Assistant Architect

Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling

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Learning about his new living conditions,Zhang Siyi was caught off guard. His emotions are one huge roller coaster rideand doesn't know what to do. He has his own reservations about his currentsituation; two men and a dog. If not for Fu Xinhui's conflict with his family,maybe Zhang Siyi would have said something, but now witnessing Fu Xinhuiaffectionate interactions with the puppy, he can't say anything. Fu Xinhuilooks like a father holding his newborn baby!

As one of the important members of thisfamily of three, Zhang Siyi feels like now, there is no way he could completelyintegrate into this warm and intimate atmosphere; there is something not quiteright. (=////=)

Despite wanting to laugh at Fu Xinhui fordoing something so foolish, Zhang Siyi was happy for him. He asked: "The dog'sname is Cheer-Up?"

Zhang Siyi put down the roast goose andkept the proper distance from him. He doesn’t hate small animals, but he can’tsay he likes them very much. On the contrary, he is a little afraid. A dog islike a loyal magical creature, but adorable isn't a word he would use todescribe them.

One winter when he was a child, Zhang Siyiwent to his grandfather’s house over school vacation to play. There, hisGrandpa had a German Shepperd that was a retired police dog. Once, Grandmashaved the meat from a pig's leg bone and let the house staff take the bones tothe dog. Seeing Zhang Siyi curious attitude, the staff took him with them tofeed the dog. Zhang Siyi really liked the looks of the dog, especially when thedog would sit down in front of him in attention. Like a bronze dog statue, hefelt the dog looked majestic. The staff member gave the bone to Zhang Siyi andmotioned to him with his arm how to throw it to the dog. The dog suddenlysprang up, opened his jaws wide and snatched the bone as it was tossed. At thatmoment, all Zhang Siyi could think of was how easy it would be for the dog toswallow his own life! Since then, Zhang Siyi has respected and feared dogs. Hecan imagine even a small puppy will have a fierce appearance when grown.

Fu Xinhui smiled and hugged the littlepuppy: "I think the name is very meaningful. The dog will remind me to look atthe brighter side of things every time I see him. I just came back from the petshop and he peed, so I gave him a bath."

After using the hair dryer, Fu Xinhui saw ZhangSiyi on the side, so he stuffed the dog into his arms and said: “You playwith him for a while. I will pack up things."

Holding the dog out, Zhang Siyi stared atit with his eyes while the dog stared at Zhang Siyi. Maybe because he was atthe deli selecting a goose that the dog suddenly lowered its head and stuck outhis long tongue to lick the back of Zhang Siyi hand.

“Fuck! It licked me!” Inresponse Zhang Siyi retracted his hand quickly as if the dog was doingsomething hostile.

Fu Xinhui looked at him and laughed:“Hey, hey, the dog is showing you that he likes you."

Zhang Siyi: “…”

Fu Xinhui took the hair dryer and turnedto the kitchen. “You bought a roast goose? Perfect! I'll cook some greenvegetables and rice to go with it."

Such a life really has a subtle sense of livingin a fantasy. (=_=)

Well, the only thing that is not right isthat he and Fu Xinhui will become more and more gay in the eyes of outsiders.Even Zhang Siyi can’t help but think that if they live together and have nogirlfriends, will they really get together?

However, once this thought appeared inZhang Siyi's mind, he immediately dismissed it without question. Idiot! Don’tbe influenced by the vision of outsiders. Although the world is similar,straight men are straight men, and brothers can never become lovers.

To cultivate a moment of affection, ZhangSiyi held the puppy gently for a few minutes, then carefully put it on theground. He stared at it for a while to confirm that the dog is not threateningthan slowly walked away to the bathroom to wash his hands.

Unsurprisingly, as he walked the dog alsofollowed. Zhang Siyi turned around: "Don't come to the bathroom to play!"

Cheer-Up crooked his head to the side thensquat down.

Zhang Siyi thought it understood. Maybethis kind of dog isn't so bad. After washing his hands, he felt something underhis foot when he turned around to leave the room. Even though he just steppedon the dog paw, the dog was still at his feet. With a surprised "yelp" the doglooked up at Zhang Siyi with tearful eyes, seemingly accusing him of beingcareless.

Zhang Siyi: "……"

Zhang Siyi said without words: “Youare not my dog! Why are you following me!” He then pointed to Fu Xinhui inthe kitchen: "The person you need to cheer up is that person! Stop followingme, ok?"

Cheer-Up seems to understand him for twoseconds then abruptly collapsed on the feet of Zhang Siyi. He looked up withhis puppy dog eyes as if to say: "Hey, I fell. I want you to pet me before Iget up. “

Zhang Siyi："…………"

After cooking the food Fu Xinhui came overto see Zhang Siyi sitting cross-legged on the carpet in the living room withthe puppy between his legs. As he greeted Zhang Siyi for dinner, he said,“Well, this little thing is pretty cute, isn’t it?"

Zhang Siyi thought: "Cute my ass. It’s soclingy!"

When the two were eating, the puppy lookedat them from the side of the table with a languid look of “please give mesomething to eat”. From time to time, the puppy vocalized a 'whining' hum.

Zhang Siyi said softly: “Has it eatensomething?”

Fu Xinhui looked at the dog and ignoredhim: “I have already fed it when I came back. Don’t worry about it. Thedog is like this. Even if he is full, it will look at you while you are eating.They are a creature dominated by food.”

Zhang Siyi: “…” is not used toit!

Fu Xinhui added: “A large dog growsvery fast just like a newborn child. Today it's very small, but in three monthsit will be very big. He will eat a large pot of dog food every day and this isa male dog. He may hold your leg in his male estrus time and rub…."

Zhang Siyi's mouth twitched and felt thatFu Xinhui would continue in an increasingly eccentric direction of conversation,so Zhang Siyi interrupted: "What about your own affairs?"

Fu Xinhui replied unenthusiastically:“The situation in my family is a bit complicated. Since my sister isgetting married next march, I can’t break with them now. They have no time totake care of me, so I am still free.”

Fu Xinhui paused and continued: "I thoughtabout what you said. I have such a good resource, I need to make use of it. Ineed to be as strong as possible and look for opportunities to propel meforward towards self-reliance. Once that is achieved, they will be irrelevant."

“Well, come on!” Seeing FuXinhui like this, Zhang Siyi is more assured.

That night, Zhang Siyi gave the nextquarter’s rent to Fu Xinhui. Also, he paid more than 14,000 towards his creditcards. In a blink of an eye, the bonuses and wages were spent. Looking at thepathetic balance in his account, Zhang Siyi stared blankly. WTF! Why is he outof money so fast?! (#°д°)

After one day of having money, Zhang Siyiwoke up and became poor. Feeling the pressures of life, he got up early to goto work.

After calculating his own expenses on thesubway, Zhang Siyi felt that it wouldn't be possible to continue in this way. Itis absolutely impossible for his character to save money. If he expects thebasic salary to live, he will one day be killed by himself.

For a fleeting moment, Zhang Siyi felt thepower of the bonus. He tuned his eyes inward and thought. Yes, I must be moreinvolved in big projects. Big projects will earn more bonuses. This is the onlyway to move forward!

However, it has been almost two monthssince the end of the Z-City project. Gu Yu has never let him participate inother things. He is still drawing parking lots and other miscellaneous things.

After the Z-City project bid, Bi Lele andZhu Hongzhen went with Gu Yu to Qingdao for a hotel project. Zhang Siyi was so envious.He sighed. In order to eat well, is it necessary to please Gu Yu? Feeling likeGu Yu was still angry at him for the incident with his cactus, he felt that hisfuture was grim.

When he arrived at the company, Zhang Siyiheard several female colleagues talking excitedly together about Gu’s birthday.

He remembered that Gu Yu's birthday was inJanuary, but he doesn't recall the day. Looking around the room, he spotted BiLele and went over to ask. She told him it was in two days.

The female colleagues are all discussing whatgift to give Gu Yu, but Zhang Siyi remembers Xu Jia saying that Gu Yu neveraccepts other people’s birthday gifts. The girls joked with one another:

“Oh, let’s get together and buy somethign,so he won’t refuse it?” Someone suggested.

“Like flowers.” Said another.

“Is it okay to buy a bunch of flowers?”

“If you want to buy a bunch offlowers, you can do it.”

“Hey, it doesn’t seem to be a goodidea to buy flowers for a male boss? What type of flowers to send? Carnations?Roses? Oh, it’s better to send chocolates!”

Listening to his colleagues chattingaround the room, Zhang Siyi didn't realize how popular Gu Yu was even though hehad such a bad character. He didn't know why he started feeling irritated andhis mood turned sour.

Just then, someone suddenly said:“Would you like to ask Four? Maybe he knows what Director Gu likes!”

Zhang Siyi: “…” Why ask me!?How would I know!?

The group of female colleagues surroundedhim and whispered: “Eh, you and Boss are more familiar with each other.Does he have any hobbies?"

Zhang Siyi tried to think about it andwasn’t sure: “Uh, cactus?"

Female colleagues: “…”

Zhang Siyi put up his index finger andsaid: “The variety that he raised in the company is called Jin Sheng Wan."

Xu Jia: “But he already has a pottedcactus. There wouldn't be anything special about it.”

"There are many varieties of cactus. JinSheng Wan is one of the cheapest kinds. You can give special ornamentalvarieties. I went to a special flower market a few days ago and there were so manykinds of shapes and colors." Zhang Siyi thought about the scientific details GuYu discussed in his WeChat earlier about his own cactus. He became morecertain. "He likes cactus plants. It will be alright."

The female colleagues looked at each otherand seemed to believe him a little. They soon went to discuss what time to goto the flower market.

Zhang Siyi touched his chin and thought that he gave him a tape measure on his birthday, and now Gu Yu's birthday is here.

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