Chapter 232 - Additional Chapter 2 (1/2)

Xiao Nian, male, one of Dong Hai City’s most reputed champion managers. Now the artiste under him has finally scored the Best Male Lead Award after losing out for three consecutive years.

That was a wish fulfilled for Xiao Nian, and he had one more thing off his mind.

After the Awards ceremony that night, Pei Zhen was whisked away by Fu Sichen, leaving the bachelor Xiao Nian without company and lonely. Having received a glare from the Big Boss, he hadn’t dared to make any small talk or complain, he could only put on a big smile.

“Big Boss Fu, it’s been a long day for you. Big Boss Fu, take care.”

As Big Boss Fu and Pei Zhen drove away, he could finally let his enthusiasm go to rest.

It was a freezing December, especially at night. It was the sort of cold that seeped into one’s bones.

“Brother, want to go for a drink?” Seeing as it were that Pei Zhen was so stunning tonight, Xiao Nian figured that there was no chance his artiste would make it to work the next day. He was hoping to find company for a drink to warm him up in this freezing weather. “I’ll buy you.”

“Oh.” Wang Youquan stopped for a moment when he realized Xiao Nian was calling out to him. With an embarrassed smile, he said, “Sorry, I have an appointment tonight.”

“What?” Was he yet another one who had secretly gotten hitched when he wasn’t paying attention?

Now whenever Xiao Nian thought about the reassurance that he had given the Director previously, his face would burn.

Pei Zhen was the one with a boyfriend and he, Xiao Nian, was the unmarried man left on the shelf!

“No… nothing.” Wang Youquan stammered, looking quite furtive. “Well… it’s… I’ve got some work to finish…”

“Wang Youquan.” Before Wang Youquan could finish what he was saying, a strong and clear voice came from behind. It sounded familiar.

Xiao Nian turned around and found himself looking straight at a woman.

The woman sported a tidy, short haircut and had an air of decisiveness about her. One look and it was obvious she was the boss. However, when she came face-to-face with Wang Youquan, her expression became unexpectedly bashful.

Xiao Nian knew her through the numerous mentions by Wang Youquan—she was his counterpart, Mrs. Flower.

Well, well, he didn’t think that these two would eventually get involved with each other.

Xiao Nian almost did a wolf-whistle, while Wang Youquan had turned a bright red being subject to Xiao Nian’s mocking looks. Still, Wang Youquan gave a sheepish laugh and walked towards Mrs. Flower.

Out of courtesy, Xiao Nian and Mrs. Flower bantered briefly, Mrs. Flower even politely extended an invitation to Xiao Nian. No matter what, Xiao Nian was an excellent social butterfly, and very tactfully, he declined her invitation.

Keeping his smile throughout, Xiao Nian saw the pair off. By the time they drove away, his face was fatigued from holding the smile. He gave his face a few quick pats and decided to give up on looking for company. He went to the convenience store to buy a couple of bottles, then went home all alone.

Pei Zhen had always been good to Xiao Nian and had never short-changed him pay-wise. At the very least, with that year’s year-end bonus, he had enough money to buy a big house in Dong Hai City.

Currently living in a rented room, Xiao Nian was in the process of house-hunting.

The small district was quiet as it was past midnight, but as he neared his home, Xiao Nian heard a ruckus.

There was a van parked downstairs, and men in uniform going in and out of the building. On a closer look, he realized they were movers.

Moving? In the middle of the night?

Xiao Nian was astounded and silently prayed that the new neighbor wasn’t going to be on the same floor as himself.

Man, they were noisy.

All he wanted to do was to take a shower, have a drink, and go to bed.

“Aye, please wait up.” The workers rushed into the lift just as the lift door was about to shut. “Sorry, please excuse us.”

Xiao Nian nodded and didn’t make things difficult for them. After all, like himself, they were employees and just doing their job. As the lift made its way up, Xiao Nian realized that they hadn’t pushed a lift button.

“Which floor are you going to?”

The workers peered through the stuff they were holding at the lift panel and smiled. “Oh, same as you. How coincidental.”

Xiao Nian was stumped.

Damn it, he thought, the nightmare becomes reality.

But he wasn’t a pushover. If his neighbor really went too far, he’d not be afraid to confront them!

As the lift arrived on their floor and the door opened setting off the chime, Xiao Nian stepped aside to let the workers out. Immediately, he heard a man’s voice. “Is that all there is?”

“Yes, Mr. Ji.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Mr. Ji had a rather pleasant voice, and there was even a familiar ring to it. Out of curiosity, Xiao Nian turned to look at his new neighbor, but the big boxes that the workers were carrying obscured his view.

He only managed to catch a glimpse of the person’s back.

The man was tall and slim and held himself upright. He looked around 185 centimeters. Dressed casually, he lifted a hand to push back a tuft of fine hair, exposing the watch on his wrist.

It was a Patek Philippe.

One could probably purchase an apartment in Dong Hai City for the price of that watch.

Well, a local rich man.

After he had recovered from the surprise, Xiao Nian couldn’t help but wonder if the watch was an imitation.

It seemed like a joke that the rich bloke would choose to live in such a little district. Although the area wasn’t too bad, Xiao Nian felt that it didn’t seem to quite match up to this man’s apparent status.

Not thinking very much more about it, Xiao Nian turned and walked towards his own apartment.

Xiao Nian lived alone.

The apartment was quite spacious and well-equipped. Unlike many men, Xiao Nian kept his space very clean and tidy.

Putting the bottles down on the coffee table, Xiao Nian proceeded to take a shower.

Initially, he thought that it would be a sleepless night, given the noise. Fortunately, the new neighbor was kind and mindful enough that by the time Xiao Nian was out from the shower, the noise from next door had ceased.

Xiao Nian was glad.

Sitting on the floor cross-legged and drying his hair, Xiao Nian opened a bottle of wine and checked his mobile phone. As expected, there was news from the Big Boss.

[Do not schedule any assignments for Pei Zhen these few days]

Without even a punctuation mark, it seemed that the message was typed out in a hurry.

Xiao Nian chuckled mischievously and sent off a “yes-sir” emoticon.

Having settled all work matters, Xiao Nian couldn’t control his urge to log into the online game.

Given, Xiao Nian had a pair of good-looking hands, but they weren’t all that great with the online game.

Subconsciously, Xiao Nian had found his online gaming partner, and there was no need for any courtesy banter. As usual, with just a few quick exchanges, they updated each other.

“My Daddy finally achieved his dream of becoming Best Actor!”

“Best Actor? You’re not talking about Pei Zhen are you?” Xiao Nian’s ‘wife’ immediately replied, “Hahaha, Hubby, don’t tell me you’re his manager?”

Xiao Nian raised an eyebrow. “You don’t believe it?”

“Okay, I do, I do, I do.” The wife posted a series of kisses, trying to convince Xiao Nian that she believed him, but somehow it sounded half-hearted.

Xiao Nian wasn’t angry though. In fact, it was better that she had doubts.

The two went back and forth for a bit, controlling the characters in the game and putting their affections aside. After a while, the wife sent a message to say that she wanted a rest.

“Hubby, I just moved today, and I’m tired. Let’s continue tomorrow. Muacks.”

Xiao Nian was surprised. “Moved?”

“Yes, Hubby… aren’t you working these few days?”

Wondering why she was asking such a question, Xiao Nian answered, “I’m probably resting for the next two or three days.”

Unlike in the past, when she would send text messages, now the wife just sent through a voice message. Xiao Nian stared blankly for a moment, and then quickly clicked on the message.

“That’s great. Then I can meet you online more often these few days.”

What a gentle voice.

It was sweet and soothing.

More importantly, it was unmistakably female.

Immediately, Xiao Nian was happy… hahaha, she was really female, and not some gruff man!

Thinking back, Xiao Nian had been playing the online game with the person for more than half a year. The two practically chatted about everything under the sun, hence no matter what, Xiao Nian would have developed at least some affection for her.

Previously, Pei Zhen had warned him that the other party might be a man pretending to be a woman, and this had caused Xiao Nian to worry somewhat.

Despite the worry, Xiao Nian couldn’t bring himself to investigate for no reason. And because of that, Xiao Nian had been in a conundrum, not daring to take the relationship any further.

But knowing that his gaming partner was indeed female, it was a different story altogether.

“Okay, okay, hurry up and go to bed then, goodnight.”

Xiao Nian sent across a series of kisses and even bought a few sets of outfits to gift her after she had gone offline.

The system prompted that their gaming relationship index had surpassed 99% of all the gamers’, and their relationship was as good as gold. Some of the other gamers rolled their eyes, feeling that the players with unconventional avatar names must be spies appointed by the gaming company.

And it was probably for the sake of motivating the gamers’ urgency to top up their points.

After sending the gifts, Xiao Nian logged off too. Since he didn’t have to work, he took the opportunity to sleep till Noon and was actually woken up by a pounding sound coming from his neighbor.

It was the sound of drumming.

And it was loud.

Xiao Nian impatiently pulled the blanket over his head but, of course, that did nothing to block off the noise.

The drumming didn’t sound awful, but it was disturbing Xiao Nian’s peace, and that annoyed him greatly.

Damn it!

After five minutes of that, Xiao Nian was still unable to fall asleep, and in addition, he was hungry.

Muttering profanities under his breath, Xiao Nian realized that he couldn’t lie in bed anymore. He threw off his blanket and walked out, shuffling along in his bedroom slippers.

Initially, he had wanted to go knock on his neighbor’s door, but remembering how tall the neighbor was and assessing that the guy was probably stronger than himself, he retreated two steps and decided to take a broomstick with him for self-defense.

“Open the door!”

Initially, Xiao Nian was civilized and knocked on the door like a gentleman. But when the knocking went unanswered, he lost patience and started banging on the door with his fist.

Finally, the drumming stopped, followed by the sound of footsteps. Then with a click, the door opened.

The man was dressed casually still and was taller than Xiao Nian had imagined. He looked at Xiao Nian with a half-smile.

He had a handsome face.

His features were distinct, and his almond-shaped eyes were long and deep-set.

“You…” On seeing the man, Xiao Nian was surprised and almost dropped his broomstick. “Why, it’s you…”

“What a coincidence.” The man looked down and saw that Xiao Nian was holding the broomstick. He couldn’t help smiling. “Why are you carrying a broomstick? Are you offering to clean up my apartment?”

“Scram.” The mention of the broom reminded Xiao Nian of his mission. He peered into the apartment, and sure enough, he spotted the drum frame.

“You are so free as to play on the drums first thing in the morning?”

“It’s already Noon,” The man ran a hand through his hair and replied to Xiao Nian, “Did I disturb you? I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were still asleep at this time.”

As he talked, the man reached out and touched Xiao Nian’s hair as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. Xiao Nian jumped at the touch and widened his eyes. Nervously, he took a step backward.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“It was out of place.” The man said without changing his expression, and it was as if he didn’t feel that he had crossed any boundary. “Your hair is very soft.”

Xiao Nian was stumped.

Already having to deal with a gay couple in his life, Xiao Nian felt that this man too, was giving off gay vibes and it made him nervous. He chided the man for being insane.

The man continued to smile and didn’t seem angry. Suddenly he asked, “Can you cook?”

“Yes…” Xiao Nian answered. Of course, he had to know how to cook, having to look after the lazy Pei Zhen. But what had that got to do with the man and why was he asking such a question?

“Fate has it that we meet again—and you’ve even seen my birdie.” The man looked over Xiao Nian’s shoulder towards the corridor. “You’re staying next door? To celebrate this coincidence, can I have a meal at your place?”

Xiao Nian wanted him to scram.

What, seen his birdie? It wasn’t as if he asked to see it!

That’s right, he was the man Pei Zhen and Xiao Nian ran into at the little lane, when they were trying to get to Fu Sichen on their yellow rented bicycles.

While Xiao Nian didn’t remember the man’s name, he did remember he had the surname Ji.

Xiao Nian was annoyed. Although they were men and it was really nothing to see another man naked, the Li guy made it seem as though Xiao Nian owed him. It was this attitude that Xiao Nian found irritating.

“Are you still angry?” The man seemed to have an idea what Xiao Nian was angry over, and smiled again. “Alright, I was just kidding the last time. You can look, even if you want to watch me naked in the future, feel free.”

“Who the hell wants to look.” Xiao Nian was amazed at this man’s audacity and was tempted to give him the middle finger. Not wishing to stay a second longer, Xiao Nian turned and started to walk back to his own apartment. “Damn it, what sort of ill-fate is this.”

If only the new neighbor was his ‘wife’, it would’ve been perfect. But alas, it had to be such a dreadful man.

Giant pig’s hoof!

“Hey.” seeing that Xiao Nian was leaving, the man quickly followed, he even sounded a little grieved. “Are you not even going to try being friends, given that we’re fated to run into each other? Besides, I even lent you and your manager my motorbike.”

“Oh, thank you then.” Xiao Nian already had his hand on the doorknob, and his reply was quite icy. “No need to be friends. Just remember not to disturb me, we can be good neighbors to each other.

“Okay, I apologize for the drumming.” Seeing that Xiao Nian was about to shut the door after he got in, the man took a step forward and reached out with a hand to stop the door. “In that case let’s start from being neighbors. Neighbor, will you cook for me, just as a gesture of hospitality and welcome?”

Xiao Nian was quite sure the man was a complete looney.

Not able to contain his annoyance any further, Xiao Nian stuck out his middle finger at the man, hoping that he’d get the hint and leave. However, the man then used brute force and squeezed himself past the entrance and into Xiao Nian’s apartment.

“I haven’t had anything to eat since last night; I didn’t have breakfast this morning, and it’s past Noon now.”

He looked quite pitiful.

How could a grown man put on such a pitiful look, Xiao Nian failed to understand. It really didn’t go with his good looks.

“Takeout.” Xiao Nian ripped off the advertising flyer stuck on the back of his door, and shoved it at the man, mercilessly expressing his desire for the man to go away. “Move your precious fingers and call for takeout. They’ll deliver it in under half an hour.

“No way. I want home-cooked food.”

What the hell?

Xiao Nian found it unbelievable—it was only the second time he’d ever seen the man. Even when they returned the motorbike, it was the assistant who did it. How shameless could the man get, to dare ask for a meal?

“Just to re-introduce myself, my name is Ji Yuanqi.” Obviously afraid of being asked to go, the handsome man removed his shoes and entered the apartment. “You can call me Yuanqi.”

Ji Yuanqi…

The name rang a familiar bell, but at that moment, Xiao Nian couldn’t recall where he’d heard it.

In addition, Xiao Nian was irritated by how Ji Yuanqi was making himself at home. It would have been insanity to address Ji Yuanqi on such familiar terms to further encourage his behavior.

Ji Yuanqi was really quite shameless, and Xiao Nian wasn’t able to shoo him away. Besides, the moment Xiao Nian shamed him, he’d put on a pitiful look. “Do a good deed every day, and just treat it as though you’re rescuing a beautiful youth.”

Beautiful youth…?

What utter rubbish!

Although the man was quite young, Xiao Nian was willing to bet his life that he was at least 23 or 24.

How would anyone over the age of 18 still qualify as a youth?!

“Just one meal.” Ji Yuanqi wore branded clothes, and it didn’t really look like he was out to fleece anyone. Anyway, Xiao Nian didn’t feel that he had much to lose. “For the sake of the help you rendered Pei Zhen and me previously.”

“Fine, fine.” The moment Xiao Nian cut him some slack, the pitiful expression on Ji Yuanqi’s face immediately disappeared, and he walked towards the kitchen as though it was his own home. “I’ll be your assistant.”

Although Xiao Nian’s culinary skills were nothing to boast about, he was able to cook a few common dishes.

Very quickly, Xiao Nian whipped up a few dishes and a soup, and Ji Yuanqi ate till he was satisfied. He didn’t stop praising Xiao Nian’s culinary skills throughout. The Fairy Girl Xiao initially tried to remain aloof, but Ji Yuanqi had such a glib tongue that he couldn’t resist all the flattery.

After the meal, Ji Yuanqi cleared the table automatically without needing Xiao Nian to lift a finger. Then, he made some freshly squeezed fruit juice for Xiao Nian, using ingredients available at home, pleasing Xiao Nian greatly.

“You’re not working today?” The smart man that this Ji Yuanqi was, he had managed to turn around Xiao Nian’s opinion of him within one meal. Then, he sat down and turned on the television, switching to Xiao Nian’s favorite shows. “Congratulations, now you’re the manager of the Best Actor.”

Xiao Nian didn’t notice anything strange. He drank the fruit juice and shut his eyes in contentment. “I’m just lucky.”

“Says who? Obviously, it’s because you’re smart.”

Ji Yuanqi had a glib tongue indeed and knew exactly what to say to flatter people. Xiao Nian waved his hand humbly and couldn’t help but look pleased. His eyes were sparkling with delight.