“Discarding After Use / Discarding It Once Used”
Fu Yunting saw Jiang Zhi, who was following behind Sheng Yuan, at the entrance of the office, and rarely lost his composure in front of his subordinates.
Fortunately, this kind of situation did not last long. “Let’s stop here for today, everyone go ahead and get busy first.”
After saying that, he instinctively went to check his mobile phone, thinking he had missed a message from Jiang Zhi.
“No need to look, I didn’t send you a message, I was just passing by to have a casual look.”
The man instructed Sheng Yuan, “You go to the meeting room first.”
“Okay.” Sheng Yuan gave a nod toward Jiang Zhi and then hurriedly left.
Fu Yunting brought Jiang Zhi into the office, instructing the secretary to get some tea water and things to eat.
“Sorry, it’s a bit busy today. Play here for a while, I will try my best to finish within half an hour.”
“No need to hurry, I’m just idle, no urgent matter.” Jiang Zhi expressed complete understanding.
“Call the secretary if there’s a need, I’ll be back right away.” Fu Yunting went to the front of the desk, took his mobile phone, and then walked out.
Jiang Zhi nodded cheerfully, “Okay, go get busy.”
Only when reaching the door, the man stopped his steps again and cast a glance back, the depths of his eyes still containing a bit of disbelief.
The moment Fu Yunting left, Jiang Zhi stood up and turned around. This office was not as grand and magnificent as he had imagined; the decorations were a bit outdated, looking like something used by the older generation.
The things on the desk were stacked tidily; not a single file folder crossed the boundary, and even the fountain pens in the pen holder were facing the exact same direction.
He tapped his chin and sat on Fu Yunting’s chair to spin around once.
The suit jacket was hanging meticulously on the clothes hanger; the shoulders, cuffs, and back did not have a single wrinkle. Jiang Zhi felt amused in his heart; what the old master said was truly not wrong.
Fu Yunting said half an hour and it was half an hour; at the first moment he heard the sound of footsteps, he checked the time—not a minute more.
The moment the man came in, he caught sight of the conspicuous lounge area, and… the desk that had been turned over.
The skin of his eyelids twitched as he looked at the little artist who was sprawled horizontally on the sofa without any image.
For a moment, he didn’t speak.
Jiang Zhi threw the last segment of mandarin orange into his mouth. “Mm, sorry, ah—I made a mess of your office.”
“It doesn’t matter, it will be cleaned up in a while.”
Jiang Zhi stood up from his position. “How are we eating lunch? A restaurant next door to the company is okay, how about it? Going together?”
Fu Yunting carefully looked at Jiang Zhi’s face, determining that he wasn’t making a joke, and pressed the intercom to instruct the secretary, “Help me change the lunch with President Li to tomorrow noon.”
“Okay, President Fu, then should I order a meal for you?”
“No need.”
…
Jiang Zhi very quickly pulled Fu Yunting to the destination. Seeing the signboard at the entrance, Fu Yunting had a bad premonition.
Sure enough… just upon entering, a burst of choking spicy smell leaped to the man’s nose tip. Fu Yunting, who had always faced danger without fear, let out a fierce sneeze.
Jiang Zhi turned his head to look at this person, his pair of deer-eyes staring perfectly round, surprised and excited, looking like a little demon who had succeeded in a prank.
“…You wouldn’t dislike eating hotpot, right? I have made a firm decision to cultivate feelings with you!”
Fu Yunting, “……”
If the smile were a bit less obvious, he might have believed it.
This hotpot restaurant was said to be next door, but actually it was also three kilometers away, separated from Fu’s by an elevated overpass right at the boundary between the new district and the old town district.
The hotpot restaurant’s consumption level was ordinary; there was only a main hall and no private rooms.
Everywhere was filled with hot and spicy smells. Jiang Zhi seemed to have his heart set on challenging Fu Yunting’s limit, specially choosing a position right in the middle, letting the two of them be located in the center of the noisy and choking environment.
This was a professional Sichuan-style hotpot; the tables and chairs were all made of wood. The moment he sat down, Fu Yunting stared at the oil stains on the table and knitted his brows, which Jiang Zhi saw entirely in his eyes.
In fact, Jiang Zhi indeed didn’t want to come here at the beginning, but his current consumption level was truly limited. In case the plan failed at that time and he really ended up displaced on the streets, he still had a whole family to feed—money would run out.
During the period of ordering dishes, he silently calculated the food capacity of the two of them, wanting to tightly press the budget down to within two hundred.
Regrettably, just a single plate of fresh-cut beef was at the price of 68, making this plan of Jiang Zhi’s proceed with a bit of difficulty. Ordering food actually took a full half-hour of hesitation before getting it done.
Fu Yunting didn’t speak throughout the whole process, as if whatever Jiang Zhi did was right, and his habit of always compressing lunch into one hour also seemed nonexistent because of Jiang Zhi.
Jiang Zhi’s purpose in coming here today was very obvious: to eat, and to eat with his ugly manners fully exposed.
“Alright, the first time eating was you ordering food, this time it’s my turn.” He righteously submitted the order, completely having no intention of discussing with Fu Yunting.
“Okay.” The man opened the cola delivered by the waiter for him and placed it in front of his eyes. “No public announcements today?”
“None.” Jiang Zhi propped his head up and stared at Fu Yunting. “None recently. It just happens that I have time to come over and look for you, you don’t mind right?”
Thinking of the old master’s phone call yesterday, Fu Yunting was thoughtful.
“I don’t mind.”
“We didn’t have an emotional foundation to begin with. Before marriage, I think it is necessary to cultivate feelings a bit, what do you think?” Jiang Zhi asked him.
“Sure, whatever you want to do, I will cooperate,” Fu Yunting said.
Jiang Zhi thought to himself: Let’s see how you still pretend once the spicy pot comes up in a moment.
“This is for the best. At the first meeting I said it—I have a pile of bad habits, just… look and understand them then.”
Before Fu Yunting could react, the waiter carried the red-hot spicy pot up.
A standard Sichuan-style nine-palace grid.
Fu Yunting’s index finger pressed against his nose tip, enduring the urge to sneeze.
Jiang Zhi kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, pretending not to see.
“My usual taste is relatively heavy. Today together with you, I specially asked for mildly spicy, you try it first?”
Fu Yunting was silent for an instant. “Okay.”
From the drinks to the dipping sauces, this meal was ordered single-handedly by Jiang Zhi. Even so, he still felt it wasn’t enough, holding a bowl of pig brains and pouring them into Fu Yunting’s bowl.
“You taste this, the texture is super tender and smooth, it’s this shop’s signature.”
Fu Yunting looked at the lifelike pig brain wrinkles on top, his thick brows tightly furrowed.
Seeing the situation, Jiang Zhi silently snapped his fingers in his heart, pouring a plate of tripe and duck intestines into the pot with a clatter. “Taste all of these, and also this chicken foot.” While blanching the food, he observed the man’s reaction.
He originally thought he would get directly angry, but one minute later, he only saw Fu Yunting pick up the bowl and try taking a bite into his mouth.
Jiang Zhi’s deer-eyes flickered, swallowing a mouthful of saliva. He was somewhat worried this person would directly fling this piece of brain straight onto his face later.
However… he didn’t.
After taking a bite, the space between Fu Yunting’s brows eased slightly. “…It is indeed very tender, you taste it too.”
Jiang Zhi smiled awkwardly, and could only brace himself to shovel half a spoonful into his mouth. Even if this thing was any more delicious, its looks were also not his style.
Too bloody! He almost thought he was eating his own brain; he would definitely have nightmares at night.
Looking at his look of facing death with no regret, a hard-to-detect smile rose at the corners of the man’s lips.
Regarding hotpot, Jiang Zhi did love to eat it, but regrettably, usually he could only eat mildly spicy. However, this Sichuan flavor’s spiciness completely exceeded his expectations; even if it was only mildly spicy, it still made his mouth swell up from the heat.
Fu Yunting timely poured a bowl of hot water and placed it in front of him, ladling the things out from the pot and rinsing them one by one in the water before placing them in the small plate in front of Jiang Zhi.
“Try it again.”
Jiang Zhi cast a glance at Fu Yunting’s completely unchanged complexion, suspicious. “Aren’t you hot?”
Fu Yunting let out a light laugh, and poured another glass of milk by his hand, as if for this meal he was just a specialized accompanying guest.
“Truthful words or fake words?”
Jiang Zhi was somewhat speechless. “Of course truthful words, ah.”
“Spicy!” the man said.
“Then why do you not have any reaction at all?” Jiang Zhi stared at this person in front of him—his face completely didn’t change color, and halfway through he hadn’t even drunk a single extra mouthful of water.
“Aren’t we understanding each other and cultivating feelings? Accompanying you to eat spicy food is also counted as a kind of understanding of you,” Fu Yunting said.
Jiang Zhi was flirted with out of thin air, his face turning the color of soil. This person’s… way of thinking about problems was truly unique and strange.
…
After finishing the meal, Fu Yunting was light as clouds and soft as wind, his expression not changing even once. Jiang Zhi downed the last mouthful of milk and went numbly to the front counter to settle the bill.
“Let me do it.” Fu Yunting made a motion to scan the code.
Jiang Zhi waved his hand. “I bought a discount coupon, it can save fifty yuan.” Especially coming to pit someone and still doing that set of freeloading—this matter he couldn’t do.
Fu Yunting frowned. “Why buy this?”
“To save money, ah.” Jiang Zhi took it as a matter of course.
“Save money?” Fu Yunting sized him up for an instant, not expecting this term to appear in Jiang Zhi’s mouth. Although the Jiang family was not some top-level celebrity class, it was also a family with no worries about eating and drinking; the Jiang Zhi he knew simply wouldn’t touch boundaries with this term.
“Ai!” Jiang Zhi waved his hand, not wanting at all to admit his own precarious financial situation. “Thrift is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation.”
After finishing speaking, he turned around and left. “You go back to the company. Now that I’m full, I’m going home to take an afternoon nap.”
Fu Yunting, “……” Discarding after use—this conversely resembled Jiang Zhi’s style.