Chapter 26 (1/2)
CHAPTER 26
I sat there for a whole two and a half hours in Li Chuan’s rooinning, I thought it was needed for work Then, gradually, I started suspecting that he was just using ry, and yawned in front of hi notes with a pencil on my translated manuscript the entire time and rarely raised his head When he heard ht?”
“I slept” I was so talented, was there need to ask hter for work?
He then asked, “Then have you eaten lunch yet?”
When I came in, it was already one in the afternoon
“…No” I was starving
“We’ll stop working here for today” He put away the pencil, stood up, and walked to the door to open it for me
I ran to the snack bar outside and wolfed down a scallion pancake Then, I returned to my room, took a bath, lied down and fell asleep at once
I slept until the afternoon of the next day No one ca froh eren’t too fa roo, I asked hin department to play I’ Chun Qiu” (Ding Spring Autumn)
After he said this, he studied my expression, “What, you don’t think this naood name! Isn’t ‘Mr Zuo’s Annals’ called ‘Mr Zuo’s Chun Qiu’? (Mr Zhou’s Spring and Autumn Annals)
“Do you read Louis Cha?”
“I don’t”
He shook irl who I have met who hasn’t been corrupted by martial arts novels Let hed inside Turns out he was afraid of others calling hi Xiu” [In De Chun Qiu, also known as the Old De Xiu was known for his treachery and deception]
“Where did everyone else go?” I looked behind hi room There weren’t many CGP employees to be seen I also couldn’t see Li Chuan
“Thein their own rooms The couple directors all went to the construction site with Mr Li Chuan We are all very nervous, the deadline is really close We have to redo everything we’ve done for the past two months and complete it in ten days in order to compete for first Everyone is extremely busy”
I found that everyone in CGP liked to call Li Chuan, Mr Li Chuan and not Mr wang Because there were five wangs in the company
But then, honestly, I didn’t feel that Li Chuan was that busy At this ti Yun
“Then, has the overall design drawings and proposal taken shape by now?”
“There have already been s Some of the hand-drawn drafts for the i and the s have been coraeneral layout, bird’s-eye view, vertical space design, and profile space have yet to be completed Finally, he still needs to complete a written case: creatives explanation, functionality description, and e renderings” He paused and then said, “But the fix for everything is really up to Mr Li Chuan He is known for working fast and never procrastinating He even frequently finishes designs early With him here, our anxiety is halved — It’s only whether his health can take such burdensome work”
I felt my sood”
“I heard that he was injured while skiing Add that with hi ane made the call to ask for him, he was still in the hospital It see so busy these past two days He originally said that after coether with everyone Now Director Jiang says that he doesn’t dare have hi thea paper knife If he accidentally cuts himself, it would be quite troublesome if the blood floas unable to be stopped”
I had never heard of Li Chuan being aneotten sick twice One of the times was pneumonia He was admitted into the hospital, but fro deal out of nothing The other time hen he had a fever He had taken a couple pills on etic and didn’t appear ane forlooked at his watch, “Annie, I won’t chat with you any longer I have to go do my work”
I returned toswelled up inI looked at the nu
“Annie, are you still in the hotel?”
“Yes”
“Can you go pick up two people froners”
“I can” I tried my best to make my voice sound very enthusiastic I was the only translator here and wasn’t busy If I didn’t go, ould?
“It’s like this The people who are co Ji Chuan and a French designer called René Mr wang was originally going to go pick theht now and can’t get back in tio Their accommodations have already been prepared”
“The arrival tiht nuot to bring it when he left and can only reht arrival in Wenzhou I just gave a call to security You can go to the reception desk to get a spare key and get the paper to pick up the people”
I looked atup and went to the reception desk to get the spare key I opened Li Chuan’s door, got the piece of paper, quickly went back to e into a presentable outfit, put on ot a taxi to the airport
In winter, the sky got dark early in Wenzhou
The airport was coht nu that “due to weather conditions” the plane was delayed in Beijing It was a two hour flight fro to Wenzhou, so I had to wait there at least two hours
I bought a azine and found a cafe to sit down at to pass the ti for an hour, I went to see the board again and found that the plane had still not departed Although the departure tiretful that I didn’t bring my laptop when I left There weretiain, so I went to the store to buy a pack of cigarettes and sain, I bought anotherto wait
At nine, I went outside and was s It was an unfamiliar nu this voice, ”
“Was the flight delayed?”
“Yes”
“Around ill it arrive?”
“Twelve o’clock”
“Don’t wait any back, this is a task given to ’s superior”
“If I couests arrive? Who will pick them up?”
“There’s no need to pick them up, they can take the airport bus”
“Airport bus? Chief wang, us Chinese people are a friendly nationality filled with passion As a Chinese person, I cannot allow foreign experts, here to work for CGP, to receive such a cold reception I, Annie Xie, will carry out the assignlib-tongued
There was silence on the other side
After a while, he said, “Where are you?”
“At the cafe in the airport departure terminal”
“How come I don’t see you?”
“…I aarette and come see me!”
Li Chuan’s voice was nice no matter what he said Mmhmm, such tones were rare to hear froarette s his prosthetic leg, sitting on his wheelchair His sliht blue shi+rt, and striped tie All the wo, were secretly looking at him
Li Chuan didn’t like the wheelchair and would only sit in it as a last resort I’ve never seen Li Chuan sitting in a wheelchair in public
I said “Hi”, walked up to him and sat down on the couch in front of him
There was a cup of lemon tea in front of hihtly coughed, and then said a word of (English) sorry
I was laughing silently inside Li Chuan still had the old proble into solish) sorry without delay Sometimes, when he went to the ATM to withdraw lish) sorry to thekey
“What do you want to drink?” He asked
“Coffee”
“Two parts o, the coffee that I liked to drink was thick and crealish) Irish cream or Noisette?” These were the two flavors that I liked to drink the ether Li Chuan wouldn’t say “(English) hazelnut” He had to say it the French way, “(English) Noisette”
“(English) Colued to the kind that was the strongest and darkest
Everything had truly changed
He swiveled around on his wheelchair and went to buy coffee He paid and asked the barista to bring it over to lasses, so I looked at him with eyes opened wide His face was close to me But since I couldn’t see clearly anyway, I didn’t feel the least bit apprehensive about gazing at him as if he was an alien
“So,” he said, “you are very nearsighted?”
“A little, not too severe”
“Long time no see, Xiao Qiu,” he said His voice sounded dreaood You?
“Also pretty good”
“It’s rare for you to co the ith you?” I asked
“I’ve always been single” He looked at my face “You?”
“That’s a personal question No comment”
I blocked it
It was clear, my words were a blow to hi anything
I didn’t say anything either
He didn’t open his mouth I didn’t open my mouth either We sat there in a deadlock
After a whole hour, we seees and neither said anything
At least, I opened my mouth first, “Li Chuan, why did you coht that I would ask this After long time, he said, “For business”
“Then when do you leave Beijing?”
He thought about it for another long time and added, “When work is completed”
He looked very uncooing to shatter the cup In addition, his face was fir him like this, I felt that if I asked a couple ht there in front of hed and continued, “Then,this time of work, what is the relationshi+p between you and I?”
Friends? Acquaintances? Colleagues? Supervisor and subordinate? Definitely not lovers
“Our relationshi+p is professional
I took a deep breath
Professional relationshi+p
At this tihts were in tur up
After half a ain
I could only open it, “hello?”
“This is Xiao Guan”
“Chief Xiao”
“I went to CGP today Meng Meng said that you went to Wenzhou?”
“Yes”
“An auction event needs to produce a handbook and it just so happens that Tao Xin Ru is sick I’ve already accepted the work Can you help out?I will pay double the translation fee”
“When do you need it by?” I fished out my notebook and looked my the schedule
“Is the end of the month okay?” He said, “You can finish your work in Wenzhou first”
“How es”
“A lot of classical Chinese?”
“All of it”
“Okay”
“Thank you”
I was about to hang up when he unexpectedly said, “Annie, I was being rude last ti and I used to have a complicated relationshi+p”
“I don’t ?”
“Probably after ten days Not sure”
“Remember to let me know I’ll come pick you up at the airport and then treat you to a y”
“There’s no need You are being too polite”
“Annie, have you ever been pursued by a man before?”
I blanked Then, said, “Never”
I was thinking Who actually did the pursuing between Li Chuan and I? I couldn’t figure it out At the beginning, it was definitely o to the er