Chapter 14: Dog-Blood High Society
Christmas fell on a Friday.
At noon, colleagues were already eagerly discussing their evening plans. They even made a wish when the Crown Prince of the Chairman’s Office passed by: that their zestless Chairman Lu wouldn’t be provoked by the festive spirit and suddenly decide to hold a meeting and work overtime.
Gu Xiu silently finished the small cookies he had brought and returned to the office.
This time, Lu Shichen was a few hours early. He said to Gu Xiu, “We can get off work early today. Let’s go out for dinner.”
Gu Xiu froze.
It happened so suddenly that 007 was also stunned: 【Huh? Why is the protagonist gong asking you out to dinner? He has nothing to do with tonight’s plot!】
Lu Shichen keenly noticed the change in Gu Xiu’s expression. His brow immediately furrowed, and he asked him point-blank, “Are you going out to play with those degenerate friends again?”
“No, not degenerate friends,” Gu Xiu explained sheepishly. “Just a friend.”
Just a friend.
That seemed even worse than a group of degenerate friends.
Lu Shichen opened his mouth. Although he had a guess, he still wanted to ask him who that person was.
After a moment, he calmed down and realized he was overstepping his bounds. He closed his mouth and lowered his misty, smoke-gray eyes.
The sky outside was also gray, and it was getting dark unusually early.
Gu Xiu walked on the street with his hands in his pockets. The snow that had been accumulating all day fell in flurries before his eyes.
According to the plot, Gu Xiu needed to arrive at the restaurant where he was meeting Jiang Yuan Yao, give him the unsuitable tie as a careless Christmas gift, and go on a date with him where they were together in body but not in spirit. They would walk on the street and wait for the midnight bells to ring.
It was only six o’clock when he got out of the car. The sky was already dark, and the ground was covered with a thin layer of muddy, wet, and dirty snow.
The streets were bustling with couples, all cuddling and acting intimately. Weaving through the crowd, Gu Xiu suddenly felt a strong sense of resistance.
It even forced him to a halt.
He thought for a moment and described the strange feeling: 【I feel like it’s still too weird to go on a date with the protagonist shou. Since I’m supposed to be a scum to him, I might as well just stand him up. What’s the point of this ambiguous situation?】
【Jiujiu, I didn’t expect your moral compass to be so high!】 007 exclaimed. 【In our Jinjiang slang, you’re also like the protagonist gong, the class president of the School of Male Virtue.】
Gu Xiu’s eyebrows, dusted with fine snow, were stern. He spoke in a cold voice: 【I’m not gay, thank you.】
007 discovered that no matter how fierce the host was, he wouldn’t really do anything to it. It boldly joked, 【I didn’t say you were gay～】
Gu Xiu: “…”
The snow was falling harder and harder.
The Christmas tree was tall and layered. A layer of snow covered every upturned green branch. The colorful lights were misty, emitting a dreamy and fantastical glow in the night.
Gu Xiu was still wearing his work suit, with a calf-length woolen coat over it. The high-quality cashmere was warm enough, but not enough to withstand the biting cold of the north.
He kept his hands in his pockets, pacing back and forth to keep warm, shaking off the fine snowflakes from his shoulders and the tips of his hair.
As he was lost in thought, a girl with a face flushed from the cold stopped in front of him. Sniffling, she asked, “Brother, Merry Christmas. Do you want to buy a flower?”
The girl probably thought that the person wandering on the street was waiting for his lover.
She was carrying a flower basket filled with beautifully wrapped single roses. The price wasn’t expensive, but they weren’t selling well on this foreign holiday. If you really wanted to give flowers, you should have prepared a bouquet in advance. A single rose from the street would only seem shabby and insincere.
Single people were even less likely to buy them. Wasn’t it bad enough to see couples everywhere?
Her business was clearly not going well. The flower basket was full of beautiful, crowded flowers.
But Gu Xiu was not an ordinary person. She had called out to him, but Gu Xiu’s attention was not on the flowers. He looked at her and suddenly had an idea. “Can you run an errand for me? Deliver something to someone in the restaurant opposite. I’ll pay you for it.”
The girl followed the young man’s raised chin and looked over. The restaurant he was talking about was right across the street, just a few dozen steps away.
“Sure. Is the person already there? If you buy a flower, I’ll deliver it for you. It’s only ten yuan,” the girl readily agreed.
“Mm, no need for the flower. Do you know Jiang Yuan Yao? If you don’t, you can search for him online. There are photos of him. Give this gift bag to him.”
Gu Xiu was still not used to fully digital payment methods. He opened his wallet and took out a red hundred-yuan bill.
“Keep the change.”
“Brother, you’re giving too much,” the girl said with a troubled expression. She didn’t have any cash to give him change, and Gu Xiu repeatedly refused.
After a moment of hesitation, she took out the most beautiful rose from her flower basket. “Here, you can have this. You can give it to the person you like.”
The girl’s expectant gaze was scorching. It seemed that if Gu Xiu didn’t accept the return gift, she wouldn’t be able to accept this windfall with a clear conscience.
“…Alright.”
Gu Xiu sighed softly. The white mist blurred his sharp monolids. His moist black eyes in the snowy night were like a deep, icy lake.
He held the vibrant red rose and murmured with some annoyance, “But I don’t have anyone I like.”
The girl’s eyes curved into a smile. “Give it away first, and you’ll have someone later.”
Gu Xiu burst out laughing.
【This reminds me of a joke about being pressured to get married that I saw online.】 Gu Xiu chatted casually. 【Don’t worry about who it is, just get married first.】
【Jiujiu, you should stop watching other people’s drama. I’m not saying this to be mean…】 007 whispered like a devil. 【In our Jinjiang, this is called setting a flag.】
“…”
Gu Xiu clicked his tongue.
The flower girl waved at him and ran towards the restaurant.
Gu Xiu made a successful retreat and quickly hailed a taxi home.
As he got into the car, Jiang Yuan Yao happened to run out of the restaurant, holding an exquisite gift box, looking around anxiously.
The car had already sped away.
It was not yet eight o’clock when he got home.
But Gu Xiu hadn’t had dinner and was starving. The moment he entered the door, he went straight to the kitchen.
Butler Tong was also there. He was stunned to see him in such a hurry, then he asked shrewdly, “You haven’t had dinner?”
Butler Tong was plating some pasta. Gu Xiu was also stunned for a moment before saying, “Mm, I haven’t eaten yet.”
Butler Tong smiled gently and pushed the steaming pasta towards him. “Then you can have this pasta first. I’ll make another portion for Chairman Lu.”
“…Huh?” Gu Xiu figured it out. “Ninth Uncle hasn’t eaten yet?”
On a holiday.
Who would have thought that the workaholic Chairman Lu wasn’t working overtime at the company and pushing his employees, but had brought his work home and had been busy in the study until now. It wasn’t until Butler Tong couldn’t stand it anymore that he took the initiative to prepare dinner for him.
Gu Xiu filled his stomach first, then brought the second portion of pasta and knocked on the door.
An unexpected person appeared at the door.
Lu Shichen had a habit of furrowing his brow when he was thinking. His blank gaze lingered on the young man’s face for a moment, then his brow suddenly relaxed, and a hint of confusion appeared. “You’re back already?”
“I’ve been back for a while,” Gu Xiu said as he entered the room with the tray. “Butler Tong made pasta. I just had a portion. It’s delicious.”
Lu Shichen was silent for a moment. “…What did you eat outside that you’re still hungry?”
“Of course I’m hungry because I didn’t eat,” Gu Xiu said as he put down the tray. “Here.”
Lu Shichen’s complicated gaze roamed over him.
He was still wearing his work suit, a delicate gray wool vest over a white shirt, accentuating his broad shoulders and narrow waist. His trousers were well-tailored and slim-fitting. If he stuffed some small snacks in his pockets, they would bulge out noticeably.
Lu Shichen couldn’t help but take a closer look. The square shape in his pocket, he didn’t know what it was.
His unruly cousin-nephew seemed to have grown up overnight, becoming sensible, considerate, and endearing. He took out the thing in his pocket as if presenting a treasure.
A square paper box with a dark pattern, and a familiar luxury brand logo in the middle.
“A gift for you, a tie,” Gu Xiu handed over the box. His worldly smile was tinged with a hint of warmth by the floor lamp, as dazzling as golden light. “Consider it my rent for this period.”
Hearing this, Lu Shichen snorted with laughter, clearly not taking his junior’s joke seriously. But he reached out his hand and accepted the Christmas gift.
The gift Gu Xiu bought was indeed for him.
“Then you can continue with your work. I’ll be leaving now.”
Gu Xiu said his goodbyes. Just as he turned around, his wrist was suddenly grabbed by a force.
“Put it on for me.”
Lu Shichen unceremoniously made his cheap assistant work overtime at night.
“You’re my assistant,” Lu Shichen said righteously. “This is your most basic duty.”
Gu Xiu had no choice. Thinking that tying a tie wasn’t that difficult, he agreed, “Alright.”
Lu Shichen was also wearing a shirt at home, a steady dark gray one today. Sitting there, he was a perfect gentleman. But when he stood up, he was full of pressure.
Even though they were about the same height, Gu Xiu still felt that his aura was being suppressed.
He took the new tie out of the box, first passed it under the man’s warm collar, wrapped it around the back of his neck, and crossed it in front to form a knot.
He had been wearing a suit to work these past few days and had been tying his own tie every morning. He could do it with his eyes closed. But now, with the direction reversed, he suddenly found it difficult. How was he supposed to tie a tie for someone else?
He fumbled around for a long time.
Finally, an ugly knot hung on Lu Shichen’s chest. Gu Xiu chose to be selectively blind and said with a perfunctory smile, “It’s done, Ninth Uncle.”
“…”
Lu Shichen was silent for a moment.
Seeing that Gu Xiu was about to leave, Lu Shichen quickly instructed from behind, “Gu Xiu, go online and watch some tutorial videos. Learn it as soon as possible. Starting next Monday, you’ll be in charge of my ties.”
Gu Xiu: “…”
If he could make a Christmas wish, his wish would be to be fired on the spot.
