Assistant Architect

Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling

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“Ah! That should be it!” Zhang Siyi hurriedly looked at it andsaw tooth marks all over the wood. Even one of the corners of a piece wasbitten off.

Mother Zhang replied with a smile: "I couldn't think of what the toy waswhen I saw the image on your phone, but I remembered you liked to chew on thesewood pieces as a child."

“……I liked the wood?” Zhang Siyi mouth twitched.

Mother Zhang answered him: "Yeah. I onlyrecognized these pieces of wood and nothing else. Unless someone was payingattention to you, you always had them in your mouth." She continued to rummagethrough the boxes and found more wood pieces. Sure enough, the remaining six piecesall had teeth marks on them.

Placing the pieces already found next to him,Zhang Siyi squatting next to his mother and helped look through the boxes:"Mom, why have you kept these wood block and old bottles for twenty years? Arethey a family heirloom?"

"When I see these things, I think of you as achild and I didn't want to lose them when we moved." Mother Zhang explainedthen looked at her son with motherly affection. "With tender skin and big roundeyes, you were so cute as a child. You were born to be loved!"

Zhang Siyi: “……”

His Mother pinched her son's cheeks andcontinued: "When you cried it was the cutest thing. Your cry wasn't loud andannoying like other children. Like a faucet, tears would run down steadily fromyour big eyes and you would purse your lips flat. Compared to other kids, youlooked the most distressed, so who wouldn't want to pick you up and give you akiss!"

Feeling embarrassed by his mother's affection, ZhangSiyi replied: “I am your son, of course you would only see and feel good."

She snorted: "Now you aren't as cute as you werewhen you were a child. With big ears and weight gain, you're the ugliest you'veever been!"

…… Who could have said that to her own son!

His Mother squinted at him and said with pride:"But well, the early model is still in there. Shed a few pounds and compared toothers, you aren't far away."

Zhang Siyi asked without thinking: “Comparedto Gu Yu?”

Mother Zhang paused and said: "Listen to Mom'sadvice, don't compare yourself with those who are born to be blessed by the Gods."

Zhang Siyi: “……” This is thepro-mother! The proper mother!

To complete the puzzle, the Kong Ming Lock neededeight wooden blocks to fit together. Even though they searched through the manystorage containers, they could only find seven. “When you were a kid, you usedto lose everything. If the piece isn't here, then it was probably lost. "Hismother said.

Zhang Siyi sighed. After so many years, he originallydidn't have any hope of finding it. He felt lucky to have found the amount ofKong Ming Lock pieces that they had.

After the two got up, Mother Zhang sighed andquestioned him curiously. She softened her voice: "Why were you looking forthis?"

Zhang Siyi lowered his head and said, “Guesswho gave it to me?”

Mama Zhang: “Who?”

Zhang Siyi: “Gu Yu!”

Mother Zhang was shocked: “Really?”

"While I was at the Gu residence to celebrate NewYear's, Gu senior told me that we had met when we were children." Zhang Siyiexplained.

Mother Zhang reacted: “Oh, so that engineerwas Gu Yu's father?"

“That’s right!” Zhang Siyi nodded happilyholding the wooden sticks and walked to the exit.

Zhang mother locked the warehouse, looking at herson’s back. She held her cheek and thought how sentimental the story was andlike a fairy-tale, the two are destined by fate. (*/ω*)

When ZhangSiyi returned to him room, he carefully cleaned the wooden pieces and took aphoto of them to send to Gu Yu.

Gu Yu:“……”

Zhang Siyi:“Hey.”

Gu Yu:“You still have it?”

Zhang Siyi:“I just found it with my mom in the warehouse. She didn’t throw away all ofmy old things.”

Gu Yu:“It seems like Auntie is very nostalgic.”

Gu Yu:“But why did you look for it?”

Suddenly,Zhang Siyi's heart became a little chaotic and he didn't know how to respond.He didn't know why he went in search for the toy. Since it was the first giftGu Yu gave him, he instinctively wanted to search for it and after finding it,he wanted to share his feelings with him.

Zhang Siyi:“No reason. I just wanted to look."

Gu Yu:“Without the last piece, it can't be assembled.”

Zhang Siyi:“You could tell what was missing?”

Gu Yu:“I played with it for two years. Of course, I remember how to assemble theKong Ming Lock. If you don't place the pieces in the correct order, it won'twork."

Since Gu Yuremembered the exact pieces, Zhang Siyi has a flash of inspiration. He couldsearch online for wood and carve the missing piece!

Before hewas able to relay his idea to Gu Yu, Gu Yu asked: "Why are there dents on thewood? It looks like a dog gnawed on them."

Zhang Siyi:“…” Damn! Even with such a small photo, he can see the tooth marks.Just how big did Gu Yu expand the photo on his screen to inspect it?

Gu Yu:“Aren't those your teeth marks?”

Zhang Siyi:“……”

Gu Yu: "I'mguessing those are your marks. I remember when you were a child you loved to drool,and your face was always so wet and dirty. Once, you pounced on me and I triedto help clean you off, but instead, you stuck my hand in your mouth and lickedme."

ZhangSiyi: “………” Don’t say it anymore!

ZhangSiyi's heart couldn't take this new information. He quickly pushed the wooden blocksto the side and lay his head on his desk to bury his face. He didn't want toaccept his past actions.

Next tohim, his mobile phone was buzzing, but he ignored it.

Gu Yusent him a message: “What’s wrong, still embarrassed?”

Gu Yu:"Are you there?”

Gu Yu:“[Little Fox squinting]”

ZhangSiyi felt the heat rise and sent Gu Yu an 'angry kitten' emoji.

Gu Yuimmediately replied with a 'little fox touch head' expression.

“…..”What to do. This back and forth of sending expressions like this is…… like heis falling in love!

Whileholding the phone giggling, Zhang Siyi couldn't stop himself from sendingemojis like he was addicted. His mind was full of Gu Yu.

“Sisi!Dinner!” His mother called from downstairs.

ZhangSiyi thoughts were interrupted by his mother's shouting. Feeling like he wasdoing something wrong, he turned off the phone in panic. “Ahhhhhhhh” Heisn't gay! Why does his think about that man every day!? He must be sick!

Afterdinner, Zhang Siyi wondered what Fu Xinhui was up to as he had not made contactfor a couple of days. Thinking about the film he watched with wolves thatreminded him of Cheer-Up, he wanted to give his friend a call and learn moreabout his situation.

FuXinhui’s voice was a little haggard: “Cheer-Up is alright, but my familyisn't very good.”

ZhangSiyi: “what?"

FuXinhui: “Do you remember when my sister helped me find the dog, and thebodyguard hit someone?”

ZhangSiyi: “I remember, what’s going on?"

FuXinhui: “Well, that person is in intensive care now with a head injury.The family deliberately provoked a fight to use as a basis to sue us. Thepolice investigated for two days and the bodyguard that beat that person hasbeen taken away. Because of the brick, if the bodyguard was arrested, then isn'tit to be expected that my sister would also be arrested?"

ZhangSiyi: "Did your sister say anything?"

FuXinhui: “Since there are video cameras outside the house, there isevidence that the bodyguard beat the man, but my mother deleted those videos.If they press the matter, then it is also a crime for covering it up.

ZhangSiyi: “Shit! Then why don’t you say those people broke into the housefirst?"

FuXinhui paused and said: “I'll tell you the truth. My uncle got into a bigmess and now there are people watching the house. I don't know what my dad isgoing to do……"

Theonly knowledge of those types of scenes that Zhang Siyi has, is from TV and themovies and he never thought that it would happen in real-life. The family isnot good. He couldn't help but think of his father’s New Year’s Eve prophecy.Worried for his friend he asked: “Why didn’t you tell me the otherday?”

FuXinhui sighed and said: “You have enough things to worry about that Idon’t want to cause you more stress. Rest assured, I am safe. My dad hasinvited more than a dozen bodyguards so now everyone has someone protectingthem. I'm afraid they will target you, so for the time being, I won't be comingback to the apartment we rented.

ZhangSiyi is very uncomfortable: “Nonsense. I am your friend. Tell me how I canhelp you!”

FuXinhui smiled and said: “I'm not dissing you as a friend. This is a familymatter and something ordinary people can't get involved in. However, I do havesomething to trouble you with."

ZhangSiyi: “What trouble is not troublesome. If there is something, just sayit!"

FuXinhui: “It's too chaotic here and I don't have the energy to take care ofCheer-Up. I want you to take care of the dog for a while.

Havinga sense of responsibility, Zhang Siyi readily agreed: “Of course it's noproblem! Cheer up is our dog!"

FuXinhui felt relieved: “That’s good. When will you get back? I'll bringCheer-Up to the apartment ahead of time."

Sincehe hasn't decided yet, Zhang Siyi didn't have a time planned. He told Fu Xinhuito check WeChat as he will confirm a time later. After Zhang Siyi repeatedlyreminded his friend to pay attention to his safety, he reluctantly hung up thephone.

Incontrast to Fu Xinhui difficult times, the wedding of Zhang Siyi childhoodfriend, Qu Xiao, was the next day. He temporarily put down his troubledthoughts of Fu Xinhui and raised his spirit for his friend's joyous occasion.

In theevening, Shen Hao came to pick Zhang Siyi up in his BMW. As a successfulperson, he is wearing a stylish suit, whereas Zhang Siyi wore a down jacket andjeans. The contrast made Zhang Siyi feel like an idiot.

Themost critical thing that Zhang Siyi brought with him is the one thousand-eight-hundredred envelope in his pocket. It is half of his life!

SinceQu Xiao married a very rich man, the wedding in Ningcheng is being held at thebest hotel in the area. When there are thousands of dishes to feed eightytables full of guests, that is what's called, deep pockets. The hotel was very clean,and the staff was very friendly and helpful. When he arrived, he saw a row ofluxury cars lined up outside. Zhang Siyi has not seen such an occasion and whenhe thinks about the gap between himself and Shen Hao, he can’t lift his head.

Shen Haopulled him to the door of the banquet hall and went to congratulate the new couple.Zhang Siyi saw Qu Xiao in her white wedding dress looking delicate andbeautiful standing radiantly with her new husband.

“QuXiao, congratulations!” Shen Yan pulled Zhang Siyi over and patted hisshoulder. “Who is this, do you remember?”

Wideeyed, Qu Miao stared at Zhang Siyi puzzled. In his jacket in jeans, he stilllooks like a student. “This, this is not …”

ShenHao: “It’s Zhang Siyi!”

Qu Xiaosuddenly realized: “Ah, Zhang Siyi! I've met too many people today that Ican't remember any more names."

ZhangSiyi: “……” Fuck, sure enough, I should have found an excuse not tocome. We haven't seen each other in ten years. Who recognizes who!

Qu Xiaoreceived the red envelopes of the two people and her attitude towards ZhangSiyi was even more perfunctory. Only the bridesmaids who greeted the guestswere eager to them in and sit down. Zhang Siyi became Shen Hao's little valet.

Comparedwith Zhang Siyi, Shen Hao has behaved quite spirited. To make contacts, he gaveevery person a business card that he purchased from a card shop. Printed on thecard was a high-sounding title of a Boss of a certain family-company.

ZhangSiyi looked around the room and didn't see anyone he knew. More and more, he isregretting his decision to come.

Much to his surprise, from behind, he felt someone pat his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw a young handsome man in formal attire smiling at him.

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