Chapter 138: Vulnerability (1/2)

For Gu Yu, it is not his body that supports him at this time, but his sheer willpower. Over the years, there was almost no one who could break his stubbornness, until today. When he heard the fool firmly saying he was taking him to the hospital, Gu Yu’s wall finally cracked.

Sitting in the backseat of the taxi and after thoroughly explaining the follow-up work over the phone, Gu Yu closed his eyes. He continually held Zhang Siyi’s hand tightly as if Zhang Siyi was his source of strength.

At the nearest hospital, Zhang Siyi registered Gu Yu, filled out the necessary paperwork for him than took him to the waiting area. He also accompanied him into the room while the doctor evaluated his condition, drew blood, and gave him an IV of fluids.

For the first time, Gu Yu discovered that his ‘little apprentice’ was also a man who he could rely on. The feeling of relying on another wasn’t as difficult as he imagined.

Sitting alongside Gu Yu’s hospital bed, he watched the Doctor take his temperature. When he saw the digital thermometer beep at the final temp Zhang Siyi glared at Gu Yu with exaggeration and exclaimed: “39.8°C! (103.6°F). In middle school, I remember being dizzy with a fever of 39.2 (102.6). What were you thinking all day with your current condition!? Aren’t you afraid of frying your brain!?”

With a hoarse voice, Gu Yu weakly defended himself: “This morning my temperature wasn’t so high. Only now after vomiting did it feel worse.”

Zhang Siyi gritted his teeth and said: “I blame it all on that damn Li! You told him you weren’t able to drink alcohol today, but he still made you drink anyway!”

Gu Yu sighed and said: “If this were another occasion, I wouldn’t drink with him.”

Knowing Gu Yu who can easily takes advantage of any situation because of his normal black belly, poison tongue character, it seemed like an unusual comment coming from him. Gu Yu isn’t accustomed to making compromises. Wondering what he meant, Zhang Siyi questioned: “Then why did you still drink with him?”

Gu Yu answered him: “You performed very well this morning.”

Zhang Siyi is quite happy to hear Gu Yu’s approval, but what does this have to do with drinking? Is Gu Yu happy to drink with Li? Wait, no! “You…. You did it for me?” Zhang Siyi asked with wide eyes.

Gu Yu’s faint smile answered Zhang Siyi.

Feeling anxious, Zhang Siyi hurriedly said: “Why!”

Watching Zhang Siyi closely, Gu Yu saw his frantic expression. He grabbed his hand, squeezed it and explained in a low voice: ”Siyi, this morning’s presentation was very good, but the contract wasn’t signed so you don’t really know what will happen once they leave the conference room. I have seen many young architects with good ideas and designs but loose a contract after the fact. You must maintain your relationships at the dinner table because it can directly affect the signing of a contract.”

Gu Yu paused and coughed twice then continued: “If it’s my own project, I wouldn’t drink with just anyone under similar conditions, but Party A isn’t the same since we are friends. It’s only customary to maintain basic respect between us and follow along.”

Zhang Siyi nodded.

Gu Yu added: “You are taking notes and drawing in your journal every day in order to be like me. Then I will only say this to you: Siyi, we strive for excellence in order to maintain our freedom to design. On the road of architecture, you will slowly understand that the hardest part is not the name and profit, but the freedom to do as you please and design whatever you want.”

Zhang Siyi: “…… Hmm.”

Contradicting himself, Gu Yu said: “But the world is not so ideal and as a result, sometimes we have to learn to compromise. Just like Tao Fei had to do with his design for the High-Rise commercial building. Do you remember Chiang? Do you know why he give up architecture to open a restaurant?”

Zhang Siyi: “Not for feelings?”

Gu Yu: “It was not simply for feelings, but because he wasn’t able to make any concessions. He treats his designs with more stubbornness then Tao Fei and as a result, refused to make any changes large or small. In the end, you can’t survive in the industry without some compromises.”