It looks like I really have misjudged him. He really must be blind.”

I: “…=”

I get back on the bike. This time we reach our destination at the zoo. This is the largest zoo in our city. The regular admission price is pretty high. Thus I have never visited the zoo before. This company-sponsored visit is a rare opportunity. Just right after Lu Jun and I have handed over our tickets at the zoo entrance, we see a familiar figure hurrying to approach us.

“Older brother! How could you do this? You organized a company event and did not even invite me. Do you not regard me as an employee? How come I didn’t receive a notice? Why is it?”

I see a man waving both of his arms, gasping, taking big strides, yelling loudly with irritation. Little brother Lu hands out his ticket, points to Lu Jun and I and says “I am with them!”

I quickly say to the zoo employee at the entrance, “Oh yes, uncle. Please take note. When we leave the zoo later with him, please don’t accuse us of taking a monkey away from the zoo!”

Little brother Lu: “……”