Assistant Architect

Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling

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Zhang Siyi's first reaction was wrong, but he received several repetitivegood news.

Bi Lele: “Fourth Aunt!! We won the BID!!!

Zhang Siyi shocked: “What!? No Way!!”

To make sure he didn't read wrong, Zhang Siyi almost put his eyes on hisphone's screen. But how is that possible? Wasn't the last spot decided internally?Is Bi Lele just joking?

Bi Lele made an angry expression: “What is with your reaction!?”

Sweating with cramping fingers, Zhang Siyi nervously explained himself:“I heard the bidding was decided internally for the Design Institute andwe were there only to accompany them."

Bi Lele: “What!? I didn't know!"

Zhang Siyi: “Well, while using the restroom,I inadvertently heard the Chief and Boss chat. Only I knew about it at the time,but since the bidding is finished, it should be fine.”

Being the company's gossip monger, Bi Lele wasupset at not being in-the-know. Hearing that the least likely person withinsider information knew more than she did, she felt insulted. However, shequickly disregarded these feelings: "Shit, I'll get to the bottom of this!"

Zhang Siyi: “Hey, wait, so is it true? Youmust answer me first!” Bi Lele did not respond for a long time. Zhang Siyiwas anxious, and he held the mobile phone up and stared at it. Is this reality?Did they drop all the internal propositions? This is a shock reversal Ah!

If this is true, Zhang Siyi simply can’t imaginethe mood of Gu YU now! Does he also feel elated? Or does he think this outcomewas expected? Is he worried it is a short scam?

It was not until more than an hour later that BiLele replied to Zhang Siyi: “I just asked the boss. Gu Yu also said thatit wasn't clear what happened. It's very confusing, but they made us accept thebid. It appears that the decision makers and the people from the DesignInstitute were in a dispute from the beginning. We were the last firm topresent our proposal. Including questions and answers, the group took forty-fiveminutes and the panel voted 5-2 in our favor to move forward with a plan. Allthe companies present have waited for an outcome with a unanimous vote, butit's not going to change now. The other companies are coming to congratulate usso it's too late for the government to make a comeback."

Zhang Siyi asked: “Was the other plan also aflower design?"

Bi Lele: “The bidding presentations arerelatively confidential. We don’t know what each have presented. I only knowthat the boss is very handsome today. You didn’t see how persuasive he was whenhe reported it. He quoted all kinds of things. He didn't hesitate to answer anyquestions asked. Every time I go out with the boss, I learn something new andfall in love with architecture all over again."

Zhang Siyi was surprised by Bi Lele’s words. Hereally wished he could be there.

Being on the receiving end, Zhang Siyi has longsince known how well Gu Yu speaks. He could have killed a man in one sentence.On the other hand, if that skill had been used in a persuasive speech, evenZhang Si Yi can imagine how attractive he must be.

Bi Lele: “He is so imposing when he isdetermined. I think he’s getting more handsome! Ah, I decided! I'm going followthe boss for the rest of my life!!!"

Zhang Siyi: “…”

Bi Lele continued to report: “When we waitedfor the results, we talked with a firm from Hangzhou. We saw each other’splans. They were full of praise and thought our plan was very strong. At thattime, we guessed that we might have a chance to win the bid. We didn't see it asluck, but real skill. Maybe the Design Institute has a prestigious name, but wearen't fools at Borderless. Its sure clear who is good and who is bad. Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Zhang Siyi was also infected by the other party’soptimism. He was excited: “What are you doing now? When are you going backto Haicheng?” He couldn’t wait to see this group of friends and wanted tohug them together to celebrate the result!

Bi Lele: "We are at the hotel now. It was sotense for the last few days, now everyone is so tired. Boss said that there isno hurry, so we are taking a few days off."

Alright! Alright! Zhang Siyi happily withdrewfrom the conversation. Lying on his bed he suddenly hugged his quilt and rolledaround in his bed for a while happily. So cool! The sense of accomplishment hefeels right now from working so hard is greater than all his 23 years of life.So Happy!

When it was very late that day, Zhang Siyireceived a reply from Gu Yu: “Thank you, I haven’t watched my mobilephone. Bi Lele has already told you about the result?”

The tone in Gu Yu message is very polite andZhang Siyi's heart sank. He feels an indescribable amount of guilt andimmediately returned the message: “I am sorry about before. I didn't thinkthis outcome was possible. I was too narrowminded. I was wrong."

If Gu Yu, as the Chief said, only let them do70-80% of their best, or tell them the result of the decision very early, maybethere will be no result today.

After a few minutes, Gu Yu replied: “You arenot wrong. I also thought about what you said and reflected on some issues. Everyoneworks with different values and intensity. I should not sacrifice you tosatisfy my own determination. Today’s result is also beyond my expectation, andprobably the next time we will not be so lucky.”

Seeing Gu Yu's explanation, Zhang Siyi was notrelieved and felt even more uncomfortable. He would rather have Gu Yu give hima hard scolding or accuse him as harshly as before. He didn't want Gu Yu toturn him away coldly with indifference.

“I’m sorry, I was wrong.” Zhang Siyidid not know what to do, and he was anxious to send a cartoon crying emoji.

Gu Yu: “…”

Zhang Siyi: “Forgive me! [Cry]]

Gu Yu was silent for a while then a new messageappeared: “You'll get less bonus.”

Zhang Siyi: “… Don’t!!! "…You can’t playcards like this! It's no fair!

Gu Yu: “Oh? You don’t seem to be afraid ofme.”

Zhang Siyi: “…”

Gu Yu: “…becoming so insolent and dare tosay anything in front of me.”

Zhang Siyi: “……”

Indeed, Gu Yu is the boss and he is a subordinate.Zhang Siyi has a cheerful disposition and is usually a very easy person to getalong with. In the beginning there was distance between them but now they havespent two months working overtime together as well as time spent on thebusiness trip together. There is so much between them that when he was beingserious it was like a test of his jubilant character.

Zhang Siyi narrowed his eyes and sent a little cryingfox emoji that had large puppy-dog-eyes to Gu Yu. He doesn't know how he willreact to such cute expressions. Since its through WeChat, there is less senseof distance, so he is pushing Gu Yu's bottom line.

Unexpectedly Gu Yu wrote: “Do you talk toother people like this? … send a bunch of expressions for little girls?"

Zhang Siyi: “…”

Gu Yu: “What are you, a shemale?"

Zhang Siyi: “………” Damn it!

Gu Yu's poisonous tongue strikes again. Normallyone would get mad being insulted, but Zhang Siyi felt better and then thought,is he a masochist?

The next day, Zhang Siyi asked Bi Lele if theyshould create a WeChat group for office friends. Bi Lele liked this idea: “Yesterday,I sent the good news to everyone and after saying it seven or eight times, Iwas exhausted!”

Zhang Siyi’s eyes twitched: “You neverthought about building a WeChat group?”

Bi Lele: “I really didn’t think about it. Iusually have a lot of work. Everyone has no time to chat. If there is anythingin private, for example, if you have to work overtime, it is more convenient tomake a phone call.”

Zhang Siyi suddenly realized: no wonder thisbunch of zero-social workaholics will follow Gu Yu.

After a while, Bi Lele ask Zhang Siyi for help:“Shit! it’s too complicated, I don’t know how to do it. I'll send you allthe info, so you can set it up.”

Zhang Siyi is speechless: So… a designer able touse picture editing software can't master a WeChat group?

He first put his colleagues’ mobile phones intothe address book one by one, and then searched them in WeChat. The number was added,and everyone was registered. In less than half an hour he organized the group"Borderless Forbidden City Team".

Ji Feiyu was the first to open his mouth in thegroup. His nickname was very incompatible with his age and his temperament as agroup leader.

Chicken wings: “Eh?! Who did this?! Hell,yeah!"

Lele: “Fourth Aunt created it!"

Honesty: “So cool……"

Tai Cheng: “Awesome …"

Is it awesome to have a WeChat group? Zhang Siyi scratcheshis head. Have these people lived in the 1980s before?

Pig: “Have we organized this in private? ~o(n_n)o~”

Lele: “How do you make such good faces. Minelooks dead.”

Pig: “I just wanted to experiment with thetext input functions. (>__lt;)”

Zhang Siyi: “Hey, you add him, the mobilephone number on his business card.”

Du Rui: “I have added it before and I havebeen ignored.”

Zhang Siyi: “…”

Du Rui: “I thought his WeChat didn’t workfor people. Hey, he really is different for you!”

Zhang Siyi is a little embarrassed, quickly said:"I don't think so. Maybe he didn't see. I'll send him your WeChat card and askhim to add you?"

Du Rui: “well, I’m afraid if he refused thatwould be even more embarrassing, thank you." Zhang Siyi did not know how to sayit. He always felt that Du Rui's secret love was a bit pitiful.

Just when Zhang Siyi started believing theremight be something special between himself and Gu Yu, the rug was pulled outfrom underneath. That night Bi Lele posted a few photos in the new group:“The boss asked us out to eat sand tea noodles! It’s so good!”

He was scrolling through the photos Bi Leleposted in the group. They were inside the sand tea noodle restaurant that Gu Yutook him to earlier. Ji Feiyu and Yuan Zhicheng were both there and the twowere immersed in eating. In one photo, Gu Yu looked at Yuan Zhicheng with asmile like he had when Zhang Siyi was there. In another photo Gu Yu looked amused.Even in the dim light of the restaurant you could not mistake Gu Yu bright eyesand handsome face. Everyone in the chat group said they were so envious. ZhangSiyi scrolled through the photos several times. He didn't feel envious so muchas he just felt empty. He didn't know why he felt so uncomfortable.

There are still three or four days of vacationleft. Since Zhang Siyi is idle, he planned to go home and visit family.

His hometown of Ningcheng is very close toHaicheng. Its only three hours away on the high-speed train. Recently, with somany hours of overtime, he has rarely called his family. The day beforeyesterday his mother sent him a message complaining of his absence. It has beenhalf a year since coming back to China. Even though Zhang Siyi didn’t want tosee his father, he knows it is an appropriate time to go home and visitrelatives.

With his credit card approval and the bonus fromhis company's bid, Zhang Siyi spent a lot of money buying a bunch of Haichengspecialties and brought them home for his parents.

When his mother learned of Zhang Siyi returnhome, his mother personally came to pick him up at the station. When she sawhim at the station with his bags of things, she teared up feeling both happyand heartache.

"Your cranky father wouldn't come pick you up. Hesaid to let you exercise…. He has become so bitter." Zhang Mother rubbed hishead: "Mom was really busy recently, so I didn't have time to visit. Takeadvantage of the supplements at home these days."

Looking him over she said: “How can you beso thin?” Zhang Si Yi can't stand his mother fussing over him. Hereluctantly waved her away while also enjoying the maternal love.

In fact, the station is not far from home, and ittook twenty minutes to drive. Mama Zhang also bought a box of KFC’s colonelchicken on the road, letting him pad the stomach.

Zhang Siyi said: “When you are havingdinner, how can you still buy this for me?

Mother Zhang smiled: “This is your favoritefood before. I am against you to eat junk food, but one or two times isnothing.”

Zhang Siyi sighed inwardly. How long ago did helike this thing; fried chicken and fries. Besides having lived in England for aseveral years, he tired of eating it. His mother saw him only eat one chickenpiece and hurriedly said, "Why don’t you finish eating it! Hurry and eat it,your father will know!” They each took two pieces and gobbled them down.

At home, Zhang Siyi saw the nanny setting the table early with a variety of seafood. It looked sumptuous. His father was sitting on the mahogany sofa in the living room, reading the newspaper. When he heard the door ring, his eyes looked up then closed the newspaper and said without affection: “Back? Let’s eat."

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