Ch2 - Reminiscence

Shu Jin came here after winning the luxury couple’s tour during the annual meeting.

Since it is a trip for two, there should be two people coming here together, but Shu Jin did not have a suitable person to take. It just so happens that another colleague in the company wanted to come and play, so he took annual leave with him, and the two used up this luxury trip. His colleague originally said that he would pay part of the money, but Shu Jin did not want it. 

“It’s no use to have it.” Shu Jin said, “Let me just treat you.”

For small employees like them, a trip worth forty thousand dollars was not a small amount, and his colleague was surprised at Shu Jin’s generosity, “Shu Jin, you’re not some hidden rich kid, are you?” The more he thought about it, the more it made sense, “No wonder you know everything on this trip, unlike me who has never seen the world, so it’s like that.”

Shu Jin said no and asked his colleagues rhetorically, “If so, would I still need to eat instant noodles with you guys when I work overtime?”

“Oh, that’s right.” His colleague understood, and patted him on the shoulder and added, “Then how about this, buying souvenirs and bringing specialties to friends and relatives are on me, and I’ll cover your share?” 

Shu Jin: “There’s nothing I want to buy.”

His colleague said, “If you don’t want to send something to your friends, then send them to your parents, they like us to bring them things.”

Shu Jin did not express his opinion.

This afternoon his colleague went to choose the specialty products. Shu Jin didn’t come with him since he had nothing to buy.

At this point, he was incredibly glad that he had a lazy cancer attack and did not go with his colleague.

And he no longer regretted that he went to the pool and fell into embarrassment.

Because Sheng Xinghe didn’t push him away.

Shu Jin’s tears wet Sheng Xinghe’s shoulders, leaving salty traces on his shirt and also wetting the nape of Sheng Xinghe’s neck. He willfully made the other party look bad as well, sniffing the other party for a while before choking up and asking, “Brother, are you here on business trip?” 

Sheng Xinghe’s hand gently protected his waist, which was narrow enough to be held easily: “Yes.”

Shu Jin said, “I’m here for a trip.”

Sheng Xinghe nodded.

Shu Jin choked for a moment and informed him: “I won the grand prize of a luxury trip for two at the company’s annual meeting, isn’t that great?” 

This posture made his knee hurt fiercely as it rubbed against the cotton linen cover of the sofa, and it was uncomfortable.

And the medicine was still on his knee, which might stain the cloth cover, so he will need to pay a cleaning fee when he checks out. It hurts when he thinks about it.

But Shu Jin was afraid that Sheng Xinghe would leave as soon as he let go.

Having not seen each other for so long, they have lost some common topics to talk about. 

In the short period of coldness, Shu Jin started speaking some unrelated and slightly boring topics: “I work in a design company, and half of the villas in East Lake Bay are designed by me.”  And then he added, “I used to draw the kind of layout in that book, do you still remember, it was used last year.”

Sheng Xinghe said: “Remember.”

“Although not all the ideas are in there, at least one or two thing are used, and the client himself said he really liked it.” Shu Jin said, “I never dreamed it could become real, it’s just too much.”

He spoke incoherently and asked Sheng Xinghe: “When are you leaving?” 

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.

Sheng Xinghe said: “Monday.”

It’s only Friday.

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Their reunion was unexpected and brief.

The small intersection of their lives had far exceeded Shu Jin’s fantasy, and for a long time, he thought he would never see Sheng Xinghe again.

He doesn’t know if Sheng Xinghe also thought so, the palm on the side of Shu Jin’s waist has increased a bit of force. 

Shu Jin completely calmed down.

He didn’t move, and in the silence he continued to lean on Sheng Xinghe for a while: “Is this your first time here too?”

Sheng Xinghe said: “The second time around, it’s all work.”

“Oh.” Shu Jin said with some loss, “I was just about to tell you that there is a restaurant with delicious eel rice, the price is not very expensive, it is rare that it is recommended by the travel guide that it does not step on mines, you must have already been there.” 

“Not yet, you can try it. ”

When Sheng Xinghe spoke, the vibration from his chest allowed Shu Jin to hear him clearly, giving him some sense of security. He said the name of the restaurant, and then couldn’t find anything else to talk about.

Except for the clothes that were wet and wrinkled by Shu Jin, Sheng Xinghe looked no different from earlier, still neat and indifferent, as if unapproachable.

Sheng Xinghe didn’t stay long. 

Shu Jin watched him stand up and go to the bathroom to wash off the smell of medicine on his hands, and watched him walk back, thinking he was going to say something to himself.

But Sheng Xinghe just raised his wrist and looked at his watch, his lips pursed, then said: “I need to confirm a proposal before eight o’clock, I haven’t finished revising it yet, it’s urgent.”

“Okay, you are busy.”

Shu Jin sat on the sofa and nodded. 

Now that he was completely calm, it was okay to say goodbye, and Sheng Xinghe would not have had to explain anything to him.

Sheng Xinghe said: “Don’t run around.”

Shu Jin didn’t know his eyes lit up.

Usually the next statement in this sentence means that they will meet again. 

Until Sheng Xinghe left, leaving only the instructions: “Your knee is too swollen, I will ask the room attendant to send you an ice pack.”

Shu Jin’s heart slowly sank to the bottom.

…

Not long after Sheng Xinghe left, his colleague came back. While changing his shoes, he asked: “What’s that smell? Is that the smell of medicine?” 

When he walked in, he saw Shu Jin sitting on the sofa while holding his leg in a daze. He glanced at his knee, and asked: “What’s the matter? You got hurt after I went out for a while?”

Shu Jin woke up from his dream, and told him that he fell after swimming.

His colleagues then began to talk about calling the hotel for compensation. If a guest had an accident in the swimming pool, it is also the responsibility of the hotel. His starting point was so good and enthusiastic, but when Shu Jin saw that he really planned to call the hotel, he hurriedly stopped him: “I was not careful. Don’t call.”

His colleague put down the phone: “You are too kind, always afraid of causing trouble.” 

After a while they really delivered ice packs in the room. His colleague went to open the door, and when he came back, as if he remembered something, he said: “By the way, Shu Jin, do you know that we have a big shot in this hotel right now.”

Shu Jin asked who.

His colleague said: “That, do you know Sheng Xinghe, who made the nano-materials? He is very powerful and good-looking, but one of his eyes is blind.”

Shu Jin wrapped the ice pack with a towel and began applying it to his knee. 

He subconsciously ignored Sheng Xinghe’s current popularity just now, and didn’t associate the other party with any big people. But in the past few years, even if he deliberately avoided the news about Sheng Xinghe, he could not avoid him because of the overwhelming TV news and media interviews.

He held the only patent for nanotechnology and monopolized the access of multiple fields. Sheng Xinghe and his team are now one of the leaders in the industry.

“When I came back, I saw two or three reporters guarding the door. I thought that there was a star, so I asked, but it turned out to be Sheng Xinghe.” His colleague sighed while showing Shu Jin the specialty products that he bought. “It’s a pity, even celebrities don’t necessarily have his face. I heard that he was stabbed blind by his playmate when he was young. It’s really bad luck for eight lifetimes.” 

The ice pack was bitingly cold on his knee, and Shu Jin was taken aback: “Yeah.”

Then his colleague added: “If I was poked blind, I wouldn’t be able to work that hard. No matter how much money I paid, nothing can compare to an eye, do you think?”

Shu Jin didn’t speak, and his colleague didn’t care, instead pointed to a box of tea and said: “I went out and walked around, but there’s no writing craft to buy locally. It’s a tourist city. The interesting ones are all produced in the nearby cities. But this tea is good. I bought two boxes for you. Your dad might like it.”

Shu Jin watched his introduction. 

His colleague gave Shu Jin a share of other things, and in a blink of an eye, there were a lot of extra things on Shu Jin’s bed

Shu Jin said: “I can’t have that much.”

His colleague didn’t care and told him not to be polite.

Shu Jin had no choice but to say: “I don’t have anyone at home.” 

He said it euphemistically, but his expression was quite bland. His colleague finally responded and said apologetically: “Sorry about that.”

Shu Jing said: “It’s okay.”

This evening, Shu Jin did not go to the restaurant for dinner.

After his colleague left, he endured the pain and packed his luggage alone. He dragged them in the doorway, then he inadvertently looked at the sofa. There was a small patch of medicine stain on it. 

He took a towel and dipped it in water. He wanted to wipe it and clean it by himself, but he failed. He may need some detergent.

Looking at this medicine stain, Shu Jin remembered how Sheng Xinghe was sitting there more than an hour ago.

Will Sheng Xinghe go to the restaurant to eat?

If he goes too, is it possible that he can meet him again in the restaurant? 

But even if he goes there, he will never meet Sheng Xinghe again. After all, there are more than one restaurant in this hotel, and Sheng Xinghe is so busy that he might just call the room service.

It’s better not to go.

Shu Jin thought so.

They shouldn’t meet again. 

In the evening, his colleague snored slightly, and Shu Jin couldn’t fall asleep.

He lay on his side on the bed and opened an app on his phone that he hadn’t opened for a long time.

Back then, this app was very popular and swept the social circle of young people.

No one uses it now. 

There is only one profile picture in Shu Jin’s friends list. The profile picture is a test paper with full marks and a bright red score of 100 points.

He clicked in, and the dialog box stayed stuck at five years ago.

Galaxy: [I’ll pick you up this afternoon, don’t run around.]

Whale: [Ah? Why?] 

Galaxy: [We agreed to look at it in the phone together, you look behind my back first 【Smile】. Watch it with me again.]

Whale: [Didn’t you read the online rating? It’s only 3.1 out of 5! It’s a huge mess! I don’t want to see it again! Can I not go? ]

Galaxy: [No way 【shaking a finger】.]

Whale: [Wuwuwu, It’s not that I did not wait for you, just catching the premiere with friends 【crying wildly】.] 

Shu Jin closed his phone and remained in a daze for a while.

Then he reopened it, and entered the three words “Sheng Xing He” in the browser.

The page jumps and the character wiki about Sheng Xinghe appears.

The photo shows Sheng Xinghe in formal attire, looking somewhat indifferent through the camera. 

Sunnyshies: I feel weird without any chapter title, so I put some. XD