Chapter 2: Single, Twenty-Eight
The day Chen Shuo went to Gewu Media Co., Ltd. was a Friday. After re-watching the classic palace drama from over a decade ago, he stayed home for two days, and it was Friday again.
He chose a time to call the front desk landline to inquire about the situation. The reply he received was as he expected, the items were still sitting in the front desk drawer.
The receptionist said, “Mr. Li is currently on vacation. When he returns to the company, I will transfer them to him immediately.”
For a whole week, Li Ge hadn’t picked them up, not because he hadn’t, but because he hadn’t gone to the company at all.
Thanking the receptionist, Chen Shuo was about to hang up when the other party suddenly added, “It will have to wait until after the New Year, because Mr. Li is abroad, and the company starts its holiday tomorrow.”
“…”
After hanging up, Chen Shuo checked the date of the musical performance, it was on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, still half a month away. The movie was said to start auditions in March.
Two days ago, Lin Yuzhi had called him, asking about the movie. He didn’t reveal anything, and the other party started talking about his Spring Festival diet management, indirectly trying to find out when the audition would be.
Lin Yuzhi didn’t dare to cause trouble again, but he was clingy and liked to treat life as a stage, always putting on a show, all crying and making a fuss.
It was hard for CEO He to endure it for a month, willing to pay a hefty price to get rid of him. He would probably avoid him in the future.
Chen Shuo now wanted to avoid someone, to avoid the unreliable Li Ge. CEO He said he didn’t need to worry about the rest, but he couldn’t really let it go.
This was his job; he had to see it through to the end.
Making a note in his phone’s memo pad to remind himself of what needed to be done on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Shuo picked up his gym bag and went to a nearby gym he frequented.
For a homebody like him, the only things that could briefly pull him away from his couch-potato state were grocery shopping and working out.
No matter how busy he was with work, he insisted on exercising, keeping his body in a good and healthy state.
Unexpectedly, the gym had closed down overnight.
“Damn it, they even moved all the gym equipment overnight!”
“Fuck, I can’t even contact my personal trainer. I just paid a two thousand yuan deposit the day before yesterday.”
“Damn it, I also just paid a two thousand yuan deposit. They’re scamming us!”
Dozens of people gathered at the entrance of the store, all cursing and complaining. The most agitated among them, a strong man, had already created a WeChat group for rights protection, clamoring to call the police, and was adding people to the group.
When he reached Chen Shuo, his saliva was still flying, almost spraying Chen Shuo’s face.
Chen Shuo ignored the strong man and turned to leave.
From an angle imperceptible to others, his brow furrowed slightly, and his jaw tightened a little, indicating he was suppressing his displeasure.
Recently, things hadn’t been going smoothly. Chen Shuo drove all the way to the suburbs, exercising by hiking and processing his emotions.
It didn’t matter that Lin Yuzhi was a drama queen, and it didn’t matter that Li Ge was unreliable. He wouldn’t bring his emotions into his work. Even if he encountered something unpleasant, he would just endure it and move on.
What Chen Shuo couldn’t accept was that he had also been scammed by the gym.
Just a few days ago, like a fool, he not only paid a two-thousand-yuan deposit but also participated in the “pay for two years, get one year free” promotion, renewing his membership for three years.
Who would have thought such a large-scale gym would run away?
What Chen Shuo found troublesome now was having to find a new gym.
The current studio apartment he lived in was bought after comprehensive consideration of its location and surrounding facilities. The total price wasn’t cheap, and the down payment alone took almost two years of his salary.
It had snowed in Beicheng a while ago. The mountains were filled with cold air, the surrounding trees covered in ice and snow. The cold wind howled, and snow particles occasionally fell from the treetops, making a rustling sound.
Chen Shuo walked and stopped, occasionally admiring the scenery, but ended up inhaling a lot of cold air, unable to process his emotions at all. Perhaps because it was almost New Year’s, even the mountains weren’t quiet, very noisy.
He looked up at the winding mountain road, only one word in his mind.
Annoyed.
“Fuck, I get annoyed every New Year’s.” Li Ge casually tossed his phone onto the table, took the half glass of wine Qiao An poured for him, and downed it in one gulp.
“Weren’t you quite happy abroad the other day?” Qiao An teased Li Ge, seeing him drinking quickly and reminded, “Take it easy, your cousin isn’t here, don’t get drunk and go crazy.”
Fei Fan, who was beside them, quickly snatched Li Ge’s glass and added, “That’s right, if you go crazy, He Yan will find trouble with us, stop drinking!”
Mentioning this made Li Ge even more annoyed, and he cursed again, “No, really, whose side are you two on? Are you working with He Yan to monitor me?”
Qiao An and Fei Fan looked at each other and simply shut up.
“How old am I? Don’t I know if I can handle my alcohol?” Li Ge grabbed his glass back and poured himself another drink.
Qiao An thought to himself, if you knew, that would be strange.
Fei Fan blurted out, “If you knew, that would be strange.”
“What do you mean?” Li Ge raised an eyebrow, “Fei Fan, do you want to compete with me in drinking?”
Fei Fan quickly waved his hand, “How dare I, brother? You’re so awesome. I just want to advise you not to be annoyed. If it really doesn’t work, find a fake girlfriend to take home and put on an act.”
“Then next year I’ll have to bring a child back to continue the act, what a terrible idea.” Li Ge took a sip of wine.
Fei Fan: “…”
Qiao An and Fei Fan were He Yan’s friends. Qiao An was one year older than Li Ge, and Fei Fan was two years younger. Their families were somewhat related.
When Li Ge was in school, he often accompanied his mother back to Beicheng to visit relatives during winter and summer vacations. With no playmates, he would follow his cousin around, forcing his way into He Yan’s circle.
He Yan was open-minded and not straight, and he once worried about corrupting his cousin. After a few years of not seeing each other, he didn’t expect his cousin, who had returned from studying abroad, to be even more open than him, and also not straight, like a wild bull that couldn’t be pulled back.
However, his aunt had entrusted him to take care of her younger brother. He was busy with his career and couldn’t attend to it, so he could only trouble Qiao An to keep an eye on him when he had time. He really couldn’t control his sexual orientation at all.
Qiao An also treated Li Ge as a younger brother and advised, “Alright, it’s no use being annoyed. Let’s not talk about these upsetting things. Your cousin isn’t coming today, so I’ll drink with you to your heart’s content.”
“I can’t be content.” Li Ge was thinking of an excuse not to go back for the New Year, but he was afraid of hurting his grandmother’s feelings.
How could there be no reunion during Spring Festival? But reunion meant being urged to get married. It was fine if his grandmother urged him, but his parents also actively cooperated. As soon as the old lady mentioned a blind date, they would start looking for candidates for him.
They had just talked about this matter on the phone not long ago, praising how beautiful and kind a certain girl was.
That’s why Li Ge was annoyed.
When he was annoyed, everything annoyed him. The phone on the table started ringing noisily. He glanced at the caller ID, which had been secretly changed to “Wife” by his lover at some point. It annoyed him so much that he answered and scolded, “Who allowed you to mess with my phone?”
The little star was stunned by the sponsor’s sudden cold attitude and immediately acted coquettishly and apologized, “I’m sorry, honey, I won’t do it again, don’t be angry.”
“I’m single, don’t fucking call me that.”
“…” The little star was confused and felt wronged. The sponsor was clearly still fine last week, taking him abroad and promising to spend Valentine’s Day with him tomorrow.
He tentatively asked, “What’s wrong? Can I come over and keep you company?”
Hearing the squeaky, cloying voice on the phone, Li Ge suddenly felt nauseous for a moment, or rather, a bit homophobic.
If only he could feel something for women, he wouldn’t be so annoyed, and Spring Festival would be a joyous family reunion.
“You’re not qualified to keep me company, get lost.”
Afraid that the movie the sponsor invested in for him would be canceled, the little star obediently changed his address to “Mr. Li,” apologizing humbly, not knowing that he was tap-dancing on a minefield, and it was useless no matter what he called him.
“Our relationship ends here. If you bother me again, I’ll slap you.” Li Ge hung up the phone and threw it aside, downing the rest of his wine in one gulp.
Unable to persuade him, Qiao An poured Li Ge another drink and casually asked, “New Year’s Eve is the day after tomorrow, when are you planning to go back?”
Li Ge leaned back lazily on the sofa and muttered to himself, “Why am I gay? They’re both holes, why can’t I do it with women?”
Qiao An & Fei Fan: “…”
Li Ge turned and looked at his two speechless friends, asking knowingly, “Can you two do it with women?”
Qiao An & Fei Fan: “…”
Li Ge: “How can you do it? Tell me in detail.”
Fei Fan: “Brother Qiao, he’s drunk!”
Qiao An: “I can see that.”
Li Ge: “Don’t joke, I’m very sober.”
After three rounds of drinks, Li Ge was still drunk, mumbling slurred nonsense.
He was tall and well-built, 1.83 meters tall. Qiao An couldn’t handle him alone, so he and Fei Fan helped him out of the bar, one on each side, and finally managed to shove him into the car with great effort.
When Li Ge opened his eyes again, the bedroom was as bright as heaven, the sunlight streaming in was so dazzling that he almost went blind. Those two bastards, Qiao An and Fei Fan, didn’t even bother to draw the curtains for him last night.
He sat up with half-closed eyes, his head groggy. After a long while, he picked up his phone from the nightstand and saw that the screen was black and unresponsive.
“Fuck.” Li Ge cursed under his breath, enduring his headache as he got out of bed to charge his phone. Shortly after turning it on, several text messages and missed call notifications popped up.
Seeing that the text messages were all from the unsaved contact “Wife,” he still felt a bit nauseous. He didn’t open any of them and simply deleted the contact. The novelty wore off faster than a tornado.
As for the missed calls, they were from Ms. Min.
Li Ge called back and said preemptively, “Mom, my phone had some problems and I just fixed it. I’m on my way, don’t rush me, Happy Valentine’s Day, gotta go.”
“…” Ms. Min on the other end hadn’t reacted yet, “Hey, son—”
Another year older, twenty-eight.
Li Ge, who was used to being carefree, rarely felt sentimental about life, but at this moment, he couldn’t help but sigh: Time, you are so fleeting, so merciless.
With a restless heart, he obediently returned to Jiangcheng for the New Year.
In a studio apartment on the other side of Beicheng, Chen Shuo started his vacation.
Spring Festival was no different from usual days for him. He never celebrated festivals, but after a series of unfortunate events, he wanted some good luck, so when he went to the supermarket to buy groceries, he picked up a pair of festive couplets.
On the quiet New Year’s Eve, Chen Shuo found recipes online and cooked himself a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner, and then chose a lively palace drama to set the mood.
Boiled prawns symbolized “prosperity,” garlic lettuce symbolized “making a fortune,” and egg drop soup symbolized “good luck.” Two dishes and a soup, all good omens.
He quietly spent the Spring Festival, waiting for the reminder on the fifth day.
Unfortunately, the fifth day, the day to welcome the God of Wealth, was Li Ge’s dreaded blind date day. His mood was heavier than attending a funeral. Arriving at the parking lot of the western restaurant, he hesitated to get out of the car, finding everyone unpleasant to look at.
The woman hadn’t arrived yet, so he sat in the car smoking.
Unfortunately, cigarettes didn’t relieve his boredom. Li Ge still felt suffocated. His phone rang timely, and he glanced at it. It wasn’t the blind date contact his grandmother had forced him to save last night; it was an unknown number.
Having been pestered by his previous kept little star for several days, Li Ge was looking for an outlet to vent his frustration. He answered and cursed, “Are you fucking done yet?”
“…”
