After saying that line, Gu You immediately left.
Ruan Jiu Jiu felt like he was different than before. Perhaps he had suffered through the vicissitudes of life, and his vibrant, unhurried nature now had a dash of steadiness. In that sense, it was good thing for him.
During dinner, Ruan Jiu Jiu sat across from Cheng Jun as they chatted. They amicably played out their roles as husband and wife living their daily lifes.
Ruan Jiu Jiu said, “Once I get paid, I’ll treat you to a feast.”
This was mutual reciprocation. Ruan Jiu Jiu expressed that she had to be kind and honest as a person.
Cheng Jun knew very clear how much she earned. After all, he set her salary. Cheng Jun lowered his head to drink his soup. He slowly said, “Okay.”
“Oh right.” Ruan Jiu Jiu said, “I feel like I need to learn how to drive, or else it’ll be too inconvenient to get to and from work.”
“Take a taxi.”
His words were cut off as Ruan Jiu Jiu explained in more detail, “Though I have money, it won’t be there forever and I have to save a bit on the cab fares.” Moreover, sometimes she might not even be able to hail a ride.
“The only other option is to hire a chauffeur. But do you think I can afford it every month? It’s impossible.”
Cheng Jun blinked.
Actually, it was possible. Even if she wanted to be sent to work in a motorcade, that was still doable.
It’s just that he couldn’t say those words aloud.
She was swamped with work these days and couldn’t squeeze out any time to attend driving lessons. The sun set earlier in winter time, and practicing alone at night was a little dangerous. Ruan Jiu Jiu thought, perhaps she could do warmups, like… find some game where she could practice her driving?
……
Ruan Jiu Jiu sat on the sofa with a grave expression on her face as she looked at her phone. If someone didn’t know better, they’d think that something major had occurred.
Her back was as straight as an arrow and she kept reciting the basics of reversing a car. Step by step, she nervously continued to make progress. Cheng Jun walked by and cast her a glance. He fell into a weird silence.
He stared blankly as Ruan Jiu Jiu drove a sedan in a battle royale game. She slowly turned, stopped, turned back, and then stopped again.
Ruan Jiu Jiu didn’t have her mic on but her teammates did.
“Miss, what are you doing?”
……
……
“Wtf! Why the hell did you have to run all the way over here to practice your driving?!”
“I really have to give it to you. Last time I saw a girl treating PUBG as some dress up game. But now there’s someone practicing their driving???”
“If you wanna learn driving then go play GKART, man!”
Ruan Jiu Jiu, who still hadn’t turned her mic on, was stunned. She suddenly realized that what they said made sense.
Jiu Jiu Jiu: Thanks for the tip.
She then drove into a wall and committed suicide.
Her teammates: “…”
Thus, ten minutes later, Ruan Jiu Jiu’s character appeared in GKART. Everyone else followed the map and rushed forward. But not her. One of the players silently reversed, like someone who had gotten stuck at the starting line. She didn’t reverse very far before being sent back to the start.
Ruan Jiu Jiu expressed that she was someone with patience and determination.
Because of this, she almost didn’t wake up the next day. Dark circles hung under her eyes, and her whole body exuded a feeling of exhaustion. She swore to never again try to prove herself via a game. Last night, she practiced and practiced, and then started to play. She played and played until the sky turned bright. Ruan Jiu Jiu was left sluggish and lifeless. Her only wish was to collapse onto bed and have a good rest.
She yawned.
Mr. Meng was a little shocked and said, “I always felt like you were a little out of place in the company, but now I finally feel like I found a point you have in common with us.”
Ruan Jiu Jiu asked, “What point?”
“Eyebags.”
“…”
Mr. Meng was very good-natured as he said, “So as I was saying, if you’re looking for a partner, you definitely have to look for a programmer. They earn lots of money and die young. Remember to stack on the life insurance, haha.”
Ruan Jiu Jiu was left speechless.
She was amused and shook her head, saying, “My husband isn’t a programmer.” There was still a large gap between an esports player and a programmer. Every day, Cheng Jun was living his beautiful, leisurely, sedentary NEET life. How could he be overworked to death? Choking to death or eating himself to death was more like it.
Mr. Meng smiled mysteriously along with her. He thought Ruan Jiu Jiu didn’t want to bring up Cheng Jun in case people said she was here because of connections.
Mr. Meng said, “Okay, okay, okay. If you say he isn’t, then he isn’t.”
Ruan Jiu Jiu: “???”
Why did it feel like the two of them were talking about entirely different things?
“Oh right, Boss Tu came back today but he’s meeting someone at this moment.”
Ruan Jiu Jiu flipped through the documents and absentmindedly asked, “Who?”
“I think it was… What’s he called? Gu You? He went to asked Tu Nan for a meeting. It’s probably something to do with the esports team.” The signup period had already passed and the preliminaries had concluded. He didn’t know if he’d be given the opportunity to join in the middle of the competition.
This plot point matched up with what Ruan Jiu Jiu recalled.
She remembered that Tu Nan did give him a chance. Though Gu You encountered some trouble at the competition, he succeeded in the end in a brilliant display of skill without slipping up. Finally, he was able to successfully rise to unseen heights.
Seems like Xu Bi Ying had come in handy at this critical time.
Ruan Jiu Jiu thought, though Xu Bi Ying as a person wasn’t much, she was still able to assist Gu You through one of his hardest moments. Their feelings would be fostered through sharing these trials and tribulations. Gu You definitely wouldn’t treat her unfairly. Ruan Jiu Jiu hoped that Xu Bi Ying would be able to appreciate all that she had and not fixate on Cheng Jun anymore.
Using a somewhat inappropriate metaphor, the way Xu Bi Ying looked at Cheng Jun was like a fierce dog looking at a meat bun, minus the pouncing.
Ruan Jiu Jiu felt a little disgusted at that thought.
On the other side.
After the talks with Tu Nan concluded, a figure walked out from the office. Surprisingly, it was Gu You.
Tu Nan’s assistant was by his side and just so happened to be able to accompany him for a bit to see him out the door.
Gu You took a few steps and then suddenly asked, “Where is your animation design department?”
The assistant said, “It’s one floor down. What is it?”
“Nothing.” He gave a slight smile. Upon thinking that the person was already married, his expression suddenly dimmed.
“I know someone there.”
※
By the time Ruan Jiu Jiu returned home, the sky was already dark.
Cheng Jun was in his study and didn’t come out. So Ruan Jiu Jiu took the opportunity to change out of her work clothes. She comfortably lazed against the soft sofa. Her head rested against the cushion as she peeled oranges. She bounced her legs back and forth as she propped them up, seemingly in high spirits.
When Cheng Jun opened the study door, he saw Ruan Jiu Jiu’s unbecoming image. Normally, when she was in public, she was very dignified and well-mannered towards others. But at home, she sprawled out and lay recumbent, doing the Beijing slouch.
Ruan Jiu Jiu looked up and greeted him. “Yo, good evening.”
“Yeah.” Cheng Jun sat on an armchair to the side.
Ruan Jiu Jiu was peeling her orange when curiosity suddenly overtook her. “What do you think of Gu You’s skills?” There wasn’t any suspense in his duel with Cheng Jun, so Ruan Jiu Jiu didn’t have any idea of his strength.
Cheng Jun cast her a glance and clearly didn’t seem too interested in replying.
“Okay.”
An “okay” from him was already very convincing praise.
Ruan Jiu Jiu let out a sigh of relief. “Then I wish him success.”
From Ruan Jiu Jiu’s words, Cheng Jun knew she was aware that Gu You would continue to participate in the recruitment tournament. As for the specifics of how she received the news or what went on between the two of them, Cheng Jun had no way of knowing.
It just so happened that Ruan Jiu Jiu looked very happy at this moment, as if her good mood today was because of Gu You.
She spoke of Gu You and her mood was affected by Gu You. She was too lazy to care for Cheng Jun’s past yet took the initiative to mention Gu You’s name, just to understand his skills.
Gu You, Gu You, Gu You. Everything was Gu You.
Cheng Jun’s languid, scattered gaze finally looked a little different.
At this moment, he didn’t even want to see Ruan Jiu Jiu’s smiling face. It was a little unpleasant to the eye. He suddenly stood up and walked to his study.
Behind him, Ruan Jiu Jiu was a little shocked and asked, “Hey, aren’t you eating?”
“…”
“What’s wrong with you?”
The only reply Ruan Jiu Jiu received was the closing of the door.
What was wrong with him?
Just those lowly, laughable feelings that arose in his heart, and that he couldn’t control.
Ruan Jiu Jiu thought that he was just in some weird, baffling mood. Unexpectedly, he didn’t come out even after quite some time had passed. Ruan Jiu Jiu also got a bit mad. She returned to her room in a huff and also closed the door. She wanted to show Cheng Jun that she too was unhappy.
Ruan Jiu Jiu lay on her bed browsing her phone. She planned to reconcile with Cheng Jun after a while. But she waited and waited, but there still was no sound.
She lay on her bed and fell asleep without even realizing it.
When she woke up in a daze, she realized how famished she was. Ruan Jiu Jiu quietly opened the door and discovered that the door to Cheng Jun’s study was still shut tight. She angrily shut her own door and decided to not cook dinner tonight, and to let Cheng Jun starve too.
Her stomach grumbled and she couldn’t help but rub her flat, deflated tummy.
Ruan Jiu Jiu: “…”
In silence, she opened Meituan, a delivery platform, and decided to have herself a good meal. She threw down the big bucks and ordered spicy crayfish, seafood boil, and meat skewers. Ruan Jiu Jiu already started salivating.
Just when she was about to press “pay” she thought that if she ordered takeout, Cheng Jun would definitely notice. By then, there was a good possibility Cheng Jun would once again relegate this to that vile solo dining issue.
Thus, Ruan Jiu Jiu had a brilliant idea.
In the space for delivery instructions, she wrote: Please don’t come through the front door and instead go under the windows on the south side. There will be a rope hanging down. Please remember to knot the food tightly.
Ruan Jiu Jiu happily pressed “pay.”
Ruan Jiu Jiu took a page out of those TV dramas and tightly knotted two bedsheets end-to-end into a thick rope. She then patiently waited for the food delivery guy to deliver the goods.
The food delivery guy Mr. Li was very dumbfounded.
He looked at the note a few times before confirming the other party’s weird delivery method. The patron said they would tip well for the trouble. He gritted his teeth and rode his scooter to the other side of the building. In the pitch dark and eerily silent night he was like a thief, tiptoeing with a bag of takeout. He went to the side of the building and confirmed the location.
A window opened and a makeshift rope fell down. It shook in the direction of the food delivery guy.
Only
He didn’t understand why he had to do it like this but nevertheless, he still did it.
Mr. Li did as the patron wished and knotted it tightly so that the bag wouldn’t slip. He busied himself until he practically had a head full of sweat. Finally, he finished and was able to take a breather. He looked up, waiting for the patron to haul it up.
Then…
Mr. Li watched as the other window opened.
In the window adjacent to the one with the rope, a man stood there with a faint gaze, looking at the makeshift rope hanging out the next-door window.
Food delivery guy: “…”
Should he say anything or not?
Author’s Note: Guess the probability that Ruan Jiu Jiu will be able to eat her solo meal ╮(╯▽╰)╭
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