Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight: Twists and Turns II (2/2)

There were people moving around them. Xiao Yu did not think much of it as he went to the basement with Lin Zhou.

……

“One glass of Vodka please.”

Lin Zhou took a step towards the bar first before he turned to look at Xiao Yu. “What do you want to drink? My treat.”

“I’m not drinking. Give me a glass of water.”

“There’s no plain water here. A glass of liquor won’t get you drunk.”

Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment before replying, “Then give me a glass of Blue Hawaii.”

He was not afraid of getting drunk, but he could transform if he had too much liquor. Thankfully, he had done that experiment before and could prevent it from happening so long as he controlled his alcohol intake. Plus, as long as he did not get so drunk that he would pass out, he would notice the signs before the transformation happened, hide at a place with nobody there like the toilet beforehand, and wait for the time to pass.

Xiao Yu knew that it was hard to explain if he did not have a drink at this place, so he had a countermeasure for dealing with such a situation accordingly.

“That’s a lady’s drink,” Lin Zhou mocked. “You were not like this in the past.”

“….. What do you have to say exactly?”

For a moment, Xiao Yu was in a trance. Perhaps it was the room with flickering lights that made it seemed unreal. It was as if they were still close friends who told each other everything and called themselves brothers.

Too bad, things were not the same anymore.

Lin Zhou took a sip of his vodka and suddenly said, “I have always hated you.”

“……What?”

“I have always hated you,” Lin Zhou repeated. It was not considered to be an insult, but it was a switch that opened their past.

“I noticed you the year you entered the school. It was obvious that you weren’t from our major, yet you always attended our classes. Forget about the year one classes, you even attended year four classes. I did reflect it to the lecturers, but for some reason, that inflexible and solemn professor who was stern to everyone was full of praises when it comes to you. In the end, it was also him who introduced you to that guru. Hah. There were so many students who wanted to be a student of that guru. But, it just had to be you, the person who knows nothing, the person who didn’t even know what it meant to be a student of that guru.”

Xiao Yu did not know how to interrupt. Although this was not what he wanted to know, he still chose to continue listening.

Lin Zhou asked for another glass of liquor and continued speaking. “Then, I continued studying for my master’s degree. In the second year when I went for an overseas exchange, I met you.”

“I didn’t have any impression…”

“You guys were conducting a speech at S University in country M. Even the hall that could hold two hundred people could not contain all of us. There were even students standing along the corridors. I was late five minutes and could only find a spot outside the window to listen.” Lin Zhou ridiculed himself. “You were so dazzling, much more dazzling than your teacher whose health was declining rapidly. Everyone outside the hall were all discussing that young and handsome designer. The exchange student that came with me asked if you were that junior who was very close with me. I told him he got the wrong person.”

“My teacher was a specially invited professor for that university. He would always go there to make a speech every year. I just happened to be tagging along and simply helped him to put the slides on…”

“Which is why I hated you.” Lin Zhou slammed the glass onto the bar top. Under the influence of the alcohol, his eyes were bloodshot. “You have always been a person who had overwhelming talents, yet you never realized it. It was as if everyone owed it to you in this world and you could easily take away things that we were all fighting so badly for. Yet, you still think that you’re only a normal person who was more hardworking than others.”

Xiao Yu widened his mouth in shock, as he could not find his words.

“I initially planned to stay overseas for work and even got an offer. But, in the end, I still came back. Do you know why?” Lin Zhou laughed in a low voice: “Because I didn’t want to see you ever again. A place where there’s you, there will never be opportunities for others to shine themselves.”

“But, of all people, you came back. Of all places, you chose SI… I joined the company earlier than you and I have higher academic qualifications than you. I’ve brought in so many profits for the company, but it was useless. With a real talent around, the hard work of the mortals was just a useless struggle. Even if we struggled till the end, we could never succeed. We were like clowns dancing in front of a king, and we could never attract more attention than the dazzling sight of the crown. Clown and Crown. Diamond and Zircon. That’s probably what our relationship was like.”

Lin Zhou let out a long sigh. “I always thought that I was different from the rest. My teacher once told me that I was the most outstanding student he had ever taught. That was what I thought as well. Until I met you. Even if you were just a new student from the other school who attended our classes for free, I knew that you would be the wall that I could never overcome for the rest of my life.”

Xiao Yu looked at Lin Zhou as he spat his words. “Because of that bell I gave Yan Jin?’

Lin Zhou’s eyes widened in shock. “You knew, you already knew?”

“I only found out recently.” Xiao Yu gulped down the glass of drink in his hand and set it aside.

Lin Zhou let out a laugh that was hard to understand and finished his drink as well. “At first, I only wanted to snatch the title of chief designer from you. I couldn’t win against you openly, so I choose to steal your drafts. But too bad I failed. No matter what I did, I could not win against you, not even once!”

Lin Zhou suddenly turned aggressive and pushed all the glasses on the bar top onto the floor.

The glasses hit the floor and shattered into smithereens.

The bar was playing deafeningly loud music and created a perfect cover for the loud commotion at the corner. There were people still dancing on the floor, enjoying themselves. The bartender paused for a moment before he continued wiping the glass in his hand as if he had never noticed.

Xiao Yu was frightened by the sudden movement and subconsciously got up from his seat and moved away.

Lin Zhou got up as well and he spoke. This time, his voice was very soft, but his smile was almost deranged.

“That’s why I tampered with your car. It’s a miracle you came back alive.”

Translator’s Note:

双喜临门 – Two simultaneous happy events in the family

步步高升 – To rise steadily

招财进宝 – Ushering in wealth and prosperity

柳暗花明 – The light at the end of the tunnel

峰回路转 – Twisting and turning (of a mountain road) or fig. An opportunity has come unexpectedly (The title of chapter 127-129 was also named ‘峰回路转’, which I translated as ‘Twists and Turns’.

P.s. We got a new assistant translator for RIAH! Hehe, you can expect more chapter release soon! -iamfeiiii