Vol 1 Chapter 4.3 (1/2)

Illusions, Lies, Truth Volume 1: Human Doll Contract Part One

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)

Chapter 4: Lu Yang Part 3—Qing Wei Gong—translated by Raylight (proofread by Trespa.s.serby; C/E edited by lucathia)

“Umm… Ziya? Ziya?”

Jiang Ziya was in the middle of stocking the books on the bookshelf when he suddenly heard his name. He then automatically turned to look.

A man wearing an ap.r.o.n, with hair in a small ponytail and a pair of golden-framed gla.s.ses on his face, said helplessly, “You have already put that pile of books onto the bookshelves and taken it off numerous times.”

Jiang Ziya froze, and then quickly put the books back on the bookshelves. He said, “I’m sorry, Boss. I was zoning out.”

The person in front of him was the owner of Jiu Ge Bookstore, Fu Taiyi. He asked in concern, “What’s wrong? I seldom see you so absent-minded.”

“Nothing. Maybe I just slept too late yesterday…” Jiang Ziya said, feeling a little guilty. However, it was also the truth. Last night, thinking about the issue with Xiao Xue had made him unable to fall asleep, and he didn’t know how long he had lain there before he had truly fallen asleep.

Taiyi shook his head and sighed, “As a young man, to be this dispirited just from an occasional late-nighter, you’re too weak! Even this old man isn’t that feeble.”

You better be an old man! Jiang Ziya felt his face twitch at that. In truth, he didn’t know how old the boss was. He already had a son who was in elementary school, so logically speaking, he should have some years on him. However, he doesn’t look any older than my brother-in-law. At most, he should only be in his thirties?

In response to this guess, the boss had only said that he was baby-faced but refused to share his age, claiming that hiding one’s age was a man’s romance.

“What’s wrong?” Fu Taiyi’s face softened, and he inquired, “You’re especially quiet today and look a bit off. Come and tell Fu-gēge what’s wrong.”

“… I’m fine.”

Fu Taiyi still had a face of concern and gazed at him with an extremely gentle look. All that was left was for him to say, “If you want to cry, you can come cry in my embrace.”

“I’m really fine!”

“Really?” Fu Taiyi was still a little unwilling to believe him and added on, “You can talk about anything! Especially about complications with the opposite gender. I, Fu-gēge, will be very happy to answer your queries!”

“…” Does Xiao Xue count as a complication with the opposite gender? “There’s no such thing!”

Fu Taiyi sighed and lamented, “You can’t continue on this way, or you’ll end up as an old father!”

“I’m only twenty!”

“That’s exactly when your body is strong and healthy, the best time to have a child!”

Jiang Ziya felt that his boss must have had a screw loose in his head since birth, and that was why he behaved like something was wrong with his head. Even Fu Jun, who was still an elementary school student, behaved more maturely than his father. Jiang Ziya sometimes felt that his boss was actually Fu Jun and not Fu Taiyi.

“Is Lu Yang coming over later today?” Fu Taiyi asked curiously, with a hint of mischief.

Jiang Ziya hesitated before he answered, “I don’t know. He took the day off and didn’t come to school.”

“Is he sick?” Fu Taiyi seemed a bit surprised.

Jiang Ziya paused for a moment. He shouldn’t be, right? He was still fine yesterday.

“You didn’t call and ask?”

Fu Taiyi found it slightly strange, for these two frequently came in and left at the same time. It was almost to the point that he had started worrying whether their relations.h.i.+p was “too good.” If it weren’t for the fact that Lu Yang would take part in group dates from time to time, he would really grab the two for a good lecture.

Jiang Ziya felt a little guilty. When he saw that Lu Yang had not come to cla.s.s, he had heaved a sigh of relief. That was because this way, he wouldn’t have to give an account for when he was going to trick Xiao Xue into coming out. Of course, he didn’t call and ask after him either.

It wasn’t that Jiang Ziya didn’t care about him. He merely felt that he had still been fine last night, and nothing big should have happened within the span of one night. Therefore, he wasn’t very concerned that he had skipped cla.s.s.

But now that the boss had raised his concerns, he too realized that something was off. Although Lu Yang looked like a flirtatious playboy, the truth was that he seldom skipped cla.s.s. Even though his grades weren’t very good, he had never failed a cla.s.s either. It was definitely very strange for him to suddenly skip cla.s.s without any notification in advance.

“I’ll call and ask now.”

Fu Taiyi immediately nodded his head, and Jiang Ziya felt a little helpless at that. Other people’s bosses wouldn’t permit private calls in the middle of work, but his boss would enthusiastically encourage him to do so.

But then again, it was possible that the boss just wanted to get Lu Yang to come and look after the store, so that he could seize the chance to skip out on work.

“No one’s picking up.” Jiang Ziya frowned. He could feel that something was off. For such a severe smartphone-addict like Lu Yang, who could survive without anything as long as he had his phone, how was it possible that the call wouldn’t connect?

“Go over to his house and take a look. I’ll give you a day off!” Fu Taiyi patted his chest and promised, “But on the way back, remember to buy roasted chicken wings from the store that Xiao Dong likes the most.”

Jiang Ziya awkwardly said, “But I’ve never been to his home.”

“You’ve never been there?” Fu Taiyi seemed surprised as he said, “I thought that all that was left for you two to do was to propose.”

Boss, you definitely have more than a screw loose in the head!

“I have Lu Yang’s address, but I don’t know how to get there.”

If it were Lu Yang, he would probably start using the GPS on his phone. Although Jiang Ziya had Fu Jun’s phone, he didn’t know how to use those complicated functions.

“Let me look at the address.”

Jiang Ziya pa.s.sed his own phone to Fu Taiyi, and the latter frowned and said, “Oh, this address looks so familiar. I remember this place seems to be… Sigh, I might as well bring you over. Let’s close the shop first—”

“Wait up! Fu Taiyi.”

The two looked back and saw Fu Jun currently standing at the stairs with his arms folded over his chest. He seemed to be critical as he interrogated, “You’re closing the shop to go where again?”

Fu Taiyi said earnestly, “I heard that Lu Yang didn’t go to school today. I’m so worried for that kid, so I wanted to give Ziya a day off to visit his sick friend.”

Hold on, no one said that Lu Yang is sick, right? Jiang Ziya was torn between laughter and tears as he looked at his own boss.

“But it just so happens that Ziya only knows the address but not how to get there, so I was thinking of spending some time to take him over.”

And then, you definitely won’t come back to open the store! Jiang Ziya was ninety-nine percent sure of that.

Fu Jun evidently was all too aware of that. He glared at his own father and said, “I’ll bring Ziya-gē over. You stay here and man the shop!”

Once he heard that, Fu Taiyi immediately changed his face, like being struck by a bolt out of the blue. He exclaimed, “N-No way! You’re still an elementary school student! How could you go wandering around at night!”

Fu Jun instantly glared at his father when he heard that, and he said, fuming, “Then, what about that time when you asked me to go out by myself to buy roasted chicken wings for your late night snack? So I could wander around at that time?”

Jiang Ziya gazed at his boss with pitiful eyes. To think he even said that it was Xiao Dong’s favorite store, when it was evident that he was the one who wanted to eat it.

No matter how thick-skinned he was, Fu Taiyi couldn’t say that he was going over after that. He could only say grievingly, “Okay then. You go then. When you return, remember to buy the chicken wings.”

Fu Jun nodded his head earnestly and replied, “Okay. You man the store obediently. Don’t run away, and you have to work seriously! If I come back and you haven’t sold a single book or piece of stationery, then I will finish the chicken wings by myself!”

Fu Taiyi’s face looked as though disaster had struck again, and he wailed, “How could you do that? What if there really are no customers? It’s not the weekend today!”

“I don’t care.” Fu Jun raised his chin and said, “If you don’t sell anything, you won’t get your chicken wings!”

Jiang Ziya knew he was right in thinking that the boss of this shop was actually Fu Jun.

“Are you sure this is the place?”

Jiang Ziya felt slightly dazed, his tone extremely uncertain.

Fu Jun said confidently, “Yeah! Taiyi says this is the place. The address on the door plate is correct too. If not, you can take a look yourself.” He pointed at the door plate at the side.

Jiang Ziya had already spotted it, but he was still in disbelief that Lu Yang’s house was actually—

A temple.

No wonder Lu Yang had never invited him over to his home before.

At the front of the temple, a plaque displayed, “Qing Wei Gong.” Jiang Ziya couldn’t tell what kind of temple it was, for he had always been the kind of believer who just picked up incense and started praying, without being able to name the statue of the G.o.d in front of him.

There were few people in the temple at night. Looking in from outside, he could only see a few old men who had moved a few wooden benches and tables to play chess by the wall and a few elderly women sweeping the floor. None of them looked like people who had come to pray.

Jiang Ziya could only force himself to be thick-skinned as he walked into the temple, and the combination of him and an elementary school student like Fu Jun immediately attracted everyone’s attention. Jiang Ziya walked over to the nearest person, an old woman sweeping the floor, and asked, “I am looking for my university cla.s.smate. His name is Lu Yang. May I ask if he lives here?”

The woman looked to be in her seventies or eighties. The moment she heard what Jiang Ziya said, she beamed as she asked, “Are you Xiao Yang’s cla.s.smate?”

Those elders sitting by the wall also stretched their ears, staring even more intently at Jiang Ziya.

Jiang Ziya nodded his head, feeling at a loss as to what to do. He did not have any elders at home, so he was not very good at a.s.sociating with them.

“Granny, may I ask if Lu Yang-gēge is here?”

When the old woman heard that, she was immediately all smiles as she exclaimed, “What an adorable and obedient child! Xiao Yang left for cla.s.s at around nine or so and hasn’t returned yet.”

Jiang Ziya’s face darkened. Lu Yang didn’t go to school at all! So not only did he skip cla.s.s, he even came up with an excuse to deceive his family members?

No, it would have been more likely for Jiang Ziya himself to have done such a thing because Lu Yang unexpectedly enjoyed going to school a lot. Although his results were not considered top-notch, he had already mentioned that his family wasn’t too concerned about his grades. Even attending university was already considered too much of an education and thus unnecessary.

Come to think of it, could the reason he doesn’t need a very good degree be that he’s going to take over the temple?

Thinking about Lu Yang’s mixed-blood looks, along with his fas.h.i.+onable clothes, even if you claimed he was a model, no one would doubt it.For him to become a… What’s it called? An abbot?