“?”
It was a very basic question mark.
Renzi did not get it. Gu Xiaoshan might have thought it was inappropriate as well, so he added, “Is he there with you now?”
“No, he just left.”
Gu Xiaoshan was relieved. “Come downstairs. Let’s go have a meal.”
At first, Gu Xiaoshan had only planned on eating in his room, then head to bed after looking at some documents. However, he felt that Shu Jingyi might later invite Renzi out to eat, and his guess was not wrong. Just as Renzi met Gu Xiaoshan in the reception area, Shu Jingyi had sent a message through social media, “I forgot, don’t you still owe me a roasted rabbit?”
Renzi hesitated, not knowing how to respond. Naturally, he felt that he should fulfil his promise, but he did not want to give up this rare opportunity of being able to have dinner with Gu Xiaoshan. Gu Xiaoshan raised his brow, “Who’s that? President Shu?”
Renzi was amazed by Gu Xiaoshan’s intuition. “That’s right!”
Gu Xiaoshan snatched Renzi’s phone over, and sent two lines, “Rabbits are so cute! You actually really want to eat rabbits?” Then he added President Shu into Renzi’s blacklist.
This process was done in one move, causing Renzi to be taken aback. Gu Xiaoshan explained to him, “It’s just a joke, I’ll release him from the blacklist later.”
Renzi asked worriedly, “We can do that? Won’t Mr Shu be angry?”
Gu Xiaoshan laughed, “Why would he be? We always play around like this.”
Renzi took his phone back. Feeling worried for two seconds, his phone then lit up. It was an incoming call, and the screen even displayed “Hubby”. Gu Xiaoshan’s vein started throbbing. Renzi was pale with shock, “Is it possessed?”
Gu Xiaoshan took over Renzi’s phone and answered it. “Eh?”
As expected, Shu Jingyi’s voice sounded through the phone. “Why did you blacklist me?”
Gu Xiaoshan laughed, “Renzi was only joking around, don’t tell me President Shu will be angry about this? We often play around like this.”
“Oh,” The flirtatious tone in Shu Jingyi’s voice disappeared. “Is this President Gu?”
“Who else could it be.” Gu Xiaoshan shot Renzi a look, gesturing at him, signalling him to go into the restaurant first.
Renzi was more concerned over his phone, but still listened obediently.
Shu Jingyi spoke, “Why is President Gu answering President Ren’s phone?”
“We often play around like this, I hope President Shu isn’t angry.”
“No, of course not. I like to play too.”
“Just now, when Renzi saw the name on the phone, he even asked if the phone was possessed, so he did not dare to answer. I then helped him answer it, not knowing if it’s really possessed! Seems like it wasn’t, it’s President Shu.”
Shu Jingyi laughed, “The name? It might have been set in the SIM card. I don’t know who made this mistake, I didn’t pay attention to it.”
Gu Xiaoshan chuckled, “I guessed that was the case.”
Shu Jingyi had wanted to play a trick on Renzi, asking him what was the name shown on the phone, and hear him hesitantly call him “hubby”. Then, he could cheerfully lay the blame on others and say that this was someone else’s card. He was also using someone’s old SIM card, and maybe the previous owners of the SIM cards were a couple. However, his scheme had fallen apart. Gu Xiaoshan and Shu Jingyi made some superficial smalltalk, biding each other goodbye laughingly, and hung up the phone.
When Gu Xiaoshan reached the restaurant, he summoned the restaurant manager. The restaurant manager soon brought him a brand new local SIM card, and Gu Xiaoshan replaced it for Renzi. Renzi watched as Gu Xiaoshan swapped the cards and asked, “What happened?”
Gu Xiaoshan smiled, “Didn’t you say that the SIM card’s possessed?”
Renzi did not understand, “Shouldn’t it be my phone that’s possessed?”
“The number was most probably stored in the SIM card. That’s why, don’t use other people’s old SIM card, see how awkward this is. I’ve got a new one for you, it has my local number as well, don’t lose it.”
Renzi took the phone back, and no longer paid attention to it. He then asked, “So who was ‘hubby’?”
Even if Gu Xiaoshan was beaten to death, he would not be able to admit that it was Shu Jingyi.
Gu Xiaoshan replied, “That SIM card of yours has been used by other people, and stored with numbers. Maybe Shu Jingyi is someone else’s husband?”
Renzi was completely unconcerned about whether Shu Jingyi was someone else’s husband or not. He only wanted to be the husband of this man in front of him. Gu Xiaoshan should have showered already, he had changed out of his cowboy get-up, and was now dressed in a simple t-shirt, looking very young and energetic, just like a college student. Renzi remembered that he was still wearing that over-sized shirt, and felt a little uncomfortable. Gu Xiaoshan also felt a little uncomfortable looking at him in that shirt, and asked, “Don’t you feel cold? Why aren’t you wearing your shirt properly? I’ve wanted to tell you this in the car, button those buttons up!”
Renzi obediently buttoned up his shirt, grumbling, “But you guys are all dressed like that.”
Gu Xiaoshan ordered the food, then turned to Renzi. “Why was Shu Jingyi looking for you in your room just now? Didn’t he say he was going back?”
“Nothing much, he said he had left something behind.”
Gu Xiaoshan ridiculed, “Don’t tell me it’s something like ‘it’s right before me’.”
Renzi revealed a startled look on his face. Gu Xiaoshan had not expect this President Shu to be so shameless, his face tensing up. However, seeing that the food was now here, out of habit he smiled at the waiter in fake politeness, and could be considered to have maintained his composure.
Gu Xiaoshan drank his soup as he asked, “He really said that?”
“No, he said he left his clothes behind.”
Gu Xiaoshan’s brows creased. “What clothes?”
Renzi motioned at himself. “I borrowed his clothes. Didn’t you realise that the size doesn’t really fit me?”
Gu Xiaoshan responded firmly. “It really doesn’t fit you.”
Renzi did not expect that Gu Xiaoshan would be so direct, as such, he was a little troubled. Staring at his reflection on the window, he tugged at his fringe. “Does it really fit that badly? I thought it looked pretty good.”
“Why are you wearing other people’s clothes?”
“I don’t have any clothes like this!”
“Then just buy them.”
“Where can I go to buy them?” Renzi grumbled. “This is such a godforsaken place. I still haven’t found that brand of animal biscuits that I want to eat!”
Gu Xiaoshan paused. This place was really quite godforsaken, and it was not easy to buy anything they want here. Their hotel’s supplies also only came once a week, and were delivered by a huge truck. Although it was a high-end hotel, but they often were unable to provide the guests with what they needed. But because of the remote location, most of the guests were very understanding. Of course, if the guest did have something they were really in need of, they would still be able to do so, only with additional charges.
However, this was not one of those situations. Renzi did not have to have a set of new clothes nor a box of animal biscuits.
But Gu Xiaoshan suddenly really wanted to do it for him.
For the clothes, that was easy to deal with. There was a clothing store here. The problem was with those animal biscuits…
A very stupid but strong, impulsive desire to shop welled up within Gu Xiaoshan.
Even though Renzi did not say it explicitly, but Gu Xiaoshan instantly knew what biscuits Renzi wanted. He sent a message to the manager, telling him the flavour of the biscuit and the brand, instructing him to immediately get a driver to go down the mountain and purchase it.
The manager replied, “They’re repairing the road today. The car won’t be able to get through. Can we buy it early tomorrow morning?”
If it was a normal situation, he would have let it go. However, Gu Xiaoshan was now in a heated state of mind, and actually sent this message, “Don’t we have a helicopter?”
The manager was stunned, marvelling at which secret VIP guest wanted to eat these animal biscuits at night.
For this, the manager even personally came to the restaurant and confirmed it with Gu Xiaoshan. Gu Xiaoshan had to walk away from Renzi and confirmed this with the manager.
When the helicopter rumbled, turning its blades, the entire reception area in the hotel could hear the noise. Hearing it, Renzi was also very curious, “Who’s flying a helicopter at night?”
When he saw the distinct logo of the hotel emblazoned on the helicopter, he remembered how Gu Xiaoshan was being mysterious with the manager, and so asked him, “You guys have an emergency?”
Gu Xiaoshan suddenly felt bashful, nodding his head vaguely. “Yes.”
This bashful feeling was extremely foreign to Gu Xiaoshan, and made him be somewhat at a loss for what to do.
Renzi then said, “That’s true, why else would you use the helicopter if not for an emergency? He’s too bored? Even a brainless person like me won’t do such a thing.”
Gu Xiaoshan choked, “You shouldn’t say it like that…”
Renzi thought about it and nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. What can I not do?”
Gu Xiaoshan could not help but laugh, but he did not know why.
He leaned back into the chair, kneading at his own shoulders and found them aching. Recently, he had been pretty tired. All that were on his shoulders were burdens — his work was very busy, planes, trains, cross-terrain vehicles, he had recently all rode on them. As he was busy with work, his heart was still missing Yu Yunren — not that sort of longing where in his lonely night he would want to give him a call, and not that sort of longing where after a couple of drinks he would want to ask him out — it was not such a simple, flighty sort of longing.
That sort of longing, he was already very used to it, and could also deal with it very easily. After all, he had had so many relationships.
The flighty sort of longing, was like an occasional fallen blossom that was floating on the surface of the water. He could easily pick it up, cherish it, but could also heartlessly watch it drift away.
He could be a rakish poet, doing as he wished.
As for the opposite of that flighty longing, it was like the “vast yearning for love” mentioned in ancient poems. Neither rain nor shine, it was uncertain, the path completely dark. It was a road where he could not leave, and could not walk far in. With a moment of carelessness, he would fall and stain himself with mud, then how would he be able to be that rakish poet.
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