Ch120.2 – Renting a Place
As soon as he got home, the first thing Yu Hao did was to video call Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng was swimming in the pool of a Hilton Hotel. After accepting the video call, he got out of the pool; he had neat and beautiful eight pack abs, wore a pair of swimming briefs, and water was constantly dripping from his hair and body.
“Baby, miss your hubby?” Zhou Sheng picked up a drink and walked as he talked, “Come ah, I’m selling meat here, send me your rockets and mansions! Send a Lamborghini——”
Yu Hao had intended to denounce him for his crimes, but as soon as he saw Zhou Sheng’s figure, he got hard first.
“You……un……better come clean!” Yu Hao tried to hold back his urge to swallow his saliva. He held up his Hasselblad camera, “This costs 110,000?!”
Zhou Sheng’s hair was wet as he stood by the pool, smiling at Yu Hao like a big child. He put on his bathrobe and went into the lift to go back to his room. He placed his phone on the washbasin and started wiping himself down with soap in front of Yu Hao. “I got found out?”
Yu Hao asked angrily while he watched Zhou Sheng take a bath, “Where did you get the money from?”
Zhou Sheng took a simple shower, wrapped a bathrobe around him, and took a cotton swab to dry his ears. He raised an eyebrow at the Yu Hao in the video. “My mum passed it to me for us to buy a car. She gave me 140,000 to buy a Chevrolet.”
Yu Hao said in despair, “It’s no use even if you’re selling your meat! Stop it with the excuses! So you bought this camera for me?”
Zhou Sheng blow dried his hair for awhile, and after his hair was dry, he had resumed an aloof CEO air. He changed his clothes, went to the dressing mirror with his phone, put on his suit pants, and looked for a snow white shirt while he was bare chested. “I thought that there was no use in buying a car, and when I saw that camera at first glance, I knew it had to be it. You’d definitely like it.”
“It’s, too, expensive!” Yu Hao started showing the camera on the screen, “What if it gets stolen?”
Zhou Sheng, “Then just buy another one?”
Yu Hao, “……”
Zhou Sheng saw that Yu Hao looked a little dispirited and asked, “What happened?”
Yu Hao briefly described what had happened today. Zhou Sheng sat down and thought about it for a few seconds, “It’s ‘cause your teacher feels like it isn’t fair. After being a reporter for so many years, he didn’t make much money, but an intern’s using an over 100,000 yuan camera and a Macbook, so it’s upsetting to see. Your Lady Boss is really something though, he didn’t leave him any face at all and just started dissing him as soon as he felt displeased.”
Yu Hao said, “So I have to keep a low profile. Why didn’t you remind me?”
Zhou Sheng, “I did it on purpose.”
Yu Hao said, “Ah Ze isn’t that kind of leader in the first place.”
Zhou Sheng smiled. “Before you reported for work, it’s not like we knew how he operated. Some leaders are pretty disgusting, so isn’t it better to be prepared just in case? Just like how you’re transcribing the manuscripts for Jin Laoshi, you need to know that it’s a mutual exchange — he’s guiding you while you work for him, so the two of you are completely equal, okay? I’m working like a fucking dog just to earn a bite of food, and I don’t want you to also put in so much effort just to earn that bit of money in other people’s eyes. You went to Beijing for your own ideals in the first place anyway, didn’t you?”
Yu Hao said, “Why didn’t you mention it before? Aren’t you in the Major Business Department? Why did you turn into a dog again?”
“Analogy.” Zhou Sheng said, “It’s an analogy!”
Zhou Sheng changed his clothes, put on his cufflinks, and said, “Hubby has to go to a dinner banquet now. What will my dear wife be eating tonight?”
Yu Hao really couldn’t do anything with him, “I ordered a pizza. Don’t drink too much, love you.”
“Love you.” Zhou Sheng turned off the video. Yu Hao lay in bed. He held the camera and scrolled through the photos, and saw the first photo that Zhou Sheng had left in this camera. He suddenly really wanted to go back right now, and throw aside everything he had — what ideals, aspirations, future……throw them all aside, he just wanted to return to that person’s side.
After Zhou Sheng ended the video call, Fu Liqun’s call came. Zhou Sheng picked it up and said gloomily, “I can’t make it, I need to accompany the officials for a meal today. I really want to quit this job, fuck.”
Fu Liqun said, “Then we’ll reschedule on our side? I arranged to meet up with a friend, he’s interested in helping us expand our business. Young Master, you’re familiar with this, you have to help me this time.”
Zhou Sheng said, “Okay, okay, Gege, change it to the 6th ba. I’m only free on the night of the 6th.”
Fu Liqun, “I’ll apologise to Young Madam again……”
Zhou Sheng, “I’m not going to Beijing on National Day! Do you think I can leave right now? I just had a video call with him, and I was thinking about whether or not I should just quit and fly over there straight away. Being a courier would be better than staying here, fuck, at the very least I’d have my wife by my side……okay I can’t talk anymore, I’m going into the elevator.”
The elevator opened with a “ding”. Zhou Sheng went in, tidied himself up in the mirror and smoothed his hair back. He turned around, the elevator opened up at the restaurant, and Zhou Sheng instantly went out beaming. As soon as he went out, he pulled a middle-aged man’s hand and smiled, “Ai! Chief Zhao! I was about to go up to pick you up! Come come come, this way please!”
This room was a little damp and not very well-ventilated. The walls were dusty, and the floor felt like it could never be mopped clean. A moldy scent emanated from the surroundings, and the balcony was stacked with sundries. Yu Hao was already thoroughly spent whenever he got home after work, and he had wanted to clean up and put his new place in order properly, but he really didn’t have the energy to do it. He’ll think about it again after getting past the most arduous probation period ba.
However, the conditions of the hardware were his secondary concern — Yu Hao had truly underestimated the otaku who he shared the apartment with. What civil servant? It was all a lie. That guy could actually start his activities after waking up at 8pm, order takeout, eat, bathe, then sit in front of his computer to play DOTA, and would start playing at 10pm all the way till dawn. Around 2 to 3am, he would even start yelling with his earphones on as he commanded his teammates, during which a lot of cordial swear words would rush forth from his mouth as well.
Yu Hao went to knock on his door, “Brother, could you keep your voice down? I still need to conduct interviews tomorrow.”
“Okay okay! I’m sorry brother!” The other party was rather polite though.
Yu Hao went back to lay down. Half an hour later, he was awakened by the noise again.
Yu Hao wanted to flip out.
At six o’clock in the morning, his neighbour began watching A films, jerk off, and fifteen minutes later, it was silent. The otaku came out to throw the garbage away and order his second round of takeout, then slept after he finished eating.
Yu Hao would knock at the door from time to time at first, until one day when he asked the other party to keep quiet and heard him say ‘idiot’ when he was going back to his room. Then he stopped knocking. He contacted the landlady and asked her to resolve it instead. The landlady admonished her nephew after coming back, but refused to refund his money, but told him that he could move out if he wanted. Yu Hao tried to negotiate with her several times and was on the verge of blowing up. In the end, Situ Ye gave him two earplugs —— artifacts for guaranteeing sleep anytime, anywhere. After Yu Hao used the earplugs, his whole world quieted down a lot more.
But why do I have to prepare earplugs when I come out to rent a house?! Yu Hao wondered if there was still any justice left in this world.
Yu Hao sometimes felt like he was also living like a dog, but the only thing sustaining him was the year after he graduated from high school where his life was even worse off than that of a dog’s. Now he was at least still like a dog.
“I really can’t stand that house anymore.” Yu Hao said to Situ Ye, “Lady Boss, I didn’t do anything at all, I was just sleeping in the middle of the night when he came over to knock on my door! And asked me to stop video chatting! I’m about to die of anger because of him!”
Situ Ye looked at Yu Hao sympathetically as he edited his photos.
Yu Hao said, “I have to beat him up once. Only violence can save me now.”
“Don’t be impulsive.” Situ Ye said, “Let Zhou Sheng beat him up when he comes over. Zhou Sheng can run away after beating him up, but other people will bother you if you beat him up, and you’ll be even more tired then.”
Yu Hao realised that Situ Ye was just like a child, and he had the same kind of mystical ability as Zhou Sheng —— as soon as he spoke about something, it would suddenly seem insignificant. In this office, Situ Ye effectively took up the role of alleviating everyone’s stress. When he occasionally jested with the rest of them, everyone’s impatience would instantly disappear.
“Look at this, is it beautiful?” Situ Ye showed Yu Hao the photos he took today — it was of Tiananmen and a flag raising ceremony at the first glimmer of dawn.
“It’s really beautiful.” Yu Hao looked at the pictures in the camera, then looked at Situ Ye, and they both started laughing. Situ Ye patted Yu Hao’s head, “When you get scolded later, remember this picture.”
“What?” Yu Hao became vigilant.
Lin Ze came over to push the door open, “Yu Hao, come with me.”
Situ Ye, “Go ba.”
Yu Hao, “……”
On the first day of work on National Day, Lin Ze took Yu Hao to the editor-in-chief’s office, and they were both flooded with a torrent of rebukes by the vice editor-in-chief.
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