Assistant Lin Has Something To Say

Hush’s resident performer was called Hippocampus. Lin Hui had liked the name from the moment he heard it.

The hippocampus was the component of the brain that was primarily responsible for storing memories. Music was also a hippocampus. It stored human emotions. Whenever Lin Hui looked at the band, he couldn’t help but think about how all his memories of He Jianshan were also in his hippocampus. How much space did they take up? In what form did they exist? Were they like frames of a movie, silently waiting for any one of them to be called up at any time? 

At this moment, in this bar known as Hush, Lin Hui’s own hippocampus had pulled up the scene of He Jianshan’s first blind date.

Perhaps “blind date” wasn’t the right word for it. After all, from He Jianshan’s point of view, having a meal with a section chief’s daughter was also a part of the job. The dinner had been scheduled very early on. He couldn’t neglect the section chief’s daughter, but He Jianshan was also very busy. Some things needed to be set up and confirmed in advance. Thus, Lin Hui deliberately brought it up while he was reporting to He Jianshan. “President He, you have a dinner with Miss Feng scheduled for next month. You’ll need to free up some time as soon as possible.”

He Jianshan didn’t even lift his head. “Which Miss Feng?”

Lin Hui felt a little awkward. “Secretary Feng’s daughter.” 

He Jianshan continued reading the documents in his hand. “Oh. In that case, help me book a restaurant.”

Lin Hui instantly refused. “That probably isn’t very appropriate. It might be better for you to arrange it yourself.”

He Jianshan looked up, baffled, and asked, “How is it not appropriate?”

Lin Hui was left speechless. After thinking for a long time, he finally said, “I don’t know much about this kind of thing. I’m afraid I might make a mistake.”

He Jianshan motionlessly stared at him, his eyes like a burning flame. Lin Hui was a little flustered, but he wasn’t willing to change his mind.

He Jianshan looked at him for a while. Then, he finally lowered his head and calmly replied, “Alright. Have An Ni arrange it.”

An Ni ended up booking a French Michelin restaurant. Apparently, the girl had studied abroad in France. Since French cuisine took a while, An Ni figured the two of them would have plenty of time to chat. Furthermore, the girl might have more to talk about if she was faced with something familiar. The conversation shouldn’t get too awkward.

While He Jianshan was eating at a French restaurant, Lin Hui was eating at a convenience store near the company building. He asked the employee to make a cup of instant noodles for him. Lin Hui wasn’t very hungry today. While he was visiting other departments in the company, he just so happened to catch a whiff of the smell of instant noodles. He was kind of craving it, so he made a trip to the convenience store and picked out a flavor that he hadn’t tried before. He scrolled through his phone as he was eating. It turned out that a typical dinner in France could take up to two to three hours. If Lin Hui and He Jianshan were to have a two to three hour meal, they’d be able to rewrite an entire contract by the time dinner was over. When his thoughts reached here, Lin Hui couldn’t help but laugh. Then, his smile slowly faded. 

He would probably never have the opportunity to spend three hours at an exquisite dinner with He Jianshan.

That was far too long.

The thing that Lin Hui was best at was finishing a meal quickly.

This was a habit that Lin Hui had picked up when he was a kid. During those first couple of years after his parents died, his grandmother had been the one supporting the entire family. It had been a really difficult time for them. It was at that time that Lin Hui started eating paofan. By soaking his rice in soup, he’d be able to finish his food quickly and save money on side dishes. In fact, if it was a soup that he really liked, he could go with just a single side dish. His grandmother was unbelievably sorry towards him. She always said that he was both smart and good-looking, that he shouldn’t have been born into a family like theirs. She told him that he needed to study well and go to a big city one day. Lin Hui just laughed and said that he wouldn’t. He wanted to come back and help his grandmother grow vegetables. Although he’d gone through a lot of difficulty in his life, he had never felt angry or insecure because of it. However, at this moment, Lin Hui suddenly realized that the gap between He Jianshan and himself was really far too wide. This chasm far exceeded that of age and gender. 

Staying by He Jianshan’s side for such a long time led him to have the illusion that they were of the same world. However, he was actually just an insignificant bout of sea spray. Only by climbing upon a wave was he able to catch a glimpse of a wider world. Only by riding the wind was he able to chase after the morning sun.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Xue Pei was cracking jokes with He Jianshan when he suddenly thought of one more thing. “Speaking of which, Lin Hui’s actually pretty eye-catching. Xiao Liu told me that one of our regulars, this really handsome guy, happened to meet Lin Hui a couple days ago. Apparently, he hasn’t been able to forget about him. He kept hanging around the bar, so I asked him about it. Once I heard his description, I knew it was Assistant Lin.”

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Xue Pei noticed the subtle tone of his voice and laughed. “Yeah. You’ve been abroad before. This isn’t anything new, right? Don’t tell me you’re homophobic?”

He Jianshan furrowed his brow. “This isn’t an issue of whether I’m homophobic or not. Gender doesn’t matter. The issue is whether he’s good enough for Lin Hui.” 

Xue Pei wasn’t interested in playing matchmaker. He’d just been casually bringing it up, but He Jianshan’s reply amused him. “Where’s this evil mother-in-law coming from? Let’s not talk about anything else. I also know the guy that Xiao Liu mentioned. Stephen Li. Apparently, his dad’s a famous surgeon, and his mom’s a university professor. He’s got a pretty good background. Is he still not good enough for your Assistant Lin?”

“A good household depends on the family’s atmosphere, not the family’s background. The main issue is the person himself.”

“The person himself is a returning international student. Right now, he’s an executive at a foreign company.”

“Did he say that? Do you really think that it can be taken seriously? We’re all strangers with each other. He might’ve just been saying stuff.” 

“I’ve talked to him a couple of times. He was pretty genuine and easy-going. He didn’t seem like a dishonest or pompous person.”

“Just because you’ve talked to him doesn’t mean you know him.”

It was the first time Xue Pei had seen He Jianshan act so strangely. He was almost angered into laughter. “Then, what kind of person do you think would be good enough for Assistant Lin?”

He Jianshan stopped talking. 

He hadn’t thought about this question before. When Xue Pei asked him this, it truly stopped him in his tracks. However, He Jianshan was actually more concerned about something else. “Is there anything fun to do here?”

Xue Pei gave him a strange look. “What do you come to Hush for?”

He Jianshan looked pensive.

“This is a bar. If you want to have a good time, you’ve got to drink.” 

A handsome guy that was all by himself would always attract attention. Lin Hui had only sat there for a little while, deep in thought, when two girls walked over and invited him for a drink. He smiled and shook his head. Lin Hui didn’t know how long he would have to stay. He was considering whether he should go somewhere a little more discreet when the lights suddenly dimmed.

As if to match with the dim night, the atmosphere became more tender and touching.

The music stopped.

Lin Hui saw Xiao Liu, the manager of Hush, waving at the lead singer of Hippocampus. Then, he showed the lead singer his phone screen. They seemed to have said something to each other. The lead singer gave an okay and returned to the stage. He fiddled with the microphone. Then, he turned around and made a gesture towards the band behind him. Finally, he spoke. 

“The manager of Hush just asked me to tell you all something—” He paused. Once the lounge finally quieted down, the lead singer raised both his hand and his voice. “A generous patron of ours has invited everyone to a drink. Tonight, all drinks are free!”

The entire bar cheered. They all raised their glasses and toasted.

“Our next song was requested by that generous patron of ours. I like the title of the song a lot. It’s called ‘Joy’. That generous patron also has a message for you all—” The lights dimmed once more, and the sound of the guitar rang out. The lead singer slowly closed his eyes as the prelude began playing.

“Cheers.” 

Lin Hui had yet to recover from his surprise regarding the familiar song title when Ken suddenly pulled up with a huge serving tray. Ken put down one glass, two glasses, three glasses, four glasses—Lin Hui’s eyes widened—twelve glasses of alcohol in front of him!

There was red, white, yellow, green. There were cocktails, champagne, vodka, rum. There were tall drinks and short drinks. There were some that Lin Hui couldn’t even name…

There were a total of twelve glasses of wine in front of Lin Hui!

Ken set down the last glass with a smile. Then, he handed Lin Hui a card with a line of text written on it. 

Taste it, enjoy it.

The beautiful English script was He Jianshan’s handwriting.

Lin Hui knew that He Jianshan didn’t mean anything in particular by it, but his heart still couldn’t help speeding up. He was like a web page that couldn’t seem to load. Everyone else had gone onto the next page while he was stuck with a blank screen. Lin Hui looked at the alcohol in front of him. The colorful assortment of drinks merged together with the lights of the bar. It looked just like the city at night, dazzling and brilliant.

Lin Hui picked out a vermilion cocktail for himself. 

After tonight, this evening would be divided into countless little frames and stored in his memory. One day, he would remember this evening. He’d think of the trees that they passed by and the flutter of He Jianshan’s clothes. He’d think of the color blue and the song, “Joy”. He’d think of his first sip of alcohol tonight. It was a little bitter, a little sweet, just like his mood at the moment.

He was both patient and impatient. He wanted to raise a toast to the night.

As a result, He Jianshan and Lin Hui ended up standing by the side of the road, waiting for a driver to come pick them up. The wind at night wasn’t too hot nor too cold. The scent of alcohol on their bodies mixed together, bringing a strange fragrance.

The redness on Lin Hui’s face was mostly concealed by the night. After hesitating for a long time, he couldn’t help but say, “Why did you send me so much alcohol?” 

“Xue Pei said that, if you want to have a good time, you need to drink. So…” He Jianshan tilted his head and glanced at Lin Hui. “Did you have a good time?”

Lin Hui didn’t speak for a long time. After a while, he asked in a low voice, “Why did you pick this song?”

“Is there something special about this song?”

Lin Hui looked out into the distance. “It reminds me of my grandma.” 

“I heard you play it before. I thought it fit the occasion.”

“Fit the occasion?”

He Jianshan turned to look at him. “Today’s the 30th.”

Lin Hui was stunned for a moment. Then, he realized that He Jianshan was talking about today’s date. September 30th. 

It was September.

The singer’s deep voice seemed to be ringing within Lin Hui’s ears once more.

Unforgettable September.

A butterfly soars. 

It darts left and right,

And lands upon your hand.

⁂

It was truly an unforgettable September. 

Lin Hui wondered whether this final day of September would remain in He Jianshan’s hippocampus. He wondered whether this butterfly would leave its mark.