Ch9 - Unexpected Visitors

Lin Wang heard what Shu Jin said, and was so shocked that he almost couldn’t control his reaction.

Shu Jin put down his chopsticks when he finished, then silently picked up the drink on the table and drank it, as if he just wanted to tell the secret, so he did. 

“Really, really?” Lin Wang asked in a low voice.

“En.” Shu Jin replied.

Lin Wang digested it for a while, then he suddenly remembered  that he had been in front of Shu Jin the last time they were in the hotel, and said that Sheng Xinghe had a eight lifetimes of bad luck, and when Shu Jin said that he had done things the made Sheng Xinghe unhappy, he shamelessly comforted Shu Jin and said that Sheng Xinghe would definitely forgive him.

When the two things were combined, Li Wang was a little embarrassed: “I’m sorry, I don’t know, don’t mind what I said last time.” 

Shu Jin said it was okay.

But he doesn’t really look like he’s okay with it.

Lin Wang comforted him and said: “Actually, don’t feel so guilty. I can see that last time Sheng Xinghe asked you to stay and wants to talk to you about old times, he must have already forgiven you a long time ago. Don’t think so much.”

Towards other’s complicated things, Lin Wang didn’t want to say much. After comforting Shu Jin, he quickly opened up another topic.

Seeing the two of them sitting together and still whispering, their colleagues joked that they had just gone out for a trip and their friendship had grown by leaps and bounds.

“I always thought that Shu Jin was introverted, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.” A colleague regretted, “If I had known, I would have followed Shu Jin out.”

“When Shu Jin first joined the company, he was very cold.”

“Yes, I also thought that he was not easy to get along with at the time, and then I realized that this child just turned out to be an introvert, hahahaha.” 

“Introverts were said to be soft and easy to bully…”

After the dinner, Lin Wang and some of his colleagues have to go to the second party. Shu Jin said that he was a little tired and didn’t want to go, so everyone didn’t force him. A colleague who hadn’t been drinking drove his car over and rolled down the window to ask Shu Jin if he wants a ride.

Shu Jin pulled up his collar in the cold wind and shrank his neck and said, “No need, my house is very close, it’s just a walk.”

After saying goodbye to everyone, Shu Jin stood at the intersection and waited for the red light. 

Tears suddenly flowed down like this, and he was caught off guard, then he followed the pedestrians across the zebra crossing.

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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“Gbe-vbe!” Ktf mtliv rmbivfv atf ylu vbu rcloolcu jgbecv, obg ofjg atja la kbeiv rmjgf qjrrfgr-ys. 

It was a snow-white Samoyed, docile and well-behaved.

Shu Jin glanced away from their eyes, simply passing by with his head down.

After half a month, Shu Jin followed the company’s arrangement and went on a business trip.

Although the Lunar New Year has yet to pass, the company’s New Year work has been scheduled, and Shu Jin has become very busy. Pieces of design drafts passed through his hands, constantly checking details and data, and he was constantly drinking coffee one cup after another. 

Shu Jin occasionally lost himself in such a busy schedule. It feels like the event of winning the company’s annual meeting prize was like a dream. He probably never won the prize, and never met Sheng Xinghe again.

In late February, the Spring Festival holiday begins.

Shu Jin received a text message from his mother inviting him to fly to her city for New Year’s Eve this year.

He organized his luggage the first night of his vacation. 

Because he didn’t prepare in advance, Shu Jing couldn’t find any New Year’s goods to bring there, so he just found the specialty products Li Wang bought for him last time.

Then someone rang the doorbell.

Shu Jin hasn’t entertained guests in this house, so he was a bit puzzled when he heard the doorbell ringing.

He guessed it might be the property owner. When he came back from work near the end of the year, he saw that the doorknobs of other tenants already had the New Year’s antifreeze cover given by the property owner. 

So he pulled his slippers, with travel-size toiletries in one hand, he opened the door with the other.

Then he fell stupid on the spot.

Shu Zhaoyuan appeared at his door looking winded and dusty, wearing a black down jacket.

The two people, one inside and one outside the door, did not speak for nearly half a minute, until a neighbor passed by. Shu Jin called “Dad” as if awakening from a dream, and then side-stepped out of the way. 

As Shu Zhaoyuan walked into the small room, he took off his coat and scarf and threw it on the sofa: “Why such a small room? You can’t even buy a big one.”

There is enough heating in the room, so Shu Jin wears only a thin sweater.

When the cold wind from outside the door poured in, he shuddered slightly, then closed the door: “I rented it.”

Dissatisfied, Shu Zhaoyuan frowned: “Where is the money I left you?” 

Shu Jin: “It’s all in the card.”

Shu Zhaoyuan was even more dissatisfied: “That is not illegal income, it’s an asset that I’ve worked for properly. Otherwise, it will be cleaned up early when they did the investigation, you still dare not spend it?”

Shu Jin didn’t ask when he came out. He went to the kitchen to find a cup to pour water in, then asked: “Dad, how do you know I live here?”

“I used to know a few friends here. I came here to talk about business with them, so I wanted to come and see you by the way.” Shu Zhaoyuan said, “And you said that you worked in that firm last time. I did not have your cell phone number, so went to your company to ask.”” 

The small house is full of clothes, sundries, and other things, and at a glance he seems to be going out.

Shu Zhaoyuan asked: “Where are you going?”

Shu Jin said: “Go to my mother to celebrate the New Year.”

Shu Zhaoyuan took a sip of the water, waved his hand and said, “Don’t go, I won’t go back this year. We’ll spend New Year’s Eve here with you.” 

“Yes.” Then Shu Jin thought for a while, “But it’s too small for you to stay here, or I’ll book a room for you outside.”

Shu Zhaoyuan turned his head sensitively, keeping his eyes on Shu Jin’s face for a long time.

Shu Jin stared at him, suddenly found that he had aged a lot, with many wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, thin, and also with gray hair.

Shu Zhaoyuan asked in a low but severe tone: “Are you still having a homosexual affair with Sheng Xinghe?” 

Shu Jin shook his head: “Don’t worry, I live alone.”

Shu Zhaoyuan didn’t move his gaze, trying to find traces in Shu Jin’s expression, exactly the same as a few years ago: “Really?”

Shu Jin said: “Really. I haven’t contacted him for many years.”

The arrival of Shu Zhaoyuan disrupted Shu Jin’s next arrangements. 

That night, he still used the bonus red envelope issued by the company to book a room for Shu Zhaoyuan in a good hotel, not far from his residence, and by the way, he returned the card left by Shu Zhaoyuan. Shu Zhaoyuan did not refuse. He does need money now, but he still feels very dissatisfied with the small place where his son lives, saying that he will work hard next year to try to buy Shu Jin a big house in Star City.

After taking Shu Zhaoyuan to eat and take care of everything, it was already very late.

Shu Jin walked home and wanted to call his mother to explain the situation, so he took out his mobile phone, and realized that he didn’t know when it turned off. He was busy packing and recieving people all afternoon, it may be from accidental touch.

After the call was connected, his mother suggested that he settle Shu Zhaoyuan down and he would still fly to spend New Year’s Eve with them. 

“He has nowhere to go after reducing his sentence, and he is very embarrassed to return to Yuecheng. He doesn’t want to become a scenery in the first place, he still want some face.” His mother said, “Although he certainly will not harm you, but you’d better not get involved with his business. Now he must be full of thoughts all day long how to rise again, and this will affect you badly.”

Shu Jin listened quietly.

His mother said: “In the past, what is wrong is wrong, but I know him very well. He will not be willing to be just ordinary, otherwise, he wouldn’t lie to others, and he wouldn’t use Xiao Sheng for so many years.”

When Shu Jin heard this, he interrupted softly: “Mom, I know.” Then he closed his eyes, “In any case, he is also my father, so I’ll spend a year with him.” 

His mother had no choice but to say: “Then you take care of it.”

Shu Jin asked: “Will you be angry?”

His mother laughed and said: “Why, I just miss you a little bit.”

After hanging up the phone, Shu Jin saw that his colleague who was on his last day of duty at the company had sent him two messages. 

In the afternoon, his colleague said: [Xiao Shu Jin, why did you turn off your phone today? Just now your father said he couldn’t contact you and came to the office to ask for your address, so remember to turn on your phone.]

In the evening, his colleague sent another one: [Still not on? What’s wrong with you, don’t scare me, your brother just called the company again and asked for your address.]

The next two are all concerned about him, saying that if he doesn’t reply again he’ll come to his home to make sure he’s okay.

When Shu Jin saw the second one, his eyes jumped. 

By this time he had already walked to the stairs, the street light was not very bright, and the snow piled up on the side of the road was shining a little yellow.

There was a man in a black coat standing there, looking at him from a distance.