Sunlight streamed through the window into the room. The sewing machine kept running nonstop. After stitching the sleeves onto the garment by feel, Su Yin leaned back and rolled his stiff neck from side to side.
“Hah~”
Yawning again and again, he looked wearily out the window, rubbed his sore eyes, then picked up the clothes and checked them over one more time. The nearest plastic mannequin was still wearing the straight-leg pants.
He got up and slipped the top onto the mannequin, then stepped back a few paces to inspect it. Finally, he let out a breath of relief. It was done at last, just in time to deliver it to the client.
Su Yin took a photo and sent it to the client. After agreeing on a delivery address, he called for a same-city express courier, then rubbed his neck as he walked out of the studio.
He had worked all night to meet the deadline, but breakfast still had to be eaten, otherwise his metabolism would slow down.
He had not exercised in a long time, yet after working out these past few days, he had somehow gained two pounds. Su Yin stepped off the scale and stared gloomily at the number 162.
God knew how, at one meter eighty-eight, he was practically catching up to his weight. He used to stay around 140, with extremely low body fat. He had gone to the gym yesterday to get measured, and his body fat had actually come out to 19%. Terrifying.
He was still a very long way from his old 10%.
After finishing a simple breakfast, the courier came and took the clothes away. He stripped off and went to the bathroom for a shower, then felt the place where his shark-line muscles had disappeared. Still, at least his stomach felt much firmer now, which was some comfort.
“After a nap, I should make lunch for Xue’er.” Su Yin lay on the bed talking to himself, his eyes opening and then closing again.
In his sleep, he vaguely heard many strange voices. He did not know whose they were, but they seemed to be accusing him.
On the way to the studio carrying the insulated lunch box, Su Yin thought he might as well bring some coffee too and treat the studio staff, just to repair his image a little.
Passing a coffee shop, he stopped his bicycle and went inside. The moment he pushed the door open, he bumped into a man wearing sunglasses. “Sorry.” He turned sideways, intending to leave.
“Su Yin?”
A voice tinged with mock amusement rang out. Su Yin looked at him. “You know me?”
The man snatched his lunch box away. “Didn’t expect you’ve stooped even lower now. Started cooking, have you? Not that I’m one to say it, but you…” Before he could finish, the lunch box was snatched back.
Su Yin’s gaze darkened. “Sir, snatching other people’s things is against the law.” What the hell was wrong with him?
Worried he would run out of time, he did not want to bother with the man. He turned to leave, only to get shoved. “Are you insane?!” At that point, he stopped caring about manners. “Do I know you?! You grab at me and shove me the second you touch me? You think I’m easy to bully?”
“Tsk.” The man let out a mocking sneer. “Who are you kidding? Everyone knows Su Yin is the biggest pathetic simp in the whole circle. He Nan is never going to look at you. Look at you, useless, broke, and trashy. You’ve got nothing. Acting all virtuous and domestic, trying to copy people by cooking to win his stomach, it’s useless.” As he spoke, he patted his own cheek. “You’re embarrassing, even to me.”
From the moment he heard the words ‘pathetic simp,’ Su Yin’s expression shifted slightly, from irritation to ridicule. He looked at the man as if he were some pathetic clown. “Finished? Don’t tell me you like He Nan, can’t beat Jiang Zhi, and can only come take your anger out on me?”
What circle did he even have? Aside from teachers and friends in the design world, the only one that could be called a circle was Jiang Zhi. The Jiangs were one of the top corporations in East City.
Having his thoughts exposed, the man flew into a rage and stepped forward to grab Su Yin. Su Yin twisted away and spun aside in one motion. “What, struck a nerve?”
“What is he worth? He’s only got his mother to rely on. Without President Jiang, he’s just a nobody. I could crush him with one finger.”
Su Yin had never considered himself good-tempered. The corners of his mouth curled into a mocking smile, but there was no amusement in his eyes. “So you admit it. You like He Nan, and that’s why you’re losing it?”
When arguing with someone, the way to win is simple, don’t talk about me, talk only about you.
No matter what the other person says, just throw a question back at them.
“You!” The man pointed at him for several seconds without managing a complete sentence. He had never seen Su Yin this sharp-tongued before. In the past, just a few casual remarks from him would be enough to make Su Yin and Jiang Zhi fight and give everyone in the circle fresh gossip to laugh at.
Today, his provocation had actually failed.
Su Yin glanced at the time and could not be bothered to keep arguing. He turned and went to the counter to order coffee. Unexpectedly, the man refused to let it go and followed him over, then kicked his lunch box straight off. It hit the floor and spun twice, the lid popping loose as the food spilled out.
“Hahahahaha~ Let’s see what you’re going to feed He Nan now.” The man burst into triumphant laughter. The customers nearby all turned to look. A server came over and scolded them for dirtying the floor, and the man casually pulled out some cash. “So I dirtied it, so what? A thousand’s enough, right?” He flung the money at the server who was cleaning up.
“I’m so sorry.” Feeling deeply embarrassed, Su Yin apologized to the server. But when he saw how the man reacted, he walked over and, without warning, grabbed his clothes and slammed him straight to the floor. “You think you’re worthy of calling yourself that? Eat this. I’m treating you today.”
“You… Su… Su… ah…” The man’s face was mashed into the food. The wave of disgust that hit him made him struggle desperately, but the hand pressing on the back of his neck was too strong. In the end, he had to use both hands and feet just to shove Su Yin off.
The customers and even the server all stared in stunned silence for a moment, then silently stood to the side and watched.
Su Yin had made sweet-and-sour fish today, along with medicinal cuisine soup. The tangy sweetness and herbal scent spread through the coffee shop. The man wiped his face in utter disgust. His hands and clothes were covered in fish and broth, and he looked a complete mess. He swung a fist at Su Yin, only to step on the spilled soup and crash to the floor again.
“Tsk.” Su Yin copied his tone with a mocking click of his tongue, then crouched in front of him with open glee. “Isn’t this bow a little too deep?” From the moment they met, he had guessed from the man’s clothes that he was probably some rich young master. But whatever his family background was, if this got taken to the police station today, Su Yin was the one in the right.
“Su! Yin!” The man staggered to his feet in even sorrier condition. His finger trembled as he pointed at Su Yin for quite a while before finally fleeing in a fluster.
With the farce over, Su Yin said to the server, “I’m sorry. I caused you trouble.” He really did not have much money on him, and thought maybe two hundred would be enough to hire a cleaner. “This two hundred is a token of apology from me.”
“There’s no need, sir. You didn’t do it on purpose, and this also falls within our service duties.” After saying that, the server carefully continued cleaning the floor.
Awkwardly, Su Yin picked up the lunch box and gave it a quick rinse in the restroom. No lunch today. So annoying.
On the way to the studio after buying coffee, he kept thinking about who that man was. Liking He Nan was one thing, but the deeper reason might be that he hated Jiang Zhi.
‘He’ had stirred up trouble and caused Jiang Zhi to break up. Though Su Yin felt Jiang Zhi was an insufferable poser and that breakup would have happened sooner or later whether anyone interfered or not, still, ‘he’ had been one of the reasons.
He could not really help Jiang Zhi with anything, but letting Jiang Zhi know that someone else was coveting He Nan probably counted as earning some virtue?
For once, he did not go bother Pei Weixue today. Holding a pen for ages without drawing a single stroke, he finally took out his phone and called Jiang Zhi.
“What!”
Jiang Zhi had actually removed him from the blacklist. Wonderful. Delighted, Su Yin said, “Zhizhi, I ran into a man today who likes He Nan…”
At the desk, Pei Weixue, who had been checking code and correcting the system, stopped typing the moment he heard that sentence and looked over at Su Yin. Seeing the empty coffee cup by his hand, he casually crushed it and tossed it into the trash.
Liar. So the reason he had not brought him lunch today was because he had gone to see He Nan! Saying he would cook for him every day, and he had not even gotten a late-night snack yesterday.
“Oh. Xue’er.” Su Yin covered the receiver and turned to look at Pei Weixue. Before he looked over, Pei Weixue had already shifted his gaze back to the computer. Su Yin said, “I didn’t go see He Nan. I ran into one of his admirers while buying coffee today, and he threw away the lunch I made for you. I got into a fight with him. You have no idea how miserable I was, all that food…”
As he listened, Pei Weixue lowered his head and glanced at the coffee cup in the trash… A smile appeared in his eyes before he even noticed it himself, and he calmly went back to looking at the computer.
“If you’re not going to say it, I’m hanging up. I don’t have time to listen to you show off your love life.” Jiang Zhi’s voice came through the receiver, cutting him off. Only then did Su Yin grin sheepishly at Pei Weixue before continuing, “Zhizhi, if you don’t hurry up, he’ll get stolen away.”
“Heh… who are you talking about?” Jiang Zhi’s voice was drowsy and muffled, clearly still lounging in a comfortable bed. Su Yin heard it and felt both envy and jealousy. These days, he did not even dare sleep too deeply, afraid debt collectors would show up at his door. “What do you mean?”
Jiang Zhi said hoarsely, “A lot of people like him. Which one are you talking about?”
Su Yin: “?” Is he really that charming?
Su Yin: “Then our Young Master Jiang is pretty amazing. You managed to win him over. So you’d better hold on tight.”
“Hold on tight my ass!” Jiang Zhi cursed. “Didn’t I tell you? If your Pei Weixue hadn’t come begging me, I wouldn’t have gone after him in the first place. He’s convinced I treated him like a substitute. He believes you and not me, so what’s even the point anymore.”
“…” Su Yin thought, what a sin. “Are the two of you both underdeveloped in the mouth or something?”
Jiang Zhi sat up and threw off his covers, saying furiously, “You’re the one who’s underdeveloped! I’m fierce as hell!”
There he goes again, not understanding human language. Su Yin suspected his ears were underdeveloped too. “Whether you’re fierce or not has nothing to do with me. What I’m saying is, if there’s a misunderstanding, clear it up face-to-face. If he won’t listen, then just keep waiting there. Tell me honestly, do you still like him or not?”
After overhearing a whole pile of gossip, Pei Weixue gave Su Yin a somewhat strange look.
Jiang Zhi gave a huff.
“Stop huffing. Also, have you made enemies? Or is it a competitor of your family company? That man had pretty big eyes. Does that ring any bells?”
Jiang Zhi said speechlessly, “Yes. You.”
Su Yin: “…”
Su Yin: “Don’t mess around.”
“I’m the one messing around? Of the people who like He Nan, there are seven or eight I know of, including you, and your eyes are the biggest!” Jiang Zhi grumbled and cursed nonstop. His voice was a little muffled, and there was running water in the background, so he was probably brushing his teeth.
Su Yin: “…” He touched his eyes. “Anyway, think about it yourself. See if any of those people really hate you. Also, do you actually like He Nan or not?”
Jiang Zhi spat out the foam. “None of your business. If that’s all, I’m hanging up.”
Beep beep beep.
The hurried hang-up tone sounded. Su Yin lowered his phone and sighed helplessly, then turned to complain to Pei Weixue. “Don’t you think he’s such a poser? Would it kill him to tell the truth? We’re childhood friends, for crying out loud.”
Pei Weixue showed no mercy. “It’s precisely because you’re his childhood friend that He Nan believes what you say.”
Su Yin fell silent.
He felt like he was living in some melodramatic world as an NPC.
“Xue’er.” He walked to the desk. “I would never believe anyone who slandered you. If someone talked trash about you in front of me, I’d only beat them up.” He even clenched a fist to show his resolve.
Pei Weixue said, “You said with your own mouth that I was very cheap.”