Assistant Architect

Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling

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Sitting thedark theater surrounded by Gu Yu essence, the last vestige of his dream meldedinto reality. In a trance, Zhang Siyi didn't know whether or not he was stilldreaming. The prince was chasing after the princess as she ran away, and the touchhe felt with his hand seemed so real.

With thegrogginess of sleep dissipating, his awareness became clearer and he stared atGu Yu's jacket on top of his hand. As he twitched his hand slightly, not only couldhe feel heat, but he also felt the clear contours of fingers and dry, soft skinof another hand entwined with his. Along the peripheral nerves of hisfingertips, through his arm, up to his shoulder and onto his brain, all of thedetails became more pronounced by the sensations that his nervous system weredetecting and transmitting.

Zhang Siyifroze as though he was paralyzed. Is this not what he was just dreaming? Did heunconsciously grab Gu Yu hand? As he sat up straighter, Gu Yu was watching him.

Ah, ah, ah,ah…

When hecame to his senses completely, Zhang Siyi reacted strongly, and jerked his handback quickly feeling embarrassed and ashamed. He couldn't look Gu Yu in theeye.

“I, I……."Zhang Siyi fumbled with his sleeves and wiped his mouth and apologized quietly,” I’m sorry, I fell asleep……" ZhangSiyi wanted to slap himself silly. How can he react like that to a dream aboutthe person he likes!?

In justthat moment, Gu Yu's normally controlled expressions went through a myriad ofchanges, from a joyous, yet frustrated smile to a disapproving and regretfulsmile.

The lightin the theater was too dark and Zhang Siyi was still a bit confused. He didn’tknow what he had missed. “I, I didn’t mean to.” Looking away, ZhangSiyi clenched his fist, and dared not look at Gu Yu again. It was reallyembarrassing, for God’s sake, let him die …

Gu Yuwhispered a lowly "hmm" and turned to look at the screen, no longer payingattention to him.

As theclock struck twelve, the magic started to unravel and the princess, in a hurryto flee from the ball, dropped her shoe. In a panic, the prince ran afterprincess hoping to catch her, but instead he found her crystal slipper. Withthe disappearance of his sweetheart, he looked dazed and lost.

……

Since thecrystal slipper represented hope, the prince had a chance to find his love.Under the common direction inherent to a fairy tale, the movie ended happilyever after.

After themovie was over, He Chengtian couldn’t prevent himself from yawning: "Shit. Whydid I watch such a bad film!? It was so boring, it would have been better tosleep."

Zhang Siyi:“…”

Since HeChengtian was sitting on the left side of Gu Yu while Zhang Siyi was sitting onthe right side, He Chengtian didn't detect anything out of the ordinary. Evenif he wasn't watching the screen, there was only Gu Yu's jacket laying acrosshis leg to look at. However, Zhang Siyi felt like his biggest secret wasdiscovered. With guilty feelings and his head down, he frantically left hisseat towards the aisle to exit the theater first.

HeChengtian also stood up and noticed the back of Zhang Siyi quickly and sneakilyleaving. Suddenly thinking of the events before the film, he gritted his teeth.Don't come begging for help later!

The five ofthem met at the entrance of the theater. Since Zhang Siyi drank coffee andslept, he had an urgent need to use the restroom. Looking at himself in themirror he saw that his face was still hot and red. In order to splash somewater on his face, he reached out to the faucet, but he suddenly stopped andstared at his left hand instead. (o////o)

Aaah.This is the hand that held Gu Yu's hand…… Idon't want to wash it.

Secretlyscolding himself 'stupid', he usedhis other hand instead and washed up.

Leaving therestroom and walking towards everyone else, he saw Gu Yu wearing his jacket,talking to the group with his hands in his pockets. He was asking He Xueyingabout her next plan.

He Xueyingand Zhang Siyi only made plans for the early afternoon. Now that the group waslarger than anticipated, she was worried about the next arrangements. Since it'snot late and knowing that her brother and Gu Yu were old classmates, sheguessed her brother would propose a treat. She didn't expect Gu Yu to invitethem out.

Unexpectedly,Gu Yu spoke up: "If you don't have anything urgent, then let me invite you todinner."

Catchingher off guard, He Xueying was polite: “You? There is no need.”

Gu Yao wasalso quite surprised: “Brother, are you going to treat us?”

Aftergiving his sister a meaningful look, Gu Yu looked at He Xueying again: “Mysister has caused you so much trouble. It is the least I can do to make up for it."

With aninscrutable expression, Gu Yao grabbed her brother's arm like a petulant child.

Since Gu Yuoffered first, He Chengtian was unhappy. Being one-upped, he was reminded of hisincessant second place ranking in high school. He Chengtian purposely madethings difficult and suggested: "How about Jade 36 or Li's Court?"

HeChengtian knows exactly what kind of place Haicheng is. This is a city wherematerial and money are supreme; money, power, and background easily dividepeople into the three, the six, and the nine. With the price per person in thethousands, he named two of the most famous high-end restaurants in Haicheng. HeChengtian wanted to use these two restaurants to test Gu Yu knowledge and uncoverhis financial status.

If Gu Yuknows these places, whether to dismiss or compliment, then he can calmlyrespond which means his financial ability isn't low. Gu Yu would be able towalk in front of the city and enjoy life, however, if he does not know, He Chengtianthought he would be exposing Gu Yu's shortcoming. He Chengtian wanted to make GuYu feel embarrassed. After all, even800,000 annual salary isn't enough to live a high-level luxury life. It is onlya little higher then a normal migrant worker. Gambling on the latter, HeChengtian smiled and waited to hear Gu Yu's response.

Instead ofHe Chengtian's imagination, unexpectedly, Gu Yu scoffed and looked at HeChengtian mockingly: "Are you like a nouveau rich, blindly following overinflated trends? I heard from Siyi that you have lived in Haicheng for severalyears. Is there no better recommendation?"

HeChengtian: “…”

Gu Yao alsoasked with an inquisitive look: “Brother, what do you mean by inflatedtrends?"

Earnestlylooking at his sister, Gu Yu schooled her: "On the internet, they are listedamong the top ten most expensive restaurants in Haicheng. All the nouveau richgo to these restaurants for the sake of going to the most expensive places to eat.If you haven't visited each of those restaurants, then you can't claim to benouveau rich."

Gu Yaonodded and said: "What's so special about being called nouveau rich? Who caresabout them…… Let's go to an affordable restaurant.

HeChengtian balked at Gu Yao statement and felt like arrows, 'thunk, thunk',stabbed him in the back.

Listeningto Gu Yao's statement, Gu Yu rebuked "That's not right. Nouveau rich are peopletoo. This issue doesn't affect you, so don't make improper comments. Also, whensomeone offers to treat you to dinner, don't value their integrity based on theprice of the food. In addition, a restaurant shouldn't be considered goodsolely based on the price of the menu. As long as the food is delicious andguests eat comfortably, then the price shouldn't matter.

Gu Yaothoughtfully nodded then said: “You are right Brother; delicious doesn'thave a price."

Even thoughGu Yu was talking to his sister, why did He Chengtian feel like he was the one gettingschooled instead?

Sensing themood, He Xueying promptly spoke to Gu Yu. Smiling she said: "Since you werekind enough to invite us, you should pick the place to eat. Let us experiencethe delicious tastes of Haicheng."

[T/N: Thereare some interactions here that I could not translate at all. Basically, Gu Yuand He Xueying bully/tease He Chengtian and since Gu Yao already expressed her indifferencefor rich people, He Chengtian felt completely defeated.]

HeChengtian's shriveled soul was laying on the ground thinking: This must be my sister's payback from allthose times we played as kids.

Gu Yu moveda small distance away from them to make a phone call. After confirming thereservations, he returned and said: "Ok. The restaurant is in the southern partof the city. Shall we take a taxi?"

He Xueyingspoke up: "I drove my car. The five of us can squeeze in."

"Soundsgood." Gu Yu nodded and letting her navigate there, he told her the address.

Walking tothe underground garage, the He family really is nouveau rich. Seeing the PorschePanorama, Zhang Siyi was excited: "Wow! Whose car is this!?"

HeChengtian pointed to He Xueying: “It's Hers."

He Xueyingboldly winked at Zhang Siyi and offered an invitation: “Do you have adriver’s license? Do you want to drive it?"

Feelingembarrassed by his outburst, Zhang Siyi hurriedly waved his hand in refusal:"It's been years since I drove a car. I've nearly forgotten."

Since ZhangSiyi did not take the initiative to sit in the front seat, He Chengtian openedthe door and sat next to his sister. The remaining three sat in the back.

Logically,the most petite person should sit in the middle but thinking of her match-makingplan, Gu Yao let Zhang Siyi get into the backseat first, then walked around tothe other side and let herself in. As a result, Zhang Siyi was squeezed in themiddle.

The eventsthat happened in the theater are fresh on his mind, now sitting next to Gu Yuagain, Zhang Siyi felt awkward. To ease his tension and to keep his mind occupiedwith something other than touching him, he mustered up the courage to talk to GuYu: "Have you eaten at Jade 36 and Li Court?"

Gu Yu:“Well, I have been there before when I did a special study on restaurantdesign.”

Zhang Siyi:“…” That is something Gu Yu would do…

Hearingabout the most expensive restaurants in Haicheng, Zhang Siyi's curiosity wasstimulated and asked: "How expensive are they? Is the food any good?"

“It’sall right,” Gu Xiao smiled at him warmly and said, “Do you want togo? I’ll take you next time."

HeChengtian: “…” Why is the treatment so different? ( =皿= )

He Xueying:“…” Zhang Siyi, are you sure your decision is not because of yourBoss? (=_=)

Gu Yao: "……" Hey, Brother! You’re breaking the rules! (*/ω*)

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